Name ___________________
Chapter 4
The English Colonization
Of North America
Standard 8-1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the settlement of South Carolina and the United States by Native
Americans, Europeans, and Africans.
Indicator 3: Summarize the history of English settlement in New England, the mid-Atlantic region, and the South, with an
emphasis on South Carolina as an example of a distinctly southern colony.
Vocabulary
Mercantilism
Joint stock company
Headright system
Slave
Plantation
Lords Proprietors
Proprietor
Quitrent
Elite
Religious toleration
Cash crop
Page 1 of 7
The Southern Colonies
Roanoke, Virginia
1.
Why were the English
interested in starting a colony
in North America?
2. The idea of growing rich by
owning as many raw materials
and exporting more than you
import is known as
_______________.
3. Where was the first English
attempt at settlement?
4. Who is Virginia Dare?
After the Spanish and French abandon the east coast of the North America,
the English become interested in settling the area. They were interested in
North America as a colony, a place where they could harvest raw materials
and natural resources that they could then sell all over the world to make
money.
This idea is called mercantilism which is a method of growing rich by
exporting more goods than you import. If England could colonize this huge
area, then the resources would belong to them and they could then use them
to gain wealth.
The first English attempt at a settlement was Roanoke, Virginia (it was
actually in present day North Carolina, but was part of a charter for the
Virginia colony). In 1587 John White left England and built a settlement
and named it Roanoke. On this voyage he carried men, women, and
children including his son in law and daughter who was pregnant with his
grandchild. John White’s grand-daughter, Virginia Dare was born and
would be the first English person born on North American soil.
As with many early settlements, times were tough, work was hard, and
shortages of supplies encouraged John White to return to England to secure
5. Why did John White leave the additional settlers and supplies. However, when he arrived in England and
approached the Queen asking for these men and supplies, the Queen was
colony?
unable to give him the supplies because England was at war with Spain and
6. What kept him from returning she had reserved the supplies for the War effort.
with the supplies they needed?
3 years later, he was finally able to get what he needed and returned to
Roanoke. When he arrived, he found no sign of the colony or the people he
7. What happened to Roanoke,
had left behind. The only evidence left was the word “Croatoan” carved
VA?
into a tree. This was the name of a local Native American tribe. Did they
go to the Croatoan for help? Did the Croatoan attack? He would never
know.
8. Why did John White not try to
find his colony and family?
A massive storm was brewing in the Atlantic and the captain of the ship
told John White that he would stay no longer. If John White wanted to stay
to look for the settlers, he would stay alone. As the captain, he was
interested in the safety of his boat and crew. John White died many years
later, never knowing what happened to his family. Roanoke became known
as the Lost Colony.
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Jamestown, Virginia
9. What was the first successful
English colony?
10. Why did investors invest in
the colony?
11. Why did Jamestown suffer so
many hardships on the
beginning?
12. Why was tobacco in high
demand?
13. How did you receive land
under the headright system?
14. How did the headright system
encourage slavery?
15. What is the difference
between a slave and an
indentured servant?
16. What was the first
representative government in
the colonies?
Jamestown was the first successful English settlement in the New World
and was founded in 1607. It was founded by a joint stock company. This
simply means that many people joined together and invested in the colony
in hopes of making a profit.
The settlers who came to Jamestown endured several years of starvation and
death before the colony started to become successful. Much of this came
from the fact that the first settlers did not plant crops like they should have.
Instead, they were hoping to find gold and become rich quick, so they
wasted much of their time looking for gold which led to them running out
of food. The story of Pocahontas comes from Jamestown, Virginia.
After many years, they finally established the colony and now it was time to
make some money. They began growing tobacco which immediately
became Virginia’s top cash crop. It was in high demand in England; after
all, it was an addictive substance.
Because the colony began doing well, the London Company introduced the
headright system to try to encourage more settlers. The headright system
gave land to anyone who paid for their own passage to America, but also
gave land to anyone who paid someone else’s passage to America.
The headright system promoted the establishment of large plantations
because for every indentured servant and slave you brought over, you were
given more land. More people=more land. This encouraged people to
bring more and more slaves and servants to America.
By the end of the 1600s African slaves became the most commonly used
form of cheap labor on plantations. Indentured servants only worked for an
average of 7 years before they were released, but once a slave was
purchased, he could work for you for life. Jamestown, Virginia became the
model for all of the other southern colonies. The system was in place, they
just needed a valuable cash crop.
Another significant contribution of the Jamestown colony was the
establishment of the House of Burgesses in 1619. This is the first
representative government in America and gave the settlers a voice in
government. The House of Burgesses was modeled after the English
Magna Carta.
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South Carolina ~ One of the Southern colonies
17. How did the southern
colonies make money?
18. Why would SC not want to
grow tobacco?
19. What crops would SC choose
to grow?
20. When was SC founded?
21. Who were the 8 Lords
Proprietors?
22. How did they intend on
making money off the colony?
23. Who wrote the Fundamental
Constitution of SC?
24. SC was one of the only
colonies that allowed religious
toleration~ what is that?
25. What group of people held
most of the power in SC?
26. How did the proprietors
encourage settlement in SC?
27. In turn the headright system
encouraged settlers to bring
what with them?
The southern colonies were perfect for growing many crops, so the plantation
system and slave labor became the way the southern colonies made money. In
order to have a cash crop, you have to have a crop that is high in demand, but
ideally one that also is in low supply. Both of these situations cause prices to
rise. This made each of the colonies focus on different crops. For example,
Virginia, Maryland and parts of NC relied on tobacco, so SC would not want to
also grow tobacco. If they had, prices for tobacco would have dropped.
