Key events in American history:

1. Section 1 History Key events in American history: • Earliest inhabitants arrived at least 14,000 years ago from Asia. • Europeans began arriving 500 years ago: first Spanish, then English and French. • British established 13 colonies. • After independence, in 1776, U.S. established a federal system of government and started to expand. • Within 100 years the U.S. stretched from Atlantic to Pacific by annexing, purchasing land and war.

5. France • Fur coats and hats were very popular in the early 1500’s. French men and some families came in search of Beaver pelts. • Because of the Beaver, they settled along bodies of fresh water • St. Lawrence River (Canada), the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River • Locations named by the French • Quebec and Montreal (Canada) • Detroit and New Orleans (Cities named by French)

6. Later European groups • 1700’s Germany was very unsafe • By 1745 there were 45,000 Germans living in Pennsylvania • Not Pennsylvania Dutch but Pennsylvania Deutch • 1800’s Irish • religious persecution (Catholic) • potato famine • Unskilled labor • 1890 – 1930 Italian • Overpopulation in Italy • Vast poverty • Disaster caused by tsunami • Mt. Etna erupted causing earthquakes • Melting Pot (assimilation) vs. Salad Bowl (acculturation)

7. Place Names -Settlement History • Named after the group of people that settled the area or place • British= East Coast (New York, Richmond) • Native Indians= All over (Mississippi, Appalachian) • Spanish = Southwest (Santa Fe, San Francisco) • French= Great Lakes Area, Mississippi River (St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit)

8. What is Westward Expansion?

9. Westward expansion • Obstacles to expansion 1. FALL LINE – point of a river where the river goes from deep, wide, and calm to shallow and rough. The fall line starts where the soft rock of the Atlantic coastal plain meets the hard rock of the Piedmont. a. Piedmont – dense rock and rolling hills at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains b. Navigable river – River that is deep and wide enough for ships to sail

10. Obstacles to expansion - continue 2. Appalachian Mountains (1st major) – there were no trains or roads early on. People were exposed to the weather and could get killed by a winter storm. 3. Mississippi River - there were no bridges or boats 4. “Savage Indians” – Most people could not tell a peaceful Indian Tribe from a more violent tribe. Many colonist were simply too afraid to move.

12. INDIAN NATIONS

13. Obstacles to expansion - continue 5. The Rocky Mountain Range a. High elevation and Rugged terrain b. Winter Blizzards are quick, cold, and deadly Donner Party – cannibalism c. AKA the Great Divide or Continental Divide - separates the eastward and westward flowing rivers 6. Death Valley to Sierra Nevada Mountain Range

15. CHAPTER 7 Natural Environments of North America Section 1: Physical Features Section 2: Climates and Biomes Section 3: Natural Resources

16. Manifest Destiny

17. Reasons for expansion 1. Manifest Destiny It was a common belief that it was a divine plan that the United State should span from coast to coast. 2. Louisiana Purchase 1803 3. Texas Annexation 1845 4. Mexican Cession 1848 5. 1849 Gold Rush to California 6. Fertile Farm land in Great Plains Region - Irrigation 7. The government sold land cheap and often gave it away if people would settle in the west. + Sooners (Oklahoma Land Rush)

18. What Helped Expansion? Technology…… • Railroad expansion (Transcontinental Railroad was completed by 1869) • Agriculture Machinery & Irrigation Techniques turned the Great American Desert (Great Plains) into productive farm land.

19. Class Assignment • Complete the Westward Expansion Map. • Color the map according to the key provided • List 5 reasons the U.S was settled in this manner • Find, label, and identify by country of origin- • 5 Spanish Place Names • 5 French Place Names • 5 English Place Names • 5 American Indian Place Names