Lection 3
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Europeans began exploring overseas in search of new trade routes to Asia in order to gain wealth and power. Christopher Columbus reached the Americas in 1492 while seeking a western route to Asia, beginning European colonization of the region. The first English colonies in North America were established at Jamestown in 1607 and Plymouth in 1620 by the Virginia Company and Pilgrims respectively. Tensions arose between European powers as they competed for territory and resources in North America, culminating in the French and Indian War which began in 1754.
Lection 3
- 1. Lection 3 Europeans Reach the Americas (1000 – 1650) From Revolution to Republic (1745 -1775)
- 2. Plan • • • • • • 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Europeans look overseas The first English colonies Important events (1745 -1775) Rivalry in North America The French and Indian War A Storm over taxes
- 3. • In the first part we’ll find out: ∀− why Europeans looked beyond their borders. ∀− What countries the leaders in exploring the new lands were from.
- 5. • During the Middle Ages, a period from about 500 to 1350, many Europeans thought of the world as a disk floating on a great ocean. The disk was made up of 3 continents: Europe, Africa and Asia. • Toward the end of the Middle Ages Europeans began to look beyond their borders. Religious wars and the lure of new products from faraway lands brought major changes in the way Europeans lived.
- 6. • During the Middle Ages weak European kings and queens divided their lands among powerful nobles. These nobles or lords had their own armies and courts but still owed loyalty to their king. This system of rule by lords who owe loyalty is called feudalism. Under feudalism there were few merchants and traders. Most of them were Christians and belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. The Church had great influence. And from about 1100 to 1300, the Roman Catholic Church fought a series of religious wars to gain control of the Holy Land from Turkish Muslims. The wars were known as the Crusades.
- 7. • Large numbers of Europeans traveled beyond the towns. In the Middle East they ate strange foods, such as rice, oranges; they tasted ginger, pepper and other spices. From Arab traders, they bought silks and colorful rugs. Arabs also taught Italian sailors how to use new instruments to navigate large bodies of water, such as the Mediterranean Sea. The magnetic compass, with a needle that always pointed north, helped ship captains sail a straight course.
- 8. • The new rulers of England, France, Portugal and Spain all looked for ways to increase their wealth. However, Arab and Italian merchants controlled the trade routes across the Mediterranean Sea. If they wanted a share of the trade, European rulers had to find another route to Asia. The Portuguese turned to the Atlantic Ocean. By 1498, the Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama passed the southern tip of Africa and continued north and east to India. Using their new route, the Portuguese built a successful trading empire in Asia.
- 9. • As the Portuguese sailed east toward Asia, the Spanish watched with envy. So in August 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail with three vessels and a crew of 90 sailors. On October, 7 they reached the shore. In 1493 Columbus founded the first Spanish colony in the Americas. A colony is a group of people who settle in a distant land and are ruled by the government of their native land. Columbus died in 1506 convinced that he had reached Asia. • Columbus and the Europeans who came after him saw the Americas as the place where they could trade and grow rich.
- 10. • In the part «The first English colonies » we’ll find out: ∀− what European nations searched for a northwest passage and why. ∀− How self-government began in Virginia. ∀− Why the Pilgrims started a colony in North America.
- 12. • When European states expanded to the Americas, they brought their religious and political rivalries with them. Foe example, in the late 1500s, Roman Catholic monarchs ruled Spain and France. England had a Protestant queen, Elizabeth. Elizabeth encouraged English adventures to sail along the coasts of New Spain, riding Spanish treasure fleets. England and France also were religious rivals. In North America, each tried to claim as much as possible. • Not all rivalries were religious, however. The Netherlands, like England, was a Protestant nation. Yet Dutch and English merchant ships competed with each other for markets all over the world.
- 13. • The arrival of the European settlers affected Native Americans. Missionaries tried to convert Indians to Christianity. Indians eagerly adopted European trade goods, such as copper kettles and knives, as well as muskets and gunpowder for hunting. Alcohol sold by European traders had a harsh effect on Native American life. • The French, Dutch and English all seized Indian lands. At one time or another, each of these European nations also enslaved Native Americans and sold them to plantations in the West Indies.
