1. Origins of the American Tradition Up to 1750

2. The First Americans Who were they? When did they come? Perhaps from Asia - crossed Bering Strait

3. The Pre-Columbian Cultures of North America North, South, & Central Americas 240 Native American cultures, 1-2 million people 8 major groups: NW Coast, California, N Plateau, Great Basin, SW, Plains, E Woodlands, SE All have in common their respect for nature

4. The Arrival of the Europeans 1001 Leif Ericsson (Norse) 1492 Christopher Columbus - named the people “Indians” San Salvador - Bahamas Called it “Americas” by German mapmaker who thought Amerigo Vespucci found it Over 200 years of explorers Cabot, Balboa, Ponce de Leon, Magellan, Cortes, Vespucci, De Soto, Coronado, Raleigh, etc. disease & defeat

5. Jamestown and the Origins of the Plantation System 1587 Roanoke, NC. 117 English settlers - The Lost Colony Sir Walter Raleigh & John White… 1590 White returned & found no trace 1607 Jamestown, VA 104 settlers, but 38 lived John Smith & Virginia Company intro to tobacco - will lead to plantation system

6. New England Colonization and the Puritan Era 1620 Plymouth Colony (Mayflower) / Cape Cod Separatist Puritans Puritans-want to purify the Catholic church 1630 Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor William Bradford indians who helped: Squanto, Samoset Mayflower Compact 1691 MB Colony combined Congregational Puritans Gov John Winthrop

7. Puritan Beliefs Basic beliefs: 1. Importance of community; on a mission 2. Original sin; only be saved by grace 3. Not all people are chosen to be saved; predestination (Calvin) 4. Hard work - earn salvation…sign of grace: Puritan Work Ethic

8. Politics, Society, and the Problem of Orthodoxy STILL tension & intolerance “theocracies” society guided by religious law 1635 Roger Williams banished…founded RI 1637 Anne Hutchinson accused of being “more husband than wife” 1662 Half-Way Covenant…relaxed rules 1692 Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692 new Massachusetts charter changed to secular gov

9. Religion and Allegory in Early Puritan Writing Puritan writing was religious sermons, histories, journals & diaries, poems, spiritual autobiographies 1636 Harvard 1638 1st colonial printing press Writers were influenced by European writers

10. The European Enlightenment and the Great Awakening Meanwhile in Europe…scientific focus, John Locke (blank slates) 1734 Great Awakening…Jonathan Edwards (pastor) we need to experience God Jon Edwards was removed from pulpit in 1750 because he was too strict