Seeking the Main point 29servants themselves. These backcountry settlers encountered native agricultural-
ists along a shifting borderland of conflict and trade.
By the late 1600s, Great Britain dominated the North American Atlantic
seaboard, and its colonies were populated with diverse British populations.
Although the British colonists came from a loosely homogeneous culture, the
diversity throughout the North American British colonies led to great diversity
in economic and social structures.Seeking the Main Point
As you read the documents in this chapter, keep the following broad questions
in mind. They will help you understand the relationship between the documents
in this chapter and the historical changes that they represent. As you reflect on
these questions, determine which themes and which documents best address
them.•
In what ways did colonization stimulate conflicts between native peoples
and European colonists?•
What were the effects of these conflicts on European colonists? On native
peoples?•
Compare the interests of Europeans, colonists, and native peoples during
this era of expansion. In what ways were these interests similar? In what
ways did they diverge?•
What documents here signified the development of a slave-based economy
in North America?•
What regional differences began to become apparent in North America dur-
ing this period?28 ChapTEr 2 | Colonial north aMeriCa | period two 16 07–175 4
03_STA_2012_ch2_027-056.indd 29 11/03/15 12:37 PM