The Earliest Americans

The Big IdeaNative American societies developed across

Mesoamerica and North America.

Main Ideas• Climate changes allowed Paleo-Indians to begin the first

migration to the Americas.• Early societies existed in Mesoamerica and South America.

Main Idea 1:Climate changes allowed people to

migrate to the Americas.

• Paleo-Indians crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Asia to present-day Alaska during the last ice age between 38,000 and 10,000 BC.

• This movement of peoples from one region to another is called migration.

• Paleo-Indians and their descendants moved into present-day Canada, the United States, Mexico, and South America.

Climate Affects Early Peoples

• Early peoples in the Americas were hunter-gatherers, who hunted animals and gathered wild plants.

• The warming climate created new environments: climates and landscapes that surround living things.

• Different environments influenced the development of Native American societies: groups that share a common culture.

• Culture is a group’s common values and traditions.

Native American Cultures

The Big IdeaMany diverse Native American cultures developed

across the different geographic regions of North America.

Main Ideas• Several early societies developed in North American long

before Europeans explored the continent.• Geographic areas influenced Native American cultures.• Native American cultures shared beliefs about religion and

land ownership.

Main Idea 2: Geographic areas influenced Native

American cultures.

• Researchers use culture areas to help describe ancient Native American peoples.

• Culture areas are geographic locations that influence society.

• North America is divided into several culture areas, including the Far North, Pacific Coast, California, West, Southwest, Great Plains, and East.

North and Northwest Culture AreasArctic

• Long, cold winters and short summers

• Inuit peoples in present-day Alaska and Canada

• Aleut peoples in Alaska

• Fished and hunted large mammals

Subarctic • Long, cold

winters and short summers

• Dorgrib and Montagnais peoples

• Hunters followed migrating deer

• People lived in temporary shelters made of animal skins.

Pacific Northwest

• Carved images of totems, ancestor or animal spirits, on tall, wooden poles

• Held feasts called potlatches

• Thrived on abundant game animals, fish, and wild plants

West and Southwest Culture Areas

California• Many food sources, such

as acorns, fish, and deer• People lived in isolated

family groups of 50 to 300.

• More than 100 different languages were spoken.

• Groups included the Hupa, Miwok, and Yukots.

Southwest• Dry climate• Groups included the

Apache, Navajo, and Pueblo.

• The Pueblo irrigated land to grow crops.

• The Apache and Navajo hunted game and raided the villages of other groups.

Great Plains and Eastern Culture Areas

Great Plains

• Stretched from Canada to Texas and from the Mississippi Valley to the Rocky Mountains

• Mainly grasslands, with game such as buffalo

• Used buffalo skins for shields, clothing and coverings for teepees, cone-shaped shelters

• Matrilineal societies that traced ancestry through their mothers, not their fathers

• Groups included the Mandan, Pawnee, Arapaho, Blackfoot, and Comanche.

Northeast and Southeast

• Region rich in sources of food and shelter

• Southeastern groups, such as the Cherokee and Creek, lived in farming villages.

• The Algonquian and Iroquois were the main groups in the Northeast.

• The Iroquois formed the Iroquois League, a confederation that waged war against non-Iroquois peoples.

Main Idea 3: Native American cultures shared beliefs

about religion and land ownership.

• Shared religious beliefs– Religion linked to nature– Spiritual forces were everywhere– even plants and animals

• Shared beliefs about property– Individual ownership applied only to the crops one grew– Land was for the use of everyone in the village– Believed they should preserve the land for future generations

• Despite shared beliefs, Native Americans on the North American continent were independent culture groups and did not form large empires.

BELLRINGER

What was Jamestown and why was it significant?

The Southern Colonies

The Big IdeaDespite a difficult beginning,

the southern colonies soon flourished.Main Ideas

• The settlement in Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America.

• Daily life in Virginia was challenging to the colonists. • Religious freedom and economic opportunities were

motives for founding other southern colonies, including Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia.

• Farming and slavery were important to the economies of the southern colonies.

Main Idea 1: The settlement in Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America.

• King James I allowed the London Company to settle in a region called Virginia.

