Professional Documents
Culture Documents
America Part 1
Prehistory, Pre-Colonial Period, and the Colonial Period
For thousands of years, America has been a land filled with beauty in culture
and in its geographic greatness. From its alleys to its mountains, America has
monumental topography. Now, it is the time to outline its full history from
the beginning to near 2020. The United States of America has the paradox as
being the most diverse nation in human history while still existing with the
issues of racism, economic inequality, xenophobia, and other problems.
America was founded with the original sins of slavery and the genocide of
the Native Americans. Many early Americans cared more for wealth and
prestige than for human justice. Likewise, other Americans (then and now)
fought vigorously for freedom & equality plus justice as well. In this series,
the unvarnished truth about the United States will be shown along with the
renewed call for tranquility and justice for all.
all
“The colour of the skin is in no way connected with
strength of the mind or intellectual powers.”
CONTENTS –-Benjamin Banneker
1
FOREWORD (THE
3
NATIVE AMERICAN
INTRODUCTION) CULTURES (IN THE
PRE-COLONIAL
PERIOD)
Page
7 In the beginning
8 North American
indigenous peoples
9 Mesoamerican and
South American
cultures
12 European
exploration
2 4
PREHISTORY THE COLONIAL PERIOD
Page
14 The Old World and
the New World
19 Colonial conflicts
20 English Colonies
When the ice age ended, the North American climate stabilized by about 10,000 years ago. This time is
called the Archaic period. Many archaeological discoveries of cultures have been found during this era of
time as well. The Clovis culture lasted from ca. 9100 to 8850 B.C. It was found in North and South America.
It had people using a flaked flint spear point with a notched flute. It was inserted into a shaft. It was a
hunting culture. The Na-Dene speaking peoples entered North America from ca. 8,000 B.C. and reached the
Pacific Northwest by 5,000 B.C. Then, they traveled along the Pacific Coast and into the interior. They were
the ancestors of the Athabascan speaking peoples including the Navajo and Apache. The diversity of the
climate of the Americas caused the change of Native American cultures into many culturally distinct tribes.
The original Native Americans were hunter gatherers. They were small, mobile bands. Some existed in
groups of 20 to 50 people in extended families which moved from place to place to get resources. Many of
them hunted the extinct giant land animals like the mastodon and the ancient bison. Some had projectiles,
knives, and other tools for butchering and processing. North America is vastly diverse in its climate,
ecology, fauna, flora, and landforms. This influenced the development of many distinct linguistic and
cultural groups. Oral histories from the indigenous peoples dealt with many creation stories. These stories
outline interpretations about how the world was created. Many of them domesticated, bred, and cultivated
many plant species. These species were very nutritious and they make up 50-60% of all crops in cultivation
worldwide.
Hunters and gatherers continued to exist among Arctic, Subarctic, and coastal peoples. Agriculture was
used in more temperate plus sheltered regions. Plant cultivation grew population rates in the early
Americas. The Middle Archaic period came about in about 8,000 years ago. By 6,500 B.C., people in the
Lower Mississippi Valley at the Monte Santo site created complex earthwork mounds for possibly religious
reasons. Mound complexes were found in modern day Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. Many
archaeologists discovered these sites by the late twentieth century. Hunter gatherer societies were
involved in the mound construction process. In ca. 3,400 B.C., there was Watson Brake. This was a large
group of complex 11 platform mounds. It was added to over 500 years. Ceramics flowed massively in the
region. The late Archaic period existed after 2,000 B.C. During this time, there was Poverty Point. It was
located in the Lower Mississippi Valley. It was created in ca. 1500 B.C. The Mississippi has many similar sites
too. The Poverty Point is known for its earthworks in the form of six concentric half-circles. It is divided by
radial aisles with small mounts. It is nearly a mile across. Mound Building flourished in other cultures in the
Mississippi and Ohio River valleys too. They had effigy mounds, conical and ridge mounds plus other
shapes. The Coles Creek culture is found in Louisiana. The Hohokam culture is found in the American
Southwest. The civilization was created along the middle Gila River. They raised beans, squash, and corn.
The ancestral Puebloan cultures are found in the four corners region of southern Utah, northern Arizona,
northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado.
From 1,000 B.C. to 1,000 A.D., there was the Woodland period in North American pre-Columbian cultures.
It dealt with the Adena culture and the Hopewell tradition. There were large earthwork architecture, many
exchanges plus trade networks, and mounds. Stone tools, leather working, cultivation, textile manufacture,
and shelter construction existed during this time. Many Woodland peoples used spears, atlatls, bows, and
arrows. The Mississippian culture is known for its mounds too. It spread from the Southeast and Midwest
to the Gulf of Mexico and Upper Midwest. It was a vast civilization. The culture grew maize and other crops.
