Age of exploration-Guided Notes 8th grade
The Age of Exploration was a time of discovery of new lands, innovations in cartography and trade, and the exchange of cultures and ideas from distant lands.
Europeans in the Americas
The Spanish were the first Europeans to reach the Americas. They eventually had settlements in Florida, California, the Southwest, Central America, and South America.
Europeans in the Americas (con’t)
The Spanish…
•They established St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. This was the first European settlement in what is now the United States.
•They were very interested in finding gold.
•They also set up missions in order to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
• In 1682, The Spanish sent Catholic priests to the missions to spread Catholicism to the Native Americans. The missions also helped the Spanish to settle new parts of Texas, and to spread their culture
•Europeans in the Americas
The French claimed the area around the St. Lawrence River in Canada.
•This area became part of the colony of New France.
•The fur trade was a very important economic activity in the colony, and almost immediately after arriving, the French began trading furs with the Huron tribe.
•They would later send missionaries to attempt to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism.
Europeans in the Americas CON’t
The English also sent explorers to the Americas. In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh started the first English colony at Roanoke in North Carolina.
The Dutch started the colony of New Netherland in the early 17th century.
•New Netherland was in the area now known as New York.
•The Dutch who settled there were very interested in earning money from trading and farming.
•Trade was controlled by the Dutch West India Company.
•The Dutch also created the Dutch East India Company to control trade in Asia and Africa.
Exchanges and Effects
The exploration of new routes and lands opened the possibilities of trade in Europe.
The New World had plants, animals, and culture never before seen.
•These items were in high demand by the royalty and nobility, and so they were traded for high prices.
The economy in Europe started to grow as countries fought to be the first to come back with a new good.
•Europeans traded European goods with the natives and brought animals like horses to the Americas.
•Europeans also brought diseases to the New World.
•Some civilizations were completely wiped out by smallpox and other similar diseases.
Exploration and Colonization
England was among the first European nations to colonize what is now the United States.
The English settled along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, establishing the Thirteen Colonies.
The British Colonies (13 colonies)
New England Colonies
The Middle Colonies
The Southern Colonies
______
New England Colonies
The New England Colonies were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.
•People often lived in communities that were dependent on fishing.
•The people made their own clothes and shoes.
•There was a strong shipbuilding industry in New England = large supply of timber and good access to the Atlantic Ocean.
• As a result, fishing and trading were very important to the economy.
•Many people worked as skilled craftsmen and shopkeepers. New Englanders also exported furs to Europe.
Middle Colonies
The Middle Colonies were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
•The economy in this region relied on agriculture and industry.
•The area was known for its coastal lowlands (harbors and bays, wide and deep rivers) and its rich farmlands, as well as its moderate climate.
•These colonies are referred to as the "breadbasket colonies," because they grew so much food including wheat, barley, and rye.
•Wheat and other grains grew on farms in Pennsylvania and New York.
•Pennsylvania had many mills where wheat was ground into flour.
Southern Colonies
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
These colonies were mostly agricultural and had many plantations.
A plantation was a large plot of land that had many acres of farmland and buildings.
The people who lived there owned the land or worked the land.
•Many of the workers on plantations were African slaves. The humid climate helped Southern plantations grow cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar, and indigo.
•Good harbors helped colonists sell their products to buyers in England, and rivers helped transport goods to other places in America.
Types of Colonies
A charter colony consisted of a document granting permission to a group to settle and trade in a certain area.
•Example: The London Company received a charter from England allowing them to settle in Virginia.
A royal colony was a colony under the direct control of the king.
A proprietary colony was a colony that was granted to an individual or group by the British crown and that was granted full rights of self-government.
•Ex. Maryland and Pennsylvania were proprietary colonies.
Why England Colonized America…
The main reason the first people from England settled America was economic.
•England wanted to control areas of America in order to gain wealth like gold and silver.
•There was little gold and silver in the Thirteen Colonies, but England soon found America's abundant natural resources such as furs and timber.
Under mercantilism, the colonies were expected to participate in economic activities that benefited England.
• The American colonies would send to England natural resources such as timber, which was then manufactured into goods such as paper.
• It was then sold back to the colonists. Most colonial settlements had easy access to the sea so they could trade with England.
• Americans did not always like mercantilism because they could usually sell their goods to other places for more money.
In later years, the reason for colonization included the need for religious freedom because many people in England could not practice their beliefs freely.
•Others came to escape the high cost of land and the lack of resources in Europe. They believed that in America they could find employment or become landowners
Government in the Colonies
The American colonies were early examples of ______.
• Colonial governments were not perfect examples of democracy, but many of their ideas were later adopted by the United States.
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony.
•______.
• It was based on a majoritarian (majority rule) model and the settlers' allegiance to the king.
•______.
•In return, ______
______was the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, established in Virginia in 1619.
• It was elected to represent the landowners of Virginia. ______it enacted laws and gave landowners a voice in government.
Despite these representative governments, England at different times attempted to exert more control over the American colonies.
•For example, the charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony was revoked in 1684 in an attempt to remove Puritan influence in New England.
•Massachusetts was restored in 1691 as a ______, led by a royal governor. By the time of the American Revolution, most colonies were royal colonies.
