British, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Dutch Colonies

Learn which nations colonized each territory in the Americas and why Understand the ecology and economy of each colony Explore the history of people of mixed African and Indian descent in the Americas

Plantation economy- large scale farming in which crops are produced mainly for export Freedmen- former slaves who were freed from their masters Loyalists- colonists who supported the British during the American Revolution Trail of Tears- when Indians were forcefully marched west to present-day Oklahoma by the United States government in 1830s

Africans helped lead the expeditions of French and Spanish explorers

Sugarcane Indigo Cotton Coffee tobacco

English arrived in the Americas to colonize brought women with them Plantations on east coast of U.S. See an interactive map of the British colonies Read a list of supplies for the Virginia Colonists See a colonist’s report about Virginia Watch a film on early life in the Virginia colony

Watch a documentary about the history of the Black Loyalists Black Loyalists (Nova Scotia and Ontario, Canada) Supported British in American Revolution Promised land Read the diary of a Black Loyalist

Brought few women so they mixed with Africans and Indians Colonize, extract resources, Christianize Indians Had the most colonies throughout the Americas Read how the Spanish described the Indians of Mexico Read Columbus’s letter to the King and Queen of Spain

Brazil Extraction of resources, plantations Christianize Indians Watch how sugarcane is harvested

Canada- fur trappers and traders Some Caribbean colonies Arrived without women French trappers trading with Indians Read what a French trapper had to say about Louisiana

Mainly in the Caribbean Did not bring women to create permanent colonies Until 1900s Dutch Afro-descendants were main population of Guiana

Black Seminoles Blacks lived among Seminoles over 50 years Some were interpreters for Seminoles when dealing with colonizers Indians helped run away slaves, but also sold them back to masters 15,000 enslaved blacks on the Trail of Tears Cherokee Freedmen See an interactive map of where the Black Seminoles lived Black Cherokee

Garifuna Also called Black Caribs Never slaves Skilled warriors Mascogos Black Seminoles that relocated to Mexico Rebelled against slavery Seee Garifuna culture and history Mascogo leader John Horse

Read the Treaty of Paris 1783 The treaty of Paris 1783 ended the American Revolutionary war with Great Britain and the 13 colonies were declared free.