Colonial America

Unit 1 Forming a Nation

Topics

to be covered:

Origins

and lifestyle of the 13 colonies

The Seven Years War
Royal

Proclamation/ Quebec Act

Causes
The

of the Revolutionary war Taxes etc.

Enlightenment

Revolutionary

War

Bill of rights

Boston Massacre

Loyalists

Declaration

of independence

Constitutional

Convention

The Big picture:

France and England are Historical Enemies. They both

want the Natural Resources of North America.

When France came to North America they settled mostly

in modern day Canada, around the St Lawrence River and
the Atlantic Provinces, down to modern day Louisiana.

When Britain (and others Europeans) came to North

America they mostly settled in what is modern day United
States along the Atlantic Coast.

French Settlers had a better relationship with the

Indigenous peoples, due to the French dependence on the
FIR TRADE.

Approx. 1 million Indigenous peoples were living in

North America before colonization.

Origins of the USA: The European

Invasion of America

The first explorer to arrive in the Americas was CHRISTOPHER

COLUMBUS, an Italian sailing on behalf of the Spanish crown.

He was hoping to find a western passage to Asia.

When he landed on modern day Cuba in 1492 he was convinced

he had arrived in India . (He called the natives Indians)

He was followed by others from Spain, Portugal,

England, France, the Netherlands, and others.

People didnt perminatly settle until 1607 - Virginia

European settlements started to develop - WHY?

Why did Europeans come to America?

1)

Economic Reasons

Groups of investors (companies) pooled their resources

and sent expeditions to America searching for natural
resources.

Ex. Virginia Company of London / Massachusetts Bay

Company

Early settlers were typically men explorers, map makers,

and labourers hired by the company.
Jamestown (1607) in Virginia is oldest surviving British
settlement.
St Augustine Florida is actually the first permanent
settlement Spanish (1565)

Cash crops became huge in the south (tobacco and cotton).

the majority of the people in the 13 colonies were rural farmers

In the north, grain farming, trade, and mining were key.

Others came for the promise of cheap land and a new life.
Were poor and had little prospects in Europe.

Some people were given huge tracts of land by the King as a

repayment of a favour or to settle a debt.
EX.

William Penn owned all of Pennsylvania as a proprietary colony

2) Religious Reasons

Many came to escape religious persecution in

Europe. Massachusetts was originally settled by a
Protestant sect called the Puritans.

Most of those to escape religious persecution were

protestant.

Others came to convert

The indigenous populations

To Christianity.

Government in the Colonies

All colonies were under the supreme power of the King of England,
but had different arrangements.

1)

Royal Colonies ruled by an appointed Governor (British

parliament)

2)

Charter Colonies run by the colonists themselves based on a

constitution agreed to by the King.

From the start, the American colonists had a strong independence

streak and more freedom than those in Europe.

Some colonies were founded by particular religious sects, but some,

like Pennsylvania, had complete religious freedoms.