Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0385/03855.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 13KB | 259 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03855}
$Pretitle{444}
$Title{United States of America
Chapter I    Discovery and Colonization}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{United States Information Service}
$Affiliation{United States Government}
$Subject{new
america
colonies
colony
freedom
religious
settlers
colonists
indians
government}
$Date{1987}
$Log{}
Country:     United States of America
Book:        United States History 1600-1987
Author:      United States Information Service
Affiliation: United States Government
Date:        1987

Chapter I    Discovery and Colonization

Discovery of America

     In 1492, Christopher Columbus left Spain to try to find a new, quick
route to the Far East.  The Europeans wanted to trade with China, but the ways
of getting there were too dangerous and expensive.  Columbus thought that he
could sail west and go around the world to reach China, but Columbus never
reached China.  While en route, he found some islands.  He thought he was near
the Indies so he called the people living there Indians.  What he had really
found was part of the Bahamas - islands off the coast of what is now the
United States of America.

The New World

     Columbus' discovery was very exciting and sparked people's imaginations.
Even though he had not found a route to the Far East, he had discovered a New
World.  An Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, was the first to declare it a
new continent.  The New World was named America in his honor.  It is now known
as North and South America.  Many countries wanted to explore this world.  The
Spanish explored and settled South America.  They came seeking adventure and
gold and as priests to teach the native peoples.  Many people came, and they
often made maps and kept journals, recording all they saw.  This news of the
New World helped others who came here at a later date.

     The first permanent settlement in North America was St. Augustine in what
is now the state of Florida.  Most of North America was claimed by the British
and French.

     To the British and French, America [+] was a New World, open and waiting
to be explored and tamed.  But the lands were not unsettled.  There were
Native Americans, or Indians, living in many parts of the country in groups
called tribes.  The tribes were very different from each other.  Some were
friendly to the people coming from Europe, such as those who helped the
settlers at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620.  They taught the settlers how to
farm in the new country, using different methods and growing different crops
(such as corn) than the settlers had raised in Europe.  Other Indians were
unfriendly, even attacking and battling with colonists.  These attacks were a
real threat to the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown,
Virginia, in 1607.  That colony almost did not survive.

  +  America is used for the United States of America

     Gradually, the Indians were defeated or pushed westward.  The settlers
had guns while the Indians only had bows and arrows.  The settlers also
brought many diseases to which the Indians never had been exposed.  These
diseases often killed the Indians.  What probably hurt the Indians the most
was that the settlers were taking the land.  Indian tribes usually had a
territory, but used only part for living and farming.  The rest they needed
for hunting or gathering plants and berries.  The settlers moved onto this
land, forcing the Indians to find somewhere else to hunt.  There are still
Indians in the U.S., and they are the only Native Americans.  Everyone else is
an immigrant, or one of their ancestors was.

Settling in America

     Colonists from Spain, France, Holland, England, and other countries came
to the New World for many different reasons:  trade, freedom of religion,
political freedom, and economic reasons.  The 13 colonies they founded along
the eastern coast formed the beginning of the United States of America.

Virginia

     The first permanent colony was Jamestown, Virginia, established by
members of the London Company in 1607.  These colonists came from England to
try to make money by trading with Europe.  They believed they would find gold
and silver as the Spanish had found in South America, and then they would be
rich.  When they got to Jamestown, most of the men tried to find gold.  They
did not want to do the difficult jobs of building, planting food crops and
cutting firewood.  One of the colonists, Captain John Smith, saw how dangerous
this could be, so he took charge.  Under Smith, the rule was, "He who will not
work shall not eat."  People remember John Smith for his good practical
leadership.  Still, less than half of the colonists in Jamestown survived the
first few years.  Only new settlers and supplies from England made it possible
for the colony to survive.  The discovery of tobacco as a cash crop to be
traded in Europe guaranteed that the colony would do well.

Massachusetts

     Many of the colonists came to America to try to find religious freedom.
Catholics as well as some Protestants, Jews and people who did not want to
belong to a church had troubles in England and other parts of Europe.  The
rulers of these countries told their citizens that they must go to a specific
church and worship in a certain way.  Some people had different religious
beliefs than their rulers and wanted to have their own churches.  The first
group to come to America seeking religious freedom was the Pilgrims in 1620.
They sailed across the ocean in the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth,
Massachusetts.  Before landing at Plymouth, the Pilgrims agreed on the
government they wanted, and drew up a document called the Mayflower Compact.
It had two important principles:  the people would vote about the government
and laws; and the people would accept whatever the majority chose.

     These two principles were very important later in writing the
Constitution of the United States.

     Only half of the Pilgrims survived the very harsh winter.  Good
leadership by William Bradford and help from friendly Indians enabled the rest
of the people to learn about farming and fishing to survive.  The Pilgrims are
probably best known for the holiday they began in the fall of 1621, called
Thanksgiving.  They invited the Indians to join with them in a feast to thank
God for a year of peace and the bountiful harvest.

     Thanksgiving is celebrated in America every November with the same
thankful spirit.  The Puritans, another religious group from England, also
came to America for religious freedom.  They came to the Massachusetts Bay
area in 1630.  The Puritans were well prepared to establish a colony, having
brought 11 ships filled with hundreds of colonists.  They worked hard to
develop the important colonial industries of fur trading, fishing and
shipbuilding.  The Massachusetts Bay Colony prospered, attracting Puritans as
well as others.  The Puritans had their religious freedom, but did not let
other groups have it within their colony.

Maryland

     Some colonies began when the King of England gave large pieces of land to
people.  These colonies were called proprietary colonies because one person or
a small group of persons owned the land.  For example, Lord Baltimore was
given the land that is now the state of Maryland in 1634.  He wanted to make
money by renting and selling the land.  As a Catholic he also wanted Catholics
to have freedom of religion.  They could not have this freedom in England or
in some of the other colonies.  In 1649, Maryland proclaimed the famous Act of
Toleration, providing freedom of religion for all Christians in Maryland.

Rhode Island

     The lack of religious freedom in the Puritan colony led Roger Williams, a
minister, and some of his followers to leave Massachusetts.  They founded a
new colony in 1636 called Rhode Island, and gave everyone religious freedom.
Rhode Island was the first colony to have complete separation of church and
state.  The idea that church and state should be separate is one of the basic
principles of the American govern