The World before 1600

The Big Idea

Diverse cultures existed in the Americas, Europe, and Africa before 1600.

Main Ideas

•  Who were the first people in the early Americas?

•  In what ways were North American cultures before 1500 different, and in what ways were they similar?

•  What characterized African cultures before 1500?

•  How did European exploration begin?

Nomadic Siberian hunter-gatherers crossed into the Americas, began farming, and settled in villages.

Nomads

•  During the Ice Age, a land bridge called Beringia connected Asia and North America.

•  Between 12,000 and 40,000 years ago, Siberians crossed this land bridge into North America.

•  These early Americans were nomads. They moved from place to place and followed a hunter-gatherer way of life.

Villagers

•  About 10,000 years ago many of the large North American animals died off.

•  Early Americans began to hunt smaller prey and gather more plants.

•  About 7,000 years ago, some groups started planting seeds. Farming allowed them to settle into villages.

•  This change is called the Agricultural Revolution.

Olmec

Aztec

Empires of Mesoamerica Empires rose up in Mesoamerica, a region that is today Mexico and

Central America.

Maya

•  Olmec culture first began around 1200 BC. •  The Olmec people had a tremendous influence on later cultures.

•  The Maya began their rise around 400 BC. •  They built pyramids and developed writing and number systems.

•  In the 1400s the militaristic Aztec formed a large empire in present-day Mexico. The Aztec capital was Tenochtitlán, today’s Mexico City.

Early Cultures of North America

•  Early Native Americans encountered varied environments, including forests, deserts, and fertile land.

•  In each region, different kinds of societies developed. For example:

•  The Hohokam people farmed with irrigation systems in the Southwest.

•  The Anasazi, ancestors of today’s Pueblo Indians, built adobe dwellings called pueblos in the Southwest.

•  The Adena and Hopewell, known as the Mound Builders, buried their dead in large earth mounds.

•  The Mississippians were the most advanced farmers north of Mexico. They built towns across the Southeast and southern Midwest.

Native American groups varied by region but shared many customs and traditions.

Native Americans in North America before the 1500s established diverse cultures based on geography and resources.

Southwest: Lived in pueblos governed by council of religious elders

Northwest Coast: Had an abundance of natural resources

California: Many animals and plants were available year-round.

Far North: Lived in the freezing tundra and hunted wildlife

Great Basin and Plateau: Lived in dry areas behind the Pacific Coast mountain ranges.

Great Plains: Plains Indians lived west of the Mississippi River and hunted buffalo.

Eastern Woodlands: Groups in this dense forest region used forest resources to build homes.

Southeast: Most Native Americans lived in settled farming villages for hundreds of years.

Shared Customs and Traditions

•  Native North Americans had diverse social systems and traditions, but shared a number of customs, practices, and religious ideas.

•  Trade brought Native Americans together. By the 1400s thousands of miles of trade networks crossed North America.

North Americans and Europeans traded goods, and eventually slaves, with African

trading kingdoms.

•  Africa’s Sahara Desert was a fearsome barrier to travel. Despite the dangers, many trading caravans have crossed it since ancient times.

•  Besides goods, desert traders brought the religious teachings of Islam to Africa, which some accepted.

•  Several African trading kingdoms developed in West Africa starting around AD 300, including,

Ghana and Mali - grew wealthy by taxing traders Songhai - A large capital of Islamic learning Benin and Kongo - Coastal kingdoms; many European traders

The Demand for Slave Labor

Gold and trade first attracted European sailors to Africa, but it was the demand for labor that caused Europeans to join in the African slave trade. –  The Portuguese, Spanish, and other Europeans

built plantations off the African coast and in the Caribbean, Brazil, and North America.

–  European planters began importing slaves to work the large plantations.

–  The slave trade devastated society in West Africa for 400 years. During this time an estimated 20 million enslaved Africans landed in the Americas.

The Middle Ages

•  1096: The Crusades began in Palestine, opening European eyes to new lands.

•  1400s: European countries began to consolidate under monarchs, forming nation-states.

•  The Magna Carta was signed, placing limits on royal powers.

