The US History, Historia USA(1)
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The First Americans
About 120,000 years ago, the Earth fell into an ice age. The northern polar ice cap grew southward,
water solidified into ice, and ocean levels fell. With the lowering of the oceans, hidden land was
exposed, including a land bridge connecting Siberia (located in modern-day eastern Russia) and
Alaska. Between 15,000 and 50,000 years ago, various small, nomadic hunting groups from Asia
crossed the land bridge, becoming the first human inhabitants of the Americas.
Over the next millenia, these earliest Americans dispersed across much of the Western Hemisphere. As
the Ice Age came to an end around 10,000 years ago and Earth’s atmosphere warmed, the land that
these groups inhabited changed dramatically. Sea levels rose and melting glaciers filled the Great Lakes
and Mississippi River Basin with water. Glaciers receded northward, and frozen plains gave way to
deciduous eastern forests, grassy central plains, and desert throughout the West. In time, the land
bridge disappeared back under the body of water now known as the Bering Strait.
The descendants of the earliest Americans changed with the landscape. As Ice Age animals such as
woolly mammoths disappeared, hunters began to prey on smaller game. The groups also fished and
gathered local provisions, like seeds and nuts, from the land. About 5,000 years ago, some groups
began to domesticate plants. As these groups learned how to farm and more efficiently use natural
resources, they required less land, and many in the East and Midwest gave up their nomadic lifestyle
and established small, stable communities by around 300 B.C.
The Emergence of Tribes
Once they established permanent settlements, Native American groups began to form what are known
today as tribes. Different tribes developed their own languages and social hierarchies, and distinct
religious beliefs and practices. Many tribes invented specialized tools such as the bow and arrow, and
mastered skills like pottery, weaving, and basketry.
Tribes in neighboring geographic areas often maintained contact with each other through trade and
warfare. Through this contact, an extensive trade network developed, spanning much of the North and
South American continent. However, the tribes remained distinct, each adapting to its own particular
geography. Modern day anthropologists and archeologists categorize Native American tribes by
geographic area.
Northwest
Coast
Chinook, Haida, and other tribes spanned the Pacific coast from Alaska to California, living primarily
off the abundant fish. The Northwest tribes built totem poles depicting supernatural creatures. They
were proficient in other arts as well.
California
Within California, tribes such as the Chumash and Pomo lived in small villages of about one hundred
people. They specialized in processing acorns, which were one of the region’s many abundant resources
that allowed local tribes to proser.
Southwest
In the early history of the Southwest, the dominant Anasazi tribe—known for their elaborate cliff
dwellings—mastered irrigation and farming. By the civilization’s peak in the twelfth century, some
village populations topped 1,000. A system of roads connected many of these villages, and it seems
likely that Anasazi trade networks extended as far as northern Mesoamerica, since archeologists have
found artifacts in Anasazi territory that could only have been produced by civilizations in Mexico.
Yet around 1300 a.d., tens of thousands of Anasazi people deserted their dwellings en masse, possibly
due to drought, warfare, or depletion of natural resources. They spread throughout the Southwest, and
their descendants, such as the Hopi and Zuni, are known as Pueblo tribes. (Pueblo means “village” in
Spanish, and refers to both the people and the villages in which they lived.) These Pueblo tribes, along
with the Navajos and Apaches who migrated from the north around the fourteenth century, farmed
along rivers using advanced irrigation techniques, foraged for food, and mined turquoise for trade with
Mexico.
Great Basin, Plateau
The Paiute, Shoshone, and Ute tribes made their home in the Great Basin, between the Sierra Nevada
Mountains to the west and the Rockies to the east. This land, too dry for farming, gave rise to foraging
bands who hunted small mammals and gathered seeds and nuts. Other tribes inhabited the Plateau—a
high, flat expanse to the north of the Great Basin—and lived as food gatherers, picking berries, seeds,
and roots.
Plains
The Cheyenne, Sioux, and other tribes hunted in the Great Plains, which extended from the Rocky
Mountains to the Mississippi River. The Plains were largely uninhabited before the arrival of
Columbus. When Europeans brought horses and guns into the Plains, the tribes developed into
powerful hunting groups.
