The Settling Of North America Study Guide

The colonization of the Americas began in the year of 1492, when Christopher Columbus and his band of explorers arrived off the coast of the Bahamas. This new “discovery” for Europe would have drastic effects not only on the settlers themselves, but on the natives and their environment. It is without a doubt that the appearance of these explorers placed the Indians on a dangerous trajectory. Now, it is currently understood how the colonization of the American continent brought disease, war and ultimately death for many of the natives. Early exploration, conquest and settlement brought about new economies for the Europeans, new religious freedoms, and knowledge of the world and of exploration, producing great benefits for the colonists. Although the settlers did face risks and sometimes death during their conquest, they undoubtedly benefitted from this expansion. The Indians, however, were dealt a different hand. The culture that they had developed and the immense civilizations that had evolved were ultimately destroyed as the spread of epidemics, constant war, and brutal exploitation brought these prosperous and hospitable peoples to their knees.

From the mid 1500’s to the 1700’s, people from all over Europe flocked to the vast lands of North America. Spain and England quickly became the most dominant European presences in the Americas. Citizens of the two countries had very different experiences in the New World. This was partially due to their different interactions with Native Americans, religions and their different motivations for coming to the New World. Although rivals at the time, Spain and England’s colonization efforts shared many similarities.

1. Slavery was found in all of these colonies because they worked on the farms and

The 13 colonies in North America struggled for independence. The British government passed many laws and took action that the colonists felt were unfair. As a result, the American Colonists took actions to oppose the British rulers.

The French established three colonies in North America during the 1600s and 1700s. Louisiana and Canada were two of the three colonies. The colony of Canada extended from the north east coast where New Foundland was, down to the Great Lakes. Canada had no real settlements, however, they had many posts which served as trading posts and military support. The colony experienced harsh winters and short growing seasons and because of this their farming efforts usually failed and populations never grew. Since they had little to no success in farming, their economy thrived on fur trade with natives. By creating close ties with the natives they were able to trade metal goods for fur and then craft the fur and later profit from it. In the 1660s the

Author Alan Taylor believes that our traditional views of colonial history need to be revised in order to truly appre-ciate the events leading to a developed American society. Taylor offers a reconsidered approach in his book, Ameri-can Colonies, along with explanation to the new inclusions that will offer a substantive variation of perspectives as opposed to more conventional historical summarization. In the introduction, Taylor formulates his claim: That the traditional story of American uplift makes too many generalizations on the groups of people involved in the coloni-zation process to warrant a truthful narrative of the settling of America. Previous volumes of similar matters fail to be mindful that not all of colonial America was English, as native peoples encountered the Spanish from Mexico, the Russians travelling through Siberia, and the French navigating around the Great Lakes region (xi). Furthermore, plenty of English colonists did not prosper in the

Before the seventeenth century, countries such as Portugal and Spain had controlled the rich lands of the Americas, and England was left out of the race due to religious conflict back home. However, when Queen Elizabeth came into power, England’s power also rose in the colonial game in the America. Some of the first colonies they gathered are the ones of Virginia and Carolina. They also acquired the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Rhode Island. Pennsylvania and New York were other colonies that they gathered too. These six colonies are a part of the famous first thirteen colonies that we know of today, and their formation and purposes helped to form America into the nation it is today.

If you wanted to record the beginning of English colonist history in North America, you would have to begin with the settlements of New England. The English colonists had to endure the ecological challenges of New England, oppose to the conditions they were accustomed to in England. They also had to coexist with the original inhabitants of the lands the Native American Indians for information on techniques of agriculture for proper sustainability, and for trade pur-poses. English colonists had to obtain knowledge from Native Americans along with learning from trial and error to master the ecological challenges they faced while establishing settlements within New England. Coping with environmental challenges to facilitate survival on the day to day basis was the first hurdle the English colonists had to overcome. The ultimate goal of the colonists was after mastering the terrain of New England was to distinguish the natural commod-ities of the region to obtain maximum production of resources for profit to themselves and the mother country of Great Britain.

The American Revolution was far more than a battle of bloodshed and violence. The American Colonies that thrived from Englishman's journey to the New World created new ideology disconnected from the view of Parliament in the mother country of England. As the colonies flourished thousands of miles from Europe, a new breed of people were created of different ethnic groups, religious influences and Puritans ideals. This new breed were named Americans and as Americans developed this new identity, a greater schism between England and America was created. This schism lead to Salutary Neglect , the social and political policy beginning in 1607 that England would place no restrictions on the colonies so that they could

The history and culture surrounding America’s pre-colonization is often forgotten to our presidents and our tax rights. However, the natives whom have been impacted have not forgotten this. The Cherokee people have held on to the basics of their way of life and customs, while being forced to incorporate white culture into their daily lifestyles.

Stringed along from Europe to the new world arrived the conditions changed as colonization of whites

The European conquest for establishing North American colonies began with various motivations, each dependent on different, and/or merging necessities: economics, the desire to flee negative societal aspects, and the search for religious freedoms. Originally discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 in search for a trade route to Cathay (China), North America remained uninhabited, excluding the Native American establishments. Following this discovery, Spain –along with other European nations such as France, England, Sweden and the Netherlands– soon began the expedition to the new land with vast expectations. Driven by economic, societal, and religious purposes, the New World developed into a diversely structured colonial establishment

An extremely important era in the history of America was the Colonial Settlements. During this time Spain had most of the control of the recently founded land in America and controlled many ports along the coast. Although Spain controlled most of the land, they were only looking for resources as was France. The English were also in the New World but they were focused more on establishing settlements than exploiting new resources. The English’s first settlement failed at Roanoke Island. The next settlement was the colony at Jamestown, Virginia and it became known as one of the first permanent settlements in America, ran by John Smith. This colony was sponsored by the Virginia Company of London which was composed of a group of investors. The

When European explorers finally came about exploring the New World, they forever altered not only the social construction of the

When Christopher Columbus voyaged to the Americas in the late 15th century, many European nations saw the New World as an opportunity to expand their empires. A common factor between the four main colonizing powers, England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands, was a desire to grow economically, seeing the New World as a land of prospective wealth. However, these powers did not always share the same viewpoint as one another, especially when it came to religion. In both cases, these various takes on colonization can provide an insight to the beginnings of the United States and how its future history and present identity came to be.