This document provides an overview of early American history from the pre-Columbian period through the colonial era. It discusses how the first Americans migrated to North America across the Bering Strait during the last Ice Age. It then summarizes the major indigenous civilizations that existed in North and Mesoamerica prior to European contact, including the Aztec and Inca Empires. The document next examines the motivations and activities of the major European colonial powers in North America, including exploration, conquest of native peoples, and the establishment of colonies. It provides brief summaries of the founding and economies of the 13 original colonies.

1. Mrs. Barnes
AP and Dual Credit US History

2. •Pre-
Columbian
time period.
•First
Americans
came from
Asia
•Crossed the
Bering Strait
during the
Ice Age
•Following a
food source
•Gradual
migration

3. Inhabitants crossed over by way of the Bering Land
Bridge
The Ice Melted… human beings started to pass over
the land bridge.
They took their time! The travelers averaged about 1
mile of migration EVERY 2 YEARS!!!
Did you know that before Columbus “discovered” the
New World that 100 MILLION natives actually lived
there???
Also, when Columbus landed… the Aztec Capital was
larger than ANY European city?? WOW!

4. 2,000 languages were spoke in the New World
Agriculture was the reason these different civilizations
could survive.
Unlike the dirty European cities of that time… most of
the large cities in the New World (Meso-America in
particular) had Running water, clean streets and even
botanical gardens
MesoAmerica more advanced than the simple
Hunting/Gathering societies in Northern America
Explorers dominated native inhabitants due to
WEAPONS +DISEASES +USE of Tribe RIVALRIES

5. Want of WEALTH… Tales of GOLD!
Renaissance ideals (humanism/optimism)…
“We can do ANYTHING”
Trades Routes -looking for a waterway to
Asia
They had the ability… SHIPS and ACCESS!
Mariner’s Compass was developed…
exploration was POSSIBLE!

6. Europe was introduced
to….
Corn
Tobacco
Tomatoes
Avocado
Rice
Indigo (later)
DISEASE… Explorers
were basically Biological
WEAPONS!
Horses
Cattle
Americas were introduced
to…
IN REALITY…..
The American Indians were on the loosing end of a “White
Elephant Gift Exchange”
The OLD WORLD (Europe) brought death and domination to
the Natives.
And… the NEW WORLD (Americas) gave Europe a new life.

7. FRENCH
explored and gave claim to Canada.
built a fur-trading post in Quebec, Canada 1608-(this settlement
continued to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River)
Desired to covert natives
SPANISH
Defeat Aztecs and Incas
In the 16th Century (1500s) they explore Mexico, Florida and much of
the Southwest
built a mission in Santa Fe, New Mexico (1610)
Desired to covert natives
English
first permanent colony -Sir Walter Raleigh was the 1st to found a
English colony—Roanoke (1585 to 1587), but when relief vessels
arrived in 1590 the colonists were gone and never found.
So we study ….JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA …. 1607

8. AMERICAN COLONIES
Economic Motives
Surplus capital and profit motive.
Mercantilism stressed the need for precious metals. Sought Gold and other metals.
England wished to secure vital raw materials.
Need for surplus of manufactures.
Religious Motives
Protestant Reformation gave rise to dissenting sects (fought against the Anglican
Church).
Catholics, Puritans, and Quakers wanted to flee the Kings pressure to conform.
Didn’t want to convert the natives to Christianity, unlike French and Spanish.
Social and Political Motives
Desire for adventure and new experiences.
Wish for a greater degree of political freedom.

9. Mercantilism was the economic philosophy of Great
Britain when establishing the Colonies
Colonies produced sugar, lumber, naval stores and
fish (raw resources) for the Empire.
…generally favors “protectionism” and colonial
acquisition as means to increase exports
Colonist developed great skill in evading British laws
they found harmful and often showed an independent
spirit toward English domination. (SMUGGLING)

10. Smokin’ Virginia- Jamestown- settled by Virginia Company (Joint stock Co.
that’s motive was $$$$$).
“He who shall not work shall not eat”- John Smith
Disease and starvation almost wiped out colony
“The Starving Time”
Pocahontas
Tobacco!!! (John Rolfe)
Merry Maryland-
CATHOLIC HAVEN!
Maryland Act of Toleration- 1649
Protestants outnumber Catholics. The people must accept the Trinity. The Act was meant to protect
Catholic freedom.
Individualistic Carolinas-
more relaxed… some outcasts
Carolina cultivated rice and brought African slaves to develop a plantation
type economy.
Get Em’ Georgia-
Created as a buffer between Spanish Florida and South Carolina
New Start for Criminals and debtors
****Rivers, Plantations, seasons suitable for farming= AGRICULTURE

