Essential Question: Why would a country want colonies? Unit 1: The Colonial Era Essential Question: Why would a country want colonies?

North America was settled primarily by three countries: The French settled around major waterways such as the Mississippi River and the Great lakes The Spanish settled in Florida, along the west coast, and Mexico/Central America The British settled along the eastern seaboard

Why did these countries want colonies in the New World?

Size of England compared to the U.S. Size of Spain compared to the U.S. Size of France compared to Texas

Mercantilism Theory that a country should export (sell) more than it imports (purchases) in order to make as much money as possible Wealth = power Colonies became sources of raw materials England didn’t have These raw materials were then used to produce manufactured goods that would then be sold to other countries and back to the colonies

The longer this went on… Mercantilism The longer this went on… $ $ $ $ $ $ $

Trans-Atlantic Trade (The Triangular Trade Route) Trade routes that connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas Natural resources, crops, manufactured goods, people, animals, diseases

The Middle Passage The journey slaves took from Africa to the Americas Took 3-5 weeks 300-400 slaves crowded onto ships 1/5 slaves did not survive the journey