Political, Economic, Social & Cultural “Characteristics” of America:

POLITICAL

• Political (politics, policy)– “power”

– Interactions among people in a group that have power

– “Who” has a political role?

• Chief, King, president

Economic• Dealing with how people

exchange goods & services

• Any part of TRADE (money or whatever is considered “currency”, actual good or service)

• Systems (barter, market, capitalism, socialism, communism, command, mixed..etc)

• GEOGRAPHY will affect economic activities

Social

• How people interact with each other/relationships

• Gender relations (women’s issues, rights, $$$)

• Race relations (racism, slavery, Civil rights)

• Status/standing in community

• Crossover with Religion

Culture

• “social relationships”

• Language

• Music

• Art

• Literature

• Religion (philosophy, behavior, faith, lifestyle, conflicts, bias, policies)

USVA Unit 1 Notes

“SOL essentials”

Early European Exploration, Colonization, European Economic

Influence on Slavery in the Americas

UNIT 1

England

France

Spain

Russia

Ottoman Empire

PersiaChina

Mughal India

Songhai Empire

Aztec Empire

Incan Empire

Mayan Empire

Important Areas of Concern

Part I. Characteristics of Colonization

Essential Questions to Answer:

1.Why did Europeans settle in the various New World colonies?

2.How did their motivations influence their settlement patterns and colonial structures?

3.In what ways did the cultures of Europe, the Americas and Africa interact?

4.What were the consequences of this interaction?

“Silk Road” (network of trade routes) across Asia to the Mediterranean basin

Maritime routes across the Indian Ocean Trans-Saharan routes across North Africa

**Importance of trade patternsExchange of products ( paper, compass, silk,

spices) Exchange of ideas ( medicine, astronomy,

Numeral system )

Middle Ages trade patterns linking Europe with Asia and Africa

Q: Why were Europeans interested in discovering new lands and markets?

• The 3 “Gs”: –GOLD

–GOD

–GLORY

What were the specific factors for European exploration? (HOW were they able to do it??)

• Consumer Demand for gold, spices, and natural resources (essential part of mercantilism*)

• Spread Christianity

• National Competition with other European nations

• Innovations in navigational arts (Islamic and European advances)

• Western Hemisphere (NEW WORLD) agricultural products such as corn, potatoes, and tobacco changed European lifestyles.

• European (OLD WORLD) horses and cattle changed the lifestyles of American Indians (First Americans).

• European diseases like smallpox killed many American Indians (First Americans).

Columbian Exchange

• From OLD to New:

• From NEW to Old:

Christopher Columbus = Columbian Exchange

Impact of the Columbian Exchange

• Shortage of labor (dead Indians) to grow cash crops led to the use of African slaves

• Slavery was based on race.

• European plantation system in the Caribbean and the Americas destroyed indigenous economics and damaged the environment.

• The triangular trade linked Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Slaves, sugar, and rum were traded.

Capitalism (been around a long time, …see handout)

New economic practices such as mercantilism evolved:GOLD/SilverExport more than ImportEstablish Colonies:

Resources: Markets: $ Tariffs $ on Imports :

Colonial economies were limited by the economic needs of the mother country.

“Commercial Revolution”: means what?

• Migration of colonists to new lands

• Influence of Catholics and Protestants, who carried their faith, language, and cultures to new lands

• Conversion (change religion) of indigenous peoples (Indians and Africans)

Means of diffusion of Christianity

Catholic Colonization: SPAIN• Areas: Caribbean,

Central and South America– Violent conflict with

American Indians

– Indian territory lost to conquistadors

– Populations decimated (killed off)by European diseases

SPANISH SPANISH COLONIZATION COLONIZATION

PATTERNPATTERN

Catholic Colonization: France• Areas: Canada (More cooperative relations with

American Indians)– FUR trading did not lead to large scale colonization or

immigration from France

FRENCH COLONIAL FRENCH COLONIAL INFLUENCEINFLUENCE

Protestant Colonization: ENGLISH

Close up: British Colonies in North America

Queen Elizabeth I of England

•Anglican Church “started” by Henry VIII•It became the national church throughout the British Isles under Elizabeth I.•She never married = “Virgin Queen”•New land in America called “VIRGINIA” in her honor•Died with NO children 1603….

