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over the course of the slave trade.

The slave trade had an immense effect on Africa. As slavery became more crucial to the economies of the
Americas, prices for slaves increased and made the slave trade a lucrative occupation. Europeans traded
guns and other weapons for slaves, which helped certain African factions dominate their regions and bulk
up their treasuries by capturing and selling their conquered foes.

Originally brought over as indentured servants, these Africans were soon outright slaves, unable to gain
their freedom. In the latter half of the 1600s, the colonies assembled the slave codes, which
institutionalized the practice of slavery by passing laws that set out specific guidelines for owning and
trading slaves.

While tobacco and other crops were the initial impetus for slave labor, cotton soon surpassed all of them.
The invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s created a huge demand for slaves, and, by 1850, almost two-
thirds of these slaves were involved in the production of cotton in the South. Slavery and states’ rights
were two crucial issues in pushing the United States toward civil war. In 1865, slavery was abolished by
the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Review

• Pre-Columbian refers to an era in the Americas before widespread European
colonization. The Aztecs, Inca, and Maya are well-known pre-Columbian cultures.
• In 1607, Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in North America.
• Tension and fighting between the English, French, and Dutch marked the colonial era,
as did cooperation and opposition by certain indigenous peoples.
• Some key figures in the colonial era were the Englishmen John Smith, William Penn,
Cecil Calvert, and Roger Williams.
• The slave era in the United States lasted from 1607 to 1865, when slavery was
abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment.

The War for Independence

Lesson Objective

This lesson will review the conditions and causes that led up to the Revolutionary War. The review
will also look at people and nations that played key roles in the conflict and examine the ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

Previously Covered

The previous lesson reviewed the era when European explorers and conquerors landed on the North
American continent. This lesson also discussed slavery in the colonies and examined some of the major
figures of the era.

Tensions across the Atlantic

Below are some of the events that eventually led Britain and her colonies to war: