Period II, 1607-1754: Colonial America Part 1: English Colonization

Renewed Effort to Colonize Under James I

! James I divided America between two groups: !   Plymouth Company – North

!   London Company - South

Jamestown - 1607 !   Business venture by The London Company (became

Virginia Company)

!   Many problems: malaria, gentlemen who wouldn’t work, futile gold digging !   Only 38 of 104 survived the first year

! Captain John Smith helped recovery !   Imposed work and order in the community

The Starving Time – Arrival of De La Warr

!   Winter of 1609-1610 !   Only 60 of 500 survived

!   Settlement was in the process of being abandoned when Lord De La Warr arrived with supplies and more colonists !   Harsh discipline and

mandatory work helped the colony survive and expand

English Expansion !   Demand for tobacco was high in

England – could only be bought from the Spanish !   1612 – John Rolfe experimented with

cultivation of tobacco in Virginia !   Spread up and down the James !   Led to demand for more land –

expansion of English colonial territory

! The Headright System – land grants to encourage settlement

!   Suppression of the Powhatan Indians !   Resisted English expansion through

mid-1600’s

New Precedents Set in Virginia

!   1619 – first meeting of the Virginia House of Burgesses !   First meeting of an elected assembly in what would

become the U.S.

! Introduction of African slavery by the Dutch in 1619 !   Were not initially used as primary labor source –

indentured servants remained source until 1670s

!   Virginia Company (formerly London Company) bankrupt !   James I revoked charter – took control of colony himelf

Turbulence in Virginia

!   Continued conflict with natives as Virginia expanded west ! Sir William Berkeley (royal governor) negotiated western

limit with natives

!   Would not protect those who settled in land promised to the natives

Bacon’s Rebellion 1676

! Nathaniel Bacon – member of “backcountry gentry” !   Resented policies

towards natives and political underrepresentation of western Virginians

!   Conducted unauthorized assaults against the natives ! Berkely labeled Bacon

and his men as rebels

Bacon’s Rebellion

!   Bacon led army east to Jamestown !   Drove Governor Berkeley out of Jamestown by force

!   May have taken command if not for death by dysentery

!   Significance !   Continuing struggle to define borders

!   Competition between easterners and westerners

!   Showed potential for instability in colonies !   Led to growth of slave trade

Maryland and the Calverts !   First Lord Baltimore – wanted

to establish as a real estate venture and a retreat for English Catholics !   Died before he could receive

charter – passed to son, Cecelius (Second Lord Baltimore)

!   Named Leonard Calvert, his brother, governor

!   Weren’t enough Catholics to form a majority !   Passed Toleration Act –

religious freedom for Christians

!   Constant tension and conflict with Protestant majority

Growth of New England – Plymouth Plantation

! Puritan Separatists sought freedom of worship outside of England !   Initially migrated to Holland – eventually granted

permission by Virginia Company to settle in Virginia !   Landed on Cape Cod – outside Virginia Company’s

territory !   Signed Mayflower Compact to establish civil

government and proclaim allegiance to the king

!   Initially developed peaceful relationship with natives !   Helped the colony survive

Growth of New England – The Massachusetts Bay Co.

!   Plymouth Colony inspired other Puritans to leave England

!   Puritan merchants formed Massachusetts Bay Co. and obtained charter to establish colony in New England ! John Winthrop organized migration and was elected

first governor !   Believed they were founding a “city upon a hill”

"We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us."

Expansion of New England - Connecticut

! Thomas Hooker – minister who defied Massachusetts government – founded Hartford

!   Another group founded New Haven – John Davenport

!   Royal charter combined the two to create Connecticut

Expansion of New England – Rhode Island

! Roger Williams – called for complete separation from Anglican Church, separation of church and state !   Banished from Massachusetts !   Bought land from Narragansett to form Providence !   Followed by other dissidents – obtained charter to

establish Rhode Island

! Anne Hutchinson !   Openly challenged authority of clergy in Massachusetts !   Put on trial for heresy and banished – formed colony of

Portsmouth – eventually united with Providence

Expansion of New England – New Hampshire and Maine

!   Colonies established by Captain John Mason and Sir Fernando Gorges in 1629 !   Few settled their until religious disruptions began

!   Dissenters, (some who followed Anne Hutchinson) began to settle there

!   NH became separate colony in 1679 – taken over by Charles II

!   Maine remained part of Massachusetts until 1820

Conflict With the Natives

! The Pequot War (1637) !   Connecticut Valley –

competition over trade with Dutch

! Pequots virtually wiped out

! King Philip’s War (1675-1676) ! Wampanoags resisted

English expansion in Mass.

! Metacom (King Philip) killed by Mohawk rivals

The New England Confederation (1643-1684)

!   Military alliance to protect against attack from Indians, Dutch, and/or the Frence

!   Established precedent for unification between the colonies for a common purpose

The Carolinas !   Eight favored politicians granted charters by Charles II

!   Initial efforts to populate failed

! Anthony Ashley Cooper persisted !   Founded Charles Town (Charleston)

!   Tension between wealthy planters of the south and small farmers of the north !   Instability led to division into two royal colonies

The Mid-Atlantic Colonies

!   New York !   Charles II granted charter to

brother, the Duke of York

!   English removed Dutch by force

!   New Jersey !   Duke of York gave land south

of the Hudson to political allies, Sir John Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret

!   Eventually became a royal colony

Mid Atlantic Colonies – Pennsylvania and Delaware

!   The Society of Friends (Quakers) !   Unpopular in England -

unpopular in other colonies

! William Penn: owed debt by Charles II – paid with land that became Pennsylvania

!   Became a haven for Quakers

!   Delaware formed from lower counties of Pennsylvania

Middle Colonies,

1685

Georgia

!   Formation led by General James Oglethorpe !   Military need for buffer between English and Spanish

colonies

!   Recruited debtors, impoverished as farmer-soldiers

!   Initially banned slave trade – colony grew slowly

American Colonies at the

End of the Seventeenth

Century

Caribbean Colonies

!   English controlled small parts off the Caribbean

!   Built economies on export of crops – especially sugar !   Labor intensive – growth of slavery

Reorganization of Colonies

!   English worked to monopolize trade with the colonies ! The Navigation Acts – based on Mercantilism

!   Made Massachusetts a royal colony when the General Court would not enforce Navigation Acts !   James II created single Dominion of New England

combining Mass. With other New England colonies, New York, and New Jersey

!   Sir Edmund Andrews appointed governor of whole region

The Glorious Revolution

! James II unpopular in colonies and England !   Heir apparent was being raised a Catholic

!   Parliament panicked – asked king’s daughter, Mary, to take thrown along with William of Orange of the Netherlands !   Arrived with an army – James II fled to France

The Glorious Revolution

!   Bostonians captured and imprisoned Andrews

! William and Mary restored separate colonial governments !   Combined Massachusetts and Plymouth into royal

colony

!   Colonies avoided colonial unification