Bryn O'CallaghanA NEw WORLD Tue First AMERICANS Cheaper Colac A tnenprery pall hy Sebasine Prombe, mm ‘Ardaybreak.on the morning of Friday, August 3 1492, an Tealiam adventurer tamed Christopher ‘Columbus seesail from Spain o find a new way from Eurape to Asia. His alm was to opes ap a shortte teade rome berween che rwo concinents. fn Asia, he intended co load his dhece small rhips with silk. spices and gold, and sail back to Europe a rich man Columbus firs sailed south vo the Canary Intends, “Then he turned west acrass che unknows watsrs of the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Ten wecks after leaving. Spain, on the marning of October 12. he stepped asbore on the beach of a ow sandy island. He named che island San Salvatior ~ Haly Savior. Columbus believed that he bad landed in the fedex, a group af ialands close to the mainland of tedis. For this reason be called the friendly, brown-skinned peeple who greeted him "lox Indios” ~ indians In fact, Columbus wat not near India, Ie was not the edge of Asia that he bad reached, but ilands off the shores of s new continent, Europeans would soon name the new coaeinent America, lot for many yearn they went ox calling is inhabitants indians. ely recendly have these fist Americans been described more sccurately'as “native Americans" oc Amerindian ‘There were many different groups of Amerindians. ‘Those north of Mexica, in what ts now the United Scatca and Canada, wert neateered across che grasslands and forests ia seperate groups called “cribes."' These tribes fallowed very differene ways of life. Some were hunters: some were farmers Some were peaceful, echers warlike, They spoke over threc hundred separste languages, same of ‘were at different from one another as English is from Chinese. Europeans called Ametica “the New World.” Bur kt ‘was not new te the Amerindians. Theis ancestors had already been living there for maybe 50,000 years ‘shen Columbus stepped on to the beach in Sat) Salvador We may “inaybe” because nobody it completely surc Sclentiats believe chat the distant ancestors of he Amerindlians came to. America from Asia. This ‘happened, they say, during che earth's last kor age, Jong before people began 10 make written records ‘Ac that timea bridge of icejoined Asia to Americ across what is now the Bering Stiait. Hunters fro ‘Siberin crossed this bridge into Alaska. From Alase2 the hunters moved souch and eax across Americ following herds of caribow and butfalo as thew wont from one feeding ground to che next. Maybe 12,000 years ago, deroendancs of chose first Americans were crossing the isthmus of Panama intoSouth America. About 5,000 years later their camp fires were burning on the frozen southern tip of the continent, now called Tierra del Fuego= the Land of Fire. For many centuries early Amerindians lived as wandering hunters and gatherers of food. Then a more settled way of life began. People living in highland areas of what is now Mexico found a wild grass with tiny seeds that were good to eat. These people became America’s first farmers. They cultivated the wild grass with great care to make its seeds larger. Eventually it became Indian com, or maize. Other cultivated plant foods were developed. By 5000 nc Amerindians in Mexico were growing and eating beans, squash and peppers. ‘The Pueblo people of present day Arizona and New Mexico were the best organized of the Amerindian farming peoples. They lived in groups of villages, or in towns which were built for safety on the sides and tops of cliffs. They shared terraced buildings made of adobe (mud and straw) bricks, dried in the sun. Some of these buildings contained as many as 800 rooms, crowded together on top of one another. The Pucblo 1 The Finst AMERICANS made clothing and blankets from cotton which grew wild in the surrounding deserts. On their feet they ‘wore boot-shaped leather moccasins to protect their Jegs against the sharp rocks and cactus plants of the desert. For food they grew crops of maize and beans. Irrigation made them successful as farmers. Long befote Europeans came to America the Pueblo were building networks of canals across the deserts to bring water to their fields. In one desert valley modern archacologists have traced canals and ditches, which enabled the Pucblo to irrigate 250,000 acres of farmland. ‘A people called the Apache were the neighbors ofthe Pueblo. The Apache never became settled farmers. ‘They wandered the deserts and mountains in small bands, hunting decr and gathering wild plants, nuts and roots. They also obtained food by raiding their Pueblo neighbors and stealing it. The Apache were fierce and warlike, and they were much feared by the Pucblo. The Baffalo Hunt hy Charles M. Rasel, Anerindanehuming aflA.New Won ‘The Iroquois were a group of tribes~a “nation” — who lived far away from the Pueblo and the Apache in the thick woods of northeastern North America. Like the Pueblo, the Iroquois were skilled farmers. In fields cleared from the forest they worked together growing beans, squash and twelve different varieties of maize. They were also hunters and fishermen. ‘They used birch bark canoes to carry them swiftly along the rivers and lakes of their forest homeland. ‘The Iroquois lived in permanent villages, in long, wooden huts with barrel-shaped roofs. These huts ‘were made from a framework of saplings covered by sheets of elm bark. Each was home to as many 35 twenty families. Each family had its own apartment con either side of a central hall. ‘The Iroquois were fierce warriors. They were as feared by their neighbors as the Apache of the ‘western deserts were feared by theirs. Around their hhuts they built strong wooden stockades to protect their villages from enemies. Eager to win glory for their tribe and fame and honor for themselves, they often fought one another. From boyhood on, male Troquois were taught to fear neither pain nor death. Bravery in battle was the surest way for a warrior to ‘win respect and a high position in his tribe. ‘Many miles to the west, on the vast plains of grass that stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, there was another warrior nation. This group called themselves Dakota, which means “allies.” Bue they were better known by the name which other Amerindians gave to them Sious, which means “enemies.” ‘The Sioux grew no crops and built no houses. For food, for shelter and for clothing they depended upon the buffalo. Millions of these large, slow-moving animals wandered across the western grasslands in vast herds. When the buffalo moved, the Sioux moved. The buffalo never remained on one pasture for long, so everything the Sioux owned was designed to be carried easily. Within hours they could take down the tepees, the conical buffalo-skin tents that were their homes, pack their belongings in lightweight leather