Chapter 2, Section 1
Did You Know? The Aztec started Tenochtitlán on an island in what was then Lake Texcoco. The site of Tenochtitlán was a marshy, snake-infested land. However, the Aztec were able to make the land flourish. They used irrigation to grow crops. The also grew crops on “floating gardens,” which they made by filling shallow areas of the lake and securing the soil with trees. Tenochtitlán included palaces, plazas, and pyramids. It also included ball courts and a zoo. By 1520 the city was one of the largest cities in the world in population.
I. The Conquest of Mexico (pages 50–52)
A. In 1519 the Spanish government asked Hernán Cortés to lead an expedition to the Yucatán Peninsula to find new people who could be forced to work on the farms and mines of Cuba. Cortés also wanted to investigate reports of a wealthy civilization there.
B. Equipped with swords, crossbows, guns, and cannons, the Spanish had a technological advantage over the people they encountered in the Yucatán Peninsula.
C. After learning that the Aztec were at war with many groups in the region, Cortés recruited the help of the Tlaxcalan people against the Aztec. Montezuma, the Aztec leader, failed to stop the Spanish advance, and Cortés marched into Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire.
D. In 1520 the Aztec priests organized a rebellion against the Spanish and drove them out of the capital. However, in 1521 Cortés launched another attack and this time defeated the Aztec.
Discussion Question
Why were the Spanish successful in defeating the Aztec? (The Spanish had the technological advantage of sophisticated weaponry and the use of horses, which the Aztec had never seen before. In addition, a smallpox epidemic had devastated the Aztec population and weakened the Aztec defenses against the Spanish.)
II. New Spain Expands (pages 52–54)
A. After destroying Tenochtitlán, Cortés ordered a new city, named Mexico, to be built in its place. It became the capital of the Spanish colony of New Spain. Cortés sent other expeditions into what is present-day Mexico and Central America. The people who led the expeditions became known as conquistadors, or “conquerors.” One conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, explored Peru and conquered the Inca empire.
B. Other Spanish conquistadors explored other parts of America, searching for rumored wealthy cities. Pánfilo de Narváez search for a fabled city of gold in what is today northern Florida. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led an expedition in search of the rumored Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. His explorations led him throughout the southwestern area of what is today the United States. Hernando de Soto led a large expedition and explored the area north of Florida.
C. The Spanish gave the name New Mexico to the territory north of New Spain. They built presidios, or forts, throughout the region as trading posts and protection for the settlers. Spanish priests also built missions throughout the region to spread the Christian faith among the Native American people there.
Discussion Question
Why did many Spanish conquistadors set out on expeditions to America? (Many of the conquistadors were searching for fabled wealthy cities, which they did not find. However, their search resulted in the exploration of various regions of America.)
III. Spanish American Society (pages 54–55)
A. Most conquistadors were low-ranking nobles, called hidalgos, or working-class tradespeople. Their main motive for coming to America was to acquire wealth and prestige. After Cortés defeated the Aztec empire, he rewarded his men by granting them control over some part of the empire. This was called the encomienda system.
B. The people in the Spanish colonies in the Americas formed a highly-structured society. A person’s position in society was determined by birth, income, and education. The highest level of society consisted of the peninsulares—those born in Spain. Below this level were the criollos—those born in the colonies of Spanish parents. Next were the mestizos—those born of Spanish and Native American parentage. The lowest level of society included Native Americans, Africans, and people of mixed Spanish and African or African and Native American ancestry.
C. The Spanish king divided the empire in America into regions called viceroyalties. A viceroy ruled each region as a representative of the king.
D. Although the Spanish did not find vast deposits of gold in the Americas, they did discover huge deposits of silver. Mining camps emerged all across northern Mexico. To feed the miners, the Spaniards created large ranches for their herds of cattle and sheep. These ranches were called haciendas. The men who worked the ranches were called vaqueros. Cowhands in the United States later adopted many of the ways of the vaqueros.
Discussion Question
How were social classes determined in the Spanish colonies in the Americas? (They were determined by an individual’s birth, income, and education.)
IV. The French Empire in America (pages 55–56)
A. In 1524 the French king sent Giovanni da Verrazano to map the North American coastline. The king was interested in finding the Northwest Passage—the northern route through North America to the Pacific Ocean. Although Verrazano found no such passage, he did map a large area of North America’s east coast. Jacques Cartier, another explorer, discovered and mapped the St. Lawrence River.
