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1400
Portugese Explorations
1394-1460. Prince Henry the Navigator establishes schools of navigation. Madeira, Azores, Canary Islands in 1400s. Discovery and settlement. Bartolome Diaz rounds the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. Vasco de Gama sails to India in 1498. -
Period: 1492 to
Spanish Explorations
Christopher Columbus 1451-1506. Discovers Caribbean Islands in 1492. Treaty of Tordesillas 1494, divides non-Christian territories between Spain and Portugal. English- John Cabot 1497. French-Giovanni Verrazano 1524 and Jacques Cartier 1534. Dutch- Henry Hudson- 1609-1610. -
Period: 1493 to 1530
Conquest and Colonization
Spain establishes colonies as early as 1493. Began in the Caribbean. Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico in 1519. Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incan Empire in South America in 1530. -
Period: 1565 to
English Colonization
1565 French try to colonize southeast United States. English Colonization. Humphrey Gilbert 1570s and Sir Walter Raleigh at Roanoke 1587. Virginia- James I King of England. Virginia Company 1606, joint-stock company. Jamestown 1607 is a failure. 1609-1610. Starving time. Population went from 400 to 65. 1611 discovery of tobacco, begins to sell. Representative assembly the House of Burgesses 1619. Jamestown becomes a royal colony in 1624. -
Period: to
New territory
New France- Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec in 1608. Gain control of the Mississippi River. New Netherland- Established by the 1630s, anchored by two cities, Albany and New Amsterdam. New England- Plymouth colony, founded 1620 by separatists. Motivation for colonization- religion. Desire to create Godly community. Massachusetts Bay Colony founded in 1630 by Puritans. Rhode Island founded in 1636. -
The Chesapeake
Maryland 1632. Proprietary colony, intended as a haven for Roman Catholics. Settled by Protestants and Catholics and started growing tobacco. Rapid growth of population. Rapid expansion of territory under cultivation. -
Navigation Acts
Attempt by English government to regulate colony trade. Enumerated-sugar, tobacco. -
Mid Atlantic
New York captured from the Dutch in 1664. Broken into three colonies, New York, East Jersey, West Jersey. Pennsylvania- Gifted to William Penn in 1681. Penn promotes religious toleration. Philadelphia becomes a major center of trade. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Consequences- transforms labor systems, encouraged settlement in neighboring colonies. -
Period: to
The Enlightenment
Intellectual movement-culture. Celebrates human reason. Consequences- rejection of authority. Deism/heterodox Christianity. -
Anglicization
Political, Dominion of New England 1686-1689. Glorious Revolution 1688. Cultural. Monarchy, Holidays-Pope’s Day. Almanacs. Consumerism,. Tea, Madeira, Mirrors, Art, Books, Newspapers, Architecture. -
Second Treatise on Government
Mankind is the source of government not God. George Whitfield born in 1714 in England, traveled to the colonies in 1739. -
Period: to
Population Growth and Economic Expansion
1700- 250,000, 1775- 2.5 million. Immigration- Europeans, Scots-Irish, Germans (Pennsylvania Dutch), African Slaves. Significance- Entrenchment of slave societies, creates tension between backcountry and Indian societies. Economic expansion- Growth of cities as centers of trade and production. By 1760- New York 18,00. Philadelphia- 24,000. Boston- 15,000. -
Period: to
Imperial War
war on the Spanish Succession 1702-1713. War on Jenkins’ Ear 1739-1748. -
Period: to
Great Awakening
Religious Revival 1735-1760s. One of the greatest upheavals in the colonies. Consequences-challenge to clerical authority, Pluralism, Liberty of Conscience. -
Period: to
Road to Revolution
Seven Years’ War 1754-1763. The Great War for Empire. Britain defeats France. Seven Years’ War Consequences, Gave Britain control of huge new territory, colonists no longer believed they needed British protection, Britain was in deep debt. -
Proclamation of 1763
Did not allow settlement west of the Appalachians. -
Raising Revenue
Sugar Act 1764 was a tax on sugar, molasses, etc. Stamp Act 1765- colonists must legally purchase stamp for paper goods (newspapers, pamphlets, wills, legal papers, playing cards). Colonial response to the Stamp Act-Stamp Act Congress 1765, boycott. Parliament passes the Declaratory Act. Affirms parliament's right to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever. -
Townshend Acts
An external tax. Levied custom duties on tea, lead paints, paper, milk, glass, silk, and other manufactured goods. Colonial response- boycotts, demonstrations, etc. Parliament repeals the taxes (except tea) on March 5, 1770. ← Boston Massacre. -
The Tea Act
Change tax on tea. Allows East India Company to directly trade to the colonies without reference duties to Great Britain-lowers cost. Colonial response- Boston Tea Party- December 1773. Colonists dump 10,000 lbs of tea into Boston harbor. -
Coercive Acts
Closed Boston to all trade except food and fuel. Officials who suppress riots can only be tried in Britain. Gives more power to governor of Massachusetts-weakens the legislative assembly. Quartering Act- forced colonists to house and feed British troops. Colonial response- First Continental Congress 1774. Organized boycott of British goods. Agrees to meet the following year. War for Independence- Rebellion. Lexington and Concord- April 19, 1775. -
Second Continental Congress
Creates a continental army to be led by George Washington. Sends the ‘Olive Branch Petition’ to King George. Begs king to restore their rights taken away by a tyrannical parliament. King rejects, declares colonies in a state of rebellion. Shaped by Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense. Written 1775, published January 1776, encourages independence. Second Continental congress appoints committee to draft a declaration of Independence. Approved by Congress on July 4, 1776. -
Period: to
War for Independence
Continental Army-poor organization, lack of training-supplies. Poor discipline, poor retention. British Army- 40,000 troops, well organized, trained, support from navy, lack of supplies. The war in the North. British Strategy-isolate New England. Capture New York , send troops south from Canada. Washington’s army wins at Trenton, Princeton, and Saratoga, encourages French Alliance. The war in the South. British strategy- maintain control of southern colonies and protect Caribbean colonies. -
Articles of Confederation
Second Continental Congress appoints committee to draft a constitution for national government. First Constitution is called Articles of Confederation. Ratified 1781. Government structure- Unicameral legislature, each state sends 2-7 delegates, each state has 1 vote. Authority to declare war, make peace, conduct diplomacy, appoint military officers, regulate Indian affairs. Weaknesses- no right to tax or regulate trade, no executive branch, any amendments had to have unanimous support. -
The end of War
Yorktown 1781. General Cornwallis surrenders his army to Washington. -
Treaty of Paris
Officially ends war, Britain reorganizes the Independence of the thirteen colonies. -
Period: to
Northwest Ordinances
States cede territory west of the Appalachians. Congress organizes territory. Represents successful extension of republican government. Prohibits slavery. -
Shay's Rebellion
Armed uprising of 4,000 rebels against economic and civil rights. Demonstrates weakness of the national government. -
Constitutional Convention
Convention presided over by Washington. Virginia Plan- written by James Madison. Bicameral legislature, proportional representation, congress has power to veto state laws, etc. New Jersey Plan- Unicameral, each state has one vote, congress can levy taxes and regulate trade. Compromise- states equally represented in upper house-senate. Two senators- six year terms. Slaves counted as ⅗ of a person. Congress forbidden from levying export tax. Electoral college. Ratification-The Federalists Papers. -
The Bill of Rights
became effective December, 1791 -The first ten amendments to the constitution. Written by James Madison for protection of individual liberties.