Samuel de Champlain

            Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer and navigator who mapped most of the northeastern part of the America's. Champlain discovered the lake named after him, Lake Champlain, which is located on the border of New York and Vermond. In 1603, Champlain rode with Francois Grave Du Pont's on his boat to the America's. They sailed up the St. Lawrence River, the Saguenay River and they also explored the Gaspe Peninsula. In 1603 he returned to France only to return to Canada in 1604 on Pierre de Mont's ship. From 1604-1607, he sailed around and mapped most of the coast from Nova Scotia down the coast to Cape Cod. He also mapped Massachusettes and Rhosde Island. In 1608, alongside 32 colonists, Champlain tried to colonized Quebec in order to establish it as a fur trading center; however, only nine colonists survived the winter in Quebec. Champlain was able to befriend the Huron Indians and help them fight the Iroquois. During that time was when he discovered, Lake Champlain. Champlain then returned to France again and after a French-British peace treaty in 1632, Champlain returned to Quebec as its governor in 1633. Champlain died from a stroke on Dec. 25, 1635.

 

The Apalachees

                                                
          The Apalachees have been around since around A.D 1000. They were know to have been fierce warriors and were greatly respected by other tribes. Not only because of their fierceness but because they were well organized, had an advanced Indian civilization, and they were wealthy with abundant mounts of gold. The men, like most Indian tribes of the time, were in charge of setting the fields for crops and for hunting. On the other hand, women were in charge of tending the crops and picking nuts and berries. The men dressed in deersking loincloths while the women wore moss skirts. When men went to battle, they painted their bodies with red ochre and put feathers in their hair.
         The Apalachees also participated in games against challenging tribes. It was a religous excecise as well as a sport. It is amazing how there were about 100 players on each tribe's team. With a clay ball covered in buckskin the size of a golf ball, the players kicked the ball around trying to get it into a nest with a stuffed eagle on a pole. This game was played dedicated to the gods of rain and thunder to ask for rain for their crops.
         Lake Jackson was the capital of the Apalachee civilization. Ceremonial mounds were used for worshipping their gods. It was not until 1528 that the Apalachee made contact with the Europeans. Unlike the Tainos, the Apalachee fought the Spaniards and kept the explorers under constant attacks. The deadly diseases of the Europeans weakened the Apalachees and in between 1633 and 1635, 5,000 Apalachees converted to Catholicism because of the epidemics and the threat of foreign attackes. Most of the Apalachee moved westward while others traveled to present day Louisiana. To this day, there are about 250 to 300 Apalachee descendants in Florida.

http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/apalach/apalach1.htm

Ch. 2 Learning Objective: Desctibe the development of the Jamestown colony from its disastrous beginnings to its later prosperity

In 1606 the Virginia Company received a charter from the King James I that guranteed settlers the same rights as Englishman in Britain. On May 24, 1607, 100 English settleres set out on a ship and founded Jamestown, however, only 40 voyagers made it. The problems they faced almost immediately included poor drinking water and diseases like malaria and yellow fever. The settlers also spent most of their time looking for gold rather than doing something productive to help them survive; additionally, there were no women on the first voyage to reach Jamestown. It was not until 1608 with Captain John Smith in control that Jamestown was being more productive. The first colonists had to eat dogs, cats, rats, and even humans to survive until the releif party in 1610 arrived.

Ch. 2 Learning Objective: Describe the cultural and social changes that Indian communities underwent in response to English colonization

In the beginning, the Indians considered the colonists to be allies and they tried to be friendly with them. The colonists began to raid Indian food supplies and the relations dissappeared so war broke out. The Indians tried to be friendly but the way they were treated by the colonists angered the Indian. The First Anglo-Powhattann war ended in 1614 because of the marriage between Pocahontas and John Rolfe. The Second Anglo-Powhattan war started in 1644 only to end in 1646 and the Chesapeke Indians being banished from their ancestral lands. The colonization destroyed the lives of Indians as they were stolen of their food, banished from their homes, and were killed.

Ch. 2 Learning Objective: State the factors that led England to colonization

The only territory England was able to claim was Jamestown and was having trouble claiming more North American territory. The English were having internal conflicts such as the English Protestan Formation launched in the 1530's because King Henry VII broke with Roman Catholic Church. England also had to crush the Catholic's in Ireland with their uprising as they tried to look for help in Spain. When Elizabeth I became queen, she gave England the energy they needed to be more proactive. Spain attacked England only to be destroyed in the Spanish Armada and this win gave England the chace to colonize so they swarmed the Americas. The win over Spain also fueld their popularity, power, and economy; additionally, it inspired things such as the Golden Age of Literature and a treaty to be signed between Spain and England.

Ch. 1 Learning Objective: Describe the geological and geographical conditions that set the stage for the North American history

The Ice Age allowed for the people in Asia to walk across to the Americas on the Land Bridge about 35,000 years ago. Without this "bridge", the first population to have been created in the Americas would have been in 1942 when Colombus stumbled upon the Americas. The Ice Age also seperated the once all one giant continent Pangea into the 7 different continents there is now. The Ice Age allowed for Colombus to bring back raw materials like gold and silver to Europe. It left the Americas rich with materials needed for building the future of the continent and making it what it is today.

Ch. 1 Learning Objective: Explain the developements in Europe and Africa that led up to Colombus's voyage to America

During the 1400's, Marco Polo created a spark of interest in Europe for the spices of the East Indies. The only way they had to reach the spices was going through Europe and Asia to get to the Indies which was a difficult task. The Portuguese and other Europeans tried to figure out a way to get to the Spice Island by going around Africa on a boat. The Portuguese had a set route that went around Africa's southern Cape of Good Hope; additionally, Colombus tried to sail west bypassing the Portuguese's route around Africa. Colombus beleived the Earth's size was one third of its actual size. He set out west on his boat calculating to reach the Spice Islands but instead ended up in the Americas without realizing it. He thought the people there were Indians but he was wrong and his accidental discovery of new land led to the slave trade, the gold digging in the Americas, and the creation of market, capital, and technology in Europe.

Ch. 1 Learning Objective: Describe the origin and developement of the major Indian cultures of the Americas

The Indian cultures can be said to have originated from Asian descendants because of the theory of the Land Bridge. The theory of the Land Bridge states that approximately 35,000 years ago, there was land above the water that connected Asia to the Americas. It is said that people did cross this "land bridge" to the Americans and this is where the Indian cultures originated from. The people who crossed to the Americas spread out and different groups/tribes were created with about 2,000 languages. The 3 most notable tribes created were the Incas from Peru, the Mayans from Yucatan Peninsula, and the Aztecs from Mexico.