Southern states passed Black Codes to restrict freedoms. Sharecropping trapped many Black families and poor whites in debt. Violent groups like the Ku Klux Klan terrorized Black voters.

Before Europeans arrived, diverse Indigenous cultures thrived across North America. The Ancestral Puebloans (Southwest) built cliff dwellings, the Mississippians (Southeast) built huge mounds like Cahokia, and the Iroquois (Northeast) formed a powerful political league (the Iroquois Confederacy). Most tribes relied on hunting, fishing, and farming—especially maize (corn), which allowed populations to grow.

In April 1775, British troops marched to Concord, Massachusetts, to seize colonial weapons. At Lexington and Concord , the “shot heard ‘round the world” started the war.

Seeking a sea route to Asia, Christopher Columbus (sailing for Spain) landed in the Caribbean in 1492. This contact began the Columbian Exchange —a vast transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Europeans brought horses, wheat, and sugar; they took back maize, potatoes, and tobacco. Devastating diseases like smallpox wiped out up to 90% of some Native populations.

Reunite the nation and define freedom for 4 million newly freed African Americans.

myWorld Interactive Connection Essential Question: How did the struggle for freedom and unity define the United States from its origins through Reconstruction? Part 1: Early Beginnings & Colonization (Pre-1607 – 1630) Key Vocabulary: Bering Land Bridge, Maize, Columbian Exchange, Encomienda system, Joint-stock company

Fought against Britain over impressment of sailors, trade restrictions, and Native alliances. The U.S. gained respect after key victories (Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson). The war inspired a national anthem (“The Star-Spangled Banner”) and ended the Federalist Party.