English Colonies

Development of Anglo- Saxon Colonies in the US

13 English Colonies -Purpose of English Colonization

Southern- Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia - On April of 1607, after 4 months at sea, three ships with 100 members arrive from England and settle in Chesapeake Bay in what is now Virginia. Their leader was Capt. John Smith. These colonists were financed by the Virginia Company and barely survived by the arrival of new colonists and the cultivation of tobacco to begin commerce. The first enslaved African arrived in 1619 (20 of them).

Myth of Pocahontas

Pocahontas' father, Chief Powhatan of the Algonquin Nation, ruled a confederacy of Powhatan Indian tribes in Henrico and eastern Virginia. A hunting party captured Captain John Smith in 1607 west of Jamestown along the Chickahominy River. Captain Smith later wrote that he was taken to Powhatan and sentenced to death. In his "General Historie" published in 1624, Smith described his controversial rescue by Pocahontas."Having feasted him . . . A long consultation was held, but the conclusion was, two great stones were brought before Powhatan: then as many as could lay hands on him, dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and being ready with their clubs, to beate out his braines, Pocahontas the Kings dearest daughter, when no intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her armes, and laid her owne upon his to save him from death: whereat the Emperour [Powhatan] was contented he should live to make him hatchets, and her bells, beads, and copper . . ."

Southern Colonies Develop

Unlike the Spanish, the English followed a pattern of driving away the people they defeated. Their conquest over the native peoples was total and complete, which is one reason a large mestizo-like population never developed in the US. By 1676, Bacon’s Rebellion reminded the Virginia leaders that not all it’s citizens were content with their new society. The Southern states, because of their climate and region, developed into “plantation economies” that grew tobacco, indigo, rice, and later cotton. By 1690, about 13,000 slaves were working in the Southern colonies.

Northern- “New England”- Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island – After a month voyage in 1620, a congregation of English “Separatists”, now know as Pilgrims, arrived in North America on the Mayflower. They founded the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, which became the second permanent English colony in America. In 1675, the natives put up a fight and tried to push back the English settlers in what is now called King Philip’s War.

Middle Colonies– New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania- The Dutch found New Netherland, which later became New York. Quakers settle Pennsylvania.

The Colonies grew fast in the 1700’s. English settlers were joined by Scotch-Irish and German immigrants. Black slaves were pouring in; they were 8% of the population in 1690 and 21% by 1700. The big cities like New York, Boston and Philadelphia were doubling and even tripling in size (Zinn 1980:49).

Colonies organize to resist Britain

- By 1763, due to England’s prohibition for settlers to travel beyond the Appalachian Mts. and increased taxation of sugar and legal documents, the colonist began to organize and resist England’s control of the colonists. By 1775, the colonial troops engage the British army at Lexington and Concord. By the summer of 1776, colonial delegates organize in Philadelphia to draft the Declaration of Independence…”We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal…” The War of Independence lasted 5 years. The British surrendered on October of 1781.

The Patriotwith Mel Gibson

By 1800, 10 to 15 million blacks had been transported as slaves to the Americas , representing perhaps 1/3 of those originally seized in Africa. It is roughly estimated that Africa lost 50 million human beings to death and slavery in those centuries of the slave trade. Perhaps one of every three slaves died in the journey but the huge profits made it worthwhile for the slave trader. James Madison told a British visitor shortly after the Revolution that he could make $257 on every Negro in a year and spend only $12 or $13 on his keep (Zinn 1980:29-33).

Survey of US Constitution (1787)

Outline

I. The Legislature

II. The Executive

III. The Judicial

IV. Relations Among States

V. Amending the Constitution

VI. Supremacy of the National Government

VII. Ratification

* Bill of Rights of 1791 1. Religious and Political Freedom

2. Right to Bear Arms

3. Quartering Troops

4. Search and Seizure

5. Rights of Accused Persons

6. Right to a Speedy, Public Trial

7. Trial by Jury in Civil Cases

8. Limits of Fines and Punishment

9. Rights of People

10. Powers of State and People

Bibliography

Venn Diagram- Spanish and English Colonies

Spanish English