Unit 1: American Historical Survey

Stuff you SHOULD remember

Road Map for the Unit• America before the Europeans• Spanish conquest and

exploration• European colonization and

competition• American Revolution and the

Constitution• Expansion of the country –

Louisiana Purchase, Texas and the Mexican War

Discovery?

• 1492 – 1,000,000+ inhabitants

• 6 main geographic regions – each with their own “personality”

Mound Builders

• A group of cultures under one collective name

• 3000 BC to 16th century• Lived throughout modern

mid west and south east

Anasazi & Hohokam

• Lived throughout modern SW United States

• Famous for cliff dwellings and use of irrigation to farm

• Possibly driven to cliffs and plateaus for safety and protection of food sources

Discovery?

• Latin America was home to 14,000,000+

• The “Great” Civilizations– Olmecs– Mayans– Aztec– Inca

Olmecs

• 3000+ yrs ago • Gulf coast/Yucatan in

Mexico• Possibly the foundation

for the major civilizations that followed– Mesoamerican ball game– Long count calendar– Ritual bloodletting

Mayans

• Developed throughout the Yucatan and Central America

• Built huge temples and cities

• Social class system– Priests, Nobles/Govt

officials/Warriors, Peasants, Slaves

• Excellent astronomers• Developed an

abacus(Nepohualtzintzin)• Famous for their calendar(s)

– Tzolkin (260) and the Haab(365) work in tandem to form the Calendar Round(52 years)

– Long Count Calendar created to keep track of earlier/later dates

Chichen ItzaTulum

Tikal Palenque

Aztecs

• Large part of their history – nomads– Looking for their “legend”– Tenochtitlan

• Developed an empire in central Mexico(Mexico City)

• Social Class system– Emperor/Royalty, Priests/Nobles, Warriors,

Merchants, Farmers, Slaves

Aztecs

Incas

• The largest empire in the Americas• Developed system of terraces and roads

through the mountains.• Government stored surplus• Had to be married by 20• Gold was the sweat of the “gods”

Inca

“Discovery” Theories

• 1421 Theory– Chinese– Evidence is sketchy• Map• Artifacts• Native American art

• Why isn’t there more concrete evidence?

“Discovery” Theories

• The Viking Theory– Erik the Red settled on

Greenland– Leif Eriksson left to

explore and eventually set up a colony on “Vinland” (Newfoundland)

European Exploration

• End of Roman rule

• Chaotic

DARK AGES

• Opened eyes to the world

• Many new goods

CRUSADES• Rebirth of

learning• Renewed

exploration

RENESSAINCE

European Exploration

• Portugal and Spain began looking for a better route

• October 12, 1492 Columbus lands at San Salvador

• 1494 – Treaty of Tordesillas(Line of Demarcation)

• 1519 – Magellan begins his trip around the world– 5 ships and 251 crew

• 1522 – 1 ship and 18 crew arrive back in Spain

* Spain decides to focus on the Americas

Spanish Conquest and Empire

• Conquistadors– Ponce de Leon –

Fountain of Youth– Cortes – Aztecs– Pizarro – Inca– Hernando de Soto and

Francisco Coronado – cities of gold(SE and SW)

• Quickly established a class system– Peninsulares – Spanish

born– Creoles – Spanish

parents but born in Americas

– Mestizos – Spanish/Indian

– Indians

Colonizing North America

• European rivalries drove competition– NW Passage

– Protestant Reformation

– Queen Elizabeth – “rob and steal”

Colonizing North America

• New France– Cours de bois

• New Netherland• English colonies– Roanoke– Jamestown

• Disney• House of Burgesses

– Plymouth

13 English Colonies

• Divided into 3 regions– New England

– Middle

– Southern

A New Society

• “Triangular trade”

• Mercantilism

• Navigation Acts (1650-96)

• Staples Act (1663)

Roots of Revolution Take Hold

• English Bill of Rights

• Enlightenment thinkers– John Locke, Jean Jaque

Rousseau, Baron Montesquieu

• Great Awakening– Jonathan Edwards,

George Whitefield

• Education systems

Roots of Revolution Take Hold

• French and Indian War– Ft Necessity

– Early success went to the French

– Pitt’s policies

– Treaty of Paris (1763)

Post-War Problems

A. INDIANS British had complete

control of the Ohio River Valley

Pontiac’s War

Proclamation of 1763

Post-War Problems Many colonists ignored it

Daniel Boone and the Cumberland Gap

Post-War Problems

B. TAXES Britain’s heavy war

debt

Sugar Act (1764)

Stamp Act (1765)

Post-War Problems Townshend Acts (1767)

Writs of Assistance

Sons/Daughters of Liberty

British Strike Back

• Boston Massacre– Rowdy crowd + nervous

soldiers = BAD– Son of Liberty/press

hyped it up

• Committees of Correspondence (Adams)

• Townshend Acts repealed, BUT tax on tea stayed

• Parliament passed Tea Act (1773)– Cut out the tea

merchants

British Strike Back

• Boston Tea Party

• Intolerable Acts– Boston Harbor– 1 town mtg/yr– Trials in Britain– Quartering Act

British Strike Back

• First Continental Congress (1774)– Boycott British goods– No more exports– Militias

• Shot heard round the world………

The Revolution Begins

• Second Continental Congress

• Fort Ticonderoga– Ethan Allen and the

GMB

• Olive Branch Petition

The Revolution Begins

• Bunker Hill/Breed’s Hill

• Failed invasion of Canada– Benedict Arnold

The Revolution Begins

• Declaring Independence– Common Sense– Adams, Franklin,

Jefferson

• 3 parts– Natural Rights– British Wrongs– Independence

Key Events

• Disastrous early on– Training– Nathan Hale

• Battle of Trenton/Princeton

• Turning point of the war - Saratoga

• Valley Forge

• European help– von Steuben – Drill

master– de Lafayette – friend to

GW– Kosciusko –

forts/defenses– Pulaski - cavalry

Wrapping Things Up

• New leaders – Nathaniel Greene– Daniel Morgan– Francis Marion

• Cowpens

• Yorktown

• Treaty of Paris (1783)

Creating a Republic

• We Won!!!! Now leave me alone!– State Constitutions

• Articles of Confederation (1777)– Congress can……– Congress cannot……

Creating a Republic

• Many early problems– Debt– Britain/Spain– Unorganized

• Land Ordinance Act (1785)

• Northwest Ordinance (1787)

• Shay’s Rebellion

Creating a Republic

• Constitutional Convention (1787)– GW– Virginia Plan– New Jersey Plan– 3/5ths Compromise and

the slave trade

• Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists– Bill of Rights

• George Washington and John Adams