Environment and Geography: How the land and search for natural resources have shaped society ect.
By KatyaCandela
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Jan 1, 1491
Unit 1 Early Contact (1491-1607)
In the 15th century, in the Americas lived nomadic tribes who lived by hunting and gathering. The search for these natural resources caused conflict between these tribes because of the limited resources. -
Jan 1, 1492
Columbian Exchange (1492)
In the 15th century, the Spanish sent explorers to the Americas in search of gold. Europeans brought horses and new crops/resources to the Americas. The horses made it easier for Native Americans to hunt animals, and with the new crops, they were able to settle. While in the Americas, the Spanish brought diseases that killed off many Native Americans. This led to African Slaves being traded afterwards. -
Jamestown
A group of roughly 100 people called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River known as Jamestown in modern day Virginia. -
Unit 2: The Atlantic World: Spanish Colony (1610)
The first permanent European settlement in the American Southwest was established at Sante Fe, New Mexico. The purpose of the Spanish Colonizing in America was to spread their religion, search for gold, and the glory of being the first permanent European settlement in America. -
Jamestown second group
The first two years in Jamestown were riddled with famine and disease and many of the townspeople parished.Luckily a new group of settlers and supplies arrived. -
Period: to
Slavery
Slavery began in Jamestown, Virginia to aid in the production of tobacco.It was Wildly used on plantations to take the place of the indentured workers whose contract were ending.Fast forward a couple of centuries later the 13th amendment is passed demeaning slavery as unconstitutional. -
Plymouth Rock
100 English men and women boarded a ship that landed on the shore of Cape Cod in Massachusetts and two months later anchored at Plymouth rock.Sadly, more than half the original -
Carolina
Carolina colony stretched from Virginia to Florida and was predominantly made up of estates that produced corn, lumber, beef and pork. -
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Company sent a larger group of Puritans to establish another Massachusetts settlement. With the help of local natives, the colonists soon got the hang of farming, fishing and hunting, and Massachusetts prospered. -
Maryland
12 million acres of land was granted to Cecilius Calvert on top of the Chesapeake Bay.This colony was named Maryland. similar to Virginia, its landowners produced tobacco on large plantations that depended on the labor of indentured servants and African slaves. -
Mercantilism
This economic theory was implemented in European colonies and was meant to make the "mother country" rich even at the expense of the colony.The natural resources would be harvested by the colonies then sent to the mother country and they would then manufacture goods and sell them back to the colonies. -
New York
New York was established between New England and Virginia by King Charles II's brother James the Duke of York. Wildly occupied by Dutch traders and landowners. -
Pennsylvania
William Penn was granted 45,000 square miles of land west of the Delaware River. The colony was known as "Penn's Woods" or Pennsylvania. -
Georgia
Established as a buffer between South Carolina and Florida Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe.Georgia was the last of the English colonies. -
Unit 3:The New World
This time period was marked by the United States fighting for freedom from Britian and gaining said freedom. -
Period: to
Seven Year War
This war was a part of the second hundered year war between France and England fought in the US.This war began after the french started claiming land in the Ohio river valley which conflicted with British colonies namely Virgina that claimed that land as well. Also known as the French and Indian war because the French joined forces with the Native Americans. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists, angered by the Tea Act and other acts like it, decide to go to the Boston harbour and board three ships and throw 342 chests of tea overboard. -
Unit 4:Reform and Social Changes
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Louisiana Pruchase
The US Purchased the Lousiana territory from the french doubling the size of the young US.Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. -
Treaty of Adams-Onis
Spain sold florida to the US and the treaty also outlined the boarder between new spain (modern day Mexico) and the US. -
Erie Canal
The Erie canal connects the great lakes to the Atlantic ocean via. the Hudson river.The Erie connected Buffalo to New Your City making it easier to move goods between the cities and reduced the transpotation fees to one-tenth the original price.This ease to transport goods at low prices prompted people to move to New York. -
Trail of Tears
Trying to gain more land and the resouces on that land the US government forcefully relocated Native Americans.This force full relocation caused many to die from whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera, and starvation along the way. An estimated 5,000 Cherokee died as a result of the 1200 mile journey. -
Unit 5: The American Civil War
During the Civil War era, there came an idea which manifested called,"Manifest Destiny." This was the belief that the U.S. was supposed to cover the North American Continent. The significant improvement of transportation (railroads, canalds, roads, etc.) made travel much easier. Many Europeans were attracted by the lure of cheap land which was not something to be found in most of Europe. European American settlers began to move West and encountered the Native Americans. -
Unit 5: The American Civil War (Cont. 1)
