• Transcends time and place,
  • Helps students understand and explain causal relationships in history,
  • Influences many subsequent events,
  • Affects a large number of people,
  • Helps us discern patterns to explain the world around us,
  • Has many clear and related examples,
  • Helps students see history from many different perspectives,
  • Helps students understand the past motivations and actions within the historical context of the time the event occurred, and
  • Illustrates that many different narratives or stories can be told in American and Michigan History.

Benchmark Alignment: I.2LE1, II.4LE1, III.5LE2

Definition: Seventy five million people populated the Western Hemisphere by 1492, most of them living in present day Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean Islands and Peru.

Explanation: In North America native peoples grouped themselves into several hundred nations and tribes speaking many languages. They lived in every ecological region. They flourished and transformed the landscape. They created a web of trails and roads, and built hunting camps and villages, and cleared land for cornfields. Their ability to see themselves as acting with nature rather than conquering nature was a unifying philosophy of very diverse people.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1LE1, I.2LE2, II.4LE2, II.4LE6, III.1LE2, IV.2LE1, IV.4LE1, V.2LE1

Definition: The Iroquois League was comprised of five Iroquois tribes. Each tribe retained its own system of self-government. They came together as a league to settle matters such as war and trade. Matters of mutual importance were decided by a Great Council which was composed of members of all five tribes. The oldest women of each tribe chose the male council member to represent them. All had to agree, unanimously, before any action was taken. The Iroquois League was also known as the Iroquois Confederation.

Explanation: A comparison of the Iroquois with other groups allows students to see how people adapted to their circumstances. The Iroquois provide an example of how a non-European culture organized politically. This union made the Iroquois a formidable force relative to other tribes that did not unite politically. Students can gain understanding from the comparison of how Europeans and non-Europeans living in North America solved governance problems.

Benchmark Alignment: I.2LE1, II.2LE4, II.3LE3, II.3LE4, III.5LE2, IV.5LE3

Definition: North American Native Americans are generally grouped by shared cultural characteristics into ten groups. Often identified as Arctic, Sub Arctic, Northwest Coast, Plateau, Great Basin, California, Southwest, Eastern Woodlands (Northeast), and Eastern Woodlands (Southeast).

Explanation: The region in which Native Americans lived often determined much about their way of life such as clothing, food, and housing. Many aspects of Native American culture were the same independent of geographic region, like the maintenance of trade networks, adoption of the bow and arrow and ceramic pottery, a preference for seasonal food procurement and for communities based on kinship.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.2LE1, II.2LE4, II.3LE3, II.3LE4, III.5LE2, IV.5LE3

Definition: Seeking a western water route to Asia, Columbus' voyages to the Caribbean Islands and Central America launched the exploration and exploitation of the Americas.

Explanation: Columbus' journeys initiated the transfer of people, ideas, plants, animals, and diseases between the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Gold, silver, and other resources taken from the Americas made European nations wealthy and powerful.

Columbus' voyages to the New World began an era of cultural exchanges and cultural diffusion that makes America what it is today. Columbus' journeys , called the Columbian Exchange, provides many clear examples of how the meeting of different peoples will change their lifestyles, cultural practices, ideas, laws and the tools they use. A careful study of this event will help students understand how this movement of people to the New World changed forever the groups that interacted with one another. It will also help students explain what changes occurred during the process of cultural diffusion among these groups.

Benchmark Alignment: I.2LE1, II.4LE1, III.5LE2

Vasco da Gama & Magellan

Definition: 1497-1499 Vasco da Gama successfully navigated an eastern sea route to Asia, and his exploration helped expand the Portuguese trade in African slaves. 1519-1522 Ferdinand Magellan was the first to circumnavigate the world while seeking a westward route to Asia, and initiated European navigation along the Pacific coast.

Explanation: The exploits of Vasco da Gama and Magellan are examples of the European drive to claim the world's resources as their own and master nature. The dreams of discovering a practical trade route to the Far East was a driving force for many of the early European explorers. To access the resources available in the Far East, these explorers had to overcome many challenges posed by geography and nature.

