Colonization

1. Colonization

2. First Attempts at Colonization • 1576: English nobleman Sir Humphrey Gilbert believed England should find colonies & NW Passage • sent sea captain Martin Frobisher to look for passage • brought back fool’s gold • 1578: Gilbert obtain charter allowing him to found a colony with his own funds • guarantee settlers with all rights of those born & residing in England • his colony in Newfoundland failed • later lost at sea • 1580s: half brother – Sir Walter Raliegh • turn attention to southern N. America coastline • named Virginia (after unmarried Queen) • 1st settlement : Roanoke Island • 1587: settlers land in Roanoke • 1587 -expedition leader, John White left for supplies • 1590- return delayed b/c war with Spain & found colony deserted • unknown as to what happened to settlers • Next 15 years: English interest in American colonization submerged b/c: • Inadequate financial resources • Ongoing war with Spain

3. Virginia

4. Joint Stock Companies • Early from of a modern corporation • Allowed them to sell shares of stock in their company • Use the pooled investment capital to outfit and supply overseas expeditions 2 groups of merchants gained charters: • (1) Virginia Company of Plymouth • Based in Plymouth • Granted the right to colonize in North America from the Potomac to the northern border of present-day Maine. • 1607- attempted to plant a colony in Maine but colonists returned after one winter • (2) Virginia Company of London • Based in London • Received a charter to North America between what are now the Hudson & the Cape Fear rivers • 1607- sent out expedition to plant a colony 40 miles up the James River from Chesapeake Bay (name colony- Jamestown) • Became the first permanent English settlement in North America • Early years- starvation, disease & hostile relations with Indians

5. Why early years so difficult? • Lack of incentive- Entire colony was owned by the company everyone share the profits regardless of how much or who little they worked • Gold-seeking adventurers • Poor location- low & swampy breeding ground for disease • Hostile relations with Indians- Powhatan • Puritans thought hey could take advantage of Natives (like Aztcs) but the Natives had no wealth & not densely populated in one area

6. Turning Point: • 1608-1609: leadership of John Smith: “He who works not, eats not.” • 1612: John Rolfe discovers superior strain of tobacco (“Sot weed”) • Indenture System- secure more settlers & boost labor force but gain reputation for harsh treatment ( esp. dictatorial power of governors) • RESULT: Need workers • Change in government: • Attract more settlers- promise colonists with same rights they had in England • 1619: House of Burgesses (a representative assembly) was founded – 1st in America • Institute private ownership of land • 1619: introduce Africans to colony due to continued difficulty to attract settlers (more like indentured servants than slaves)

7. Changes • Relations with Indians • 1622 & 1644: massacres • Establishment of Virginia as a Royal colony • King James I impressed by the potential profits from tobacco growing • 1624: James revoked the London’s Company charter by using high morality rate & Indian massacre as excuse • Result: James revoked all political rights & the rep, assembly but restored 15 years later by his son, King Charles I.

8. Maryland

9. Important “Firsts” • By the 1630s- English crown taking a more direct interest in exercising control over the colonies • Result: turned away from the practice of granting charters to joint-stock companies • Instead- grant such charters to single individuals or groups of individuals known as proprietors • Proprietors would own the colony & be directly responsible for it to the king • Similar to feudal system • 1st proprietary colony – Maryland • 1632-charter granted to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore • Refuge for English Catholics • Calvert died before the colony was planted • Initial land policy: feudal like • Colonists ignored and set up own land with indentured servants, etc… • But more Protestants than Catholics came • Result: 1649- Act of Religious Toleration • Guarantee political rights to Christians of all persuasions • Government • Representative assembly • Economically & Socially- Maryland developed a virtual carbon copy of Virginia

10. Life in the Chesapeake • Family deferred until after indenture complete • RESULT: Only Minority marry • 3x more men • Marriage fragile b/c: • Disease- die within 7 years • Vulnerability of pregnant women • Death claim for ½ kids born • Women remarry quickly • RESULT: Blended families • End Result: Land of immigrants • Social institutions slow to develop • Poor/housing (small & cramped) • Few possessions • Took 4 generations to get refined life

