The story of when Christopher Columbus discover America.

1. Prepared by:
Jesse G. Caling
AB History-3

2.  At the end of this lesson, the students are
expected to:
 Discuss the geographical setting and features of
America;
 Characterized the people living in the United
States and;

3.  The United States, the foremost champion of
democracy in contemporary times, is one of the
richest and strongest powers in the world.
 She consists of 50 states, 48 of which occupy the
vast land mass of middle North America, while
Alaska (49th state) is on the northwest corner of
the continent and Hawaii (the 50th state) in mid-
Pacific. Her total area is 3,615,210 square miles,
almost the size of Europe.

4.  The Climate of the United States varies from the
arctic cold of Alaska to the desert heat of the
Southwest. Most delightful is the climate of
Hawaii, the “Paradise of the Pacific”, which is
mildly tropical the year round.

5.  God has generously endowed the United States
with rich natural resources, such as fertile
farmlands, favorable climate, vast forests,
abundant mineral deposits, excellent harbors,
and plentiful lakes and rivers.

6.  The American people number 185,000,000,
representing all races of mankind. There is truth
in the popular saying that the United States is
“melting-pot of races”. The vast majority of
Americans, descendants of European immigrants
belongs to the white race.

7.  The minorities are the Indians, offsprings of the
aborigines, who belong to the red race; the
Negroes, descendants of the African slaves, who
represents black race; the chinese, koreans, and
Japanese, who belong to the Yellow race; and the
Filipinos who represent the brown race.

8.  Americans are lovers of freedom and democracy.
They are energetic, broadminded, and intelligent,
with high sense of justice and a sparkling humor.
They are friendly and cheerful, with a heart as
big as their continent. Although not militaristic,
they are valiant in war.

9.  About 20,000 years ago, many centuries before
Columbus was born, America was discovered by
Asian Pioneers who crossed the landbridge
which then linked Asia and Alaska and peopled
the continent. They were the ancestors of the
Indians and Eskimos, the aborigines of America.

10.  Much later, about 1000 A.D, Leif Ericson, a
Viking leader from Scandinavia, reached a place
on the Atlantic coast of North America which he
named Vinland because of the wild grapes
growing there.
 Neither he nor the prehistoric Asian pioneers
received any recognition for discovering America
because there were no historical records to
authenticate their exploit.

11.  History recognizes Christopher Columbus, a
Genoese navigator in Spain’s service, as the
“discoverer” of America. He landed at San
Salvador (now Watling Island) in the Bahamas
on October 12, 1492. This was the “discovery” of
America. Columbus erroneously thought that he
had reached the Indies; hence, he called the
natives, “Indians”.

12.  Columbus made three more voyages to America,
in 1493-96, 1498-1500, and 1502-04, and never
suspected that he found a New World. He died in
1506 unhonored and unrewarded.
 In 1507, a year after Columbus’ death, the
German geographer Martin Waldensenmuller
named the New World America in honor of
Amerigo Vespucci (1452-1512), a florentine
mariner, who had publized his trips to the New
World.

13.  The naming of America after Amerigo was a
Colossal error which robbed Columbus, the
rightful discoverer, of eternal glory that is due
him. In truth, America should have been named
Columbia in honor of Columbus.

14.  Columbus’ “discovery” of America gave Spain
her title to the New World. Immediately she
began to build up a vast colonial empire.
 In 1504 the city of Santo Domingo (now Trujillo
City) was founded in Hispaniola (now Dominican
Republic). This became the base of Spanish
exploration and Colonization in the New World.

15.  Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Cuba were soon
conquered and Colonized. In 1513 Ponce de
Leon, in search of the “Fountain of Youth,”
reached Florida.
 In the same year (1513) Balboa saw the Pacific
Ocean.
 In 1519-21 Hernando Cortes conquered Mexico,
while another Spanish conquistadors pushed
South and conquered Bolivia, Columbia,
Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Paraguay.

16.  In 1540-42 Francisco de Coronado, coming from
Mexico, explored the areas north of the Rio
Grande as far as the Grand Canyon of Colorado.
 In 1541 Hernando de Soto discovered the
Mississippi River. Finally, in 1565, Menendez de
Aviles founded St. Augustine (Florida), the first
permanent European settlement and oldest
existing city in the United States.