bags—"“parficches"~and move off after the buffalo. They even carried fire from one camp to the next. A hot ember would be sealed inside a buffalo horn filled with rotted wood. There it ‘would smolder for days, ready to bring warmth from the old village to the new. 6 The Sioux Creation In 1933 a Sioux Chief named Luther Standing Bear wrote down some of the ancient legends of his people. This one tells how the Sioux people began: “Our legends tell us that it was hundreds and pethaps thousands of years ago that the first man sprang from the soil in the great plains. The story says that one morning long ago a lone man awoke, face to the sun, emerging from the soil. Only his head was visible, the rest of his body not yet being shaped. The man looked about, but saw no mountains, no rivets, Ho forests. There was nothing but soft and quaking mud, for the earth itself was still young. Up and up the man drew himself until he freed his body from the clinging soil, At last he stood upoi the earth, but it was not solid, and his first few steps were slow and uncertain. But the sun shone and the man kept his face tumed toward it. In time the rays of the sun hardened the face of the earth and strengthened the man and he ran and leaped about, a free and joyous creature. From this man sprang the Dakota nation and, so far as we know, our people have béen born and have died tipon this plain; and no people have shared it with us until the coming of the European. So this land Of the great plains is claimed by the Dakotas as their very own.” To many people the tepec is a symbol of the ‘Amerindian way of life. This large cone-shaped tent ‘was invented by the buffalo hunters of the western grasslands. It was built round a framework of about twelve slim, wooden poles approximately twenty feet long. The thin ends ofthe poles were tied together with strips of buffalo hide and the poles were raised and spread until their bottom ends formed a circle about fifteen feet in diameter. AS many as forty buffalo hides were sewn together then. spread over the frame, their ends fastened to the ground by pegs. A doorway covered with 2 ap of skin was left in the side and an opening at the top acted as a chimney. The outside of the tepee was decorated with painted designs that had religious or historical meanings.“The lifestyle of the people of North America’s northwest cozst was different again. They gathered nuts and berrics from the forests, but their main food ‘was fish, especialy the salmon ofthe rivers and the ocean. Each spring hundreds of thousands of salmon swam in from the Pacificand foughe their way up the Potlatches ‘The “potlatch” was 2 popular ceremony amongst the wealthy Pacific coast tribes of North America. ‘The word means “gift giving.” A modern potlatch isa kind of party at which guests are given gifts, but the original potlatch ceremonies went much farther. A chief or head of a family might give 1 Tue First AMERicans fast-flowing rivers to spawn. A few months’ work during this season provided the people ofthe Pacific coast with enough food to lasta whole year. This abundance of foed gave the «ribes of the Pacific coast time for feasting, for carving and for building. “Tribes like the Haida lived in large houses built of ‘wooden planks with elaborately carved gables and dcorposts. The most important carvings were on ‘totem poles. These were specially decorated exce trunks which some tribes placed in front of their houses, but which the Hizida made part of the house itself. The carvings on the totem pole were arecord ofthe history of the family that lived in the house. ‘The Amerindian peoples of North America developed widely varied ways oflife, All suited the natural environments in which the tribes lived, and they lasted for many centuries. But the arrival of Europeans with their guns, their diseases and their hunger forland would eventually destroy them all. away eveiything that he owned to show how. wealthy he wis and gain respect. To avoid disgrace, the person receiving the gifts had to give back even more. If he failed to do so his entire family was disgraced.Explorers From Europe Ifyou mk "Wha discovered America", the snrwey that you will usually receive is “Chriscopher ‘Colursbat.” But did he? We lave seen that the Aslan ancestors of the Amerindian arrived in America long before Columbus. Was Columbus the next to In the centuries 1lter 1492 stories and legends grow upabout otber adventurous xesmen having reached the New World long before Columbus. One legend tells how a Buddhist mock maimed Haci-Shin sailed Geom China to Mexico in 0 459: Another dlaimns that an Irish monk nated Brendan the Bold landed ln America in 40 581. Yet another says that the frst Boropean to reach the New World war Leif Ericson, “Laicky Leif." Viking sailor feoms lecland. And as Fecently a5 1953 3 plaque was ect up ar Mubile Bay in Leif iss sane ns impnsi hy a ners tia, the madern Americar state of Alabama which teads “In memory of Prince Madoc, 2 Welsh explorer wo landed on the shores of Mobile Bay in 1170 and left bbchind, wih the Indians, the Welsh language. ” All these stories have their supporters, But only in the cate of the Vikings have modem scholars found firmevidence to support the old legends. In che 196s archaeologists uncovered waces of Viking settlements in both Newfoundland and New England, a Newfoundland the archaeologists found the foundations of huts builtin Viking scyle. They also foundiron nails and the weight, ar whorl,” from 2 spindle. These objects were impartant pieces of evidence that the Vikings had indeed reachedeo [Amveti¢n, Until che arrival of Europeans none of the ‘Amerindian wibes knew how to make iron. And the spindle whorl was exactly ike chose used in known ‘Viking lands such a8 leeland. ‘The Vikings were a sea-poing people from Seindinavia in northern Exrope. They were proud of their warriors and explorers and told mories called ‘gayas! about them. The saga of Leif Esicgon tells how he sailed from Greenland to the eastern coast of ‘North America in about the year ap 1000. When he flound vines-with grapes on them growing there, he named che place where he landed "Vinland the Other Vikings followed Leif ta Vinland. Bue the sevdements they made there did nar last. The hostility of the local Amerindian and the dangers of thenorthern yest coortsined to make them give up their attempt to coloaire Vinland. The Vikings sailed ‘hea and cheie digcowery of Vinkund was forgorten except by cheir storytellers. Ie was the Spanith who began she lasting European cecspation of America, When Columbus retumed to Spain he cock back with hin rome jewelry that he hid obcained is Ameria. This jewehry was important because ie waxmade of gold. In the next fii years hoasands of teasure-bungry Spanish riuans frost EUNOFE Why did European geographers