Download US1 Unit 1 Notes - mrdwyer

Unit 1 – Colonization of the Americas
1. The Atlantic World is Born
A. Christopher Columbus

Myths about Columbus = only one to believe Earth was round, did not
discover the Americas, was not the 1st European to set foot on New World.
 Early Life
 Born Cristoforo Colombo in Genoa, Italy (1451)
 Was determined to make his fortune and become a part of the nobility.
 What was his sailing experience?
A Daring Expedition


As his skills matured, Columbus became more eager to seek a westward sea
route to the “Indies” meaning China, India, and other Asian lands.
Because Columbus did not have the wealth to finance his dream, he turned
to various monarchs for help. Who agrees to help him?

Reasons for the Voyage – Why did people want it to succeed?
1.
2.
3.

Destination: Asia
 Columbus set sail on August 3,1942 and spotted land on October 12
 What was the one big miscalculation he made?
 Many scholars believe it was the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas.

A Historic Meeting
 Columbus and crew received a warm welcome from the first Native
Americans they met, the Tainos.
 They collected, often by force, other gifts to give to the queen.
 Columbus called these people “Indians” because he believed that he had
reached the Indies.

Heading Home
 The return trip to Spain began on January 16, 1493.
 Columbus received the honors he sought, but did not get a chance to
enjoy his fame for long.

Later Voyages
 Columbus led a total of 4 trips to the Americas. (1492-1504)
 He was a better sailor than a colonizer and Columbus eventually lost his
governorship
 Columbus dies in 1506 still believing that he found the route to Asia.
 A New Continent
 Amerigo Vespucci (1499) explored the Caribbean and coast of South
America and suggested that these lands might be a new continent.
 How does Vespucci eventually get this new land named after him?
Columbus’s Impact

Most historians agree that he had both good and bad effects on the Americas.
1. The Columbian Exchange
 The transfer of food, animals, technologies and diseases between the
Americans and Europe. (see chart on page 26)
2. Native Americans Devastated
 Passing germs through causal contact explores and soldiers infected Native
Americans with smallpox, typhus, measles and other deadly diseases.
3. Europeans Gain Wealth
 In the first century after Columbus’ voyage, the amount of gold and silver in
Europe’s economy increased 8 times over.
 What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?
 Who began to challenge Spain and Portugal in the New World?
4. Africans Enslaved
 Plantations were established that produced cash crops.
 Native Americans were not used to the hard work and weakened by diseases
they could not provide the reliable labor force that was needed.
 The Europeans then turned to West Africa and the first African slaves began
arriving in 1517.
2. Spanish Explorers and the Colonies
 Spain had a colony in present day Florida called St. Augustine and the French
later built Fort Caroline to the north. What happens between the two?
A. Building A Spanish Empire
 Columbus’s voyages led many others to imitate him.
1. Spain’s Major Explorers
- Juan Ponce de Leon
-
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
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Ferdinand Magellan
2. The Spanish Pattern of Conquest
 This pattern was based on the Reconquista – 700-year struggle to remove
Muslims from Spain.
 After the Reconquista, the Muslims and Christians lived together
peacefully – this was expected in the New World also.
 EXPLAIN the phrase “God, gold, and glory” and define conquistador.
3. Cortes and Pizzaro
 In 1519 Hernan Cortes was sent by the Spanish governor of Cuba to
conquer the vast empire ruled by the Aztec people in Mexico.
 How was Cortes able to defeat the powerful Aztec Empire?
 Francisco Pizzaro, also a conquistador, set out to conquer the Inca
Empire in present day Peru in South America.
 Was successful due to a smallpox outbreak that weakened the Incas.
4. Controlling the Spanish Empire
 By the 1550’s the Spanish colonies consisted of a large empire in Mexico,
Central and South America – the economic activity made Spain wealthy
 Key to this wealth was the ENCOMIENDA SYSTEM
B. The Spanish Push North
 Other conquistadors explored the Southern part of the present day US
1. de Vaca and Estavanico
2. Coronado
3. De Soto

Forts for Defense
 The regions settled by the above conquistadors did not offer much in the area
of wealth, so the Spanish government encouraged settlement in these areas:
1. The Southeast Coast – forts needed to protect fleets carrying gold/silver
2. The Southwest – New Mexico region; profitable mining industry
3. The West Coast – wanted to establish trade routes on Pacific Ocean

