Unit Two: Colonization of
America
The British Colonies Part I
British Colonization
• After the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588,
the British were free to explore and colonize the
Eastern seaboard of America.
• Different reasons led to the colonization of
America by the British.
– 1.) The first was overpopulation caused by the
Enclosure Movement in England to close off
farmland for pasture land for sheep due to the
profitability of wool.
– The displaced tenant farmers moved into the
cities (mostly London) causing overpopulation
in the urban centers. Making the Americas a
perfect place to send the overpopulation.
British Colonization
– 2.) The second was a change in business
practices known as the joint-stock company (a
collection of investors who pool their money for
large business ventures).
– Most of these companies financed the different
colonization ventures of the British in America.
– 3.) The third was a change in national
economics with the creation of Mercantilism
(that a nation becomes powerful and wealthy by
having large stores of Specie [hard money such
as gold and silver] and gains this by the creation
of colonies controlled by a parent nation to trade
with so the wealth stays in the nation).
British Colonization
– 4.) The fourth was a sense of national
Patriotism (love and devotion to one’s nation)
and intrigue (curiosity) in the colonization of
America.
– In Richard Hakluyt’s book Voyages he
described America as the New Eden or
perfect utopia to get people to want to go
there.
– In Hakluyt’s book Discourse Concerning
Western Discoveries, he stated that England
should be at the forefront of the exploration
and colonization of America because of
national pride.
British Colonization
– 5.) The final reason was after the Protestant
Reformation and different events within
England many people were looking for a
place as a safe haven to worship their religion
freely.
• The two main reasons the British
colonized America were for Gold and God.
Either to become wealthy through the
creation of cash crop colonies, or to
escape religious persecution.
First Colonization
• The British wanted to plant the first colonies
in America as military outposts to attack
Spanish shipping along the Spanish Maine.
• Sir Humphrey Gilbert was granted a charter
(permission to colonize an area) in 1578 to
colonize America, but his attempts failed in
Canada and in New Found land.
• Gilbert’s brother Sir Walter Raleigh received
his bother’s charter, and explored the east
coast discovering what is today North
Carolina.
Virginia Charter
• Raleigh named the new land he claimed for
England Virginia in honor of Queen Elizabeth I
receiving the Virginia Charter to colonize the
area.
• In 1585 Raleigh established a small colony on
the island of Roanoke off
the coast of North Carolina.
• After several attempts to make
the colony prosper, it finally
failed in 1587.
• The colony was found with no people on it,
supposable after a run in with the
local Croatian Indians earning it the
name of the “Lost Colony.”
Virginia Charter
• In 1606 the Virginia Company of London
was granted a charter by James I to
colonize the area of Virginia.
• The Susan Constant, Godspeed, and
Discovery sailed up an inlet of the
Chesapeake Bay they named James River
and settled on James Island founding the
settlement of Jamestown with a defensive
fort called James Fort.
• The early Jamestown colony had many
problems that almost led to its failure.
Jamestown Colony
• During the colony’s first winter a member of the
ruling council Captain John Smith was able to
make an alliance with the local Powhattan
Confederacy leader Opechancanel.
• Opechancanel’s daughter Metoaka
(Pocahontas) aided the settlers by providing
them with food to make it through the winter.
• During the winter of 1609 and 1610 the alliance
with the Indians soured and John Smith left, this
caused the settlers to go through what was
called the “starving time.”
Jamestown Colony
• In the summer of 1610 the new governor of
Jamestown, Thomas West (Lord De La Warr)
arrived on the Providence to resupply the
colony.
• De La War established harsh laws and forced
the settlers to farm to make the colony selfsustaining (able to care for itself) and give the
investors some profit.
• The colony did not become a profitable venture
until John Rolfe in 1613 started a tobacco
plantation of Orinoco Tobacco (Caribbean style)
making it all the craze in England and Europe.
Jamestown Colony
• The success of Tobacco cultivation and
advertisement of the colony in England,
Jamestown became the first permanent
English settlement in the New World.
• Due to the success of the colony and
people spreading onto mainland Virginia,
the head of the Virginia company Edwin
Sandys allowed the settlers to form their
own colonial legislative body called the
House of Burgesses (representatives).