17.  Although Spain claimed all lands in the New
World, except Brazil, England and France sent
out their explorers.
 In the summer of 1497 John Cabot, Venetian
navigator in the service of King Henry VII of
England, explored the Southern Coast of
Newfoundland. The next year he and his son
explored the Atlantic coast of North America as
far south as Delaware.

18.  The early English efforts to colonize America
were unsucessful. In 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert,
half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, sailed to New
foundland to plant an English colony there, but
he met a storm and perished at sea. Also
unsucessful were the two attempts (1585 and
1587) of Raleigh to Colonize Roanoke Island,
Virginia. Raleigh’s to colonize Roanoke Island
became known as the “Lost Colony” because it
mysteriously vanished.

19.  After destroying Spain’s Invincible Armada in
1588, England resumed her colonial venture in
the New World. In 1607 the London Company
founded Jamestown in Virginia.
 This Colony, named after King James I, was the
first permanent English settlement in America.
As it prospered, more English immigrants came
to Virginia. In 1619 the first Negro slaves from
Africa were landed in Virginia and sold to the
settlers.

20.  Of dramatic interest was the arrival of the
Pilgrims on board the Mayflower at Plymouth,
Massachusetts.
 On November 21, 1620, before landing, they
signed the famous Mayflower Compact which
was a sort of constitution for their government.
Three years later they introduced Thanksgiving
Day in autumn, as an expression of their
gratitude to God for giving them a bountiful
harvest.

21.  In 1524 Giovanni da Verrazano, Florentine
navigator in the service of King Francis I of
France, explored the North American coast from
Newfoundland to Florida.
 Ten years later Jacques Cartier, French
navigator, explored the St. Lawrence River as far
as the present site of Montreal. His exploration
gave France her title to Canada.

22.  The great French colonizer, Samuel de
Champlain, founded Quebec in 1608 and
explored the Great Lakes, one of which was
named after him.
 In 1639 Montreal was founded. Meanwhile
Father Marquette (French Jesuit Missionary)
and Joliet (French fur trade) explored the
Mississipi Valley up to the Arkansas River.

23.  A French noblemen, Robert de la Salle,
continued the exploration of the Mississipi to the
Gulf of Mexico.
 In 1682 he claimed the whole Mississipi Valley
for France and named it Louisiana in honor of
his sovereign, Louis XIV.
 New Orleans was founded in 1718. By this time
French rule was firmly established in Canada
(New France), the region of the Great Lakes, and
the entire Mississipi Valley down to the Gulf of
Mexico.

24.  In 1609 Henry Hudson, English navigator in the
Dutch service, discovered the Hudson River. This
gave Holland the right to participate in the
Colonization in North America.
 In 1626 the Dutch merchants bought the island
of Manhattan (now New York City) from the
Indians for only $24 worth of goods.

25.  They built their town on this island, naming it
New Amsterdam. The whole Dutch colony, called
New Netherlands, included Manhattan Island
and the Hudson Valley.

26.  Meanwhile, in 1638, the Swedes settled in
Delaware. Peter Stuyvesant, governor of New
Netherlands, objected to the presence of the
Swedes in Delaware, which he claimed was
within the limits of New Netherlands territory. In
1655 he captured the Swedish colony and
annexed it to New Netherlands.

27.  Stuyvesant’s triumph was short-lived. Nine years
later (1664) war broke out between England and
Holland because of trade rivalry.
 King Charles II sent a British fleet to America
and captured New Amsterdam. He gave the
Dutch colony to his brother, the Duke of York,
for whom it was named.

28.  After eliminating the Dutch, England fought a
series of colonial wars with France for
supremacy in America. These wars were linked
with their world-wide struggle for supremacy.
 The first colonial wars in America was King
William’s war (1690-97), called the War of the
Augsburg League in Europe. It was ended by the
Treaty of Ryswick (1697) which brought no
territorial changes.

29.  The second war was Queen Anne’s war (1702-
13), known as the War of the Spanish Succession
in European history.
 It was ended by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), in
which France ceded Newfoundland, Acadia
(Nova Scotia), and the Hudson Bay region to
England.

