Download United States History - Honors

Chapter 1: The World by 1500
Chapter 2: Empires in the Americas
Chapter 3: The English Colonies
 The first Americans were the Paleo-Indians
 Estimated to come to the Americas about 40,000 years ago
 Crossed from Asia over a “land bridge” in what is now the
Bering Strait, between Russia and Alaska
 Tribes of people adapted to the lands in which they settled
in order to survive
 Hunter-gathers killed animals and gathered berries, roots, etc
 Agricultural Revolution: about 7000 years ago, peoples began
to grow food for survival
 Gave way to several advanced civilizations throughout the
Americas
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Aztec and Mayas of Mexico and Central America
Inca of South America
Olmec of the southern United States
Anasazi of SW United States
Mound building tribes of the Northeast and Midwest
 Advanced civilizations throughout the world eventually led to the
settlement of the Americas from easterners
 China: traded extensively over land with Europe for hundreds of years
 Arabia: crossroads of trade routes between Europe, Asia and Africa
 Islam influential in trade
 Eventually led to wars between Muslims and Christians over the holy
lands (Crusades)
 Africa: vast empires throughout the continent traded gold and slaves
with the world
 Europe: influence of former Roman Empire prominent, but the empire
collapsed
 Vikings were quickly becoming the dominant culture of Northern
Europe
 Sailed from Europe to Iceland, Greenland, and eventually present day
Canada around 1000 AD
 Led by Leif Eriksson, established the short lived colony of Vinland in
Canada
 Europe operated under a policy called feudalism
 Nobles would pledge loyalty and military assistance for land called
manors
 Each manor was worked by peasants
 The Catholic Church dictated most of life in the manors
 Many major events led to the demise of feudalism
 Crusades: war to drive Muslims from Europe and open trade
 Magna Carta: English document that granted basic rights to people
in 1215
 Renaissance: scientific and artistic awakening that rejected religious
explanations
 Nations began to form during this time as well
 England, Portugal, France, Spain and Italy
 Some formed as a result of war, some from marriage of royal
families
 Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain expelled all Jews and Muslims from
the nation form an all Catholic Spain by 1492
 To gain the upper hand in world trade, nations began to
look beyond their borders
 New technology made sailing much easier, with inventions
like the compass, astrolabe, and sails
 Portugal led the way, establishing a sailing school in the
1400s
 Opened up trade with Africa
 Gold and slaves were the chief items of trade
 Portugal became the first nation to actively search for a
route directly to Asia, bypassing Arabia
 Bartholomeu Dias: rounded the Cape of Good Hope (S.
Africa) in 1488
 Vasco da Gama: sailed around Africa to India in 1498, opening
up trade directly with Asia
 Led to other nations sponsoring voyages around the world
 Christopher Columbus is credited, inaccurately, with
“discovering” America
 Set sail from Spain in August 1492
 Landed in the Bahamas in October
 Made four voyages throughout the Caribbean over the next
few years, establishing Spain as a world power
 The inspiration of the conquistadors to travel was God,
gold and glory
 Columbus inspired many others to explore further
 Vasco Nunez de Balboa: crossed Panama, first European to
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see Pacific Ocean (1513)
Ferdinand Magellan: first to circumnavigate the world around
South America (died before completing the voyage, 1519-1521)
Francisco Coronado: explored SW United States
Hernan Cortes: conquered the Aztecs in 1521
Francisco Pizarro: conquered the Incas in 1532
 Spain had great influence on mainland United States
during their heyday
 Juan Ponce de Leon: searched Florida for the “fountain
of youth”
 Attempted to convert all Native Americans to
Catholicism, with most resisting
 Pueblo Revolt (1680): hundreds of Spanish killed and driven
from Santa Fe, NM
 Colonized the United States from Florida to California,
setting up numerous Catholic missions in the process
 Colonization attempts intensified as the French and
English began to exert their influence in the Americas
 Rather than trying to find gold and destroy Native
American populations, the French colonized in a different
manner
 Took advantage of the lucrative fur trade
 Tried to befriend Native tribes, establishing trading posts
 Settled mostly in Canada and the Northern United States
 Established posts along the St. Lawrence Seaway and the
Great Lakes
 Eventually led expeditions along the Mississippi River to the
Gulf of Mexico
 Most prominent explorers were Jacques Cartier and Father
Jacques Marquette
 England wanted to take control of the world trade by finding the
Northwest Passage
 Waterway through the Americas to Asia
 Not discovered until 1900, only accessible for a few months of the
year after ice melts
 Heavily influenced by the Protestant Reformation, led by Martin
Luther
 Wanted to limited Catholic influence in the world
 Many notable people involved in exploration for the English
 Sir Francis Drake: a privateer (“sea dog”) responsible for raiding
Spanish ships and defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588
 Henry Hudson: sailed up Hudson River (NY) and discovered
Hudson Bay (Canada)
 Sir Walter Raleigh: established Roanoke colony in 1585
 Colony mysteriously failed, with only the word CROATOAN carved in a
tree upon his return in 1590 after going to England for supplies
 After the Roanoke failure, companies were created to search for
gold and colonize areas of the eastern seaboard of the United
States
 Jamestown would be the first experiment in 1607
 Settled in present day Virginia
 Disease, harsh conditions, and lazy colonists nearly doomed the
colony from the start
 Would not have survived without help from several
 John Smith: chosen leader of Jamestown