give the eam ‘America to the Tands that Columbus discovered? Why did-chey not name them inmead afer ‘Columbus?ANte Won The Fountain of Youth To sixccench century Europeans America was = land of marvels, a place where nothing was impossible. Some cven believed thac these they might dincover a way to regain their Jost youth, Ponce de Leén was 4 Spanish conquiseador whe came to the New Weeld with Columbus oa the wexplozer's second voyage. He became the governor of the Caribbern istmd of Puerto Rico. The Amerindian people of Pucrca Rico told de Leén thar ta’ che orth lay a land sich in gold. This northern land, they said, also had an even more ‘precious treasure—a fountain whose waters gave ‘everlasting youth te all thoae who drank. (For it. In the spring of 1513 de Lado set off in search of the magic fouritsin. He landed in present day Florida and sailed all round ics coast searching for the miraculous waters Ponce. de Leda never found the Founmin of Youth. But be did claim Fleridé for Spain, la 1563 ‘Spanish srtders fotinded St Augustine there, the t permanent Eropean settlement on the tigin- Jand of North America advencurers croued the Atlantic Ocean to search for mace of the presious-mctal. twos 2 fsst for gold thar Jed Hernia Cortés to conquer the Aztecs Inthe 152s, The Azsces were a wealthy. city-building Amerindian people who lived in what is today Mexico. In the 1830s the same lust for gold cussed Franclaco Pizarro to attack the equally wealthy ‘empire af the Incas of Peru. A strcam of looted ressure began to flow scrom the Atlantic to Spain froma new empire buik up by such conquerors— ganquistadores”—in Central and South Amesica In the years ar followed, other Spanish ‘congeistadores tack the search for gold to North ‘America. Berween 1599 and 1543 Hernando de Soto and Francisco Coronado, working separately, ‘explored much of the southem part ef what is now the United States. De Sota landed in Florida from. ‘Cuba. He led his expedition westward, discovering the Mistisnippi River and craveling berand it ints ‘Tex and Oklahoma, Coronado traveled north from ‘Mexico, searching for the “Seven Cities of Gold that Amerindian legends said lay hidden somewhere im thedesert. Hemever found them, Bur heand his men became the first Europeans vo teethe Grind Canyon of the Colerade River and they joumeyed as 0 Meio acon aie Mispyl © ett Slates Jen len Hiden Desa dbs leven vr Sew digi ‘ermine semaiee gi irate mrad“The copltrtion and sone, Amerie, “The journeys of men such as de Soto and Coronado gave Spain a elsimto s large smoune of lind in Noreh ‘Amesiea, They also led wo the founding of some of the eatlcst European setalements there. In 1565 Spanish settlers founded St, Augustine on the cosst of present-day Florida. In 1609 other sevders Founded Santa Fein New Mexico, “The growing wealth of Spain made other European rations envious. They became exger to share the riches of the New World. In 1497 King Henry Vilof England hieed an Italian seaman named John Cabot ro explore the neve lands and to look again fors piisage to Asia, Cabot sailed far to the north of the route Columbushad followed. Eventually he reached the rocky coast of Newfoundland. Ac ese Cabor thoughe thar this was Ching. A year laterhe made sxecond westward érotsing of the Atlantic, ‘This dime he sailed south along the coast of Nath ‘America as far as Chesapeake By. CCabor found no gold and no passage to the East: Bor hhis voyages were valuable for the English. fn later ears English governments used therm to sappore their clans to own most of the ease coast of Norch America. ‘The French also sent explorersto North America. In 1524 the French king, Francis, seat an Italian sailor named Giovanni Verrazano for the same purpoie 33 2 Exrcomeas som Eunare Columbus and Cabet—to find lands tich in gold and a new sea route ta Asia, Verrazano tailed the fll Tength ofthe east coast of America, but found neither, Hawever, he anchored his ship in what is now the harbor of New York. Teday a bridge which carries his name, the Verrazano Natraws Bridge, it one of the city's mas impressive sights ‘Ten years latcr another French explorer, fisherman fom Normandy named Jacques Cartier, discovered the St. Lawrence River. He rerumed to France and ‘reported that the fovedts lining the river's thoret were fullof fur-bearing animals and that its waters were fulloffish, The next year he sailed further up the river, reaching the site of the present-day city of ‘Montreal, Carte filed to find the way to Axia that he was locking fer, but he gavelFrance a claim te ‘what would tater become Canada, (Clrissing thar you owned land inthe New World sues one thing. Actuslly making iy ours was something quice different. Europeans could only da this by establishing settlements of their own people. By the seventeenth eemury plenty ef people ‘Europe were ready to settle im America. Some hoped to become rich by doing s0. Cithers hoped to find safery from religious 6e political persecution. In the hundred years after 1600, Europeans set up many ‘colonies in North America for reasons like these, ues epi of the ship hat aid abt Ser sti vs Jason bs BF All through the night the siarm blew the chitee senall ships northwards. For hours the frightened sailors struggled with wet ropes sod snapping canvas sail. Aclist, asdiwn colored the eastern skscs. the storm tame to anend. Mendropped to the decks, exhausted. Some fellaslecp. Excited shours awoke them: ‘Land! Land}" The sailors rushed to the aides of the ships. There, at last. was the land for which they had Beem searching — Virginia. Wt was the moming Df April 26 in the yest 1607 A few weeks later, om May 2, the sailors tied their ships co trces on the banks of broad and deep river. They named the river dhe Jamcs, in honor of Jamcs |, kife of England, the country from which they had setsuil ive long months before. Just overs hondred men went ashore, On the swampy banks they began cutting down buskes and mes and building rough shekrs for themaclves By the end of the year two ‘ut of ewery three of them were dead. But chelr fire group of hits beeame the firs laecingg English settlement in America. They named it Jamestown. z The carly years of the Jamestown setilement were hard ones, This was partly the faa of the setilers themselves. The site they had chosen was low-lying and malarial. And although their Engtieh hamncland (waa many milexaway across dangerons.occan. shoy failed to grow cnough food to feed themsctoet. They wry too bury dreaming of golu. The settlers had been set 10 Jamcerawin bya group ef rich London iovestors. Thee investors had formed the Virginia Company. The Coop. purpose was co scr up colonics along che Atlantic coast of North Ameria, bowen 3 and 38° north Intitude Ix was 9 jount seack cevanjzzay ~ehat is, investors paid che costs of ts expeditions