ENGLISH COLONIZATION
Early English Settlements
Jamestown, 1607
● Though England could colonize, they had not yet est. something permanent.
● 1588 – England defeats the Spanish Armada; became ruler of the seas
● Also, there was vast unemployment in England as a result of population growth
● Closure system – separation of land plots, domestication of animals
● Primogeniture – oldest son stood to inherit father’s land
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Younger sons set out to settle land
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Est. joint stock systems to make money; would pool people’s money together
to finance voyage (Virginia Company)
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Colonies were funded this way
● The first colony was est. by VA company
Jamestown – 1st permanent settlement
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Suffered Native American attacks, famine, diseases
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Grew tobacco, but not enough food
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Settled along James River fertile valleys, plentiful land malaria and
dysentery resulted from river atmosphere
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Winter 1609-1610 – “Starving Time”; almost everyone died, but supplies came
in at last minute
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Gentlemen settled land, unaccustomed to physical work
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‘Gold Diggers’ also settled – young men wanted to grow rich
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John Smith forced a ‘work-eat’ policy
○ captain who led Jamestown, saved it and enforced rules
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John Rolf
○ est. tobacco industry, married Pocahontas
○ used indentured servants to meet labor needs
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VA Company made much profit from tobacco sales, but went bankrupt
○ King revoked charter
○ James I took VA and made it England’s first royal colony
● Puritan Colonies
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Different motives for settling
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Religion
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Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay were the settlements
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They were settled by English Protestants unhappy with the Church of England
(Anglican Church); wanted to purify it
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Protestants = protesting the Catholic church
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James I viewed the Puritans as a threat to his authority
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Puritans rejected the idea of reforming the church of England = became known
as the ‘Separatists’
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Set out to search for religious freedom
○ first went to Holland
○ then decided to settle a different American colony controlled by VA
company
○ 1620 – boarded the Mayflower; signed the Mayflower Compact, ‘fledgling
democracy’
○ fewer than half of those on the Mayflower were pilgrims, most sought
profit
A.
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○
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65 day stormy voyage, landed north of original destination; est. the colony
of Plymouth
○ suffered harsh winter; survived because of Native American
○ Celebrated first successful harvest on a day in 1621
○ Miles Standish and governor ran the land
● survived by hunting, fishing, farming
● later became manufacturing center because of shallow, fast moving
rivers
● rocky, hilly geography
settled in towns, developed communities
and unity
More Puritans were be persecuted in England by King Charles
○ They started the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1629
○ John Winthrop led 1000 Puritans in 1630 to found Boston, a Beacon upon
the hill
○ Civil War in England resulted in many more Puritans moving in the
“Great Migration”; Quakers also came in as part of the Migration.
B. Early Political Institutions
● At first, England allowed colonies a great deal of self rule
salutary neglect
● Mayflower Compact – pledged that decisions would be made my majority; represented early
form of self government/written Constitution
● VA tried to encourage Jamestown settlement by guaranteeing the “Rights of Englishmen” to all
settlers (representation, jury, etc.)
● 1619 – House of Burgesses was formed; first rep. assembly
● Burgesses were elected
● MA Bay Company had limited democracy
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Said all white, free, male members of Puritan church could vote in annual
elections for colonial governor
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Only white male property owners could vote and many governors had unlimited
powers
C. Spanish Settlements in NA
● Settled in St. Augustine in 1565
● Santa Fe – 1609
● Pueblo revolt in 1680 because Spanish were trying to Christianize them; Spanish were driven out
● Settled in Texas in early 1700s; est. missions
● Wanted influence in lower Mississippi River area
● California was also settled
● Russians were coming down from Alaska and Spain wanted involvement
● San Diego was founded in 1769
● San Francisco was est. in 1776
● Many missions were est. along the coast
D. European Treatment of Native Americans
● Spanish Policy
● Spanish married dark-skinned Indians (Mayas, Aztecs)
● Conquistadors came in and declared war, pillaged land
● Europeans brought measles and it wiped out entire tribes
● Africans came over to provide labor for Spanish colonists in a strict social system
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English Policy
● Created issues between tribes, led them to destroy one another
● At first, the NAs and English got along
● But that gave way to conflict and warfare, English did not respect NAs
● French Policy
● Fur trappers looking for Catholic converts
● Saw NAs as allies economically and militarily (French and Indian War)
● French maintained good relations
● Traders built trading posts along St. Lawrence Valley and Mississippi
THIRTEEN COLONIES AND BRITISH EMPIRE (1607-1850)
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13 colonies developed along the eastern coast before 1732
Colonies got charters from the English Crown
○ Corporate Colonies – Virginia
Virginia Company
○ Royal Colony – under direct authority of monarchs
○ Proprietary Colonies – under the authority of individuals with the King’s
blessing(MD and Penn.)
