Name______________
Title: ______________________________________________________________
Practice Quiz
1.True or False: A permanent settlement
controlled by a foreign nation is usually
in another land that is
called a civilization.
Hudson Bay
British Claims
Unclaimed
Quebec
NF
Mi
sso
u
Massachusetts
ri R
.
iR
Mississipp
New
Spain
St. Lawrence R.
o
Ohi
.
New France
R
New York/Dutch
Jamestown
13 English
Colonies
4
o
o
o
o
New Spain, #1
New France, #2
New Netherlands, #3
English Colonies, #4
1
2 1
1
4
Caribbean
Islands
1
European Settlements in North America
Name _______________________
Step One: Prep your map
First, set up your map:
___1.
Title it something appropriate like “European Land Claims in the New
World”
___2.
Decide the colors you will use in your key – don’t use blue. Be neat.
___3.
Write the following definition of colony at the bottom of your page in your
own words:
COLONY: a country or area under the full or partial political control of another
country, typically a distant one, and occupied by settlers from that country.
Step Two: Read: As you read, circle any words that confuse you, and
highlight any economic or religious reasons for settlement by each nation.
The Spanish Settlements:
In 1565, the Spanish established the first permanent North American
settlement at St. Augustine which is in Florida. Therefore, the first
permanent European settlement was in Florida.
The Spanish settlements in the Americas were referred to as New Spain and
were concentrated in the Southwest United States, Mexico and South America.
The Spanish sent missionaries and conquistadors to the New World who were
in search of GOLD, silver, and converts to their Catholic religion. At its
height, New Spain consisted of colonies from Central America to modern-day
Kansas and even west to California. The Spanish also claimed islands in the
Caribbean Sea. Most of New Spain was warm compared to the areas settled by
France and England. New Spain also included the Rocky Mountains and
deserts and California’s Pacific coast. Lots of land for the Spanish in the
beginning – Wow. And at first, the Spanish found LOTS of gold and got really
rich. But then they settled down to agriculture and large plantations.
What were the Spanish settlements like? New Spain was divided into five
provinces governed by a Council of the Indies in Spain. In each colony, they
appointed a viceroy (basically like a governor) by the King of Spain. Under
Spanish law, provinces were made up of three kinds of settlements: pueblos
(little centers of trade), missions (religious centers) and presidios (forts –
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you’ve probably heard of one called the Alamo). Write a caption below each
image – either pueblo, mission or presidio:
The Spanish were the first to develop a plantation system that would also
become common in the English colonies later. A plantation was HUGE farm
with forced labor that produced cash crops (crops for sale). Spanish
plantations exported crops such as tobacco and sugarcane. Plantations were
often found on missions. Native Americans did the farming work at first until
they all died, and then the Spanish forced imported Africans to work the
plantations. Some of the very first Africans enslaved in the Americas came to
these Spanish plantations much earlier than Africans came to English colonies.
___4.
Find the Spanish territory using the map key and what you’ve
read above and use a soft color to lightly shade it.
___5.
Don’t forget to color the Caribbean Islands owned by Spain
(marked as #1 on the map)
___6.
Add a few gold or silver symbols in the Spanish territories to
remind you of economic reasons the Spanish settled.
___7.
Add symbols to represent tobacco and sugar plantations and then
label a caption of something like “farmed by African slaves.” Which
represents other “economic” reasons for colonizing.
___8.
Finally, sketch Christian crosses in the territory to represent the
Spanish missionaries came to the New World to convert the natives to
their Catholic religion.
___9.
Put any symbols in the key or right outside if there is no room.
BONJOUR. The French Settlements: Where? Why settle?
At first, the French started exploring the Americas in hopes of
finding a Northwest Passage. The French were hoping to find an
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all water route through North America. Sadly, no such passage
existed. However, the French found other waterways and some
land in Canada, the Hudson Bay, around the Great Lakes, the
Louisiana Territory and the Ohio River Valley. The French also
controlled a few island in the Caribbean Sea. In the 1600s, French
traders began setting up small forts in Canada and along the
Mississippi River. The first permanent French city was Quebec
that is a large city in Canada now. In general, there were not a
lot of people or big cities in New France.
The French colonists were big into fur trading and did a lot
of trapping and trading with the local natives. They weren’t real
settled – instead their trappers moved around in search of fur
and fur trade with their native American business partners. You
know the French – always stylish –– they were interested in
animal prints years before it was cool. There were a few forts
for the trappers to stay in a few days at a time, but it took a
long time for lots of folks to come to New France. And there was
no gold either. The French brought also brought missionaries to
New France– these Catholic missionaries followed around the fur
trappers in hope of converting natives to Christianity. The
French trappers became great allies with the Huron tribe in the
Ohio River Valley. They worked as business partners for many
years. In fact, the French even helped the Huron fight their
native enemies, the Iroquois. Later these Huron allies would help
the French fight against the English in what was known as the
French and Indian War. In general, the French had a better
relationship with the natives than the Spanish or the English
although I’m sure they inadvertently killed natives with their
European pathogens.