and renurh were givte the right lodivide up any profits it made, The Jamestown acters were employces of the Vitginia Company. The Company's disectarshoped that the setders would find pearls. silver. or some ‘orher valnable product in Virginia and co bring rhem aquick peoficon their investment. Moy! af al. they hoped thar thc colonists would find gold. as the Spanish conguistadores had done ia Mexico.The colonists cagerly obeyed the Company's orders ro scarch foe gold. By doling 4a they hoped to TRecomerrich themsclves. There wasn talk. no: hope nor work, but dig gold. wash gold. load gold ‘wrote one of their Ieaders, Captain Jobin Smith ‘And chen the colonists began ro die—in omes. im ‘wor, Finally in dezens. Some dicd in Amerindian atracks, some of diseases, some of aarvaticn. By April 1608, out of total oF 197 Englishmen who had Landed in Vieginia only fifty-three were sill sive. "Qtur men were destroyed by cruct fiseancx.” wrose a colonist who survived, “swellings, fluxes, boning fevers and by wars. But mosc died of famine. There were never Englishmen leftin a fercigm country in such misery as we were in Virginia.” Jamestown reached its lowest pone in he win 16012-1680. OF the $00 colonises living in the sertlementin Oevaber 1609, cn sty were sel alive in Masel 1610, This was “thes tarving rime.” Stories rexchod England about qetlers who were su desperate for food tharehey dug up and age the body af a Amerindian they had kill during an attack rot Yet new sertlers continved #0 arrive, The Virginia Cowspany gathered hamcless children thorn the szrects of Londos and sent ehein ont to the colony. Then it sent a hundred eonviets from London's prisons. Such emigrants were often unwilling ta go. The Spanish ambarsador in London ull nf three condemned criminals whe were given the choice of being hanged oracnt eo Virginia, Two aged ra go. buc the thing chose to hong, Sone Virginia emigrants sailed willingly. however. For many English people these early years nthe scventeentheentury were a tine of hunger and aniffering, Incomes were low, but the prices of food and claching climbed higher every ve3r. Many people were without work, Anu sf he crops (ied, they strrved. Some English people decided that ie ‘was worth ricking the possibafity of hardehips in Virginia ta escape froin the certainty of therm ar homie. For Virgina had one grest atiraction that England lacked: plentiful land. This seemed mere important chan the reports of diese, stareition ant cannibalism there. tn England. as in Europe genceally, the land was owned by the rich. [nm Virginia 1 poor man could hope toe a firma his own to feed his family 3 Vancienn Becinonwe The captain and the princess Captiin John Smith was the most ible of the original jamescown seetlers. An energetic 27-yex!- old soldier and explorer, he had already had 2 life fall of action when he landed there in 1607. It was be who organized the firs Jamestown colonists and forced them to work. If he had not done that, the infant scrtlement would probably have collapsed. Wher food supplies ran out Smith set off into the forests ea buy corn from the Ametindisns. On 6ae of these expeditions he was taken prisoner. Ac- conding to a story that he told later (which woe everyone believed), the Amerindians were going to bear his brains but Pocahontas, the twelve-year-old daughter of the chief, Powhatan, saved his Ife by shielding his body wich her own, ‘Pocahontas wenit'6n'to play an imporranc part in ‘Virginia's survival, bringing Sood to the starving secilers. “She, next under God," wrote Smith, “twas the instrucient to preserve this colony from ddeach, famine and utter confosion.” Ie 1609 Smith was budly injured in a gunpowder explosion and wat seat back to England, Five years later, in 1614, Pocahontas married the tobacco planter John Rolf; In T616 she travelled to England with hie and was presented at colt to King. James I. Ie-was there that the partrait- you sce here was painted. Pocahootas died of smallpox in 1617 while waiting to board s ship to carry her back to Virginia wich her newborn son. When the son grew up he returned to Virginia, Many Vieginians today claim to be descended fram him and 40 from Pocahontas.Brides forsale Very few women sertled in early ‘Virginia, so in 1619 the Virginia Company shipped over 4 group of ninety young women 25 wives foe ics serlers. ‘To obtain » bride the would-be husbands had to pay the Company "120 pounds weight of bess tobocco leaf." The price mats have serimed reason able, for within a very stiort dime il the young women were married, Fora number of yeats after 1611, military gavemnors Fan Virginia like 3 prison camp. They enforced strict fulea to make sure that work was done. Hut it was not discipline chat s.ved Virginia, fewas a plant thot grew like a weed there: tobacco, Estée visitors to ‘America, like Sit Walter Raleigh, had browghe the first dried leaves pf tabaces te England. Irs popo~ larity had been growing ever tinee, for smoking, for taking as snuff, even for brewing inco a drink, te Virginie 4 young seizler named john Rolfe discovered hhow to dry, wr "cute," the leaves ins new way, to ‘make them milder, fn 1613 Rolfe shipped the first asd af Virginia tobacco to Enghnd. London merchants aid high prices because-o€ is high quality Soon most of the Virginia sevtlers were busy growing tobeeco, They cleared new land slong the Fivers and ploughed up the streets of Jamestown itself to plant mare. They even used it as money, The price of g00d horsc in Virginia, for example, was sixteen posinds of tap quality tobacco, The possibilicy of beaming rich by growing tobacco brought wealthy 28) el OLE eae. Wer feminist inet snapewer. en to Virginia. They obesined langestretches of land and brought workers from England to clear ‘recs and plane tobacco. Soon the houses and barn of their etates, or "planeations,"* could be seen through ‘the tres along che banks of the James river. Mott of the warkers.on these early plantations were “indemtursd servants” from England. They Promised to work for an emplayer for an.agiced umber of years=abour icven was average ~in ‘exchange for food ind clothes. Ar the end they ‘became frec 10 work for cheméclves, Luckier ones were givema amall pices of land 10 starta farm of heir own ~if chey were still alive. Lifein Virginia Pits tage Fe POETUEAERD S oPcontinued ta'be hard, “i have excen morein x day at hare than I have bere for a week,” wrote » young, man named Richard Fretharne in alert to his partons back in England. “The same was trot for many in Virginia. Nor sas unger the only problem. Discases like malaria and wars agsinst the Ametindians continved to kill hundreds of seteers. Between 1619 and 1620 aboue 4.360 people left England to sertein Virginia. Before hove years Were over, 3,000.fthem were dead. But the survivors stayed. In 1619 