Missionaries
 Presidios – Spanish forts occupied by a few soldiers
 Who were key to the survival of these? (EXPLAIN)
 Native Americans were converted and also forced to settle in villages or
congregaciones where they would farm and worship like Europeans.
C. Native American Resistance to the Spanish
 Resistance to the Spanish broke out as early as 1597 and continued
occasionally throughout the 1600’s.
 What was the Pueblo Revolt of 1680?
3. Jamestown
A. English Explorers
 England’s first attempt at colonization (Roanoke Island) was a failure and it
foreshadowed the difficulties they would face in the Americas.
 However, Great Britain was determined to continue their exploration:
1. John Cabot
2. Sir Martin Frobisher
3. John Davis
4. Henry Hudson

Sir Francis Drake
 Led a group of privateers known as “Sea Dogs” who successfully raided
Spanish treasure ships and weakened the finances of the Spanish Empire.
 Was the first English sea captain to sail around the world.

An English Interest in Colonization
 By Drake’s time, England decided it needed a colony in the Americas.
 Reasons for England’s interest – (EXPLAIN)
1. Privateers needed a base
2. Looking for Northwest Passage
3. New markets for English merchants
4. English homeland getting to crowded
B. The Jamestown Settlement
 After the Roanoke disaster, years passes before the next attempt at a colony.
 In 1606, several Englishmen businessmen got a charter that allowed them to
form a joint-stock company
 In early 1607, the Virginia Company sent about 100 colonists to what became
known as Jamestown (named after King James I)
1. The Settlers’ Hardships – Jamestown settlement nearly failed
a. Conflict with Native Americans
b. Unrealistic expectations
c. Location
d. Starvation
e. Poor Leadership
** Back in England, the colony was being praised and migration started
with the arrival of 5500 people; 4000 died in a short time after arrival.
2. Governing the Colony
 King James took away the charter and established a royal colony with a
governor appointed by the king.
 Virginia also had a legislature (lawmaking assembly) which was made up
by representatives from the colony.
 What was the House of Burgesses and state its importance?
C. Growing Tobacco
 The one thing that saved the Virginia colonists was tobacco. Why? When John
Rolfe shipped some back to Europe, it sold quickly and became a cash crop.
1. The Promise of Land
 To produce large crops of tobacco, planters needed laborers and one way
of getting people to come over was the promise of land.
 What was the headright system?
2. Indentured Servants
 People who had to work for a master for a period of time, usually 7 years,
in return for the cost of the voyage and were released from the contract.
 Typically 18-22 years old, unmarried and poor, some were black.
D.
Conflict with Native Americans
 The failure to understand each other’s culture led to incidents of violence
between the Native Americans and the English.
1. The English Pattern of Conquest
 English developed a harsh attitude toward conquered people from its
experience with Ireland.
 They felt it was best to remake the culture they conquered
2. Native Americans React
 Native Americans carefully planned and carried out a surprise attack on
Jamestown with the intention of wiping out the English
 They were not successful and the people of Jamestown struck back.
E. Bacon’s Rebellion
 As Jamestown expanded, conflicts with the Native Americans grew in number
but Governor Berkeley refused to raise an army to defend the settlers.
 Nathaniel Bacon took matters into his own hands.
 What was the importance of Bacon’s Rebellion?
1.
2.
4. The New England Colonies
A. The French in North America
 The French were also interested in the East Coast of North America.
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Verrazano
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Cartier
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De Champlain
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Joliet and Marquis
1. The Fur Trade
 The French discovered a lucrative fur trade and this determined the
shape of New France. EXPLAIN
2. The Iroquois
 Lived in New York and were successful at both trade and war and were
the dominate tribe in the Great Lakes region
B. Plymouth Colony
 New England Colonies – Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont,
New Hampshire and Maine make up this region
1. Puritans and Separatists
 Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church and started the Anglican
Church which keep many of the same practices of the Catholic faith.
 Who were the puritans/separatists and explain their name?
2. The Voyage of the Mayflower
 One group of Separatists (who came to be called Pilgrims) came to North
America on the Mayflower to worship freely in 1620
 The signed the Mayflower Compact which was an agreement between