Jamestown Colony
Click above picture to
visit Jamestown
Settling of Virginia
• To entice new settlers to come to Virginia the
head of the company developed the
headright system.
• The headright system allowed a land owner
50 acres of land extra for every person
brought to America.
• This led to indentured servitude where a
person sold themselves into servitude for five
to seven years for passage to the new world.
• The person who the “servant” sold
themselves to was known as a patron.
Types of English Colonies
• Three types of English colonies developed
in America: Charter, Proprietary, and
Royal.
– A Charter colony was a grant to a private
company (joint-stock) to establish and run a
colony.
– A Proprietary colony was a grant to an
individual or group to establish and run a
colony, usually friends of the king.
– A Royal colony was a colony that the king
established or had total control over.
English Migration to America
• The success of Jamestown and other British
colonies led to four great migrations (to move
to a new area) to America by the British.
– 1.) Puritans (1630s to1660s) religious group
that moved into the New England area.
– 2.) Cavaliers (1640s to 1680s) wealthy
Englishmen who moved into the Coastal
area of Virginia known as the Tidewater.
– 3.) Quakers (1660s) religious group that
moved into Pennsylvania
– 4.) Scotts-Irish (1710s -1775) were people
from the Ulster Plantation of Ireland that
moved into mountainous regions and South.
Three Colonial Regions
• Along the Eastern coastline three distinct
colonial regions developed; New England,
Middle, and Southern.
– 1.) New England was made up of Maine, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, and Plymouth.
– 2.) Middle was made up of New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
– 3.) Southern was made up Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Puritans
• During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the
Puritans were a reform sect of the
Anglican Church (Church of England) to
“purify” it from Popery (Catholic like
actions or teachings).
• The Puritans divided into two groups of
Congregationalists (believe each church
should be independent and autonomous),
conformists (stay in England and fix it) and
separatists (move away and form own
communities).
Pilgrims
• The Pilgrims were a group of separatist
Puritans also known as Brownists
(followers of Robert Browne) who isolated
themselves on the Scooby Manor
Plantation in England.
• The Pilgrims then moved to Amsterdam,
but wanted to leave due to the “evil”
influences of the Dutch.
• In 1620 the Pilgrims led by William
Bradford got a charter to found the
Plymouth Colony in the northern Virginia
Colony.
Plymouth Colony
• The Pilgrims traveled over the Atlantic Ocean on
the Mayflower (another ship the Speedwell was
ditched because it had a leak) with 121 people
(most “strangers”) following John Smith’s “Map
of New England” landing in Cape Cod Bay.
• The Pilgrims first made the Mayflower Compact
(first document of equal government founded by
the people and God, not a king) to govern over
the new colony.
• The Pilgrims then settled in an area called
Patuxet which was an old Indian village that was
killed off by disease found by Myles Standish
(military leader). [Aka mythical Plymouth Rock.]
Plymouth Colony
• The first winter was terrible killing off most
of the settlers due to scurvy (vitamin C
deficiency) and other problems.
• The first Native the Pilgrims came into
contact with was Samoset who said
“Welcome Englishmen” in English.
• Samoset informed them of the local Indian
tribe, the Wampanoag led by their Sachem
(chief) Massasoit and a Patuxet survivor
living with the Wampanoag named
Squanto.
Plymouth Colony
• Squanto helped the Pilgrims make a peace
treaty with the Wampanoag and taught the
Pilgrims how to plant, cultivate, and harvest corn.
• In 1621 the pilgrims held a three day celebration
with the Indians known as a Harvest Festival
which became known later as the First
Thanksgiving.
• The actual first thanksgiving day was a day of
prayer and fasting in 1623 to thank God for the
arrival of new settlers.
• Thanksgiving did not become a holiday until
George Washington made it one in October 3,
1789.
Plymouth Colony
Mayflower Compact
At Sea
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
November, 1620
"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the
Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of
God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, e&.
Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the
Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the
first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly
and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and
combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering
and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue
hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances,
Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most
meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we
promise all due submission and obedience.
In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape
Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King
James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the
fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620."