North American Colonies
How Did We Get Here?: A Review
 The first settlers-___________ nomadic people
 Why-following big game across an exposed land bridge
Native Americans before Europeans
 Established the _________ societies in North America
 Some were highly advanced civilizations
First European Settlers: A Review
 Vikings first discover North America
 Did not establish permanent settlements
 __________________________________________ discovers North America in _____________
 Powerful European Empires begin to settle the New World
Why Explore? Gold, God, and Glory
 _____________ Settled for 3 main reasons
1. _________________
a. Gold and other metals
b. Expanding trade
c. Spices: used as perfumes, medicines, and to preserve and flavor food
2. _________________: convert people to Catholicism, NOT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
3. _________________: to have an adventure and become famous
European Settlements
 Spain, France, England and others
 _____________________ most successful at first
Spain established first permanent ________________ settlement in North America at
___________________, Florida.
 Each establish _______________________ in North and South America
 Competition drove exploration and motivated settlement
 Came over for various reasons- not just religion!
Spanish Colonies
 ________________________________ -Spanish conquerors, explore and begin to settle
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present-day ___________________________________________________________________
Conquered Native American empires-Aztecs
Settled for ___________________ purposes-gold, silver
Mining and ranching profitable
Forced Native Americans to work as slaves
Imported African slaves to work
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French Colonies
 Like Spain, France seeking economic means, not religious freedom
 Fur trapping and trading
 Settled present-day Canada, Explored/mapped Mississippi River, Established
New Orleans
English Colonies
 England slow to begin colonizing
 People began to flee England because of religious persecution and ____________________
Jamestown
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***Jamestown was ____________ successful English colony
Named after King James I of England
Settled in __________ by the Virgina Company a ________________________-investors who
pool money together to finance big projects
Chose poor location, bad water, mosquitoes, swampy
Most colonists were townspeople, did not know how to live off of the land
Conflicts with local Indians
Jamestown struggles
 Colonists almost all died
 Saved by __________________ ___________________ and Chief Powhatan
 Smith established trade with Native Americans
 Food helps them through the winter
Tobacco Saves the Colony
 New settlers arrive, Still needed a product to sell for profit
 Colonist __________________ develops better-tasting tobacco.
 Sold in Europe to growing market
To attract more workers, Jamestown created the headright system that promised 50 acres
of land to anyone willing to come to the new colony and cultivate the land.
Jamestown:
Representative Government
 Virginia Company reforms colony to attract more settlers
 Granted right for settlers to elect its own assembly to propose laws
 Elected representatives called ____________________ and served in the House of Burgesses
 Only property owners could vote (white males)
 Begins to set a precedent of self-governing in the colonies
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The New England Colonies:
The Pilgrims
 A group of Protestants, Separatists, broke away from the Anglican Church and moved to
New England
 Wanted to build a community built on “pure biblical teaching” and make money
 The Puritans or “_________________” left on the Mayflower in 1620
 Blown off course, land at Plymouth, Mass.
Mayflower Compact
 Drafted en route to America
 ***__________________________-first self-government plan put into effect in the English
colonies
 Puritans saw it as necessary to maintain peace and order
New England: Government
 Citizens in New England began meeting to discuss local problems.
 Town meetings held where church members had a say
 Another Example of early representative government in America.
New England Economy
 Wanted religious freedom and make money
 Soil too rocky for farming
 Rather than raising crops, New England’s economy focused mainly on
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___________________________
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 Transported goods to other regions and from other regions received sugarcane, and
African slaves
 Boston became a center for shipping and business
New England Society
 Strict laws established in Massachusetts Colony
 No separation of church and state, Social conformity important
 No religious freedom, either the Puritan way or banished and branded a heretic-people
whose religious beliefs differ from those accepted by the majority
 Puritans were the first to promote ______________education
 Two of the nation’s earliest colleges were founded in New England: Harvard and Yale to
train ministers
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_____________________ founded the colony of Rhode Island and promoted the ideas of
freedom of religion and separation of church and state.
The Southern Colonies
 The South’s reliance on staple crops (crops that are in large demand and provide the
bulk of a region’s income) like tobacco and rice led to the rise of the plantation system
 ______________________- huge farm owned by wealthy landowners who raised crops
 Needed lots of labor, used ______________________________________ and then slaves
 Indentured servants- people who agreed to work for a landowner for up to seven years in
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exchange for the landowner paying for their trip to the colony.
 Few large _______________ in the south because of agriculture
Southern Society
 Different classes
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Gentry- Wealthy upper class
Poor farmers
Slaves
 Poor Southerners educated their children at home if at all, Rich hired private tutors or sent
them to Europe
 Most Southern colonies were established for ________________ not religious reasons.
 Rich landowners were still part of the Church of England (Anglican Church)
The Middle Colonies
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Most culturally __________________ because of location
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Slaves not as numerous as in South because of the type of work
Religiously __________________
Middle colonies depended both on farming and trade
Unlike the Southern colonies, the middle colonies had large cities like New York (formerly
called New Amsterdam by Dutch) and Philadelphia
Fur trade with Native Americans
Society in the Middle Colonies
The __________________________________ in Maryland allowed Catholics to worship freely.
____________________ founded by ________________ who also believed in freedom of religion
 Pennsylvania also became a homeland for ________________
 Quakers did not recognize social class differences, promoted equality of the sexes, were
fair to the Native Americans
 Pennsylvania became a place of religious tolerance and attracted other people
 Population boom
African-Americans and Slavery in the Colonies
 First African-Americans came as ______________________________________
 After serving their seven years some owned land, and some even became masters of
indentured servants and/ or ___________________________ themselves
 As agriculture grew so did slavery, especially in the South where rice was grown and
required more labor
 In Middle and New England colonies slaves were often trained in a craft and then worked
in a shop. Some even earned enough money to buy their own freedom.
Colonial Government: Things to Remember for the next unit
 Remember the House of Burgesses in Jamestown (people electing representatives)
 Remember the Mayflower Compact (people making their own government)
 Remember town meetings people could have say (people having say in the
government)
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