Settling the Northern Colonies
1619-1700
The American Pageant
Chapter 3
Reformation › Puritanism
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1517: Luther nailed 95 theses, rejected authority of pope/priests, sola scriptura.
1536: Calvin’s Institutes taught original sin, predestination.
Ideas moved into England at time of break with Catholicism.
Reformation › Puritanism (2)
 Some English reformers wanted to “purify” English Christianity - their message
appealed to disadvantaged.
 Puritans grew especially from depressed woolen districts.
Reformation › Puritanism (3)
 Puritans wanted to restrict church membership to “visible saints” only, but Church of
England allowed anyone.
 Led some “separatist” Puritans to attempt break from Church of England.
Reformation › Puritanism (4)
 King James I (head of state and church) saw separatists as defying him – threatened
expulsion.
Pilgrims to Plymouth
 1608: Group of separatists flee James I to Holland.
Later concerned about
“Dutchification” of children.
 1620: Part of that group negotiate with VA company to settle in VA.
Pilgrims to Plymouth (2)
 Mayflower missed VA, settled at Plymouth Bay, New England as squatters.
 102 Pilgrims, including Capt. Myles Standish (valuable Indian fighter, negotiator).
Pilgrims to Plymouth (3)
 Mayflower Compact: agreement to form gov’t, majority rule.
 Step toward self-government – led to adoption of laws through town meetings.
Pilgrims to Plymouth (4)
 1620-21: Only 44 of 102 survived 1st winter, yet did not leave with Mayflower in
spring.
 1621: Fall brought good harvests, Thankgiving
 Developed economy based on fur (beaver), fish, lumber.
Pilgrims to Plymouth (5)
 Good leadership: William Bradford, scholar elected governor 30 times.
 1691: Pop. only 7,000, merged with Bay Colony
 Significance was moral and spiritual, not numerical.
Bay “Bible” Colony
 1629: Charles I dismisses Parliament, sanctioned persecution of Puritans (Laud).
 1629: Non-separatist Puritans secure royal charter to form Massachusetts Bay
Company.
Bay “Bible” Colony (2)
 1630: 11 ships carrying almost 1,000 settlers – well equipped.
Largest start of any
colony.
 11,000 more Puritans came in following decade (“Great Migration”), but most English
went to West Indies (48,000).
Bay “Bible” Colony (3)
 John Winthrop: prominent 1st governor. Thought he had a “calling” from God to lead.
 Benefited from shared sense of purpose: to be a “city on a hill” – covenant with God to
build a holy society
Bay “Bible” Colony (4)
 Bay colony prospered with fur trading, fishing, shipbuilding.
 Became biggest and most influential New England colony.
Building the Bay Colony
 Franchise extended to “freemen” – adult Puritan men of Congregational church.
 Only 40% of men could vote in provincial elections, but this was much more than in
England.
Building the Bay Colony (2)
 However, in town government, all property-owning males could vote in town
meetings.
 Since idea of government was to enforce God’s laws, religious leaders (e.g. John
Cotton) were very influential.
Building the Bay Colony (3)
 However, clergy were barred from formal political office – early “church/state
separation.”
 Puritan ideas: “calling” to God’s work, Protestant work ethic, limited worldly
pleasures, fear of hell.
Trouble in Bible Colony
 Social harmony when only Puritans, but that didn’t last.
 Quakers: fines, floggings, banishments, executions.
 Anne Hutchinson: truly saved don’t need to obey (“antinomianism”) – banished.
Trouble in Bible Colony (2)
 Roger Williams: extreme Separatist, denied right of civil government to govern
religious behavior, challenged charter for illegally taking land from Indians
 Avoided exile to England by fleeing to Rhode Island.
Rhode Island “Sewer”
 1636: Aided by Indians, Roger Williams fled to Providence area, established squatter
colony.
 Started a Baptist church
 Allowed complete freedom of religion
Rhode Island “Sewer” (2)
 More liberal than other English settlements – simple manhood suffrage at start, though
later a property requirement.
 Outcasts/exiles settled there, incl. Anne Hutchinson.
Rhode Island “Sewer” (3)
 Puritan clergy in Boston called RI “sewer” in which the “Lord’s debris” had collected
and rotted.
 1644: Secured charter from Parliament; no longer squatter colony.
New England Spreads Out
 1635: Hartford (Conn.) founded by Dutch/English settlers. Some Puritans moved
westward to Connecticut.
 1639: Fundamental Orders – modern constitution established democratic government.
New England Spreads Out (2)
 1638: New Haven founded by Puritans.
Failed to get charter from Charles II.
Incorporated into Conn. in 1662.
 1677: Maine absorbed into Bay colony.
New England Spreads Out (3)
 1641: New Hampshire taken over by overly aggressive Bay Colony.
 1679: Annoyed by greed of Bay Colony, king arbitrarily separates it, becomes royal
colony.
Puritans vs. Indians
 New England Indians weak, especially after epidemic killed 3/4 of natives just prior to
Pilgrims’ arrival.
 Result: Wampanoag tribe befriended Plymouth settlement.
Puritans vs. Indians (2)
 Squanto: Wampanoag who was kidnapped, learned English, assisted relations
 1621: Wam. chief Massasoit signs treaty, helped with 1st Thanksgiving.
