The American Pageant

1. The American Pageant Key Points Chapters 1-8 Unit I

2. Chapter 1-New World Beginnings • Populating the Americas • Countless tribes emerged as groups traveled across the Land Bridge across North, Central and South America • Estimated 2,000 languages • Incas-Peru • Mayans-Yucatan Peninsula • Aztecs-Mexico

4. Corn/Maize • Developed around 5,000 B.C. in Mexico • Tribes could do more than hunt/gather; could settle down and be farmers • Gave rise to towns and cities • Corn arrived in present day U.S. about 1,200 B.C.

5. Earliest Americans • Pueblo Indians -1st American corn growers • Mound Builders -Ohio Valley • Eastern Indians -had most diverse diet of all North American Indians

6. Iroquois Confederation • Hiwatha-Leader • Group of 5 tribes in New York state • Matrilineal-authority/possessions passed down female line • Tribes independent, but met to discuss common interests (ex: war/defense)

8. Native American vs. European Viewpoint • Natives believed in tribal ownership of land, not individual • Natives felt nature was mixed in with many spirits/Europeans were Christian-Monotheistic • Natives felt nature was sacred/Europeans felt nature and land given to man by God in Genesis • Natives had little or no concept of money/Europeans loved gold/money

9. Collision of Two Worlds • In the New World, plants, foods, animals, germs, etc. were exchanged • Columbian Exchange-From New World (America) to the Old • Corn, potatoes, tobacco, beans, peppers, pumpkin, squash, tomato, etc. • Syphillis

10. Continued • From Old World to the New • Cows, pigs, horses, wheat, sugar cane, apples, cabbage, Kentucky bluegrass • Devastating diseases such as smallpox, yellow fever, malaria; Indians had no immunities • An estimated 90% of all pre-Columbus Indians died, mostly due to disease

12. Chapter 2-English America • Elizabeth I energizes England • Spain attacked England, but the Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588 • Victory over the Spanish fueled England: • Sense of nationalism, strong government/monarch support • More religious unity • Golden age of literature (Shakespeare) • Britain's naval dominance (until about 1900)

13. Jamestown • 1606: Virginia Company received a charter from King James I to make a settlement in New World • Joint-stock company- much like a modern day corporation-used investors • Charter guaranteed settlers same rights as Englishmen in Britain

14. Continued • May 24, 1607, ~100 English settlers landed and made settlement at Jamestown, VA. • 40 colonists perished on journey • Problems: swampy site meant poor drinking water, many mosquitoes, men wasted time looking for gold, zero women

15. Continued • 1608: Captain John Smith took control • Smith was kidnapped by Indians at one point • Saved by Chief Powhatan’s daughter, Pocohontas • Smith provided order, discipline, and stated if you do not work, you do not eat!

16. Continued • Colonists had to eat cats, dogs, even people • Finally, in 1610, a relief party headed by Lord De La Warr arrived to help • By 1625, out of an original total of 8,000 would-be settlers, only 1,200 had survived

18. Role of Tobacco in Virginia • Tobacco considered gold in Jamestown • John Rolfe cultivated sweet tobacco that was demanded in Europe • Tobacco created a greed for land • Tobacco heavily depleted the soil and ruined the land

19. Virginia • Representative government was born in Virginia-1619-created the House of Burgesses-a committee to work out local issues • First African-Americans to arrive in America came in 1619

20. West Indies • British began to settle in West Indies as they were colonizing in Virginia • Claimed several islands there, ex: Jamaica • Grew great deal of sugar on plantations there • African slaves were used because Native Americans died out due to disease • Strict slave codes were established-outlined rights of masters

21. Chapter 3-Settling the Northern Colonies • Calvinism: • Created by John Calvin • Stressed predestination: those going to Heaven or hell has already been determined by God • Calvinists expected to lead sanctified lives and seek conversions, signs they were predestined • Worked very hard to “prove” worthiness; known as “Protestant work ethic”

22. Puritans • Influenced to totally reform “purify” the Church of England • Believed that only “visible saints” should be admitted to church membership • Separatists broke away from Church of England, because saints had to sit with the “damned”…..became the Pilgrims • King James I forced separatists from England; he was very insecure

23. Pilgrims • Came from Holland and sailed for 65 days • Arrived at New England in 1620 • Less than half of pilgrims on Mayflower were actually separatists • They surveyed many possible locations but arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts • Became “squatters”; no legal right to land

24. Continued • Led by Captain Myles Standish • All signed the Mayflower Compact, a set of rules to obey • Set standards for later constitutions • William Bradford, chosen governor of Plymouth 30 times in annual elections • 1691-Plymouth merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony

25. The Bible Commonwealth • Lack of religious toleration in New England • Anne Hutchinson: claimed that a holy life was no sure sign of salvation and that truly saved need not bother to obey the law of God or man • Put on trial and boasted her beliefs were from God • Banished from the colony; went to Rhode Island, but was killed by Indians in New York