themselves to obey all laws. William Bradford was the governor.
 What was the importance of this document?
3. Early Difficulties
 The settlement was known as New Plymouth or Plymouth and half of the
settlers died in the 1st winter.
 Received help from a Native American called Squanto (corn)
 Celebrated the 1st Thanksgiving in the fall of 1621.
C. The Massachusetts Bay Colony
 Great Migration – in 1630 1000 settlers in the New England region
1. Reasons for Migrating
 Many settlers wanted religious freedom for themselves, but did not
believe in religious tolerance. (EXPLAIN)
2. Transforming New England
 Puritans changed the landscape and raised domestic animals and forced
the Native Americans to adopt Puritan religious beliefs and customs.
3. A City Upon a Hill
 Puritans (John Winthrop) believed they could create a society that would
be an example to people throughout the world.
4. The Salem Witch Trials
 Life in the Puritans’ ideal community had its dark moments, and in 1692
Salem, Massachusetts succumbed to a fear of witchcraft.
 Townspeople people began accusing one another of being influenced by
the devil and eventually 20 people were executed.
5. Other Puritan Colonies
 Connecticut (1630)– Thomas Hooker led a group from Massachusetts and
wrote the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
 New Hampshire (1679) and Maine (1820) – also grew out of Mass.
D. Dissent in the Puritan Community
 Not all left Plymouth to find new land, some left over conflict with Puritans
1. Roger Williams - Rhode Island
 What were the 2 issues that he had problems with the Puritan ministers?
2. Anne Hutchinson
 Kicked out because she challenged the authority of the Puritan ministers.
E. War with the Indians
 English settlers were pushing Native Americans out of their homeland
1. The Pequot War
2. King Philip’s War
5. The Middle and Southern Colonies
A. The Dutch in New York
 The first Europeans to settle in the area that is now New York were the Dutch
who established the Dutch West India Company.
1. A Thriving Colony
 The Dutch quickly realized that the best spot for their homes was the
beautiful island of Manhattan.
 Peter Minuit traded the Native Americans for the rights to the island.
 New Amsterdam became a place where different peoples worked together
peacefully and even practiced religious tolerance ( the 1st synagogue on
the North American continent was there)
2. England Takes Over
 King Charles II of England decided to make a move on the prosperous
Dutch in 1664. Who did he say the entire region belonged to?
 A fleet of British ships and several hundred soldiers was sent to New
Amsterdam and the Dutch would not fight.
 New Amsterdam was immediately renamed New York.
B. The Other Middle Colonies
 The colony of New York was a proprietary colony – a colony granted by a king
or queen to an individual or group who had full governing rights.
1. New Jersey - 1702
 The Duke of York signed over present day New Jersey to 2 English
noblemen – John Berkeley and John Carteret
2. William Penn in Pennsylvania
 Penn received a huge land grant in 1681 from King Charles II to pay off a
debt to Penn’s father.
 Explain the name of the colony.
 Penn made it a point to establish good relations with the Indians in his
colony.
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series of treaties with the Lenni Lenape Indians which were based on
mutual respect and trust.
Penn believed that Indians should be compensated for their land
 What was the result of Penn’s policies?
 Who settled in Pennsylvania?
-
Pennsylvania was a haven or safe place for people of every faith
Quakers: members of a Protestant group persecuted in England
Identify other groups who settled in PA
3. Delaware
 Settled by the Swedish in 1638, who built Ft. Christina, Dutch captured
from Swedes, then England captured it.
 Duke of York eventually handed Delaware over to William Penn in 1682,
who allowed Delaware to become a separate colony in 1704.
C. The Southern Colonies
1. Maryland
 George Calvert had the idea of starting a colony for Catholics who were
being persecuted in England.
 Calvert died before the charter was written; so who is given the charter
and starts up the colony?
 Maryland Toleration Act was important as part of a general trend
toward religious tolerance in the English colonies.
 Maryland planters became prosperous by growing tobacco and like
Virginia began importing slaves.
2. The Carolinas
 Named after King Charles II who gave the land to a group of noblemen
who supported his restoration to the throne of England.
 Split in 1712 and became South Carolina (1719) and North Carolina
(1729).
3. Georgia - 1732
 Managed by trustees (someone entrusted to look after a business)
 Led by James Oglethorpe who made this a haven for debtors who were in
prison.
 What did the English government insist upon for Georgia?