On the AP US History exam, Period 1 begins the time immediately before European contact (1491) and ends with the settlement of Jamestown in 1607. Students should be familiar with Native American societies, the economic and cultural exchanges between European settlers and the Indians they encountered in North America, and the key features of early efforts at colonization by the Spanish, the French, the Dutch, and the English.
Key Concept 1.1 |
As native populations migrated and settled across the vast expanse of North America over time, they developed distinct and increasingly complex societies by adapting to and transforming their diverse environments.
|
Native American Cultures
|
|
My video lecture on Native American cultures describes the characteristics of Native American societies between 1491 and 1607, describing and comparing the characteristics of the major regional tribal groups (Arctic, Plains, Great Lakes, Southwest, and Southeast). These notes present a brief outline of the lecture.
I've also created a set of notes to go with the lecture.
|
Key Concept 1.2 |
Contact among Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and significant social, cultural, and political changes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
|
The Columbian Exchange
|
|
My YouTube BFF, HipHughes, has created a great video explaining the Columbian Exchange, which involves the initiation of a permanent exchange of goods, cultures, crops, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the New World following the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
|
European Colonizers & Colonial EncountersDuring the 16th and 17th centuries, several European nations established colonies in North America. The Spanish built a large colonial empire in Latin America and the American Southwest, while the French established fur trading outposts in Canada and the Great Lakes. The Dutch settled in New Netherland, where their colony prospered until it was later taken over by the British. The English colonists would leave the biggest mark, as colonists came in droves to settle in the New World.
|
|