Six Degrees of Separation (1491-1607)

1491 – Before Columbus arrived, peopled by hundreds of complex societies, Aztec or Pueblos

1492 – Columbus discovers the new world. This starts off the Columbian exchange. The old world is introduced to new foods such as potatoes and corn that boosts their ability to feed more thereby increasing their population. Amerigo Vespucci lived, at that time in Spain, and noticed Columbus’s travels; it caused him to want to travel as well. (http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/latinamericatheconquest/a/09vespucci.htm)

1497 - Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for 1st voyage to the New World. When he came back from the voyage he wrote of the “new world” These letters were published and circulated causing hype and excitement for the exploration of the new world. This adds to the appeal for King James I to support travel and create the Virginia Charter.

1534- Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in order to divorce his wife Catherine of Arragon (from Spain), get a new one, and produce male heirs. This ripped apart the relationship between England and Spain. The break from the Pope also lead to the Protestant Reformation in England. It allowed King Henry VIII to have Queen Elizabeth, the would be queen during the Defeat of the Spanish Armada.

1558- Queen Elizabeth is appointed to the thrown. Before the break from Spain England had no want or need to expand their own colonies in North America; now she has to compete with the Spanish. She secretly employs “sea dogs” to loot Spanish ships. This angers the Spanish and causes them to create an Armada to once again return England under the Roman Catholics hold.

1588 - Defeat of the Spanish Armada left the British in sole power of the sea. This made sea travel safer allowing investors to feel more comfortable about investing their money in oversea travel. It also provided English Pride and nationalism; the general population put more faith into their government.

1600’s – The Joint Stock company had many investors; this made it so that the investors would not lose everything if the company bankrupted. The profit if the company didn’t bankrupt was well worth the risk so many investors joined together to form the Virginia Company; which was the company that founded Jamestown.

1607- Jamestown is founded

Notes 8/20/14

Fielding -- can't watch the youtube video ... it's blocked.

The Crusades... it always starts with the Crusades

• started in the 1090's
• Knights cam into contact with new cultures 
• They were introduced to spices that they brought back to the Europeans
• Desire was formed for new cheap ways to get to said spices

 Chronological order in which the common trade routes were owned:

• Italy
• Portugal
• Spain

 Treaty of Tordesillas --> it is a treaty between two catholic nations (Spanish vs. Portugal) created by Pope Alexander the VI. It split the trade routes available to the two nations basically splitting the world in half. Spin got the better half, they just didn't know it.

Unit 1 (1491-1607)

   1491- snapshot of america before european contact

   1607 - founding of Jamestown , first successful English colony

Funfact- within the first 100 years of european invasion 90% of the natives had died

Homework: Read A Patriot's History of the United States (1-15) and summarize the differences and similarities between the English, French, and Spanish ways of colonization.


Differences: reasons for colonizing, interaction with Natives, amount of control the homeland had on the colonies

The English went to America originally to find a passage to China for spices and herbs. At first they tried to play nice with the Native population. They traded ideas and technologies with them. After discovering America they truly wanted to create a colony and focused their efforts on forming a larger more productive colony. England was overpopulated and many of it's citizens wanted to leave to escape religious persecution.

Originally the French wanted to colonize further South, but there they ran into the powerful Spain. So instead the French went North. It was very cold which discouraged quite a few settlers from coming over. Unlike the English, the settlers were in a pretty good position back home so they did not feel the need to move. This resulted in the area being much less populated. The settlers that did come over, however, soon found out that the Natives had expensive furs that they could trade for. Because they needed the natives on happy grounds for trading the French settlers treated them nicely and tried not to encroach upon the Natives' land.

The Spanish intermixed with the native population creating a whole new culture that was neither Spanish nor Native. This new culture is what we call Latino today. The Spanish crown was more focused on getting all of the gold and riches out of the mountains and into their coffers than actually forming large colonies.