Their trade networks were extensive. The Mississippian existed in ca 1000 A.D. One of the largest urban
sites of the Mississippian was the location of Cahokia. It is located near modern day East St. Louis,
Illinois. Its population reached as high as 20,000 human beings. There were other chiefdoms in the Great
Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Cahokia was the most populous city of North America back then (except for
some cities in Mesoamerica and South America back then). The Monk’s Mound is the ceremonial center of
Cahokia which was the largest earthen construction of the prehistoric New World. It reached its zenith in
ca. 1200-1400 A.D. It declined by the arrival of Europeans. Many Mississippian peoples saw the expedition
of Hernando de Soto during the 1500’s. The expedition saw Spanish people struggling for supplies while the
Spanish expeditions in Mesoamerica conquered large empires with a few men. Diseases ended the
Mississippian civilizations. Many of their lands became inhabited for a time. Many Native American regions
include the Arctic (plus the Aleut, Inuit, and Yupik peoples), Subarctic, Northwestern Woodlands,
Southwestern Woodlands, Great Plains, Great Basin, Northwest Plateau, Northwest Coast, California, and
Southwest (Osasisamerica). There were the sedentary pre-Columbian cultures of Pueblo people, Mandan,
Hidatsa, etc.
There was the democratic society of the Iroquois League of Nations. Mesoamerica had very complex
cultures like the Olmec, Aztec, Toltec, etc. stretching from Mexico to Costa Rica plus the rest of Central
America. Mesoamerican civilization had pyramid style temples, mathematics, astronomy, writing, medicine,
accurate calendars, arts, agriculture, an abacus calculator, complex theology, etc. Many of these cultures
had a base 20 and included 0. The largest Mesoamerican cities were Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, and
Cholula. They had trade routes and spread information quickly. The Olmec civilization was oldest complex
Mesoamerica civilization that grew from 2000 B.C. The Mayan civilization was at its peak from 250 B.C. to
650 A.D. The Aztec civilization was very powerful too. South American Native Americans tribes had
geoglyphs and the Inca civilization (whose capital was the cougar shaped city of Cuzco. It existed heavily in
its zenith from 1438 to 1533. It had a road system, cities built precisely with stone and terrace farming used
for agriculture. Brain surgery and metalwork were also found in the Inca Empire).
Some theorize South Pacific Oceanic contact with South America. Some believe that domesticated chickens
were introduced to South America via Polynesia by the late pre-Columbian times. The Norte Chico
civilization existed in Peru as early as 3,000 B.C. (which is about the same time as urbanization growth in
Mesopotamia). Norte Chico or Caral is the oldest known complex civilization in the Americas. It existed until
1,800 B.C. The Valdivia culture transpired in the coast of Ecuador. They had fishing and farming being
sedimentary people. Scholars found that Valdivians cultivated maize, kidney beans, squash, cassava, hot
peppers, and cotton plants, the last of which was used to make clothing. Valdivian pottery initially was
rough and practical, but it became showy, delicate, and big over time. They generally used red and gray
colors; and the polished dark red pottery is characteristic of the Valdivia period. In its ceramics and stone
works, the Valdivia culture shows a progression from the simplest to much more complicated works.
The Tiwanaku Empire was from 300 to 1000 A.D. It is found from western Bolivia to Peru and Chile. There
is the Gate of the Sun gate in Tiwanaku. In Hawaii, it was inhabited originated by the Polynesians between
the 1st century and the 10th century. Around 1200 A.D., Tahitian explorers found and began settling the
area as well. This became the rise of the Hawaiian civilization. Captain James Cook from England came into
the Hawaii Islands in 1778. The founder of the Kingdom of Hawaii was Kamehameha I.
This is the iconic Machu Picchu. It represents the essence of the Inca civilization, which
was found in South America.
Tenochtitlan
1325-1521
The Aztec
Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican city-state and it was the capital of the calendar
Moctezuma I was a system was
powerful Aztec Empire. It is now presently in the center of Mexico City. June
famous ruler of complex with
20, 1325 was the date of its founding on an island (on then Lake Texcoco) in
Tenochtitlan. He lived a sacred
the Valley of Mexico. It grew so large that it was the largest city of the Pre-
from ca. 1398 to 1469. calendar with
Columbian Americas. Once having a population between 200,000 and 400,000
He strengthened people, it was larger than London and any other European city during that time
13 months of
Aztec rule. He allowed 20 days and
period. Canals and complex road systems surrounded Tenochtitlan extensively.
the levee of an
Canoes were used in order to allow people to travel from residential districts agricultural
Nezahualcoyotl was to the city center (i.e. downtown area). The market place of Tlatelolco had or solar
crated, reputedly people buying avocadoes, beans, chili peppers, corn, squash, and tomatoes. calendar with
designed by Temples, palaces, and governmental buildings were in the center of the city 18 months of
Nezahualcoyotl. too. The city was divided into four zones or camps. Each camp had 20 districts. 20 days. This
The city’s architecture was just beautiful. comes to
360 days.