Stuart Kings of England…from SCOTLAND

•James I of England•Jamestown, VA est. 1607•King James version of the Bible•Stuart Kings not as successful with Parliament as Tudor monarchs

Jamestown, VA 1607• established in 1607 • first permanent English settlement in North America • Settled by the Virginia Company of London as a business

venture

People of “Jamestown” fame:

Algonquian chief Powhatan

Captain John Smith

Powhatan’s daughter Pocahantas

John Rolfe

Pocahontas as Christianized and married

“Rebecca” Rolfe

King James I

“English Colonists” had sometimes violent and sometimes cooperative relationships with Indians• English came to stay

• Had better weapons, more virulent diseases and COMPLETELY different attitudes toward LAND OWNERSHIP and RELIGION

• Ran Indians off “their” land and keep pushing them WEST for years

Virginia and Other Southern Colonies

• settled by people seeking economic opportunities

• The early Virginia “cavaliers” were English nobility (see FEUDALISM)

• These NOBLES received large land grants in eastern Virginia from the King of England.

• Poor (lower class) English immigrants --small farmers or artisans and settled in the Shenandoah Valley or western Virginia

• Many came as indentured servants to work on tobacco plantations

Virginia and Other Southern Colonies: ECONOMICS

• Location: eastern coastal lowlands

• based on large plantations that grew “cash crops” – Tobacco

– Rice

– indigo

**All for export to Europe.

Virginia and Other Southern Colonies: ECONOMICS

• Farther inland (in the mountains and valleys of the Appalachian foothills) the economy was:– Small-scale subsistence

farming

– Hunting

– Trading.

Politics: (Va)The Virginia House of Burgesses

• First in 1619 then fully established by the 1640s

• first elected assembly in the New World

• Now known as the General Assembly of Virginia.

Social: VA and other Southern Colonies

• social structure based on family status and the ownership of land. (“aristocracy”)

• Large landowners (eastern lowlands) dominated colonial government –(& maintained an allegiance to England more than in the other colonies)

Social: VA and other Southern Colonies

• In the mountains and valleys further inland-lived:– subsistence farmers

– Hunters

– traders

– ….of Scotch-Irish and English descent)

Economics (Slaves & Indentured Servitude)• Strong belief in private

ownership of PROPERTY & free enterprise system

• Agricultural Economy on HUGE farms required LABOR

• Slaves brought 1619 to Jamestown (involuntary servitude) to work on TOBACCO plantations

Indentured servitude• The growth of a plantation-based agricultural economy in the hot, humid coastal

lowlands of the Southern colonies required cheap labor on a large scale. • Some of the labor needs, especially in Virginia, were met by indentured servants

– often poor persons (LOWER CLASS) from England, Scotland, or Ireland – agreed to work on plantations for a period of time in return for their passage to the Colonies

Indentured Servitude•“debt bondage”•3-7 years of service in exchange for passage to America (or wherever)•Over ½ of all white immigrants to the 13 British-American colonies came as indentured servants•Legal contract enforced by the courts

From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery

• “All servants imported and brought into the Country. . . who were not Christians in their native Country. . . shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion. . . shall be held to be real estate. If any slave resists his master. . . correcting such slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction. . . the master shall be free of all punishment. . . as if such accident never happened. “

• - Virginia General Assembly declaration, 1705

Slavery/Middle Passage

Is not the slave trade entirely at war with the heart of man? And surely that which is begun by breaking down the barriers of virtue, involves in its continuance destruction to every principle, and buries all sentiments in ruin! When you make men slaves, you... compel them to live with you in a state of war. –------- Olaudah Equiano, former slave

Cultural MISC: Southern Colonies

• VA: snobbiest group, FFVs, were close to England and were members of the ANGLICAN CHURCH (Episcopal Church here)

Cultural MISC: Southern Colonies• Maryland: Established

as safe HAVEN for CATHOLIC immigrants

• MD Act for Religious Toleration

Cultural MISC: Southern Colonies

• Georgia (GA): established as a “new start” for imprisoned debtors of England

• Founder: James Oglethorpe

– “NO slavery” (at first)