30.  The third war was King George’s war (1744-48),
called the War of the Austrian Succession, in
Europe. It is terminated by the Treaty of Aix-la-
Chapelle (1748) which gave no benefit to the
American Colonists.
 The last and decisive war that finally ended
France colonial rule in America was the French
and Indian War (1755-63).

31.  At the first the French, with the support of
Indian allies, were sucessful. In July, 1755, they
annihilated the British army near Fort Duquesne
(now Pittsburg) and killed its commander,
General Braddock.
 A young Virginian, Colonel George Washington,
was able to save the British Survivors by using
forest war tactics during the retreat.

32.  In 1756, a year after Braddock’s defeat, the
French and Indian War became part of the Seven
years’ war in Europe.
 Until 1757 the British arms suffered disastrous
defeats in America. When William Pitt assumed
leadership in the British ministry, the tide of war
turned in England’s favor.

33.  He sent capable generals and better troops to
America. In the summer of 1758 the British
army, reinforced by the navy, captured
Louisburg. In the same year General Forbes,
assisted by 5,000 American militiamen, took Fort
Duquesne.

34.  In September, 1759, Quebec, capital of Canada,
fell into British hands after furious battle, in
which the gallant commanders of both combants
General James Wolfe (British) and Marquis de
Montcalm (French) died in action.

35.  The British capture of Quebec heralded the end
of French rule in North America. By the Treaty
of Paris (1763), England aquired Canada, Cape
Brereton, and the Eastern half of the Mississipi
Valley from France and Florida from Spain,
France’s ally. England became supreme in
America.

37.  The thirteen English colonies prospered under
British rule. Geographically, they were
classified into (1) New England Colonies, (2)
Middle Colonies, and (3) Southern Colonies.

38.  The New England Colonies consisted of
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire,
and Rhode Island.
 The winter was cold and the soil poor. The people
were mostly of English stock. Their main
industries were shipbuilding, fishing, and
manufacturing. Religious bigotry was strong,
especially in Massachusetts, where the non-
Puritans were persecuted and those suspected of
being witches were burned at the stake.

39.  The Middle Colonies were New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The climate
was less severe and the soil more fertile. The
people were of English, Dutch, Irish, Swedish,
and German bloods.
 They were tolerant in religious matters. New
York was Anglican while Pennsylvania was
Quaker. The principal industries were farming,
commerce, mining, and the manufacture of glass,
pottery, and iron implements.

40.  The Southern Colonies were Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
They were all situated south of the Mason and
Dixon line.
 The climate was favorable for agriculture and
the soil very fertile. Farming lands were
abundant and there were large plantation of
cotton, rice, and tobacco.

41.  Slavery became an institution, for thousands of
Negro slaves were needed to cultivate the
plantations.
 Agriculture was principal industry. The planters
came from aristocratic families of England,
hence they introduced the English aristocracy
and gracious living. They lived in beautiful
mansions, surrounded by magnolias and other
flowering plants, and employed tutors for their
children.

42.  In 1750 the population of the colonies was about
1,500,000. The majority of this population were
English, who had migrated to America to escape
the religious and persecutions in England or to
seek a better life.

43.  Others were the Dutch in New York; the Swedes
in Delaware; the French Huguenots in New
England, New York, and North Carolina; the
Irish in New York; and the scots in North
Carolina and South Carolina; and Germans in
Pennsylvania.

44.  The Colonists were pioneers whose life was
simple and hard. Out of Wilderness, they carved
out new settlements which eventually became
towns and cities.
 Their houses were made of rough logs, fastened
together by clay and wooden nails. The men
made their own tools and furniture. They raised
food crops, hunted wild game, and fought off the
Indians. The children helped their parents,
working in the fields or at home. They had little
or no schooling, thus the rate of illiteracy was
high.

45.  People in Colonial America seldom travelled
because of poor roads. The only means of
transportation were horses, carriages, or boats.
There were few amusements or recreations.
 Everybody’s main concern was survival. The
three principal dangers that faced the settlers
were famine, disease, and attacks by Indians.