• The first colonists arrived in America on April 26, 1607.• They settled in Jamestown, the first permanent English

settlement in America.• The colonists were not prepared to build and farm. Two-

thirds died by their first winter.

Relations with Native Americans

• John Smith became the leader of Jamestown in 1608.• Colonists were helped by the powerful Powhatan

Confederacy of Indians.• More settlers arrived, but many died from famine and

disease.• Settler John Rolfe married Pocahontas, which helped

form peaceful relations with the Powhatan.• Conflict started between colonists and the Powhatan in

1622 and lasted for 20 years.

Headright System

• Large farms, called plantations, were established by tobacco farmers.

• Colonists who paid their way received 50 acres of land and 50 acres for each person they brought.

Labor• Most workers were

indentured servants: people who came to America for free by agreeing to work without pay for a set amount of time.

• The first Africans were brought as slaves and servants in 1619. Increased work and the falling cost of slaves led colonists to use more slave labor.

Bacon’s Rebellion

• Colonial officials began to tax colonists.

• Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion against the governor’s policies in 1676.

Main Idea 2: Daily life in Virginia was challenging

to the colonists.

BELLRINGER

• You live in a town near London in the early 1700s. Some of your neighbors are starting new lives in the American colonies. You would like to go with them, but you cannot afford the cost of the trip. There is one way you can go, though. You can sign a paper promising to work as a servant for five years. Then you would be free and in a new country! Would you sign the paper and go to America?

Main Idea 3:Religious freedom and economic

opportunities were motives for founding other southern colonies, including Maryland,

the Carolinas, and Georgia.

• English Catholics came to America to escape religious persecution.

• Maryland was founded as a refuge for Catholics by Lord Baltimore in 1634.

• The Maryland assembly passed the Toleration Act of 1649 to support religious tolerance.

• The Carolinas and Georgia expanded economic opportunities.

The Carolinas and Georgia

The Carolinas • Carolina was founded

south of Virginia in 1663.• It was divided into North

and South Carolina in 1712.

• Most colonists in North Carolina were farmers.

• South Carolina had large plantations with many slaves.

Georgia • Georgia was founded by

James Oglethorpe as a refuge for debtors in 1733.

• He wanted small farms, so he outlawed slavery and limited land grants.

• Settlers grew unhappy, and Georgia became a royal colony. Large rice plantations, worked by many slaves, were created.

Main Idea 4:Farming and slavery were important to the

economies of the southern colonies.

• Economies of the South depended on agriculture. Cash crops were tobacco, rice, and indigo.

• The climate allowed for a long growing season; thus, more labor was needed

• Enslaved Africans became the main source of labor.• The conditions of slavery were brutal.• Slave codes, or laws to control slaves, were passed.

The New England Colonies

The Big IdeaEnglish colonists traveled to New England

to gain religious freedom.Main Ideas

• The Pilgrims and Puritans came to America to avoid religious persecution.

• Religion and government were closely linked in the New England colonies.

• The New England economy was based on trade and farming.

• Education was important in the New England colonies.

Main Idea 1: The Pilgrims and Puritans came to America

to avoid religious persecution.

• Puritans wanted to purify, or reform, the Anglican Church.

• Pilgrims wanted to separate from Anglican Church.• Some pilgrims left England to escape persecution. They

became immigrants, people who leave the country of their birth to live in another country.

Native Americans

Pilgrim Community

Women

Mayflower Compact

• Left Netherlands in 1620 on Mayflower.• Signed Mayflower Compact: legal

contract agreeing to have fair laws.• Arrived at Plymouth Rock in present-day

Massachusetts in late 1620.

• Squanto taught Pilgrims to fertilize soil.• Pilgrims celebrate first Thanksgiving with

the Wampanoag Indians.

• Most were farmers.• Family members worked together.

• Cooked, sewed clothing, wove wool.• Had more legal rights than in England.

The Pilgrims

The Puritans

• Puritans were dissenters who disagreed with official opinions and church actions in England.

• Many thousands left England in Great Migration from 1629 to 1640.

• Puritan colonists led by John Winthrop went to Massachusetts to seek religious freedom.

• Established Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Main Idea 2:Religion and government were closely linked

in the New England colonies.

