Migration and creating a nation

Unit 2: United States and Canada

• Oldest known Americans in Louisiana date to the Paleolithic period

• “Paleo” means ancient or old

• Came around 10000 BC (Before the death of Christ) by way of Berignia from Asian countries.

• Nomadic people that used Mastadons as a source of food, clothing, and shelters that could easily be taken down and relocated.

Review: Migration

How the first Americans got here• The Land Bridge Theory has been widely accepted

since the 1930’s. • This model of migration proposes that people

wandered from Siberia into Alaska, tracking big game animal herds. They were able to cross between the two continents by a land bridge called the Bering Land Bridge (Berignia), which spanned what is now the Bering Strait. – An exposed land bridge that was at least 1,000

miles wide existed between Siberia and the western coast of Alaska.

– From the archaeological evidence gathered, it was concluded that this culture of big game hunters crossed the Bering Strait around 12,000 years ago.

Creating a Nation: What is so great about us

• The US occupies 2/5 of the North American Continent

• 3rd largest country in area and population

• It is it’s rich natural resources , moderate climate, fertile soil and plentiful water that has attracted immigrants

Settling the land: Nomads to Europeans• First immigrants came by

way of the Bering Land Bridge– Spread along the Pacific and

east to the Atlantic coast– Inhabited undisturbed until the

15th century• EURO PEANS

• Europeans began to explore the “New World”– Spain 1st

• Searched the Southeast and Southwest for gold

• 1565, founded St. Augustine, FL

– Oldest permanent European settlement in the United States

Settling the land: Nomads to Europeans

• French – Came searching for

riches in fur trading and fisheries

– First settlement was in South Eastern Canada• Acadia (Nova Scotia)

– Other settlements were along the St. Lawrence River and along the Northern coast of the US

Settling the land: Nomads to Europeans

• English– Arrived in the 1600-

1700’s– Settled to the

South on rivers and bays along the Atlantic coast (Maine to Georgia)• First Permenant

settlement Jamestown Virginia (1607)

Settling the land: Nomads to Europeans

• Europeans moved in…Native Americans moved away

• 1617 Europeans began to transport Africans to work as slave laborers on cotton and tobacco plantations in the Mid Atlantic states– About 600,000 total

were brought to the US

Settling the land: Nomads to Europeans

Columbian Exchange• The plants, animals and disease transfer between the

Eastern and Western Hemispheres– Starting with the first voyage of Christopher Columbus

The 1800’s• Brought rapid growth

after the Revolutionary War

• Westward Expansion-the push west towards and beyond the Mississippi River.

• Louisiana Purchase-1803 purchase of land from France that doubled the size of the United states for $15 million