B. By 1600 fur, particularly beaver fur, had become very fashionable in Europe. As the demand for fur increased, French merchants became interested in expanding the fur trade. In 1602 the French king authorized a group of merchants to establish colonies in North America.
C. The merchants hired geographer Samuel de Champlain to help them colonize North America. Champlain established a French colony in what is present-day Nova Scotia, and he founded Quebec, which became the capital of the new colony of New France.
D. New France was founded for the fur trade. Settlers were not needed to clear land or start farms. Consequently, the population grew slowly. Most of the fur traders, known as coureurs de bois, did not live in the colony but among the Native Americans with whom they traded.
Discussion Question
What was the main purpose for establishing the colony of New France? (to establish a fur trade)
V. New France Expands (pages 56–57)
A. In 1663 New France became a royal colony. The French government then introduced a series of projects designed to increase the colony’s population. The government also began exploring North America. Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette explored the Mississippi River. René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle then followed the river to the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the region, which he named Louisiana, for France.
B. Settlements were established in Louisiana over the next few decades. The French soon realized that crops suitable for the region required hard manual labor, which few settlers were willing to do. By 1721 the French in Louisiana had imported enslaved Africans and forced them to work the plantations.
C. The Spanish had established the town of St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565 to protect their claim to the region after the French tried to settle the Carolinas. The town became the first permanent settlement established by Europeans in present-day United States. After the French arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Spanish established a mission in eastern Texas to attempt to block French expansion into the region.
Discussion Question
Why did the French begin importing enslaved Africans to Louisiana in the early 1700s?
(The crops that were suitable for the region required difficult manual labor, which European settlers were unwilling to do. As a result, they imported enslaved Africans to compel them to work the plantations.)
Chapter 2, Section 2
Did You Know? The food supply of the Jamestown colonists appears to be limited. Archaeologists have excavated animal bones from food supplies that dated prior to 1610. The excavation has revealed that the 104 settlers who landed at Jamestown depended mainly on fish and turtles for food. Reports from John Smith indicate that the sturgeon was plentiful in the James River. The colonists also ate rays, herons, oyster, and raccoons.
I. England Takes Interest in America (pages 58–61)
A. In 1497 the king of England sent John Cabot to find a western route to Asia. He landed in what is today Nova Scotia and explored the region southward. However, at that point England did not attempt to colonize North America.
B. Several changes in England in the 1500s led to renewed interest in colonization. One change was the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, a German monk, published an attack on the practices of the Catholic Church. The Reformation spread across western Europe. In England the Reformation involved a disagreement between King Henry VIII and the pope, who refused to annul the king’s marriage. The king then broke with the Church and declared himself the head of the Anglican Church.
C. Some English people wanted to keep the organization of the Catholic Church in the Anglican Church. Others, however, wanted to “purify” the Anglican Church of all Catholic elements. These people became known as Puritans. King James I refused to implement the changes to the Anglican Church that the Puritans wanted. This forced many Puritans to leave England for America.
D. Economic changes in England also led to colonization. In the early 1500s, much of England’s land was divided into large estates. The landowners rented the land to tenant farmers. Then the demand for wool increased dramatically, leading English landowners to convert their estates into sheep farms by enclosing the land. This enclosure movement resulted in the eviction of tenants, who were left unemployed and poor. Leaving England for America was a possible economic opportunity.
E. The English merchants needed new markets for their surplus wool. Many organized joint-stock companies, pooling the money of many investors for large projects, such as establishing colonies.
Discussion Question
What religious and economic changes led to England’s interest in establishing colonies in America? (The Reformation in England led Puritans to want to leave England for America; the change from tenant farming to sheep raising left many poor and unemployed people looking toward America for economic opportunities.)
II. England Returns to America (pages 61–62)
A. After England emerged as the leading Protestant power and Spain the leading Catholic power, the two countries became enemies. When the Spanish tried to check the spread of Protestantism in the Netherlands, which was part of the Spanish empire, the Dutch rebelled. England came to the aid of the Dutch. Queen Elizabeth allowed privateers to attack Spanish ships. Privateers are privately owned ships licensed by the government to attack ships of other countries.
B. To more easily attack Spanish ships in the Caribbean, England needed to establish colonies nearby in order to establish bases. Walter Raleigh obtained a charter from the queen to explore the American coastline. His ships landed on Roanoke, an island near present-day North Carolina, and he named the land Virginia.
