350th Anniversary of the Mayflower • “Today is a time of celebrating for you, but it is not a time of

celebrating for me. It is with heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my people….The Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod four days before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors, and stolen their corn, wheat, and beans….Massasoit, the great leader of the Wampanoag, knew these facts; yet he and his People welcomed and befriended the settlers…little knowing that…before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoags…and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that were caught by them…. Although our way of life is almost gone and our language is almost extinct, we the Wampanoags still walk the lands of Massachusetts….What has happened cannot be changed, but today we work towards a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important.” --Frank James

The First Thanksgiving

• Before there were English setters in North America, there were….– African slaves– Spanish – French – Dutch

• Where did the English settle? – Roanoke– Jamestown– Plymouth

Roanoke: The Lost Colony • Sir Walter Raleigh was told to establish an

English colony in America in order to look for gold and other resources, claim territory and convert natives.

• 108 men landed on Roanoke island to build a fort in 1584; they fought with the Native Americans and ran out of food; most returned to England.

• In July 1597, men and women colonists were given land in exchange for moving to Roanoke.

• Due to war in Europe, three years passed without any contact between the colonists and the English; when the English came back, all the colonists were gone!

• There are theories about what happened. – Did the Spanish attack the colonists? – Did they die from drought? – Did they leave and join Native American tribes? – Did they drown at sea trying to get home?

Did Pocahontas Rescue John Smith?http://www.learner.org/courses/amerhistory/interactives/pocahontas/index.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1xhqnvD25k

• The Virginia Company was a group of British investors who were seeking wealth in the Americas.

• King James I granted a charter to establish Virginia.

• 100 men arrived in Virginia in 1607; they were tradesmen, not farmers.

• They depended on the Powhatan tribe for food, but only 38 colonists remained after one year.

• John Smith was sent from London to lead the colony; “He who works not, eats not.”

• Hundreds of new colonists arrived, including women, but by 1610, there were only 60 colonists left due to the “starving times”.

• The colonists began planting tobacco, which was very popular in England. The Virginia Company kept sending new colonists.

• The colonists established The House of Burgesses to govern themselves; it was a representative government.

• In 1619, African slaves started arriving in Virginia.

Before the Pilgrims Landed…• “In 1617, just before the Pilgrims landed, a pandemic swept

southern New England. For decades, English and French fishermen had fished off the Massachusetts coast. After filling their hulls with cod, they would go ashore to lay in firewood and fresh water and perhaps capture a few American Indians to sell into slavery in Europe. It is likely that these fishermen transmitted some illness to the people they met. The plague that ensued made the Black Death pale by comparison….Within three years the plague wiped out between 90 to 96 percent of the inhabitants of coastal New England. Native societies lay devastated…. Unable to cope with so many corpses, the survivors abandoned their villages and fled, often to a neighboring tribe. Because they carried the infestation with them, American Indians died who had never encountered a white person.” --James Loewen

Plymouth Rock Park • “Despite having ended up many miles from other European

enclaves, the Pilgrims hardly “started from scratch” in a “wilderness.” Throughout southern New England, Native Americans had repeatedly burned the underbrush, creating a park-like environment. After landing at Provincetown, the Pilgrims assembled a boat for exploring and began looking around for their new home. They chose Plymouth because if its beautiful cleared fields, recently planted in corn, and its useful harbor and “brook of fresh water.” It was a lovely site for a town. Indeed, until the plague, it had been a town, for New Plymouth was none other than Squanto’s village of Patuxet…..Throughout New England, colonists appropriated American Indian cornfields for their initial settlements, avoiding the backbreaking labor of clearing the land of forests and rocks.” --James Loewen

Who were the Pilgrims? • Religious intolerance in

England led the Pilgrims to flee to Holland and then North America.

• While still on the Mayflower, they began to fight; they signed the Mayflower Compact to agree to follow laws and vote for officeholders.

• During the first winter, half of the Pilgrims died from hunger or disease.

• Squanto helped them to learn how to catch fish and farm; WHY DID HE AGREE TO THIS?

Who was Squanto?

The New England Colonies

The New England Colonies

Geography/Climate

• Hills/low mountains • Forests • Thin/rocky soil that is difficult to farm• Narrow plains along the Atlantic coast• Long, jagged coastline with some of the best

fishing in the world • Connecticut River• Long/snowy winters and short/warm

summers mean less diseases

Economy • Farming • Skilled trades, such as making leather• Fishing • Shipbuilding

• The Puritans were focused on gaining religious freedom, but their American born children were often more interested in becoming successful farmers, merchants, and community leaders.

The Salem Witch Trials

King Philip’s War • By the 1670’s only about 12,000 Native

Americans remained in New England; most had died of disease.

• In 1675, Metacom (who was called King Philip by the colonists) led the Wampanoag tribe in a rebellion against the English colonists in order to stop Puritan expansion.

• Alliance formed all over New England; some Native tribes sided with the colonists, and others sided with Metacom.

• Metacom and his allies destroyed 12 New England towns, but was killed in 1676.

• The colonists were now free to expand their territory in New England, and the Native Americans who fought the colonists either escaped to Canada or were shipped off to the West Indies as slaves.

The Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies

Geography/Climate • The Hudson River runs through

New York, and the Delaware River runs through Philadelphia

• The backcountry was a frontier region extending from Pennsylvania to Georgia; settlers were often non-English immigrants who had conflicts with Native Americans

• The Great Wagon Road was a route that led southwest through the backcountry

Economy • Productive farming (good soil + hard

work) led to a surplus • Small, family owned farms thrived

because of the long growing season and fertile soil

• The cash crop was wheat; Pennsylvania was called America’s bread basket

• Manufacturers produced flour and paper

• Artisans earned a living as shoemakers, masons, carpenters, weavers and coopers (barrel makers)

The Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies

Geography • The Mason-Dixon Line separates

Pennsylvania from Maryland; it also separates the north from the south

• The Tidewater is a flat, coastal lowland that includes many swamps

• The Piedmont is a region of rolling hills

• The climate is warm and humid with a long growing season that is perfect for growing, rice, tobacco and cotton

Economy • Tidewater vs. Backcountry• Plantation vs. small farm

REVIEW FOR TEST: CRASH COURSE

• The Black Legend, Native Americans and Spaniards (Crash Course US History #1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E9WU9TGrec&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s&index=1

• When is Thanksgiving? Colonizing America (Crash Course US History #2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o69TvQqyGdg&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s

• The Natives and the English (Crash Course US History #3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTYOQ05oDOI&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s

• The Quakers, the Dutch and the Ladies (Crash Course US History #4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p47tZLJbdag&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s