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1 Fascinating Facts England gave land in the Ohio River valley to a group of Virginia colonists. George Washington, one of those colonists, was sent by the British to make the French leave the area. Some Mohawks, who were part of the Iroquois League, left the league to join the French in their war against the British and other Iroquois. After the French and Indian War, the only part of mainland on the Atlantic coast that did not belong to England was Florida, which was still controlled by Spain. Genre Comprehension Skill Text Features Nonfiction Compare and Contrast Maps Captions Scott Foresman Social Studies ì<(sk$m)=beijdg< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U ISBN

2 In this book you will read about the growth and development of the Thirteen English Colonies in North America. From the time of the first European settlements, the colonists experienced a complicated relationship with the American Indians. This relationship included agreements and conflicts that led to the French and Indian War. Vocabulary alliance self-sufficient backcountry trading post tributary ISBN: Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois Parsippany, New Jersey New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts Duluth, Georgia Glenview, Illinois Coppell, Texas Sacramento, California Mesa, Arizona V0G

3 New Beginnings When the European settlers arrived in North America, they had to adapt to a new land with its own geography, history, and culture. There were already people living in this new land who had for centuries adapted their lives to the environment in which they lived. These people were the American Indians, or Native Americans. The settlers and the American Indians had a very complicated relationship. At different points throughout early American history, the settlers and American Indians fought wars against each other, formed trade and military alliances, and shared farming techniques. Two key factors that profoundly impacted the way of life and the interactions between the settlers and American Indians were geography and climate. The geography and climate varied greatly along the east coast of North America. The Thirteen Colonies The colonists lived along the Atlantic coast of North America. There were thirteen colonies, and each colony had distinctive characteristics. However, colonies that were geographically close to one another shared similar climates. As a result, three distinct colonial regions emerged. The regions were called the New England, the Middle, and the Southern Colonies. The Thirteen English Colonies 2 3

4 The New England Colonies The colonists who settled in the New England Colonies found rocky soil, cold winters, and short summers to be characteristic of the region s geography and climate. Because of this, most farmers in New England learned to be self-sufficient. They learned important farming techniques, such as how to grow corn, from the American Indians. Fishing, boat building, and trading were not only popular ways of earning a living, they were also important industries that helped shape the growth of the New England economy. The dense New England forests supplied plenty of timber to build ships. Other natural resources found in New England were iron and animal furs. One way the colonists obtained furs was by trading with American Indians. In 1633 Dutch colonists expanded their fur trade from the Hudson River valley in present-day New York to present-day Hartford, Connecticut. The English colonists in Massachusetts wanted to compete with the Dutch for the fur trade. The Pequot, a powerful American Indian group, saw the English as more of a threat because there were more English colonists. In 1637 conflicts over land and the fur trade sparked a war between the English and the Pequot. This was known as the Pequot War. In this war, the English colonists were assisted by the Narragansett and the Mohegan rivals of the Pequot. By the fall of 1638, English colonists and their American Indian allies defeated the Pequot, and hundreds of Pequot were killed. For nearly forty years after the end of the Pequot War, New England did not experience any major conflicts with American Indians. In 1675 King Philip s War became the most costly conflict between American Indians and the colonists. Twelve out of ninety New England towns were destroyed and 5 percent of the colonists were killed. Almost 40 percent of the American Indian population were killed or fled the region. After the war, the American Indians who stayed in New England survived in small, scattered communities. The American Indians no longer had the strength to use armed resistance to oppose the colonists. They lost control of their land, and by the early 1700s English colonists had expanded across the region. Metacom, Sachem of the Wampanoag, was known to colonists as King Philip. 4 5

