US+Colonial+History

= = = **__U.S. Colonial History __** = By George Corzo, Jason Chandebal and Keylynie Bryant


 * ====__** Early English Settlement **__====

In the early 1600s, England was finally in a position to colonize the lands explored in 1492 by John Cabot. By defeating a large Spanish fleet - the Spanish Armada- in 1588, England had gained a reputation as a major naval power. Also in this period, England’s population was growing rapidly while its economy was depressed. This condition increased the number of poor and landless people who were attracted by the idea of economic opportunities in the Americas. The English had also devised a practical method for financing the costly and risky enterprise of founding new colonies. Their joint-stock companies pooled the savings of people of moderate means and supported trading ventures that seemed potentially profitable. Thus, in the 1600s, various colonies on the North Atlantic Coast were able to attract large numbers of English settlers. England’s King James I chartered the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company that established the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown in 1607.


 * ====__** Education **__====

Basic education was limited and varied greatly among the colonies. Formal efforts were directed to males, since females were to be trained only for household work. In New England the Puritans’ emphasis on learning the Bible led to create the first tax-supported schools. A Massachusetts law in 1647 required towns with over fifty families to establish primary schools for boys, and towns with over a hundred families to establish grammar schools to prepare boys for college. In the Middle colonies schools were either church-sponsored or private. Often, teachers lived with the families of their students. In the Southern colonies parents gave their children whatever education they could. On plantations, tutors provided instruction for the owners’ children.


 * ====**__ The Institution Of Slavery __**====

In the closing decades of the 17th century, the institution of slavery became rooted in American society. The number of slaves grew rapidly, from only a few thousand in 1670 to tens of thousands in the early 18th century. By 1750, half of Virginia’s population and two thirds of South Carolina’s population were slaves. Slavery became increasingly important, especially in the southern colonies, because slaves provided for a stable work force that was well under control, growing large scale crops like rice and indigo required a large number of inexpensive, relatively unskilled field hands, and wages were increased in England which reduced the supply of immigrants. As the number of slaves increased, white colonists adopted laws to ensure that African Americans would be held in bondage for life and that their slave status would be inherited by their children. It became customary for whites to regard blacks as social inferiors. As a result, both racism and slavery became an integral part of American colonial society.


 * ====__** The Economy **__====

By the 1700s, almost half of England’s world trade was with its American colonies. The government in England permitted limited kinds of colonial manufacturing, such as making flour or rum, but it restricted efforts that would compete with English industries, such as textiles. The richness of the American land and British mercantile policy produced a society almost entirely engaged in agriculture. As people prospered and communities grew, many people became ministers, lawyers, doctors, and teachers. In New England there was limited farming because of the rocky soil and long winters, so the industrious descendants of the Pilgrims profited from logging, shipbuilding, fishing, trading, and rum-distilling. In the Middle colonies, rich soil attracted farmers from Europe and produced an abundance of wheat and corn for export to Europe and the West Indies. Also, a variety of small manufacturing efforts developed in the Middle colonies, including iron-making. In the Southern colonies farming ranged from small family farms to large plantations of over 2000 acres that grew cash crops. Tobacco was grown mainly in the Chesapeake and North Carolina colonies while rice and indigo were grown in South Carolina and Georgia. Most plantations were self-sufficient and a shortage of indentured servants led to the increased use of slaves.

__**Vocabulary **__

__**Mayflower Compact (1620):**__ First agreement of self-government in America. It was signed by 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony.

__**Fundamental Orders of Connecticut:**__ Unified government for the towns of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield. It was the first constituion written in America.

**__Virginia:__** Virginia was formed by the Virginia company as a profit-earning venture but starvation soon became one of it's major problems. About 90% of Virginia's population died the first year. Many of the survivors left and the Virginia company had trouble attracting new colonists. The Virginia company soon went bankrupt and the colony went to Britain. Virginia didn't become a successful colony until the colonist's started to grow and export tobacco.

__**John Rolfe:**__ One of the English settlers at Jamestown. He Discovered how to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia and cure it for export. This made Virginia an economically successful colony.

__**Bacon's Rebellion:**__ Nathaniel Bacon and other western Virginia settlers were angry at Virginian Governor Berkley for trying to appease the Doeg Indians after they attacked the western settlements. The men formed an army, with Bacon as it's leader, which defeated the indians and then marched on Jamestown and burned the city. The rebellion ended suddenly when Bacon died from illness.

**__William Penn:__** William Penn recieved a land grant from King Charles II, and used it to form a colony that would provide a haven for Quakers. His colony, Pennsylvania, allowed religious freedom.

