Introduction to the United States

1. A More Perfect Union
7TH GRADE - CHAPTER 1
MRS. SUSKO

2. Lesson 1 - The American LandThe
Relationship Between Geography and History
Geography is the place
where history happens
Physical geography is the
study of the natural world
Human geography explores
how people and places
influence one another

3. The Eastern and Southern
United States
The eastern portion of the United
States is made up of the Coastal
Plain, the Piedmont, and the
Appalachian Highlands.
The further south you go along the
eastern seaboard, the warmer the
climate becomes.
The dominant vegetation is the
eastern and southern United
States are forest.

4. The Central Heartland
Most of the central heartland
of the United States is a
prairie, an expanse of flat or
rolling grassland.
The climate of the central
heartland is a climate of
extremes - very hot in
summer and very cold in
winter.

5. The American West
The western United States
has three physical regions:
the Rocky Mountains, the
Intermountain region, and
the Pacific Coast.
Due to the size of the West
and the variety of elevation,
there is a great variety of
climate.

6. Lesson 2 - European Exploration and Settlement
Europeans Look to the New Worlds
The Renaissance sparked people’s
imaginations and made them eager
to explore.
Many Protestants - a religious
group which challenged Catholic
authorities - were persecuted and
wanted a new place where they
could worship as they pleased.
Inventions and improvements in
sailing ships and navigation helped
make long sea voyages easier.

7. Spain Leads the Way
To make its trade more profitable,
Spain wanted to find a water route to
Asia.
Searching for gold, Spanish
conquistadors and explorers explored
Central and South America, and the
southern region of North America.
Spain became very wealthy from its
exploration of the Americas, and
claimed vast area for Spanish
settlement.

8. England, France and the
Netherlands Stake Claims
Concerned about Spain’s growing
wealth and power, other European
countries sent out explorers to find
the Northwest Passage, a northern
waterway connecting the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans.
A series of discoveries by
explorers working for England,
France, and the Netherlands led
each of these European powers to
claim land in the New World.

9. Europeans Settle the New
WorldProblems in Europe drove people to seek a
new life in the Americas in the late 1500s
and early 1600s.
Spanish missionaries seeking to convert
Native Americans to Christianity paved the
way for Spanish settlement of Mexico and
what is today the American West.
French settlers first came to North America
to fish and trap in what is now Canada and
the Great Lakes region. The Dutch settled
in what is now New York City and New York
State.
Despite early difficulties in Jamestown and
Plymouth, the English established
settlements in Virginia and New England

10. Chapter 1, Lesson 3 - European and Native
People
The First Americans
Hundreds of Indian cultures existed
in the Americas before Europeans
arrived.
Some Indians were nomads, people
who moved around looking for food.
Others were very successful
farmers.
Language differences and
competition maintained sharp
divisions between the peoples of
the Americas.

11. Early Contacts with American
Indians
Contact with Europeans introduced
new deadly diseases to the
American Indians. Millions died, and
the tribal groups were greatly
weakened.
Europeans and Indians engaged in
lively trade of objects, furs, and food.
Relations between settlers and
Indians varied widely from region to
region, from time period to time
period, and from group to group.

12. Relations with English Colonists
Some settlers, such as Pilgrims,
lived peacefully near Indian
nations.
Conflicts arose between
European settlers and Indian
nations as settlers took land
away from the Indian nations.
Often, European settlers turned
Indian nations against each
other.

13. Chapter 1, Lesson 4 - Life in the English
Colonies
The Demand for Labor
The large plantation of the
Southern colonies required
many laborers.
In the early 1600s, the need for
labor in the South was filled by
indentured slaves.
By the early 1700s, however,
slaves from Africa had become
the major source of labor on
Southern plantations.

14. Regional Differences
New England farms were much smaller
than Southern plantations, producing
just enough food for their own support.
Farms in the Middle Colonies enjoyed
good soil and climate and were able to
produce more than just what the farmer
needed.
Tobacco, rice, and indigo were grown
on large plantations along the coast of
the Southern colonies, while farms in
the backcountry were subsistence only.

15. Patterns of Colonial Life
Port cities like Boston,
Newport, New York,
Philadelphia and Charleston
were the centers of trade,
transportation, and
communication in the
colonies.
Away from the seacoast,
colonial taverns served the
same functions of the port
city.