U.S. History
European Settlement in the New World
Unit Vocabulary:
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Colony
Colonist
Economy
Presidio
Hacienda
Missionary
Mission
Castillo de San
Marcos
Important Dates:
• 1535 New Spain
is formed
• 1565 St.
Augustine is
settled
New Spain
• By the 1500’s several European
nations has sent explorers to claim
land in the Americas. In order to
protect the lands they claimed some
Europeans, like the Spanish, decided
to set up colonies.
New Spain
• Spain was one of the main countries to claim and
protect the land it claimed. They began to form
colonies.
• New Spain was a colony formed in 1535 mostly
around Mexico.
• After gold and silver was found many more colonists
began to settle in New Spain.
• New colonists needed workers to tend crops, help
build the colony and so they enslaved the Indians.
• Indians began to die off because they were
overworked and because of diseases brought by the
Spanish.
• As more Indians died off the colonists needed to find
other people to work the land so they began to
search for free laborers in Africa.
Spanish Borders
• As more European countries began to discover all
that the New World had to offer Spain knew that they
needed to protect the land that they had already
claimed for their colony.
• The first Spanish settlement was built by the Spanish
soldiers in 1565 and it was called St. Augustine.
• This was called a presidio which means fort.
• The Spanish also set up areas called borderlands.
– These were lands that separated the Spanish
territory from lands they did not control.
– The borderlands stretched from northern Mexico
across the southern states from Florida to
California.
– This created a buffer zone which is an area that
serves as a barrier between to locations.
• The Spanish also set up areas called borderlands.
– These were lands that separated the Spanish
territory from lands they did not control.
– The borderlands stretched from northern Mexico
across the southern states from Florida to
California.
– This created a buffer zone which is an area that
serves as a barrier between to locations
Castillo de San Marcos
• In 1672 after years of attacks from other countries the
Queen of Spain sent money to the soldiers so that
they could build a stronger fort in St. Augustine called
Castillo de san Marcos.
• It was made of 100’s of presidios that stretched from
Florida to California and protected the colonists of
New Spain.
Haciendas and Ranches
• The haciendas were large farming estates which
grew crops. They helped the Spanish survive and
build communities.
• The Spanish brought many types of livestock and
animals with them such as cattle, sheep and horses.
• The Plains Indians learned to tame horses and ride
them to hunt and during times of war.
• The Navajo Indians learned to raise sheep for wool
which they used to created clothing and blankets.
Spanish Missions
• Spain settled on the borders of the
Americas and Mexico in order to protect
its empire and build an economy.
– Economy: The way a country manages its
money and resources (such as workers and
land) to produce, buy, and sell goods and
services.
• In order to do this the Spanish sent
missionaries to teach the Indians about
Catholicism and make them loyal Spanish
citizens.
• A missionary was a person in a
foreign land sent to carry on religious
work
• The Indians were no longer allowed to
worship their gods without punishment.
• Many Indians fought back and destroyed
churches and missions.
• In order to protect their Missions the
Spanish built roads to connect the
settlements to make travel between them
faster and easier.
• The main road built was called El Camino
Real which means “The Royal Road”
• It was 600 miles long and located all
across modern day California. It
connected the missions and presidios.
Review Questions: New Spain
1.) Why did colonists come to settle in New Spain?
2.) How long after New Spain was formed was St.
Augustine settled?
3.) Why did Spanish colonists need many workers?
4.) Why did the Spanish send missionaries to the
borders?
5.) What do you think might have happened if the
Spanish had not built presidios?
Unit Vocabulary:
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Civil war
Royal colony
Proprietor
Proprietary
colony
Important Dates:
• 1608 Quebec is founded
• 1673 Marquette & Joliet
explore the Mississippi River
• 1682 Sieur de la Salle claims
Louisiana for the French
New France:
• While the Spanish were growing rich
in New Spain the French were
claiming areas in what is Canada
today and the Northeastern U.S. They
found good fishing and fur trading.
For the French fur trading with the
Native Americans was like finding
gold!
• Fur trade was so profitable that the King of France,
Henry IV (4th) began to setup colonies in Canada and
the northern United States.
• In 1603 Samuel de Champlain was hired to make
maps of where beavers could be found because their
pelts (Fur) were worth a lot of money.
• Champlain mapped the areas of Eastern Canada
near the St. Lawrence River.
• Champlain built the first important French settlement
in North America and he called it Quebec.
• Not many French settlements were set up at first
• This was because in France they were going through
a civil war
• A war between two opposing groups in the
same country
• In North America the Dutch and English began to
take over French territories because there was no
one there to protect them!
• The French’s fur trade was almost destroyed.
• In order to protect his land in the 1660’s the French
King Louis XIV (14th) declared New France a royal
colony.
• A royal colony is an area ruled directly by a
monarch (king or queen)
• Because the King couldn’t leave France he
appointed governor-generals to govern these
foreign lands.
• The Governor-General of New France decided
that they needed to do more exploration of the
New World.
• He used the Indians in the area to learn how to
make canoes out of birchbark so that they could
explore all the small rivers and lakes that their
French ships were to large to navigate.
Explorations
• The French were searching for something called the
Northwest Passage which was a waterway that many
explorers believed existed that traveled straight
through North America.
• The Indians believed that this was a river they called
the Mississippi, which meant “Father of the Waters”
• The governor-general of France hires 2 men to lead
an expedition to find this Northwest Passage.
Exploring the Mississippi
In 1673 Governor-General de Frontenac sent an
expedition to explore the rivers and lakes that he
hoped would lead to the Mississippi River. One
member of the expedition was Jacques Marquette,
a catholic missionary who spoke several Indian
languages. The other members were Louis Joliet,
a fur trader and explorer and 5 other adventurers.
The explorers set out from northern Lake Michigan
in two birchbark canoes.
They crossed the huge lake and traveled to the
Wisconsin River. When they reached the mouth of the
Wisconsin River, they saw the Mississippi River for the
first time.
The explorers followed the river but soon
realized that it could not be the Northwest Passage
because it flowed south. S they neared the mouth of
the Arkansas River, they met some Indians who
informed them that some Europeans lived a little
further south of that area. The French feared that the
Europeans might be Spanish soldiers so they
decided to turn back.
Marquette and Joliet traveled about
2,500 miles. Their expedition opened
the Mississippi River valley up to
French settlement and trade. In time,
the French did build trading posts that
later grew into larger towns such as: St.
Louis, Des Moines and Louisville.
Louisiana
• The next explorer to look for the Mississippi River
was Rene-Robert Cavalier better known as Sir La
Salle.
• In February of1682 he set out with a group of French
and Indian people two months later they found the
mouth of the Mississippi river and claimed the whole
valley area for France.
• La Salle named the whole area after King Louis XIV
and called it Louisiana.
• In 1684 La Salle tried to start a colony but it was
difficult because the land was swampy and the
climate was hot. The explorers began to fight and 3
years later La Salle was killed.
