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THE SIMULATION LAB
Free printable · APUSH Topics 2.1–2.2

Four-Empire Colonial Strategy Cards

Sixteen strategy cards, six constraint tokens, a four-empire comparison mat, and a teacher key. Students compare Spanish, French, Dutch, and English colonization on settlement, labor, land, and relations with Indigenous nations — and then explain why the four looked so different.

Why this page exists: the Atlantic Empires Dashboard and the Colonial Strategy Board are both written around empire cards that never shipped as a file. One deck runs both lessons.

Nothing to download, no email, no account. Print straight from this page. Built for Lessons 2.1 and 2.2 of APUSH Launch Control, and it works in any course that teaches the same ground.

How to print it

Each button opens your browser's normal print box with only that one piece selected — the website navigation, this text, and the teacher key never come out of the printer by accident. Choose your printer, press Print. Nothing downloads.

  1. The 22 cards — 4 pages, 6 per page. Sixteen strategy cards (four per empire) and six constraint tokens. Cut on the dashed lines; one set per group of four.
  2. The comparison mat — 1 page, prints sideways. One per group. Four empire zones, then the boxes where the comparison actually gets argued.
  3. The teacher key — 2 pages, for you only. What each card shows, plus the correction to make when it comes up. Stays collapsed here; never prints with the student sheets.
  4. Maps are not included on purpose. The lesson calls for a North American claims map. Project the one you already use — a claims map is a historical document, and this page will not fake one.

22 cards · 4 pages at 6 per page · four empires · cut on the dashed lines

Four-Empire Colonial Strategy CardsCut on the dashed lines. Sort by empire, then compare. thesimulationlabedu.com

The cards

Four cards per empire — settlement, labor, land, and relations with Indigenous nations — plus six constraint tokens that explain why an empire could not simply choose any strategy it liked.

Four-Empire Comparison MatOne per group. Cards in the empire zone, then argue the boxes. thesimulationlabedu.com

The comparison mat

Four zones for the empire cards. The boxes underneath are the lesson — a comparison is not a list of four descriptions.

Spain

Strategy cards here.

France

Strategy cards here.

England

Strategy cards here.

Netherlands

Strategy cards here.

The category where the four differ most — and the difference
Two empires that look similar until you check labor
Which constraint best explains a difference you found?
One thing all four shared, stated without flattening them
Teacher key — what each card shows and the correction to make (click to open)
Teacher Key — Four-Empire Strategy CardsDo not hand to students. thesimulationlabedu.com

Kept closed by default so it is not on the board behind you.

Free from The Simulation Lab · https://thesimulationlabedu.com/history/apush/tools/four-empire-strategy-cards/

Run it in one class period

  1. Opener, 5 minutes. Deal one strategy card per student. Each says which empire they think it belongs to and why, before anything is confirmed.
  2. Sort, 15 minutes. Groups place all 16 strategy cards into the four zones and defend any card another group placed differently.
  3. Add the constraints, 10 minutes. Six tokens. For each, name one empire whose strategy it best explains.
  4. Compare, 12 minutes. Fill the four boxes. Insist on a category — settlement, labor, land, or Indigenous relations — rather than a general impression.
  5. Exit, 5 minutes. One sentence explaining a difference between two empires using a goal and a constraint, not a national personality.

The trap this set exists to avoid. Students reduce four empires to four adjectives — brutal Spain, friendly France, land-hungry England, tolerant Netherlands. The constraint tokens exist to force a better answer: each empire pursued its aims inside limits it did not choose.

These are teacher-authored comparison cards, not primary sources. The lesson also calls for a North American claims map; project the one you already use. A claims map is a historical document, and this page will not fabricate one.

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Written and reviewed by Josh, classroom history teacher and Simulation Lab creator. Published and reviewed August 19, 2026. Print and copy freely for your own classroom. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.