Lesson 4

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Colonial North
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America
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Grade 8
Our UAE, Our World: Understanding our Past,
Present and Future
Lesson Objective: by the end of the lesson, students will describe Colonial North America
and its settlement by different European Colonists.

Key Vocabulary: French; Dutch; English; Spanish; American Revolution; Pueblo peoples of
New Mexico

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 Activity 1:  Class Discussion

What products from North America do you think were the most prized in Europe? Try to
think of three.

Product 1: Product 2: Product 3:

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Spanish Colonies of North America
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From early 1400s Europeans were trying to find a way to get to China and India by sea.
Europeans wanted to get silk, tea, spices and porcelain to sell in European markets.
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The Portuguese were the first to explore a route around Africa to India. On this route, they
met with the powerful Malian kingdoms and Igbo kingdoms along the coast of Western
Africa. To trade with these kingdoms, the Portuguese established forts and colonies off the
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African coast in the Atlantic at the Cape Verde Islands. In the colonies, they started sugar
plantations. By 1498, Vasco de Gama had travelled around Africa and explored India. For
the next 150 years, the Portuguese explored and colonised the Indian Ocean region.
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When Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain and discovered the Caribbean Islands, he
called them Hispaniola. Today, the first island he landed on has the countries of Haiti and
the Dominican Republic on it.
By the mid-1500s, the Spanish had conquered or settled much of South America, Central
America and Mexico. Together these regions are referred to as Latin America. The Spanish
Empire forced the indigenous populations who had not died of disease to perform the hard
labour of their colonies. They worked on plantations and in other areas such as the gold
and silver mines.
Later in the 1500s, the Spanish moved northward into the land that is now the state of
Florida in the US. The local populations along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico decreased in
numbers drastically due to diseases carried by the Spanish and fighting with the Spanish.
Hernando DeSoto was one of the famous Spanish explorers who expanded the influence of

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Spain in the Americas.

Activity 1:  Concept Check

Match the key term with the definition or concept.

Vasco de Gama 1. A Spanish conquistador who led an invasion

of Spanish forces into Florida and the
Southeast in the 1520s

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Malian kingdoms 2. The Spanish forced native indigenous people
to work these
Gold and silver
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3. These were powerful and rich kingdoms
in West Africa who the Portuguese began
to encounter in the 1400s during their
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explorations down the African coast
Hernando de Soto 4. Portuguese explorer who in 1498 made the
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first voyage from Portugal around southern

Africa and the Cape of Good Hope to India
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North American Colonies

In the early 1600s, French, Dutch, and English settlers established colonies in North America.
Each concentrated in a specific area and concentrated on producing goods to sell to
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European traders.
The French explored and settled mostly in the area of Canada. Many French settlers were
fur traders along the Mississippi River system down to New Orleans. The French colonised
along the St. Lawrence River and established the new cities of Quebec City and Montreal as
fortified cities for the fur trade with the indigenous people of the region.
The Dutch settlers tried to settle in the area of New York along the Hudson River. However,
this settlement was soon colonisation by the English who came to dominate the Eastern
seaboard of North America. The Dutch focused on their possessions of the Caribbean
islands of Curacao and Aruba on the north coast of South America. They established sugar
plantations through the Dutch West India Company.
The first English settlement was in 1607 at Jamestown, in a new colony called Virginia. The
English settlers were interested in finding precious metals or other goods, but the colony

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 was largely a failure as few of the settlers had good farming skills. Most of the colonists
died of starvation. The colony was reorganised as a farming and plantation colony. The
plantation system created huge farms and brought enslaved people from Africa to do the
hard work starting in 1619.
English settlers did not mix with the indigenous people. When they moved into areas, they
forced native populations to leave. In the northeast, the British established the New England
colonies. By 1627 a settlement at Plymouth in the colony of Massachusetts was established.
It faced great difficulty, especially due to the poor soils, short growing season and harsh
winters of the area.
In the British colonies, people were not allowed to trade directly with people in non-English
colonies. All valuable products from the American colonies first had to be shipped across

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the Atlantic to England and then put on English ships for trade to other parts of the world.

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Disputes between British and French in Europe spilled over into conflicts in North America.
When Britain and France fought the Seven Years War (1753-1764) in Europe, colonists in
French and British colonies also fought each other. After the French were defeated, they
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were forced to withdraw from North America and the British gained colonial control of the
areas of Canada that the French had controlled. The Iroquois tribes of the region of Ontario
and New York were used by both sides to fight against the other. This weakened the Iroquois
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who suffered from loss of warriors and attacks in their home lands.

The American Revolution (1776-1783)

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By 1776, British colonies wanted to separate themselves from Britain. Leaders from each of
the 13 colonies met and drafted a Declaration of Independence which was submitted to the
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King George III, the ruler of Britain at the time. When the British King refused to accept the
declaration, a war started called American Revolution. After seven years of warfare, in 1783
the British retreated to England. In 1786, the Treaty of Paris was signed by Great Britain who
recognized the former colonies as the United States of America. Americans celebrate July 4th
as their independence day, even though the document was not signed until August 2, 1776.

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 Activity 3:  Identifying Details

Fill in the blanks with the correct word or phrase from the text.
In the early 1600s, established colonies in North America. The
French were mostly along the Mississippi River system down to New
Orleans. They colonised the St. Lawrence River area and established the new cities of
and . The Dutch settlers originally tried to settle
in but were forced out of the area by the British and then focused their

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colonisation efforts in by establishing plantations
through the Dutch West India Company. English colonies established

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systems that used the labour of enslaved people. In 1776, representatives from the 13 British
colonies declared independence from Britain and after the Revolutionary War became a
country called .
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Activity 4:  Critical Thinking

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One of the biggest reasons that American colonists wanted independence from Britain was
the law that all valuable products from the American colonies first had to be shipped across
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the Atlantic to England and then put on English ships for trade to other parts of the world.
Discuss in small groups why this would be concerning to American colonists. Write notes to
summarise the discussion. (Think about buying and selling and where the profit is made).

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