The First Americans

1. The First Americans CH 1, sec 1 and 5 Ch 2

2. Native Americans were descended from Asians who began to migrate to North America around 33,000 B.C.

3. Ocean levels dropped all over the world exposing an area of dry land between Asia and Alaska call Beringia. • Historians believe they were following the large animals that they hunted

4. The Agricultural Revolution took place in 8000 B.C. and allowed civilizations to form primarily in Middle and South America

5. By the time Europeans arrived in the Americas in 1492, there were around 54 million people in the two American continents compared to 80 million in Europe • However only 4 million lived in the present day United States

6. 3 Major Civilizations

7. The Mayans – ad. 900-1500s • The Mayan civilization developed in the Yucatan Peninsula, Central America, and southern Mexico

8. The Aztecad. 1200s – 1500s Capital of Tenochtitlan in 1325 where Mexico City is today.

9. The Incaad. 1100 – 1500s

10. The Earliest North Americans

11. The Mound Builders of the Ohio River Valley

12. The MississippianCulture Cahokia, near present day Saint Louis

13. The Anasaziwho built elaborate pueblo homes • \

14. The Iroquois Confederacy

15. The European Explorers

16. Here is a list of early important explorers of the Americas • Pair up in groups of 3-4 • List each explorer and why they are significant to us today • The group who has to most correct after 10 minutes gets bonus on the map quiz • Leif Ericson, Marco Polo, Hernan Cortes, Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Amerigo Vespucci, Ponce De Leon, Ferdinand Megellan, Giovanni Da Verrazano, Hernando Desoto, Francisco Coronado

17. Ch 1 Sec 5 European Explorers • The first Europeans to arrive in the Americas were the Norse, or Vikings • Leif Ericsson and 35 others explored the coast of Newfoundland in A.D. 1001 • Their attempts for permanent settlement failed

18. Tracing the Story of Columbus • Christopher Columbus wanted to sail across the Atlantic in an effort to get to India in the mid-1400s

19. Columbus was driven by the rediscovery of the work of a Greek astronomer named Claudius Ptolemy who had drawn maps of a round world. • Ptolemy’s work was rediscovered through the Renaissance

20. The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther, opened interest in Europe to the rest of the world

21. Europeans fell in love with the silks and spices from Asia • However the loss of the Crusades blocked the silk road for trade

22. Columbus asked King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his expedition • Columbus and his three ships left Spain in August of 1492, and landed in the Bahamas, probably on what is today San Salvador

23. The “Columbian Exchange”

24. The Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 cleared the way for Conquistadors to begin their search for God, Gold and Glory

25. Important Explorers • Leif Ericson 1001 – first European to reach Americas, Viking • Marco Polo 1295 – Explored Asia and brought back goods for Europeans • John Cabot 1497 – First English explorer in America • Amerigo Vespucci 1502– Realized new world and named after him • Ponce De Leon 1513 – Claimed Florida for Spain, Fountain of Youth • Hernan Cortes 1519 – Conquistador who defeated the Aztecs • Ferdinand Magellan 1522 – Circumnavigated the world • Giovanni Da Verrazano 1524– Frenchman who claimed northeast coast for France • Hernando Desoto 1539 – Explored and claimed the future U.S. Southeast for Spain • Francisco Coronado 1540- Explored and claimed the future U.S. Southwest for Spain, 7 cities of gold

26. English Colonies in America

27. 13 Colonies Art Project • Draw all 13 original colonies • Write in each the why, when, and/or who formed it • Color them by regions • This information comes from Ch 2 sections 3 and 4

28. What drove people from England to America? • King Henry VII had just created the Anglican Church

29. Differing views on the Anglican Church • Puritans • Separatists • Pilgrims In 1620 The Pilgrims settled in Plymouth, MA under William Bradford

31. The economy in England also affected American colonization • English landowners began to realize the price for wool in Europe was greatly rising • So they converted their lands to sheep farms, making many tenant farmers homeless and jobless

32. This became known as the enclosure movement • Also many of these merchants needed new markets for their wool so they formed Joint-stock companies to try to help set up colonies

33. Military conflict with Spain also aided settlement by the English • Sr. Walter Raleigh set up the first English colony in the Americas known as Roanoke, however it wouldn’t last • He named the land Virginia in honor of the queen

34. Journal - Tues, Aug. 25 Yesterday, we decided what it would take to leave our homes. Today we are going to start our own colony. • * What groups of people would be welcome? • * What would your government/laws be like? • * What would the name of your colony be? • * How would your colony try to make money? Answer these questions and give any other important, legal, and appropriate info for your colony

35. James town was settled in 1606 by a charter from the Virginia Company, under the leadership of John Smith • Despite early struggles, mostly with Native Americans, the colony lasted, mostly thanks to John Rolfe and his cultivation of tobacco

36. The colony was governed by the Virginia House of Burgesses which was the first representative government in the colonies Patrick Henry before the House of Burgesses in an 1851 painting by Peter F. Rothermel

37. Other Colonies and Their Founders • Maryland – Lord Baltimore, for Catholics to have freedom to worship • Massachusetts – John Winthrop, a refuge for puritans • Rhode Island – Roger Williams, for government with no authority in religious matters, he was a separatist

38. Connecticut – Thomas Hooker, they adopted the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the first written constitution in the colonies • New Hampshire – was started by a royal charter due to overcrowding in Massachusetts. Maine was as well but later was bought back by Massachusetts

39. New York and New Jersey – originally founded by Henry Hudson for the Dutch but King Charles sent his brother James to take it for England • Pennsylvania and Delaware– William Penn, refuge for Quakers, love and pacifism for all

40. North and South Carolina – King Charles gave this land to his political allies, mostly for farming • Georgia – James Oglethorpe, a place for poor English debtors to start over

41. Essay Questions • Explain in detail the events that led to Columbus’ discovery of the Americas and their influence on each other, in terms of the first Americans, trade with Asia, and changes in Europe.