Land

• Roanoke Settlement (1585)


  First attempted English settlement but failed
• Jamestown Settlement


  First permanent English settlement in North America

  1. Founded by Virginia Company, attempted to bring 100 English settlers, struggled with disease, clean water, & only having men

  2. Relief party came and led to improved conditions & increased population (John Rolfe made Jamestown profitable by planting tobacco)
• Plymouth Settlement


  Separatists (Pilgrims) went to North America to separate from Anglican Church. Created mayflower compact that established basic self-government
• New England Colonies


  Social: Closely tied to religion, education, and family

  Political: Townhall meetings (only adult male church members)

  Economic: Agriculture, trading, & shipbuilding
• Middle Colonies (breadbasket)


  Social: Very liberal, religious toleration, rights for women, better treatment of natives, diverse

  Political: Representative assembly, democracy

  Economic: Wheat, corn, & trade
• Chesapeake Colonies


  Social: hierarchy of wealth, male-dominated, religious freedom for Christians

  Political: Act of tolerance, wealthy had the most power

  Economic: Cash crops, indentured servants & slaves, & trade
• Proclamation of 1763


  Prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains
• Treaty of Paris (American Revolution)


  Made Mississippi River the Western Border of US & Britain gained Canada & Florida
• Land Ordinance of 1785


  Created policy for surveying & selling land in the west
• Northwest Ordinance of 1787


  Set rules for creating new states under articles of confederation
• Lousiana Purchase (1803)


  Thomas Jefferson purchased for $15 million from Napoleon. Doubled land size of US, claimed New Orleans port, eliminated European presence next to US
• Lewis & Clark Expedition


  An expedition sent by Thomas Jefferson to explore the northwestern territories of the US. Led to more trade routes, stronger claims to territory, slightly improved relations with natives, and improved geographical knowledge
• Adams-Onis Treaty


  Spain gave up Florida to US, pulled out of Oregon, & gave up all claims to Texas
• Indian Removal Act (1830)

  Forced resettlement of thousands of natives west of the Mississippi
• Trail of Tears (1838)


  Forced march of the Cherokee people from Georgia to Indian Territory; thousands of Cherokee people died
• Settlers of the West

  1. Went west for better farmland, minerals, or to create communities

  2. Suffered from disease, malnutrition, isolation, endless work, & short life spans

  2. Unsustainable farming, cleared out forests, and made buffalo & and beaver almost go extinct
• Manifest Destiny


  Idea created by John O'Sullivan that Americans had the god-given right to expand westward
• Webster-Ashburton Treaty


  Defined territory on the entire southern Canadian border
• Annexation of Texas


  Texas seceded from Mexico & attempts to declare its independence which eventually leads to our adoption of the land as a state although it was feared that it would cause war with Mexico
• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo


  Ended Mexican-American war, grated US control of New Mexico & California, made Rio Grande southern border
• Gadsden Purchase


  Purchase of southern strip of New Mexico & Arizona from Mexico
• Homestead Act


  Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.
• Native American Reservations


  Assigned natives land to have in the Great Plains. Most tribes didn't want to restrict their movement
• Dawes Act of 1887


  Broke up tribal lands, offered citizenship to natives who lived on land for 25 years and became "civilized"
• Forest Reserve Act (1881) & Forest Management Act (1897)


  Withdrew federal timberland from development & regulated use
• New Immigrants vs. Old Immigrants


  New Immigrants: from East and Southern Europe, unskilled, didn't speak much English, flocked to major cities to work in factories

  Old Immigrants: From Western Europe, skilled, usually spoke English & had education, moved onto frontier or northern cities
• Streetcar Subhurbs


  Upper/Middle Class communities near rail lines outside of cities to avoid poverty, overcrowding, & pollution
• Tenements


  Over-crowding of cities led to tenements homes to fit as many people as possible in unsanitary conditions
• Annexation of Alaska


  Seward lobbies for US to buy Alaska from Russia for $7 million, area rich in furs, minerals, & timber (nickname: Sewards Icebox/Sewards Folly)
• Annexation of Hawaii


  Annexation fueled by wanted to gain Pearl Harbor & avoid tariffs on sugar
• Annexation of the Phillipines


  After Spanish-American war in peace terms US gained the Philippines from Spain. Unpopular for Filipinos who fought alongside the US and thought after the war they'd finally be independent
• Panama Canal


  Roosevelt sent Panama into a revolt against Columbia. Once Panama was independent the US gained rights to build Panama Canal for trade
• Treaty of Versailes: Land Disputes


  Self-determination was granted for territories once controlled by Germany, Austro-Hungary, & Russia. Independence granted for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lithuania, Finland, & Poland. New nations of Yugoslavia & Czechoslovakia
• Great Migration


  Thousands of southern African Americans migrated to the north & west to escape racial violence in south & have access to more opportunities in the north.
• Tennessee Valley Authority


  FDR's huge experiment in regional development, hired thousands of people from poorer regions, to build dams, electric power plants, control flooding, & manufacture fertilizer
• Federal Housing Administration


  Insured bank loans for building, repairing, & purchasing homes. Redlining prevented African Americans from also receiving loans
• Dust Bowl


  Devastating drought in Great Plains, destroyed farm land, farmers forced to have to search farther west towards California for land
• Sunbelt


  (states from Florida-California) population grew due to warmer climate, lower taxes, and economic opportunities in defense industries
• Soil Bank Project

  Created for farmers that reduced farm production which raised the farmer's income. 
• Highway Act


  Authorized construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways linking all the major cities.