History – General Skills
Unit 1 – U.S. History
First People to Arrive in America
No one knows exactly when the first people came
to America.
About 15,000 years ago, nomads began trekking
eastward across a land bridge from Asia to
America.
First People to Arrive in America
No one knows exactly when the first people came
to America.
About 15,000 years ago, nomads began trekking
eastward across a land bridge from Asia to
America.
First People to Arrive in America
No one knows exactly when the first people came
to America.
About 15,000 years ago, nomads began trekking
eastward across a land bridge from Asia to
America.
These nomads from Asia would make their way
into places across North and South America.
First Europeans in America
The first Europeans to arrive in America were the
Vikings (from Scandinavia) – NOT Christopher
Columbus.
The Vikings were led by Leif Ericson
Christopher Columbus started a voyage trying to
find India in 1492.
First Europeans in America
The first Europeans to arrive in America were the
Vikings (from Scandinavia) – NOT Christopher
Columbus.
Christopher Columbus started a voyage trying to
find India in 1492.
He landed in the Bahamas (not India) but called
the people there “Indians.”
After Columbus’s voyages, Europeans would
begin to colonize America.
The Columbian Exchange
When the Europeans came to the “New
World,” they brought with them many crops,
animals, and diseases.
They also took crops, animals, and diseases
back to the “Old World” with them.
This new system of global trading was known
as “The Columbian Exchange.”
Take a look at the
next few slides.
They illustrate what
we mean by “The
Columbian
Exchange.”
Genocide?
“Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction,
in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or
national group.”
Over 90% of the Native American population in
America died out as a result of the Columbian
Exchange.
Small pox was the most deadly disease for the Native
Americans.
Some scholars have estimated that about 100 million
Native Americans died over the span of 200 years as a
result of disease and fighting with the Europeans.
Magna Carta & English Bill of Rights
In 1215 in England, a group of English nobles forced King John I
to sign the Magna Carta which gave the nobles rights.
It also required the King to get Parliament’s OK before he imposed
any taxes.
Later, during the 1600s, King James of England was overthrown.
He was replaced by William and Mary, who agreed to abide by the
English Bill of Rights.
The English Bill of Rights reiterated that the King MUST get
Parliament’s approval before raising taxes.
The English Bill of Rights also said that people have the right to
religious freedom, which would later be included in the First
Amendment to the Constitution.
Maps
Colonies
New England Colonies
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Middle Colonies
Pennsylvania
New York
New Jersey
Delaware
Southern Colonies
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
“The Lost Colony”
In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh of England sent about 91
men, 17 women, and 9 children to an island in North
Carolina.
The governor of Roanoke returned back to England for
supplies. He returned 3 years later and the people had
vanished.
There were no bodies, only empty houses with the letters
“CRO” carved on a post.
What happened to the colonists is still a mystery today.
Jamestown Colony
Jamestown was the first SUCCESSFUL colony in
the 13 colonies. The first people came to
Jamestown in 1607.
Jamestown had many problems at the beginning
of the colony. The colony was in a swampy area
with disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Many of the men who came to Jamestown
thought they were going to get rich from gold
mining, so they refused to do any farming or
manual labor.
Jamestown Problems
Captain John Smith was one of the early leaders of the
colony.
Smith began trading with the Powhatan Indians, and this
trade helped the colony get through its first two winters.
John Smith was injured and returned to England.
Without a leader, the colony took a turn for the worst.
The Winter of 1609 and 1610 became known as the
“starving time.”
The people of Jamestown ate “dogs, rats, snakes, toads,
and horses.”
They even dug up dead bodies and ate them.
Tobacco Saves Jamestown
John Rolfe came to Jamestown and introduced tobacco.
The people began growing it at a rapid pace and making
profits.
The colonists had enough money to import food and this
saved the colony.
Virginia House of Burgesses
In 1619, the House of Burgesses was established
in Virginia.
This was the first assembly of elected
representatives in North America.
This was important because it laid the foundation
for what would later become our Congress.
New England Colonies
New England Colonies
The best example of a New England colony was
Massachusetts.
The Pilgrims and Puritans lived in the New
England Colonies.
Roman Catholic
Church
Episcopalians
Baptists
Protestants
Lutherans
Presbyterians
Church of
England
(Anglican Church)
Puritans
Separatists
(Pilgrims)
The Pilgrims
The Pilgrims were separatists from Holland, meaning
they broke away from the Anglican Church.
They were punished and persecuted for breaking
away from the Church.
So the Pilgrims escaped Holland on the Mayflower
ship and landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620.
When they arrived, they signed a document called
The Mayflower Compact. This document established a
government that would be ruled by the majority.
The Puritans
The Puritans, like the Pilgrims, did not agree with the
Anglican Church.
The Puritans wanted to “purify” the Anglican Church of
everything that was left from the Catholic Church.
So, a group of Puritans led by John Winthrop left for
America and arrived in 1630.
Winthrop said that the Puritans’ colony would be a “city
upon a hill.”
