Test 5-7 on Friday!

 Now that I’ve snapped out of it, let’s try this again…
STUDY!

Make sure you bring your books with you.

French Settlement Patterns in North America

The 270-year presence of the French in continental North America began with the landing of Jacques Cartier along the St. Lawrence River in 1534. It ended in 1803 with the selling of the Louisiana Territory to America. In between there was fur trading, and Jesuit missionary/adventurers, and Indian wars.

The settlement patterns of New France, as the French holdings were called, were dominated by water. Hundreds of trading settlements were scattered along rivers and lakes throughout the northern reaches of North America. Actual French settlement was affected by development of fur trading rather than agriculture as the primary purpose of settlement. The fact that the fur trade was also called the Indian trade gives some indication about the importance of maintaining hunting grounds for Native Americans, unlike the pattern which emerged in English and Spanish areas of settlement, where Native Americans were either displaced to make way for farms or utilized for labor.

Fur trading depended upon cooperation with the Native Americans (known as First Nations in Canada), and the maintenance of habitat for the animals whose pelts were most valued: the beaver, whose hair was used to make durable felt for hats and other pieces of apparel. Therefore, much of the French domain in North America, particularly near the Great Lakes and throughout the watershed of the Mississippi River contained only scattered small villages, at best, usually along waterways to facilitate the shipping of furs out of the continental interior toward European markets. Some sizable French settlements in North America included Quebec, Montreal, St. Louis, and, eventually, New Orleans. Except for anabortive attempt to establish a settlement for French Protestants (known as Huguenots) at Fort Caroline, Florida (currently Jacksonville) that lasted less than a year before being destroyed by the neighboring Spanish, French settlers were Roman Catholic, as demanded by royal advisor Cardinal Richelieu

Quebec’s founding in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain initiated the largest and one of the most successful of French settlements in the area now known as Canada. Champlain realized the importance of good relations with the indigenous people of the area, and encouraged young Frenchmen, known as coureurs de bois, to live among the Indians and learn their ways. Champlain also facilitated good relations with the Huron and Algonquian Indians, and in doing so, the French took the Hurons’ side in their struggles against the Iroquis Confederacy. This decision eventually led to the Iroquois’ alignment with the British and with an outbreak known as the Iroquois Wars (or the Beaver Wars, after the resource that provoked all the fighting) in the mid-17th century. These wars nearly drove the French out of North America, and resulted in the panicked exodus of Native Americans from the Ohio Country.

The warfare among Indian tribes which had always existed became even more brutal as Indians received firearms through the fur trade. Paradoxically, the use of firearms also pushed the beaver to extinction, intensifying competition among the Native tribes for access to the pelts that made getting more firearms possible. From their homebase in what is now New York state, the Iroquois began pushing westward as their access to beaver declined, displacing and often conquering other tribes as they moved.

First Test on Thursday! Chapters 1-4!

Make sure you are studying for your first test in this class! Start with your terms, then the questions from the study guide, as well as class notes. Make sure you understand the significance and the effects of events as well as the causes. The test will be multiple choice. Please bring a pencil.
Make sure you have read the posts for chapters 1-4 on this blog as well.

DBQ practice tonight

Continue your T-chart that you started in class today, using all of the documents if you can. The think about what your thesis would be.

First rule: make sure it fully answers the question!

Make sure you know the three big rules for DBQ writing.

Also, make sure you have read the posts for chapter 1.

And remember, today’s word of the day was “anachronism.”

Hints for a successful year

Here are some useful hints to help orient you for the upcoming year:

1. Use the website that accompanies the text as well as this one, which you should check several times a week. We will cover 42 chapters in about 33 weeks, so we have to stay on schedule.

2. DO YOUR READING! You will only cheat yourself, not to mention hurt your grade, if you don’t allot time to read the chapter (and assigned readings on this blog) slowly enough to understand the material.
There really are no shortcuts. When it comes right down to it, learning is far more dependent upon the effort and responsibility you demonstrate, rather than any other factor. You will get out of this class what you put into it. That can be good– or bad.

3. Stay organized! Use a calendar or day planner to keep track of assignments– I will hand you the reading schedule on the first day of school, and then you are expected to know when the deadlines and quizzes are.

4. Study! This class is cumulative– you are expected to learn the information and retain it so that you may demonstrate your knowledge and understanding on the AP exam at the end of the year. Quizzes will contain review questions form previous chapters. Don’t wait until a week before the AP exam to begin reviewing.

5. Always come to class prepared. Have a question or observation ready so that you can participate in the discussion.

6. Always date and label your notes so that you know what they are later when you need them for review. I would suggest that you put this information at the top of the page: Date, Chapter, Specific Topic. (Frankly, I would suggest strongly that you do this for ALL of your classes!)

REMEMBER: Your optional-but-highly-valuable extra credit terms and questions over the first four chapters are due on August 15 and are good for 100 points of extra credit. Bring them with you on August 15, and make sure they are your own work and not copied from somewhere.

Suggested supplies for APUSH

Well, since the school sales started practically back in June, I thought that it might be a good idea to suggest a few things for you to make your life easier in APUSH.

Suggested supply list:
1 binder, at least 2 inches thick, to organize and hold papers

notebook filler paper, either college or wide ruled (whatever suits you, but I prefer college ruled myself)

4 dividers for binder, to create sections for in-class notes, text notes + chapter terms defintions, skills development (vocabulary and writing), and handouts

pink or yellow highlighter

black or blue ink pens– no funky colors or gel, please!

# 2 pencils, which you must have with you at all times (Note: I do not stock mechanical pencil lead, so make sure you’ve got enough for yourself if this is what you like to use)

I would also strongly suggest that you have a GOOD dictionary and thesaurus on hand for when you are reading or writing– for any class.

Roget’s Thesaurus is the classic thesaurus, and I have found that Merriam-Webster’s Tenth Collegiate Dictionary is an excellent dictionary that you will be able to use all the way through college– don’t just depend upon a website, because, you know, sometimes these go down.

— Then you know, actually USE the dictionary when you encounter a word you do not know. Vocabulary development is CRUCIAL to success, but especially in this class and other college-level classes, –not to mention on the ACT and SAT, and so on.

We will be taking notes over European exploration and colonization (Chapters 1-4) on the first day of class, so come ready to go on August 15! Don’t forget your extra credit summer assignment is due on that day, as well!