They added
This map shows 5 more days
the western side (called
nemontemi
of the Lake
being
Texcoco. unlucky
Tenochtitlan is days) to get
found in the 365 days.
southern part of
the main island
(under the red
line). The The Templo Mayor was the main temple of the
northern part is Aztecs in the capital city of Tenochtitlan. Its
Tlatelolco. The architecture is part of the Postclassic period of
area is about a Mesoamerica. The temple was called the Huēyi
little over 5 Teōcalli [we:ˈi teoːˈkali] in the Nahuatl language
square miles. and dedicated simultaneously to two gods,
Huitzilopochtli, god of war, and Tlaloc, god of
rain and agriculture, each of which had a shrine
Herman Cortes was the Spanish at the top of the pyramid with separate
conquistador who was responsible staircases. The spire in the center of the image
above was devoted to Quetzalcoatl in his form
for the destruction of Tenochtitlan. as the wind god, Ehecatl. The Great Temple
He talked with Moctezuma II devoted to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, measuring
before he executed a 75 day siege approximately 100 by 80 m (328 by 262 ft.) at its
against the city. Many Native base, dominated the Sacred Precinct.
Americans died by murder and
famine. The city was leveled and
conquered by Spanish murderous
imperialists.
Early Native American Culture
This is called the Monks Mound of Cahokia. It is part This is part of the Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National
of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The concrete Park. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This
stair case follows the approximate course of the location was part of the Pueblo civilization.
ancient wooden stairs. This mound is part of the
Mississippian culture in America.
This engraved stone palette from Moundville shown The image above shows the Great House at the Casa
two horned rattlesnakes. Some believe that it Grande Ruins National Monument.
referred to the Great Serpent of the Southeastern
Ceremonial Complex.
European Exploration
The Vikings had a long history. By the year of 985 A.D., the Viking Erik the Red was believed to have been
the first European to have discovered Greenland in 985 A.D. after being exiled from Iceland for murder in
982. He returned with 14 surviving ships as he left with 25 ships in his expedition. The Vikings were in
Greenland during a warm period. So, they raised sheep and cattle for food, wool, and hides. They exported
walrus ivory. By the 1300’s, settlements grew and gradually faded away. The Inuit Native Americans were
called skraelings (which is a bigoted word) by the Vikings. A Norwegian ship's captain named Bjarni
Herjólfsson first came across a part of the North American continent ca. 985 when he was blown off course
sailing to Greenland from Iceland. Leif Ericson also explored North America beyond Greenland. Some
traded with Native American Inuit groups. There was a short lived settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows in the
northern part of Newfoundland, Canada. Since 2012, five other potential settlements have been discovered
ranging from Tanfield Valley in the north to Point Rosee in the south. They or the Vikings traded with the
Native Americans. They were amazed at how different each other were. The Vikings left the area because
of conflicts. The Native Americans had advanced weaponry of bows and arrows. The Newfoundland area
was called Vinland by the Vikings. Vikings may have visited Svalbard as early as the 12th century. Various
foods found in the Americas include corn, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, peanuts,
strawberries, blueberries, papaya, avocados, cocoa beans, etc. Over two-thirds of all types of food crops
grown worldwide came from the Americas.
The Colonial period
The Colonial period from 1492 to 1776 changed the world forever. It was a time where European, African,
and Native American cultures interacted with each other. It was the time of massive European exploitation
of the Americas for a diversity of reasons. Some Europeans wanted to control resources via imperialism and
mercantilism. Some Europeans wanted to advance the evil scourge of slavery. Other Europeans wanted to
have religious freedom or organize businesses. Europeans brought with them horses, cattle, and hogs to
the Americas. They brought back to Europe maize, turkeys, potatoes, tobacco, beans, and squash. This
existence of the exchange of goods among the Old World and the New World is called the Columbian
Exchange. Also, millions of black Africans slaves were kidnapped from the Motherland of Africa and sent
into the Americas. Most African slaves were in South America and the Caribbean not North America. Many
Native Americans died by smallpox and measles (when they had no immunity to them) plus genocides. To
understand the colonial period, we have to look at these realities chronologically.