- 14. • In 1606, the Virginia Company of London received a charter from King James I. A charter is a legal document giving certain rights to a person or company. The charter gave the Virginia Company the right to land between North Carolina and the Potomac River. The land was called Virginia. The charter guaranteed colonists of Virginia the same rights as English citizens. And in the spring of 1607, 105 colonists arrived in Virginia. They began building homes along the James River. They named their outpost, Jamestown, after their king, James I.
- 15. • By the summer of 1608, the Jamestown colony was near failure. Captain, John Smith, saved the settlement By 1620 England was importing more than 30,000 pounds of tobacco a year. At last Virginia had found a way to make money.
- 16. • In 1619, a Dutch ship landed in Jamestown with about 20 Africans. The Dutch sold the Africans to Virginians who needed laborers for growing tobacco. By 1644, about 300 Africans lived in Virginia. Some of them were slaves for life. Others worked as servants and expected one day to own their own farms. Some Africans were already free planters.
- 17. • In 1619 the Virginia Company sent a governor. Male electors were allowed to elect burgesses. They met in an assembly called the House of Burgesses. • In 1619, the investors sent about 100 women to Virginia to help «make the men more settled». The first shipload of women quickly found husbands in Jamestown. Each man who married one of these women had to give the Virginia Company 150 pounds of tobacco.
- 18. • In November 1620, another band of English settlers, the Pilgrims, sailed for the Americas. Their charter was for the colony in Virginia, but exhausted by the sea voyage, they decided to stay ashore and name their colony Plymouth. Nearly half the settlers died of disease or starvation. The Pilgrims’ religious faith was strong, however. Next fall the Pilgrims had a good harvest. Because they believed that God had given them this harvest, they set aside a day for giving thanks. It’s nowadays called Thanksgiving.
- 19. • When we speak about the road to revolution we must also concern the events, which took place in the world from 1745 to 1775 • 1740s – English settlers moved westward into the Ohio Valley. Here settlers clear the land. • 1748 – Britain and France fight for control of trade in India. • 1754 – As a young major George Washington played an important role when fighting began in the French and Indian War. • 1759 – The battle for Quebec was a turning point in the French and Indian War.
- 21. • 1763 – Conflict with Native Americans, led by Chief Pontiac, convinced Britain to issue the Proclamation of 1763. it closed western lands to further settlement. • 1753 – Treaty of Paris ends French power in North America. • 1765 – To raise money from the colonies, Britain passed the Stamp Act. All items listed in the act carry a stamp. • 1775 – The war for American independence began with shots fired in Lexington and Concord. • 1774 – Quebec Act guarantees religious freedom in Canada.
- 22. • Three times between 1689 and 1748, France and Great Britain had fought for power in Europe and North America. Both France and England tried to make Indian allies because Indians controlled the fur trade in the heart of North America. Most French were traders not farmers, they didn’t destroy hunting grounds by clearing forests for farms. Also, marry French married Native American women and adopted their ways. • In contrast, English settlers were mostly farm families. They ignored Indian rights, and they didn’t respect Indian ways.
- 23. • In 1754, fighting broke out again. The long conflict that followed was called the French and Indian war. Young George Washington played an important part as fighting began. • While Washington was defending Fort Necessity, delegates from 7 colonies gathered in Albany, New York. They met for two reasons: ∀− to persuade Iroquois to help them against the French, ∀− to plan a united defense.
- 25. • The French and Indian War had plunged Britain deeply into debts. As a result, the tax bill for citizens in Britain rose sharply. The Stamp Act of 1765 put a tax on legal documents as wills, diplomas and marriage papers, newspapers, playing cards and even dice. All items named in the law had to carry a stamp showing that the tax had been paid. When British officials tried to enforce the Stamp Act in colonies, they met with stormy protests. So in 1766, Parliament canceled the Stamp Act.
- 26. • But in 1773 Parliament trying to help East India Company passed the Tea Act. The act let the company sell tea directly to colonists at lower tax. But colonists protested the Tea Act. And in November 1773 citizens of Boston bordered the ships and dumped the tea into the harbor. It was called later the Boston Tea Party. It was meant to show Britain that the colonists would act firmly. By 1775 the 13 colonies became a new independent from the British nation.
- 27. TASK 3 ∀− Define: rivals, charter, burgess. ∀− Why did Europeans send explorers to North America? ∀− Name three ways in which the arrival of Europeans affected Native Americans. ∀− History Through Literature. • Read The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz • Answer the questions after the text (written)