The USA

Colonial life and independence from Britain

How America influenced what we eat?
 The Discovery
12 October 1492 Christopher
Columbus reaches the island he
names San Salvador (Holy Savior)
he believed he was in India.
Inhabitants of the land became
Indians (today they are usually
called Native Americans).
Why America is called America?
Italian explorer from
Florence, Amerigo
Vespucci described his
journeys he made in the
1490s.
He suggested the
existence of the new land
to the east of Europe.
 The Beginnings of English Expansion in Northern

America
Sir Walter Raleigh |rli| asked
Queen Elizabeth to start a colony
in the new world.
He reached Roanoke Island in
1584.
He named the entire region
Virginia (from Virgin Queen =
Elizabeth I).
Roanoke
Roanoke Island 1st settlement
Complete failure!
Most of the people died of
hunger and attacks from
Indians.
 The Second time
In 1587, Raleigh sent
colonists a second time
with wives and children.
John White was the
colonys governor.
 The Lost Colony
John White returned to England for supplies.
He returned to America in August 1590 to find no
colonists on Roanoke Island.
On one of the trees they find a caption CROATOAN (it
was the name of an island nearby as well as the name of
the Native Americans living in the area.
 The Virginia Company
In 1606, King James I gives permission to the Virginia
Company of London to try a colony.
On May 14, 1607, the settlers began building the first
English permanent settlement on the James River in
Virginia.
Jamestown was named after the King James I.
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown and Roanoke Island
 John Smith
In 1608, John Smith takes
over leadership of the
Jamestown colony.
Problems: hunger, disease,
Indians.
January 1608, only 38 of the
colonists remained alive.
Colony survives because:
1. No work, no eat
2. Bargaining for food with the Powhatan
Indians.
 Pocahontas
Johns Smith fights with Powhatan Indians.
He is taken prisoner
He was saved by Pocahontas, a Powhatan Native
American.
 Tobacco
Englishman John Rolfe in 1614 found a way to harvest
tobacco.
He also married Pocahontas in 1614 and thus created
peace with the Powhatan Native Americans for 8 years.
Princess Pocahontas
Pocahontas, character of
popular culture.
Brought to England, is
baptized and dies young
of smallpox a disease she
did not know.
 JOHN ROLFE John
ANDRolfe
POCAHONTAS
early 1850s, J. W. Glass

Pocohantas
 Government and slavery
In 1619, a Dutch ship brings the first Africans to
Jamestown beginning of slavery.
In 1619, The Virginia Company of London sends 90
women to Jamestown as wives for the settlers (120
pounds of tobacco for a wife)
 After Jamestown
Jamestown colonists went to live in America because
they wanted to get rich. They were sent there by
businessmen (Virginia Company).
The second important group of colonists came to live in
America because they wanted religious freedom.
 Religious conflicts in England
James I conflict with the Puritans
Puritans decide to emigrate first to
Holland then to America.
Protestant dissenters: the Puritans
influenced by the teachings of John
Calvin.
Puritans because they wanted to keep
the English Church (and English people)
pure.
They did not recognize bishops, did not
want colourful churches and sumptuous
masses.
 1620: The Pilgrim Fathers
16 September 1620, Pilgrims
leave England (Plymouth).
They are called Pilgrims
because they went there for
religious purposes.
The Mayflower
The Pilgrim Fathers / Pilgrims land in America
 9 November 1620
They land in Massachusetts
(land named after Native
American people living there).
The first settlement is called
Plymouth.
The land is called New
England.
New England: Cape Cod
Difficult life of the early colonists

Problems similar to the

problems of the previous
settlers: hunger and
diseases.
Half of the colonists (50
out of more than 100) die
during the first winter.
The rest saved by native
Americans who helped
them and showed new
food: corn, pumpkin,
turkey.
 Thanksgiving
Every third Thursday in November.
Thanks to God for good harvest after one year in
America, in November 1621.
 The Great Migration

Ten years later, in 1630, a second

much larger group came to
America, around 1000 people.
They established Boston.
Between 1630-1640, around 20
000 colonists came to America.
In 1661 Plymouth Colony +
Boston Colony = Massachusetts.
Puritan Values
Puritans had a lasting influence
on American culture.
Very idealistic: (city on the hill,
the New Jerusalem).
But not very tolerant: duty of the
government to make people
obey Gods law, e.g.
o going to the church compulsory
o drinking, adultery and long hair in men
punished
American Utopia
America: model for other
nations (doctrine of
American
exceptionalism).
Hard work and self
moderation.
Education for all children.
Self-government.
 Formation of Other Colonies
1626 Colonists form Holland build
New Amsterdam. In 1664 captured
by the English and re-named New
York.
1634 Maryland, a colony where
Catholics could settle.
In 1681 William Penn received a
permission to start a colony in
America: Pennsylvania.
1691 supporters of Charles II
created North Carolina.
The last English colony was
Georgia settled in 1733.
13 English Colonies
American flag

