Our Colonial Heritage

Today’s Goal: Locate the areas of North America claimed by Spain, France, and Great Britain.

In this unit, you will learn about the first Americans—the American Indian peoples who were here when the first Europeans arrived. You will also learn about the Europeans who colonized North America, claiming land around the continent. The British colonies that settled along the Atlantic coast would become the first 13 states of the United States.

Political divisions like colonies and states did not exist before the Europeans arrived since each American Indian group occupied a territory that had no formal boundaries. As the map Physical Features of North America shows, the continent's physical geography varies. American Indians lived in different environments, which each supported different ways of life.

Contact with European colonists changed those ways of life. The map North American Land Claims, 1750 indicates where European nations claimed land in North America. To satisfy French demand for furs, American Indians in regions claimed by France began to hunt more. The Spanish attempted to enslave Indians and, along with the English, wanted their land.

Increased hunting, flight from slavery, and loss of land pushed some Indian groups into territory occupied by other Indians. As the British colonies became a nation, and as that nation grew, this population shift continued. Eventually, almost no Indian lands remained, but the names of places in North America are reminders of those lands. The Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers get their names from American Indian words, as do about half the states.

Geography Skills

Using the maps provided, complete the following information on your map.

1. Locate the region of North America that was claimed by Spain. Shade or outline it in purple on your map.

2. Locate the area in North America that was claimed by France. Shade or outline it in red.

3. Locate the British land claims in North America. Shade or outline them in green.

4. Locate and label the Appalachian Mountains on your map. These mountains were mainly part of which nation’s land claims?

5. Locate and label the Rocky Mountains on your map. In which nation's land claims did these mountains mainly fall?

6. Which major rivers flow through the land claimed by France? Label three of them.

7. The colonies that became the original United States were part of which European nation's land claims? What demands did colonists in this region place on the American Indians who lived there?

8. Locate the following lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Collectively, what are these lakes called? How did involvement with Europeans in this region change how American Indians there lived?

Critical Thinking

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

9. In areas where physical geography made farming more difficult for British colonists, what else do you think they might have done for a living? Explain your answer.

10. Suppose you are a settler in British colonies. You want to settle on land where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi River. What physical feature do you have to cross to reach that area? Traveling over land, what might be a good route? Explain your answer.

11. Look at the map of physical features of North America in this section. Suppose you were traveling west from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. In terms of elevation, describe the land on your route westward. Where might farming be easiest in this western region? Why?