**__Great Awakening (1739-1744):__** The Great Awakening was a sudden outbreak of religious fervor that swept through the colonies. It was one of the first events to unify the colonies.

__**Salem Witch Trials:**__ Several accusations of witchcraft led to sensational trials in Salem, Massachusetts(Cotton Mather persided as the chief judge at the time). 18 people were hanged as witches.

__**Habeaus Corpus Act,1679:**__ British law had provided a procedure that allowed a person who had been arrested to challenge his arrest or confinement, called the writ of Habeaus Corpus or the great writ. The act imposed strict penalties on judges who refused to issue a writ of Habeaus Corpus and officers who refused to comply.

__**House of Burgesses(1619):**__ The Virginia House of Burgesses formed the first legislative body in colonial America. Later other colonies would adopt their own Houses of Burgesses.

DBQ: Early Democracy In The Colonial Time Period Historical Context: Due to British political traditions, distance from the mother country, and other factors, the thirteen colonies in America began early on to develop democratic features. Despite this, many aspects of colonial life were unmistakably undemocratic. A close look at that time period suggests that colonial democracy was ever present but a work in progress.

Task: Using information from the documents and your knowledge of Social Studies, write an essay in which you analyze and discuss:
 * To what extent did the early colonists practice democracy?

Document 1: Virginia House of Burgesses

1) How did the Virginia House of Burgesses function?

Document 2: Mayflower Compact (1620)

"... voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine  ourselves together in a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and  furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame  such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices,from time to time,  as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto  which we promise all due submission and obedience."

1) What was the purpose of the Mayflower Compact?

Document 3: Voting

1) Who were the only people allowed to vote?

2) Why were they the only ones allowed to vote?

Document 4: The Fundamental Orders Of Connecticut (1639)

"...It is ordered that there be yearly two General Assemblies or Courts... and a governor shall be chosen for the year and shall have power to administer justice according to the laws here  established. The choice for governor shall be made by all those who are eligible to vote...  "...It is ordered that no person be chosen governor more than once, in two years...  "It is ordered that every General Court shall include the governor, to moderate the court...  and if the governor neglects or refuses to call the General Court into session, the voters may  do so.... In the General Court shall rest supreme power of the colony, and they only shall have  power to make laws or repeal them, to levy taxes, dispose of unclaimed land; they shall have the  power to call public officials or any other person into question for any misdemeanor and may with  good reason remove or deal otherwise accordingly with the offender..."

1) Name two(2) powers given to the General Court:

2) Name one(1) of the governor's duties:

Document 5: Maryland's Act of Toleration (1649)

"... be it therefore with the advice and consent of this assembly ordered and enacted... that no person or persons within Maryland professing to believe in any form of Christianity  shall from now on be in any way troubled, interfered with or embarrassed in respect to his  or her religion, nor is the free exercise thereof..."

1) What freedom is protected by this law?

= **__World War I __** = By George Corzo, Jason Chandebal and Keylynie Bryant


 * ====__** Neutrality **__====

In World War I, the trouble for the United States arose from the efforts of belligerent powers to stop supplies from reaching the enemy. Having the navy, Great Britain was the first to declare a naval blockade against Germany by mining the North Sea and seizing ships - including U.S. ships - attempting to run the blockade. President Wilson protested British seizure of American ships as a violation of a neutral nation. He would later change his policy of neutrality.


 * ====__** Declaration Of War **__====

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson stood before a special session of senators and representatives and solemnly asked that Congress recognize a state of war existed between Germany and the United States. He changed his policy from neutrality to war for many reasons such as the Zimmerman Telegram which promised Mexico that Germany would help it to regain its lost territories if it entered the war on Germany’s side, the Russian Revolution which overthrew the autocratic czar’s government allowing the U.S. to enter the war to defend democracy, and indiscriminate German submarine attacks on U.S. merchant ships. His speech condemned Germany’s submarine policy as “warfare against mankind” and declared: “The world must be safe for democracy.” On April 6, an overwhelming majority in Congress voted for a declaration of war, although a few pacifists, including Robert La Follette and Jeanette Rankin, defiantly voted no.


 * ====__** Effect On American Society **__====

As men were drafted into the army, the jobs they vacated were often taken by women, thousands of whom entered the workforce for the first time. Their contributions to the war effort, both as volunteers and wage earners, finally convinced President Wilson and Congress to support the Nineteenth Amendment – which gave women the right to vote. Job opportunities in wartime America, together with the upheavals of the revolution in Mexico, caused thousands of Mexicans to cross the border to work in agriculture and mining. Most were employed in the Southwest, but a significant number also traveled to the Midwest for factory jobs. African Americans also took advantage of job opportunities opened up by the war and migrated north.