Louisiana
• Many years later in 1712 after a settlement was
finally started the king declared it a proprietary colony
which meant that all of the land could be owned and
ruled by one person.
• The first proprietary leader was a Scottish banker
named John Law.
• In 1718 Law established the town of New Orleans
and in 1722 it was decided that this was the official
capital.
• But Louisiana like other French settlements would
continue to struggle while the English
and Spanish took over more and
more land.
Review Questions: New France
1.) Which areas did the French explore?
2.) Why was New France made a royal colony?
3.) How did Marquette and Joliet know the Mississippi
River wasn’t the Northwest Passage?
4.) Why was it difficult to settle in Louisiana?
5.)When New France was just beginning why did many
merchants want to build colonies?
6.) When was Quebec founded?
7.) Why was the Marquette and Joliet expedition
important to the French?
8.) What were the economic reasons for France
exploring and settling in North America?
The English in the
Americas
The English had been sailing to
the Americas since 1497. Unlike
the Spanish and the French the
English were not looing for gold
or riches. They came for the rich
fishing found in northern
Canada.
But after hearing about the
successes of the French and
Spanish the English began
taking more of an interest in
settling North America in the
mid-1500’s.
1st Voyages to the New World
• John Cabot was the first Englishman to visit the New
World in 1497.
• Queen Elizabeth I saw how rich the Spanish were
becoming and started to encourage her sea captains
to intercept and attack and Spanish ships they
encountered, hoping to steal any treasure the
Spanish were shipping back to Spain.
Attacking the Spanish
• Other sea captains who were not directly working for
the Queen began to see how much treasure the
Queen’s navy was capturing so they too began to
attack Spanish ships.
• The Queen allowed this so long as they shared a
large portion of the treasure they stole with England.
• These English pirates became known as sea dogs.
• The Queen protected these captains.
Francis Drake
• The most famous sea dog was Francis Drake.
• In 1577 he began his most famous voyage. He sailed
around the tip of South America to the Pacific ocean
and captured a Spanish ship so full of treasure it took
his crew 4 days to unload all of the gold and jewels.
• Francis Drake was worried that the Spanish might
discover that he robbed their largest ship and come
after him.
• Instead of going home the same way he cam he
decided to taka totally different route around America.
• During his journey home he stopped in what is today
san Francisco and claimed it for England.
• After he sailed all the way around the
world and back to England.
• He and his crew were the 2nd group of
men to ever sail all the way around
the world.
• He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth
I and became Sir Francis Drake.
England Starts a Colony
• With all the treasure stolen from the Spanish the
English built a strong navy
• Becoming one of the most powerful countries
• In 1584 Queen Elizabeth asked Sir Walter
Raleigh to establish England’s first colony in
North America
• Raleigh sent 2 sea captains ahead to find a
good place to settle
• They returned with good news and had
found a place to settle in what is today
North Carolina
First Virginia Colony
• Raleigh sent the men back with100 colonists to start
a new settlement
• He named the settlement Virginia and hoped that the
forests there would provide lumber and other
materials to send back to England
• When the colonists arrived they settled an area that
the local Indians called Roanoke, but the colonists
stayed less than a year and returned home
The Lost Colony
• In 1587 Sir Walter Raleigh sent a 2nd group to
Virginia to set up another colony
• By the time the colonists arrived it was too late to
plant crops, so a small group returned to England to
bring back supplies
• But at this time England was at war with Spain and it
took 3 years until the group could return to Virginia
and bring supplies
• By the time the supply ship returned all of the colnists
were gone!
The Lost Colony
• The only thing that was left were the letters CRO
carved into a tree and the word CROATOAN carved
into a wooden post
• The settlers were never found
• Some believe that they went to live with the nearby
Coratoan Indians
• Many of the Croatoan Indians today have the same
last names as some of the original colonists.
Jamestown Colony
• Although the 1st attempts at colonization failed for
England a group of merchants decided to try again
• In order to start a colony they first ahead to ask
permission from the King, King James I.
• He agreed and the merchants formed a company
called The Virginia Company
• The purpose of this company was to set up trading
posts in the New World, but most were just hoping to
find gold!
The Virginia Company
• The company was owned by many people each was
part owner and had invested money in the company.
• Each person now owned stock in the
Virginia Company
• Stock means that each person owned
a piece of the business and would be
paid a share of the profits.
Settling Jamestown
• In 1607 3 ships sent by the company sailed into the
Chesapeake Bay and 105 men and boy sailed up the
James River (which was named after their king)
looking for the right spot to start their colony
• The first spot they found was filled with disease
carrying mosquitos and poisoned water.
• When they finally found a spot they realized that
none of them were farmers or good with their hands.
• They were so worried about finding gold that they
didn’t bother preparing for winter and gathering food
• As a result of their bad planning their 2nd winter
became known as “the starving time”
• They almost all perished if not for their strong leader,
• Captain John Smith.
• Captain Smith was a soldier, explorer and writer.
• He set up an important rule for the colonists: “Those
who did not work, did not eat.”
• Everyone began to work and farm and they built
fences around their colony to protect themselves
from Indian attacks.
• During this time there were over 30 Indian tribes in
the area
• They formed a council called the Powhatan
Confederacy.
• The colonists did not respect these tribes or their
confederacy and therefore Captain Smith was
captured.
– Legend says that the chief’s
daughter Pocahontas saved his life
but it’s not known if this was
accurate.
– The fighting between the
confederacy and the colonists
continued
Jamestown Grows
• The colony struggled but soon began to prosper
• Economic success
• They didn’t actually find gold but they did discover
another crop that would make them rich: TOBACCO
• John Rolfe was the leader of the colony at the time,
he began experimenting with the tobacco and ways
to dry it.
• By 1613 Rolfe had created a type of tobacco the
English liked and the colonists began growing it as a
cash crop
• A crop grown to sell and not to be used
or consumed by the farmers
• The Virginia Company sold the tobacco all over
Europe and made a huge profit.
• The Company began allowing colonists who stayed
in the colony for 7 years to control and work their own
land.
• This made colonists want to work even harder and
not return to England.
• In 1619 the first female colonists were allowed to
travel to the New World.
Tobacco Farming
• As the tobacco farms grew larger Africans were
brought over to work as paid laborers, but as the
demand for more workers grew the Africans were no
longer paid and forced into slavery.
A New Government
• By 1619 there were 1000 colonists in Jamestown, the
Virginia Company decided that there needed to be
laws and they setup a legislature
• a lawmaking branch of government
• They called this the House of Burgesses
• Burgess: a representative who is
chosen by and speaks for a group of
people
• This was the first legislature in the colonies and was
the end of the Virginia Company’s control.
End of Company Control
• In order for the company to continue to prosper
they needed to farm more
• In order to farm more they needed more land which
they took from the local Indians
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• The Indians needed this land for farming and
hunting though.
In 1622 the Powhatans attacked and killed 340 colonists.
The colonists fought back and won taking over the
Powhatan lands.
Because of this King James I declared Virginia a royal
colony, the king now had total control
He appointed a royal governor who would work with the
House of Burgesses to keep control of the colony.
