How did the environment influence settlement patterns in colonial America? European settlement patterns were influenced by geographic conditions such as access to water, harbors, natural protection, arable land, natural resources and adequate growing season and rainfall.
Full Answer
How did geography impact the settlement of colonial America?
Many of the regional differences in colonial America were based on the differing geographies of those regions. In the British American colonies, there were three main regions: New England, Mid-Atlantic or Middle, and Southern.
What factors led to the growth of New England colonies?
New England and Middle Colony access to waterways (ports and rivers) resulted in high population density and large urban areas. Southern colonies had an abundant amount of fertile soil that resulted in an agriculture economy, a plantation system, and a low population density.
How did the physical characteristics of the environment influence population distribution?
How did the physical characteristics of the environment influence population distribution, settlement patterns and economic activities in the US? New England and Middle Colony access to waterways (ports and rivers) resulted in high population density and large urban areas.
How did pre-European settlement patterns affect the United States?
Although the land that now constitutes the United States was occupied and much affected by diverse Indian cultures over many millennia, these pre-European settlement patterns have had virtually no impact upon the contemporary nation—except locally, as in parts of New Mexico.
How did the environment influence early settlement patterns?
European settlement patterns were influenced by geographic conditions such as access to water, harbors, natural protection, arable land, natural resources and adequate growing season and rainfall. Examine a variety of primary sources to determine why colonists were drawn to a particular region of the country.
How did the environment impact the development of the different colonial economies?
Colonial America depended on the natural environment to meet basic needs of the people and the colony. The available natural resources provided (or in essence dictated) what each region's unique specialty would be or become. Specialized economies quickly emerged as a result of human and environmental interaction.
How did geography environment affect the development of colonial America?
Geography caused some colonies to become centers of trade, and others to output huge amounts of crops. Geography controlled every detail of the colonies, as well as the rest of the world, and still does to this day. The Mid-Atlantic colonies used their large rivers, fertile soil and open plains for large scale farming.
How did the environment affect the middle colonies?
Their climate helped them become the 'breadbasket' of British North America. Arable land was plentiful and the soil was fertile. The excellent natural harbors helped the middle colonies become traders among the colonies.
How did the geography affect the lives of the colonists in New England?
How did the geography affect the New England colonies? Geography affected the New England Colonies in what industries they could pursue and how much farming they could do. Because of the longer winters there was a shorter growing season overall and the soil was very rocky.
What effect did geographic factors have on the economy of the New England colonies?
Economics in the colonies: Colonial economies developed based on each colony's environment. The New England colonies had rocky soil, which was not suited to plantation farming, so the New England colonies depended on fishing, lumbering, and subsistence farming.
How did geography help shape the English colonies?
How did geography help shape life in the English colonies? In the colonies, soil and climate determined what they could grow. Living near water gave settlers a way to transport good. New England region - People farmed thin, rocky soil so farming wasn't their main business.
How does the environment and geography impact the ability of colonies to produce cash crops?
In the South, the warm climates and fertile land allowed for great farming and to cultivate large amounts of land to produce and harvest cash crops. Most settlers made their money for farming and this is how the economy developed.
How did geography affect the lives of the colonists in New England quizlet?
How did the geography of New England affect how people made a living? RIGHT Limited farmland and a short growing season encouraged colonists in New England to turn to fishing and shipbuilding.
What geographic features attracted colonists to the middle colonies?
Two of the main rivers were the Hudson River and the Delaware River. This area also had good coastal harbors for shipping. The land ranged from coastal plains, piedmont (rolling hills), and mountains further inland. Because the soil was so rich and fertile, many middle colonists farmed.
Why did the three colonial regions develop differently?
Colonial America depended on the natural environment for the basic needs of the people and the colony. Available natural resources determined each region's unique specialty. Specialized economies quickly emerged as a result of human and environmental interaction.
What was the climate ideal for in the middle colonies?
The Middle Colonies' geography, climate, and environment had a seasonal climate of warm summers and cold winters and a variety of physical geography from coastline and forests to rivers and mountains on the western frontier. The soil was good for food crops.
How does colonialism relate to environmental change?
Colonialism, the report asserts, has exacerbated the effects of climate change. In particular, historic and ongoing forms of colonialism have helped to increase the vulnerability of specific people and places to the effects of climate change. The IPCC has been producing scientific reports on climate change since 1990.
How did colonial settlement change the environment in Australia?
Since European settlement in 1788, the way in which people use the land has significantly changed Australia's natural systems and landscapes. Some land management practices place enormous pressures on the land which can result in damage to ecosystems, reductions in biodiversity and degradation of soils and waterways.
How did imperialism affect the environment?
From the earliest days of imperialism, colonizers have had detrimental effects on the ecosystems that they invaded. Native inhabitants of these lands were forced to put up with settlers overuse of land, animals, and natural resources across the globe.
How did colonialism affect the resources of colonized countries?
Colonialism's impacts include environmental degradation, the spread of disease, economic instability, ethnic rivalries, and human rights violations—issues that can long outlast one group's colonial rule.
Which Caribbean island was the most important to the survival of the North American colonies?
Although often left out of US History, Caribbean islands like Barbados (farthest right) were key to the survival of the North American colonies.
