History Week1 Assignment 1

If you select this Discussion Question 1, please consider the following in your response:



-What motivated the French, Spanish, and English to settle in the New World?  Were their intentions the same?  If not, how were they different?



-How did the European nations interact with native tribes?  In what ways was that interaction similar? In what ways was it different?



-Make sure you include proper in-text citations and a Works Cited section with your response.  You can find examples of MLA formatting in the Doc Sharing area of the class.

Before I talk about the French, Spanish and English Colonists I think that it is important to include in this topic that the Native Americans were the first settlers of what is now known as North AND South America (basically the whole of the Western Hemisphere!). The Native American’s migrated to the Americas sometime around 25,000-30,000 years ago; although archeologists dispute this claim.

French:

There are four notable French Explorers who helped conquer the new world. They are: Giovanni da Verrazano, he sailed up the coast of North America, looking for a passage to the west. He was unsuccessful and returned home to France. Jacques Cartier had a little more luck. His original goal was to find a passage that would lead to the East Indies; instead he found the St. Lawrence River. He conquered for France what would later be called Montreal. The discovery of Canada is what prompted the French to come to North America as colonists.

Samuel de Champlain, in 1608 Champlain brought settlers to Montreal and they built a settlement. They traded furs with the Indians, and they sent out missionaries to try and convert the natives to Christianity. Champlain is credited with the discovery of what is known as The Great Lakes today. Father Marquette was a missionary living with the Huron Indians Louis Joliet was contracted to help find a river to the Pacific Ocean; instead he is credited with finding the Mississippi instead. Robert LaSalle traveled and claimed the entire Mississippi in the name of France, though this move France clenched their hold on the New World and what would later become the United States of America.

The French Indian War or also known as the 7 Years War erupted over France and Britain’s dispute of land located in the Ohio River Valley. I will explain more of the English involvement later. It is interesting to note however that the French and Indians fought on the same side. Many French intermarried and traded with the Indians. So consequently when it came time to pick loyalties the Indians naturally sided with the French. This gave France an advantage because the Indians, being natives of the land, knew the lay of the land extremely well.

Spanish:

            “Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.” This is a common nursery rhyme taught to young children. We honor this great explorer with his own holiday in the United States; Columbus Day. While there have been many explorers that have landed on the shores of the America’s, Christopher Columbus is the most renowned Spanish explorer. Columbus is credited with being one the first explorers of the New World (although that is up for debate, evidence has brought to light that perhaps even the Vikings might have touched down on the shores of the New World LONG before Christopher Columbus set foot here, but I digress).

            Columbus founded the Spanish settlement of Isabella. After discovering a high quantity of gold, the Spanish spread quickly through the areas of what is now known today as Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba, and South America. The Spanish did not treat the natives very kindly; they brought with them diseases, which killed of much of the Native American population and brought many of them to the brink of extinction. Cruelty towards the Native American population was not uncommon, they were treated as slaves.  

            The Spanish are infamously or famously known for single handedly destroying the Aztec Empire. The Spanish brought weapons to defeat the Aztecs, but little did the Aztecs or the Spanish know that something smaller would cause the downfall of the Aztecs. Smallpox is credited with singlehandedly wiping out the Aztec Empire.

English:

Ironically Christopher Columbus is the explorer that we credit with finding the New World, and yet we identify with Great Britain was being the ones that conquered the New World. In all actuality most of what is now the United States had been claimed by other European nations before Great Britain came along. Great Britain gets the credit however because they were the last ones standing…..well almost.

The first British Colony was Roanoke Virginia in 1584. (Virginia named after the Virgin Queen: Queen Elizabeth 1^st). This settlement was a failure; however British Colonists would try several times to set up settlements between 1585 and 1590. Other British settlement would be colonized around this time known as Plymouth and Jamestown. The British Colonist relationship with the Native Americans known as the Algonquians were rather rocky, at times the local natives could be really helpful and at other times not so much.

British came to the America’s for many different reasons. Some were seeking religious freedom and other were in search of money, most though were in search of a new life, free of poverty, and religious persecution. As mentioned above, the British were heavily involved in the French Indian war. The dispute erupted over territories in the Ohio River Valley. Most famously, is the war between the American Colonists who fought for freedom against the British Monarchists, this war is known as The American Revolutionary War started which started in 1812.

Work Cited

"Background Notes: Colonial America Historical." Colonization in the New World. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/col_his_bg_notes.html>.

 United States. National Park Service. "Unit 1." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nps.gov/fora/learn/education/unit-1-spain-in-the-new-world-to-1600.htm>.

"The French Come to the New World." The French Come to the New World. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <http://bookunitsteacher.com/explorers/frenchexplorers.htm>.