Eastern Woodlands
The Iroquois tribes, known as the Five Nations, controlled the Northeast. The Cherokee and other
tribes inhabited the Southeast; the Fox, Chee, and others lived around the Great Lakes; and the
Mississippian culture dominated the Mississippi flood plains. While all these Eastern Woodlands tribes
hunted, many were skilled in agriculture, employing the “slash and burn” technique and crop rotation
to manage their land for food production. These tribes are also known for their skill with crafts and
their well-developed trading networks.
Of these Eastern Woodlands tribes, the Mississippian tribes in particular were skilled in small-scale
architecture. Known as “mound builders,” they built large platform mounds at the center of their
towns, which served as religious temples for ceremony or burial, or as the homes of tribal leaders.
Before the age of European exploration, the Mississippian centers collapsed and the inhabitants fled to
establish small villages.
Mesoamerica
Some Native Americans formed rich and powerful civilizations in Mesoamerica, south of the present-
day United States. The ancient Aztecs (centered near Mexico City) are known for their architecture,
which includes stone pyramids. The Maya of Central America are also known for their architecture, as
well as their advanced astronomy, mathematics, calendar systems, and for developing their own form
of writing. The Incas, based in Peru, built an extensive network of towns throughout the Andes.
Exploration Before Columbus
By the time
Christopher Columbus
landed in the Western Hemisphere in 1492, the New World had
already been “discovered” more than once. First, of course, there were the Native Americans we
discussed in the previous chapter. But there is solid evidence that other Europeans made it to the
Americas long before Columbus did. Around A.D. 1000, Viking Norsemen led by
Leif Ericson
sailed
from Norway across the Atlantic Ocean and settled in Newfoundland, in northeast Canada. These
Vikings also explored some distance up and down the coast. This settlement, however, was short-lived.
The Norsemen soon sailed back across the ocean, having had little to no effect on North America.
The Age of Exploration
Though Columbus was not the first to discover the New World, his landing in the New World in 1492 is
important: it ushered in an era of unprecedented European exploration and settlement of the Americas.
This period is known as the Age of Exploration. During this age, European explorers searched for trade
routes, overseas wealth, and adventure. Technological innovations spurred the exploration boom. A
“maritime revolution” in Europe saw the invention of the the astrolabe, a device used to determine
latitude; the caravel, an large ship of unprecedented speed; and the magnetic compass.
Important Names in The Age of Exploration
Name
Country Achievement(s)
Christopher
Columbus
Spain
1492: Reached Bahamas; explored Cuba, Haiti
1493: Established Santo Domingo
John Cabot England 1497/8: Claimed Nova Scotia, Newfoundland for England
Amerigo Vespucci
Spain,
Portugal
1499: Explored coast of S. America for Spain
1501: Explored coast of S. America for Portugal
Ponce de Leon Spain 1513/21: Explored Florida
Name Country Achievement(s)
Ferdinand Magellan Spain 1519: Began the first circumnavigation of the globe
Hernando Cortez Spain 1519–1522: Conquered the Aztecs in Mexico
Francisco Pizarro Spain 1530–1536: Conquered the Incas in Peru
Hernando de Soto Spain 1539–1542: Explored coast between Mississippi River and Florida
Jacques Cartier France 1542: Traveled St. Lawrence River to Montreal
Samuel de
Champlain
France
1608–1615: Explored Great Lakes, founded Quebec, established fur trade with Native
Americans
Henry Hudson Netherlands 1609–1611: Sailed up Hudson River
The Major Players in the Age of Exploration
The individual explorers often get the glory, but for the SAT II test, it is more important that you know
the broader context: the nations that sponsored those explorers; the reasons those nations were so
interested in exploring and settling the New World; and the geographical territories that each nation
claimed as its own. Don’t get us wrong: familiarity with the individual explorers is helpful (that’s why
we gave you the chart), but you should understand the explorer’s contributions within the larger
context of the age.
Spain
The Spanish monarchy began the Age of Exploration when it sponsored Christopher Columbus’s
journey westward, across the Atlantic Ocean, in search of Asia. Columbus failed to reach Asia, landing
instead on the Bahama Islands in 1492. He returned to the New World in 1493 and established the
settlement of Santo Domingo as a base for further exploration. In 1493, the Pope declared that all lands
west of the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands belonged to Spain, but Portugal, another great sea
power, disputed the papal decree. The two countries reached a compromise with the
Treaty of
Tordesillas
in 1494, which divided all future discoveries between Castile (a region of Spain) and
Portugal.
The Treaty of Tordesillas reveals that both Portugal and Spain led the charge in exploring the New
World. But while the Portuguese focused on navigation and geographical observation, the Spanish put
their efforts into expedition and colonization.