Review Questions: English
in the Americas
1.) Why did the English continue to try to settle an
English colony in North America despite all of the
hardships?
2.) What was John Rolfe’s role in the colony?
3.) How did the success of the Virginia Colony lead to
the development of the House of Burgesses?
4.) What made King James I decide to make Virginia a
royal colony?
5.) What was the cause of the conflict between the
Indians and the colonists?
The Pilgrims
• In 1534 King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic
Church and formed the Anglican Church
• Many were not happy with this new church and
wanted to start their own church
• These people were called “Separatists”
• They practiced a strict religious way of life and were
known as Puritans
• Many of these Separatists were persecuted so they
fled to the Netherlands where they could practice
their religion freely
• They called themselves “Pilgrims” because they were
on a religious journey
• The Pilgrims became homesick and were missing
their way of life in England.
• In 1616 they sent men to England to ask the Virginia
Company for a charter to start a colony in North
America.
• The Virginia Company agreed and the Pilgrims
returned to England on the Mayflower and the
Speedwell.
The Mayflower & Speedwell
• After returning to England for supplies, these ships
were going to take the Pilgrims to America.
• The Speedwell proved to be unseaworthy.
• All the Pilgrims crowded onto the Mayflower and set
out from Plymouth, England in September 1620.
A Cold Day in Late 1620
• Crowded on the Mayflower, 101 men, women, and
children headed to the lands governed by the Virginia
Company.
• Including Miles Standish, who was hired as the
colonies new military leader
• The Pilgrims were given free passage to America.
• They agreed to work for the Virginia Company. The
Pilgrims would send them furs, fish, and lumber.
The Mayflower Compact
• To keep order in the new colony, the 41 men aboard
the Mayflower, signed an agreement.
• They agreed to make laws for the good of the colony
and to obey those laws.
• Women were expected to follow the laws even
though they were not asked to sign the Mayflower
Compact.
• The Mayflower Compact was a new idea of self-rule
that gave everyone who signed it the right to share in
the making of laws, which was a new idea.
• The Compact also said that all laws would be
decided by majority rule which meant that more than
half of the people had to agree before a decision
could be made.
• This was a “Social Compact”
• A Social Compact is : An agreement among the
members of an organized society or between the
governed and the government defining and limiting
the rights and duties of each
The Journey
• The Atlantic crossing was stormy, and winds blew the
ship off course. Finally, November 11, 1620, the
Mayflower came to rest of the coast of what is today
Massachusetts.
Mayflower, 1620
• The Pilgrims searched for nearly a month before they
found Plymouth harbor. December 25, 1620 they
stepped ashore and settled on cleared land that had
once been a Native American village. In the bleak,
cold winter, the Pilgrims like the Jamestown settlers
had their “starving time.” By spring, most of them had
died! Those that survived, managed to keep the
colony alive.
Landing in Cape Cod @
Plymouth Rock
A Long Winter
• The first winter was hard.
• The weather was cold, there was not enough food,
and many settlers became ill.
• About half of the Pilgrims died.
Survival
• The colonists who did survive the winter were
surprised one March day when a tall Native American
named Samoset appeared and greeted them in
English. Samoset introduced them to Massasoit,
chief of the Wampanoag's, the group that controlled
present-day Massachusetts. One of the Natives,
named Squanto, taught the Pilgrims how to hunt in
the forests, how to plant corn, and where to catch
fish. Squanto also acted as their interpreter, helping
to maintain peace between the colonists and the
Natives.
• The Pilgrims, grateful for Squanto's help, called
him…
“a special instrument of God!”
• Thanks to the help of the Natives, the Pilgrims had an
abundant harvest in 1621. they shared their bounty
with the Native Americans in a festival called
Thanksgiving. In 1621 the council for New England
officially granted the Pilgrims a charter for their
settlement at Plymouth. A few new settlers, but the
Plymouth Colony grew slowly. It had only 300 settlers
by 1630 and 3,000 by 1660. The Pilgrims were
always a poor community. However, they clung to the
belief that God had put them in America to live as
true a Christian life as possible.
Plymouth Colony
• For a time the Pilgrims lived in peace with the
Wampanoags.
• As more English colonists came to settle in
Massachusetts, the new people were not friendly
toward the Indians.
• They settled on more and more of their lands.
• The new settlers eventually forced the Indians off
their lands.
Plymouth Colony, 1620
“As one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath
shone to many, yea in some sort to our whole nation.”
Plymouth Prospers
• The colony started to prosper. They were able to
grow food.
• Eventually the colony leaders of the colony began to
divide up the land amongst colonists, in 1623, like in
Jamestown. People began to work harder.
• But they left large areas of land that everyone could
use.
• They began to trade with new settlers and were
welcoming.
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• One colonist, William Bradford was elected governor.
He believed in the colonies religious beliefs so
strongly that he kept them separated from other
colonies. He was reelected governor 30 times!
• In 1691 Plymouth became part of the larger
Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The Massachusetts Bay
Colony
Less than 10 years after the Pilgrims founded Plymouth,
another group of religious settlers founded an English
colony in North America. Like the Pilgrims, these
settlers disagreed with many practices of the
Anglicans, or members of the Church of England.
Unlike the Pilgrims, however, they did not want to
separate from the church. They wanted to change
some of the religious practices in order to make the
church more “pure”. For this reason they were called
Puritans. The Puritans set up a community in North
America so that they could make money and live by
their Christian ideas.
Important Information
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Dates:
1625
1630
1635
1637
1639
1675
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People:
John Endecott
John Winthrop
Roger Williams
Anne Hutchinson
Thomas Hooker
David Thomson
Metacomet
A City on a Hill
• In 1628 John Endecott led the first group of Puritans
to sail to New England.
• There they built a settlement called Salem on a bay
they called the Massachusetts Bay.
• The word Massachusetts means “at the big hill” in the
Algonquin Indian language.
• In 1629 the settlers created the Massachusetts Bay
Company.
• In 1630 John Winthrop brought a 2nd larger group of
Puritans to settle along the Bay. He was their
governor for over 20 years.
• The Puritans hoped that their communities would be
a model for others and show people good clean
living.
• In 1637 Winthrop worked to form a confederation of
the New England colonies so that they could protect
themselves from attacks from Indians and the Dutch.
• He was named president of the confederation in
1643.
Puritan Life
• Puritan villages were small and centered around 2
places: the Common and the Meetinghouse or
Church
• The Common was known as the village green and
was a gathering place for people and was shared
land for animal grazing
• The Meetinghouse was central to their religious way
of life.
• They also conducted town business here during town
meetings. Here they elected town officials like:
• Constable, town crier, gravedigger etc.
• The small size of theses villages made it
easy for people to look out for one another
and made them feel like part of a community.
Home & Farm Life
• Women worked in the home preparing food and
cleaning. They also made all of the clothing for each
family member.
• The men grew crops like: corn, barley, rye and
wheat. They also grew pumpkins and squash.