5 The Middle Colonies Between the New England Colonies and the Southern Colonies lay the Middle Colonies. Unlike the colonies in the North, the Middle Colonies had very fertile soil and a more moderate climate. As a result, the Middle Colonies were often called the breadbasket colonies because they supplied the New England and the Southern Colonies with grains, such as wheat, barley, and oats. Unlike New England, there were fewer towns in the Middle Colonies because of the large amount of space required for farming. Rather than use land for a town square as in New England, farmers in the Middle Colonies needed large areas of land to grow crops and raise livestock. In addition, the Middle Colonies had excellent iron and coal resources and a strong fur industry. All of these items were traded in the bustling coastal cities of the Middle Colonies. Because many of the colonists who lived in Massachusetts were Puritans from England, people who practiced other religious beliefs were persecuted. In contrast, the Middle Colonies were much more diverse and enjoyed more religious freedom. Quakers, Presbyterians, Mennonites, and Catholics all lived in the Middle Colonies. The Quakers, many of whom lived in Pennsylvania, were known for their tolerance, especially toward African Americans and American Indians. William Penn and colonial leaders met with the Delaware in In 1682 William Penn founded the Pennsylvania colony as a place where his Quaker beliefs could be practiced. In the same year, he made a treaty with the Lenni Lenape group. In the treaty, Penn promised to pay them a fair price for most of the land that King Charles II had given him. Compared to many other colonies, Pennsylvania had no major conflicts with American Indians at least until Penn s death in The Lenape, or Delaware, lived in a region that consisted of much of the Middle Colonies. In 1600 there were about twenty thousand Delaware. By 1700 war and disease had reduced their population to about four thousand. One cause of war was the fur trade between American Indians and the colonists. The demand from Europe for fur was so great that several American Indian groups competed for the same hunting territories. This competition led to war among the groups. 6 7

6 The Southern Colonies The Southern Colonies had winters that were shorter and milder than the winters in either New England or the Middle Colonies. The geography was also different. The land close to the Atlantic coast was a mixture of bays, swamps, and rivers. This land was fertile and often wet, making it very good for growing cash crops, such as tobacco, indigo, and rice. Many cash crops were grown on plantations. Large plantations often had their own blacksmiths and dressmakers. In some cases large plantations in the South had bigger populations than some towns in New England. Southern plantations brought much wealth and prestige to the South. However, the majority of southerners did not own plantations. Like farmers in New England, many southerners were self-sufficient. These southerners lived in the backcountry, surrounded by dense woods and hills. People living in the backcountry had a complicated relationship with the American Indians of that region, on whose hunting and fishing areas they settled. The Tuscarora, an American Indian group, went to war against the North Carolina colonists in Two years later, the colonists defeated the Tuscarora with the help of the Yamasee, a rival American Indian group. In 1715 the Yamasee made an alliance with part of the Creek group in their own fight against the colonists. The colonists defeated this alliance with the help of the Cherokee and other American Indians. By the end of the war the next year, the American Indians were defeated. Many of the survivors were driven from their homes and fled to Spanishcontrolled Florida. More than a million animal furs were shipped from the port city of Charleston, South Carolina between 1700 and The fur trade forced the Cherokee to hunt farther from their homes. Competition with the colonists for hunting grounds, wars with other American Indian groups, and disease were some of the challenges faced by the Cherokee. Between 1773 and 1792, the Cherokee signed a number of treaties with colonists by which the Cherokee gave up a great deal of their land in the South. 8 9

7 The Ohio River Valley Much of the conflict that occurred between people in early North America was about land. English colonists, French traders, and many different American Indian groups were involved. By the early 1700s the Atlantic Coast was becoming too densely populated. Some English colonists began to cross the Appalachian Mountains and move further west. They moved to the Ohio River valley, which had very fertile land. By the mid-1700s, the French already had trading posts in this region, where they met American Indians and traded goods. This area was important because the Ohio River was a tributary of the Mississippi River. France had already claimed the Mississippi River and all of its tributaries as part of New France. Both the French and the English wanted to control the Ohio River valley because it offered access to the Mississippi River, fertile lands, and a central location for trade. In addition, American Indians wanted to protect this region from being settled by the English. Some American Indians depended on trade with both the French and the British in manufactured goods, especially weapons. The French and the English relied on the American Indians for fur trade and military support. All three groups wanted to have control of the Ohio River valley, and war seemed inevitable. European Land Claims,