The Old World and the New World
The first Europeans of the colonial period who explored were from Spain and Portugal. Christopher
Columbus was Italian, but he worked for Spain. His first voyage was started on August 3, 1492 when he left
Spain with 3 ships (called the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina). He reached the Bahamas by October
1492 and later to Hispaniola. During his second expedition, he reached Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493
(after he sat sail from Cadiz on September 1493 with 17 ships). He reached Florida in 1513. It is a historical
fact that Columbus and his imperialist allies used murder, abuse, rape, and other heinous acts against the
Native American peoples of the Caribbean like the Arawak peoples, the Taino, and the Lucayan. Spanish
explorers reached the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon, and the Great
Plains. By 1497, John Cabot landed in Newfoundland. This started the British colonial presence in the
continental North America. In 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and saw the
Pacific Ocean. In that same year, Juan Ponce de León defeats Tlaxcala, a small state neighboring the Aztec
Empire. The Spanish began the conquest of the Maya civilization during the 1520’s and in 1521, Hernan
Cortes destroyed the Aztec empire. By 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano (working for France) explored the
coastline from present day Maine to North Carolina. In 1540, Hernando de Soto explored the Southwest.
Many other Spanish explorers investigated the Chesapeake Bay too by the 1500’s.
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explored places from Arizona to central Kansas. Spanish settlements grew
to be major cities like San Antonio (in Texas), Albuquerque (in New Mexico), Tucson (in Arizona), Los
Angeles (in California), and San Francisco (in California). During the year of 1565, Admiral Pedro Menéndez
de Avilés founds St. Augustine, Florida the first Spanish settlement in the New World, and is the oldest
continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States. The Iroquois Confederacy was
created during the 1570’s. Sir Walter Raleigh founds Roanoke Colony or the first English settlement in the
United States. It was deserted by 1590 under mysterious circumstances.
The Middle Passage was extremely brutal. Criminals Mother Africa has always had
kidnapped and shipped enslaved Africans throughout complex, great ancient
the Americas including the Caribbean and South civilizations. Ancient Ghana Olaudah Equiano
America. The journey took from 3 weeks to three had massive gold trading and (1745-1797) was
months depending on the weather and wind. Many complex governments. Mali, a victim of the
people died in the ships. Rape and violence done by the Maafa. He was
Songhai, and other empires
slave owners were commonplace. kidnapped at 11,
were well known for their
became free, and
power and cultural influences
was a powerful
worldwide.
abolitionist. His
book entitled,
The Gaspar Yanga rebellion of The 1712 New York Slave Revolt The Stono Rebellion of 1739
ca. 1570 was about the leader was about black people wanting an existed in South Carolina. It was
and black man Gaspar Yanga end to slavery. Back then, a slave the largest slave uprising in the
fighting for independence in market existed near modern day British mainland colonies. The
Veracruz, Mexico. He was Wall Street. About 20 percent of leaders of this rebellion most
working with a maroon group the population of New York City probably came from the Central
of people in order to form back then was enslaved black African Kingdom of Kongo as
their own self-rule. To this very people. 70 black people were some of the people involved
day, Yanga is a national hero arrested and jailed after the spoke Portuguese. Jemmy was
of Mexico. rebellion. Of these 27 were put on the leader. They wanted to go
trial and 21 were convicted and into Spanish Florida, which was a
executed. place for escapees, but they
were stopped by a militia. After
the end of the rebellion, South
Carolina passed some of the
harshest pro-slavery laws in the
nation, but by 1865, the
Confederacy would be rightfully
defeated.
A Timeline of Early Colonial American History
1607 1608
1752
England The 1680
1671
created French Georgia
found Bacon’s Pueblo became a
Jamestown
Quebec Rebellion Revolt royal colony
The French and Indian War was about Britain and France fighting for the control of resources in North
America. It was also part of the overall Seven Years’ War among European countries. During the war, New
England fought successfully against French Acadia. The British removed Acadians from Acadia (Nova Scotia)
and replaced them with New England Planters. Eventually, some Acadians resettled in Louisiana, where
they developed a distinctive rural Cajun culture that still exists to this very day. They became American
citizens in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. Other French villages along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers
were absorbed when the Americans started arriving after 1770, or settlers moved west to escape them.
French influence and language in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast was more enduring.
Additionally, New Orleans was notable for its large population of free people of color before the Civil War.
English colonies
British Colonization grew by the late 1500’s and early 1600’s. The East Coast of America was heavily settled
by English colonists during the 17th century along with smaller number of the Dutch and Swedes (plus the
Scots-Irish). Colonial America had a large labor shortage, slavery, and indentured servitude. British elites
used the policy of benign neglect. Over half of all European immigrants into colonial America arrived as
indentured servants. The Roanoke Colony failed during the 1500’s via mysterious circumstances. The first
successful English colony was Jamestown (or the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
Jamestown was found in the Colony of Virginia). It was established in 1607. I visited Jamestown in early
November of 2017, which was 410 years after 1607. While I was there, I saw reconstructions of houses,
churches (with religious documents), ships, and one fort. Jamestown is found on the James River in Virginia.