______were already living in America when European colonists arrived. There were conflicts, but many Native Americans helped Europeans. In Jamestown, Native Americans taught English settlers how to plant corn and tobacco.
The ______ founded their first North American settlement in 1608, in Canada.
France and England competed with each other in North America until the French and Indian War, which lasted from 1754 until 1763.
England took control of France's colonies east of the Mississippi River and placed troops throughout the colonies after the war.
These English troops made many American colonists unhappy.
In 1614, the ______ began to settle the area of what is now New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut.
The Dutch hoped to earn large profits in the fur trade.
The Dutch traded with the Mohawk and other Native American tribes who lived in the area.
Their colony was called ______, and their largest settlement was New Amsterdam, which became an important trading center.
•New Amsterdam was captured by the English in 1664, and the English renamed it New York.
Exploration and Colonization
There were many different environments in North America, and this resulted in a wide variety of ______ in the colonies. People settled in the colonies for different reasons, and the people in each colony had different ways of making a living.
Why People Settled in America
People settled in America for many different reasons.
1.______.
2.______.3.______.Religious Freedom
Many colonists came to America to find religious freedom.
This was especially the case in ______and in some of the Middle colonies.
Massachusetts…
Plymouth Colony was founded by Pilgrims who sailed to America on the Mayflower.
Puritans (______) later began the Massachusetts Colony.
Both the Pilgrims and the Puritans came to this region (Massachusetts) to freely practice their religions.
Connecticut…
Connecticut was established by ______, who disagreed with Massachusetts ______about political rights.
•Winthrop believed that only members of the Puritan church should be allowed to be a part of government.
•Although, Hooker believed that any male landowner should be allowed to. Hooker left Massachusetts and founded the Connecticut colony.
Rhode Island
Founded in 1636 by Roger Williams,
•who was forced to leave Boston, Massachusetts, because of his religious and political views.
Williams bought land from Native Americans and founded Providence.
New Hampshire…
John Wheelwright, who was also forced to leave Boston for his beliefs, founded the colony of New Hampshire in 1638.
Pennsylvania…
Pennsylvania was started by William Penn. Penn hoped to make the colony a place where Quakers could live and worship freely.
Many Quakers moved from England to Pennsylvania so they could practice their religion.
People of other religions were also welcome in Pennsylvania.
Economic Profit…
Economic Profit: In some colonies, resources and profit were the main reasons for settlement.
•This was especially the case in many of the Southern colonies.
Who bought into economic profit…
•Virginia:.______.
•However, the Native Americans taught them how to grow tobacco.
•Settlers began selling tobacco to Europe, and it soon became the first crop that was profitable for Virginia.
•New Jersey:______.
Why people Settled Con’t…Other reasons
One colony was founded for reasons other than profit or religious freedom.
______was founded by James Oglethorpe for unique reasons. It was begun as a colony for debtors (people who owed money) to begin a new life.
•It was also meant to be a ______, or ______, between the English colonies and the ______.
•Georgia began as a proprietary colony, but it eventually became a royal colony.
Recap:Why People Settled in America
Religious Freedom
Economic Profit
Barrier/protection against Spaniards in Florida
How People Lived…
The Thirteen Colonies had different climates and geography.
•These differences most affected each region's ______,
•The main economic activity
How the 3 different colonies lived…
New England Colonies: Even though Native Americans taught Pilgrims how to plant corn, the New England region had poor farming conditions.
•These poor conditions were caused by rocky soil and long, cold winters.
•Its colonists relied on other natural resources such as fish, timber, and furs to earn a living.
How the 3 different colonies lived…
______: The Middle Atlantic colonies grew grains such as wheat, barley, and rye. For this reason, they were sometimes called the "______."
How the 3 different colonies lived…
Southern Colonies:
The Southern colonies had the best climate for agriculture______.
Indentured Servants and Slaves
Indentured servants were people who ______.
• Instead of paying for passage on a ship, they took the journey and became servants after reaching America.
•These indentured servants agreed to work for a certain number of years to make up for their payment.
Indentured Servants and Slaves con’t
The first Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 as indentured servants.
Eventually, the practice of using African slaves replaced using indentured servants as the main labor source.
Unlike indentured servants, slaves were forced to work their entire lives.
• Slavery existed in every colony, but it was most common in the Southern colonies.
Learn NC…
The area of North Carolina was originally explored in the 1500s. The Carolina colony was officially established in 1663.
•This lesson will discuss some of the early history of North Carolina.
Sir Walter Raleigh
.______.
•He paid for and organized the establishment of the colony of Roanoke Island on the North Carolina coast.
•The colony was the first attempt at English settlement in the New World.
John White
.______.
Later, John White was appointed the governor of the Roanoke colony in 1587.
As an artist, White painted different images of the Native Americans.
•These images are the most accurate images of Native Americans before the 19th century.
•.______.
NC became a royal…
______
•In 1663, .______.
•.______.
•In 1712, the colony was split and the colony of North Carolina was established.
•The colony was controlled by these men until 1729 when their descendants sold their shares back to the crown.
•As a result, North Carolina became a ______colony.