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Chapter 1 : Exploration and Settlement |
Many of the first Americans walked
across a land bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska, while others
may have paddled in boats down the Pacific Coast. They spread
throughout the Americas and developed highly organized societies.
About the same time in other parts of the world, a new age of
discovery and exploration dawned. After a period of decline,
Europe developed under strong monarchs and a wealthy middle
class, which profited from the growth of trade, cities, and
a spirit of inquiry. In Asia and Africa, empires expanded their
territories, and ancient trade routes linked civilizations from
China to Europe.
By the 1400s, Europeans had developed
the technology, financing, and attitudes necessary to begin
overseas voyages of exploration. Exploration led to empire building.
Portugal, Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands conquered
lands in Asia, Africa, and the Americas for European settlement
and control.
Throughout the 1600s and 1700s,
the English founded settlements along the Atlantic coast of
North America. The colonies eventually thrived economically.
Life in the colonies was different for different groups. Upper-class
white men ran much of society. Women could not vote, but they
were full partners in running farms and sometimes businesses.
Enslaved persons became property with no legal protection. Native
Americans suffered from battles with colonists over land and
from epidemics of European diseases.
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