there war an important change in the way they were governed. Vieginia's affairs bad been contralled so far by coenars vent over bythe Virginia Company. Now the Company allowed s body called the House of Burgesses to be ser op, The borgesser were elected sepeesentatives (rom the various small seedements along. Virginia's riveral They met to advise the governor on the lawsthe colony needed. Though ew realiccd ie at the time, th= Virginia House of ‘Burgesses was the srarcofan impporeant tradition in ‘American life-thac people should have 3 sxy in decisions about matters thac concern them. The House 6f Burgesses met for the first time in August 1619. fn thac same month Vieginia saw another important beginning. A small Dutch ‘warship anchored.t Jamestown. Oin board were rwenty capeured black Africans. The ship's captain sold them co the serlers arindeneured fervsats The blacks were set to work in che t8bsccoviclds ‘vith whiee inden cared servants from England, Buc there was a very serious difference betwcen their [position and thar ofthe whices working beride them. ‘White servants were indentured for a fixed number" of years. Theie masters might creat them tuslly, but they knew that oneday they wauld be free. Hlack servants had na uch bape. Ticir indenture was for life. In fact they were slaves although it was years before their mascers openly admitted the fact. ‘The Virginia Company never made a profit. By 1624 ithad ran our of money. The English government put an end to the Company ond made itself respon sible for the Virginia colonists. There were sill very few of them. Fierce Amcrindion attacks in 1822 hod destroyed several settlements and killed over 350 colonists. Out of nearly 18,08 scttler sent our ince TERT, 3 Th24 esnsus showed ony 1,273 survivors. 3a acen Mac nnesas ‘BuethieirRardships fad toughened the survivors. Building 2 new homeland in the atexmn y river valleys cof Virginia had proved harder and taken longer than anyone had expected. Br this Sint society of English people overseas had pot down living roots into che ‘American i681/ Other seruggles lay ahead, bur by. 1624 one ching was clear— Virginia would survive, The lost colony ‘The Jamestown setelers were not che first English people to visit Virginie, Twenty years earlier the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh had sent ships to find land in the New Weel where English people might settle. He named the land they visited Virginia, in honor of Elirabech, England's un- married Queen. oy July 1595, 108 English settlers landed on Roanoke tsland, off the coast of what id now the state of North Carolina, They built houses aind fost, planted crops and searched «without success~ for gold. But they rin out of food! and made enemies of the loci) Amerindisn inhabitanes. Jn less than a year they gave up and sailed back ¢o England. In 1587 Rakigh tried agath. His ships landed 118 seciers. on Roanoke, incioding fourtren family groups, The colonists were led by an artist and mapmaker named John White, who had been 3 member of the 1585 expedition, Among ther were White's daughter and her bosband. On August dth the couple became the parents of sf, the first English child to be barn in ‘America. In August Whice rccurned to England for supplics Three years pasted before he wis able to return. When his ships reached Roanoke in August 1590, RE ae oe ee eet 36 sign of what had happened tiie. people except 2 wedccridont oer Cresent ate friendly Indian chief, fifty miles x0 the south Some believe that the Roanoke settlers were carried off by Spanish toldien from Florida Orhers think tha they may have decided to ga vo live with friendly Indizns on the mainland. They were never ten, or heard of, agzin.—-4 Puritan New ENctanp “Pilgrims” are people who make ajourney for salpiousdcaze. But or Amencas te ect haa ‘special meaning. To them it means + small group of English men and worscn who sailed across the Atlancic Osean in the year 1820, The group's members cumeto be called the Pilgrims because they ‘went t0 América to find religious freedom. ‘Sometimes Americans-call them the Pilgrim Fathers. This is because they see them as the mast important of the founders of the furre United States of | ‘America ‘The Europe that she Pilgrims left behind them was tom by religious quarrels, For mere than a thousand years Roman Catholic Christaniey had Been the feligion of mos ef ies people. By the sixteench emntury. however, some Europeans had begun ro doube the teachings of the Catholic Church. They were also growing angry at dhe wealth and worldly ‘pode off es leaders. Early io the century a ‘monk named Maiti! Ippthes quarrcled with eaten he eet thar, sbeings did not need ihe Hope ar thie Possewot thé Catholic Church ro.qpable them ep SprakaaeGod-A few yours latce a French lawyer named purisrward similar eas. Calvin claimed that cath indi vidal seus divectly andl personally responsible to God. Beczase they protested against the teachings and cxscoms of the ‘Catholic Church, teligioes reformers like Luther and Calvin were called "Theis ideas spread {quickly through norchem Europe, Few people believed in sefigious caleration 2¢ this ‘ime. inmost countries people were expecned to have che sme elighon acer cale. This wae the eacrty England. in the 1539s the English king, Heary Vill, formed 4 national chairch with hirself.as its head. bn the later years of the sixtceath century. many English [People belie ved that chis Church of England wy sil too much likethe Catholic Church. They disliked the ower of ix bithops. They disliked ies claborare Seremonies and the rich decorations of itt ebnorches. They also questioned many of ies ccachings. Such People wanted the Church of England w become ‘ate plain nd simple, or “pure.” Because af thie they were called Puritans: The ideas ofJobn Calvin Appealed parsicularly strongly them. ‘When James t became King of England in 160) he warned the Paritans that he would drive them from ‘thelandiif they did mer accept hia ideas.on religion. ‘is bishops began fining che Puritans and pueting them in prison. To cicape this persecution, a mall group of therm left England and went 1¢ Halland. Holland was the anly councry in Europe whose Bovernmént allowed religious freedom at ckis cime. ‘The people af Halland welcomed thelitte graup of ‘cuiles, Bur the Puritans never fele athorne there, ‘Altes euch thoughe and euch prayer they decided to Agsin. Somc of therm she Pilpritns— decided to keto America Firse they returned briefly to England. Here they persuaded the Virginia Company to allaw them to terse n the northern pact of ies Acterican lands On Sepember 16, 1620} the Pilgriens lefethe Enghsh When the Pilgrims arrived off the coast of Avserica they faced many dangers and diffculics. They put themselves ia furchee with one another. Before‘Te Pin port of Plymouth