HISTORY NOTESAMERICAN COLONIZATION

CHAPTERS 3-6

Main European countries that colonized in the New World (Western Hemisphere) – North America

A. Spain

B. France

C. England

The Impact Today On American Colonization

The colonies influenced values and beliefs many Americans cherish today.

• Many people still come to the Americas in search of economic opportunity and religious freedom.

• Representative government remains an important part of the American political system.

For example:

England in America

• The English defeat of the Spanish Armada ended Spanish control of the seas.

• England and other European nations could begin colonies in North America because it was now safe to sail the waters.

• In 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for Queen Elizabeth.

In 1607, Jamestown, Virginia, became the first successful English colony in the New World.

Jamestown Settlement

• In April 1607, settlers sent by the Virginia Company in London entered Chesapeake Bay and founded Jamestown.

• They faced many hardships. • For example, they found no gold nor

did they establish the fish or fur trading expected of them by the Virginia Company investors.

• The number of colonists dwindled.

Jamestown Settlement (cont.)

• Captain John Smith arrived in 1608 to govern the colonists.

• The Virginia Company installed yet another leader to govern them after Smith.

• A harsh winter and more trouble continued to plague the colonists.

Jamestown Settlement (cont.)

• When the colonists discovered how to grow tobacco, the colony began to prosper.

• Relations with the Native Americans living nearby also improved when one of the colonists, John Rolfe, married Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan.

Pocahontas

Jamestown Settlement (cont.)

• The Virginia Company allowed a representative government in which ten towns in the colony each sent two representatives, or burgesses, to an assembly.

• The assembly made local laws. • The House of Burgesses met for the

first time on July 30, 1619.

In 1620, Plymouth, Massachusetts, became the second successful English colony in the New World.

• There were two groups of Protestants in England.

• Those who wanted to reform the Anglican Church were Puritans.

• Those who wanted to leave and set up their own church were Pilgrims (Separatists).

Religious Freedom (cont.)

• The Mayflower carried Pilgrims to settle the Virginia colony.

• They landed north, however, at Plymouth, Massachusetts, due to the oncoming winter.

• Plymouth was not part of the Virginia Company territory and its laws did not apply.

Religious Freedom (cont.)

• So the Pilgrims drew up the Mayflower Compact to provide laws to live by.

• It was the beginning of a representative government in America.

Religious Freedom (cont.)

• The Pilgrims received help from the Native Americans in learning to plant crops and in hunting and fishing.

• Without them the Pilgrims may not have survived.

There were 13 English colonies established in the United States (1607-1755).

A. To earn a better living (many homeless and jobless).

B. To own land

C. A desire for religious freedom

D. A greater chance for self-government (to have more say in their government).

Reasons why people came to live in the English colonies

After years of struggling to survive, the English colonies grew and prospered. In time, the English settlers developed self-reliance.

(confidence in their own abilities)

Self-reliance is the key reason why the English colonies were successful.

Throughout the 1600's and 1700's, England and France were rivals. They engaged in a series of struggles over dominance in Europe and North America.

The last of these major wars was called the French and Indian War (known as Seven Year's War in Europe).

The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was fought over control of the Ohio River region and dominance in Europe.

England won the French and Indian war.

In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, the French gave up the eastern half of North America to England - all the land east of the Mississippi River except New Orleans.

After the French and Indian War, England's attitude towards the 13 colonies changed.

England began to exert more control over the colonies such as prohibiting settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains and taxation without representation.

The colonists saw the strict enforcement of England's political and economic policies as threat to their own rights and freedoms.

On July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies formally declared their independence from England. 

The American Colonies declared their independence by issuing the Declaration of Independence.

See pages 154-157

In the Declaration of Independence, the colonists stated the following:

A. They were declaring their independence.

B. They stated why they were declaring their independence.

The Impact Today

In fighting for the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the American Patriots laid the foundation for the United States of America we know today.

When England refused to recognize colonial independence, war officially began.

This war became known as the American Revolutionary War (or the War of Independence), 1776-1783. (1775)

The Impact Today

Americans continue to value independence. For example:

• The right to practice one’s own religion freely is safeguarded.

• Americans value the right to express themselves freely and to make their own laws.

The Impact Today cont.

The ideals of revolutionary America still play a major role in shaping the society we live in. For example:

• Americans still exercise their right to protest laws they view as unfair.

• Citizens have the right to present their views freely.

George Washington was the American military commander during American Revolutionary War.

ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

 France supported the Americans during the War of Independence.

The Treaty of Paris of 1783 officially ended the War of Independence in favor of the American colonist.

Major provisions of the Treaty of Paris of 1783:

A. England recognized American independence.

B. The treaty set the American boundaries with the Great Lakes on the north, the Mississippi River on the west, and Florida on the south.

A. Delaware

B. Pennsylvania

C New Jersey

D. Georgia

E Connecticut

F. Massachusetts

G. Maryland

The Thirteen Original States

H. South Carolina

I. New Hampshire

J. Virginia

K. New York

L. North Carolina

M. Rhode Island

AMERICAN COLONIZATIONTHE END