Discussion Question
Why did England come to the aid of the Dutch in the mid-1500s? (The Dutch were Protestant and part of the Spanish empire, which was Catholic. Spain was trying to check the spread of Protestantism in the Netherlands. The Dutch rebelled, and Protestant England came to their aid against the Spanish.)
III. Jamestown Is Founded (pages 62–64)
A. In 1606 the king of England granted the Virginia Company a charter to establish colonies in Virginia. The 144 men sent to Virginia founded the settlement of Jamestown.
B. Jamestown faced many problems. The leadership of Captain John Smith and assistance from the Powhatan Confederacy, the local Native Americans, helped the colony survive.
C. The Jamestown Company offered free land to people who worked for the colony for seven years. New settlers arrived in 1609, but there was not enough food for them. The settlers stole food from the Native Americans, who retaliated by attacking them. By 1610 only 60 settlers survived.
D. John Rolfe, a Jamestown colonist, developed a strain of tobacco that was marketable in England. The Jamestown settlers soon began growing large quantities of tobacco for profit.
E. To attract more settlers to Jamestown, the Virginia Company gave the colony the right to elect its own general assembly. The elected representatives were called burgesses, and the legislative body was called the House of Burgesses.
F. The Virginia Company also introduced the system of headrights. Under this system, new settlers who bought a share in the company or paid for their passage were granted 50 acres. They received more land for each family member or servant they brought to Virginia.
G. The Native Americans near Jamestown grew alarmed at the increasing population. They attacked the settlement, killing nearly 350 settlers. King James revoked the colony’s charter and declared it a royal colony.
Discussion Question
Why was the settlement of Jamestown in trouble from its beginning? (Most of the Jamestown settlers were townspeople who knew nothing about living in the woods or farming. Many refused to do the necessary manual labor. Sicknesses and food shortages occurred, and many settlers died.)
IV. Maryland Is Founded (page 64)
A. Catholics were persecuted in England for their beliefs. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic member of Parliament, decided to found a colony in America where Catholics could practice their religion without persecution.
B. The king granted Baltimore an area of land northeast of Virginia, which Baltimore named Maryland. Baltimore owned Maryland, making it the first proprietary colony. Although Maryland was founded as a Catholic refuge, most of the colony’s settlers were Protestant.
Discussion Question
Why did Lord Baltimore establish the colony of Maryland? (He wanted to establish a refuge for Catholics, who were being persecuted in England.)
Chapter 2, Section 3
Did You Know? The Pilgrims survived in large part because of the assistance of Squanto, a Pawtuxet. Squanto had earlier been captured by an English explorer and taken to Europe. As a result, he spoke English and was instrumental in helping the Pilgrims form an alliance with the local Wampanoags.
I. The Pilgrims Land at Plymouth (pages 66–67)
A. Some Puritans, called Separatists, broke away from the Anglican Church to start their own congregations. The king viewed the act as a challenge to his authority and imprisoned them. In 1608 one group of Separatists, who became known as Pilgrims, fled to Holland. Unhappy there, they decided to immigrate to America.
B. The Pilgrims set sail for America on the Mayflower in 1620 and settled in Plymouth, near Massachusetts Bay.
C. Under the leadership of William Bradford, the Pilgrims began constructing homes immediately after their arrival. A plague swept through the colony, killing many settlers. The remaining settlers survived in large part because of the assistance of a Native American named Squanto, who taught them how to use the environment to meet their needs.
Discussion Question
Why did the Pilgrims immigrate to America? (They wanted to escape persecution by the English king for their religious beliefs.)
II. The Puritans Found Massachusetts (pages 67–69)
A. Many Puritans stayed within the Anglican Church and worked for reform. Like the Separatists, these Puritans were also persecuted, and many were willing to leave England.
B. Adepression in England’s wool industry caused high unemployment, particularly among Puritans. John Winthrop and other wealthy Puritans held stock in the Massachusetts Bay Company, which had received a charter from King Charles to establish a colony in New England.
C. Winthrop used the charter to start a colony as a refuge for Puritans. In 1630 several hundred Puritans set sail for American and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
D. As conditions in England worsened, increasing numbers of people left England in what was later called the Great Migration. By 1643 Massachusetts included about 20,000 settlers.
E. In Massachusetts, a General Court made the laws and elected the colony’s governor. The General Court was made up of “freemen”—the people who owned stock in the Massachusetts Bay Company. Eventually the General Court became a representative assembly.