Instead, SC chose rice and indigo.
South Carolina was founded in 1670 as a proprietary colony when King
Charles II granted land to the 8 Lords Proprietors in payment of a debt, just as
he had to a single proprietor in Pennsylvania. These proprietors hoped to make
a profit off of the land by charging settlers a quitrent on the land. Charles Town
was the first settlement and today we know it as Charleston, SC.
The proprietors had John Locke write the Fundamental Constitutions of
Carolina. This document included policies, such as religious toleration,
designed to attract settlers.
It also included provisions for establishing a social class system and giving
titles to large landholders. This was never carried out, but it shows the plan to
make Carolina a society with the elite having the power. The South was started
almost purely for profit and religion played very little role in the beginning.
In order to encourage immigration to SC, the proprietors granted large pieces
of land to settlers through the headright system. The more people you brought
over, the more land you received. This encouraged the southern colonies to
bring over slaves. The headright system led to the establishment of large
plantations based on cash crops.
Many of the first settlers to arrive were Englishmen who had begun plantations
in Barbados. However, Barbados is a small island, and when it became
necessary to expand, the land, soil, and climate in SC were ideal. The Lords
Proprietors liked the idea of the settlers from Barbados because they were
already experienced with the plantation system.
Other settlers attracted to the prosperous colony came from France,
Switzerland, Germany, Scotland, and Ireland. Assured freedom of religion by
28. Why did the Proprietors like
the Fundamental Constitutions, settlers came from diverse religious
the idea of encouraging
backgrounds, including French Huguenots and Jewish settlers. Many of these
settlers from Barbados to settle
settlers migrated down from the Middle colonies down the Great Wagon Road
SC?
and settled in the Back country of Carolina. These people often were usually
simple, poor farmers who never owned any slaves and never became wealthy.
29. Why did many settlers come
down from the Middle
colonies to SC?
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Originally the Lords Proprietors controlled the government through a Governor
30. What was different about these and Grand Council, which included representatives of the proprietors, the
settlers compared to the
Carolina elite and a smaller representation of the common people of the colony.
plantation owners?
Just as in the other colonies, Carolina had some degree of democracy from the
beginning; however, the rich plantation owners maintained most of the power.
31. Who maintained most of the
power in SC government?
The New England / Northern colonies
32. For what purpose were many
of the New England colonies
founded?
33. What idea did the Mayflower
Compact create?
34. How did the first settlers learn
to survive during their first
harsh winter?
35. Why should we say that the
Puritans did not believe in
Freedom of religion?
36. What did the Puritans entire
life revolve around?
37. How did the community
ensure that “outsiders” would
not be able to take control?
38. Why did the New England
colonies not adopt the
plantation system?
39. How did they make their
money?
The New England colonies in the far northern part of America were founded so
that religious groups could escape religious persecution in England. The
Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts after travelling on the Mayflower.
While on the ship, they signed the Mayflower Compact which established the
idea that the people would form a government.
They struggled to survive just like the settlers in Jamestown. Only 4 of the
Pilgrim women had survived the first winter. With the help of a Native
American named Squanto however, they learned to plant corn and made it
through the first year. They would be the group to celebrate the first
Thanksgiving here in America.
A much larger migration of Puritans landed in the Massachusetts Bay about 10
years later. They were the Puritans who also came here because they wanted to
be able to escape religious persecution. They however, did NOT believe in
freedom of religion, they believed that their religion was the only right religion.
There were harsh punishments for anyone who did not obey the religious laws
in the community. These people were called dissenters and they were often
exiled to other places.
Religion was very important to them and as their name suggests, they wanted
to keep their religion pure. Children were taught to read so that they could read
the Bible and religious conformity. They did create a democratic form of
government, but they only allowed male church members to vote. This helped
them keep their communities “pure”.
Unlike the southern climate, the climate and soil in the New England colonies
was not good for farming, so they needed to find some other way of making
money. Each family had a small garden to provide food for their families, but
they did not grow cash crops. They made their money by harvesting the
lumber from the great northern forests, building ships, and engaging in trade.
Puritan families were large so the population grew and spread to other areas of
New England, taking its religious and governing ideas along.
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40. The middle colonies had the
most __________________ of
settlers.
41. THINK: How do you think
the Quakers felt about slavery
and Native Americans?
Explain.
42. The Middle colonies became
known as the breadbasket
colonies. Why?
The Middle Colonies
Settlers to the Middle Colonies included a great variety of Europeans,
including the Dutch who first settled New York and the Swedes who first
settled Delaware. King Charles II granted William Penn land in payment of a
debt so Penn had the rights of a proprietor and could name the governor of the
colony. Pennsylvania also had a representative assembly as did the other
colonies in the region. English Puritans also moved into the Middle Colonies
and English Quakers settled Pennsylvania. The Quakers were a religious group
who believed that everyone had an inner light, they did not believe in violence,
and they believed in equality of all people. They promoted religious tolerance
and good relations with the natives in their region and so the colony attracted
many other groups of people.
The Middle colonies had better soil, a more pleasant climate, and a longer
growing season than the New England Colonies. For this reason, the settlers
settled the Middle colonies for the purpose of profit. They became known as
the “breadbasket” colonies because they grew wheat, barley, and rye as cash
crops. The climate also made this area ideal for raising herds of cattle and
pigs.
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