46.  The social classes in Colonial America were the
following:
1. Colonial Aristocracy- This highest social class
was composed of rich landowners, prosperous
merchants, and shipping magnates.
2. Middle Class- Neither rich nor poor, this class
consisted of teachers, lawyers, physicians,
writers, small farmers, and skilled artisans.

47. 3. Free laborers- They were poor white men who
worked for daily wages in shops and fields.
4. Slaves- They were African Negroes who were
sold as slaves. They worked in the fields or were
servants in their masters’ homes.

48.  Most of the colonists’ time was spent in wrestling
a living room from wilderness. With exception of
a few highly educated ones, the colonists were
illiterate. Later the situation improve. The
children were given some education, so that they
could at least read the Bible.

49.  Massachusetts was the first colony in America to
show great interest in education. In 1647 the
General School Act was passed by the colonial
assembly providing that every town of 50
families should establish an elementary school,
and every town of 100 families should have a
secondary school. Other colonies followed her
example in later years.

50.  The first college in the colonies was founded by a
Protestant pastor named John Harvard in 1636,
twenty five years after the foundation of the
College of Santo Tomas in Manila.
 Harvard College eventually became a university,
the first university in the United States.

51.  Other Colleges and Universities founded after
Harvard were: College of William and Mary
(1693) in Virginia; Yale University (1701) in
Connecticut; Princeton University (1746) in New
Jersey; University of Pennsylvania (1749);
Columbia University (1754) in New York;
Rutgers University (1766) in New Brunswick,
New Jersey; and Dartmouth College (1769) in
New Hampshire.

52.  Arts and Sciences developed slowly in the
Colonies. Several Colonial painters rose to
prominence, such as Benjamin West of
Pennsylvania, who became an official court
painter in London in 1772 and later president of
England’s Royal academy.

53.  Other painters Wilson Peale and Gilbert Stuart
were celebrated for their portraits of George
Washington.
 Some achievements in architecture were Faneuil
Hall, the “Cradle of Liberty” in Boston, which
was designed by an amateur architect who was
the owner of a paint shop; and Monticello, a
beautiful colonial mansion, designed by its
owner, Thomas Jefferson.

54.  Ther e was little scientific progress in colonial
times. It was not until 1765 that the first
medical school was opened in Philadelphia.
John Bartram, a Quaker naturalist, became
famous as the founder of the Botanical Garden
at Philadelphia, the first botanical garden in the
United States. The versatile Benjamin Franklin,
diplomat, printer, philosopher, and scientist,
won international recognition for his researches
in electricity. He improved the printing press,
invented the bifocal lens, and introduced new
plants in America.

55.  Another colonial scientist was Benjamin
Thompson of Massachusetts, who became a
famous military engineer. He was employed by
the British War Office in London and was later
raised to the nobility by Count Rumford,
Bavarian ruler.

56.  Few families in Colonial America had books other
than the Bible in their homes. Books and
newspaper were not appreciated by the early
colonist who were more concerned with making a
living. As John Dickinson said on the eve of the
Revolution: “We are all tillers of the soil from
Nova Scotia to West Florida.”
 The first book published in the colonies was Bay
Psalm Book. It was printed at Cambridge,
Massachusetts in 1640, forty-seven years after the
publication of the first book in Manila, Philippines.

57.  The first American newspaper was Publick
Occurences Both Foreign and Domestick,
whose first number appeared in Boston in 1690.
But this newspaper did not last long. The first
successful colonial newspaper, The Boston
News Letter, appeared in 1704.
 Most popular book in Colonial America was
the Bible. Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard
Almanac, first published in Philadelphia in
1732, ranked next in popularity. It contains
maxims, poems, essays, and humurous stories.

58.  Because some newspapers voiced bitter
criticisms against the royal and proprietary
governors, strict censorship of the press was
established. In 1735 John Peter Zenger, German
publisher and editor of the New York Weekly
Journal, was arrested and tried for publishing
articles criticizing the royal governor. His trial
aroused much interest, for the question of
freedom of the press was at stake.

59.  Andrew Hamilton, the ablest lawyer in the
colonies, came from Philadelphia and defend
Zenger. His powerful plea to the jury saved the
editor from prison. Amidst wild cheering in the
courtroom Zenger was acquited. Freedom of
the press in America was saved.