• Established a General Court that turned into a type of self-government.

• Government leaders were also church members.• Dissenters were forced out of the colony.

Religious Conflicts

• Thomas Hooker and followers founded Connecticut to make government more democratic.

• Roger Williams founded Providence and supported the separation of church and state.

• Anne Hutchinson questioned teachings of religious leaders and was forced out of Colony.

• In the 1690s, Salem held the largest number of witchcraft trials. Nineteen people were put to death.

Farming

Trade

• Harsh climate and rocky soil meant few cash crops.• Most farming families grew crops and raised animals for their

own use.• Little need for slaves

• Merchants traded goods locally, with other colonies, and overseas.

• Fishing was one of region’s leading industries.• Shipbuilding was also an important industry.

Main Idea 2: The New England economy was based on

trade and farming.

Main Idea 4:Education was important in the New England

colonies.

Public Education• Communities established

town schools.• Students used New

England Primer, which had stories from the Bible.

• Availability of schooling varied in the colonies.

• Most children stopped education after elementary grades.

Higher Education• Important to colonists• John Harvard and the

General Court founded Harvard College in 1636.

• College of William and Mary founded in Virginia in 1693.

The Middle Colonies

The Big IdeaPeople from many nations settled in the middle colonies.

Main Ideas• The English created New York and New Jersey from former

Dutch territory. • William Penn established the colony of Pennsylvania.• The economy of the middle colonies was supported by

trade and staple crops.

Main Idea 1:The English created New York and New Jersey

from former Dutch territory.

New York• Dutch founded New

Netherland in 1613 as fur trading post.

• New Amsterdam was center of fur trade.

• Peter Stuyvesant led the colony from 1647-1664.

• English captured colony in 1664 and renamed it New York.

New Jersey• English took control in

1664.• The colony occupied

land between the Hudson and Delaware rivers.

• Had diverse population, including Dutch, Swedes, Finns, and Scots.

Main Idea 2: William Penn established

the colony of Pennsylvania.

• Society of Friends, or Quakers, was one of largest religious groups in New Jersey.

• Quakers, who supported nonviolence and religious tolerance, were persecuted.

• William Penn founded Pennsylvania, a larger colony for Quakers that provided a safe home.

• Penn limited his power, established an elected assembly, and promised religious freedom to all Christians.

Main Idea 3: The economy of the middle colonies was

supported by trade and staple crops.

• Middle colonies had good climate and rich soil to grow staple crops, crops that are always needed.

• Crops included wheat, barley, and oats.• There were slaves, but indentured servants were a larger

source of labor.• Trade to Britain and the West Indies was important to the

economy of middle colonies.

Women’s Contributions

• Ran farms and businesses, such as clothing stores, drugstores, and bakeries.

• Some were nurses and midwives.• Most worked primarily in the home.• Married women managed households and raised children.

Life in the English Colonies

The Big IdeaThe English colonies continued to grow

despite many challenges.

Main Ideas• Colonial governments were influenced by political changes

in England.• English trade laws limited free trade in the colonies.• The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment led to ideas

of political equality among many colonists.• The French and Indian War gave England control of more

land in North America.

Main Idea 1: Colonial governments were influenced by

political changes in England.

• King James II wanted more control over English government, including the colonies.

• United northern colonies under one government were called the Dominion of New England in 1686.

• Parliament replaced the unpopular King James II and passed the English Bill of Rights in 1689.

• The colonies in the Dominion formed new assemblies and charters and could elect their own representatives.

Governments

Governors and Legislatures

• Each English colony had its own government. • Each government was given power by a charter.• The English monarch had ultimate authority over the colonies.

• The Governor served as head of the government.• Most were assisted by an advisory council.• Some colonies had elected representatives.• Virginia established the first colonial legislature in 1619.• The town meeting was the center of New England political

life.• Colonial courts that reflected the beliefs of their communities

were used to control local affairs.

Colonial Governments

Main Idea 2: English trade laws limited free trade in the colonies.

• Earning money from trade was one of England’s reasons for founding and controlling the colonies.

• England practiced mercantilism: a system of creating and maintaining wealth through controlled trade.