11. The Pilgrims at Plymouth

12. The Pilgrims at Plymouth • Many Englishmen came from England for religious reasons- • Puritans: Disagree with the Church of England • Why? • Too similar to Catholic Church (customs) • Concept of individual undermine the notion of community • 2 groups: • Non-separatists- believe Church of England need to be changed • Separatists – believed Church of England was beyond saving & must separate • Reform society: • Emphasis on work • Organize into religious congregations- achieve personal salvation & support others • Assume responsibility for the “unconverted” people around them • Conflict with English government: • James I (1603- 1625: • rule by divine right • Head of Church of England • Harass Puritans b/c of their rising power • Charles I (1625- 1649) • Worsen situation for Puritans • Dissolved Parliament (source of Puritan power) • Unleashed William Laud (bishop of London)

13. Pilgrims (separatists) • Suffering government harassment fled to Holland • Decided to got to America—became Pilgrims • Led by William Bradford • Departed in 1620 • Obtained charter from London Company to settle just south of Hudson River • Ship, Mayflower due to storm made landfall at Cape Cod (Mass) • Decided it was God’s will for them to settle in that area • Problem: put them outside the jurisdiction of any established government • Result: Mayflower Compact • Established a foundation for orderly government based on the consent of the governed • Did not expect to convert a sinful world • They wanted to be left alone • Absorbed by Mass. Bay Colony in 1691

14. Massachusetts Bay Company • The Puritans were far more numerous than the Separatists • They did not dress in drab clothes • Were not ignorant or bigoted • Took the Bible and their religion seriously • Believed the Anglican Church still retained too many unscriptural practices left over from Roman Catholicism • King James I – refrain from confrontation due to their growing political power • 1629: charter a joint-stock company – Massachusetts Bay Company • charter neglected to specify where the company’s headquarters should be located • Result: base their headquarters in the colony itself • John Winthrop- leader • Taught a new colony should provide the whole world with a model of what a Christian society ought to be • “City upon a hill” • 1630- arrive in Massachusetts • very well organized • Result: did not undergo the “starving time” like other colonies • Massachusetts Government • Governor • Representative assembly (General Court) selected by “freemen” (adult male church members) • Growing population • By 1642- 20,000 Puritans came to Massachusetts (AKA – Great Migration) • Result: Charter new towns • Towns clustered around the church house and the village green

15. Puritans saw their colony not as a place to do whatever might strike ones fancy but as a place to serve God and build hit kingdom. • Dissidents would be tolerated….as long as they do not interfere with the colony’s mission

16. Rhode Island, Connecticut, &New Hampshire

17. Dissidenters • Roger Williams • Puritan preacher • Talent for carrying things to their logical extremes • Asked to leave the colony • Fled to the wilderness & bought land from Indians • Founded the settlement of Providence (1636) • Anne Hutchinson • Openly taught things contrary to Puritan doctrine • Called before the General Court to answer for her teachings • She claimed to have had special revelations from God superseding the Bible • Unthinkable in Puritan theology • Banished form colony • Help find the settlement of Portsmouth (1638)

18. Rhode Island • 1644: Roger Williams secured from Parliament a charter to combine Providence, Portsmouth & other settlements that had sprung up in the area into the colony of Rhode Island • granted religious tolerance • suffered constant political turmoil

19. Connecticut • founded by Puritans who had slight religious disagreements with the leadership of Massachusetts • 1636: Thomas Hooker led a group of settlers westward to found Hartford • 1639: the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was drawn • 1st written constitution in America • Provided for representative government • 1637: John Davenport founded the neighboring colony of New Haven • believed Winthrop was not being strict enough • 1662- a new charter combined both New Haven & Connecticut into an officially recognized colony of Connecticut

20. New Hampshire • Did not involve nay disagreement at all among the Puritans • Simply settled as an overflow from Massachusetts • 1677- King Charles II chartered the separate royal colony of New Hampshire • remained economically dependent on Massachusetts

21. New Englanders relations with Natives • Prohibited from selling arms to Natives • Natives not allowed to enter towns • Disease • Smallpox outbreaks • Puritans directed by God to control the land • Help to justify land hunger • Resulted in war (1637) • Missionary work

22. Life in New England • Agriculture • Climate & soil unsuited to large-scale farming • Developed a prosperous economy based on farming, home industry, fishing, trade & large shipbuilding industry • “Restraint” • Meetinghouse • Role of ministers • Obtaining settlement grants • Local authority (town meetings) • Role of family • Emphasis on the family • Importance of reading – Bible • Result: More stable & well-ordered society than Chesapeake • Typical New England Family • More children • Higher survival rate • Longer life expectancy (15 years – England & 25 years- Chesapeake) • Economy • International port • Life expectancy • Role of women • Literacy