• The men raised animals such as: cattle, hogs and
sheep. Which they used for food and leather.
New Ideas, New Colonies
• The lives of the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay
Colony centered around religion. In fact, religion was
so important to the Puritans that they expected all
newcomers to follow the Puritans’ beliefs. They did
not welcome people whose ideas were different from
theirs. When the Puritan leaders disapproved of
someone’s ideas, they sent that person back to
England or to another English colony. Some colonists
who left the Massachusetts Bay colony formed new
colonies nearby.
Roger Williams and Rhode
Island
• In 1631 Roger Williams and his family arrived and
settled in Salem where he became a minister.
• Williams was very outspoken about his beliefs that
the Puritans shouls be separate from the Chruch of
England.
• He wrote many letters to Governor Winthrop about
these ideas. But soon his ideas became unpopular
and in 1635 he was expelled from the Massachusetts
Bay Colony
• Expel means to force to leave
• Williams and his family fled to the south where they
received protection and food from the local
Narragansett Indians.
• In 1636 many of Williams followers decided to leave
Salem too.
• Williams bought land from the Indians and set up a
colony he called Providence.
• Providence would later become the capital of
present-day Rhode Island.
• Williams set up a government based on consent
• All parties must agree
• This new government gave people the freedom to
follow any religion they chose.
Anne Hutchinson Trial
• Anne Hutchinson was a colonist of the M.B.C she
and her family moved to the colony in 1634 and soon
began to question the authority of the Puritan
ministers and their teachings.
• Anne decided to start holding her own religious
meetings stating her own beliefs.
• In 1637 the Puritan leaders accused her of: “being a
woman not fit for our society” and brought her to trial.
• She was charged with sedition: using speech and
behavior that goes against the government
• She was found guilty, and expelled from the colony
and year later from the Puritan religion altogether.
• Anne Hutchinson and her family fled south and
founded a settlement near Providence which later
united with Williams colony and became the Rhode
Island Colony.
Connecticut
• Others left the M.B.C but not for religious purposes
they wanted to find more fertile farmland.
• In the 1630’s people began to move to the
Connecticut River Valley this is where the first
settlement was founded in 1633 and named Windsor.
• Soon after the settlement of Wethersfield was
formed.
• The best known settler was a man named Thomas
Hooker, he left M.B.C for a more free religious
community.
• He and other settlers set up a colony called Hartford.
• In 1636 Windsor, Wethersfield and Hartford united to
form the Connecticut Colony.
• Connecticut comes from the Mohegan indian name
for “at the long river”
• In 1638 Thomas preached the idea that consent
based government would be better.
• In 1639 Connecticut Colony created the Fundamental
Orders, which was a set of laws that explained the
basic purpose of a government. They were the first
written plan of government in N.A.
• They allowed the male colonists to vote in order to
elect their leaders.
New Hampshire
• Not all settlers went to the Massachusetts Bay some
settled in near the Merrimack River in what is today
New Hampshire.
• In 1623 David Thomson founded the first settlement
where they began to cut down trees and ship them as
lumber to England. The settlement was named
Strawberry Banke, but today it is known as
Portsmouth.
• In 1679 Strawberry Banke and other nearby
settlements united into the new Hampshire Colony
with a charter from King Charles II.
Indian Wars
• As more and more settlers moved and took control of
more land Indian and colonist fights broke out.
• In the CRV the Pequots and the Connecticut colony
fought and with the help of the MBC the Pequots
were defeated. Became known as the Pequot War.
• The Indians had “sold” colonists their land and they
believed that this meant that they would share it.
• The English wanted the Indians off the land
completely.
• In 1675 an all-out war started between the settlers
and Indians.
• This war was known as King Philip’s War
• The leader of the Indians was called Metacomet, but
the English called him Philip. He was the leader of
the Wampanoag's and son of Massasoit (who helped
the Pilgrims survive)
• The war began when the Indians attacked a town
called Swansea.
• In retaliation the colonists destroyed a nearby Indian
village and took their land.
• In the end 3,000 Indians dies including Metacomet
and 1 out of every 16 male colonists died.
• After the war the Indian tribes were forced off their
lands and it caused many settlers to push farther
north into northern Massachusetts seeking safety.
• Others moved farther north to Vermont, New
Hampshire and Maine and even out west.
• the New England frontier was now separated into
Indian and European settlements.
• Frontier: land that is beyond areas that
have already been settled
New England’s Economy
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•
Fishing and Whaling
Trading
Shipbuilding
Triangular Trade Routes
Naval Stores- products that were used to build/repair
ships
• Exports- goods leaving a country
• Imports- goods brought into a country
• Industry- all the businesses that make one kind of
product or provide one kind of service
• Triangular Trade Routes- shipping routes that
connected England, North America and the west
coast of Africa.
• They formed an imaginary triangle on the Atlantic
Ocean
• Trading ships carried material from the English
colonies and the West Indies.
• Slave ships carried people from central and west
Africa to use as workers
The Middle Atlantic Colonies
• While the Puritans were building settlements in New
England other settlers were establishing colonies to
the south. This region included New York, New
Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania and became
known as the Middle Atlantic Colonies.
• The first settlers in the Middle Atlantic region
discovered that when the land was cleared of trees
and rocks it was good for framing. The climate was
perfect for growing crops like wheat, rye and corn
which were used to make bread. The Middle Atlantic
Colonies produced so many crops used in making
bread it came to be called the “breadbasket.”
•
•
•
•
•
Unit Vocabulary:
Refuge
Trial by jury
Great Awakening
Township
militia
Important People:
Henry Hudson
Benjamin Franklin
Peter Stuyvesant
Edward Byllinge
William Penn
•
•
•
•
•
Important Dates:
1626
1664
1682
1710
1732
New Netherland
• In the 1600’s the Dutch began building settlements in
what is today New York, new Jersey and Delaware.
They called it New Netherland.
• After Henry Hudson explored the river valley area in
New York in 1609, the Dutch claimed the valley for
Holland.
• In 1621 the Dutch set up trading posts and created
the Dutch West India Company.
• In 1626 the Dutch began building a fort and setting
up a down on Manhattan Island.
• They called this new settlement New Amsterdam.
• Also in 1626 the Dutch bought Manhattan island from
the Manhattan Indians and it became the capital of
New Netherland colony.
• The Dutch welcomed many new settlers from many
different countries to their colony and they began to
expand.
New York
• In 1646 the Dutch West India Company appointed
Peter Stuyvesant as director general of New
Netherland.
• When Stuyvesant took over there was fighting
amongst the colonists over land, with Indians and
other neighboring Europeans.
• Stuyvesant was a strong ruler and solved many of
the issues, but the colonists weren’t happy with his
kind of law; the colonists wanted more say in their
government. But it was not allowed.
• Even though there were issues the colony
grew and prospered.
New York
• In 1655 Stuyvesant took over a small colony called
New Sweden, in what is today Delaware.
• As the Dutch colonies grew the English thought they
were stopping them from expanding their territory.