• Parliament passed the Navigation Acts to limit colonial trade.

• The colonies complained about trade restrictions.

Colonial Trade

• Trade between the American colonies and Great Britain was not direct.

• Triangular trade was a system in which goods and slaves were traded among the Americas, Great Britain, and Africa.

• Slave trade brought millions of Africans to the Americas on a voyage called the Middle Passage.

• Terrible conditions on the Middle Passage caused thousands of captives to die on slave ships.

War Erupts

Treaty of Paris, 1763

Native American Allies

• Some Native Americans allied with the colonists in King Philip’s War.

• The French traded and allied with the Algonquian and Huron.

• The English allied with the Iroquois League.

• France and Britain struggled for control of North America in the late 1600s.

• The French and Indian War started in 1754.• The turning point came when the British

captured Quebec in 1759.

• It gave Canada to Britain. France received lands east of the Mississippi River.

Main Idea 4:The French and Indian War gave England control of more land in North America.

The Western Frontier

• Most colonial settlements had been made along the Atlantic coast.

• Colonial settlers, or pioneers, began to move west after the war.

• Indians led by Chief Pontiac rebelled against new British settlements in 1763.

• To avoid conflict, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763, which banned settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Conflict in the Colonies

The Big IdeaTensions developed as the British government

placed tax after tax on the colonies.

Main Ideas• British efforts to raise taxes on colonists sparked protest. • The Boston Massacre caused colonial resentment toward

Great Britain.• Colonists protested the British tax on tea with the Boston

Tea Party.• Great Britain responded to colonial actions by passing the

Intolerable Acts.

Main Idea 1:British efforts to raise taxes on colonists

sparked protest.

• Great Britain had to pay for the French and Indian War and for keeping troops in North America to protect the colonists.

• Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764 to tax colonists to make them help pay costs.

• Parliament’s actions upset many colonists.• Colonists believed there should be no taxes without

representation in Parliament.• Samuel Adams, a colonial leader, set up the Committees

of Correspondence to protest.

Taxing the Colonies

Stamp Act of 1765• Colonists had to pay for

official stamp, or seal, on purchase of paper items.

• Immediate protests• Sons of Liberty sometimes

used violence.• Stamp Act Congress of

1765 declared the tax a violation of colonial rights.

• Repealed in 1766

Townshend Acts of 1767 • Duties on glass, lead,

paints, paper, and tea• Writs of assistance used to

enforce.• Colonists boycotted British

goods.• Sons of Liberty attacked

customshouses.• British troops sent in 1768.

Main Idea 2: The Boston Massacre caused colonial

resentment toward Great Britain.

• A crowd gathered in Boston after a British soldier struck a colonist on March 5, 1770.

• Soldiers fired into the crowd, killing three, including Crispus Attucks.

• The shootings were called the Boston Massacre by colonists.

• This caused more resentment against the British.

Main Idea 3: Colonists protested the British tax on tea

with the Boston Tea Party.

• Colonial merchants smuggled tea to avoid paying the British tea tax.

• Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773 to allow the British East India Company to sell cheap tea to the colonists.

• Colonial merchants and smugglers were opposed to this.• On December 16, 1773, colonists disguised as Indians

attacked British tea ships and threw the tea overboard.• The incident was called the Boston Tea Party.

3.

4.

1. Boston Harbor was closed.

Massachusetts's charter was canceled.

Royal officials accused of crimes would be sent to Great Britain for trial.

General Thomas Gage was made the new governor of Massachusetts.

Main Idea 4: Great Britain responded to colonial actions

by passing the Intolerable Acts.

2.

The acts had several effects:

The Revolution BeginsThe Big Idea

The tensions between the colonies and Great Britain led to armed conflict in 1775.

Main Ideas• The First Continental Congress demanded certain rights from

Great Britain. • Armed conflict between British soldiers and colonists broke out

with the “shot heard ’round the world.”• The Second Continental Congress created the Continental Army

to fight the British.• In two early battles, the army lost control of Boston but then

regained it.

Main Idea 1: The First Continental Congress demanded

certain rights from Great Britain.

• First Continental Congress: a meeting in Philadelphia of delegates from all colonies except Georgia.

