Period 1 (1491-1607): Convergence of the Peoples

Period 1: 1491-1607 (Early Contacts Among Groups in North America)

AP Focus: 

On a North American continent controlled by American Indians, contact among the people of Europe, the Americas, and West Africa created a new world.

Key Concepts:

• • 1.1 As native populations migrated and settled across the vast expanse of North America over time, they developed distinct and increasingly complex societies by adapting to and transforming their diverse environments. 

  • 1.2 Contact among Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and significant social, cultural, and political changes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. 

 Historical Thinking Skills (9.4.1.2.1 to 9.4.1.2.2)

• Pose questions about topics in history; suggest possible answers and write a thesis; locate and organize primary and secondary sources; analyze them for credibility and bias; corroborate information across the sources; use sources to support or refute the thesis; and present supported findings/

• Evaluate alternative interpretations of historical events; use historical evidence to support or refute those interpretations.

State Standards (9.4.4.15.1 to 9.4.4.16.6)

• Compare and contrast selected examples of diverse societies that existed in North America prior to contact with Europeans; analyze their life ways, social organizations, political institutions, and the effect of their religious beliefs on environmental adaptations. (Before European Contact)

• Describe change over time in selected indigenous nations, including migration, trade and conflict. (Before European Contact) 

• Analyze the consequences of the transatlantic Columbian Exchange of peoples, animals, plants and pathogens on North American societies and ecosystems.(Colonization and Settlement: 1585-1763) 

• Compare and contrast the motivations for exploration, conquest and colonization in North America by different European nations. (Colonization and Settlement: 1585-1763)

• Identify the varied economic, political and religious motives of free and indentured European immigrants who settled in North America. (Colonization and Settlement: 1585-1763)

• Explain the origin and growth of the Atlantic slave trade; describe its demographic, economic, and political impact on West Africa, Europe, and the Americas (North America, Caribbean, Central and South America), including the impact on enslaved Africans. (Colonization and Settlement: 1585-1763)

• Analyze the impact of European colonization within North America on indigenous nations; analyze the impact of indigenous nations on colonization. (Colonization and Settlement: 1585-1763)

• Compare and contrast the development of regional economies and labor systems in the British North American colonies (New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies), including regional differences in the experiences of indentured servants, enslaved Africans and indigenous people.  (Colonization and Settlement: 1585-1763)