Encounters and Foundations to 1800

Fast Facts
Historical Highlights

• Dekanawida, a Mohawk visionary, unites

American Indian peoples with the Iroquois
Confederacy, c. 1500.

• Pilgrims land at Plymouth in 1620.

• Colonists battle the British in the Revolutionary

War from 1775 to 1783.
 Key Concept:
Native Cultures Thrive in America
History of the Times

• Before the first Europeans arrived, American

Indians had lived here for thousands of years.
• The first interactions between Europeans and
American Indians involved trading.
 Key Concept:
Native Cultures Thrive in America
History of the Times
• Mutual curiosity led to
increasing interdependence
between the cultures.
• Europeans relied on American
Indians to teach them survival
skills.
• Indians were eager to acquire
European firearms, textiles,
and steel tools.
The Granger Collection, New York

• Settlers, however, exposed

native populations to diseases.
 Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
History of the Times
• The Puritans’ moral, ethical, and religious
convictions helped shape American character.

• Puritans believed in thrift, hard work, and

self-sufficiency.
• They also believed that a
spiritual contract existed
between God and
humanity.
 Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
History of the Times
• In the Mayflower Compact, the
Puritans set out a new form of
government.
• This contractual agreement
became a model for American
constitutional democracy.
• Because political authority was
based on religious tenets, the
political views of Puritans were
sometimes uncompromising
and harsh.
 Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
The Salem Witchcraft Trials
• In 1691, three women were
accused of witchcraft.
• Within ten months, about 150
people had been accused;
many were put to death.
• This mass hysteria may have
resulted from a fear that
extreme action was needed to
save political unity.
 Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
History of the Times
• European political and social turmoil led people
to question the divine right of monarchs.
• A new movement, the Enlightenment, began to
spread, fostering a belief in rationalism.
• Rationalists believe that reason and intellect,
rather than revelation, lead to discoveries of
scientific and spiritual truth.
• Inspired by rationalism, the founders of the
new country set forth ideals of religious
tolerance and individual liberty.
 Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
Tinkerers and Experimenters
• Prominent American rationalists include:
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George
Washington, and Thomas Paine.
• Their writings reflect a
rationalist worldview.
• The most prominent
rationalist work was
Franklin’s The Autobiography

Benjamin Franklin
 Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
Forming a New Nation
• Inspired by rationalist thought,
the founders signed the
Declaration of Independence
from Britain in 1776.
• Many of the arguments in
the Declaration are based on
rationalist beliefs.
• George Washington, a
rationalist, was elected the first
president of United States. George Washington
“The Star Spangled Banner”
The End