• For this reason Kind Charles II declared war on
Holland.
• The Kind told his brother the Duke of York if he could
seize the Dutch colonies they would be his.
• In 1664 English warships sailed into New
Amsterdam's harbor.
New York
• Stuyvesant tried to force his colonists to fight but they
would not.
• Stuyvesant was forced to give up control and the
English divided up New Netherland in to what is
today New Jersey and New York, New York City was
once the Dutch capital of New Amsterdam.
New Jersey
• After the split parts of New York and New Jersey
were offered to any Englishman who wanted to buy
land to settle.
• Among the people who wanted to buy land was a
group called the Society of Friends a religious group
aka the Quakers.
• In 1674 a group of Quakers led by Edward Byllinge
bought a share of New Jersey. They started the first
Quaker colony in North America.
The Quakers
• The Quakers believed that all people are equal and
all people are basically good.
• The Quakers believed that all violence was wrong
and therefore carried no guns or weapons, they
believed in solving problems peacefully.
• B/C of this they were treated poorly in England and
refused to fight for the king.
• Like the Puritans they hoped to find refuge , a safe
place, in North America and hoped that
New Jersey would be a place where they
could worship as they pleased.
Pennsylvania
• The area that is today known as Pennsylvania was
given to William Penn by King Charles II.
• Penn was a Quaker.
• He was given the land because the king owed a debt
to Penn’s father.
• Penn wanted to name the land “Sylvania” which
means woods.
• The king asked that it be named Pennsylvania to
honor Penn’s father. The new name means
“Penn’s Woods”
Pennsylvania/Delaware
• In 1682 Penn wrote up a document that planned out
Pennsylvania’s government. He called it the Frame of
Government.
• This document planned a legislature called the
General Assembly to make laws.
• It said that the citizens of Pennsylvania would have
freedom of speech, worship and a trial by jury.
• Guarantees a person accused of breaking the
law the right to be tried by a jury of fellow
citizens.
• Penn was a fair leader and soon became
owner of Delaware where he set up a new
general assembly. The first Delaware
General Assembly met in 1704.
The Great Awakening
• Unlike the New England colonies the middle Atlantic
colonies welcomed people of different religions.
• Many towns had more than one type of church in
them.
• This lead to the Great Awakening: a religious
movement started by a Dutch minister named
George Whitefield, that called for people to have a
greater freedom of choice in religion.
Review Questions:
1.) Where did the Dutch first settle in North America?
2.) What were some of Peter Stuyvesant’s
accomplishments?
3.) Why did the Quakers refuse to fight for the king?
4.) What did trial by jury guratantee a person?
5.) In what year did the English take over New
Netherland?
6.) Where was the first Quaker colony in North America
located?
7.) What was the Great Awakening?
Colonial Philadelphia
As proprietor of the Pennsylvania
colony, William Penn planned not only
its government but also its
settlements. One of them,
Philadelphia, became the largest and
wealthiest city in all the English
colonies of North America.
Colonial Philadelphia
• William Penn named the main city Philadelphia a
word meaning, “brotherly love” in Greek.
• Penn divided the colony into townships: areas of land
• Each township would be 5,000 acres and then
divided into even gridded squares and given to
individual families. Each house would be within
walking distance of another house and a church.
• Philadelphia would be divided differently than the
smaller townships.
Philadelphia: The City
• The city was divided into a checkerboard grid system,
with open public parks, waterways and good land.
• By 1710 it was the largest city in all the colonies.
• It was also a major port city constantly importing and
exporting goods.
• The people mostly immigrants from Europe. The
largest group being the Quakers from England.
These groups of immigrants set up shops and were
skilled laborers like: butchers, blacksmiths, bakers
and carpenters.
Philadelphia: The City
• The next largest immigrant group were from
Germany.
• They brought the idea of farming and using lumber to
make barns to house their animals and grains. They
were also gunmakers and wagon makers.
• Some immigrants came for religious freedom, or to
escape wars ad famines in their own countries, some
came to make money and earn a living.
Benjamin Franklin & Philadelphia
• Accomplishments for Philly:
- trained the 1st firefighters
- worked to get the roads paved and lit at night
-Raised money for 1st hospital
-organized 1st militia: volunteer army
to protect the city and border
Benjamin Franklin & Philadelphia
• Accomplishments in Science:
- Invented the 1st lightning rod which attracts
lightning away from people and homes and
guides it to the ground instead.
• Accomplishments in Education/Writing:
- Established 1st library
-helped found 1st Philly school; Philadelphia
Academy
- He was a printer & started the first
newspaper; Pennsylvania Gazette
- Published Poor Richard’s Almanack
almanac: a book issued once a year
Poor Richard’s Almanack
• These were popular publishing offering a mixture of
seasonal weather forecasts, practical household
hints, puzzles, and other amusements like comics
and drawings.
• Farmers used the the Almanack was useful because
it would let them know average temperatures and
rainfall so they could plant their crops at the right
time.
• It also contained a calendar, weather, poems,
sayings, star information and astrological info.
Poor Richard’s Almanack
Moving Westward
• In the mid-1700’s many settlers began towards the
western boarders of the colonies, away from the
Atlantic Ocean.
• They all followed an old Indian trail that became know
an the Great Wagon Road because they traveled by
wagon.
• The road was difficult because of the land, it went
through the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountains.
• One of the most famous travelers on this road was
Daniel Boone: a famous explorer of the western U.S.
Southern Colonies
As towns grew and cities in the 13 colonies
grew, plantations also grew– especially in the Southern
Colonies. Plantations became prosperous because
plantation owners known as planters, were able to grow
large amounts of cash crops, more than on small farms.
Planters acquired as much land as they could in order to
grow more and more crops to sell.
The Plantation Economy
• Plantations were an important part of the economy of
the southern colonies.
• As planters learned to grow more cash crops more
plantations were started
• Early plantations were built along tidewaters: lowlying land along a coast because the soil was rich
• Crop buyers from England would travel the southern
waterways bartering and trading for crops with goods
that they mad like: shoes, lace, thread, tools and
dishes
Plantations
• Owners of the largest plantations would hire a person
to buy and sell their crops and other items for them.
This person was called a broker.
• Planters then sent their crops to England with the
broker along with a list of items they were to buy.
• In order to make room for all of the crops they wanted
to grow planters needed to keep clearing new land,
which increased the size of their plantations.
Plantation Workers
• In the beginning when plantations were small family
members worked the farms from morning until night.
• As plantations grew the planters began to add more
and more workers, until the only job of the owners
was to oversee the workers.
• Many of the first workers were indentured servants: a
person who agreed to work for another person
without pay for certain length of time in exchange for
passage to North America.
• The 1st indentured servants to be sold in the colonies
were kidnapped Africans.
• Eventually the Africans just became slaves with no
end to their service.
A Slave’s Life
• There were 2 kinds of slaves: field slaves and house
slaves.