– NO rum or brandy

– Small land grants

The Middle Colonies: General Characteristics

• Settled by English, Dutch and German-speaking immigrants

• Sought religious freedom and economic opportunity

• Strong belief in private property and free enterprise system

• Had BIGGEST cities in the colonies

The Middle Colonies: Economic Characteristics

• Developed economies around:

– SHIPBUILDING

– Small scale farming

– trading

The Middle Colonies: Economic Characteristics

• Middle Colony Cities grew as SEAPORTS and COMMERCIAL centers– NEW YORK

– Philadelphia

The Middle Colonies: Social/Cultural Characteristics

• Multiple Religious groups

• Generally were TOLERANT of others– QUAKERS in

Pennsylvania

– Huguenots and Jews in New York

– Presbyterians in New Jersey

The Middle Colonies: Social/Cultural Characteristics

• More flexible social structures than Southern and New England colonies

• Large MIDDLE CLASS of– Skilled artisans

– Entrepreneurs (business owners)

– Small farmers

The Middle Colonies: Political Characteristics

• Incorporated DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES that reflected long-held and basic rights of ENGLISHMEN– Common law, Magna

Carta

– English Bill of Rights (1689)

“New England”

• Settled by PURITANS seeking freedom from religious persecution– Protestant Reformation

in England: Catholics vs. Anglicans vs. Pilgrims and Puritans

Plymouth Colony (“The Pilgrims”)• Puritans who fled

persecution in England, went to Holland, then raised $$$$ from a group of MERCHANTS to start a new colony “in the Chesapeake region”

• Mayflower got off course and landed in Mass (see arrow)

Plymouth Colony (“The Pilgrims”)

• Mayflower Compact: while still on the boat, the Pilgrims agreed to work to create a successful settlement

• Establishes:

– Political & legal RULES for the colony

– Power to govern comes from the Consent of the PEOPLE, NOT divine right of a king

Contemporary Transcription: William Bradford--governor• In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects

of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.

• In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620.

• Pilgrims, with the Mayflower Compact pioneered the important practice and idea of SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

I may not have been a

PILGRIM, but I am glad they got us started

on this important idea

• Wampanoag Indian “Squanto” could speak English and helped Pilgrims learn how to survive harsh winter & new climate

• This is the “Thanksgiving” part of our history

Massachusetts Bay Colony: The Puritans• Hard core Puritan

religious beliefs that governed all parts of life

• Still committed to the Anglican Church UNLIKE the Pilgrims

• John Winthrop said it would be “a city upon a hill”…or a model to show the world how purely good people could live

Massachusetts Bay Colony: The Puritans

• Church laws determined the Colony Laws

• Only Church members could vote/do politics

• BIBLE used as basis for court judgments and policy decisions…unlike Pilgrims who used Mayflower Compact …(Separation of Church and State)

“Freedom of Religion” is NOT a Puritan or Pilgrim “thing”

• INTOLERANT of people who did not SHARE and

practice the EXACT SAME

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

• EX: Dissenters like Roger

Williams and Anne Hutchinson

Establishment: Rhode Island• 1634 Roger Williams

founds Rhode Island

• Complete FREEDOM of RELIGION sanctioned

• Anne Hutchinson joins after she is banished in 1637

New England: Connecticut • Dissatisfied with

Mass Bay leadership, Thomas Hooker established this new colony in 1636

• "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut", was adopted on January 14, 1639

• Royal charter in 1662

“New England”: Economics• Based on Ship-building

• Fishing, Lumbering

• Small scale subsistence farming

• Eventually (LATER)…manufacturing after industrial development takes place

• PROSPEROUS due to strong social beliefs in PURITAN values of HARD WORK and THRIFT

New England: SOCIAL Characteristics

• Colonial society in this region depended on RELIGIOUS STANDING

• Dissenters were punished, fined, jailed, hanged or simply banished (RW and AH)

New England: Political Characteristics

• “covenant community” (Mayflower Compact)

• “town meetings” (direct democracy; ATHENIAN Style

New England: Political & Social “Issue”• Salem Witch Trials, 1692• 175 arrested, 22 hanged; 1 pressed to death

• Hysteria caused many people to question Church run gov’t & courts

• **see spread of Enlightenment ideas

Cultural Movement

• The “Great Awakening” was a religious movement that swept both Europe and the colonies during the mid-1700s.