26. Continued • Roger Williams: radical idealist that hounded his fellow clergymen to make a clean/complete break with Church of England • Banished in 1635; led the way for Rhode Island colony and religious toleration

27. Chapter 4-American Life in the 17th Century • Low quality of life in the Chesapeake region • Widespread disease • Low life expectancy • Women very scarce • Unwed mothers were common and very scandalous

28. Bacon’s Rebellion • 1676: Nathaniel Bacon led a few thousand men in a rebellion against hostile conditions in Virginia • Landless, single men frustrated by lack of money, land, work and women • Bacon’s men murderously attacked Indian settlements in retaliation for previous attacks against them

29. Nathaniel Bacon

30. Continued • Men were upset because VA. Governor William Berkeley’s friendly policies toward the Indians • Bacon died from disease during the rebellion and Berkeley crushed the uprising • Bacon’s legacy….gave frustrated poor folks ideas to rebel.

31. William Berkley

32. Colonial Slavery • Black slaves outnumbered white servants among plantation colonies’ new arrivals, as of the mid 1680’s • By 1750, blacks accounted for nearly half of Virginia’s population • Most slaves from West Africa • Few, but some, gained freedom and owned slaves themselves

33. Continued • To clear up slave ownership, slave codes tied slaves to their masters for life; unless voluntarily freed • Some laws made it a crime to teach slaves to read and not even conversion to Christianity was grounds for freedom

34. Africans in America • Deep South=toughest life for slaves • Rice growing more difficult than tobacco • Many blended their native tongues with English • Blacks contributed to music with banjos and bongo drums • Few slaves eventually learned trades, but most continued difficult, manual labor

35. Continued • Some slave revolts did occur: • 1712, New York City; dozens killed; some Blacks executed • 1739, Stono’s Rebellion, South Carolina; tried to leave and march to Spanish Florida, but failed • Resulted in much stricter slave codes/restrictions

36. Continued • Other info: • Many African dances led to modern dances (ex: Charleston) • Christian songs were sometimes code for the announcement of a guide that would lead slaves to freedom • Jazz is the most famous example of slave music that entered mainstream culture

37. Half-Way Covenant and Salem Witch Trials • Puritans began to fear that faith and purity was fading in New England • Earnest preachers scolded parishioners into piety • New formula announced called Half-Way Covenant, needed for church membership starting in 1662

39. Continued • All people could come and participate in the church, even if they fell short of “visible saint” status and were only halfway converted • Early 1690’s, young girls claimed they had been bewitched by older women in Salem, Massachusetts

40. Salem Witch Trials • Hysterical witch hunt that led to executions of 20 people and 2 dogs • Back in Europe, larger scale witch hunts were already occurring • The hysteria eventually ended in 1693 • Many theories exist as to why this happen, but the extremely strict religious atmosphere was the basis

42. Chapter 5-Colonial Society of Eve of Revolution • America was land of opportunity • It was possible to go from “rags to riches” in America • Class differences emerged, but upward mobility was possible

43. Continued • Planters had many slaves • Small farmers owned land, but few slaves • Indentured servants were the paupers and criminals sent to the New World • Black slaves were at the bottom of the social ladder with no rights and no hopes of gaining freedom or prosperity

44. Colonial Vocations • Most honored profession in colonial times was the clergy; had less power than in previous times, but still had authority • Physicians were not highly esteemed and medical practices were primitive • Bleeding was an often and deadly solution to illnesses • Plagues were a nightmare • Smallpox was rampant

45. George Whitefield

46. Continued • At first, lawyers were not liked, often described as noisy scumbags • Agriculture was leading industry • Fishing could be rewarding, but not as much as farming • Trading was very prevalent

47. Molasses Act of 1733 • Passed by Parliament • Act was bypassed by smuggling colonists, but could have struck a crippling blow to American international trade with French West Indies if acknowledged by colonists

48. Transportation • Roads in 1700’s were very poor; only connected the large cities and were very dangerous • Taverns and bars sprang up for weary travelers • An inter-colonial mail system existed, but quite ineffective

49. Great Awakening • Period of revival in America (1720-1740); some estimates 1730’s-1770’s • Due to religious fervor and worry so many people were not saved • Questioned religious authority; said local ministers were not devoted enough to God and practiced “cold” preaching • Jonathan Edwards, preacher with fiery preaching methods • Most famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”-correlation between a spider being held over a fire by man, could be dropped at any time, felt God could do the same with man.

50. Continued • New preachers met with skepticism by “old lights” or orthodox clergymen • “New light” centers sprung up around the Northeast • Preached about pitiful condition of man and the terrors of hell • Great Awakening was first religious experience shared by all Americans as a group • Many universities were formed (ex: Yale, Harvard, Princeton, etc.) to train ministers