• Field slaves worked in the field raising and harvesting
cash crops. They were watched by overseers: people
hired to watch the slaves and punish them as
necessary.
• House slaves were treated much better than field
slaves. They were fed, clothed and housed.
• Female house slaves did the cooking, cleaning,
sewing and washing for the household.
• Male house slaves took care of the horses, carriages
and fixed things around the house.
A Slave’s Life
• Slave owners treated slaves as property and they
could be bought or sold and treated and punished as
the owner wanted.
• Some slave owners were extremely cruel.
• Laws forbade slaves to learn to read or write and
slave children were put to work at the age of 10.
A Planter’s Life
• Southern plantation owners and their families were
the best educated people in the 13 colonies.
• Some plantation owners had their own schools on
their plantations with tutors from Europe.
• Girls stopped going to school by 12 or 13 so that they
could learn to be housewives.
• The job of the plantation owner and his wife was to
take care of all members of the plantation which
could number in the 100’s with family, servants and
slaves.
• The owners of the plantations also served as
important members in the community like: judge,
sheriff, governor, etc.
Southern Cities
• The Southern colonies had fewer towns and cities
than the Middle Atlantic and New England colonies.
This was because planters and farmers wanted to
spread out over as much land as possible. They
wanted to use the land to grow crops and weren’t
interested in building towns.
• By the mid-1700’s some settlements along the coast
had grown into large towns and cities. Among these
cities were Charles Town, Wilmington, Norfolk,
Baltimore and Savannah. They all had good harbors
and grew because of trade with Europe.
Trade Ports
• Some settlers who lived inland brought their goods to
the harbor in port cities to trade/sell.
• They would buy/trade for imported item such as: tea,
coffee, pepper, furniture, silverware, and medicine.
• There were also people in these port cities who
worked as: fishers, hatmakers, tailors, and printers.
• These workers would hire young men as apprentices:
young people who worked for a skilled worker in
order to learn a trade. Most were not paid but were
given food and board.
Charles Town
• Charles Town, South Carolina became the largest
city in the Southern colonies.
• In 1708 it had a population of 6,000.
• Merchants and planters had the most power in the
city.
• Most people in South Carolina lived in or around
Charles Town during this time.
Other Important Cities
•
•
•
•
Wilmington, North Carolina: naval stores/lumber
Savannah, Georgia: Major Port,
Norfolk, Virginia: Major Port, naval stores, exports.
Baltimore, Maryland: shipped out large supplies of
tobacco and grain , became a center for shipbuilding,
major port.
County Seats
• A county is a large section of a colony that contains
smaller cities/towns.
• The county seat was the main town for a county.
• The county seat in many cities became the trade
center for trade, auctions, and a gathering place for
land owners to have meetings, make laws and vote
for leaders.
• County seats usually had: a general store, a jail and
a courthouse.
The American
Revolution
CHAPTER 8
Uniting the Colonies
Chapter 9: American Revolution
• Although the colonies were at war
with Britain many Americans believed
their problems with the king and
Parliament could be settled. They
hoped the British government would
change its views an allow them to
take part in their law making.
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
• Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas
Paine and stated that people should rule themselves
and that, “A government of our own is a natural right.”
• Like Thomas Paine, Richard Henry Lee gave a
speech at the 2nd Continental Congress saying that
the colonies no longer owed allegiance to the King.
• Lee proposed a resolution that said, “Resolved: That
these united colonies are free and independent
states.” He wanted this resolution to be presented to
England and the colonies.
• Before Congress would present his case
they had to come to an agreement,
which turned out to be difficult.
• A resolution is a formal statement of the feelings of a
group about an important topic.
• Congress debated the issue for over a month. They
hoped that the time would give the 13 colonies a
chance to finally come to a unanimous agreement
and finally join together.
• During the same time the 2nd Continental Congress
formed a committee made up of: Benjamin Franklin
representing Pennsylvania, John Adams representing
Massachusetts, Robert Livingston representing New
York, Roger Sherman representing Connecticut, and
Thomas Jefferson representing Virginia.
• Their purpose was t come up with a document that
listed the rights and freedoms that they felt they
deserved from England, and hoped that this
document would finally unite all the colonies.
• Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer, was given the task of
writing this declaration.
• He wrote and rewrote the document for 17 days
straight, this document would later become known as
the Declaration of Independence.
• The Declaration of Independence has five parts.
They are the Preamble, the Statement of Human
Rights, Charges Against Human Rights, Charges
Against the King and Parliament, and the
• Statement of Separation and Signatures.
Declaration of Independence
• Preamble
• This is an introduction that stated why
the declaration was needed in the first
place.
• Discussed the colonists ideas on
government
• The largest part was a list of the
grievances the colonists had against
the king and parliament.
Declaration of Independence
• It also listed the ways the colonists had attempted to
settle their differences peacefully and declares that
the colonies were free and independent states.
• The declaration was read to Congress on June 28,
1776. Thomas Jefferson read it aloud and it was
discussed and changes were made
• July 2nd the Congress met to vote on Henry Lee’s
resolution to cute ties with Britain. It was approved.
Declaration of Independence
• July 4, 1776 Congress gave the final approval
and accepted the Dec. of Indep.
• August 2nd the Final Draft was written and the
Declaration was signed
• John Hancock signed first and said that he made
his name large so that King George could read it
without using his glasses!
• The way he signed his name became so famous
People now refer to signing your signature
as John Hancock.
Forming a New Government
• The 2nd Continental Congress wasn’t done after the
Declaration. John Hancock organized a committee to
figure out how to unite the colonies into one country .
• Congress chose John Dickinson of PA to write a new
plan of government
• His plan was to unite the colonies into a
Confederation of 13 States in order to form a “firm
league of friendship” among them.
• The plan was approved on November 15, 1777
one year after the plan was presented
to Congress.
• It was called the Articles of Confederation
Article of Confederation
• It took until March 1, 1781 for all of the states to
agree to follow this plan.
• The articles stated that each state was to elect leader
and choose representatives to be part of the national
legislature called the Congress of the Confederation.
• Each state would be given one vote in Congress, no
matter that size of the state.
• This Confederation served as the United States
government for 8 years, throughout the Revolutionary
War.
Powers Granted
Power Denied
declare war and make peace
executive branch
maintain an army and navy
raising taxes
make treaties with other countries stop states from printing their own money
borrow money
regulate trade with other countries or between states
establish a postal service
court system
Fighting the Revolutionary War
• George Washington arrive in Massachusetts to meet
the Continental Army in July 1775, less than 3 weeks
after the Battle of Bunker Hill. The 14,500soldiers
wore no uniforms, many had no guns so they carried
spears and axes. With no money and little training,
the Continental Army went to war against one of the
most powerful armies in the world, the British Army.
The War in the North
• By spring 1776 Washington and his “army” moved
south from Massachusetts to New York. By fall the
British had defeated the Americans at several small
battles. Washington and the Continental Army were
on the run!
• By winter what army Washington had left had
marched through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania.
• Most of the British army was sent back to Mass. for
the winter.