• Delegates halted trade with Britain and alerted the colonial militia to prepare for war.

• Drafted Declaration of Rights that included the right to “life, liberty, and property.”

• Colonists who chose to fight for independence from Britain became known as Patriots.

Main Idea 2: Armed conflict between British soldiers and

colonists broke out with the “shot heard ’round the world.”

The Ride of Paul Revere

Battles at Lexington and Concord

• Massachusetts governor, Thomas Gage, sent British troops to seize weapons at Concord.

• Paul Revere and two others rode to warn colonists.• Local militia, minutemen, readied for battle.

• April 19, 1775– British troops arrived in Lexington and colonists fire the “shot heard ‘round the world.”

• British Redcoats continue on to Concord but are forced to retreat back to Boston. Their red uniforms made an easy target for Patriot marksmen.

Second Continental Congress

Continental Army

• Delegates from 12 colonies met in Philadelphia in May 1775.• Some called for peace, others for war.• Compromised—created army but also sent Olive Branch

Petition to King George

• Congress created the Continental Army.• Named a Virginian, George Washington, to command army

and prepare for the war

Main Idea 3: The Second Continental Congress created the

Continental Army to fight the British.

Main Idea 4: In two early battles, the army lost control of

Boston but then regained it.Battle of Bunker Hill

• Patriots attacked British at Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, to seize large supply of weapons.

• Colonial forces fortified Breed’s Hill to prevent British escape from Boston.

• Army of 2,400 Redcoats fought 1,600 Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

• Americans forced to retreat, but only after causing more than 1,000 British casualties.

Dorchester Heights• General Washington arrived in

Boston and took command.• Cannons were brought in from

Fort Ticonderoga.• On March 4, 1776, Washington

moved his army to Dorchester Heights and placed the cannons on Nook’s Hill.

• American troops fired down upon the British.

• The British were forced to retreat from Boston.

Declaring Independence

The Big IdeaThe colonies formally declared their independence from

Great Britain.

Main Ideas• Thomas Paine’s Common Sense led many colonists to

support independence. • Colonists had to choose sides when independence was

declared.• The Declaration of Independence did not address the

rights of all colonists.

Main Idea 1: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense led many

colonists to support independence.

• Common Sense: 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, published in January 1776.– Urged separation from Great Britain. – Argued that citizens, not monarchs, should make laws.– Argued for economic freedom and the right to military self-

defense. – Cried out against tyranny, the abuse of government power.– Reached a wide audience, selling some 500,000 copies.

Main Idea 2: Colonists had to choose sides when

independence was declared.• Many colonial leaders agreed with Thomas Paine’s ideas.• Second Continental Congress created a committee in June

1776 to write a document declaring independence.• Thomas Jefferson was main author.• Declaration of Independence formally announced

break with Great Britain.• Approved on July 7, 1776.

Patriots

Loyalists

• Patriots chose to fight for independence.• About 40 to 45 percent of Americans were Patriots

• Loyalists, sometimes called Tories, remained loyal to Britain.• About 20 to 30 percent of Americans were Loyalists.

Choosing Sides

Neutral• About 25 percent of Americans remained neutral.

Main Idea 3: The Declaration of Independence did not

address the rights of all colonists.

• Declaration ignored many colonists.– Did not address the rights of women.– Did not recognize the rights of enslaved African

Americans.– Did not address the rights of Native Americans to life,

liberty, or property.

The Struggle for Liberty

The Big IdeaPatriot forces faced many obstacles

in the war against Britain.

Main Ideas• Many Americans supported the war effort. • The Patriots both won and lost battles during the years

1775-1777.• France and Spain helped the Patriots fight the British.• The winter at Valley Forge tested the strength of Patriot

troops.• The war continued at sea and in the West.

Main Idea 1: Many Americans supported

the war effort.

• More than 230,000 soldiers served in the Continental Army.

• 145,000 enlisted in local militias.• First banned from serving, but when the

British promised freedom to any slave who fought on their side, the Continental began to allow free African Americans to serve.

Soldiers

• Ran farms and businesses• Helped by raising money for supplies or by

making clothing• Served as messengers, nurses, and spies• Some dressed as men and fought.