○ Allowance of degrees of independence caused tensions to rise
○ 1632 – Charles I subdivided VA
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Part of it was given to George Calvert aka Lord Baltimore (Catholic who was
loyal to Crown0
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This colony became Maryland, a proprietary colony
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George Calvert died before he could achieve his 2 goals:
● Earn capital
● Create a Catholic safe haven
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Cesil Calvert took over and carried on his wishes
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To avoid persecution, English Catholics moved to Maryland
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But they were outnumbered, and Protestants held majority in rep. assembly in
Maryland
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Calvert convinced Protestants to adopt Act of Toleration – asking for
tolerance for Catholics
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If you claimed Jesus as Divine, you were safe….. if not, you were screwed…
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Protestants resented Catholic Proprietors, erupted in brief Civil War,
Protestants won, and Act of Toleration was repealed
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Chesapeake Colonies
● MD
● 13 colonies developed along the eastern coast before 1732
● Colonies got charters from the English Crown
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Corporate Colonies – Virginia Virginia Company
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Royal Colony – under direct authority of monarchs
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Proprietary Colonies – under the authority of individuals with the King’s
blessing(MD and Penn.)
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Allowance of degrees of independence caused tensions to rise
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1632 – Charles I subdivided VA
○ Part of it was given to George Calvert aka Lord Baltimore (Catholic who
was loyal to Crown0
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This colony became Maryland, a proprietary colony
George Calvert died before he could achieve his 2 goals:
● Earn capital
● Create a Catholic safe haven
Cesil Calvert took over and carried on his wishes
To avoid persecution, English Catholics moved to Maryland
But they were outnumbered, and Protestants held majority in rep.
assembly in Maryland
Calvert convinced Protestants to adopt Act of Toleration – asking for
tolerance for Catholics
If you claimed Jesus as Divine, you were safe….. if not, you were
screwed…
Protestants resented Catholic Proprietors, erupted in brief Civil War,
Protestants won, and Act of Toleration was repealed
VA
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Suffered from many problems
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Created surplus of tobacco, prices dropped
● Sir William Berkeley became Royal Governor
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Adopted policy that favored planters
○ Piedmont farmers – farmed land near mountains; not premium lands,
small amounts of land; good for growing tobacco
● Many were previously indentured servants
● Were hit by Indian attacks first, went to Berkeley for help
● Rebelled against governor by fighting Indians
● House of Burgesses had to stop the ‘backwoods farmers’ from
rebelling
● Nathanial Bacon helped rally the farmers, led Bacon’s rebellion
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Rallied army of farmers; burned areas of Jamestown;
defeated some of the VA forces
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Many of the farmers caught dysentery and died
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Bacon’s rebellion showed that there were sharp class
divisions in VA social class
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Shows increase in rebellion against authority
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Also, planters began to distrust indentured servants and
small farmers led to slavery, trustworthy permanent
controlled labor force
● Labor Shortages
● Chesapeake grew slowly because of high death rates, Indian attacks, climate, disease
● Also, there were uneven numbers of men and women, so families could not be started
easily
● Women could be indentured servants, but if they were pregnant, the time counted against
them
● Virginia Company offered land
Headwright system – certain amount of land awarded
for each laborer brought over and paid for
● Slavery was very expensive
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Africans were not treated as slaves at first
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Many slaves were used in the West Indies and the sugar industry
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1660s – House of Burgesses created laws that divided blacks and whites and
identified blacks and their offspring as slaves.
