Heimler's History: AP US History Unit 2 Overview

Time Period: 1607 to 1754

• Focus: Development and expansion of various European colonies in the Americas.

Spanish Colonization Recap

• Objective: Extract wealth via agriculture and mining (gold/silver).
• Labor:
  • Encomienda system (native labor).
  • Shift to African forced labor when encomienda failed.
• Society: Caste system based on racial ancestry.
• Religion: Conversion of natives to Christianity (mission system).
  • Mixed success with conversions.
  • Pueblo Revolts as resistance.

French Colonial Efforts

• Initial Goal: Find a trade route to Asia via the Americas.
  • Distracted by European wars and persecuting Huguenots.
• Permanent Settlement:
  • Samuel de Champlain established Quebec in 1608.
  • Focus on fish and fur trade rather than conquest.
• Population: Fewer settlers compared to Spanish and English.
• Cultural Interactions:
  • Intermarriage with Native Americans (e.g., Ojibwe).
  • Trade in beaver pelts; introduced iron tools and manufactured cloth.

Dutch Colonial Efforts

• Objective: Economic gain through trade.
• Exploration: Henry Hudson claimed the Hudson River area.
• Settlement: New Amsterdam (1624) as a trading hub.
• Religion: Protestant but no interest in native conversions.

British Colonial Efforts

• Motivations:
  • Economic opportunities due to changes from the Columbian Exchange.
  • Post-war economic struggles (England's wars and Ireland's conquest).
  • Enclosure movement reduced peasant land.
  • Religious freedom and improved living conditions.
• Settlement: Family groups seeking new homes.
• Interactions with Natives:
  • Initial peaceful coexistence.
  • Later tensions and violence due to land encroachment.
  • Unlike Spanish, expelled rather than subjugated natives.

Conclusion

• Overview of diverse European colonial strategies.
• Importance of understanding these differences for AP US History.

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