European Exploration and Settlement

UNIT 2- GEORGIA’S COLONIZATION

Essential Question:

Why did European countries explore, claim, and settle the North American continent?

The 3 G’s

During the early to mid-1400s, there were three G’s behind the reason for European exploration:

God

Gold

Glory

How did these themes impact European exploration and settlement?

Explorers such as Prince Henry the Navigator and Christopher Columbus believed they could find a shorter route to the Orient.

Some explorers such as DeSoto sought gold.

Some explorers sought to expand religion and establish missionaries around the world.

Spanish Exploration

Spanish explored the Caribbean for wealth.

Ponce de Leon, Casco de Balboa, Cortes, and Pizarro all went looking for gold and silver riches in the New World.

Spanish Exploration of Georgia

DeSoto left Havana, Cuba in 1539 to continue his search for gold.

He entered Georgia in 1540 in the southwest corner of the state.

He encountered thousands of natives, and was outnumbered, but brought with him better weapons and diseases (smallpox, measles, influenza, and whooping cough).

DeSoto’s venture into Georgia was a failure. He found no gold or treasure.

He lost much of his army to starvation and disease.

DeSoto died somewhere near the Mississippi River.

DeSoto set the stage for other European explorers to come and establish settlements in Georgia.

Spanish Missions 1565- St. Augustine,

Florida was established as a Spanish colony.

In 1566- The Spanish moved up the eastern coast of Florida into the Cumberland Islands and founded a mission, Santa Catalina.

The Spanish named the region Guale for the Indians living in the area.

The first Spanish posts on Georgia soil were missions established on St. Simons Island and later at Sapelo at the mouth of the Altamaha River.

During the mid-1500s, the Spanish began to battle control of the New World against the British and the French.

The Spanish had already had several skirmishes with the French, who had settled parts of Florida and the Mississippi Valley Region.

The British later defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, which changed the course of colonization of the New World forever.

English Settlement

The English also believed there were riches to be had in the New World.

In the 1600s, the English began settlements along the coast of the New World. First in Virginia

(Jamestown), then Massachusetts.

The English had 12 colonies established along the Atlantic coastline by the end of the 1600s.

There were different reasons that each colony was settled:

Escape from religious persecution

Religious calling

Economic gain

New beginnings

The English hoped to establish a system of mercantilism, a part of which was where they would export more goods than they would import for economic gain.

The new colonies were established to promote this system of mercantilism to benefit England’s economy.

Permanent colonization began by the English in 1607 with the establishment of Jamestown, current day Virginia.

Jamestown

Jamestown was named after England’s King James I.

104 settlers survived the travel across the Atlantic to the new settlement.

Jamestown’s Problems

Jamestown was located by a swamp, so malaria swept through the settlement during the colony’s first year. (38 survived)

Colonists arrived too late for planting seasons, but later found that tobacco grew very well in the area.

English explorers branched out colonies into New England (Northeast United States) and the Carolinas.

The Spanish were already in Guale, and there were conflicts between the Spanish and the English.

The English needed a “buffer” to separate the English colonies from the Spanish….

Fort King George

France was establishing colonies along the Gulf Coast and in Northern Alabama. Both France and Spain posed a threat to the new English colonies.

A colonist, Colonel John Barnwell, a South Carolina planter, went to London to ask that a fort be built at the mouth of the Altamaha River.

In 1721- the garrison, a fort where troops are housed, was finished.

Fort King George became the “warning point” for the British against possible invaders.

Discussion Questions:

Why did European countries explore, claim, and settle the North American continent?

How did Gold, God, and Glory play a part in European exploration and settlement?