 * ====__** The Treaty Of Versailles **__====

The peace conference following the armistice that ended the war took place in the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, beginning in January 1919. Every nation that had fought on the Allied side in the war was represented. Before this, no U.S. president had ever traveled abroad to attend a diplomatic conference, but to defend his Fourteen Points that sought to restore peace, President Wilson decided that his personal participation at Versailles was vital. Upon returning to the United States, President Wilson had to win approval of two-thirds of the Senate for all parts of the Treaty of Versailles, including the League of Nations covenant. Republican senators raised objections to the League, arguing that U.S. membership in such a body might interfere with U.S. sovereignty and might also cause European nations to interfere in the Western Hemisphere, which would violate the Monroe Doctrine.

__** Vocabulary **__ __**Reparations:**__ As part of the treaty of Versailles, Germany was ordered to pay fines in order to repay the cost of war to the allies. This led to a depression in Germany.

**__Versailles Conference:__** The Palace of Versailles was the sight where the peace treaty was signed that ended WWI on June,28,1919.

__**League of Nations:**__ Devised by Woodrow Wilson, it reflected the power of large countries. It was designed to be run by a council of the five largest countries. It also included a Provision for a world court.

**__Fourteen Points:__** Wilson's ideas that he wanted to be in the WWI peace treaty, which included freedom of the seas and the league of nations.

__**Selective Service(1917):**__ Stated that all men between the age of 18 and 45 had to be registered for possible military service. It was used in case the draft became neccesary.

__**Espionage Act(1917) and Sedition Act(1918):**__ Stated that any treacherous act or draft dodging was forbidden, outlawed disgracing the government, the constitution, or military uniforms, and forbade aiding the enemy.

__**Bond Drives:**__ Campaigns to get people to buy governement war bonds to help finance the war. People traveled around America selling them, It was extremely succesful in raising funds.

__**WWI Declaration of War:**__ On April 1917 the U.S. declared war on Germany due to the Zimmerman telegram and the attack on the Luistania.

__**Zimmerman Note:**__ Germany sent a telegram to an ambassador in Mexico instructing him to convince Mexico to go to war with the U.S. It was intercepted and caused the U.S to mobilize aganist Germany.

__**The Lusitania:**__ On May 7,1915 German U-boats destroyed the passenger ship known as the Lusitania which had many American citizens aboard.

DBQ: President Woodrow Wilson and World War I Historical Context:

The United States struggled to stay out of European affairs and World War One. When World War One broke out, the U.S. tried very hard to remain Neutral. The U.S. supplied the Allies, German submarine warfare threatened U.S. ships and the Zimmerman telegram all influenced President Woodrow Wilson to bring America into the War in the hopes of defending peace and democracy.

Task: Using information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies write an essay in which you analyze and discuss:
 * How successfully did President Woodrow Wilson deal with America's situation in World War I ?

Document 1: Election of 1916



1) How did this help Woodrow Wilson to win his re-election?

Document 2: Zimmerman Telegram (1917)

"We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of  this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal or alliance on the following basis:  make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an  understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New  Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the  President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United  States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own  initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate  between Japan and ourselves. Please call the President's attention to the fact that  the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace." Signed, ZIMMERMAN.

1) Why is Germany trying to ally itself with Mexico?

2) What would Mexico gain from an alliance with Germany?

Document 3: Declaration of War (1917)

"Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the  existence of autocratic governments backed by organized force which is controlled  wholly by their will, not by the will of their people...  "...There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts -- for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free." -Wilson's War Message to Congress

1) What does this message say about Wilson's Neutrality policy?

2) What is Wison trying to defend by asking Congress for a Declaration of War?

Document 4: Recruiting



1) What is the purpose of this sign?

Document 5: The Fourteen Points (1918)

1. "Open covenants of peace..." 2. "Absolute freedom upon the seas" 3. "The removal,... of all economic barriers..." 4. "Adequate guaranties... [of disarmament]" 5. [Equitable colonial self determination] 6-13. Specific provisions relating to: Russia, Belgium, France (including Alsace-Lorraine), Italy, Austria-Hungary, Balkan Nations, Turkey (and the Dardenelles), "An independent Polish state..." !4. "A general association of nations..." [The League of Nations]

1) Name two(2) things that President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points seeked to accomplish?

**__ Bibliography __** Newman, John J. and Schmalbach, John M., //United States History// New York, AMSCO School Publications, Inc., 2002

The following websites are sources that were used to gather information:

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

**http://www.nationalcenter.org/MayflowerCompact.html**