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2.1: European Exploration
The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of goods (and diseases) between Europe and North America.
European nations started colonizing America in order to extract raw materials
The first European explorers to the Illinois area – Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet.
European nations had colonies to bring back goods and profits for their home country.
European nations began to compete for riches around the world.
Protestant Reformation: increased European rivalries. (Martin Luther)
2.2: Life in Colonial America
Jamestown became the first successful British colony.
John Rolfe introduced Tobacco making Jamestown profitable.
In 1619, a Portuguese trading ship arrived and sold twenty (20) African slaves in Jamestown. This marks the beginnings of slavery and racism in America.
Colonists were better fed and paid fewer taxes than those in England.
Women could shorten their years of indentured servitude by marrying.
The New England colonies had excellent harbors for ships, and as a result, would become a major area of merchant trade.
The Middle Colonies had fertile land and was an excellent location for farming crops and raising livestock. (Breadbasket Colonies)
Southern Colonies began to rely heavily on African slavery to work large farming plantations.
2.3: The French and Indian War
Fort De L'Ascension was built to help the French control the Ohio River.
Nearly all lands east of the Mississippi and all of Canada became British territory.
The British Empire may have won, but they had a huge amount of debt from the war.
2.4: Turmoil Over Taxes
The Navigation Acts enforced Mercantilism in the colonies.
Mercantilism was the belief that the mother country would use the colonies (& colonial goods) for their own benefit.
To pay off the debt from the French and Indian War the British Parliament raised taxes.
The delegates of the First Continental Congress agreed to (1) boycott all goods from Britain and (2) have each colony train their own militia.
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