Puritans vs. Indians (3)
 1637: Peace broken with fighting between Conn. valley settlers and strong Pequot
tribe.
 Pequot War wiped out tribe.
 After criticism, Puritans made a little effort to convert Indians (“praying towns”).
Puritans vs. Indians (4)
 1675: Massasoit’s son, Metacom (King Phillip) formed Indian alliance – attacked
throughout New England, esp. frontier.
 1676: War ended, Metacom executed, lasting defeat for Indians.
Seeds of Colonial Unity/Ind.
 1643: 1st step toward colonial unity – New England Confederation.
 4 colonies (Bay, Plymouth, 2 Conn. colonies) made agreement for defense, due to
English civil wars.
Seeds of Colonial Unity/Ind. (2)
 Confederation excluded Maine, Rhode Island, and gave each colony 2 votes,
regardless of size – upset Bay colony.
 1640s: Salutary neglect extended during civil wars
Seeds of Colonial Unity/Ind. (3)
 1660: Charles II restored to throne, he wanted aggressive role in colonies.
 To punish Mass. for ignoring royal orders, Charles II chartered Conn. & RI (1662-3),
and revoked Bay charter (1684)
st
Andros: 1 Revolution
 1686: Royal authority creates Dominion of New England to bolster colonial defenses,
help enforce Navigation Laws.
 Americans responded with smuggling – now honorable.
Andros: 1st Revolution (2)
 Edmund Andros heads Dominion on behalf of crown – tactless, despised due to ties
with Church of England, his soldiers’ behavior offended Puritans.
Andros: 1st Revolution (3)
Andros ruled harshly:
st
Andros: 1 Revolution (4)
 1688-89: English people act before colonial revolt – Glorious Revolution.
 Dominion of New England collapsed – Andros sent back to England (after trying to
escape in women’s clothing).
st
Andros: 1 Revolution (5)
 1689-91: Unrest throughout colonies, restored by new royal governors.
 1691: Massachusetts permanently loses charter, made royal colony – now voting open
to non-church members.
st
Andros: 1 Revolution (6)
 1691: Once order restored in colonies, new period of salutary neglect begins – weak
enforce-ment of Navigation Laws.
 Yet more English officials were present, some corrupt – resentment grew.
New Netherland (York)
 1609: Henry Hudson sailing for Dutch East India Co. sails into Hudson river looking
for passage through continent. Claims area for Dutch.
 1623-24: Dutch West India Co. establishes New Netherland.
New Netherland (2)
 Goal: quick-profit fur trade.
 “Bought” Manhattan from Indians.
 Company town: no religious tolerance or free speech, harsh governors.
New Netherland (3)
 Colony had aristocratic influence with large feudal estates (“patroonships” – one larger
than Rhode Island).
 Very diverse population: in 1640s missionary observed 18 languages.
Dutch Conflicts
 Dutch cruelties to Indians brought retaliatory massacres – Dutch built wall (Wall
Street).
 Conn. rejected Dutch settlers.
 Swedes attempted colony on Dutch land, defeated by Dutch in 1655, end of Swedish
rule.
Dutch in New York
 1664: English immigration to New Netherland resulted in 1/2 total population English regarded Dutch as intruders.
 1664: Charles II brazenly granted area to his brother (Duke of York).
Dutch in New York (2)
 1664: English squadron comes, New Netherland leader Stuyvesant had no defense;
sur-rendered, renamed New York.
 English now ruled solid stretch from Maine to Carolinas.
Dutch in New York (3)
 Autocratic & aristocratic spirit remained, discouraged immigration, retarded growth.
 Dutch cultural contributions: architecture, Easter eggs, Santa Claus, waffles, bowling,
skating, golf.
Penn’s Holy Experiment
 Mid-1600s: religious dissenters named Quakers arose in England.
 Hated by authorities b/c refused to pay taxes to Church of England, refused to take
oaths, refused military service.
Penn’s Holy Experiment (2)
 Pacifists – would not fight back, people of deep conviction.
 1660: William Penn attracted to Quaker faith at age 16, was persecuted, others died.
 Desired to establish asylum for Quakers in New World.
Penn’s Holy Experiment (3)
 1681: In repayment of debt to his father, king gave immense grant of land and called it
Pennsylvania (“Penn’s Woodland”).
 Penn unsuccessfully tried to change the name.
Penn’s Holy Experiment (4)
 Penn regarded as “first American advertising man” – Pennsylvania best advertised of
all colonies.
 This together with liberal land policy attracted a healthy flow of immigrants.
Pennsylvania & Neighbors
 Penn bought land from Indians. Treatment of them so fair that Quakers went to them
unarmed and even employed Indians as babysitters.
 Some southern tribes migrated to PA as a result.
Pennsylvania & Neighbors (2)
 However, as non-Quaker immigrants came, they were less tolerant of Indians (ScotsIrish).
 Liberal features: elected assembly, no tax-supported church, freedom of worship, only
2 capital crimes.
Pennsylvania & Neighbors (3)
 Due to policies, PA grew quickly. By 1700, third largest colony (MA & VA).
 Penn not appreciated: arrested for treason, put in debtors prison, afflicted by stroke.
 NJ & DE settled by Quakers.
Middle Colonies
Middle colonies (NY, NJ, DE & PA) shared certain features:
Middle Colonies (2)
Shared features (cont’d):