Daily Grind
Notes and Assignments
19th century coal mine - child labor
Tracking a Mystery: When and How the First Americans Arrived
Why do we study history?
Assignment:
Answer the Questions for the article from above: Why We Study History:
Briefly summarize the first paragraph under the segment, “Why We Study History?”
What did our government “have” to do during the Great Depression?
Which programs were created?
How does the author explain that, “History isn’t the study of others”…? (What is it the study of?)
Identify the three main points of, “How do past events help us understand the present?”
What is the most important question in studying history?
What was America like before the Revolution in 1776?
Compared to their British brethren across the pond, American colonists enjoyed relative prosperity and freedom. The vast majority lived in rural farming villages on their own property–less than 10 percent lived in cities. Family farms dominated the north. Large plantations that grew cash crops like tobacco and rice dominated the mid-Atlantic and southern landscape. Thousands of African slaves were imported each year for labor, and by 1750, outnumbered white settlers in some colonies (like South Carolina) by thousands. As the British Empire thrived, taxes and imperial interference in local politics were minimal, allowing provincials the space to create their own unique identity. However, this changed in 1763 when the French and Indian War left the British deeply in debt. Taxes were raised to replenish the royal coffers and colonists were forced to house British soldiers still stationed in the New World, eventually prompting the outbreak of the American Revolution.
America before the revolution
Britain’s central role in transatlantic trade greatly enriched the mother country, but it also created high standards of living for many North American colonists. This two-way relationship reinforced the colonial American feeling of commonality with British culture. It was not until trade relations, disturbed by political changes and the demands of warfare, became strained in the 1760s that colonists began to question these ties.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, improvements in manufacturing, transportation, and the availability of credit increased the opportunity for colonists to purchase consumer goods. Instead of making their own tools, clothes, and utensils, colonists increasingly purchased luxury items made by specialized artisans and manufacturers. As the incomes of Americans rose and the prices of these commodities fell, these items shifted from luxuries to common goods. The average person’s ability to spend money on consumer goods became a sign of their respectability. Historians have called this process the “consumer revolution.”
http://brewminate.com/colonial-life-and-society-in-pre-revolutionary-america/
Matthew McIntosh
1. What is meant by Colonial American feeling of commonality?
2. What disrupted -or- strained those feelings with Britain?
3. The paragraphs indicate this took place in the 17th and 18th centuries. When was that? (In the 1900s??)
4. What are "consumer goods"?
5. What are "commodities"?
Bonus Questions:
6. Who were the first Europeans to travel to North America?
7. Why did the Europeans travel to North America in the 17th and 18th centuries?
Jamestown Questions and Answers
Read the above article and copy down 10 facts