What were the first European nations to establish themselves in the Americas?
The first European nations to establish themselves in the Americas in the sixteenth century were Spain and Portugal. Between the 1490s, when exploratory missions began in earnest, and 1588, when the Spanish Armada was defeated by the English navy, the Iberians ruled the Atlantic. As already discussed, Christopher Columbus was working for the Spanish when he established the first Euro-American settlement since the Vikings at La Navidad in 1492. His brother Bartolomeo founded Santo Domingo, also on Hispaniola, in 1496. In 1500, settlements were begun at Nuevo Cádiz and Santa Cruz, in what is now Venezuela. Hernán Cortés landed at Veracruz in 1519 and began his conquest of the Aztec Empire, and Francisco Pizarro crossed the Andes to take on the Incas in 1532. Although the conquistadors didn’t understand the causes of the epidemics that decimated native populations, they had a strong belief in their own prowess and in their divine mandate. Portugal explored Newfoundland and Labrador (which is actually named after Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador ), as well as Brazil, where they gained a permanent foothold. In 1502, a Portuguese expedition arrived at the bay of Rio de Janiero. Among the crew in this expedition was a Florentine named Amerigo Vespucci, who published his bestseller Mundus Novus in 1504.
What was the name of the war that ended with the elimination of the Pequot nation?
Misunderstandings over land ownership and constant colonial expansion led to a number of conflicts such as the Pequot War , 1634-1638, which ended with the elimination of the Pequot nation.
Why did the Native Americans disappear?
By the early 1800s, coastal Indians had mostly disappeared due to disease and war , and forests had reverted to a more “natural” state that had been unknown during the centuries of Indian land management. Descendants of English settlers lamented that turkeys, deer, and other animals that had provided so much free meat for their ancestors were gone from the woods. The English had not hunted these species to extinction. There were simply no Indians managing the land to provide the high levels of food the abundant wildlife had depended on. In a famous account of his travels through New England, Yale president Timothy Dwight regretfully observed, “Hunting with us exists chiefly in the tales of other times.”
Why was the Virginia Company so lucky?
This was lucky, because the Virginia Company had sent a party consisting almost entirely of gentlemen. There were few soldiers and no farmers or tradesmen in the first settlement, since the English had expected to become rich trading with the natives.
Who chartered the Virginia Company?
The Virginia Company, a joint stock company chartered by King James I in 1606, sent two expeditions to the explore the coast of North America between the Spanish and French settlements.
Where did the French build their fort?
The French followed nearly two decades later, building a fort in 1604 at Port Royal in what is now Nova Scotia and establishing Quebec in 1608. The English had tried settling people on Roanoke Island in 1588, but the colony had mysteriously disappeared by the time resupply ships returned to the area a few years later.
Why did New England settle in towns?
Because people tended to work on small farms or in other industries, people tended to settle more in towns and villages, rather than being spread out on large farms. However, the New England colonies did have access to oceans full of fish. They also had access to large forests and harbors in which to trade.
What were the main industries of the mid Atlantic colonies?
Thus, some of their main economic industries were fishing, lumbering, and shipbuilding. The mid-Atlantic colonies included some of the best natural harbors and ports in colonial America, such as New York City and Philadelphia. They thus became centers of commercial activity and trade.
What were the three regions of colonial America?
In the British American colonies, there were three main regions: New England, Mid-Atlantic or Middle, and Southern. Each region had different climates and access to certain natural resources, which impacted the development ...
What were the main crops of the Southern colonies?
The Southern colonies had land and warm climates well suited to commercial agriculture of cash crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo. The wealthy owned large plantations that eventually relied on slave labor. The stark income disparity between the plantation owners, small-scale farmers, and slaves created a social system with a rigid class structure. Furthermore, people tended to live farther away from one another and thus were organized more by county than by city or town.
Did the New England colonies have a plantation system?
Therefore, the New England colonies never developed a plantation system. Likewise, they did not have a big demand for slave labor to work on the plantations.
What was the main cause for the establishment of the American colonies?
Religious freedom was a main cause for the establishment of the American colonies.
What resulted in high population density and large urban areas in New England and Middle Colony?
New England and Middle Colony access to waterways (ports and rivers) resulted in high population density and large urban areas.
What was the Mayflower Compact?
Mayflower Compact - written by the pilgrims in 1620, an agreement that established the idea of self-government and majority rule.
What did the Enlightenment think of personal liberty?
European Enlightenment philosopher; believed that personal liberty could coexist with political order; consent is the basis for government and fixes it limits; government is a social contact with limited powers and has obligations to its creators; government can be modified by its creators at any time (heavily influenced Thomas Jefferson and the writing of the Declaration of Independence); discussed legislative and executive branches of government; wrote about unalienable rights which included life, liberty and protection of property.
What led to the increase in the slave trade?
Demand for rice, indigo, tobacco, cotton led to plantation owners needing more slaves and the slave trade increased.
Why did the sugar plantation start in the British West?
Started in the British West to provide a labor force for the sugar plantation.
Why did the colonists need to make their own laws?
The distance from England created a need for colonists to make their own laws and keep peace and order.