Setting the Stage for English Settlement in North America What happened in the Western Hemisphere before the 13 colonies were settled?

The Columbian Exchange -Transfer of goods between Europe, Africa and America -Began with Columbus’s exploration -Over time raw materials, manufactured goods and slaves became involved in the trade pattern. Page 45

Northwest Passage -Europeans wanted to find a NW Passage – a water route through N.A. that would allow ships to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific. -John Cabot (England), Giovanni da Verrazano (France), Jacques Cartier (France), Henry Hudson (Dutch and England) all explored N.A. for the NW Passage. -None of these explorers ever found the NW Passage, but their explorations led to increased European interest in North America.

Beginnings of Slavery in the Americas New Labor Force -Europeans were immune to diseases like measles, small pox, and typhus, but the Native Americans were not. -Millions of Native Am. Died from these diseases once Europeans reached the New World. -Plantation agriculture was a mainstay of colonial economic structure. These plantations required a large number of laborers to work the fields. -In 1510 the Spanish gov’t legalized the sale of slaves in it’s colonies to use as labor for plantations.

Middle Passage -The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean that enslaved Africans were forced to endure.