 Pocahontas: Native American girl that prevented a slaughter of the
colonists
 Gold was never found, but survival was ensured by tobacco
 Slaves and indentured servants poured into Virginia to farm
tobacco
 Led to wars among the Natives and colonists, nearly destroying the
colony in 1622
 After Jamestown, the next colony to be settled by the
English in America would be Plymouth
 Settled in 1620 by a religious group known as the Pilgrims
 The Pilgrims were a group of Separatists, a religious sect that
wished to break away from the Church of England
 Most radical of the Puritans, Separatists wanting to “purify”
the church of all Catholic rituals
 Landed in present day Massachusetts after sailing across
the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower
 Originally bound for New York harbor, but blown off course
 Devised a form of government aboard ship before going
ashore (Mayflower Compact)
 Survived with help from the local Wampanoag Indians and
Squanto, who taught the Pilgrims to farm the poor soil
 Celebrated the harvest in the fall of 1621, marked as the first
Thanksgiving
 Led to a Great Migration of people searching for religious freedom in a
new land
 Besides Plymouth, several other colonies were formed in present day
New England
 Massachusetts Bay Colony: formed in 1630, church guided daily life and
government, including beliefs of predestination, education and moral
codes
 Women were subservient to men
 Families were large, negating need for widespread slavery or indentured
servitude
 Relied heavily on trade with other nations and colonies
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Connecticut: founded in 1639 after many looked for land after
differences with the Puritan Church
 Fundamental Orders of Connecticut: considered first constitution of colonies
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Rhode Island: founded in 1636, chartered in 1644by Roger Williams,
established separation of church and state
 Accepted Anne Hutchinson into the colony after she was banished from Mass.
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Religious led to numerous conflicts, such as the Salem Witch Trials in
1692
 Dozens tried, 19 executed for being “witches”
 The Southern Colonies were formed for many reasons
 Maryland: formed as a haven for Catholics, but the Toleration Act of
1649 granted freedom to all in the colony
 Relied heavily on tobacco, like Virginia, possibly by slavery and
indentured servants
 Bacon’s Rebellion
 More and more people in Virginia were landless and unable to make
a living
 Whites began moving onto Indian lands, causing tensions
 Natives were attacked by colonists, led by Nathaniel Bacon, in 1676,
ending in his death
 Slave trade
 Brutal living conditions for slaves, from the Middle Passage to
America, to the farms and plantations in which they worked
 Many unsuccessful rebellions ensued, notably the Stono Rebellion
in 1739, where 30 whites were killed before the rebellion quelled
 Other colonies were formed as grants to proprietors, or as royal
colonies
 Carolinas: attracted many different settlers, relying on rice
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production, formed in 1660s, taken over by crown in 1720
New York: originally a Dutch colony, taking over bloodlessly in 1664
by the English
New Jersey: formed after English takeover of NY, granted to friends
of the Duke of York
Pennsylvania: haven for Quakers, formed by William Penn; also
formed Delaware after Swedish settlers abandoned the colony
Georgia: haven for criminals and debtors from England in 1733, tried
to outlaw slavery and liquor, but failed, becoming a royal colony in
1752
 Colonies were run on the policy of mercantilism
 Mother country only strong if they could export more than import
 Navigation Acts dictated rules on shipping and trade
 To control the colonies more, King James II stiffened the
rules over colonies in 1684
 Colonists and English alike hated the King
 In 1688, a bloodless revolution, the Glorious Revolution,
overthrew James and placed William and Mary at the throne,
establishing parliamentary power in England and colonies
 Enlightenment: movement of the late 1600s and 1700s that
emphasized human reason
 Great Awakening: religious revivals of the mid-1700s,
sparking formations of several new denominations of
Christianity, including Methodists and Baptists
 Also opened up greater religious participation to the poor and
enslaved, often ignored before
 While settlement continued, fights over lands between the
English, French and Native Americans ensued
 The French established forts and trading posts for the fur
trade while the English wanted to farm the lands
 Wars were fought between Natives and English
 Pequot War: 1637, wiped out Pequot Indians
 Metacom (King Philip’s) War: 1675, killed thousands of
Natives, taking more land for colonial use
 Iroquois League: formed in the 1500s as a protection for tribes
of New York state, tried to work peacefully between the
French, English and other tribes
 Benjamin Franklin proposed a league for the colonies to
protect from the growing Iroquois influence
 Albany Plan of Union (1754)
 Failed to gain approval, used later as a model for the first US
government
 Broke out in 1754 in North American, spread to Europe in 1756
 Also known as the Seven Years’ War
 Fight over land claimed by England and France, with the Native
Americans helping the French
 English lost many battles in the beginning, but finance minister
William Pitt poured money into troops and supplies to turn the tide
 Eventually claimed Fort Duquesne (Fort Pitt, modern day
Pittsburgh), which convinced the Iroquois to switch sides
 War ended with British takeover of French held Quebec in 1759,
with sporadic fighting the next 4 years
 Treaty of Paris signed in 1763
 France surrendered all North American claims except New Orleans
 Spain surrendered Florida, but gained all land west of Mississippi
River
 Set the stage for the colonial rebellion that led to American
independence