I. History and Governments A. The First Americans 1. About 15,000 years ago, hunters in Asia followed herds of animals across a land bridge between eastern Siberia and Alaska. a) First to settle Americas. b) Native Americans c) Groups developed many cultures. B. The Colonial Era 1. Europeans were not aware of the Americans until 1492. a) Christopher Columbus sailed west from Europe to find a route to Asia.

I. History and Governments b) Explored the Caribbean Sea. c) Spain soon set up colonies, which are overseas settlements tied to a parent country. d) Great wealth from gold and silver mines in Mexico and South America. 2. France and Great Britain also established colonies in North America. a) French = Eastern Canada, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River Valley. b) British = Atlantic Coast c) 1763, Britain defeats France in a war and gains its North American possessions.

I. History and Governments 3. Soon after, the people in Great Britain’s 13 coastal colonies grew resentful of British taxes and trade policies. a) Fighting broke out between colonists and British forces. b) In 1776, the colonists declared their independence from Britain. c) In 1783, Britain recognized American independence. d) George Washington was the 1st President. C. Expansion and Growth

I. History and Governments 1. When the U.S. won independence, the country controlled only the eastern coast from Maine to Georgia. a) During the 1800s, the U.S. expanded all the way to the Pacific Ocean. b) Expansion cost the Native Americans land, life, and liberty. c) These lands were annexed, or declared ownership of a particular piece of land. 2. Throughout the 1800s, the U.S. grew in population. 3. The American economy, or way of producing goods, also changed.

I. History and Governments a) New machines made planting and harvesting crops faster and easier. b) Manufacturers developed the factory system to produce many goods. c) Roads, canals, steamboats, and railroads allowed manufacturers to move their goods to market more quickly. 4. Social and economic differences, however, came to deeply divide the country. a) The southern states built their economy on agriculture and the labor of hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans. b) The North did not use slavery. c) Fearing that the northern states would try to end slavery, the southern states had withdrawn from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America.

I. History and Governments d) The North won the American Civil War and slavery ended. 5. The late 1800s saw the spread of industry in the United States. a) New immigrants. b) By 1900, the United States was one of the world’s industrial leaders. D. A World Leader 1. During the 1900s, the United States became a world leader. a) WWI and WWII b) The U.S. helped fight against oppressive regimes, or governments.

I. History and Governments 2. After WWII, the U.S. and the Soviet Union became the world’s two major powers. a) They competed for world leadership in a rivalry known as the Cold War. b) Rivalry never got “hot” or the two never went to war. c) The cold war ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union was broken up. 3. During this period, African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, and women became more active in seeking equal rights.

I. History and Governments 4. Since 2000, the United States has faced challenges from the growth of terrorism both at home and throughout the world. a) Terrorism refers to the use of violence against civilians, by individuals or groups, to reach political groups. b) Sept. 11, 2001 5. The U.S. sent troops to the Southwest Asian country of Afghanistan. a) Troops were also sent to Iraq to overthrow the government controlled by Saddam Hussein. b) Both governments were accused of supporting terrorism.

I. History and Governments c) The U.S. helped set up democratically governments, but on going fighting has made this difficult. E. Early Settlement (Canada) 1. Canada was originally settled by Native American groups. 2. Vikings first landed on the Newfoundland coast around A.D. 1000, but did not stay very long. 3. In the 1500s and 1600s, both England and France claimed areas of Canada. a) Explorers, settlers, and missionaries founded many cities like Montreal and Quebec.

I. History and Governments 4. For 230 years, the French ruled over the area of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. (New France) a) If gold and silver were Spain’s spoils of the New World, then beaver furs were France’s. 5. In 1707, England and Scotland united to form Great Britain. a) By the 1760s, Great Britain had taken over the colonies of France. 6. Beginning in the 1700s, British and American settlers traveled to the present day province of Ontario.

I. History and Governments F. An Independent Nation 1. For the next 75 years, Great Britain held various colonies in eastern Canada. a) In 1867, most of the colonies joined together to form the Dominion of Canada. b) A dominion is a country with its own central government to run local affairs. c) Great Britain still controlled Canada’s relations with other countries. 2. Under the central government, the colonies became provinces.

I. History and Governments a) At first, there were four provinces: Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. 3. At Canada’s founding, the government promised to protect the French language and culture in Quebec. a) The wealthier English minority ran the economy. b) Tensions between the two groups grew. 4. Many immigrants arrived in the 1900s. a) Fought in WWI and WWII alongside the U.S. b) In 1982, Canada won the right to change their constitution without British approval.

I. History and Governments c) Today, Canada still faces the possibility that Quebec will separate and become independent. G. U.S. Democracy 1. The United States Constitution is the basic plan that explains how our national or central government is set up and how it works. a) 1787 b) Founding fathers wanted a strong government but not oppressive of individual rights. 2. The writers of the constitution applied the principle, or rule, of separation of powers.

I. History and Governments a) Divided the power between three branches: executive (president), legislative (congress), and judicial (courts). b) Checks and balances prevents one branch from becoming too powerful. 3. The U.S. Constitution created a strong central government, but state government were given certain responsibilities. a) This structure reflects the idea of federalism, the division of power between the state and national government. b) In our system you are a Pennsylvania and United States citizen.

I. History and Governments 4. In 1791, ten amendments, or additions, known as the Bill of Rights were added to the U.S. Constitution. a) They were passed so that the government could not infringe on basic individual rights. b) Individual freedom is a core, or basic, value of the United States. H. Canadian Democracy 1. Canada has a parliamentary democracy in which voters elect representatives to a lawmaking body called Parliament.

I. History and Governments a) These representatives then choose an official called the prime minister to head the government. b) The British monarch serves as king and/or queen of Canada. 2. Canada also has a federal system.