11. Jamestown Settlement

12. Indentured Servants
Indentured servants became the
first means to meet this need for
labor.
In return for free passage to
Virginia, a laborer worked for
four to five years in the fields
before being granted freedom.
The Crown rewarded planters with 50
acres of land for every inhabitant they
brought to the New World. Naturally,
the colony began to expand. That
expansion was soon challenged by the
Native American confederacy formed
and named after Powhatan
**eventually led to
SLAVERY**

13. •“Headright System”-
whomever paid
passage for “laborer”
received the right to
50 acres.
•Indentured servants
were Disenfranchised
and unable to receive
their land
•Gov. Berkeley (Royal
Governer) would not
defend settlements
from Indian attacks

14. •Nathaniel Bacon acts as
the representative for
rebels
•Gov. Berkeley refused
to meet their
conditions and erupts
into a civil war.
•Bacon dies, Gov.
Berkeley puts down
rebellion and several
rebels are hung
Consequence of Bacon’s Rebellion
Plantation owners gradually replaced indentured servants
with African slaves because it was seen as a better investment
in the long term than indentured servitude.
*Decline of Headright System

15. Plymouth Pilgrims 1620- Just North of Virginia… Mayflower landed
Mayflower Compact “Government by Majority”- “SELF GOVERNMENT”
Puritans
Eventually absorbed by Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony- COD AND GOD!
Theocracy … Church and State connected
John Winthrop – “We must be a city upon a hill”
Witch trials 1692 – 6 girls accusing people and the show trials. (Massachusetts created (1692)
Anne Hutchinson
Best known for her struggle with Massachusetts over religious doctrine and gender roles
Hutchinson was banished to Rhode Island
“Freethinking” Rhode Island- Roger Williams
Paid Indians for land
Separated Church and State
Connecticut comes to Order- Thomas Hooker
Drafted “Fundamental Orders”… the beginning of a Constitution
Women’s Rights
New Hampshire
Fishing

16. •41 Male passengers on the
Mayflower formed into a
“civil body politic”, signed
a compact promising to
write and obey "just and
equal laws ... for the
general good of the
colony."
•The compact brought an
element of democracy to
America and was an
example of the practice of
self-government in the
colonies.
•All the colonies practiced
some form of self-
government……and would

17. 1st governor of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
the chief figure among the
Puritan founders of New
England
THEOCRACY=
Church+State
Called on the Puritans to
build a model society…
which he referred to as “ a
city upon a hill’

18. Pequot War 1637: Fought
because tensions grew
between Puritans and the
Indians. Puritans ally
themselves with Pequot
tribal enemies (the
Narragansett and Mohegan
tribes). Pequot's are
defeated and sign the
treaty of Hartford which
declared the Pequot Nation
dissolved.
King Philips War – 1675:
Fought because of Puritans
moving onto more Indian
land. Metacomet is
defeated.

19. Purpose
Unite against a
common enemy.
Involved
Massachusetts
Connecticut but
not Rhode
Island
Democratic
growth
Indian Wars Pequot
War, 1644
King Philip’s
War, 1675
Confederation
dissolves once
wars end.
Not Rhode Island

20. NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION -1643
The Puritan Colonies united tostand against Indians. The New
England Confederationwas highlysuccessful in termsof bonding
thecolonies together, and provided a basis for the further
collaborationof Colonies
Indians Vs. Colonists
The Iroquois Confederacy
•Unification of many several different tribes in response to the threat
posed by the European Colonists.
•The Iroquois Confederacy was the MOST IMPORATANT and
powerful Native American political alliance in history. It successfully
ended generations of tribal warfare.

21. New York (Old Netherlands/New Amsterdam)
Dutch Company
Aristocratic
Dutch Explorer Henry Hudson… Hudson river and Bay???
Delaware
New Sweden
Pacifist Pennsylvania- William Penn
Quakers = Pacifist
paid Indians for land
The “Holy Experiment” granted complete freedom of
worship and established democratic gov’t.