• When Washington heard the news that the army that
was left was unprepared for an attack he decided to
make his move against the British.
The War in the North
• On Christmas Day 1776 Washington and his army
crossed the ice filled Delaware River in boats.
• Through the night his army march in the freezing
weather towards Trenton, NJ.
• At daybreak the Americans made a surprise attack,
more than 900 Hessians were taken prisoner.
• By the New Year in October 1777 the Americans
defeated the British at the battle of Saratoga in NY.
• The Americans defeated more than 5,000 soldiers
led by British General John Burgoyne.
• Because of bad planning by 2 British generals the
British army ended up being split in 2 making it easy
for Washington and his army to defeat the British. It
was one of the worst defeats of the war for the
British. They surrendered on October 17, 1777.
• The Battle of Saratoga became known as the turning
point for the Americans in the war.
Winter @ Valley Forge
• In 1777 Washington's arm set up headquarters in
Valley Forge, PA. That winter the Continental Army
was almost destroyed by cold and hunger, many men
died.
• During their winter in Valley Forge this army was
trained by other countries, such as France and
Germany, officers who believed n the Patriot’s cause.
• The army learned how to attack and retreat quickly,
follow commands, and how to use a bayonet.
• By the spring of 1778 Washington's army was better
trained, though smaller and was ready to march on.
Help from Other Countries
• While the Continental Army was at Valley Forge
Benjamin Franklin was in France asking for their
leaders for supplies and soldiers.
• The French were willing to help in order to weaken
the British government.
• Once the French heard about the Continental Army’s
win at Saratoga they were more than willing to help.
• The Spanish also sent guns, food and money. The
Spanish settled in Louisiana also helped take over
some British forts.
Real American Heroes
• A man named Ethan Allen led a group of militia from
Vermont to one of the first victories over the British.
They captured Fort Ticonderoga in New York.
• Nathan Hale from CT worked for General
Washington as a spy and collected key information.
But he was caught and hung by the British. It is told
that before he was hanged he said,” I regret that I
have but one life to lose for my country.”
• At sea Navy commander John Paul Jones battled a
huge British war ship in the North Sea near Britain.
He took the war to the British and attacked when it
was unexpected. His unwillingness to surrender
led to the British surrendering.
• He is quoted saying when asked to give
up,” I have not yet begun to fight!”
• Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley earned the name Molly
Pitcher for bringing water to the men on the
battlefield. When her husband was wounded she took
over firing the cannons for him at the battle of
Monmouth.
• Mary Solcomb joined her husband on the battlefield
in 1776 at the Battle of Moores Creek.
The War in the South
• In 1778 the British captures Savannah, GA, in 1780
they captured Charleston and Camden, SC. The
British now hoped that they could defeat the
Continental Army.
• General Nathan Greene commanded the southern
Continental Army and began to try to take back the
southern areas now under British control.
• In 1781 Benedict Arnold a Continental officer led the
British attacks on Virginia towns.
• He also exchanged important American war
documents to the British for a position in the British
army.
• His name has become synonymous
with being a traitor of the worst kind.
Victory @ Yorktown
• By summer 1781 British General Cornwallis had
setup a HQ at Yorktown, VA. This location gave the
British easy access to the Chesapeake Bay where
they could receive supplies from their ships.
• A large French army joined the Continental army
near NYC and march south in order to surround
Yorktown.
• At the same time the French navy was taking control
of Chesapeake Bay to cut off the British from
receiving any supplies.
• Cornwallis and his troops were trapped!
Victory @ Yorktown
• By late September it was obvious that Cornwallis had
no way of winning the battle.
• After being surrounded and under attack for weeks
from both land and sea Cornwallis was forced to
surrender.
• The British soldiers marched out of Yorktown and
surrendered their weapons.
• There was fighting around the colonies for 2 more
years, but after Yorktown the Patriots had basically
won the war!
The Treaty of Paris
• The official end to the war didn’t occur until the Treaty
of Paris was signed.
• Both sides British and Colonists sent representatives
to work out the Peace Treaty.
• The Americans wanted the King and Parliament to
recognize them as free and independent and to
remove all British troops from American soil.
• They also wanted all Americans whose property was
damaged during the war to be paid.
• The British asked that Loyalists who wished to
remain in America be treated fairly.
• The 2 sides negotiated for over a year and
the Treaty of Paris was signed
on Sept. 3, 1783.
• The treaty also officially named the United States of
America as a new country.
• It outlined its borders which reached from Florida to
the south, Great Lakes to the north, and the
Mississippi river formed its western border.
Effects of the War
• After the war Britain could no longer use the United
States as a source of lumber and agricultural
products.
• But the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch
ships left American ports full of supplies to trade.
• After the war more Americans began to move
westward looking for new land.
• In order to protect their western borders the US set
up a permanent army.
• In the 1800’s we set up West Point as the first military
academy and later a naval school at Annapolis, MD.
• The American Revolution wasn’t just
• a war it became a model for revolutions
• in other countries as well.
Chapter 10
The Constitution
A New Nation, Problems
from the start
• In 1781 before the war with Britain had ended, the 13
former colonies-now independent states- approved
the Article of Confederation. This plan for a central
government made the USA a republic. A republic is a
form of government in which the people elect
representatives to govern the country. People hoped
that under the Articles of Confederation, all 13 stated
could act together as one nation when needed.
Under the Articles, however, the central government
was weak.
Problems
• When Congress was called to discuss important
issues there were often not enough representative to
allow a decision to be made. In order to make a
decision at least 9 of the 13 colonies must have been
represented. Often there weren’t enough reps.
• Even when there were all of the reps they very often
couldn’t come to an agreement.
• No state wanted to be under control of the other.
• Another problem was that Congress had no official
place in which to meet, they would meet in different
cities and buildings each time.
• The A.O.C also said that Congress could
declare war, make treaties and borrow
money but it couldn’t collect taxes.
• Congress asked each state to donate
money to help support eh central
government. But, state leaders could
refuse to send $. States could also refuse
to pat debts they owed.
• The central govn’t could print money in
order to help. But printing too much money
caused inflation.
• Inflation occurs when the value of a govt’s
$ falls because there is too much of it. This
meant that people needed more money to
buy the same foods and services. Costs
went from 2 cents to $20!
• The articles also stated that congress could not raise
a large army without permission of the states. The
states feared the the govn’t could use an army to
enforce unfair laws. But this also meant that rasining
an army to protect against an invasion was also
difficult.
Shays’s Rebellion
• There were so many economic problems in the
1780’s. Many revolutionary soldiers had never been
paid for their service in the war, they were poor and
still had to pay high taxes.
• In order to work many farmers/soldiers had to borrow
money and go into debt.
• If people could not pay their debts or taxes, the
courts of some state would take away their farms.
The farmers were so outraged they began to protest
the courts and not let them hold meetings.
• One such protest was called Shays’s Rebellion and
was named for Daniel Shays, a former captain in the
Continental Army.