Stars and Stripes

 Growth of the Colonies
Three major cities
Philadelphia, New York and
Boston.
In 1770 Philadelphia, the
biggest American city with
the population of 28 000.
Philadelphia
English Colonies: 3 groups
New England colonies
mainly Puritans.
Middle Colonies
(Pennsylvania) greater
religious tolerance and
diversity; people not only
from England but also
Germany, Sweden and
Holland.
Southern Colonies
(Virginia, Carolinas,
Georgia) large
plantations with slaves
brought from Africa.
 Westward expansion
After 1733 colonists start to
expand to the west of the
American continent looking for
new land and new opportunities
The area where European
settlement came to an end and
the forest lands of the
Amerindians began, was called
the frontier (or later the Wild
West).
Frontier way of life:
independence, self-reliance,
toughness.
 Conflicts with England
Costly war with France-
new taxes on imports of
sugar, coffee, textiles,
and other goods.
Need to feed the English
soldiers.
Limits on the expansion
to the West.
New taxes and
regulations.
Colonists' fear:
government too powerful:
No taxation without
representation
 Events leading up to the revolution

1. The Proclamation of 1763 Englands King George

forbid colonist to settle west of the Appalachian
Mountains.
2. The Sugar Act of 1764 tax on sugar from outside
the British Empire.
3. The Stamp Act of 1765 required colonist to pay for
tax stamps on newspapers, and various legal
documents. Parliament abolished the Act in 1766.
4. The Townshend Acts of 1767 placed a duty on
imported goods including glass, lead, paint, and paper.
Americans responded by not buying British goods.
 Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams led young men,
disguised as Indians, on a raid of British ships docked in
Bostons harbor.
They dumped the cargoes of tea overboard.
This was later called the Boston Tea Party.
 The Intolerable Acts of 1774
Britains response to the Boston Tea Party.
One act closed Bostons harbor until the colonists paid
for the destroyed tea.
Another took away nearly all power from Massachusetts
legislature.
Control of the colony was given to the newly appointed
British governor, General Thomas Gage.
The First Continental Congress
September 5 October
26, 1774
Attended by representatives
from all the colonies except
Georgia.
They met in Carpenters
Hall in Philadelphia to
protest the Intolerable Acts.
Decided to stop trade with
Britain unless the Acts were
abolished.
They also advised colonists
to prepare for war.
They agree to meet again in
May 1775.
The Forces
Britain had large numbers
of well trained soldiers.
Their uniforms included
bright red jackets:
redcoats.
The colonies did not have
a central government,
army, or navy.
Each colony did have a
small citizen army called
the militia: ordinary
people.
 The American Revolution: 1775

Fighting between British

soldiers and the American
Patriots began April
19,1775, at Lexington
and Concorde,
Massachusetts.
The wars last major
battle was at Yorktown,
Virginia in September and
October 1781.
Britain formally
recognized America
independence with the
signing of the treaty of
Paris on September 3,
 July 4, 1776
Declaration of Independence
New Philosophy of human freedom.
Inspired by John Locke: natural
rights of all humankind.
Government based on popular
consent.
Benjamin Franklin: sent to Paris,
makes a deal with France (Feb 8,
1778).
 Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence
4th of July
Independence Day
 The Founding Fathers / Founders

Benjamin Franklin John Hancock

Thomas Jefferson

George Washington

James Madison
The Statue of Liberty

Declaration of
Independence
 The Treaty of Paris

Signed September 3, 1783

The Treaty recognized the
independence of the new
nation.
Established its borders
from the Atlantic Ocean to
the Mississippi River; north
to Canada; and south to
Florida
 Constitutional Convention

May 1787 - Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

Washington leader

March 1789 Constitution

1791 10 Amendments: Bill of Rights basic personal

freedoms.

1789 George Washington the first president

 Beginnings
The most important document is the Constitution
of the United States.
Finished in 1787 and officially adopted in 1790.
Before that the Articles of Confederation (1781).

The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

55 delegates from 13 former colonies.
 Constitution: interesting facts
The constitution represents the supreme law of the
land.
o When state constitutions or laws are in conflict with the federal Constitution
these laws have no force.

The oldest in the world still in force (Polish May

Constitution 1791).
Model for constitutions in other countries.
Only 27 amendments to date.
 Key principles
The separation of powers.
Three branches:
o Legislative
o Executive
o Judicial

Each one having powers over

the other.
System of checks and balances
(system hamulcw i rwnowagi) .
 The Bill of Rights (10 amendments)

1. Freedom of religion.
2. Freedom to possess guns.
3. No searching without warrant.
4. No private property taken without compensation.
5. Right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial
jury.