Competing Claims in North America

1. Competing Claims in North America Chapter 20 Section 2

2. European Nations settle North America: • Once Magellan found a sea route around South America to the Pacific other European countries began to try and find a more direct route and as they tried they began to establish colonies in North America.

3. New France • In 1524 an Italian sailing for France, Giovanni daVerrazzano, sailed west in search of a sea route to Asia and landed in New York Harbor. • Jacques Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence river and began to search farther inland. He eventually discovered Quebec and that became the center of France’s colonial empire (New France).

4. A Trading Empire • By 1760 New France had grown to cover most of the Midwestern USA and eastern Canada. • The population of New France was only 65,000 and most of those people were Catholic priests trying to convert the Native Americans and young, single men who were trying to make money in the fur trade. • The French were more interested in making money off the colonies and the English were more interested in colonizing the new territory.

5. Jamestown • In 1607 the English sent 3 ships and 100 settlers to the Americas to establish a settlement- Jamestown, Virginia. • The people were more concerned immediately with finding gold than planting crops. • During the first few years 7 out of every 10 people died, either from hunger, disease or attacks from the Native Americans.

6. Pilgrims and Puritans • As the people of Jamestown were trying to survive, a group of people known as Pilgrims founded a second English colony around 1620. • They left England because they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs. • 8 years later a group of people called Puritans settled near Massachusetts Bay. • They wanted religious freedom and to set up the model society. • Their settlement was more successful partly because it was settled by families. Which created a sense of order and the population was able to replenish itself.

7. The Dutch • Once the French and English began to claim areas of the New World the Dutch followed close behind. • Henry Hudson discovered three waterways near New York that were eventually named for him: Hudson River, Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait. • The Dutch claimed all the land along those waterways for the Netherlands. • These lands became known as New Netherland.

8. Competing Claims • Once the English, French and Dutch had claims in North America they began to expand their territory. • The English viewed the Dutch territory separating its northern and southern territory as a problem and tried to kick them out. • In 1664 the English King granted his brother, the Duke of York, permission to take the Dutch land. • The Dutch surrendered the land without a fight and the territory became known as New York.

9. England vs. France • Once England had taken over Dutch territory it wanted more, so they began to expand westward which brought them in contact with the French holdings. • France and England had been enemies for a long time and the dispute over territory brought about a conflict known as the French and Indian War. • The French and Indian War was part of a larger war known as the Seven Years War. • The English won, with the help of its colonists, and gained control of almost the entire eastern half of North America.

10. Native American Reaction • The French and Dutch, for the most part, got along with the Native Americans because they were both profiting from the fur trade. • Native American trapped the fur and then sold it to the French and Dutch for them to ship back to Europe and sell. • The English did not get along as well with the Natives due to their desire to populate their colonies.

11. English Settlers • Reasons for conflict between English and Native Americans: • The English wanted to settle the new land and they had to push the Native Americans off of their land to do it. • The English also wanted to convert them to Christianity. • Eventually this led to war, for example the King Philip’s War. • Metacom, a Powatan leader, also known as King Philip led an attack on 52 colonial villages. Over the following months both sides massacred hundreds. • Disease also killed a large part of the Native American population. • This caused a shortage in labor which forced the Europeans to turn to other sources for workers, Africa.