23. Halfway Convent • Many Puritans fear New England was drifting away from its religious purpose • Focus on money than creating a godly society • RESULT: Halfway Covenant • Provide a sort of half-way church membership for the children of members (even though they did not profess saving grace was normally required for Puritan membership) • Hope to keep church membership rolls full & preserve church influence

24. Important Events… • English Civil War (1642-1649) • 1649-Charles I is beheaded • Commonwealth Period (1649- 1660) Puritans in England had the opportunity to complete the reform of religion and society at home. • Result: Migration to New England abruptly ceased • Confederation of New England • 1643- need to combat the problems of dispersion (Maine to Long Island) • coordinate government among the various Puritan settlements • provide greater defense against the French the Dutch & the Natives • the pact bound together Mass, Plymouth, New Haven, & river towns of Connecticut • 1st American attempt at federalism

25. New France • French opened with the Indians a lucrative fur trade in furs • St. Lawrence River- French gateway to the interior of North America • 1608: Samuel de Champlain established a trading post in Quebec • Small number of Frenchmen came to America • Result: maintain good relations with the Indians • French exploration and settlement spread through the Great Lakes region and the valleys of the Mississippi & Ohio Rivers • French settlements in the Midwest were not generally real towns- • More forts and trading posts • Handicapped by: • Inadequate population • Lack of support the parent country

26. New Netherlands • 1609: Holland sent Henry Hudson to explore for NW Passage • 1624: est’d Dutch trading outposts for fur trade with Indians • Manhattan Island (new Amsterdam) • Fort Orange (present day – Albany) • Patroon system- • large landed estates would be given to wealthy men who transported at least 50 families to New Netherlands • these families would become tenant farmers on the estate of the patron who had transported them • attracted few families due to healthy economy at home • Condition of colony • Weak & unstable • Poorly governed • “unstable plurarlism”- Population a mixture of people from all over Europe • Relations with Natives • Did not mind b/c • colonists were few in numbers • did not have voracious appetites for land • willing to exchange desirable goods for the pelts of animals

27. New York & New Jersey • Charles II- cunning eye for increasing Britain’s power • Dutch Colony of New Netherlands- • lye between Chesapeake & New England colonies • caught attention of Charles II • 1664- Charles gave his brother, James (Duke of York) title to all the Dutch lands in America (if he was able to conquer these lands first) • Result: Send Colonel Richard Nicols with fleet • New Amsterdam fell without a shot & became New York • James was adamantly opposed to representative assemblies • Result: ordered that their be none in New York • Nicols granted as many other civil & political rights as possible • But residents (especially Puritans who had settled on Long Island) cont’d to agitate for self-government • 1680s- James relented • 1685- Became king & broke his promise • James granted a part of his new acquired domain to John Lord Berkeley & Sir George Carteret (two of the Carolina proprietors) • Name their proprietorship –New Jersey • Problem: failed to tell Nicols • Result: Conflicitng claims on land ownership since both sides granted same land to different settlers • 1702- Used as a pretext to make New Jersey a royal colony

28. The Carolinas • The most elaborate planned colony in English history • Least successful in achieving amicable relations with natives • 1663- Charles II- restored to throne after 20 year Puritan revolution • Reward 8 of the noblemen that helped him regain crown • Grant them a charter for all the lands lying south of Virginia & north of Spanish Florida • Known as Carolina (after the king) • To attract settlers- came up with an elaborate plan for a hierarchal (feudal like) society • Unworkable • Result: slow population growth • North Carolina- overflow from Virginia • Similar economic & cultural features • South Carolina- settled by English planters from island of Barbados • Founded Charles Town (Charleston) in 1670. • Brought black slaves • Rice cultivation

29. Pennsylvania • founded as a refuge for Quakers (society of friends) • Radical religious sects that sprung up around the time of the English Civil War • Many controversial beliefs • Believed all persons had an “inner light” – allow them to commune directly with God • Believed human institutions were unnecessary • Placed little importance on the Bible • Pacifists • Rights of women- spiritual equality • Declined to show customary deference to those who were considered to their social superiors • RESULT: their aggressiveness in denouncing established institutions brought them trouble in both Britain & America • William Penn • 1681- received charter from Charles II • offered generous terms on land • guaranteed a representative assembly • full religious freedom • helped to establish peaceful relations with Indians • Growth of Pennsylvania • Settlers flocked there from all over Europe • Fertile soil- large exporter of grain

30. Delaware • First part of Pennsylvania • Penn granted a separate legislature • Until American Revolution – Pennsylvania’s proprietary governors also functioned as governor of Delaware