Jamestown suffered hardships for decades until new settlers arrived in the late 17th century. They formed
commercial agriculture, which was based in tobacco. The British shipped between 50,000 to 120,000
convicts to the Americans colonies between the late 1610’s and the Revolution. The Native Americans were
increasingly stripped of their lands, raped, murdered, and forcibly converted to Christianity (when a person
has the right to be Christian or non-Christian voluntarily without forced conversion). The Dutch claimed
New Netherland in 1614. Slavery was introduced into the Colony of Virginia in 1619 as this was the time
when black Africans were forcibly sent into Virginia. The 1622 Powhatan uprising in Virginia resulted in
hundreds of English settlers to die. Likewise, millions of Native Americans would die of disease and
genocide by evil European imperialists in the Americas. The largest conflicts between Native Americans and
English settlers in the 17th century were King Philip's War in New England and the Yamasee War in South
Carolina.
New England was settled by the Puritans by the 1600’s. The Pilgrims formed a settlement in 1620 at
Plymouth Colony (after the Mayflower Compact was signed). New Amsterdam was founded by 1625 and it
would be New York City during the future. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was created in 1630 by the
Puritans. The Pilgrims (who were mostly working class people. William Bradford and William Brewster were
famous Pilgrims) were Separatists. They want to break from the Church of England to form their own
church. The Puritans (who were mostly middle to upper class people. They wanted to form a strict
theocracy) wanted to purify the Church of England from within (in eliminating Roman Catholic influences in
the Anglican Church. John Winthrop, John Endicott, and Miles Standish were famous Puritans). By 1640,
John Punch, a black indentured servant, ran away with two white indentured servants, James, Gregory, and
Victor. After the three were captured, Punch was sentenced to serve Virginia planter Hugh Gwyn for life.
This made John Punch the first legally documented slave in Virginia (and the U.S.). In 1654, John Casor, a
black man who claimed to have completed his term of indenture, became the first legally recognized slave-
for-life in a civil case in the Virginia colony. The court ruled with the slave owner who said he had an
indefinite servitude for life. In 1672, the Royal African Company is founded in England, allowing slaves to be
shipped from Africa to the colonies in North America and the Caribbean. England entered the slave trade in
a higher level.
Bacon's Rebellion took place in 1676. It was one of the most important events of American history. It was
about white settlers and black indentured servants uniting to fight to expand into western frontiers (against
the wishes of the rule of Colonial Governor William Berkeley who refused to retaliate against Native
American attacks against colonists). The Bacon's Rebellion was complex in many people in it did the wrong
thing in attacking Native Americans, but it represented one major fight against the English imperial power
structure. Nathaniel Bacon led the Bacon's Rebellion too. Bacon's forces (in about 300-500 people) burnt
down Jamestown to the ground. Later, Berkeley took over and defeated the rebellious forces. He allowed
the hanging of 24 men. The alliance between indentured servants and Africans (most enslaved until death
or freed), united by their bond-servitude, disturbed the ruling class, who responded by hardening the racial
caste of slavery in an attempt to divide the two races from subsequent united uprisings with the passage of
the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705. After the Bacon's Rebellion, slavery was further expanded viciously in the
American colonies.
By 1702, East Jersey and West Jersey became crown colonies. Blackbeard (or a famous pirate) was killed by
Lieutenant Robert Maynard in the waters off the Province of North Carolina. Pirates were rogue people
who sailed the seas in search of money, power, and wealth in general. They can be compared to criminal
gangs in our time. The Middle Colonies had religious, political, and ethnic diversity. They were found in the
states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The first attempted English settlement south
of Virginia was the Province of Carolina, with Georgia Colony – the last of the Thirteen Colonies –
established in 1733. The Southern Colonies (as found in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
and Georgia) were heavily influenced by the Church of England except Maryland with a strong Catholic
presence. The colonies were mostly people of Christianity and Judaism among the settlers. Many Jewish
people came into America to escape religious persecution. Many Jewish people owned slaves and other
Jewish people were famous abolitionists. Native Americans had their own religions. Africans back then
were non-Christians heavily. Some were Muslims or followers of African religions. Later, most Africans in
America would be Christians. Congregationalists were in New England, German and Dutch Reformed were
in the Middle Colonies, and Catholics were found in Maryland. Scots-Irish Presbyterians were found on the
frontier. Sephardic Jewish people were early settlers in the cities of New England and the South. Many
immigrants like the French Huguenots were religious refugees. They were found in New York, Virginia, and
the Carolinas. Huguenots are French Calvinists. Royal officials and merchants were heavily Anglicans.
By September 9, 1739, in the Stono Rebellion, South Carolina slaves gathered at the Stono River to plan an
armed march for freedom.