The Renaissance and Reformation

•  1300s: Prosperity led to better education and cultural and scientific advances.

•  Discontent grew in the Roman Catholic church.

•  Martin Luther’s challenges began the Reformation and the birth of Protestantism.

Europeans made political, cultural, and religious changes and explored new lands.

The Age of Exploration

•  Scientific advances led European nation- states to find new lands and trade sources.

•  Marco Polo traveled to China.

•  Prince Henry of Portugal sought a sea route to Asia. Vasco de Gama found one in 1498.

Voyage Impacts

•  European colonization in America and the downfall of the Native American people •  New plants and animals exchanged between continents, known as the Columbian Exchange •  This exchange brought European diseases to the Americas.

Columbus and America

The Main Idea Spain began colonizing America, and later, England built a diverse

group of colonies on the Atlantic seaboard.

Reading Focus •  Which European nations explored the Americas, and where?

•  Did the English in Virginia succeed in creating settlements? •  What were the characteristics of the northern colonies? •  What were the characteristics of the middle and southern colonies?

European Colonies in America

The Spanish and Portuguese claimed the Americas, but other European powers

challenged those claims.

•  After Columbus returned from the Americas, the Spanish and the Portuguese debated claims to newly discovered lands. The Treaty of Tordesillas settled the dispute, granting Spain a much bigger land claim.

•  A wave of exploration followed the Treaty of Tordesillas, and the Spanish conquistadors, or conquerors, led the way in the 1500s. Their goals were “God, gold, and glory.”

Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado discovered the Grand Canyon. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo: explored the coast of California.

Hernán Cortés conquered the wealthy Aztec Empire in 1521.

Juan Ponce de Léon claimed Florida for Spain.

Spain’s Empire in the Americas Politics

•  Aspects of colonial government –  Viceroyalties, provinces ruled

by viceroys representing monarchs

–  The ecomienda system, which granted landowners the right to control people of a certain area

•  Social hierarchy based on ancestry –  Peninsulares, people from Spain –  Creoles, people born in

Americas of European descent –  Mestizos, people of Spanish and

Native American descent –  People of mixed Spanish and

African descent, Africans, and Indians

Religion •  In addition to finding gold, the

Spanish wanted to spread Christianity.

•  Spain sent missionaries, people who convert others to a religion.

•  Missionaries converted Native Americans to Christianity. Their work continued for centuries in the West and Southwest.

•  In 1769 Fray Junípero Serra, a Franciscan friar known for his self-discipline, started the first California mission in San Diego and later headed eight more missions in California.

Other Nations Explore the Americas

•  During the late 1400s and 1500s, explorers from England, France and the Netherlands began to explore America.

•  English explorers Francis Drake and John Cabot challenged Spain’s claim to the Americas.

•  Queen Elizabeth I built England into a sea power, which began a key chain of events: –  Religious issues caused Spain and England to go to

war. –  In 1588 the Spanish king sent a fleet of 130 ships,

called the Spanish Armada, to invade England. –  England’s superior navy defeated the Spanish Armada,

leaving England free to build American colonies.

The English defeated the Spanish Armada and established several North American colonies.

•  After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, English colonists came to America for many reasons, including economic opportunity and adventure.

•  King James I issued a charter dividing North America between two groups of investors, the London Company and the Plymouth Company.

•  These companies were joint-stock ventures in which investors pooled their money, hoping to make a profit.

•  The companies governed and maintained the colonies and received most of the profit.

Jamestown

Key Events in Virginia History

Roanoke

•  In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh sent a group to America. They claimed land along the Atlantic seaboard and named it Virginia. In 1587 they founded the colony of Roanoke.

•  In 1590 when the colony’s leader returned from England, he found the colony mysteriously empty of people.

•  Settled in 1607, this was the first English colony to survive, despite disease, contaminated water and lack of food.

•  John Smith, who imposed military discipline on the colonists, helped them survive hardships.

•  John Rolfe, who discovered tobacco and learned to cure it from his wife Pocahontas, made the colony profitable.

