AMSCO 2.1 Context: European Colonization of North America Notes

Overview

AMSCO Topic 2.1, Contextualizing Period 2 (AMSCO pages 32-33), sets the stage for everything in APUSH Unit 2: the colonization of North America from 1607 to 1754. The chapter explains how European exploration (dominated by Spain in Period 1) gave way to expanding colonization by the Spanish, French, Dutch, and British, with the British eventually controlling the Atlantic coast from Canada to the Caribbean and founding 13 colonies. Three big threads run through the chapter: how early settlements grew into distinct colonial societies, how trade tied the colonies to Britain and to Native Americans, and how the search for labor led colonists from enslaving Native Americans, to indentured servitude, to importing enslaved Africans.

Timeline of key events in the colonial period. Image courtesy of Sitara Hariharan.

The Big Picture: From Exploration to Colonization (1607-1754)

Period 2 marks the shift from exploring the Americas to settling them permanently. The years 1491-1607 were dominated by Spanish exploration. After 1607, the Spanish, French, Dutch, and British all established colonies in North America, and the British came to dominate the region.

What changed over the period:

• The colonies started out struggling just to survive. Jamestown's early years were brutal.
• Over time, they became a society of permanent farms, plantations, towns, and cities.
• European settlers brought different cultures, economic plans, and ideas about government to North America. Despite those differences, all of them sought to dominate the native inhabitants.

The period runs from the first permanent English settlement in 1607 to the eve of a decisive war for control of the continent (the French and Indian War). By the 1750s, the 13 British colonies were using trade and war to dominate both Native Americans and rival European colonists.

Early Settlements

The Spanish and Portuguese arrived first, settling mainly in Central and South America, with the Spanish slowly migrating north into North America. The French, Dutch, and British then settled along the Atlantic coast and gradually pushed westward, each developing different colonial systems and different relationships with Native Americans.

Jamestown, Plymouth, and the 13 Colonies

Jamestown and Plymouth were the first two successful British colonies on the Atlantic coast. They were the starting points for what became 13 colonies stretching as far south as Georgia.

• Each colony developed its own economic and cultural system depending on environmental conditions and settlement patterns. Northern colonies leaned toward trade and industry; Southern colonies relied on plantation agriculture.
• Transatlantic trade mattered for most of them. Tobacco, timber, and rice were the big export products.
• Trade, religion, and a shared language created strong bonds between the colonies and Great Britain. But by the mid-1700s, trade became a point of conflict as colonists resisted British control over their commerce. That tension foreshadows the road to independence in Unit 3.

The AMSCO 2.3 notes on the regions of the British colonies break down these regional differences in detail.

Trade with Native Americans

Trade was also the mainstay of early contact between Europeans and Native Americans.

• Colonists wanted a dependable food supply. Native Americans were drawn to European iron tools and guns. The fur trade became a major exchange point.
• Despite this exchange, Europeans generally treated Native Americans as inferiors to be used or pushed aside. The European idea of private land ownership also clashed with Native American communal land use.
• European diseases like smallpox caused massive casualties among Native populations, which made it easier for Europeans to keep expanding.

Trade created competition for resources, too. The British and French fought a series of wars for control of land, and Native American nations such as the Iroquois and the Huron allied with European powers (or with each other) to advance their own interests. More on this dynamic in the AMSCO 2.5 notes on interactions between American Indians and Europeans.

Sources of Labor

As Europeans seized land from Native Americans, they needed workers to make that land profitable, especially for labor-intensive cash crops grown for export. The chapter traces a three-step progression that you should be able to explain on the exam.

1. Enslaving Native Americans. This was tried first and failed. Native Americans knew the land and could escape too easily.
2. Indentured servants. These were individuals who agreed to work for a master for a set number of years (often seven) in exchange for transportation from Europe to the Americas. Indentured servitude became common in the colonies, but it never supplied enough labor for large landowners.
3. Enslaved Africans. The British, following the example of the Spanish and others, began importing enslaved laborers from Africa as a permanent labor force. Agricultural economies built on enslaved labor grew throughout the colonies, especially where cash-crop plantations dominated.

This shift from indentured servitude to African slavery is one of the most-tested cause-and-effect chains in Unit 2. The AMSCO 2.6 notes on slavery in the British colonies cover where it goes next.

Why This Context Matters for Unit 2

Topic 2.1 is a setup chapter, so the payoff is knowing the themes you'll see developed in Topics 2.2 through 2.8:

• Different colonizers, different goals. Spanish, French, Dutch, and British colonizers had different economic and imperial goals involving land and labor, which shaped their colonies and their relationships with native populations.
• Regional variation. The British colonies along the Atlantic coast developed regional differences based on environment, economy, culture, and demographics.
• Competition breeds conflict. Rivalry over resources between European powers and Native Americans encouraged trade and industry but also led to recurring warfare.
• Bonds and resistance. Transatlantic commercial, religious, and political exchanges tied colonists more closely to Britain and to one another, while also planting the seeds of resistance to British control.
• A shared colonial identity slowly emerged. Ties to England stayed strong, but the groundwork for later calls for independence was being laid.

Key Terms to Know

Practice and Next Steps

Reinforce Topic 2.1 with the 2.1 Context: European Colonization course study guide, then move on to the AMSCO 2.2 European Colonization notes to compare the Spanish, French, Dutch, and British colonial models in depth. You can find the full set of chapter summaries on the APUSH AMSCO notes page.

To check your understanding, try guided multiple-choice practice on Unit 2 content, or look up any term that's still fuzzy in the APUSH key terms glossary. When you're ready to write, the FRQ practice tool with instant scoring is a good way to practice contextualization, the exact skill this chapter builds.