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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Spain's Territorial Conquest in the Americas

For Students 9th - 10th
The history of Spanish territorial conquest in the New World is the history of the succession of conquistadors who often overwhelmed native empires, but were sometimes overwhelmed themselves. Read about the conquistadors who came to the...
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Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1491 1607: Environmental/health Effects in New World

For Students 9th - 10th
European arrival in the Americas decimated both indigenous people and previously-flourishing ecosystems.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Portuguese in the u.s.: Celebrating the Portuguese Communities in America

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about the role Portuguese-born and sponsored explorers played in the exploration and colonization of North America.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization

For Students 5th - 8th
This is a brief overview of the Native American cultures, languages, and diversity amont the many tribes that lived in North America prior to European contact.
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Activity
Curated OER

National Park Service: Early Dutch Colonies

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about Dutch colonization in America. There is mention of Peter Minuit and Peter Stuyvesant.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Spanish Colonization

For Students 9th - 10th
Spanish culture had a great impact on the economy, politics, and even geography of the Southwest, California, and Mexico. Read about the Spanish settlements and the structure of the social classes that left an impact the continues even...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: France in America: New Societies

For Students 9th - 10th
The development of a multi-ethnic society developed in New France. Find out how this happened and what made up the social hierarchy. Primary source documents are provided on this Library of Congress site.
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Independence for Liberia

For Students 3rd - 8th
The story of how Joseph Jenkins Roberts, an African American from Virginia, developed Liberia into an independent country.
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Website
Other

The Fur Trade: Its Impact on Native America

For Students 9th - 10th
Information on the fur trade and its impact on Native Americans. The demands of the Europeans for fur increased competition among the Native American groups. It changed the character of warfare among Native American populations and...
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Lesson Plan
Other

American Journeys: French and English Approaches to Exploration [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lengthy lesson plan that examines French and English approaches to exploration and colonization in reference to religious factors. Using primary sources from French missionary Gabriel Sagard and Wiliam Bradford, first governor of...
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Interactive
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: United States History Map: Colonists

For Students 5th - 8th
Use these interactive maps to see and read about the colonization of the New World by several European nations. When you are finished looking at the maps, test your skills with the European Colonies Challenge.
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Article
CommonLit

Common Lit: "The Road to American Independence" by Jessica Mc Birney

For Students 9th - 10th
This informational text recounts America's road to independence, starting from the beginning of English colonization in North America and ending with the final battle of the American Revolution. A specific purpose for reading and...
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Unit Plan
Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners' Museum: Captive Passage: The Transatlantic Slave Trade

For Students 9th - 10th
Online exhibition from the Mariners' Museum chronicles the plight of African slaves from the beginning of their journey when they are torn from their homeland all the way to the shores of the Americas. Caught up in the lucrative...
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Handout
Other

Understanding Race: Society: 1800 1850s: Resisting Slavery

For Students 9th - 10th
An overview of slave revolts and abolitionist efforts during the first half of the nineteenth century, leading up until the Civil War. Read about the Underground Railroad, the colonization movement, and various anti-slavery books.
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Activity
Auburn University

Auburn University: Richard Hakluyt

For Students 9th - 10th
A fascinating excerpt of Richard Hakluyt's Discourse of Western Planting written in Old English, and dealing with English colonization. Also includes a short biography of the noted English geographer.
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Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Motivation for European Conquest of the New World

For Students 9th - 10th
God, gold, and glory motivated European nations to explore and create colonies in the New World. This article discusses the Crusades and how they influenced European colonization projects.
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Early Settlements

For Students 9th - 10th
The early 1600s saw the beginning of a great tide of emigration from Europe to North America. Spanning more than three centuries, this movement grew from a trickle of a few hundred English colonists to a flood of millions of newcomers....
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Activity
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Nieuw Amsterdam

For Students 9th - 10th
This site lists the reasons why the Dutch trading companies were slower in colonization than the other New World countries.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: European Colonization in North America, 1500 1700

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of North America showing the European colonization in the region up to the year 1700. The map is color-coded to show the possessions of the British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish. The map shows the territory in...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Northwestern South America, 1916

For Students 9th - 10th
A physical and political map of northwestern South America in 1916 showing the boundaries for Columbia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia at the time. The map uses color-contouring to show elevations from sea level to...
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Graphic
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: American Empire

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition explores the origins, development, and eventual fall of the American empire and maps the diverse and rocky terrain of the American empire to show how it informs contemporary conversations on heritage, citizenship, racism,...
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Article
Digital History

Digital History: Overview of the Colonial Era

For Students 9th - 10th
The year 1492 marks a watershed in modern world history. Columbus's voyage of discovery inaugurated a series of developments that would have vast consequences for both the Old World and the New. It transformed the diets of both the...
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Indian Relations, American Beginnings: 1492 1690

For Students 9th - 10th
One modern historical assessment and several original accounts of the mistrust, negotiations, alliances, trading, and disease transmission between European colonizers and native peoples in North America.
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Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Age of Exploration: The Columbian Exchange

For Students 9th - 10th
A fascinating look at the exchanges that took place around the world after the Americas were discovered. This covered the gamut from diseases which wiped out 90% of the native peoples in North and South America, to farm animals, tools,...

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