Scribd
Upload
72 views10 pages

Encounters and Foundations To 1800: Historical Highlights

- Before Europeans arrived, American Indian cultures had thrived for thousands of years, interacting and trading with settlers but also exposing native populations to diseases. [1] - The Puritans who settled New England in the 1600s brought religious and moral convictions that shaped American character, believing in self-sufficiency and that God established a spiritual contract with humanity. The Salem Witch Trials led to mass hysteria and wrongful executions. [2] - During this time, the Enlightenment movement spread rationalist ideas challenging divine monarchy and believing that reason rather than revelation leads to truth, inspiring American founders to pursue religious tolerance and liberty in the new nation. [3]

Uploaded by

Anonymous BQkF4nmF
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
72 views10 pages

Encounters and Foundations To 1800: Historical Highlights

- Before Europeans arrived, American Indian cultures had thrived for thousands of years, interacting and trading with settlers but also exposing native populations to diseases. [1] - The Puritans who settled New England in the 1600s brought religious and moral convictions that shaped American character, believing in self-sufficiency and that God established a spiritual contract with humanity. The Salem Witch Trials led to mass hysteria and wrongful executions. [2] - During this time, the Enlightenment movement spread rationalist ideas challenging divine monarchy and believing that reason rather than revelation leads to truth, inspiring American founders to pursue religious tolerance and liberty in the new nation. [3]

Uploaded by

Anonymous BQkF4nmF
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 10

Encounters and Foundations to 1800

Fast Facts
Historical Highlights

• Dekanawida, a Mohawk visionary, unites


American Indian peoples with the Iroquois
Confederacy, c. 1500.

• Pilgrims land at Plymouth in 1620.

• Colonists battle the British in the Revolutionary


War from 1775 to 1783.
Key Concept:
Native Cultures Thrive in America
History of the Times

• Before the first Europeans arrived, American


Indians had lived here for thousands of years.
• The first interactions between Europeans and
American Indians involved trading.
Key Concept:
Native Cultures Thrive in America
History of the Times
• Mutual curiosity led to
increasing interdependence
between the cultures.
• Europeans relied on American
Indians to teach them survival
skills.
• Indians were eager to acquire
European firearms, textiles,
and steel tools.
The Granger Collection, New York

• Settlers, however, exposed


native populations to diseases.
Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
History of the Times
• The Puritans’ moral, ethical, and religious
convictions helped shape American character.

• Puritans believed in thrift, hard work, and


self-sufficiency.
• They also believed that a
spiritual contract existed
between God and
humanity.
Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
History of the Times
• In the Mayflower Compact, the
Puritans set out a new form of
government.
• This contractual agreement
became a model for American
constitutional democracy.
• Because political authority was
based on religious tenets, the
political views of Puritans were
sometimes uncompromising
and harsh.
Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
The Salem Witchcraft Trials
• In 1691, three women were
accused of witchcraft.
• Within ten months, about 150
people had been accused;
many were put to death.
• This mass hysteria may have
resulted from a fear that
extreme action was needed to
save political unity.
Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
History of the Times
• European political and social turmoil led people
to question the divine right of monarchs.
• A new movement, the Enlightenment, began to
spread, fostering a belief in rationalism.
• Rationalists believe that reason and intellect,
rather than revelation, lead to discoveries of
scientific and spiritual truth.
• Inspired by rationalism, the founders of the
new country set forth ideals of religious
tolerance and individual liberty.
Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
Tinkerers and Experimenters
• Prominent American rationalists include:
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George
Washington, and Thomas Paine.
• Their writings reflect a
rationalist worldview.
• The most prominent
rationalist work was
Franklin’s The Autobiography

Benjamin Franklin
Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
Forming a New Nation
• Inspired by rationalist thought,
the founders signed the
Declaration of Independence
from Britain in 1776.
• Many of the arguments in
the Declaration are based on
rationalist beliefs.
• George Washington, a
rationalist, was elected the first
president of United States. George Washington
“The Star Spangled Banner”
The End

You might also like