American History, the Story,
with Wampum Beads
Chapter 1 – Her Story
• Once upon a time, a long time ago, for
real there lived a beautiful queen
named Isabel and her handsome King,
Ferdinand. They lived in a sunny
country called Spain. They were very
wealthy and continued to make
money through the overland trade
route with China. One day a dashing
sea captain named Christopher
Columbus persuaded Queen Isabel to
give him three ships, the Nina, the
Pinta, and the Santa Maria to find a
cheaper water route to China to make
even more money.
• The weather was so good where
Columbus found and explored the
land. He thought he was south of
China on the islands off the coast of
India. Columbus named the islands the
West Indies and the people Indians.
The Catholic priests that sailed with
Columbus saw the opportunity to
teach the Indians about their God.
• Even though Columbus didn’t find the
water route to China, he gained
political favor or glory with Queen
Isabel and King Ferdinand, and Spain
still ends up with the Aztec and Inca
gold. Therefore the causes of
Exploration were Gold, God, and
Glory, the 3G’s.
• France and England, jealous of Spain
and wanting to get wealthier too, sent
explorers and then people to colonize
the New World. The first successful
English settlement was at Jamestown,
Virginia to look for gold. They didn’t
find much gold, but they did learn how
to make money through the growth of
a cash crop of tobacco.
• Jamestown also begins the first of our
magic dates that we must remember
for the STAAR test. It is 1607. The next
settlement was begun by the Pilgrims
making a religious journey looking for
freedom to worship their way. 1620 is
our next magic date because the
Pilgrims wrote an important document
called the Mayflower Compact. This
was the first example of selfgovernment. People continued to
come to the new World looking for
opportunities with the last colony of
Georgia being started by people from
debtor’s prison, political prisoner that
were poor and couldn't pay their
debts.
• The causes of Colonization are similar
to those of Exploration. The causes of
Colonization are Economic
(Jamestown 1607), Social/Religious
(Pilgrims), Political (Mayflower
Compact 1620).
Chapter 2 – His Story
• His story begins with George Washington
as a young man serving his country, Great
Britain, in the French and Indian War. The
Eastern coast is getting crowded and
people are spilling west across the
Appalachian Mountains into French
claimed land. The French are not about to
let the British take their land and fight to
defend it. The French lose, and now Great
Britain gained land from the Appalachians
Mountains to the Mississippi River. The
King of Great Britain has said the colonists
must pay for the soldiers that fought in
the war and must go back east.
• In order to pay for the war, the King
imposed low taxes on sugar, stamps,
and tea. The colonists tried many ways
to get out of paying the taxes because
they had no say in creating them.
Finally several colonists in Boston
decided to prevent ships of tea from
making it to the shore. They dressed
up as Native Americans and dumped
the tea into Boston Harbor, turning the
water brown with tea leaves to make
their point. They did not support
taxation without representation. The
next thing you hear is the “shot hear
‘round the world.”
Chapter 3 – Our Story
• Once the fighting starts, we can’t go
back, only forward with a Revolutionary
War. When the Olive Branch Petition
fails, Thomas Jefferson is given credit for
writing the ideas of several men into the
“Declaration of Independence”: our
next magic date of July 4, 1776. It states
that “all men are created equal and are
endowed by their creator with certain
unalienable rights that among those
rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.” This document declares we
are separate and independent of Great
Britain.
• We now must come up with some kind of
political system. Our first government, the
Articles of Confederation, was not strong
enough to hold thirteen separate states
together but it did get us through the war.
Our next and final document, The
Constitution, begins with “We the People
of the United States, in order to form a
more perfect Union, establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings for
ourselves an our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution of the United
State of America.” This document was
created at the Philadelphia Convention in
1787.
Chapter 4 – Their Story
• Our founding fathers have many stories.
Our first president is George Washington
who upon leaving office tells us to
“Beware of permanent alliances” in
foreign affairs. The second president is
John Adams. The third president, Thomas
Jefferson, doubles the size of our country
with the Louisiana Purchase. This growth
includes a magic date of 1803. The
following president, James Madison,
leads the fight in the second revolution,
the War of 1812. The country again fights
Great Britain for independence. We lose
our Capitol, but we gain a national
anthem and gain more land from the
British.
Chapter 5 – Destiny’s Story
• The land of opportunity is advanced by
the first industrial spy, Samuel Slater.
While living in England, he memorizes the
parts of the machines to make a textile
mill and immigrates to the United State.
With the growth of industry, we see a
growth of cities and urbanization. As a
result of the growth of industry, a need is
created for a growth in reforms.
Reforming is done for the working
conditions in the factories, abolishing
slavery, along with temperance and
women’s rights movements. We see a
growth in land. This has a special name
called Manifest Destiny. It is the United
States “God-given duty to expand the
country from coast to coast.”