snd headed for Asnerica. They were accompanied by amumber of other cmiggrants hey called “Strangers.” ‘The Pilgrims ship was #n old trading vessel, the \Msyffeer. For years the Mayflower had carried wine across the narrow seas between France snd England. Now it faced a mucy moze dangerous voyage. For sinay five days heen ‘battled through the rolling waves of the north Adlantic Ocean. Atlas, om November 9, 1620, icneached Gape Cad, a sandy hook of land in what is now the state of ‘Minories, Cape Cod is far to the north of the land granted te the Pilgrims by the Virginia Company. But the Pilgrims dd not have enough food and water, and many were fick, They decided to land ar the best place they could find, On December 21, 1620, they rowed gabioneand secup camp 383 place they namedkPymouth “The sea nie was winter," wrote one of their leaders, “and those who know the winters of that country kaw them co be sharp and violent with crag} and fierce stonms.” The Pilgrims’ chances of urviving were not high. The froze ground and che deep snow made it difficul for them ta build houses. They had very little food. Before spring came, half of the litle group of 2 hundsed setters were dead. 4 Pusetan New Enciane Bucthe Pilgrim were determined to succeed, The fifty survivors baile beter houses. They learaed how to fish and hunc. Friendly Amerindiais gave them seed corm and showed them how to plant it. le was not the end oftheir hardships, but when a ship arrived in Plymouth in 1622 and offered co take patsengers buck to Enghnd stone OF ei PalgrieaT = ‘Other English Puritans followed the Pilgritis co ‘America, Ten years ler 3 much larger group of alment a thousind colonists settled nearby in what became te S¥peGHare. These people left England 0 cacape the vale ofa new king. Charl 1. Charles was Coven less tolerant than his fhe James had been of people who diasgeeed wich his policies in religion and sjovernmene “The Boston seulement prospered from the scart. Its population geew quickly ax more and more Puritans [ct England to escape perseeution. Many years ltcr, i 1691, iccombined with the Plymouth colony under the nameof Massachusetts. ‘The ideas of the Masszchasetts Poritane had AUB influence on American society. One of ir First leaders, UHI, ssid thar they should build sn eal comnrmunity forthe est of mankind to leare frown. "We shall be We city on Bll, aidANew Wumo Winthrop, The éyes of all peopte are upon vs.” To thitdsy many Americans continue to see thei country in this way, as a model for other nations tocapy. The Puritans of Massachusents belicved that _ evernments had # duty to make people obey God's ‘wall, They passed laws to force peaple ro ariend church und laws to Sterimnine. a Puritan tiniscer in 2 settlement called Salem, believed chat ic was wrong to run the affzirs of Massachusetts inthis way, He objected pareicularly to the fact chat che same men cone’ clled both the church and the government, Williams believed thse church and state should be scparate and ‘hat neither should ineefere with the orer. Williams repeated criticisms msde the Massachusetts leaders angry, In}33S they sont men to arrest him Bur Williains escaped and went south, where be was joined by other discontented people from ‘Massachusetts, On the shores of Narragansc Bay Willisms and his followers set upa new colony called Rhode sland, Rhode Island pronsised its citizens complcee religiows freesiom and separation of church and state. To this day thesesdeas arc still very important to Anicricans The leaders of Masti chusetrs could nat forgive the people of Rhode Island for thinking so diffcrendly for thernselves. They called the beeakavny colony “che land of the oppostcceminded. Ply Pare ing cur. ts Pin Pew sein mou nh Ameri, By the end ofthe seventeenth century » tuing of English colonies stretched along the cist caast af ‘North America. Marc or lers.in the middie was Pennsylvania, This was founded in 168) by Williany Prom, Under a chareer fom the English king (Charles Ml, Peon was the proprieor, or owner, of Pennsylvania. Penn belonged to.arcligious group, the Society of” Friends, commanly called Quakers, Quakers reliasca te-swear oaths or to take part in wats. These customs had helped to make them very unpopular with English governments, When Penn protrised his fellow Quakers thet in Pewraylvania they would | befice to follow cheir own ways, many of hem : emigrated there enn's promise of religious freedom, agether with hia sputation for dcaling Girly with people. brought | sciticrs from ocher European couutrics 10 Pennsylvania. From Ireland eam setlers who matte niew Farims in the westcen fers af the colony, Many Germans camealse, Most were members of small religious groups wha hod left Germuny to escape | ‘persceution. They werc known 2s the Pennsylvania Dutch, This was becsusc English people at this time salled masz north Eueopcans “Dutch.” New York had previously been called Now Amsterdam, Whad fiest been scttled in T36. th 1664 the English captuced ic (rom the Dutch and ry-named ie New York, A few years ter, in 18M, the English founded the new colonies of Narth tad South Carolina, The lase English eélony to be founded in North America was Georgia, settled in 138Thanksgiving Every year on the fourth Thursday in November ‘Amerieas celebrate a holiday called Thanki- siving. The fret people to celebeate this day were the Pulgeiai#t !o November, 1621, they sat down 40. ext together and to give thanks to’ God. for enabling them to survive the harlthips ‘of their first year ia Atmerica, ‘anja, Thana. iys Manhattan ¢* we le nae ie Fs N Rae OSPR faces ve te core tak meee 2 Puerran New Ewetamo, The Pilgrims were joined at theie feast by local Amerindians. “The Wampanoag and Pequat people of the nearby forests had shared corn with the Pilgrims and shown them the best places to catch fish, Later the Amerindians had given seed com to the English sertlers and shown them how to phat crops chat would grow well in che American soil. Without them there would bave good: Like all Amcrindians, the Shinnecock bbelicved that land belonged to all men. They thought that what they were selling to the Durch ‘was the right to share Manhattan with themselves, But the Dutch, like other Europeans, believed that buying land made it theirs alone. There different beliefs about land cwnership were to be a major cause of conflict between Europeans snd Avietindians for many years to come. And the bargain priee shat Peter Minoit paid for Man- + pation Island became part of American folklore.SS = miuanne ocean a= en veer eae Pes The aitement of esem News Avena bye Engi, Aberevinieas: mene New Harepahie daseactarin Bide ibe New Yare Comneeton Penneyivnia Rew jersey esware Maryland Virginia orth Creating Seuth Corel Georgie By the year 1755 the Englinh owned shirteen separate colonies along the Atlantic coast of Norch America ‘The colonies seretched from New Hampshire in tie north tw Georgia in the south. Most prople divided them ingo three main.groups. Each group had its own way of life and character. 