The Sioux could not maintain western and due to relentless expansion of Manifest Destiny. The idea of Manifest Destiny helped James K. Polk win his presidency. He capitalized in expanisonalism. Manifest Destiny allowed America to strive to gain western territory. Cheap land and relative freedom from government oversight, attracted many American farmers and ranchers to the region (Texas). President Polk wanted to expand the U.S. to the Pacific Ocean and planned on buying California from Mexico,.. -
Unit 5: The American Civil War (Cont. 2)
But, Mexico would not sell. Polk sent General Zachary Taylor on over to Mexico. This started the Mexican-American war which gave us California and most of Southwest including the Rocky Mountains. The gain of new territory led to arguments of what states should or should not be slave or free states. This lead to popular soverignty, the Compromise of 1850, etc. which would eventually lead to the Civil War. -
Gold Rush in California
In the newly obtained territory, California, gold was discovered and many migrated west in hopes of striking it rich. This shaped America because the people who moved west created towns which allowed for the population of people to spread evenly across the west. -
Agricultural Dependcy in the South
The south was dependent on agriculture because the south had more fertile soil than the north which in turn made them more dependent on slavery. -
Immigrants to America
Beginning in the mid-1800's, the origins of immigrants change from Western Europe to Southern and Eastern Europe. Many Italian, Polish and Russian immigrants were forced to assimilate to American culture. -
Cowboys
The cowboys peaked from the 1860's - 1880's. Cowsboys undertook long cattle drives along trails stretching across the country. The long cattle drive was short-lived due to economic recession and drought which ruined overgrazed grass in the 1880s, refrigerated rail cars sipped meat more efficiently, and the construction of newly invented fences. -
Homestead Act & The Morrill Land Grant
Both of these acts granted land to citizens in hopes of bettering the economy in spreading further westward. -
Fourty Acres and a Mule
This gave newly freed slaves exactly fourty acres and mule that was confiscated by southern land owners. -
Military Distrcits
The ten southern states were divided into five military districts which were overlooked by union soldiers in hopes of enforcing reconstruction. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
During Sherman's March to the Sea, he burned crops which the South depended on to finance and feed their army. This weakening of the south helped the north win the Civil War. -
Transatlantic Railroad
The rail line was built by three private companies and spaned from coast to coast making it easier to transport goos for cheaper prices. -
Native Americans & Westward Expansion
In 1875, gold was discovered in the hills of South Dakota. Miners began settling on Sioux tribal lands in search of gold. This caused conflict with the Sioux Leader, Sitting Bull.
In response to the loss of their lands and the buffalo, many Natives welcomed a religious revival based on the Ghost Dance caused even more conflict which eventually led to the death of the Sioux Leader, and the capture/death of many Native Americans. This event was called, "The Wounded Knee Massacre." -
Unit 6 - Gilded Age
During and after the Civil War, westward migration continued. Thousands flocked west in hopes of finding gold or silver. This was when mining towns developed. Cattle ranching fueld westward migration as well. Open prairies of the west were perfect for grazing, and as a result, the beef industry exploded. So, Farmers migrated west in pursuit of new, fertile, cheap lands. The Homestead Act of 1862 promised plots of land to anone will to move and settle in these western lands. -
Unit 6 - Gilded Age (Cont.)
Prairie states became a new agricultural center of the U.S. In the 1860's, the U.S. government began forcing Native Americans onto reservations. Settlers pushed the buffalo (a sacred animal in Native traditions) to the brink of extinction. The Native Americans tried to fight back. -
The Farmer's Plight
The rough conditions of homestead life led many to leave the land; those who stayed and endured the harsh conditions (due to hard-packed soil, storms, locusts, etc.) were called, "Sodbusters". The beginning of agribusiness began when the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, a fraternity of farmers and their families who united against large-scale crop farms, was formed. -
Southern Issues
There became slow economic progress after the Civil War for Southern Farmers. Tobacco made a comeback as a cash crop. Cheap labor and cotton helped the Southern textile industry outperforms the North. Most farmers remained tied to their land because o the corp-lien system. Many farmers grew deeer in debt with poor harvests. -
Air Conditioner
The first modern electrical air conditioning unit was invented by Willis Carrier in Buffalo, New York which made it more comfortable for people to live in areas that were once considered to hot to live in. -
Interstate Highway Act
The act created a 41,000-mile “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways” which were originally meant to be used for defense and evacuation purposes.These higheays made it easier to transport goods and made it easier for people to commute to and from work. -
Unit 9: Globalization
The world's population continued to grow at a rapid rate.It's becoming unknown wheater or not the planet will be able to sustain future growth.There came contemporary environmental issues such as genetically engineered food, overpopulation,global warming,resources conservation,and natural disasters.The nation faces serious choices regarding resources conservation, energy resources, and environmental practices. -
Unit 9 - Globalization/Redefining National Identity