B. Development
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of New England
Dissidents (people thrown out of Puritan Massachusetts) developed the New England Colonies
● Roger Williams believed that conscience is beyond people, against Puritan way of life
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RI
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Dissidents (people thrown out of other colonies) developed the New England Colonies
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Roger Williams believed that conscience is beyond people, against Puritan way
of life
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Fled South and developed Providence in 1636
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Paid Native Americans for land and adopted religious Tolerance
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Also developed the first Baptist Church
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Anne Hutchinson was another dissenter
○ Believed in antinomianism – idea that faith alone, not deeds, is necessary
for salvation
○ She was banished and founded Portsmouth, in 1638
○ Later, she moved to Long Island and was killed by NAs
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Roger Williams was granted a charter from Parliament in 1644 and combined
Portsmouth and Providence, creating Rhode Island
CT
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To the west of RI, was the fertile CT Valley
Reverend Thomas Hooker led many Boston Puritans unhappy with Massachusetts
Puritanism to valley and founded Hartford in 1636
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Developed the 1st constitution – the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
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Legislation was elected by popular vote and governor was chosen by the
legislature
● New Haven was founded by John Davenport south of Hartford
● In 1655, New Haven joined Hartford and became Connecticut, were granted a charter and
given a degree of self-rule
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NH
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Last colony of NE; originally part of Massachusetts Bay Colony
Charles II was trying to have more control of Massachusetts, so he separated NH and
made it a royal colony (1679)
● By the 1660s, a generation of Puritans had passed in the Americas
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The next generation was less committed to the Puritan ways material success
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In an effort to maintain church’s influence and membership, rules had to be
changed
● Halfway Covenant
● Let people come to church with a limited religious commitment
● People who weren’t full-blown members could attend and participate in services
● Many people didn’t accept this
● Strict Puritan practices were weakened to increase numbers
● New England Confederation
● British colonists were suffering French, Dutch and NA attacks and were not receiving
help from Britain
● Formed a confederation – New England Alliance – of 4 colonies
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Lasted about 40 years
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Settled minor disputes
England regained control and the cooperation broke up
Est. a precedent of colonies uniting for a joint purpose
Before its demise, the Confederation helped the colonists deal with a NA issue
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Metacom (Wampanoag, King Philip) King Philip’s War (1675-1676)
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Though many colonies suffered damage, King Philip was killed
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This ended most NA resistance in America
C. Restoration
● Carolinas
○ Charles II was restored to the crown after Cromwell the Dictator was removed
○ Granted land to 8 Noblemen who became the proprietors of the Carolinas
○ South Carolina – people from England and planters from Barbados formed Charles Town
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Economy was based on fur trading and providing food for the West Indies
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Known for rice plantations worked by African slaves
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Econ was tied to that of the West Indies
○ North Carolina
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Relied less on slavery and plantation
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Known for medium-sized independent farmers
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Democratic rep.
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Self-governed
● NY and NJ
○ NY
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Dutch were located in New Amsterdam (NY)
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English wanted to create a bridge among colonies
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King granted his brother the land between CT River and Delaware Bay
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James dispatched forces and took control of area, forcing the Dutch governor
(Peter Stuyvesant) to surrender NY
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Agents were told to rename the area New York
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Treated Dutch well
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But he didn’t allow assemblies and issued taxes without representation strong
opposition from New Yorkers
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Finally, he gave in and appointed a governor
○ NJ
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NY seemed to be too big, so James gave a southern chunk to two of his friends
(West Jersey and East Jersey)
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Eventually sold land that was given to them to the Quakers (Society of Friends)
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As a result, boundaries were disputed
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In 1702, King decided to combine the Jerseys into one colony – New Jersey
○ Pennsylvania
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Fertile land south of Jersey first settled by Quakers – believed in equality of all
men and women – pacifists – King was forcing them to pay tithe and they refused
and left
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Believed religious authority is a private and individual matter – radical views at
the time – widely persecuted
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One of the Quakers was William Penn – father was a victorious admiral who
worked with the King
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The King granted William land – Pennsylvania – “Penn’s Woods”
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GA
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C.
