First English Colonies

Becker

US History

England Enters the Race for Colonies

• Pope has split New World: Treaty of Tordesillas• 100 Years War is Over: $$ is available• England is not looking for colonies at first

– Fishing is their forté– Wet/dry fishing determines locations

• Steal Spanish wealth rather then finding their own– Privateers: Drake, Raleigh– Tensions between Spain and England

England Enters the Race for Colonies

• Spain goes to war to stop privateering• Launch the Spanish Armada in 1588

– 130 ships- largest fleet ever launched– Massive storm off English coast– 60 ships sunk, remainder disorganized– England mops up the rest

• Major turning point in world history• England is now the most powerful nation on

earth

The First English Colonies

• To stay top dog, England needs colonies

• First attempt was 1583 in Newfoundland– Lasted 1 week, fails

• Sir Walter Raleigh tries again in 1587– Roanoke Island– 91 men, 17 women, 9 children; Virginia Dare– Fate of the colony?

The First Successful English Colony

• 1607 - Virginia Company tries again– 144 men/boys to Virginia under John Smith – 40 die en route– Establish settlement in swamp (malaria): Jamestown– Military discipline- no work, no food

• Issues with Powhatan tribe– Kidnapping of Pocahontas, marriage to John Rolfe

• Virginia House of Burgesses– First democratic government of New World

The First Successful English Colony

• John Rolfe and cultivation of tobacco

• Tobacco: land issues

• 1622 War with Powhatans

• English exterminate Powhatan tribe

Life in Virginia

• Reliance on one cash crop

• Importation of slaves early on

• Bacon’s Rebellion – Governor Berkeley’s Land Laws– 1676 Nathaniel Bacon leads revolt– 2 Effects: Call on royal troops for assistance

Increase importation of slaves as a “passive” labor force

Religion in Europe: England

Separatists

• “separate” from church of England

• Holland, not happy, get Colonial Charter

• Mayflower, non-separatists, “Pilgrims”

• Mayflower Compact, 1620, Plymouth

Plymouth

• 1620, Pilgrims, arrive in fall

• Wampanoags, Chief Massasoit

• Friendly relations, ally against Narraganset

• Squanto and Samoset: cultivation

• Thanksgiving in 1621, small settlement

Puritans

• “purify” the Church of England

• Charles I, “Catholicized” church

• John Winthrop, Massachusetts Bay Co.

• 1630, 1000 Puritans, sail for New World

Massachusetts Bay

• 1630, John Winthrop, Puritans

• “city on a hill,” example for the world

• Boston, Salem, other towns

• “Covenants,” church attendance, etc

• Fair relations with natives until 1637

Maryland

• George Calvert (Lord Baltimore)

• Catholic in a Protestant nation

• Friendship with King

• Established MD, 1634 as a haven for Catholics

• Tobacco plantations, like Virginia

• Protestants emigrate, outnumber Catholics

• House of Delegates: bicameral legislature

• Toleration Act creates limited religious freedom

King Philip’s War

• 1675, land issues• Metacom, Wampanoags• Pan-Indian alliance• Bloody: 1 in 10 die• British troops called in• English win• Philip’s supporters slaves

Life in New England

• Climate differences

• Farming differences

• Family & community

• Health/environment

• Religious differences

Salem Witch Trials

• Religion and “predestination”

• General paranoia about selves, neighbors

• 1692, odd behavior, witchcraft??

• Wave of accusations, 100 Puritans accused

• 1692-1693 Trials are held

• 20 people, 3 dogs found guilty, executed

Unrest in Massachusetts• Disgust with leadership

• Roger Williams– Rhode Island– Providence, 1636– church/state; Indian ed

• Anne Hutchinson– Mysticism– Expelled to RI

Dutch Colonies

• Major traders, largest merchant fleet• Like French, primarily interested in fur trade• Trade route to Asia, Northwest Passage• 1609, Dutch East India Co, Henry Hudson• St. Lawrence Seaway, furs, no trade route• 1614 New Netherlands as trading center• 1626 Manhattan Island, New Amsterdam• Fierce competition with English

New York• Charles II gives New Netherlands to brother

• Brother is duke of York

• Sails fleet to New Amsterdam

• Peter Stuyvesant is governor

• English demand surrender

• Stuyvesant surrenders

• Colony renamed New York

• No legislature until 1683

• Very slow-growing

New Jersey

• 1664 Duke of York regifts• Lord Berkeley & a friend• “proprietorship”• Free, fertile land• Representative govt• Limited religious freedom• Grows quickly

Pennsylvania

• Quakers/Friends• Inward salvation• No taxes, respect, pacifism• 1680, William Penn• “Penn’s Woods”• Fair to Indians: immigration• Markets heavily to N Europe• Penn leaves, things change

Connecticut

• Thomas Hooker, minister from MA

• Hartford, 1662

• Fertile farmland as well as rivers for trade

• Pequot War removed Native Americans

• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut– First written constitution of New World– One of docs consulted for Constitution

Pequot War

• Land in CT river valley

• Large river for trade

• Pequots go to war

• English/Narragansets

• Massacre Pequot town

• Temporary peace

N and S Carolina

• Charles Town established in the Carolina region• NC & SC are Proprietorships chartered in 1729

– rewards for loyalty or service

• Crops are rice, sugar, indigo, and tobacco• Slavery quickly becomes important• By 1750, 60% of SC’s population is slaves• By 1850, slaves outnumber whites: 2-1 margin

Georgia

• James Oglethorpe• Savannah, 1732• Penal colony: debtors prison• Authorized due to Spanish colonization in FL• England wants to legitimize claims to region• England also wants a buffer zone between

South Carolina and Spanish Florida