| VUS.2 |
The student will describe how early European exploration and colonization resulted in cultural interactions among Europeans, Africans, and American Indians. |
NOTE: The Virginia Board of Education adopted the revised 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning at the January 10, 2008, meeting. Full implementation of these documents is scheduled for the 2010-2011 school year, as outlined in Superintendent’s Memorandum Informational Number 49.
Explain that early European exploration and colonization resulted in the redistribution of the world’s population as millions of people from Europe and Africa voluntarily and involuntarily moved to the New World.
Explain that exploration and colonization initiated worldwide commercial expansion as agricultural products were exchanged between the Americas and Europe. In time, colonization led to ideas of representative government and religious toleration that over several centuries would inspire similar transformations in other parts of the world.
Using the following characteristics of early exploration and settlements in the New World, summarize the reasons for European settlement in the English colonies. Include an analysis of how their motivations influenced their settlement patterns and colony structures:
• New England was settled by Puritans seeking freedom from religious persecution in Europe. They formed a “covenant community” based on the principles of the Mayflower Compact and Puritan religious beliefs and were often intolerant of those not sharing their religion. They also sought economic opportunity and practiced a form of direct democracy through town meetings.
• The Middle Atlantic region was settled chiefly by English, Dutch, and German-speaking immigrants seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity.
• Virginia and the other Southern colonies were settled by people seeking economic opportunities. The early Virginia “cavaliers” were English nobility who received large land grants in eastern Virginia from the King of England. Poor English immigrants also came seeking better lives as small farmers or artisans and settled in the Shenandoah Valley or western Virginia, or as indentured servants who agreed to work on tobacco plantations for a period of time to pay for passage to the New World.
• Jamestown, established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London as a business venture, was the first permanent English settlement in North America. The Virginia House of Burgesses, established by the 1640s, was the first elected assembly in the New World. It has operated continuously and is today known as the General Assembly of Virginia.
Use the following information to summarize the interaction of European, African, and America Indian (First American) cultures and the consequences of this interaction:
• The explorations and settlements of the English in the American colonies and Spanish in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, often led to violent conflicts with the American Indians (First Americans). The Indians lost their traditional territories and fell victim to diseases carried from Europe. By contrast, French exploration of Canada did not lead to large-scale immigration from France, and relations with native peoples were often more cooperative.
• The growth of an agricultural economy based on large landholdings in the southern colonies and in the Caribbean led to the introduction of slavery in the New World. The first Africans were brought against their will to Jamestown in 1619 to work on tobacco plantations.
Below is an annotated list of Internet resources for this organizing topic. Copyright restrictions may exist for the material on some Web sites. Please note and abide by any such restrictions.
Best of History Web Sites. <http://www.besthistorysites.net>. This site offers searchable access to information related to this organizing topic.
Cable News Network. <http://www.cnn.com>. This site offers searchable access to information related to this organizing topic.
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and Other Clearinghouses. U.S. Department of Education. <http://www.ed.gov/about/contacts/gen/othersites/eric.html>. Select “Search any or all ERIC web sites.” Type in a topic (e.g., Columbus), and then click “Search.”
HistoryChannel.com. <http://www.historychannel.com>. This site provides access to Web sites related to this organizing topic.
Outline Maps — Education Place. Houghton Mifflin, 2002. <http://www.eduplace.com/ss/ssmaps/>. This site permits visitors to print a variety of maps related to this organizing topic.
Smithsonian Institution. <http://www.si.edu/>. This site provides Web access to the various museums within the Smithsonian Institution.
Virginia Historical Society. <http://www.vahistorical.org/>. This site contains multiple resources pertaining to Virginia history for use by teachers.
VirginiaMuseum of Fine Arts. <http://www.vmfa.state.va.us/>. This site contains samples of American art.
The World Factbook 2002. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. <https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html>. This site contains searchable information on all countries.
Virginia Standards of Learning Assessments for the 2001 History and Social Science Standards of Learning: History and Social Science Released Items for Virginia and United States History. Virginia Department of Education 2003/04. <http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/Release2003/History/VA-RIBs_g11vush-1.pdf>.
Virginia Standards of Learning Assessments for the 2001 History and Social Science Standards of Learning. Virginia and United States History. Test Blueprint. Virginia Department of Education, 2003/04. <http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/HistoryBlueprints03/2002Blueprint10VUS.pdf>. This site provides assessment information for the course in Virginia and United States History.
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