After the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain quickly established itself as the premier European power in the
New World, sending wave after wave of explorers into South America. These Spanish expeditions, led
by
conquistadors
, set out in search of gold, slaves, lucrative trade routes, and fame. Indeed, they
succeeded in creating an enormous empire. By 1522, the Spaniard Hernando Cortez had conquered the
Aztecs in Mexico and by 1536, under the leadership of Francisco Pizaro, Spain had conquered the Incas
in Peru. Conquistadors plundered the indigenous tribes for treasure and slave labor. They established
numerous
encomiendas
—sprawling estates populated with native slaves. Under Conquistador rule,
many of the natives died from disease, malnutrition, and fatigue, and they were soon replaced on the
encomiendas by African slaves brought in by Portuguese slave traders.
In North America, Spain initially proved just as dominant. Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain in
1513, and Hernando de Soto led a Spanish exploration of the southeastern United States in 1539,
discovering the Mississippi River. In 1565, Spain established the first successful European settlement in
North America—a fortress in St. Augustine, Florida. Around the turn of the seventeenth century,
Spanish settlers moved into the Southwest, establishing the colony of Santa Fe in 1610. In an effort to
maintain control of North America, the Spanish attacked many British and French settlements and
destroyed forts. Spain saw its claim on Florida as particularly important in the effort to diminish
English and French expansion southward.
France
France
also played a strong role in the New World, though its efforts were mainly confined to North
America. The French led the charge to find a Northwest Passage, a much-hoped-for water route
through which ships might be able to cross the Americas to access Asia. In three voyages between 1534
and 1542, French explorer
Jacques Cartier
traveled the St. Lawrence River as far as Montreal. The
Northwest Passage eluded him (it doesn’t exist), but his explorations established France’s early
dominance of North America’s major waterways. In 1562, French settlers briefly and unsuccessfully
attempted to settle in what is now South Carolina, and in 1564, the Spanish attacked and destroyed a
French settlement near Jacksonville, Florida.
Despite its failures, France continued to be a major player in North America. Most notably, the French
engaged in the highly profitable fur trade, setting up trading outposts throughout Newfoundland,
Maine, and regions farther west.
Samuel de Champlain
founded the first permanent French
settlement in 1608 at Quebec, and established a fur trade with the region’s Native American tribes. By
the end of the seventeenth century the French controlled the St. Lawrence River, the Mississippi River,
the Great Lakes and, therefore, much of the land in the heart of the continent. Of all the European
colonial powers, the French enjoyed the best relationship with Native Americans.
The Netherlands
The Dutch East India Company became interested in North American settlement in 1609, when
Henry
Hudson
sailed up the river that now carries his name. In 1625, the Dutch bought Manhattan island
from the natives who lived there and established the settlement of New Amsterdam at the mouth of the
Hudson River. While the colony flourished on account of the fur trade, the Dutch did little to expand
their landholdings beyond their domain around the Hudson. A European conflict between England and
the Netherlands spread to the New World in 1664, during which the English took over New
Amsterdam, renaming it New York. After 1664, Dutch influence waned.
England
Compared to other European powers, England got a relatively late start in the exploration and
colonization of the New World. True, King Henry VII of England did send explorer
John Cabot
across
the Atlantic in 1497, and Cabot claimed Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Grand Banks for England.
But after Cabot’s efforts, the English became more concerned with domestic issues and generally
ceased exploring. For much of the sixteenth century, England had no real presence in the New World.
English interest in the New World increased in the second half of the sixteenth century. Religious
groups (such as the Puritans, who disagreed with the practices of the Church of England) saw the New
World as a place where they could practice their religion without persecution. The English monarchy
was enticed by the wealth pouring into Spain from Mexico, South America, and the West Indies; and
the riches Captain Francis Drake and others plundered from Spanish ships off of Central America in the
late 1570s particularly piqued England’s interest. Catholic Spain felt threatened by British sea power
and the influx of English Protestants, and the two European powers quickly became bitter rivals, each
scheming to position strategic bases throughout the New World.
