Key Questions:How did New France develop?How did the Dutch Empire and New Netherland develop?What contributed to the diversity of the English colonies in the 17th century?How did staple crop economies develop in the southern and Caribbean colonies?What role did religion play in the founding of colonies?How were biracial slave societies created in the West Indies and Carolina?

The French in North AmericaThe quest for furs and converts

The growing trade in beaver pelts and fish stimulated the founding of the colony of New France in North America.Samuel de Champlain established the first permanent settlement at Quebec in 1608.The fur trade created a partnership between the Indians and the French based on trade.Missionary activities to convert the Indians to Christianity was a major colonial motivation.

The French in North America (cont’d.)

The development of New FranceKing Louis XIV and his minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert strengthened colonial administration, improving defenses and promoting migration.Population growth in New France was slow and the population reached about 15,000 in 1700.Most colonial families developed farms along the St. Lawrence River French traders and missionaries reached the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, expanding the French colonial empire.

The Dutch Overseas Empire

The Dutch East India CompanyBy 1600, the Dutch were the leading European economic power.

The Dutch East India was the instrument of colonial dominance, establishing Dutch possessions in present-day Taiwan, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Africa

The Dutch Overseas Empire (cont’d.)

The West India Company and New NetherlandThe Dutch established the West India Company to expand into the Americas.New Netherland was founded in present-day New York and extended from Fort Orange (Albany) to Manhattan island.Population growth was slow but New Netherland attracted a diverse population of religious refugees and Africans.Good relations were maintained with the Iroquois but were less friendly with the Algonquian peoples around New Amsterdam.

English Settlement in the Chesapeake

The Ordeal of Early VirginiaSponsored by the Virginia Company, the Jamestown colony was founded in 1607 but often teetered on the brink of failure due to disease, an an inability to produce food supplies, and poor management.Relations between the Jamestown colonists and the Powhatan Confederacy were generally poor due largely to the effects of European diseases on the Indians and the unfriendly actions of colonists that led to violence.In 1622, a war erupted between the Jamestown colonists and the Powhatan Confederacy that lasted 10 years.

English Settlement in the Chesapeake (cont’d.)

The Importance of TobaccoTobacco provided the Virginia colony with a profitable commodity and shaped almost all aspects of colonial development from land settlement patterns to recruitment of colonists.The need for labor led to the development of the indentured servant system that promised free passage to America in exchange for a fixed term of labor.Indenture did not serve as a ladder to a better life as most servants died and those who survived often found freedom brought a life of poverty.

Maryland: A refuge for CatholicsMaryland was founded in 1632 as a proprietary colony owned by George Calvert, Lord Baltimore.Calvert was catholic and wanted to establish a colony for others of his faith, but most colonists were Protestants.Maryland’s development was connected to the struggle in England between the monarchy and the Puritans, leading to reforms such as the first law calling for freedom of worship for all Christians. Maryland developed as a tobacco colony.

Life in the Chesapeake ColoniesLabor needs determined that the population of the Chesapeake colonies were largely young and male.Disease limited population growth and family size reduced life expectancy for men and women. Immigration was the primary means of increasing the population during most of the 17th century.Death and immigration often created unusual households containing various combinations of stepparents and children from different marriages.Indian populations declined from disease and war, leading to increasing isolation from colonial contact.

The Founding of New EnglandThe Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 and resulted from the growing religious disputes in England that gave rise to the Puritan faith. Separatists founded Plymouth Colony in an area that had been recently depopulated by disease.An alliance between the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoags was based on misunderstanding, the need for allies against enemies, and trade.Plymouth remained a small, weak, and poor colony.

The Founding of New England (cont’d.)

Massachusetts Bay Colony and its offshootsPuritan merchants founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony to set up a colony in that area.Massachusetts Bay Colony was established along religious lines using the covenant agreement to define colonial duties and relations. Representative government enhanced colonial

stability.Colonial expansion led to the Pequot War in which the colonists allied with the Narragansetts and Mohegans to defeat the Pequots. Religious dissent led to the establishment of Rhode Island by Roger Williams and the expulsion of Anne Hutchinson.

The Founding of New EnglandFamilies, farms, and communities in early New England

Growth in New England was sustained by migration between 1630–1642 and by natural increase. Population growth was stimulated by a balanced sex ratio and a healthier climate the contributed to improved survival rates among children and longer life spans. Women in early New England were legally and economically dependent but made central contributions to a family’s success, including through household production and trade.New England settlements centered around towns that included the meeting house that served as a place of worship and government. The towns also served as trading centers.

Competition in the CaribbeanSugar and slaves

Defying Spanish claims, the French, Dutch, and English established colonies in the Caribbean.Sugar plantations worked first by Indian and later African slaves characterized Caribbean colonial development.

A biracial societyThe English West Indies developed the first biracial society in the English colonies.Comprising the majority of the population, African slaves living under harsh conditions governed by slave codes maintained aspects of a normal life and cultural traditions. Map: Principal European Possessions in Caribbean, p. 54

The Proprietary ColoniesEarly Carolina: colonial aristocracy and slave labor

Founded in 1663, Carolina was a proprietary colony that developed a plantation economy after the introduction of rice in the 1690s.Because many of its founders had come from the sugar islands, Carolina society resembled the Caribbean colonies in that a majority population of African slaves worked on plantations.Poorer settlers were forced to move to the northern part of Carolina, eventually establishing their own colony. They raised tobacco and livestock, and produced pitch, tar, and timber products.

The Proprietary ColoniesPennsylvania: the dream of toleration and peace

William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1681 hoping to provide a refuge for Quakers and a model of justice and peace. Penn established good relations with Indians by purchasing land and signing treaties.Pennsylvania’s frame of government provided religious freedom and created a legislature with limited powers.The population was ethnically and religiously diverse with most settlers living on farms, though Philadelphia developed as a major port.

The Proprietary Colonies

New Netherland becomes New YorkEngland took over the Dutch colony of New Netherland and divided it into the proprietary colonies of New York and New Jersey.

New York’s development was influenced by generous terms made to the Dutch colonists and the promotion of immigration from England.

Until 1683, New York was the only colony without a representative assembly.

Map: English North American colonies, c. 1685, p. 58

ConclusionDuring the 17th century, France, the Netherlands, and England competed for colonies in North America.New France was characterized by the fur trade, friendly relations with Indian peoples, and small, scattered settlements.English colonization was haphazard, characterized by colonial charters and largely independent colonial development.The planting of French, Dutch, and English colonies ended Spain’s monopoly of settlement in North America and strongly challenged the Indians’ hold on the continent.