1m the far north was the New England group, centered on Massachusetts, Since the ime of the Pilgrims the people of New England had spread inland and along the coant, Moat were small farmers ‘or craftsmen, working the siony soil and governing themwelves in small cowns and villages ‘Other New Englinders depended on the se for 4 living. They felled the trees of the segion’s forests 12 ‘build ships. In these they sailed to-eaich cod or to ‘made with England and the West Indice. Baston and other coastal towns grew ino busy ports. Theis ‘Prosperity depended om trade. ‘The nearest colonies to the south of New England ‘wereaalled the Middle Colonies: The biggest were New York and Pennsylvania. As in New England, ‘most of their people lived by farming, But in the Gitiey of New York and Philadelphia there were growing numbers of craftsmen and merchants. Philadelphia wat the capital of Pennsylvania, By 1770 ic was che largest city in America, with 78,0005 Covomeas Lust i Amesicn ee Cities and trade In 1760 most Americans were farmers. Bur important towns hid grown ap whose people earned their living by trade-and manufacturing. Philadelphia,,orch its 28,000 inteabitands, was the largest. An English visitor marveled at the speed with which it bad grown. “Its not an hundred years since the first cree was cor where the city ow stabds," he wrote,,““and way ke hae more than three thousind six’hindfed hoizses.” ‘The size of Philadelphia was not the only ching hat impretted visitors. ‘Leng before most English cies, its streets sete paved mith brick and street damph werg lit every nigh! The ply exception to this was_whea the zidéa. wis shining, for the eigen of Phifadehpitt ald pot bebewe in wasting pees sa! ‘The iiexe biggese cides’ ads Philadelphis: were New York and Basico, ‘wich about 25,000 people eich. All three rowint wed, much of their pros petity £9 he pfoties of the wansaclantic trade thac they capped on with Engl, Theig ships exported fars, cinbér tebaeeo, ahd toteon, and brought tack fashiooable elpthet, fine fuenicure, and other mannfactured goods. Their merchants also waded wih abe abiocher, : ‘This inter-Arhésican crade helped to produce » permed the oa they all belonged to- ‘The people of the Middle Colonies were usually more colerant of réligiowt and ether differences chan the New Englanders Many of them also had German, Duteh o¢ Swedish ancestors rather than Engtish ones ‘The Southern Colonies of Virginia, che Corolinas and Georgia formed the third group. In their hocand ferale river valleys wealdhy landowners farmed largo plancacions. They lived in fine houses, srith wide, ool verandabs from which they eauld look out over their Biclds of wohacco-ar cotton. Mast af the work in the fclds was done by black slaves. Slavery wat rare in the other American colonies. But the prosperity of the plintation-owning southerners was already ‘peginning:to depend upon it ‘The houses of the southem plantation owners had ‘expeneive furniture, much of it imported Froc ‘Europe. Close by stood groups of smaller, more imple buildingssables, washhouses, blacksmiths! shops and the itt hues in which dhe black slaves lived. ed almost always river flowed nearby, with a wharf where se2-going ships could be loaded to eatry the plantation’s crops to England ‘nall these groups of colonies most people will lived ‘Jess than fifty mies from the coat. This wit ealled "che tidewater" period of vetiement. Those people fiurchcst inland bad traveled up tidal rivers like the James and the Hudson, clearing the trees and setting up frms along chet banks During the fifty years after 1733 settlers moved decper ine the continent, They traveled westintoA New Wome central Pennsylvania, curing down forests of eal trees #9 make hilly farms. They spread westward along the siver valleysin Virginia, the Carclinas and Georgia. They maved north along the fertile valley of the Mohr wk River of New York ‘Making neve settlement always began in the same way. The setters clesred the land of trees, then eat she trees into logs and planks. They used these a bails houre ands barn. They then ploughed between the trce stumps, sowed their seeds, and four months later harvested the crops of carn and wheat ‘echeie soll was fertile the setters ved well. Burst the tail was rocky, o& poor in plant foods, life could be hard and disappointing. Settlers with poor soil often left their farms and moved weerward, €9 uy again on more fertile Land. As they travsted inland they passed fewer and fower farms and villages At list there were none acall. This area, where Eu!opean Settlement came toon end and the foreix howeclanda of the Amnerindians began, was called the frontier. Fresh waves of settlers pushed the frontier steadily wertwarsisin their search for fertile soil. They would often pass by land thar seemed unsuitable for farrning. Because of this, frontier farms and villages -were offen separared by miles of unscitied land_A farnily might he a day's journey féom ita nearcie eighbors, Far mich cexsons che people of frontier communities had to rely upon themselves for almost everything they needed. They grew their own (sod snd buile their own houses, They made the clothing they wore and the tools they used. They developed their own kinds of music, encertuinment, att and form of religious warship, AA special pptic; or attitude, grew out of thin frontier way of lift. People needed to be cough, independent snd self-reliant, Yet they also needed to work together, helping cach other with sach tasks 28 eating land and building houses and barns, The combination of these two ideas—a.steong belief thar individuals had to help themselves and anced for ‘hem to cooperase with one another ~ strengthened the feeling that people were equal and thac nobody should have special rights and privileges ‘The frontier way of life helped democratic ideas to esarish io America, Tody's Aiericans like wo think that many of the bess values dnd actinades of the modem Unived States can be traced back co the Groneies experiences of theis pioncer ancestors Daniel Boone and the Wilderness Road ta the 17601 Jand-hungry American setilecs move ing westwards were stopped by x majdr obscacle. the Appalachian Mountains. Thhit thickly forested ‘mountain range mini roughly. parallel 1 the Aslancie coast of Noth America and scretches for hundreds of miles ‘When settlers feached the foothills of the Appale achisns chey found waterfalls and rapids blocking the rivers they had been following westwards, [a 1775 2 hunter and explorer named Daniel Boone Jed a party of setdlers into the mountains, Boone is said to have claimed dhat