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The English Settlement of North America

In the 1500s through to the 1580s, there was hardly any advancement in Englishcolonial holdings or efforts, as much of the governments focus was on internaldivisions, political strife, and numerous conflicts with France and Spain. By the late

1500s Spain was the wealthiest nation in Europe as a result of its colonization of a largepart of the western hemisphere. Spains tremendous success motivated the English toexplore and colonize North America. After the death of Henry VIII and then theenactment of the Elizabethan Settlement1, England restarted its colonization efforts. TheEnglish sought not only to copy but surpass Spains successes in the new world. So thedrive for colonization provided a solution to some social problems such as the rapidincreasing of the population and the corresponding dwindling of availability of land, theneed for gainful occupations for younger sons of the wealthy who couldnt inheritmoney, freedom to practice religion freely, as well as the prospect of improvingeconomic circumstances.

So for these and other reasons, some brave souls embarked on the journeyacross the ocean to the New World. The first attempt of English colonization in NorthAmerica began in 1584 in Roanoke, with Sir Walter Raleigh's attempt to increase theBritish Empire. According to Irish historian David Beers Quinn in the Hakluyt SocietyPublication, Englishmen were to be thrust into land that was assumed to be virtuallyempty and where there was plenty of room for them, without necessarily disturbing theinhabitants unduly, but with no recognition whatever given to their indigenous rights ofoccupation. When English settlers arrived in North America, they encountered nativepopulations of Indians, along with Spanish settlements. Raleigh claimed the territory onthe east coast of America and attempted to established a settlement which he namedVirginia' in honour of Elizabeth 1, the Virgin Queen.

However this attempt failed in part because the settlers were more concernedwith hunting for gold than with learning how to sustain their colony by agriculture. By1591the entire colony of Roanoke disappeared without a trace (the mystery of whathappened to Raleigh's Lost Colony has never been solved). Included in the group ofone hundred and seven (107) men who landed on Roanoke in 1585 were artist JohnWhite and Thomas Harriot, scientific adviser. They were charged with surveying andmapping the new territory and recording the indigenous people, plants and animals. In1590 A Briefe and True Report of The New Found Land of Virginia was published byThomas Harriot, with 28 engravings by Theodor de Bry. It gave an account of hisexploration during the 1585 expedition in an attempt to entice English colonists to theNew World. Harriot described the Virginian Indians as people clothed with loosemantles made of Deere skins & aprons of the same rounde about their middles; all els

1"The Elizabethan Religious Settlement was Queen Elizabeth Is response to the religious divisions created over the reigns of Henry

VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. This response, described as "The Revolution of 1559", was set out in two Acts of the Parliament of

England. The Act of Supremacy of 1559 re-established the Church of Englands independence from Rome, with Parliament conferring

on Elizabeth the title Supreme Governor of the Church of England, while the Act of Uniformity of 1559 set out the form the English

church would now take, including the establishment of the Book of Common Prayer."

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first representative legislature called the House of Burgesses.

As a result of the boom in the economy of Virginia more people were attracted to theNew World while others saw it as a mean for achieving religious freedom rather thaneconomic gain. In November of 1620, a group of religious separatist called Pilgrims

seeking religious freedom landed their ship The Mayflowerat Plymouth Bay and set upa colony in what is now Massachusetts. All the males from the ship signed a document

called the Mayflower Compact, which established the colony of Plymouth Plantationas a civil body politic under the sovereignty of James I of England. The MayflowerCompact determined authority within the settlement and is often described as Americasfirst example of true self-government. The Pilgrims forged a friendship with someEnglish-speaking natives, who taught them how to grow corn; and as a result were ableto survive the first harsh winter. After that terrible first winter, Plymouth colony quicklygrew and prospered. Within a few years, the colony expanded into Cape Cod and thesoutheastern part of modern Massachusetts.

In 1630, another religious group headed by John Winthrop led the first major

Puritan settlement with the backing of the Massachusetts Bay Company in settledNaumkeag later called Salem. Winthrop saw Massachusetts Bay as a city upon a hill,a beacon of religious righteousness that would shine throughout the world. Religiousgroups found a home in the New England colony. Other religious colonies wereestablished in Rhode Island (1636), where the colony was based on the principle ofreligious toleration; Connecticut (1639), based on Congregationalist religious beliefs;and Maryland (1634), a haven for Roman Catholics.

In addition to the above mentioned major settlements. Colonies continued to beestablished throughout the seventeenth century. New Scotland, in present Nova Scotia,1629-1632;Connecticut Colony, later part ofConnecticut founded 1633 ; SaybrookColony, founded 1635, merged with Connecticut in 1644 ;Rhode Island and Providence

Plantations, first settled in 1636 ;New Haven Colony, founded 1638, merged withConnecticut in 1665 ;Gardiners Island, founded 1639, now part ofEast Hampton, NewYork ;Province of New York, captured 1664;Province of New Jersey, captured in 1664divided into West Jersey and East Jersey after 1674.

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CONCLUSIONEnglands first attempts of colonizing Roanoke Island off the coast of present-day

North Carolina and Maine in North America were dismal failures. These attemptshowever set the stage for future settlements and after their defeat of the Spanish

Armada in 1588, England began their colonization effort in earnest. Most of the

expeditions into America were financed / backed by private ventures which varied agreat deal in their goals and composition. The first colonies were built in areas that thecolonists thought would best support new towns, and where the Indians happened to behelpful enough to assist the newly formed towns in survival. Between the 1580s and the1680s the English established settlements in North America for various reasons. Thereason for moving to America dictated where the colonists settled. Maryland and theNew England colonies, particularly Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, and RhodeIsland, were founded in the pursuit of religious freedom and became havens forProtestant dissenters from England. Virginia, the Carolinas and Delaware werefounded for financial gains. Although all eventually came under direct control of theEnglish Monarchy, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, and Virginia began as corporate

colonies financed by joint-stock companies. Maryland and New Jersey wereproprietary colonies based on grants of land to individuals or a small group of menby the king. Moreover, colonial boundaries changed; New Hampshire was carvedout of land claimed by Massachusetts Bay. New York was originally New Netherlandbefore the English took it over in 1664 and renamed it. Delaware was founded bythe Swedes (New Sweden), became a Dutch colony in 1655, and then came underEnglish control in 1664.

When the English first settled in the new colonies the native inhabitantswelcomed them. Although the English companies had received royal grants of the landthey offered the natives token payments of trinkets and supplies. The natives had no

concept of privately owned land so didn't realize the English were making the land theirprivate property by "purchasing" it with those trinkets. The English also took away nativelands by pronouncing that if the land was not fenced, and there werent any towns orvillages or domestic animals then the land was free for the taking. It was decreed theland belonged to the King.Using this method the English colonists took over a lot ofNative American Indian land. The Indians felt threatened by the rapid expansion of thewhite man and the restrictions placed on them, for example they had to obey Puritanlaws such as no fishing or hunting on the Sabbath day. They were also affected by thedisease the English brought with them. There were strong conflicts between thecolonists and the Native Indians. Both sides alleged violations of understandings withthe other.

The 1600s saw the growth and expansion of England through it settlements inthe New World primarily in North America.

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