23. SOUTH
WIDE GAP between rich and poor
hierarchy of wealth and status
1. Planter aristocracy w/ slaves
mimicking feudalism of Europe
2. However, these planters were
hardworking, involved in day-to-day
affairs
3. Few cities – poor transportation
4. Women more powerful – men die
leaving property to widows
b. Divorce rare – courts could order
you to reunite
Was a gap between Rich/Poor…
but not as wide as South
Because of harsh weather…
industrialization begins
Growing Population– fertile
people/not soil
1. Early marriage = high birth rates,
women would often die during
childbirth
a. Obedient family ties, strong
links to grandparents
b. Women’s role not as powerful
– no property or legal rights
NORTH

24. Religion leads Northern lifestyle
Towns in New England unite
Geography & Fear of Indians force close relations
Religion makes unity important
50+ families in town requires a school
Puritans ran churches DEMOCRATICALLY…… led to
democratic government

25. Germans – left because of war, religion and a bad economy
settled in Pennsylvania
Scotts-Irish – Scottish kicked out of Ireland because not
Catholic – settled in mountains
Lawless, individualistic – lived in Appalachian hills – whiskey
making fools!
Not wanted by Germans or New Englanders – forced to hills
Other groups were embraced by Colonial Settlers
French, Dutch, Swedes, Jews, Irish, Swiss
Largest immigrant group ----SLAVES

26. Natural Resources to England
Weapons and Textiles
to Africa
Slaves to Indies and
Southern Colonies
Sugar to Americas

27. This is called the
Middle Passage

28. The Navigation Acts (1660-
1680s)
1. Navigation Acts passed
to control colonial
overseas commerce and
shipping in the interests
of the whole empire.
2. During the 17th and early
18th Centuries MANY
colonists ignored
Navigation Acts and
smuggled without
punishment
3. Becomes known as the
era of “SALUTARY
NEGLECT”

29. A wave of religious revivals that spread across the American
Colonies during 1730s and 1740s

31. People felt that OLD religion
was dry, dull and distant
Half-Way Covenant- The Puritans
established to ease requirements
for Church Membership (allowed
the baptism of children of baptized
but unconverted Puritans
(Massachusetts Bay)
Increases # of religious people but
diversifies the SECTS of religion
Preachers felt that people
needed to be concerned with
inner emotions as opposed to
outward religious behavior
People in New England can read
and interrupt the Bible on their
own

32. George Whitefield
Famous Puritan minster
who used raw emotional
sermons to reach all classes
of colonists
Preached that “good
works” and “godly lives”
would bring you salvation
Puritan Minster
terrified listeners with
his sermon “Sinners in
the Hands of an Angry
God”
Jonathan Edwards

33. Birth of deep religious
convictions in the
colonies
New churches built to
accommodate new
members
Colleges founded found
to train new ministers
RELIGIOUS UNITY

34. Great surge of literacy in
the colonies
Newspapers and book
publications increase
Schools are synonymous
with new towns and
villages
Deism- belief that God
created universe that is
governed by NATURAL
LAW and human reason
Philosophers used the
doctrine of “natural rights” to
justify revolution against
political tyranny.

35. New
colleges
founded
after the
Great
Awakening
• “NEW
LIGHT
COLLEGES”

36. France --> lost her Canadian possessions,
most of her empire in India, and claims
to lands east of the Mississippi River.
Spain --> got all French lands west of
the Mississippi River, New Orleans, but
lost Florida to England.
England --> got all French lands in
Canada, exclusive rights to Caribbean
slave trade, and commercial dominance
in India.
1763  Treaty of Paris
(Outcome of FRENCH/INDIAN WAR)

37. North America in 1763

38. 1. It increased her colonial empire in
the Americas.
2. It greatly enlarged England’s debt.
3. Britain’s contempt for the colonials
created bitter feelings.
Therefore, England felt that a
major reorganization of her
American Empire was necessary!
Effects of the War
on Britain?

39. 1. It united them against a
common enemy for the first
time.
2. It created a socializing
experience for all the
colonials who participated.
3. It created bitter feelings
towards the British that
would only intensify.
Effects of the War on the
American Colonials

40. 1. Sugar Act - 1764
2. Currency Act - 1764
4. Stamp Act - 1765
3. Quartering Act - 1765
George Grenville’s
Program, 1763-1765