TExES Social Studies 4-8 (118)

North America prior to European contact was home to diverse Indigenous peoples with varied cultures, languages, and social organizations. In the Southwest, Ancestral Puebloans built cliff dwellings and practiced irrigation agriculture. The Mississippian culture (800–1600 CE) constructed large earthen mounds, with Cahokia near present-day St. Louis housing up to 20,000 people.

Eastern Woodlands peoples including the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy developed sophisticated political systems. The Great Law of Peace united five nations (six after the Tuscarora joined in the 1720s) in a league governed by a council of representatives. Plains peoples followed bison herds, while Pacific Northwest cultures developed complex societies based on salmon fishing.

Indigenous economies included hunting, fishing, gathering, and agriculture. Corn, beans, and squash ("Three Sisters") formed agricultural staples in many regions. Trade networks extended across the continent, exchanging goods including copper, shells, and obsidian.

Spanish colonization established missions, presidios (forts), and encomienda labor systems throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, Florida, and the Southwest. Spanish colonizers sought gold, converts, and land, often brutally exploiting Indigenous labor.

French colonization focused on the fur trade, establishing alliances with Indigenous nations. New France extended along the St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River. French missionaries and traders often integrated more closely with Indigenous communities than English colonizers.

English colonization began with Jamestown (1607) in Virginia, established by the Virginia Company seeking profit. Early years brought starvation, disease, and conflict with the Powhatan Confederacy. Tobacco cultivation transformed Virginia into a profitable plantation colony reliant on indentured servants and, increasingly, enslaved Africans.

Plymouth Colony (1620) was founded by Separatists (the Pilgrims), who signed the Mayflower Compact, and Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630) by Puritans seeking to build a model religious community. Puritan society emphasized covenant theology, education, and moral regulation. Roger Williams, banished from Massachusetts, founded Rhode Island on principles of religious liberty and separation of church and state.

Other English colonies included Maryland (Catholic refuge), the Carolinas (plantation agriculture), Pennsylvania (Quaker haven emphasizing religious tolerance), New York (seized from Dutch), and Georgia (buffer colony and debtor refuge). By the 1730s, thirteen English colonies stretched along the Atlantic seaboard.

Colonial society developed regional distinctions. New England featured small farms, fishing, shipbuilding, and trade, with relatively egalitarian land distribution and strong community institutions centered on Congregational churches. The middle colonies (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware) were ethnically and religiously diverse, with prosperous farms producing wheat for export.

Southern colonies developed plantation agriculture (tobacco in the Chesapeake, rice and indigo in the Lower South) dependent on enslaved labor. Slavery expanded dramatically after 1680, with enslaved Africans becoming the majority population in South Carolina. Colonial legislatures enacted slave codes defining enslaved people as property, restricting movement, and criminalizing literacy.

Colonial governance combined royal authority, proprietary rights, and representative assemblies. Colonial assemblies, representing property-owning white men, controlled taxation and claimed legislative privileges. Tensions with royal governors over appointments, land policy, and taxation foreshadowed revolutionary conflicts.

Colonists gained experience in self-government through the Virginia House of Burgesses (1619), the first representative assembly in the English colonies; the Mayflower Compact (1620), an agreement to make and obey laws for the common good; and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639), the first written constitution in the colonies. Under mercantilism, England expected its colonies to supply raw materials and buy English manufactured goods, and the Navigation Acts restricted colonial trade accordingly.

The First Great Awakening (1730s-1740s) transformed colonial religion through emotional revival preaching by figures including George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards. The Awakening challenged established religious authorities, promoted individual spiritual experience, and fostered intercolonial connections.

British victory in the French and Indian War (1754–1763) removed France from North America but burdened Britain with debt and new territorial responsibilities. The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited colonial settlement west of the Appalachians, frustrating land speculators and settlers.

Parliament sought to raise revenue and assert authority over colonies through measures including the Sugar Act (1764), Stamp Act (1765), Townshend Acts (1767), and Tea Act (1773). Colonists protested taxation without representation, arguing that only their own assemblies could tax them. Protests included boycotts, the Sons of Liberty, the Boston Massacre (1770), and the Boston Tea Party (1773).

The Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774) punished Massachusetts, prompting the First Continental Congress to coordinate colonial resistance. Fighting began at Lexington and Concord (April 1775). The Second Continental Congress assumed governmental functions, creating the Continental Army under George Washington.

Thomas Paine's Common Sense (1776) popularized independence arguments. The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776), primarily authored by Thomas Jefferson, articulated natural rights philosophy ("all men are created equal"), enumerated grievances against George III, and proclaimed American independence.

The Revolutionary War (1775–1783) pitted the Continental Army and militia against British regulars and Loyalist forces. American advantages included fighting on home territory, French alliance (1778), and Washington's leadership. British advantages included professional military, naval supremacy, and Loyalist support.

Key battles included Bunker Hill (1775), Trenton and Princeton (1776–1777), Saratoga (1777, convincing France to ally with America), and Yorktown (1781, where British surrender effectively ended the war). The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence with boundaries extending to the Mississippi River.

The Revolution's impact extended beyond independence. State constitutions established republican governments with bills of rights. Some northern states abolished or gradually emancipated enslaved people. Women's contributions during the war prompted limited discussion of women's status, though legal subordination continued. Loyalists faced property confiscation and emigration.

The Articles of Confederation (ratified 1781) created a loose confederation with a weak central government lacking power to tax, regulate commerce, or enforce laws. Congress could not pay war debts, leading to currency depreciation and economic instability. Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787) in Massachusetts highlighted the government's weakness.

The Confederation Congress did succeed with western lands. The Northwest Ordinance (1787) set up an orderly process for territories to become states equal to the original thirteen, banned slavery north of the Ohio River, and encouraged public education.

The Constitutional Convention (1787) in Philadelphia was convened to revise the Articles but instead drafted an entirely new constitution. Delegates included James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington (presiding). Key compromises included the Great Compromise (bicameral legislature with proportional House representation and equal state Senate representation), the Three-Fifths Compromise (counting enslaved persons as three-fifths for representation and taxation), and Commerce Compromise (Congress could regulate commerce but not ban slave importation until 1808).

The Constitution established federalism (divided sovereignty between national and state governments), separation of powers (legislative, executive, judicial branches), and checks and balances. Article I established Congress with enumerated powers including taxation, commerce regulation, and war declaration. Article II created the presidency with executive powers. Article III established the federal judiciary.

Ratification debates pitted Federalists (supporting ratification) against Anti-Federalists (opposing centralized power). The Federalist Papers, written by Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay, argued for ratification. Anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights protecting individual liberties. The Constitution was ratified in 1788, with the Bill of Rights (first ten amendments) added in 1791.

George Washington's presidency (1789–1797) established precedents including cabinet government, two-term tradition, and presidential neutrality in European conflicts. Alexander Hamilton's financial program included federal assumption of state debts, a national bank, and protective tariffs, promoting commercial development but sparking opposition.

Political parties emerged despite founders' warnings against factionalism. Federalists (Hamilton) favored strong central government, commercial economy, and British alliance. Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson, Madison) favored limited government, agrarianism, and French sympathy. The parties contested elections and debated constitutional interpretation.

The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) under John Adams restricted immigration and criminalized government criticism, prompting the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions asserting state authority to judge federal constitutionality. Jefferson's election in 1800 represented the first peaceful transfer of power between parties.

Thomas Jefferson's presidency (1801–1809) included the Louisiana Purchase (1803), doubling national territory, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) exploring the new acquisition. The Marbury v. Madison decision (1803) established judicial review, empowering courts to invalidate unconstitutional laws.