F. The government of Massachusetts required all colonists to attend church, collected taxes to support it, and regulated people’s moral behavior. The government was intolerant towards differences in religious beliefs. Heretics, those whose religious beliefs differed from the majority’s, were considered a threat to the community.
Discussion Question
Why were many Puritans in the early 1600s willing to leave England for America? (They wanted to escape religious persecution and economic hardships.)
III. Rhode Island and Religious Dissent (pages 69–70)
A. Roger Williams, a strict Separatist, challenged Puritan authority in Massachusetts. In 1635 the General Court banned him from the colony. Williams headed south, where he founded the town of Providence. The government there had no authority in religious matters, and religious differences were tolerated.
B. Anne Hutchinson was declared a heretic and banished from Massachusetts for her challenge of Puritan practices. She and her followers also headed south and founded the town of Portsmouth.
C. Other Puritans were also banished from Massachusetts. They founded the towns of Newport and Warwick. These two towns joined with Providence and Portsmouth to become the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The colony’s charter included a total separation of church and state and religious freedom.
Discussion Question
Why did the General Court in Massachusetts banish several of its colonists? (The court banished people who challenged the beliefs and practices of the Puritans.)
IV. The River Towns of Connecticut (pages 70–71)
A. Reverend Thomas Hooker opposed the Massachusetts government’s policy of allowing only church members to vote. He and his followers left Massachusetts and founded the town of Hartford, in the Connecticut River valley. Hartford and two other towns in the region joined together to create their own General Court. They adopted a constitution known as the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut—the first written constitution of the American colonies.
B. Two Massachusetts traders were killed by the Pequot, a Native American group in the Connecticut River valley. A war between the colonists and Pequot developed. Hundreds of Pequot were killed, and many were sold into slavery.
Discussion Question
What disagreement did Thomas Hooker have with the Massachusetts government? (He believed that everyone, not just church members, should be allowed to vote.)
V. New Hampshire and Maine (page 71)
A. Some Puritans moved north of Massachusetts. Much of this territory had been granted to two men. One claimed the southern part, named New Hampshire, and the other claimed the northern part, named Maine.
B. New Hampshire eventually became a royal colony, while Massachusetts bought back Maine, which remained part of Massachusetts until 1820.
Discussion Question
What colonies did Puritans start north of Massachusetts? (New Hampshire and Maine)
VI. King Philip’s War (page 71)
A. The colonial governments’ demand that Native American follow English law angered the Native Americans, who believed that the English were trying to destroy their culture.
B. In 1675 the Plymouth Colony tried and executed three Wampanaog for a murder, which led to attacks by the Native Americans against the colonists. The attacks marked the beginning of King Philip’s War. The Wampanoag’s defeat by the colonists in 1678 was a turning point. After the war, few Native Americans were left in New England.
Discussion Question
What event led to King Philip’s War? (the trial and execution of three Wampanaog, which led to attacks by the Native Americans against the colonists)
Chapter 2, Section 4
Did You Know? Quakers were members of the religious group known as the Society of Friends. The group grew into an important force in England in large part through the preachings of George Fox. The term Quaker was originally meant as an insult to Fox, who had told a judge to “tremble at the name of the Lord.” In response, the judge called Fox a quaker.
I. The English Civil War and the Colonies (pages 72–73)
A. Conflicts between Charles I and the English Parliament intensified when the king sent troops into Parliament to arrest several Puritan leaders. Parliament, with mostly Puritan members, then organized its own army, and the English Civil War began. The Parliament’s army defeated and captured the king in 1646. Oliver Cromwell, the head of Parliament’s army, disbanded Parliament and seized power for himself.
B. Maryland’s governor and proprietor supported the king against Parliament, which led to a Protestant rebellion in that colony. To appease the Protestants, Lord Baltimore appointed a Protestant governor and enacted the Maryland Toleration Act. The act, which was intended to protect the Catholic minority from the Protestants, granted religious toleration to all Christians.
C. After 20 years of conflict, England’s leaders wanted stability. In 1660 Parliament asked King Charles’s son, Charles II, to take the throne—a move that became known as the Restoration. At this point, England resumed colonization, viewing colonies as a vital source of raw materials and new markets.
Discussion Question
Why did Maryland’s leaders support the king instead of Parliament? (Maryland’s proprietor was Catholic, and the Parliament was made up mostly of Protestants.)