African-Americans

Women

Main Idea 2: The Patriots both won and lost battles

during the years 1775-1777.

Canada• November 1775• Some patriots

thought British-controlled Canada should be the “14th colony”

• American forces attacked Quebec.

• Attack failed, and hopes of taking Canada faded.

New York• June 1776• Washington’s

23,000 militiamen opposed by 32,000 better-equipped British soldiers.

• Series of battles• Washington’s forces

pushed into New Jersey.

New Jersey• Battle of Trenton

won by Americans on December 26, 1776.– Washington

crossed the Delaware on Christmas night.

– Attacked the mercenaries as they slept.

• Defeated the British at the Battle of Princeton January 2, 1777.

Battle of Saratoga

• British upset by two quick defeats in New Jersey. • British General John Burgoyne planned to seize

Hudson River Valley to cut off New England.• British army crushed by Patriot forces under General

Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777.• Battle of Saratoga in New York was the turning

point of the Revolutionary War.

Main Idea 3: France and Spain helped the Patriots fight

the British.

• French and Spanish had lost large expanses of land in North America to the British.

• Both countries happy to see trouble for Britain in the American colonies.

• After the Battle of Saratoga, France, Spain and Holland joined the fight on the side of the Patriots.

Independent Soldiers

• Marquis de Lafayette, supplied money and military skills.

• Baron Freidrich von Steuben came from Prussia to help train the Continental Army.

France

• Officially joined

forces in May 1778

• Signed treaty of support

• Increased level of supplies and agreed to provide soldiers and ships.

Help from Europe

Spain• Joined war in

1779• Bernardo de

Gálvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana, seized British posts.

Main Idea 4: The winter at Valley Forge tested

the strength of Patriot troops.

• Continental Army was low on supplies.• Washington and 12,000 men wintered at Valley Forge,

Pennsylvania, during 1777–78.• Suffered through the brutal winter and shortages of food,

clothing, and shelter. • Continental Army survived, but 2,000 died of disease and

malnutrition.

War in the West

War at Sea

• Tiny Continental Navy could not fight large battles.

• Sunk hundreds of individual British ships.• John Paul Jones was commander of

victorious Bonhomme Richard. This former British outlaw became an American naval hero.

• George Rogers Clark captured British trading village of Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1778.

• Clark’s forces won Battle of Vincennes in 1779.

Main Idea 5: The war continued at sea

and in the West.

Independence!

The Big IdeaThe war spread to the southern colonies, where the British were finally defeated.

Main Ideas• Patriot forces faced many problems in the war in the

South. • The American Patriots finally defeated the British at the

Battle of Yorktown.• The British and the Americans officially ended the war by

signing the Treaty of Paris of 1783.

Main Idea 1: Patriot forces faced many problems in the

war in the South.

• War was not going well for British in North, so they set their sights on South.

• Hoped to find support from a large Loyalist population in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia

• Planned to free slaves and give them arms

Brutal Fighting

• Patriots fought the Loyalists in direct combat in South.• Georgia fell to British in 1778; Charleston, South Carolina,

in 1780. • Americans attacked British in August 1780, but failed to

drive them out of South Carolina and suffered many casualties.

• Francis Marion was more successful using guerrilla warfare against British.– Surprise attacks to disrupt communication and supply

lines.

Main Idea 2: The American Patriots finally defeated the

British at the Battle of Yorktown.

• General Charles Cornwallis moved British forces to Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781.

• Washington’s Continental Army and French troops under Comte de Rochambeau surrounded the British.

• Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781, after weeks of fighting. Patriots took 8,000 prisoners–the largest British army in America.

• The Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution.

Main Idea 3: The British and the Americans

officially ended the war by signing the Treaty of Paris of 1783.

After Yorktown, there were only a few small battles. The British lacked money to pay for a new army, so they entered into peace talks with the Patriots.

Treaty of Paris of 1783• It took two years to come to a peace agreement.• Britain recognized American independence.• Set America’s borders• British accepted America’s right to settle west of the

original 13 colonies.

After Yorktown, there were only a few small battles. The British lacked money to pay for a new army, so they entered into peace talks with the Patriots.