Period One: 1492 - 1760: Early Interaction

Suggested time for instruction: one week

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Focus Questions

1. What were the characteristics of societies in the Americas prior to 1492?
   
2. What motivated the English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese to explore and to settle colonies in North America and how did it impact their settlements?
   
3. What were the consequences of the interactions between indigenous societies, Europeans, and Africans?
   
4. What ideas of representative government and religious toleration did the colonies implement in the new world?
   
5. What immigrants settled in the colonies and why?
   

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Benchmarks & Indicators:

NOTE: Red Bolded content in the indicators is considered essential and must be taught in all classrooms. Content which is not bolded goes beyond the scope and sequence of the state standards.

Benchmark 2.1: The student understands reasons for European exploration and colonization.

2.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:

1. Review the technological and commercial advances in Europe that prompted exploration in the Americas.
   
2. Compare motives for English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese exploration and colonization (religious freedom, economic opportunity).
   
3. Evaluate the causes and consequences of the Columbian Exchange on Western Africa, the Americas, and Western Europe.
   

Benchmark 2.2: The student understands the contacts between Native Americans and European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the pre-colonial period.

2.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:

1. Describe the social composition of the early settlers and compare their various motives for exploration and colonization.
   
2. Analyze the relationship among the English colonists, Native Americans, and Africans.
   
3. Describe the evolution and long-term consequences of the labor systems such as encomienda and slavery in Spanish and Portuguese America.
   
4. Explain and evaluate the Spanish interactions with the Aztecs, Incas, and Pueblos.
   

Benchmark 2.3: The student understands the characteristics of early exploration and settlements in the New World.

2.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:

1. Analyze the ideas of representative government and religious toleration practiced in the colonies (Mayflower Compact, town meetings, direct democracy, House of Burgesses)
   
2. Compare and contrast the characteristics and motives for settlement in the New England (Puritans), Middle-Atlantic (English, Dutch, and German immigrants), and Southern Colonies (Virginia “cavaliers,” Jamestown, Virginia Company of London).
   

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