II. New Netherland Becomes New York (pages 73–74)
A. In 1609 Dutch merchants hired an English navigator named Henry Hudson to find a route through North America to the Pacific. Hudson explored the Hudson River valley, and the merchants claimed the region for the Dutch, calling it New Netherland. The Dutch established New Amsterdam, their major settlement, on Manhattan Island.
B. Because fur trade was the major activity in New Netherland, the colony grew slowly. To increase the colony’s population, the Dutch opened settlement in the colony to anyone who wanted to buy land there. By 1664 the colony consisted of more than 10,000 people from many parts of Europe. Enslaved Africans arrived in New Netherland in the 1620s.
C. England wanted New Netherland as a link between Virginia and Maryland and the New England colonies. King Charles granted the land to his brother James, who seized New Netherland from the Dutch. James renamed the land New York and granted a large portion of it to two of the king’s closest advisers. The new colony was named New Jersey. In an attempt to increase the colony’s population, the proprietors offered generous land grants, religious freedom, and the right to elect a legislative assembly.
Discussion Question
Why did people from many parts of Europe settle in New Netherland? (The Dutch, to increase the population in their colony, allowed anyone to buy land there.)
III. Pennsylvania and Delaware (pages 74–76)
A. In 1680 William Penn, a friend of King Charles II and a Quaker, received a land grant between New York and Maryland. Penn intended this land as a refuge for Quakers, who were persecuted for their beliefs by the government and others.
B. Quakers believed that religion was a personal experience that did not need churches or ministers. They objected to all political and religious authority and advocated pacifism—opposition to war or violence as a means of resolving conflict.
C. William Penn founded the colony of Pennsylvania. The colony granted religious and political freedom to everyone. Penn regarded the treatment of Native Americans in other colonies as unjust. A treaty signed with the Native Americans living near Pennsylvania created peace between the colonists and Native Americans for more than 70 years.
D. Philadelphia, the “city of brotherly love,” became the capital of Pennsylvania. Penn established a charter that created a legislative assembly elected directly by the voters. All colonists who owned 50 acres of land and were Christian had the right to vote. The charter granted all Pennsylvanians the right to practice their religion without interference.
E. Penn purchased additional land south of Pennsylvania, which later became the colony of Delaware.
Discussion Question
Why did William Penn establish the colony of Pennsylvania? (He wanted to establish a place where Quakers could practice their beliefs without persecution and where political and religious freedom would be granted to everyone in the colony.)
IV. New Southern Colonies (pages 76–77)
A. King Charles II granted land south of Virginia to his friends and political allies. The land, known as Carolina, developed as two separate regions—North Carolina and South Carolina.
B. North Carolina grew slowly. Farmers eventually grew tobacco and began to export naval supplies, such as tar, pitch, and turpentine.
C. The proprietors believed that South Carolina would be suitable for growing sugarcane. The first settlers in South Carolina named their settlement Charles Town, which became present-day Charleston.
D. Sugarcane did not grow well in South Carolina. The first major product for export was deerskin. The colony also began to capture Native Americans and ship them to the Caribbean as enslaved workers.
E. James Oglethorpe started the colony of Georgia. He established the colony as a place for English debtors to start over rather than to be imprisoned for their debts. The colony attracted settlers from all over Europe. Georgia became a royal colony in the mid-1700s, when control of the colony reverted back to the king.
Discussion Question
Why did North Carolina develop slowly as a colony? (North Carolina had a small population; most of the settlers were farmers who moved into the colony from Virginia. Also, North Carolina did not have a good harbor or coastline, making it difficult for ships to reach its shores.)
Source: http://new.schoolnotes.com/files/zachwhs/ColonizingAmericanOutline.doc
Web site to visit: http://new.schoolnotes.com
Author of the text: indicated on the source document of the above text
If you are the author of the text above and you not agree to share your knowledge for teaching, research, scholarship (for fair use as indicated in the United States copyrigh low) please send us an e-mail and we will remove your text quickly. Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, search engines, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. It provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use)
The information of medicine and health contained in the site are of a general nature and purpose which is purely informative and for this reason may not replace in any case, the council of a doctor or a qualified entity legally to the profession.
The texts are the property of their respective authors and we thank them for giving us the opportunity to share for free to students, teachers and users of the Web their texts will used only for illustrative educational and scientific purposes only.
All the information in our site are given for nonprofit educational purposes