Native Americans
European Exploration
Africans and Slavery
Mrs. Dean
Social Studies
Arrival of Native Americans
Who discovered America?
 28,000 nomadic hunters traveled BC over
Bering Strait

◦ Some continue to hunt large game
◦ Others settle and become farmers

Native Americans reside throughout the
Americas for thousands of years
◦ 50-100 million natives
◦ More than 2000 groups (or tribes)
Native Americans Thrive

Hundreds of tribes succeeded in North
America
◦ Had their own distinct languages
◦ Estimates of NA in North America = 7-12
million (25 million in Mexico alone)
Harvested corn, beans, squash, sunflowers,
cotton and took advantage of the
numerous animal resources
 Savage?

If this could be yours…would you take it?
Causes for European Exploration
3
G’s
◦Gold
◦God
◦Glory
Gold

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In Europe – land is no longer the way to be
rich…they looked to gold
Marco Polo – travels to China, wrote about
the culture – sparks exploration
◦ More and more people are interested in the
exotic goods
◦ Merchants realize they can make $ by selling
goods from the East
 Spices (cinnamon, pepper, cloves), perfumes, and
precious stones in high demand
 Most of the trading is done on land through middle men

Merchants begin looking for routes to trade
directly with the East
Glory

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What is the U.S. known for TODAY?
Large nation-states begin to form (equivalent of
countries)
◦ Look to establish wealth and power specifically through
power and trade
◦ Establish laws, courts, taxes and armies

Improvements in technology encourage this growth
◦
◦
◦
◦
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Moveable type/printing press = new info
Better maps = more accurate
Better navigation instruments = know direction/location
Better ships = longer voyages, faster, larger cargo areas
Look to make a better name for their nation-state!
God

Church is constantly looking to acquire
land, wealth and believers
◦ Protestant Reformation (early 1500’s) – led to
decline in Catholic Church
◦ Look for areas and people to convert
Christopher Columbus


How have you celebrated Columbus in the past?
Given money buy king to sail West towards Asia (for
more efficient trading)
◦ Return for gold and spices, Columbus would receive 10%
of profits, governor of new lands, and the title Admiral of
the Ocean Sea
◦ October 1492 – landed in Bahamas
◦ Kidnapped natives so he could find gold in Cuba

On return trips, Columbus focused on finding gold
and slaves
◦ Never found the “pot of gold” he was looking for
◦ Many thousands of slaves died in route back to Europe
◦ 1515 – 50,000 Indians left; 1550 – only 500 (originally
millions)
Spanish Settlement
Spanish settled primarily in the Caribbean
and Central America
 Ponce de Leon – first to arrive on North
American mainland

◦ Looking for gold (exhausted supply in
Caribbean) and fountain of youth

Spanish primarily stay in South (such as
Florida, New Orleans)
Explorers vs. Indians

Examples of what is to come
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Columbus = Arawaks of the Bahamas
Cortes = Aztecs of Mexico
Pizarro = Incas of Peru
English settlers of VA and MA = Powhatans
and Pequots
Spanish vs. English Colonies

Spanish Armada
◦ Failed attempt by
Spain to restore
English monarchy to a
Catholic one
◦ Spain no longer the
ruler of the seas –
opens the way for
English exploration
English Take Over Exploration

1585 – Roanoke (off of North Carolina)
◦ Difficult winter – colonists returned to
England
◦ 1587 (2nd attempt)
 100 men; 17 women
 Wrote of Native Americans
 Virginia Dare – first English colonist born on
American soil
 John White sailed back for more supplies –
returned 3 years later, Roanoke deserted
 Only clue – CROATOAN carved in a tree
English Exploration (cont’d)

Jamestown
◦ Group of merchants
from the Virginia
Company of London
◦ April 1607
◦ In the Chesapeake Bay
(Virginia) – named the
river “James” and the
town Jamestown” after
who???
◦ Left with 144 men –
only 38 left a year later

Jamestown
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When residents were
starving, some ran off
to join the Indians
Gov. of Jamestown
ordered return of men
but men did not
Gov. ordered revenge
on Indians
Soldiers killed 16 Indians,
burned houses, ruined
corn fields, took queen of
tribe and children
◦ Took them into boats, threw
children overboard and shot
them in the head
◦ Queen was taken off and
stabbed to death

12 yrs later, Indians feared
growing numbers of
settlers and went on
killing rampage: 347 men,
women and children
Total War
Jamestown
New Wave of Colonists

Came searching for religious freedom
 Puritans = Protestants who wanted to reform the
Anglican Church
 Separatists (Pilgrims) = those who wanted to set up
their own churches
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Only 35 of 102 Mayflower passengers were
Pilgrims
Originally planned on settling in Virginia, but
landed in Cape Cod
“Mayflower Compact” – set up
representative govt.
Pilgrims and Indians
What is Thanksgiving?
 Thanksgiving Video

Africans
Regions rich with natural resources –
gold, copper, iron
 By 1400, Portugal had set up trading posts
on the west coast
 The Columbian exchange – pg 60
 Why were Africans chosen as the ideal
slaves (instead of poor whites or Native
Americans)?

Africans

First Africans (20) workers to Jamestown
in 1619
◦ Perhaps brought more as indentured servants
– not lifetime service
Up until 1640 – some Africans were free
and owned property
 By 1660, slavery was recognized in
Virginian law
 African slaves came by the shiploads

Colonial Rule

England views its North American colonies
as economic resource
◦ In order to profit, colonies need to export more
than they import
◦ Navigation Acts – ensures profits for England
 Monopoly over all colonists goods
 Colonists begin to smuggle goods
Magna Carta – English document that
specifies limited government
 Education important – Harvard (1636),
William and Mary (1693) established
 “Numbers” pg 115
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French and Indian War
Map – pg 117
 American population growing – need
more room to expand
 French had good relationship with NA

◦ Did not want their land, but fur trade
◦ Often married NA women

Iroquois balanced the power by siding
with the British
French and Indian War

George Washington surveys the land in
the Ohio River Valley
◦ Assigned Liuetenant of 150 militia (1754)
◦ Went to present day Pittsburgh – French
already built a fort
◦ Established a nearby fort – Fort Necessity
◦ Washington tried to attack, but failed –
returned to Virginia
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Homework: Read Chapter 4-4 (121-125)