he had been “ordained by God to sete the wildermes." With a panty of thirty axmen he cut a track ealled the Wilderness Roid through the (forested Cumberland Gap, ‘natoral pass in the Appalachiaas. Beyond the Cumberland Gap ley ‘rich, polling Brastliads, I the yeurs which followed, Boone's Wilderness Road enabled thousands of setters to mave with horses, wagons, and cattle inte these fertile lands. They now make up the American tates of Kentucky and Tenneavee —*L 4 i A plata prtin Cheapo Bap. 5 Couomias Lite 1m AMERICA Governors and assemblies ‘All the Englith colonies in America shared tradition of representative government. ‘This tmcans het io all of them people had a say in how they were governed. Each colony had ies own government. At the head of this Rovérament was a governor, chosen in most cates by the English ‘King. To rule effectively, chose govemort de ‘pended upon the cooperation of assemblies elected {Wy the colonists Jp most of che colonies all white males whe owned some land had the right fo yo 'Since so many ‘colonists owned land, this méatt thit'far more ‘people had che vote in Ametiga than in England jtself-or in any other European cOvatry at this ine. a4SS Tue Roots of REVOLUTION In the eighteenth century Britain and France fought several major wars. The ttruggle betureen them vent on in Europe, Asia snd North America In North America, France clsimed to own Canada and Louisiana, Canada, of New Franee, extended north from the St. Lawrence Rivet and south towards the fronticr areas of the English colonies on the Adan de coast, Lovitiana, named for the Frenel ining, Louis XIV, stretched across the eenter of the continent. ¢ incladed all the lands drained by the Mississippi River and ies tnboraries 1n the middie of the eighteenth century most af the forests and plains of both of chesc wast areas wre still unexplored by Europeans. The French clsisn ta own them was based upon journeys made in the previous century by two fimous explorers. ‘The Girst of these explorers was Samuel de Champlain. From 1603 onwards, Champlain explored the lands on both sides of the St. Lawrence River and set up trading posts there. The two meat important of chese posts larer grew inca the citics of Queber and Montreal, ‘The other French explorer was René La Salle. La Salle was a for trader, explorer and empire bles all im one. In the 1670s he explored che valley of the Mississippi. “Ie in neatly all xo benutifal and 10 feral,” he wrote, “$0 foll of meadows, brooks and #0 abounding in fh and venison chat one can find here all thar is needed te support fouris colonics. The soil will produce everything thfy Thu Ruwss oF Revouvnen La Sille paddled forthousands of miled down the Mississippi. At last he reached che Gulf of Mexico, where the great river empties into the sea. Somme ears later the French ser ip a trading pout there. In future years this beeame the cry of New Grleant, “The French dim that Louisiana belonged to them worried both the Britith government and the ‘American colonises. A. glance ar map explains why. Suppose France sent soldiers 10 occupy the Mississippi valley. They ould be able wo keep the colonists to the east of the Appalachian Mountains and scop them from moving westwards, ‘After several wars earlier in the eighteenth centary, in 1736 Britain and France began fighting the Seven ‘Years War, This is known te Americans asthe French and Indian War. |Lod by their foncefial Prime Minister, Willisms Piet the Elder. the British tent money and soldiers to North America. (n 1758 Bricsh and colonial forces caprured the French strongholds of Louisburg an the Gulf of Se. Lawrence and Fort ‘on the Ohio River. ln 1959 they took Quebec, In 1760 Montrea) fell 0 them. The war was ended by the Peace of Paris, ‘schich was signed in 1763, France grve up its dain to Carads and so all of North Americaeast ofthe Misslnipp River, Betain bad won an Empire. Bot its victory led diveetly to condlice with its American colonies. Even before the final defeat ofthe French, colonists in ‘search of berie: Lind began to move over the ‘Appalachian Mountains into the Ohio valley, To pievant war with the Amerindian mbes who lived in the arca, the Englishking, George Tl, issued » peoclamarion in 1763. I forbade eolonisesto-setde ‘west of the Appalachians until proper rreaties had ‘been made with the Amerindians ‘The king's proclamation angered the colonists, They ‘became angrier still when the British government fold therm that they must pay new taxes om impores (6Fsugar, coffee, textiles, and other goods. The government also told then that they must feed and find sheker for British sobdiers i planned to keep in the colonies. These orders seemed hair to Briish politicane. Ithad cost British raxpayersa lot ‘of money 10 defend the colonics during the French and Indian War. Surely, chey reasoned, the colonis ‘ould not abject to cepaying some of this money? Trade laws and “sleeping dogs” Une] the 1760s most Americans seemed quite coment t be ruled by Briain, An importaot reason for this was che -of the French io North America. So long a1 France held Cansda and Louisiana, the coloniscs felr that they needed the Brith navy and soldiers to protect them. ‘Another reaton the colonists accepted British rule ‘was char the Beith goverment rarely interfered in colonial affairs. ‘Accentury eatlier the British Pariasient had pasted dome hws called Navigacion Acts. These listed certain products called" enirinetated comrmodicics” that the colonies were forbidden to expore to any ‘country excep die was easy for the olonists to avoid obéying there Jaws. The long ‘American coasting shade amugeling «ary: The colonists did nat care much either abou import taxes, or duties, thac they were supposed to pay on goods from abroad. The duties were light and. carelessly collected. Few merchanes bothered co pay them. And again, smagaling war -easy. Ships could ualond their cargoes on hun- dreds of lonely wharves without customs officers ‘knowing. ‘When a British Prime Minister nrmed Robert ‘Walpole was asked why be did not do mote to enforce the trade lw, he replied: “Let sleeping dogs lie." He knew the independent spiric of the ‘British ‘colonists in Amefica and wanted po rouble with them. The troable began when later ‘British politicians forgot his advice and awoke the “sleeping dogs.” Bucthe colonints did object. Merchants believed that the ncw import caxes would make it moce difficult for them to tide at 4 profit. Other colonists believed “that the taxes would raise their conte of living. They also feared that if British troops stayed in America they might be used to foree them 10 obey the Brith government. This lit objection was an early example ofa belief thar became an impoctant tradition in American politieal ife— that people should not allow govemmentso become to powerful