Download Unit 2 - River Mill Academy

Unit 2
Day 6: Beginnings of America
Questions of the Day
1.
What were the social, political, religious, and economic
motivations for the development of the early colonies?
2.
In what ways did the colonists’ European life affect the
development of their American experience?
3.
Evaluate the challenges facing the Jamestown settlers.
4.
Evaluate the development of tobacco on the survival of the
Jamestown colony.
North American Settlements
1. European Settlements


Spanish – St. Augustine, Florida – 1565
Southwest – Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California

French – Canada, Mississippi River, Great Lakes

Dutch – New York

English – East Coast
Color in and label the states on your map.
 Which are northern colonies?
 Which are southern colonies?
 Which are middle colonies?

Coloring Activity
2. First English Attempt

Sir Walter Raleigh

Lost Colony – Roanoke Island

John White - Governor

Virginia Dare – first European child born in America

Mystery at Roanoke Video
3. English Settlements

Virginia Company (joint stock company) – Jamestown –
1607

John Smith – one of the leaders of Jamestown

Hard times – few workers, most were nobles, didn’t know
how to work

Powhatan – Indian tribe near Jamestown that struggled
with colonist

“starving time” – Period during the 3rd winter when a
large number of colonist perished from lack of food
4. Jamestown

More colonist came to help Jamestown – workers

1st democratic gov’t – House of Burgesses ( because of salutary
neglect; representative democracy)

Tobacco – became cash crop or Virginias’ gold

John Rolfe – First to commercialize tobacco overseas

Pocahontas – daughter of the tribal leader, married to Rolfe

Head right system – Each new colonist was given 50 acres

Indentured servants – traded passage to America for years of service

Slaves – came to America in 1619
5. Clash with Indians

Desire for land led to conflicts

Europeans feeling of superiority – no intermarriage
with Indians

Fought wars with Powhatan Indians

Virginia becomes royal colony so that the King’s Army
can protect them
6. First rebellion in the Colonies

Indian dispute on the frontier

Colonists ask for protection from Virginia Governor
but were denied

Nathaniel Bacon – led the colonist in a rebellion
against the Virginia gov’t
 1st time the colonist showed their discontent with
violence
COLONIES IN AMERICA
7. Religious Reasons

Henry VIII – starts the Anglican
Church to divorce his first wife

Reformers want to rid the church of all Roman Catholic
traditions

Puritans – Wanted to purify the Church of England,
individual and congregational control of religion
8. Pilgrims


Separatist (Pilgrims) – they wanted to practice their own religion
Plymouth, Mass. 1620



Mayflower Compact – set up a direct democracy for the colony
colony struggled but received food from Indians
Thanksgiving, Squanto

William Bradford – Pilgrim leader

Mayflower Compact

Of Plymouth Plantation
Indentured Servants

Look up indentured servant contracts
What do you think life was like for these
colonists?
 How many lived long enough to be free?


Write a diary entry for a colonist based on
their experiences n Jamestown or
Plymouth.
Put this in your notebook, on either side of
Day 6
Activity