• It led to the rapid growth of evangelical religions such as the Methodists and Baptists and challenged the established religious and governmental order.

• It laid one of the social foundations for the American Revolution BECAUSE: People Question AUTHORITY!!

Applied REASON and LOGIC to the human world

New Ideas about rights of people and their relationship to their rulers

The Enlightenment: 17th and 18th Centuries

• JOHN LOCKE: His ideas influenced the American belief in SELF-GOVERNMENT

• Two Treatises on Government

The Enlightenment :Locke’s Ideas• All people are free, equal and have “natural rights” (life,

liberty and property)

• Rulers can NOT take away these rights

• All original power resides in THE PEOPLE who enter…

• A SOCIAL CONTRACT

The Enlightenment :Locke’s Ideas• The government will protect natural rights of

the people

• The people promise to obey laws and rules established by their government…..

• This creates ORDERED LIBERTY

The Enlightenment :Locke’s Ideas

• Gov’t power is LIMITED to the power people have CONSENTED to give it

• If Gov’t becomes a THREAT to natural rights of “the people”, then the Gov’t has BROKEN THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

• “the people” then have the RIGHT/RESPONSIBILITY to overthrow that Gov’t and establish a new one (JUSTIFIABLE REBELION)

The Enlightenment :Locke’s Ideas• KINGS, emperors and

tribal chieftains held DICTATORIAL powers …this is “the way things had always been”

• John Locke’s ideas about the sovereignty and rights of “regular people” are RADICAL for the times (CRAZY, bizarre, new and strange)

Unit 1 VOCAB Review: Try to include VOCAB terms in your COMPS answers!

• Nomad

• Matrilineal

• Feudalism

• Heretics

• Reformation

• Restoration

• Renaissance

• Mercantilism

• Capitalism

• Cartographer

• Caravel

• Astrolabe

• Conquistadors

• Prince Henry the Navigator

• B. Dias

• V. Da Gama

• F. Magellan

• Amerigo Vespucci

• F. Pizarro

• J. Cabot

• Joint stock company

• Mayflower Compact

• Puritans

• Cavaliers

• VA House of Burgesses

• Royalists

• Indentured servant

• Great Awakening

• Columbian Exchange

• Enlightenment

Comps #1:Why was Asia such an attractive area for trade from the Middle Ages and into the Age of Exploration?

Comps #2: Briefly explain SPECIFICALLY why the “Old World” was able to dominate the “New World.”

Comps #3:What were the 3 most important items exchanged between cultures in the Columbian Exchange? (Justify your choices).

Comps #4: List AND explain the main reasons for European exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Comps #5: How did Spanish, French, English and Dutch colonies differ in the following ways?  a.. government b. religionc. economyd. societye. interaction with the native populations

Comps #6: What impact did the English Civil War, the execution of Charles I, and the Restoration of Charles II each have on the American colonies?

Comps #7: Describe the 4 main features of MERCANTILISM and how it differs from CAPITALISM. (Use your class notes on this one!)

Comps #8: How did economic practices vary between the New England Colonies, Middle Colonies, and Southern Colonies?

Comps #9: Explain the significance of the Magna Carta, and the English Bill of Rights to American political history.

Comps #10: Evaluate the impact of the ENLIGHTENMENT and the GREAT AWAKENING on the American colonies.

Preview of Unit 2:• Colonists will:

– get more up on Enlightenment ideas

– be asked to help pay tax $$$ for the French and Indian War

– start squealing about THEIR RIGHTS

– band together, fight Britain, win and start a new government that is weak by design

– Re-write ANOTHER government (USA 2.0) with the US Constitution

– Start the 2 party system and

– Get on with the growing pains of a new and awesome but far from perfect Union