Wanted to achieve:
○ Religious refuge for Quakers and everyone else
○ A liberal government
○ To make money
Created a representative assembly, constitution, and full tolerance
Lived in England, but spent time in colonies
Spent fliers all over Europe to attract settlers
Treated NAs fairly; Dutch and Swedish moved there
In 1702, he decided to split up the lower 3 counties of Pennsylvania,
giving them their own assemblies
○ These counties became Delaware
1732 – Georgia was chartered; directly supported by Parliament
Created for 2 Reasons:
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Buffer zone – Spanish controlled Florida
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Sent British debtors to settle there – a fresh start
James Oglethorpe founded Savannah in 1733 on a charter
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Was elected first governor and had regulations (ban on rum)
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Gave up on plan, British gov. took it over and it began to resemble South Carolina
Grew slowly; relatively insignificant colony
Mercantilism/Empire
● Acts of T and N
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Under Mercantilism, the key things were:
■ trade
■ accumulating wealth
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According to M., country should regulate trade and become self-sufficient
■ Job of colonies were to enrich mother country
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In order to carry out M., government issued Trade and Navigation Acts (16501673)
■ Trade – to and from the colonies could only be carried out by English or
their colonists; only on English or Colonial ships
■ All goods that came into the colonies, except for some perishables, had to
go through English ports wanted to maintain monopoly
■ Specific goods (enumerated goods) from the colonies could be exported
only to England (Tobacco, etc)
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Positives
■ New England did well because shipping prospered
■ Chesapeake tobacco farmers benefited because they had a monopoly in
England
■ English navy protected colonial trade
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Negatives
■ Limited colonial manufacturing
■ Even though Chesapeake tobacco farmers had a monopoly, they received
low prices on exports, while imports were high
■ Created friction and hard feelings between colonies and England
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Smuggling occurred; British were lax in watching the trade
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Chose to ‘look the other way’ when Acts of T and N were not being enforced –
salutary neglect
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Colonists gained more independence
Dominion of New England
● Tried to combine MA, NY, and NJ to create central control
● Edmund Andros – brought in to lead dominion
○ He was very unpopular and took away people’s rights and freedoms
● Glorious Revolution was taking place in England; William and Mary took the
throne; Andros was abolished and charters were recovered (MA, NY, NJ)
Slavery
○ Became a big trade issue for the colonies
○ Number of slaves grew from thousands in the 1670s to tens of thousands in the 1700s
○ By 1750, half of VA’s population was slaves and 2/3s of NC’s was slaves
○ Slavery became important for several reasons:
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Migration from England to the colonies slowed down wages in England
went up
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Slavery was a reliable and dependable workforce, especially after Bacon’s
Rebellion
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Slavery also became cheaper
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Rice and indigo became two profitable crops needed more labor
○ 1641 – MA became the first colony to recognize the slavery of ‘lawful captives’
○ 1661 – VA said that children inherited their parents slavery status
○ Maryland said that baptism couldn’t affect the slave’s status
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Also said that white women couldn’t marry African American men
● Triangle Trade
th
○ 17 century – English trade in African slaves had been monopolized by the Royal
African company, but their monopoly expired
○ After that, New England merchants ran the slave trade
○ Ships from New England would travel to West African with rum, pick up slaves, and
travel to the West Indies; Africa West Indies = “Middle Passage”
○ The ships would then return to New England
○ New England
West Africa West Indies = Triangle Trade – done independently
by colonists; no crown involvement