European Colonization in North America

Southern English Colonies• Jamestown, Virginia, colony

was 1st successful English colony

• Southern colonies were founded for economic profit (plantations)

• Tobacco, rice, indigo

• At first, indentured servants worked as labor– “Headright System”

– 7 years of labor to pay for passage to America

• Later, Black African slaves were purchased for labor instead– First justified by economic

profits

– Later accepted due to racism

Northern English Colonies• Boston became the

colony of English Puritans

• “Pilgrims” sailed in 1620, “Puritans” followed after 1630– Puritans broke from

Catholic church to emphasize Bible-focused, less ceremonial form of Christianity

– Puritans were persecuted in England as radical non-conformists and heretics

– “Mayflower Compact” on arrival: first agreement for self-government in America

Signing of the Mayflower Compact

Religious Tolerance• Puritans, Catholics, Quakers,

and Jews fled Europe to find religious freedom in America– Puritans: Massachusetts

– Catholics: Maryland

– Quakers: Pennsylvania

– Jews: New York, Rhode Island

• Individuals fled Boston to form new colonies for religious freedom– Roger Williams believed in a

person’s freedom to choose a religion; he founded Rhode Island in 1635

– Anne Hutchinson believed women and individuals could find God through their own efforts (without needing a minister), and was expelled from Boston (went to Rhode Island too)

Anne Hutchinson

Political Liberty• English colonists brought a

tradition of English rights– Magna Carta granted basic

rights to English “freemen”

– English Parliament was model for colonial legislatures

– 1688: English “Bill of Rights” limited the power of the monarch

• Virginia colony was ruled by “House of Burgesses” who shared power with governor

• Most colonies evolved to have both a legislature and a governor

• Often only wealthy landowners could vote for legislature

Speaking in the House of Burgesses

Freedom of Expression• 1735: The Zenger Trial

• John Peter Zenger arrested in New York for printing “seditious” statements about the governor

• Judge tried to prevent Zenger’s lawyer from speaking, to ensure a guilty verdict, but failed

• Zenger’s lawyer asked the jury to consider whether the statements were true

• Jury found Zenger not guilty

• Verdict promoted the idea that the press should have the freedom to print the truth

The Zenger Trial

Native Americans Denied Ideals

• Throughout colonies, Native Americans lost their native lands, way of life, identities

• New England– 1616-18: 90% of coastal

Indians killed by disease

– Remaining coastal Indians moved to “praying towns” to become Christian

• Southern Colonies– 1680: Bacon’s Rebellion

in Virginia saw Anglo landowners massacre Indians on border

Intolerance: Salem Witchcraft Trials• Witchcraft accusations and

persecution were common in Europe during 1500 and 1600s

• 1692-3: 150 persons arrested and imprisoned; 20 executed

• Young girls fell into strange fits, complained of pains, and then accused women

• Reasons remain unclear: – victims were primarily women– Land disputes may have caused

accusations

• 1693: colony legislature outlawed use of “spectral evidence” and trials ceased, for fear of convicting an innocent person

Examination of a Witch, Matterson, 1853

1740s: Great Awakening

• Deep longing for sense of salvation and security in an insecure and dangerous world

• Reaction against cold logic of Enlightenment

• Predominantly oral: sermons, revivals

• Jonathan Edwards: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

• Stressed personal salvation of God’s word, coupled with vivid fear of hell