Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

economy. In the late 1600s and early

1700s the French captured many trading

posts from the Hudson’s Bay Company.

In 1608 Samuel de Champlain founded

Quebec as the first permanent French

settlement. One French explorer, the

Sieur de La Salle, floated down the Mississippi

River in 1682 and claimed all

the land it drained.

France also claimed islands in the Caribbean

Sea, including what is now Haiti.

Queen Elizabeth I is pictured asking English

explorer Sir Walter Raleigh to start a colony

in Virginia for England.

Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag Native

Americans, visits with the English settlers

called Pilgrims.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Americas, Exploration and Settlement of the 105

 

In the mid-1600s France founded

French Guiana on the northeastern coast

of South America.

France and England (which united with

Scotland to form Great Britain in 1707)

often fought over land in North America.

106 Americas, Exploration and Settlement of the BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

One such fight became known as the

French and IndianWar. At the end of

that war, in 1763, Great Britain won

control of French Canada. It also won all

other French territory east of the

Mississippi River. France sold its

territories farther west to the United

States in 1803.

Other Colonies

The Portuguese were among the earliest

explorers in the Americas. However, the

only colony they set up was Brazil, in

South America.

In about 1626 the Dutch built a settlement

in North America called New

Amsterdam. The English took over New

Amsterdam in 1664 and renamed it

New York. The Dutch also set up colonies

in the Caribbean. They are now

known as the Netherlands Antilles.

Russia came to North America from the

west. The Russians set up their first permanent

settlement in Alaska in 1784.

The Russians traded for furs as far south

as California. In 1867 Russia sold Alaska

to the United States.

End of Colonialism

Most colonies in North, Central, and

South America became independent

between 1776 and 1826. Many islands,

however, remained colonies.

In 1823 President James Monroe of the

United States issued a statement called

the Monroe Doctrine. It declared that

European countries were no longer welcome

to set up colonies in the Americas.

#More to explore

Balboa, Vasco Nunez de • Cabot, John

• Cartier, Jacques • Columbus,

Christopher • Cortes, Hernan • Fur

Trade • La Salle, Sieur de • Magellan,

Ferdinand • Massachusetts Bay Colony

• Native Americans • Plymouth Colony

• Slavery • Vespucci, Amerigo

In 1562 French explorer Jean Ribaut

brought colonists from France to North

America. They landed near Saint John’s

River in what is now Florida.

The first colonies

in the

Americas to

win their independence

were the 13

colonies that

became the

United States.

An illustration from 1698 depicts the last

expedition of the French explorer Sieur de

La Salle

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Americas, Exploration and Settlement of the 107

 

Amman

Population

(2004 estimate)

1,036,330

Amman is the capital of the Middle

Eastern country of Jordan. The city

spreads over a series of rolling hills.

Amman is Jordan’s largest city. It is also

Jordan’s main center of business,

finance, and international trade.

People have lived in the area for thousands

of years. In ancient times the city

was the capital of the Ammonites, a

people often mentioned in the Bible.

Egypt conquered the city more than

2,000 years ago. Many other powers

controlled the city over the years. But

for reasons that are still unknown,

Amman disappeared by AD 1300.

In 1878 some people fleeing Russia created

a small village in the area. Amman’s

revival began in 1921. That year it

became the capital of a territory called

Transjordan. Transjordan (now Jordan)

became an independent country in

1946. After that, Amman grew rapidly.

..More to explore

Jordan

Amoeba

An amoeba is a one-celled creature that

is among the simplest of all living organisms.

Most amoebas are so small that

they can only be seen though a microscope.

There they look like tiny blobs of

colorless jelly.

Amoebas are found in fresh and salt

water. They also live in the moist body

parts of other animals and in moist soil.

At least six types of amoeba are found in

human beings.

An amoeba has few parts. It has a thin

covering called a membrane. Inside is a

nucleus, food vacuoles, and a contractile

vacuole. The food vacuoles digest food.

The contractile vacuole gets rid of extra

water.

Amoebas move by changing their shape.

First, an amoeba extends a part of its

jellylike body outward, like a stubby

finger projecting out of a closed fist. This

projection is called a pseudopod, or false

foot. The amoeba then pours the main

Amman has many remains of

buildings from ancient times. A

theater built by the Romans

almost 2,000 years ago is just

one example.

108 Amman BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

part of its body into the pseudopod,

which makes the pseudopod grow

bigger. Eventually the pseudopod gets so

big that it becomes the whole body. New

pseudopods form as old ones disappear.

For food, amoebas depend mainly on

plants and other one-celled animals.

Amoebas use their pseudopods as