•  Formation of the House of Burgess, which was America’s first legislature, or law-making body

•  Use of indentured servants, who worked for a number of years in exchange for food, shelter and paid passage to America

•  Transition to slave labor by the late 1600s

The English in Virginia

The Puritans, seeking religious freedom, founded the Northern Colonies.

•  English Protestants who thought the Reformation did not go far enough were known as Puritans.

•  Some Puritans, known as Separatists, wanted total separation from the established church.

•  Separatists who left for America were known as the Pilgrims.

•  In 1620 a group of Separatists sailed to America on a ship called the Mayflower. Two months later, they reached present-day Massachusetts.

•  The Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, a legal contract agreeing to make laws to protect the people. It was one of the first attempts at self-government in the English colonies.

Plymouth Colony •  The pilgrims who signed the Mayflower Compact established this colony. They

grew their own food and built their own houses. •  Harsh conditions, which killed many of the colonists, included cold, hunger,

and sickness. •  Those who survived had help from the friendly local Indians.

• This colony was established as both a religious haven and the headquarters of the Massachusetts Bay Company.

• The colony’s success inspired the Great Migration, when 16,000 English settlers crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in New England.

Northern Colonies

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Other Northern Colonies •  In time, the strict rules of the Puritan colonies caused dissenters to leave

and settle new towns in other parts of New England. • These new colonies included: Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New

Hampshire.

King Charles II granted friends and family land to rule, and they formed the Middle and

Southern Colonies.

•  In the late 1600s, a new and different phase of colonization began in the middle and southern regions.

•  A new king, Charles II, owed money and favors to many people. He repaid them with American land grants.

•  The colonies created –  New York –  New Jersey –  Pennsylvania –  Carolina

•  Unlike joint-stock colonies, these were not ruled by investors or colonial legislatures, but by their owners.

The Southern and Middle Colonies New York

•  Granted to James, duke of York •  Already belonged to the Dutch •  Conquered by the English in

1674 and renamed New York •  Later, a large tract James gave

to two proprietors became New Jersey.

Pennsylvania •  Given to William Penn •  Founded as a haven for Quakers

and called a “Holy Experiment” •  Decreased in size when Penn

agreed to give Native Americans present-day Delaware

The Carolinas and Georgia •  Carolina co-owned by eight

men •  Split into North and South due

to tensions over farm size and slavery

•  Georgia was formed as a military buffer between English and Spanish colonies.

Maryland •  Founded by George Calvert, the

first Lord Baltimore •  Was a haven for Catholics after

Church of England became England’s official church

•  Was a source of personal wealth for Lord Baltimore

The Big Idea The American colonies developed politically, culturally, and

economically.

Reading Focus •  How did political and economic events lead to the

beginnings of self-government in the colonies?

•  How did the colonial economy differ in the North and South? •  How did the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening

contribute to America’s emerging culture?

•  What were the causes and effects of the French and Indian War?

Colonial Life

The British governed the colonies loosely and taxed them heavily, so American colonists

began to self-govern.

•  Colonists began smuggling goods because they felt Great Britain taxed them unfairly.

•  Britain, however, had established the colonies to obtain wealth.

•  Great Britain and the American colonies were divided on several issues, including

–  For greater control, the king merged colonies and sent a royal governor, Edmund Andros. Colonists arrested and banished him.

–  Britain passed the Navigation Acts, laws that restricted colonial trade, to ensure that the colonies stayed profitable.

-  Economic principles called mercantilism held that a nation’s power was directly related to its wealth. But colonial merchants wanted to make money for themselves, not for Britain.

The Colonists Begin to Self-Govern

•  Local rebellions helped some colonies regain elected assemblies. Others were ruled more strictly as a result.

•  Several colonies formed the United Colonies of New England, or the New England Confederation in 1643.

•  Salutary neglect, which was the British officials’ tendency to rule the colonies leniently, benefited the colonies.

•  Local governments (town meetings, counties, parishes and local governors) ruled daily life for colonists.

•  Colonists elected assemblies that were based on the British Parliament’s bicameral (two house) system, with –  A governor's council with executive and legislative powers –  An elected assembly like the Parliament’s House of Commons

•  When the House of Commons in England gained more power, so did the colonial assemblies, winning rights such as freedom of speech in debate and the right to pass money bills.

Different regional economies developed in the North and South.

Northern Colonial Economies •  Commerce-based economy •  Crops did not grow well, so

farmers only grew enough for themselves.

•  The most valuable Northern resources were dense forests

–  Timber exports –  Wood for shipbuilding

•  Northerners produced rum, textiles, ironworks, and other goods.

•  Good harbors and inexpensive ships encouraged commerce in the North; it was concentrated in the port cities.

•  These cities became part of trade routes that linked the world.

Southern Colonial Economies •  Agricultural-based economy •  Produced valuable cash crops

such as tobacco, rice, tar, and indigo.

•  Two agricultural systems developed:

–  Plantations were large, warm-climate farms that grew one cash crop and depending largely on slave labor.

–  Small independent farms raised livestock and exported beef and pork. They grew corn, wheat, fruit and vegetables for the home market.

The Impact of Slavery

•  Plantation owners needed more and more workers. •  Settlers gradually stopped using Native American workers and

indentured servants in favor of enslaved Africans. •  The slave trade caused massive human suffering.

–  The difficult trip across the Atlantic from Africa was called the Middle Passage.

–  Kidnapped Africans were chained together in dark, filthy quarters below the decks and many died.

–  The African population in America grew quickly. •  Slavery existed in both the North and South, but the South’s

agricultural economy depended more on slave labor. •  Slaves developed strong cultural and religious communities.

The Great Awakening

The Enlightenment •  A period in Europe that was known for its use of logic and reason to

improve government, law, and society •  The ideas of the Enlightenment began in the European upper classes

but soon traveled to the American colonies. •  John Locke believed the government should protect citizens’ “natural

rights.” His ideas influenced Americans such as Jefferson and Franklin.

•  Locke’s ideas are found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, including limited government and divided powers.

•  The Enlightenment led some colonists to question religious beliefs. •  In 1730, the clergy, trying to bring people back to church, began

the Great Awakening, a major religious revival in the colonies. •  Jonathan Edwards was an influential religious leader of this

period. •  The Great Awakening made religion accessible to the people and

church membership grew. It’s new ideas influenced the growing colonies.

America’s Emerging Culture

Life in the Colonies

•  The colonies came of age culturally in the 1700s. •  Non-British colonists, including Scots, Scots-Irish, Germans,

French and Jewish people began to arrive. •  The newcomers, along with British settlers, created a new

American culture. •  Colonial cities were lively: paved streets lit by oil lamps,

anchored ships from foreign ports, libraries, bookshops, and impressive public buildings added to colony life.

•  Colonial printers printed and distributed newspapers, books, ads, and political announcements. –  Influential newspapers were published in Boston, New

York, and Philadelphia.

The Cause

•  In the 1700s Britain and France struggled for territory.

•  The French built forts and allied with Native Americans to protect their fur trade.

•  The British built forts and alliances of their own, which led to many frontier battles.

•  In 1754 the French joined with the Native Americans to attack the English, which is why it is called the French and Indian War.

The Course

•  The British army, new to the territory, made easy targets.

•  Britain’s William Pitt took over and forced colonists into the army.

•  The British took the French city of Quebec in 1759.

•  The French surrendered the following year and the Treaty of Paris ended the war in 1763.

The French and Indian War

Impacts of the French and Indian War To avoid more conflict with the Native Americans, British officials tried to stop colonists from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Proclamation of 1763 reserved the land for the Native Americans, but colonists ignored it.

Some say this war led to the American Revolution. Its effects include

–  War Debts: The war cost England a lot of money. King George III thought colonists should pay some of the costs of the war. These policies drove Britain and the colonies further apart.

–  Effects on Native Americans: Chief Pontiac allied the Midwestern Native Americans and started a bloody rebellion.

–  New boundaries: Britain gained lands east of the Mississippi and much of Canada from the French, and Florida from the Spanish. Spain gained the Louisiana Territory from France for joining the war.

–  Colonial unity: Ben Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union, which was the first plan to unify the colonies. It was never adopted.

Click on the window to start video

Click on the window to start video

Click on the window to start video