Early America Beginnings

1
Early AmericaBeginnings 1800

• Historical, Social,
• And Cultural Forces
• 10th Grade Literature

2
Journal Topic

• What do you know about Early Americans? Who were
  these people and what do you think was most
  important to them?

3
The Native Americans

• When Europeans arrived in the 1490s, America was
  already home to hundreds of Native Americans.
• They came here via the Bering Strait.
• There were many different tribes.
• Each had their own language, culture, and social
  values.

4
European Contact

• 1400s the Europeans started exploring the rest
  of the world.
• Growth of trade between Europe and Asia
• Advances in navigation and shipbuilding
• 1492 Columbus made his voyage to the Americas.

5
European Contact

• Their exploration, conquest, and settlement led
  to the founding of many new, and soon to be
  important, nations.
• This exploration was the beginning of the
  destruction of many Native American societies.
• Disease
• War

6
Religious Belief

• Religion was a major factor in American colonial
  culture.
• Most important in the New England colonies.
• Puritans Pilgrims founded colonies there in the
  1620s.

7
Religious Belief

• Pennsylvania Quakers led by William Penn 1670.
• The Great Awakening 1730s 1740s.
• A religious revival
• Started in New England
• Spread through the colonies
• Increased feeling of responsibility towards
  Native Americans enslaved Africans
• More tolerant of other faiths

8
The Slave Trade

• From the beginning, the Colonies had a severe
  labor shortage.
• The South had large tobacco and rice plantations
  that required hundreds of workers.
• Many colonists participated in slave trade.
• Quakers protested this

9
The Slave Trade

• 1750 more than 200,000 slaves
• The colonies developed slave codes sets of laws
  that regulated slavery and defined relationships
  between slaves and free people.
• Codes became increasingly strict.

10
The American Revolution

• In the mid 1760s unrest began to develop in the
  colonies.
• Britain's long war with France left them in debt.
• To raise money they passed new laws that allowed
  them to tax everyday items.
• Mid 1770s people were tired of the taxes and
  laws and this led to political violence and a
  desire for self-rule.

11
The American Revolution

• April 1775 British troops sent to the towns of
  Lexington and Concord to control unrest.
• This started of the Revolutionary War.
• American Militiamen vs. British Soldiers.
• July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence.
• British accepted the independence in 1783.

12
Big Ideas of Early America

• The Sacred Earth and the Power of Storytelling
• Life in the New World
• The Road to Independence

13
The Sacred Earth and the Power of Storytelling

• Native Americans had strong feelings for the
  natural world around them.
• The earth and all of the living things that
  inhabited it were sacred to them.
• The reverence for the earth and its creatures was
  passed down orally from generation to generation.
• Speakers and storytellers were valued members of
  society.

14
The Cycle of Life

• The attitude toward the natural world shaped the
  religious beliefs of Native Americans.
• Animals, plants, and forces of nature (weather,
  seasons, sun, moon, etc.) were part of the great
  cycle of life.
• This cycle must be treated with great respect.

15
The Cycle of Life

• Life was organized around the events of this
  cycle seasons, birth, growth, and death of
  living things.
• They believed all living things had spirits.
• Tried to contact spirits through dreams and
  visions.
• Used songs and tales to express their views.

16
Owning the Land

• They believed that no one person could own the
  land.
• They thought all people and creatures that
  inhabited the land, owned it.
• The Europeans though differently.
• They were desperate to own their own land
• They tricked Native Americans into signing land
  treaties
• Violent conflicts resulted from this

17
A Legacy of Stories

• Oral tradition began about 40,000 years ago.
• Each culture developed its own stories and
  mythology.
• Versions of the earliest stories have evolved
  through hundreds of generations and are still a
  part of Native American traditions today.

18
(No Transcript)