US Country Studies

General FactsA federal constitutional republic

50 states (cover 6 time zones)

9.83 million km²307 million peoplewhite 79.96%, black 12.85%,

Asian 4.43%, Amerindian and Alaska native 0.97%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.18%

3rd largest country both by land area and population

The First AmericansBetween 34,000 and 30,000 B.C

Little of the evidence found can be reliably dated before 12,000 B.C

Artifacts indicate that life was probably already well established in much of the Western Hemisphere by some time prior to 10,000 B.C.

species of large game vanished - plants, berries and seeds

first attempts at primitive agriculture appeared

Central Mexico 8,000 B.C. – corn, squash, beans

By 300 B.C. signs of early village life

First mounds 600 B.C. – Adenans

HokohamHopewelliansTemple Mound cultureCahokia, east of St. LouisAnasazi

as many people lived in the Western Hemisphere as in Western Europe at that time -- about 40 million

The First Europeans

1001 – Norse1492 – Columbus1497 – John Cabot1513 – Juan Ponce de Leon

1534 – Jacques Cartier

1565 – Pedro Menendez – St. Augustine - the first permanent European settlement

1578 – Humphrey Gilbert - colonize the "heathen and barbarous landes"

1585 – Walter Raleigh –Roanoke Island

1607 - Jamestown

Settling in AmericaTradeFreedom of religionPolitical freedomEconomic reasons

The Original 13 Colonies

VirginiaMassachusettsMarylandRhode IslandConnecticutNew Hampshire

North and South CarolinaNew YorkNew JerseyPennsylvaniaDelaware Georgia

VirginiaJamestownThe London CompanyTrade with Europe“He who will not work shall not eat”

Plantations: tobacco, cotton, sugar, peanuts

MassachusettsPilgrims in 1620 on the Mayflower

First group seeking religious freedom

The Mayflower Compact - vote about the laws- accept what the majority chose

William Bradford1621 - Thanksgiving1630 - The PuritansFur trading, fishing, shipbuilding

MarylandProprietary colonies1634 - Lord Baltimore1649 – Act of Toleration

Rhode IslandRoger Williams1636Separation of church and state

Connecticut1636 – Thomas HookerThe Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

- legislature - governorship - fair taxation

1623Political, religious, economic reasons

New Hampshire1623Political, religious, economic reasons

The Carolinas/New York/New JerseyProprietary colonies1729 – royal colony

1664 – the English Navy

Quaker groups

Pennsylvania/Delaware/Georgia1681 – William PennHoly Experiment1682 - Delaware part of Pennsylvania

17031732 – James Oglethorpe

Democracy and governmentDirect and representative democracy

Governors-Veto laws- Appoint some government officials

2 assemblies: the King appointed the members of the upper house

Only men with property and sometimes with certain religious qualifications could vote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZINHFyVDp3s