• It was the fall of 1786 when Shays and a group of
farmers led attacks against the courthouses. The
farmers hoped that they could stop the courts from
taking their land.
• In January 1787 Shays led an attack on a US arsenal
located in Springfield, Mass. An arsenal is a building
that is used for storing weapons.
• The arsenal belonged to the central government, but
Shays attacked anyway.
• Congress did not have any army to defend the
building. Massachusetts called out its state troops to
stop Shays. In the end 4 men of the rebellion were
killed.
• Shays rebellion showed that many Americans were
unhappy with the state govnt’s and Congress had no
way to defend US property the states and US govn’t
remained in unrest, under the Articles of
Confederation.
The Western Lands
• Congress was in charge of dividing up the lands west
of the Appalachian mountains. Many settlers began
to move here after the war.
• The Ohio River valley area became known as the
Northwest territory. A territory is land that belongs to
a national government but is not a state and is not
represented in Congress.
• As more and more people moved out west they
began to have disputes over land boundaries and
who got what land.
• In 1785 Congress passed a land ordinance; set of
laws that created a system to survey
or measure land
• The land were divided into squares called townships
and then into 36 smaller sections to be sold off by the
central government. It was so successful the lands
west of the Mississippi were divided the same way.
• We still use township and section lines today.
• In 1787 Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance
which set up a plan for governing the NW territory
and for forming new states from the lands. The
ordinance also promised the settlers freedom of
religion and did not allow slavery.
A Rope of Sand
• Some people argued that Congress needed more
power.
• James Madison who represented VA and the
youngest member of Congress was worried that
Congress under the AOC had become a “rope of
sand”, which would be useless if ever needed.
• Many other believed that the nation needed a
stronger central govn’t in order to jeep the stated
from breaking apart.
• Yet others like, Patrick Henry believed that a rope of
sand was better than one of iron!
The Constitutional
Convention
• In order to discuss the weaknesses of the AOC some
leaders called in the states to hold a convention to
discuss trade among the states it was held in
Annapolis, MD in 1786.
• Only 5 states were present: DE, NY, NJ, PA, & VA.
• The most important topic to discuss was commerce
(trade) Under the AOC each state was able to print
its own money, but the $ was not accepted from state
to state making trade impossible.
• In order to resolve this the state reps agreed that a
stronger central govn’t was needed to help regulate
commerce among the states.
• This also meant the AOC had to be changed.
• In order to change the AOC all states had to agree!
• So the delegates from the Annapolis convention sent
a letter to Congress asking it to call another
convention. Representative from all the states could
then meet and discuss their problems and also
decide whether changing the AOC would help solve
those problems.
• All states agreed except Rhode Island who still
believed that a strong national government would
threaten the rights of their citizens.
The Philadelphia Convention
• The delegates met in 1781 in Philly, one of the first to
arrive was George Washington. He was immediately
elected the President of the convention. He was
55yrs old by then and a decorated war hero.
• 55 delegates fro 12 states were represented, only
Rhode Island refused to join. They met at the
Pennsylvania state house which was later called
Independence Hall.
• They met in secret so that they could make their best
decisions without outside influence.
• They decided they needed to replace the A.O.C and
create a Constitution that described the relationship
between the state and the national gov’t
• The delegates agreed to create a federal system of
government. This meant that the national gov’t and
the state govt’ would share control.
• The states would be in control over all rights that
affected their own state; local gov’t, state laws, and
state elections. They would no longer print their own
money, raise armies/navies or make treaties with
other countries.
• The national gov’t would have control over all
national laws and rights.
• This new system would be the “supreme
law of the land” and was called the
Constitution of the United States of America.
Federal System of Government
National Government
• Control trade btw
states/foreign
countires
• Army/navy
• Print $
• Admit new states
• War/peace
• Laws for immigration
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State Govt’s
Public schools
Local gov’t
Elections
Trade w/in state
Marriage laws
Voting laws
Federal System of Government
Shared Powers
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Collect taxes
Court systems
Banks
Borrow money
Make public laws for health and
welfare of citizens
The Great Compromise
• The delegates agreed that each state would be
represented in Congress and the number of
representatives would be based on the population of
each state.
• The Virginia Plan said that larger states would have
more representatives. But people thought this unfair.
• The New Jersey Plan was created to fix this, it said
that all states would have the same # of
representatives.
• This still didn’t make everyone happy.
• To solve the representative problem the delegates
created a 2 house Congress, this was the
• Great Compromise.
• Another problem was whether to count slaves as part
of the population. The northern states didn’t want
them to count because they had less slaves than the
southern states.
• To solve this problem they created the Three-Fifths
Compromise, this said that only 3 out of 5 of all
slaves would count for the population.
• The delegates were moving closer to a final decision
on the new government for the United States.
The Three Branches
• The delegates to the Constitutional Convention wrote
the Constitution with great care. Gouverneur Morris
of PA spent long hours writing down and polishing
each sentence. The delegates gave him the job of
recording all the ideas that had been approved during
the convention.
The Legislative Branch
• Article I of the Constitution explains the lawmaking or
legislative branch of the government. The Congress
could make the laws and regulate the trade between
the states, raise an army/navy, coin money & declare
war.
• Congress would have 2 houses: the House of
Representatives and the Senate. Either house can
propose a bill for any bill to become a law the
majority of each house would have to agree.
• The number of members each state sent to the
House of Representatives would depend on the
state’s population.
House of
Representatives/Senate
• A census: or population count would be taken every
10 years to find out the # of people per state.
• Today there are 453 members of the House of Reps.
• In the Senate each state has 2 senators.
• Today Citizens of each state are given the power to
elect their members for the House of Reps and
Senate.
Executive Branch
The President
Qualifications:
• The president must be at least 35 years old, a
natural-born citizen, and have lived in the United
States at least 14 years.
How He/She is Elected:
• Americans vote for president every four years on the
first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
That popular vote chooses delegates to the Electoral
College, which actually elects the president in
December.
Term
• Four years. The president cannot serve more than
two terms.
Income
• Yearly salary: $400,000.
Succession
• If a president dies, resigns, is disabled, or is removed
from office, the Vice president assumes the office.
This has occurred nine times.
Job Description
• The Constitution assigns the president two roles:
chief executive of the federal government and
Commander in Chief of the armed forces. As
Commander in Chief, the president has the authority
to send troops into combat, and is the only one who
can decide whether to use nuclear weapons.
• As chief executive, he enforces laws, treaties, and
court rulings; develops federal policies; prepares the
national budget; and appoints federal officials. He
also approves or vetoes acts of Congress and grants
pardons.
The Vice President
• The primary responsibility of the Vice President of the
United States is to be ready at a moment's notice to
assume the Presidency if the President is unable to
perform his duties
• The Vice President also serves as the President of
the United States Senate, where he or she casts the
deciding vote in the case of a tie. Except in the case
of tiebreaking votes, the Vice President rarely
actually presides over the Senate. Instead, the
Senate selects one of their own members, usually
junior members of the majority party, to preside over
the Senate each day.