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Chapter 3

EARLY COMMUNITIES IN AMERICA

Following are some supplemental books recommended by the publisher.

James Towne: Struggle for Survival, by Marcia Sewell (2001)

The Mystery of the Anasazi, by Leonard Everett Fisher (1997)

Crow and Hawk, by Michael Rosen (1995)

Kids in Colonial Times, by Lisa A Wroble (1997)

NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

*Storytelling and Culture

Native American cultures have developed in what is now the United States for thousands of years. These cultures rely on storytelling to explain nature, to teach people how to act, and to entertain.

*Native American Groups

Each Native American group had its own culture, although some groups shared cultures that were similar. The Iroquois lived near where we live today, and they used trees from the wooded area to build homes, tools, and canoes.

*A Native American Community of Long Ago

Another Native American group, the Anasazi Indians, used technology to turn their desert home into farming communities. They built these communities on landforms such as canyon walls and mesas. The large community at Mesa Verde was built on the high rock cliffs. Men, women, and children all worked to help the community.

*Searching for the Anasazi

For some unknown reason, the Anasazi left their homes about 700 years ago. Because the dry desert climate protected their wall paintings and belongings, scientists are able to study the Anasazi culture today.

Map Scales

Map scales are used to measure the real distance between places, by showing that a certain distance on a given map stands for a certain distance on Earth.

THE COMMUNITY OF JAMESTOWN

*The Powhatan Indians

When English settlers came to start the Jamestown colony in 1607, the Powhatan were already living in the area that became Virginia. They used the natural resources to fish, farm, hunt for food, and make their homes/bows and arrows/canoes out of the pine trees.

*The English at Jamestown

The colonists came for many different reasons. Some wanted to make a new life with a new home. Others thought they would find gold and silver, and become rich.

Many colonists hoped to become rich quick, and didn’t work to get their own food. Some drank unhealthy water, became sick, and died. John Smith became their leader, and made a rule that unless you worked, you didn’t get food. He made them build their houses, and start farming. Not everyone liked him, but they survived with his rules.

John Smith also got help from Chief Powhatan. The Native Americans showed the colonists how to use the resources the same way they had done for more than a thousand years.

*The Colony Struggles

Even with the Powhatans’ help, the English colonists continued to struggle. The Jamestown colony was saved when John Rolfe began growing a new kind of tobacco, which was shipped to England. The rich tobacco crop and a long period of peace with the Powhatan helped the colony grow.

By the late 1700's the English had 13 colonies in North America. However, Native Americans who lived here before the colonists lost their land. Many lost their lives.

*Slavery Comes to the Colonies

Enslaved people were first brought to Jamestown in 1619 to work in the tobacco fields. Slavery ended in the 1860's.