In the French Caribbean Island colonies, the French
maintained large sugar plantations. The French also purchased
African slaves from the Dutch slave traders and used the cheap
labor to run profitable sugarcane plantations like the Spanish.
___10. Trace and color the Mississippi River, Missouri River, the
Ohio River, Hudson Bay, and the Great Lakes with blue.
___11. Color the French territory in another color.
___12. Add in some symbols in the French mainland to
represent fur trading and identify the HURON as the French
allies. Also, color in the Caribbean Islands #2 and place some
sugar cane plantation symbols there.
___13. Draw a few crosses to represent the few missionaries.
___14. Place the symbols in your key.
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The Short Lived Dutch Settlements: Less than 70 years in America The Dutch (these are the guys from Holland AKA the Netherlands) explorers first came to the Americas looking for the Northwest Passage like the French. While they didn’t find a waterway across North America, they did find good fur trading with natives near the Hudson River. Like the French, the Dutch colonies began to prosper in the fur trade business. The fur was their “gold!” The Dutch claimed a region near the Hudson Bay along the Mid-­‐Atlantic coast that they called New Netherlands (creative, huh?) a round the year 1624. The following year, the Dutch formed their capital and called it New Amsterdam (now called New York City). Supposedly as their settlement grew bigger, the Dutch purchased Manhattan Island from the Manhates Indians for $24 and also established settlements in part of Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey. The Dutch were pretty open about religion and allowed colonists – and natives-­‐ to practice any religion. They also invited many diverse Europeans to settle in their colonies. This might be why even today people in New York are so diverse. The Dutch didn’t have missionaries like the Spanish or French. Just traders. The Dutch weren’t big into farming or plantations, instead they partnered with the Iroquois tribe in the fur trading business. As their colony grew they, tensions mounted between the Dutch and other natives in the areas. Squirmishes and bloodshed developed between the natives and Dutch. Additionally, the Dutch trading business came to include the importing and trading of West African slaves. Remember, the French purchased some of their early slaves from the Dutch traders in the New Netherlands. The more they prospered, the more they grew. As a result rivalries with the English in Europe bled over to the colonies. The English Duke of York successfully attacked and overthrew the Dutch colonial leaders. The English took control of the short-­‐lived Dutch settlement -­‐ no more Dutch rule in the Americas. And that’s why the area is now called New York (get it, the Duke of York conquered the Dutch settlers there.) From then on, the Dutch guys in the area lived under the English colonial rule. ___15. In what current big city did the Dutch originally have their capital city before the English took over their settlement? _____________________. ___16. VERY lightly shade the Dutch colonies in one color. Remember, eventually they will be controlled by the English and recolored. You won’t be able to see the Caribbean Islands on this map. 5
___17. Draw a trading ship symbol near New York City. Draw an animal skin to represent the fur trading business with the Iroquois. ___18. Place your symbols in the key. The Early English Settlements:
The English established their first settlement at Jamestown
(Virginia – Southern US) in 1607, and in Plymouth
Massachusetts (northern US) in 1620. The English would go on
to establish 13 colonies all along the eastern coast of North
America by the 1750s from what is Maine today all the way south
to Georgia. We’re going to learn a lot about the English colonies
over the next few weeks. The early Jamestown settlers were
hoping to find gold like the Spanish, but there wasn’t much.
Instead, they found the land to be ripe for producing tobacco.
Tobacco became their gold. Within just 12 years of first settling in
the colonies, the English settlers brought their own African slaves
to the New World to work their growing tobacco plantations.
Tensions also began between the English and the natives in the
area as the tobacco plantations encroached on more and more of
the native land. Far north of the Jamestown settlers, the early
settlers in Massachusetts came to the new world in search of
religious freedom. These English Pilgrims came to practice a
“pure, perfect” version of Christianity. The land in those northern
English colonies was no conductive to large farms; there were no
large plantations, but instead their were small food farms and also
instead the colonists in Massachusetts began to build a large
trading industry based on shipping, whaling and you got it slaves. They eventually butted heads with the natives too as they
attempted to convert them to Christianity and to spread into their
land.
___19. Find the English Territory on the map key, color it, and
label it “Original 13 English Colonies”
___20. Also, shade Northern Canada, Newfoundland and #4 in
the Caribbean Islands.
___21.
In the Southern colonies draw in some symbols for
slavery and also some symbols to represent the tobacco
plantations.
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In the north near Massachusetts, add a few trading
ships near the area. Also, place many religious symbols in
the Northern region of the colonies to represent their
religious foundations.
___22.
Final Thinking and Summary: Use your map to process
what you’ve learned and think.
___15. Write a one-sentence summary about each of the four
European Countries that summarizes the location, economics,
and religion of each settlement. One is done for you:
a) New Spain was located mainly in the western part of the United States
and included many Catholic missionaries, gold and silver looting and
large slave plantations. Tobacco and sugar plantations developed on the
missions and were worked by natives and then African slaves.
b) New France…
c) New Netherlands…
d) The English colonies…
___16. Write one or two questions you are still confused
about or still want to know:
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