• This duty is not beneficial to all the
people. The first people to be evicted
or moved from their homes are the
Eastern Native Americans. The
Cherokees are forced to march the
Trail of Tears to land west of the
Mississippi River. Mexico is forced to
give up first Texas, the land in the
south-western part of the United
States, and then California because of
the Mexican War. It is great that the
next year in 1849, the gold rush in
California helps motivate U.S. citizens
to move there. The people that move
there get the name “49ers”.
Chapter 6 – Civil Story
• The Civil story is not very civil. It
begins with tension over the high
tariffs that favored the industrial
economic system in the North and
penalized or hurt the agricultural
economic system of the South. There
is a major issue with slavery at this
time, too. Compromise after
compromise does not stope the Civil
War in 1861-1865 (the last magic
date).
• Following the war, Reconstruction
takes place in the country. In order to
rebuild the nation, many social and
political changes take place. With the
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. The
13th Amendment abolishes slavery, the
14th Amendment grants and defines
citizenship, and the 15th Amendment
guarantees the right to vote. Another
way of stating this is 13, 14, 15 – Free,
Citizen, Vote.
Now let’s see how many
details you can remember
from my story. Number
your paper from 1 to 25.
Not Many?
Use the story to fill in the
missing words in your
chart.
Now use the following key to fill in
the colors on your chart.
Yellow for Economic or Money
related events.
White for Religious or Social related
events.
Blue for Political or Government
related events.
Red for War.
Green for Growth.
Brown for Tea Party.
Light Blue for Trail of Tears.
NO
Color
Meaning/Significance
Date
1
__________________/Money/Wealth
2
_____________________
3
Political ______________/Fame
4
___________________/Money
5
___________________/Religious
6
___________________/Government
7
______________________ War
8
Growth from the __________________ Mtns. to the _____________________
River.
9
________ turned Boston Harbor brown
(No _____________________ without ___________________)
10
______________________ War
11
Declaration of ____________________Separation and Freedom
July 4, _______
12
Political- New Government – The
____________________________
________
13
Growth with the __________________ Purchase
________
14
War of 1812
15
Growth of ____________________/ Manufacturing
16
Growth of _______________________ - Abolition, Women’s Rights,
Temperance
17
Growth of land - ________________ _______________ - expand coast to coast
18
Trail of _______/ Forced Migration of Native Americans
19
___________________ War in 1848
20
Gold __________/ The 49ers (1849)/ California
21
Political Tariffs favored the Northern __________________ Economy
22
Growth of Cotton – Southern ______________________ Economy
23
______________________ War
24
Reconstruction - ___________________ the country
25
Pollitical- Rebuild our ______________/ Free-Citizen-Vote? ______, ______,
______ Amend.
Era
Causes of
Exploration
(3 G’s)
Jamestown ______
Causes of
Colonization
Mayflower Compact
_______
_______-________
Causes of
the
Revolution
Birth of a
Country/
United
States of
America
Growth and
Development of the
United
States of
America
Sectionalism,
Civil War,
and Reconstruction
NO
Color
Meaning/Significance
Date
1
GOLD/Money/Wealth
2
GOD
3
Political GLORY/Fame
4
ECONOMIC/Money
5
SOCIAL/Religious
6
POLITICAL/Government
7
FRENCH & INDIAN War
8
Growth from the APPLACHIAN Mtns. to the MISSISSIPPI River.
9
TEA turned Boston Harbor brown
(No TAXATION without REPRESENTATION)
10
REVOLUTIONARY War
11
Declaration of INDEPENDENCE- Separation and
Freedom
July 4, 1776
12
Political- New Government – The CONSTITUTION
1787
13
Growth with the LOUISIANA Purchase
1803
14
War of 1812
15
Growth of INDUSTRY/ Manufacturing
16
Growth of REFORMS - Abolition, Women’s Rights, Temperance
17
Growth of land – MANIFEST DESTINY- expand coast to coast
18
Trail of TEARS/ Forced Migration of Native Americans
19
MEXICAN War in 1848
20
Gold RUSH/ The 49ers (1849)/ California
21
Political Tariffs favored the Northern INDUSTRIAL Economy
22
Growth of Cotton – Southern AGRICULTURAL Economy
23
CIVIL War
24
Reconstruction – REBUILDING the country
25
Pollitical- Rebuild our COUNTRY/ Free-Citizen-Vote? 13TH, 14TH, 15TH Amend.
Era
Causes of
Exploration
(3 G’s)
Jamestown 1607
Causes of
Colonization
Mayflower Compact
1620
1861-1865
Causes of
the
Revolution
Birth of a
Country/
United
States of
America
Growth and
Development of the
United
States of
America
Sectionalism,
Civil War,
and Reconstruction
Wampum is a system used by
Native Americans to keep record
of stories and tribe history
before the written word.
Create a bracelet to help you
remember the significant events
that are in your chart.
String the beads in order of the
colors on your chart.
The black bead does not have a
meaning, it is used to finish the
bracelet.