Winthrop meant that the Puritans’ colony would be a
godly example to the world of how a community should
live.
The Puritans
This community would be called the Massachusetts Bay
Colony.
If someone challenged the Puritan ideas, he could be banished
from the colony.
The Puritans did NOT allow drinking, reading other books
besides the Bible, or even dancing.
The Pilgrims and Puritans did NOT come to America to set up
“religious freedom.”
They did not want people living with them who did not follow
the “godly example.”
The Puritans were NOT tolerant. They did not like people from
other religions or people who did not agree with them.
Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson
Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were both
banished from Massachusetts for challenging Puritan
beliefs.
Anne Hutchinson was banished for saying that God
could speak to people directly and not just through the
Bible.
Rhode Island was where people who were banished
from the Puritans went. There was a total separation of
church and state there.
Economy of New England Colonies
The economy of New England depended on the geography of the
land.
In New England, people relied on subsistence farming. This means
that they only grew enough food to survive.
The soil in New England is very rocky, which made it impossible
to have big farms.
Instead, people in New England made money through
shipbuilding and trading.
There were thick forests that allowed people to use the timber for
ships and use the water for trading with other places.
This also allowed people in New England to make money through
fishing.
The Mid-Atlantic Colonies
(aka Middle Colonies)
The Mid-Atlantic Colonies
The best example of a Mid-Atlantic colony was Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania was a very tolerant colony as compared to the
others.
Pennsylvania Colony
In 1680, the King of England granted William Penn a colony
which would be called Pennsylvania.
William Penn was a Quaker. Quakers believed that a person’s
“inner light” from God was more important than the Bible and
religious authorities.
Quakers were accepting of all Christians, regardless of whether
you were Protestant or Catholic.
Penn had a peace treaty with the local Indian tribes.
Anyone who was a Christian and had 50 acres of land could vote.
Penn bought the land south of Pennsylvania and it became the
colony of Delaware.
How is this different than the New England colonies?
Economy of Mid-Atlantic Colonies
The Mid-Atlantic Colonies’ economy was also based on
geography. They had very fertile soil.
People in the Mid-Atlantic Colonies also had large
families because they lived longer.
So, they used their large families and fertile soil to grow
food that they exported to other countries.
The Southern Colonies
Economy of the Southern Colonies
The best examples of Southern colonies were Virginia and
South Carolina
The economy of the Southern colonies was based on slavery
and the plantation system.
Plantations are very large farms that require lots of labor.
These plantations grew “cash crops.” Cash crops are crops
grown to make large profits.
This is unlike subsistence farming, which is farming just to
grow enough to survive.
The three main cash crops in the Southern colonies were
tobacco, rice, and indigo.
Cotton was NOT a main crop of the south during the 18th
century.
Society of the Southern Colonies
The Southern colonies developed a strict hierarchical
structure because of the plantation system.
This meant that there were very rich people who owned
the plantations, while the rest of society was poor or
slaves.
South Carolina’s system of slavery came from Barbados.
These large plantations in the South hurt the growth of
towns and cities because they took up all the space.
Furthermore, the established church in the South was the
Anglican Church.
Maryland
Founded by Lord Baltimore for Catholics so they
could escape religious persecution in England.
Lord Baltimore passed the Act of Toleration
which protected Catholics from persecution.
Protestants lived in Maryland as well.
Georgia
Started by James Oglethorpe.
Started as a place for debtors to start over rather
than have to go to prison.
Originally, Georgia outlawed slavery, but later on
slavery was allowed.
“Salutary Neglect”
The King of England appointed governors for each colony, but the
colonial legislatures had more power.
For the most part, the King left the colonies alone and let the
colonial legislatures handle their own affairs. This is called
salutary neglect.
Parliament’s control of the colonies was limited by distance.
Colonial assemblies had the right to tax.
Colonial assemblies had the “power of the purse” meaning they
could set the salaries of the royal officials.
The colonists still considered themselves to be British NOT
“American.”
New England Colonies
Religion
•Puritan
•NO religious tolerance
Government
•Controlled by the Church
•Town meetings made
decisions
Society
•Was “egalitarian” at first, but
social classes came later.
•Education was important
because of Puritans.
•Had many towns.
Economy
•Only subsistence farming (no
plantations) because of rocky
soil.
•Used forests to build ships.
•Used the sea to be merchants
and fishermen.
Middle Colonies
Religion
•Most religious tolerance
and diversity of all 3
regions.
Government
Society
•Was egalitarian at first, but
social classes came later.
Economy
•Used fertile soil and large
families to export
foodstuffs. (wheat, rye, etc)
•Did not have to use slaves.
Southern Colonies
Religion
•Religion did not play a huge
role because people were more
concerned with making money.
•The main church was the
Anglican Church (Church of
England).
Government
•Coastal planters had the
political power.
Society
•Hierarchical social structure
because of plantations.
•At first, Georgia outlawed
slavery, but later accepted it.
Economy
•Cash crops: tobacco, rice, and
indigo
•Used New England’s ships to
export crops to Europe.
•NO COTTON! (yet)