Around the 1740’s, the First Great Awakening took place. It was about a religious revival led by preachers
like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield. It was about American Evangelicals back then saying that the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit caused lives to be changed. This was one major event that caused many
people to convert to Christianity, both white people and black people. These revivals were commonplace in
America as we have to understand religion in order to understand American history and culture. In
1753, Benjamin Banneker designed and built the first clock in the British American colonies. He also
created a series of almanacs. He corresponded with Thomas Jefferson and wrote that "blacks were
intellectually equal to whites." Banneker worked with Pierre L'Enfant to survey and design a street and
urban plan for Washington, D.C. The Second Great Awakening happened by the late 1790’s. Evangelicals in
the South like Methodists and Baptists preached. Many slaves were converted. Some preachers preached
for religious freedom and the abolition of slavery because back then many Baptists and other religious
minorities were persecuted in America. Also, many of the most vicious slave owners back then were
Baptists and Methodists.
The 13 colonies in America were ruled by a governor in each colony. The governor was appointed from
London. That governor ruled the legislature on voting and making laws. Many Americans in colonies grew
rapidly with large supplies of land and food. The colonies were richer than most parts of Britain back then.
More immigrants and indentured servants traveled into America. Slavery grew and tobacco and rice
plantations used African slaves in America and the West Indies. By the 1770's, African slaves comprised a
fifth of the American population. The question of independence from Britain did not arise as long as the
colonies needed British military support against the French and Spanish powers. Those threats were gone
by 1765. London regarded the American colonies as existing for the benefit of the mother country. This
policy is known as mercantilism. America was built heavily by slave labor. The wealthy class owned the
plantations and ruled the political systems of the 13 colonies. Some even ruled many of the churches from
South Carolina to Virginia. Wealthy Dutch proprietors were getting money from Dutch tenant farmers in
upstate New York. Pennsylvania had another system.
The Regions of the Thirteen Colonies
New England Colonies Middle Colonies Southern Colonies
States represented Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, North
Connecticut, and New Hampshire Pennsylvania, and Delaware Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia
Economic Activity They worked in fishing, They worked with livestock, The Southern colonies produced
shipbuilding, using naval supplies, grains, and fish. They relied tobacco, rice, cotton, indigo, and
using metal tools, plus other on the Southern colonies for forest products (like lumber, tar,
equipment. They depended on rice, cotton, indigo, etc. They and pitch). They depended on
Southern colonies for tobacco, rice, trade with the New England the New England colonies for
cotton, and indigo (plus lumber, colonies for metal tools and manufactured goods. They
tar, and pitch). They depended on equipment. depended on the Middle
the Middle colonies for livestock colonies for agricultural colonies
and grains. not produced in the South.
Cities and Towns Boston, Quincy, Plymouth, Salem, New York City, Albany, Jamestown, Williamsburg,
Lexington, Concord, Providence, Wilmington, Trenton, Richmond, Norfolk, Baltimore,
Portsmouth, Newport, Hartford, Princeton, Philadelphia, Annapolis, Brunswick Town,
New Haven, Wethersfield, Lancaster, and York. Raleigh, Charleston, Savannah,
Windsor, Dover, and Exeter. Hardwicke, Charleston, and
Wrightsboro.
Religions found in Puritan and other Protestant Quakers, the Jewish religion, Anglicans, Baptists, and some
the region groups. Lutherans, Baptists, Roman Catholics (in Maryland)
Catholics, Anglicans, etc.
Geography and They have Appalachian Mountains, They exist with the They have Appalachian
Climate the Boston harbor, hilly terrain, Appalachians, coastal Mountains, the Piedmont, the
rocky soil, and a jagged coastline. lowlands, harbors, and bays. Atlantic Coastal Plain, good
They have a moderate summer and They have mild winters and a harbors, and rivers. Their climate
cold winters. moderate climate with wide is humid with mild winters and
plus deep rivers. hot summers.
Resources
This picture shows a young America declined, so more Native Americans started to ally with the
George Washington who was British. The British conquered Louisbourg via Amherst on May 28, 1758.
greatly once in support of the The British general James Wolfe fought in Quebec in 1759. Montcalm
British (during the French and (who was French) and Wolfe, the commanding generals of both armies,
Indian war). He was born in perish in battle. The French surrendered Quebec on September 13,
Westmoreland County, 1759. The British controlled Montreal by September 8, 1760 and the war
Virginia and would go onward was soon a British victory. The French surrendered Great Lakes areas as
ironically to fight the British well.
later on.
This is a picture of the war council that showed the famous council on April 27,
1763. During that council, Pontiac urged listeners rise up against the British.
The Treaty of Paris in 1763 (on February 10, 1763) ended the French and Indian War. It was a great benefit
for the British. The French were gone from North America, except in the Caribbean. The British won
victories in West Africa, the Philippines, and the Caribbean including India. The Native Americans didn’t
take the British victory lying down. They knew that the British on average were much crueler against them
than the French. The British military commander Lord Jeffrey Amherst cut off goods to Native Americans.