8 The French and Indian War In the 1740s England granted land in the Ohio River valley to a group of Virginia colonists. These colonists thought the land could be sold as farmland to other colonists. This land grant increased tension between the French and the English. In the early 1750s the French built forts in the Ohio River valley to secure what they felt was their territory. The British did not want to lose their claim and demanded that the French dismantle their forts. The French refused the demand, and war soon broke out. George Washington s attempt to capture Fort Duquesne in 1754 is known as the Battle of Great Meadows. The battle took place near present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Washington s battle with French forces marked the beginning of the French and Indian War. A number of battles between the British, the French, and their American Indian allies followed. George Washington General Edward Braddock, Washington s commander, was mortally wounded near Fort Duquesne. The struggle for power in North America was not the only source of conflict between Britain and France. In 1756 Britain formally declared war on France and the Seven Years War began. Most of the fighting between the two countries and their allies took place in Europe. In North America the British began the war by losing battles to the French. One reason the French were winning was their alliance with American Indians. Even though American Indians traded with both the British and the French, many American Indians feared that the English colonists would drive them from their land. To help gain an advantage, both the French and British made alliances with different American Indian groups. In general, the French had a better relationship with the American Indians because they were traders and did not take the American Indians land as the English colonists did. The two major American Indian groups involved were the Algonquians and the Iroquois. These two groups were made up of different nations that shared the same language and culture. During the French and Indian War, the French formed alliances with the Algonquians and the English formed alliances with the Iroquois League. The Iroquois allied themselves with the English because the Iroquois and the Algonquians had been enemies for a long time. 13

9 In November 1756 the war changed direction when former Prime Minister William Pitt became Secretary of State. Pitt was a very forceful man, and from London, he seized control of British forces. He appointed new, young generals to lead the British and Colonial troops. As a result, the British began winning battles against the French. In 1758, British forces were able to capture Fort Duquesne, the fort George Washington had failed to capture in In this victory, four years later, Washington was able to take part in the fort s capture. The Iroquois joined the British during the war. The Iroquois hoped that this alliance would help them keep control of their land. The British captured Quebec, the French capital city in New France, in When the British gained control of Montreal in 1760, most of France s territory in North America fell under British control. In 1760 the war between Britain and France for North America largely ended. However, the two countries and their allies continued to fight in Europe for the next three years. British Control After seven years of fighting, the British won the French and Indian War. The two sides signed the Treaty of Paris in 1763, and France gave much of its land in North America to Britain, including most of Canada and all of its territory east of the Mississippi River. After the French and Indian War, England controlled much of North America. However, the British forts and troops needed to secure this vast territory were too few and too far apart. Because the French had been defeated and were no longer a threat, the colonists began to move west to settle. Many American Indians feared that the growing number of settlers would force them off their lands. This movement by the colonists would soon affect the lives of the American Indians living in the West. William Pitt became British secretary of state in

10 Glossary alliance an agreement between two groups or nations to defend each other backcountry the rugged area of land near the Appalachian Mountains self-sufficient able to rely on oneself for most of what one needs trading post a place where settlers and American Indians met to trade goods tributary a stream or river that flows into a larger river Write to It! Suppose that you are a reporter for a colonial newspaper covering the French and Indian War. Write a three- or four-paragraph article summarizing the events of the war. Write your article on a separate sheet of paper. 16 Maps 11 Mapquest.com, Inc. Photographs Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd) Opener: Francis G. Meyer/Corbis 3 Bettmann/Corbis 4 Getty Images 7 Peter Gridley/Getty Images 12 Getty Images 13 State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, USA/Bridgeman Art Library 14 Bettmann/Corbis