England
’
s first effort to establish a settlement in the New World ended badly. In 1584, Sir Walter
Raleigh gained a royal charter to found the settlement of Roanoke, located on an island off the coast of
North Carolina. Raids by Native American tribes and disease devastated the settlement, and it was
eventually abandoned. Still, the Spanish monarchy, determined to eliminate their New World rivals,
dispatched the great Spanish Armada in 1588 to attack the British off the coast of England. Through
luck and ingenuity, a fleet of outgunned English ships decimated the Armada. With this victory,
England began its ascent as a premier naval power, which bolstered its colonial efforts, and Spain fell
into a slow decline.
The struggle between Britain and Spain dragged on throughout the end of the sixteenth century, so that
by 1600 the English crown and Parliament were hesitant to spend money on colonization. In place of
government funding,
joint-stock companies
formed to gather funding for colonization through the
sale of public stock. Along with religious groups—who saw the rise of the English navy as a real
opportunity to move to the New World and escape religious persecution—these companies were
responsible for most English colonization throughout the seventeenth century.
Effects of Colonization on the Natives
Colonization had a disastrous effect on the native population. War, slavery, and starvation claimed
many lives, but disease, especially smallpox, had the most devastating effect. In Mexico, the native
population plummeted from 25 million in 1519 to 2 million by 1600. European settlement physically
displaced numerous tribes, setting in motion the sad fate of Native Americans throughout American
history.
The Spanish, however, provided the Native Americans of the Great Plains with an unintended gift:
horses. During the conquistadors’ expeditions into the Southwest, some horses escaped and formed
large herds on the Great Plains. Within a few generations, Native Americans in the plains region
became experts on horseback, expanding their hunting and trading capabilities and dramatically
transforming Native American culture.
The Early English Colonies
Because England got such a late start in the colonization game, they couldn’t just set up their colonies
wherever they wanted. Spain dominated South America, Mexico, the West Indies, the American
Southwest, and Florida. The French held sway along North America’s major waterways. In addition, the
dense forests and occasionally hostile Native American tribes prevented English settlers from moving
westward past the Appalachian Mountains. The early English settlements were therefore concentrated
along the eastern coast of North America.
There were three types of British colonies: royal, proprietary, and self-governing. Each type had its own
characteristics.
Royal colonies
were owned by the king.
Proprietary colonies
, such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, were basically land
grants from the British government. Individuals were awarded huge tracts of land that they
would then supervise and govern, usually in return for political or financial favors. These
colonial governors reported directly to the king.
Self-governing colonies
, including Rhode Island and Connecticut, formed when the king
granted a charter to a joint-stock company, and the company then set up its own government
independent of the crown. The king could revoke the colonial charter at any time and convert a
self-governing colony into a royal colony.
The SAT II test will focus on the particularly important English colonies of Jamestown, Plymouth, and
the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Jamestown
Nearly twenty years after the failure of the English settlement at Roanoke, two separate joint-stock
companies set out to found settlements along the Atlantic seaboard. In 1606, England’s King James I
authorized a charter granting land in what was then called Virginia (but stretched from modern-day
Maine to North Carolina) to the Virginia Company of Plymouth and the Virginia Company of London.
Colonists, considered employees of their respective companies, journeyed to America in 1607. The
Virginia Company of Plymouth failed miserably, and its settlement in Sagadahoc, Maine was
abandoned within two years. The Virginia Company of London was more successful, though in the New
World, success was something of a relative term.
Jamestown’s Early Years
The 105 original Jamestown colonists were all men. Jamestown was a business venture, not a place to
raise a family. The colonists took this ethic to heart and focused all their efforts on getting rich,
neglecting to tend to any sort of agriculture. As a result, more than half of the colonists died of
malnourishment and starvation within the first year. Only 38 colonists remained when reinforcements
arrived in 1608.
Captain
John Smith
, one of the surviving original colonists, soon emerged as a prominent leader. In
1608, Smith organized work gangs to ensure the colony had food and shelter and made rules to control
sanitation and hygiene. During the winter of 1608–1609, only twelve of 200 men died. Smith also
excelled in diplomacy, maintaining friendly ties with the nearby Powhatan Confederacy. But when
Smith was wounded in 1609 and returned to England, the colony staggered toward collapse. Out of a
population of about 500 colonists in Jamestown in September 1609, 400 died by May 1610. Relations
with the nearby Native Americans deteriorated, and in 1610 the first Anglo-Powhatan War erupted.
Tobacco, Money, and Success
In the end, Jamestown was saved—not by gold or silver—but because it had the perfect climate for
growing tobacco.
John Rolfe
, an Englishman who married the Powhatan leader’s daughter,
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