With this Event, teachers can help students see how the challenges posed by geographic limitations were faced by explorers of new lands. It will help them explain the cultural influences that made these new discoveries a goal for Europeans. It will also help them answer the question of what motivated them to face these challenges.

de Soto and Champlain

Definition: Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer who from 1539-1543 searched the area from Florida North to the Appalachians and west to Southern Texas for gold. Samuel de Champlain, French explorer who founded Quebec in 1608 and the first enduring French Settlement on Canadian soil.

Explanation: The contrast between the two explorers helps to explain the goals of France and Spain. De Soto sought gold and would settle for nothing else. He cruelly mistreated the Native Americans while spreading disease amongst them. Champlain by contrast immediately began trade with the Huron and assured the survival of the Settlement at Quebec by making even more alliances with other tribes including the powerful Iroquois confederacy.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1LE3, I.2LE1, III.5LE1, III.1LE2, III.1LE3, III.2LE1, III.2LE3

Definition: The French, Dutch, Spanish and English all claimed land in North America.

Explanation: By 1625 while thousands of Europeans had come to North America only 1800 actually were living there. Two thirds of those Europeans lived in Virginia. Huge tracts of land were being awarded to royal friends and business partners as efforts to colonize North America continued.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.2LE1, II.4LE1, III.5LE2

Definition: The development of early colonies by European naval powers was shaped by location and natural resources.

Explanation: St. Augustine, Quebec, New Amsterdam, and Massachusetts all represent different perspectives of a common set of questions. Why did these people move from their original homes? Why did they settle in those specific locations? What did they hope to gain by moving there? How did they cope with the physical and human environment in there new locations? Students who can answer these questions will begin to understand the relationships between the climate and location of these settlements, the natural resources they offered, and the cultures of the people who lived there. This interaction helps explain the influence these factors had on the developing culture.
St. Augustine established by the military - Spanish
Quebec established a center for trade and exploration - French
New Amsterdam established for trade - Dutch
Massachusetts establish colonies for religious communities English

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Benchmark Alignment: I.1LE3, I.2LE1, III.5LE1, III.1LE2, III.1LE3, III.2LE1, III.2LE3

Definition: The House of Burgesses was the Virginia Colonys first elected legislature. The Mayflower Compact document set up an early plan of self government in the colonies.

Explanation: Two more examples of the relationship between historical events and changing ideas and beliefs are the House of Burgesses and the Mayflower Compact. The House of Burgesses was created to help address problems faced by the Jamestown settlers. It planted the seeds of representative government in America. It was the first self-governing body in the English colonies. The Mayflower Compact was another instance of the English colonists' determination to live under a rule of law. In both cases early settlers organized themselves to survive the many challenges faced in the New World. These Events provide good examples how the ideas, values and beliefs of those early European settlers would influence American politics and institutions.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1LE1, I.2LE2, II.4LE2, II.4LE6, III.1LE2, IV.2LE1, IV.4LE1, V.2LE1

Definition: Each region in colonial America had unique characteristics that related to its location, climate, and the people who settled there. The Southern Colonies commitment to cash crops distinguished them from the agricultural centers of the Middle Colonies, and the ship building and fishing industries of the New England Colonies.

Explanation: By studying similarities and differences between life in New England, the Middle and Southern colonies students can gain an understanding of the factors that shaped the lives of early colonists and insights into their own lives. Making these comparisons helps students explain why these different groups lived as they did and how they managed to prosper in their time and location. By looking at similarities and differences in these three important regions of colonial development, students can see patterns that might remain hidden if studied in isolation.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.4LE1, I.3LE2, I.3LE3, VI.1LE1, VI.1LE2

Definition: All people of African decent living in North America were not enslaved, some had status of indentured servants others were free men.

Explanation: Slavery as an institution while universally abhorrent did not operate under a single set of rules. Some enslaved Africans were allowed to raise crops, poultry and hogs to be sold for cash and earned through their own skill money enough to pay for their freedom. Others were given freedom as a condition of the settlement of the will of their owners. These free blacks were often skilled artisans who moved to cities to practice their trade.

Benchmark Alignment: I.4LE1, I.3LE2, I.3LE3, VI.1LE1, VI.1LE2

Definition: By 1860, nearly 4,000,000 enslaved people were made to labor as farm or plantation workers, miners, carpenters, factory workers, and house servants. While some were treated well, most were not, and all suffered the indignity of being classified as property and shared the inability to act and m