The British formed an agreement with the Cherokee peoples on 1761. The Native Americans who suffered
from this were the Mississauga, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Ojibwa, Wyandot, Miami, Kickapoo, Mascouten,
Delaware, Shawnee, and Seneca. So, many Native Americans started to fight the British to lure the French
back into North America. This new attack strategy was called Pontiac’s Rebellion. Pontiac was one Ottawa
chief who fought in Detroit. Pontiac’s War was very brutal and it lasted from 1763 to 1766 By 1764, the
Native American rebellion ended since they ran out of supplies. Amherst was criticized by the British
government and he was replaced by Thomas Gage. The British made more peace treaties with the Native
Americans after Pontiac’s Rebellion. The British created the Proclamation of 1763 (on October of 1763)
which banned settlers from traveling west of the Appalachian Mountains (to restrain settlers and cause
more peace with Native Americans). Of course the settlers continued to violate the Proclamation of 1763. It
was hard to enforce since there were too few British troops to enforce it. The British calling on the colonists
to pay for the large debt caused by the French and Indian War ultimately created more tensions among the
colonies (which ultimately developed into the Revolutionary War). The irony is that the French and Indian
War was a huge factor in causing the Revolutionary War.
Afterwards, New France declined in their land. The Thirteen Colonies grew in size. The American Colonies
supported the British during the French and Indian War with the Albany Congress. Benjamin Franklin
wanted the colonies to Join or Die in that war. Franklin promoted the concept of the United States of
America before 1776.
“… What do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The
Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts
of the people…This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the
people was the real American Revolution.”
The American colonists were protected by Britain during the French and Indian war, but they paid very little
of the cost of that war. They profited from trade in dealing with the British Empire. The colonists have due
process of common law, trial by jury, and the freedom of the press without censorship. They could pay no
tax unless it as levied by their representatives. The British government had the monarch being part of the
executive branch back then. The legislative power of the British Empire had the two houses of Parliament
of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Aristocrats had seats in the House of Lords and some
common people were in the House of Commons. Colonial America had governors and colonial legislatures
like the Upper House and the Assembly or Lower House. King George III of England issued the Royal
Proclamation of 1763. That meant that the colonial settlers couldn’t travel west of the Appalachian
Mountains. Some settlers violated this proclamation. The lands of the Native Americans were increasingly
being stripped. The French and Indian war caused huge debts in Britain. So, the British wanted the
American colonies to pay money to them to end the debt from the French and Indian War. This was one
reason why the American Revolutionary War existed in the first place. The colonists refused to do this
because they wanted representation in the British legislature. Prime Minister George Grenville by 1764
wanted more money in collecting duties. The law of Sugar Act was placed to lower the duty of foreign
molasses.
The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765, imposing a tax on the colonies without going through
the colonial legislatures. The issue was drawn: did Parliament have this right to tax Americans who were
not represented in it? Crying "No taxation without representation", the colonists refused to pay the taxes
as tensions escalated in the late 1760's and early 1770's. Some colonists wanted total independence.
Boston was one place where pro-independence sentiment was very large. In 1765, the British government
passed the unpopular law of the Quartering Act. It required colonies to provide housing and supplies for
the British troops stationed there after the French and Indian war. Colonists didn’t like but mostly accepted
it as a means to deal with trade and defense. Many colonists resisted these laws by protest, by using papers
to show intellectual arguments in opposing these policies, and by resistance. John Adams and Patrick Henry
believed that the colonial assemblies only had the right to tax the colonists. By 1765, boycotts of goods
imported from Britain existed which were called nonimportation agreements. This threatened British
manufactures. Women in the Daughters of Liberty groups were involved in colonist efforts to oppose the
Stamp Act too. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766. The British responded to the colonists again by
creating the Townshend Acts in 1767 to tax goods like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Violence soon
erupted in Boston in opposition to the laws. In March of 1770, colonists threw snowballs and rocks at
British soldiers guarding the Customs House. The soldiers fired at them and killed 5 colonists. One of the
dead was Crispus Attucks, who was a sailor (of African descent) who may have been an escaped slave.
Samuel Adams condemned the killings as the Boston Massacre. The British left Boston and ended most of
the Townshend duties. The British later taxed tea to help the British East India Company.
The Boston Tea Party in December 16, 1773 was about activists in Boston protesting a new tax on tea.
White men dressed up (as Native Americans) and they enacted the Boston Tea Party by throwing tea into
the Boston Harbor. The Parliament of England retaliated by passing the 1774 Coercive Acts. This stripped
Massachusetts of its historic right of self-government and putting it under army rule, which sparked
outrage and resistance in all thirteen colonies. Also, in 1774, the first black Baptist congregations are
organized in the South: Silver Bluff Baptist Church in South Carolina, and First African Baptist Church near
Petersburg, Virginia. There were the Intolerable Acts too which was executed by the British. Patriot leaders
from all 13 colonies convened the First Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance to the Coercive
Acts (or the Intolerable acts). The Congress called for a boycott of British trade, published a list of rights and
grievances, and petitioned the king for redress of those grievances. Patrick Henry, form Virginia, is famous
for giving he famous speech of saying “Give me liberty or give me death” at the first Continental Congress
as he was a militant Patriot seeking independence.
The appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was convened in 1775 to
organize the defense of the colonies against the British Army. Many early Americans fought against the
British even though they didn’t know about the ideological rationales for this resistance. Many wanted their
rights to have local autonomy, fair dealing, and government by consent. They didn’t want tyranny, but
slavery is the height of tyranny. The British Army came into Boston and many colonists viewed them as
colonizers. Many Patriots viewed God as being on their side and some wanted revenge.
The Sons of Liberty was an organization
(which was created by the Thirteen
Colonies) that fought for the rights of the
colonists and they opposed taxation by the
British government. This group lasted from
1765 to 1776. They opposed the Stamp
Act in 1765. Their members included
Samuel Adams, Benedict Arnold, John
Hancock, Patrick Henry, James Otis Jr.,
Paul Revere, James Swan, Alexander
McDougall, Benjamin Rush, Charles
Thomson, Haym Solomon, Isaac Sears,
and other people. Their motto became,
“No taxation without representation.”
Edmund Jennings John Paul Jones was Horatio Gates was a Friedrich Wilhem von John Dickinson was a
Randolph was an the first known naval retired British soldier Steuben was the politician who was a
American attorney commander during who was an American American military member of the First
and a politician. He the American general during the leader from Prussia Continental Congress.
was the seventh Revolutionary War. Revolutionary War. who helped to train He also wrote the
Governor of Virginia, He was born in He was involved in American troops via final draft of the 1775
the second Secretary Scotland and he was a the victorious military drills at Valley Declaration of the
of State, and the first sailor for a time. He American victory of Forge. He was a Causes and Necessity
United States came into Virginia to the Battles of Major General after of Taking Up Arms. He
Attorney General. He join the Continental Saratoga back in he was an Inspector attended the
was a Freemason and Navy in fighting the 1777. After the war, General. Constitutional
involved in the British Empire. he lived his life in Convention of 1787.
Constitutional New York City until He lived in
Convention. his passing in 1806 (at Philadelphia and
the age of 78). Delaware.
The image on the left shows the Boston Massacre and the image on the
rights shows the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
On June 1775, George Washington, who was a Virginian political leader with combat experience From the
French and Indian War, was unanimously appointed commander of the newly organized Continental Army.
He took command in Boston. He also sent for artillery to barrage the British. In every state, there was a
minority of people who professed loyalty to the King (called Loyalists), but they didn’t have massive power.
The Loyalists were watched by the standing Committees of Safety, which was created by the Provincial
Congresses. Loyalists are people who believed in following the British Empire along with the King of
England. The unwritten rule was such people could remain silent, but vocal or financial or military support
for the King would not be tolerated. The estates of outspoken Loyalists were seized; they fled to British-
controlled territory, especially New York City. During the winter of 1775-1776, there was an attempt by the
Patriots to capture Quebec. It failed and there was a buildup of British forces at Halifax, Nova Scotia. This
precluded the colony of Quebec from joining the 13 colonies. The Americans captured a British fort at
Ticonderoga, New York. It dragged its cannon over the snow to the outskirts of Boston. The appearance of
troops and cannon on Dorchester Heights outside of Boston led the British Army to evacuate Boston on
March 17, 1776. By January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense. It was an intellectual guide
to support the American independence movement. Common Sense, in essence, was a pamphlet that
advocated total independence of the thirteen colonies from the British Empire.
Thomas Paine wrote eloquently in favor of the forming of an egalitarian form of government. It or Common
Sense sold greatly and was very popular in colonial America and today in our time in 2018. Taverns,
churches, meeting places, and homes all had in their possession pamphlets of Common Sense. Paine
proposed his own style of a constitutional framework and he was influenced by Enlightenment thinking
which was prevalent during that time. Thomas Paine wrote in favor of Deism, supported the French
Revolution, and advanced the American Revolution enthusiastically. Henry Knox reached Boston on January
24, 1776. Henry Knox was the commander of the Continental Army (and later leader of the U.S. Army). The
Raid of Nassau (March 3–4, 1776) was a naval operation and amphibious assault by Colonial forces against
the British port of Nassau, Bahamas, during the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American
War of Independence). The battle is considered one of the first engagements of the newly established
Continental Navy and the Continental Marines, the respective progenitors of the United States Navy and
Marine Corps. The action was also the Marines' first amphibious landing. It is sometimes known as the
"Battle of Nassau." The Patriots won the battle and occupied Nassau for 2 weeks.
By Timothy
The next part of this series will describe the
American Revolutionary War and the early
years of the American nation.