th
8
Grade Week 3
Early English Settlements
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England vs. Spain
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Trading rivalry and religious differences divided
the two countries
King Phillip II was the ruler of Spain and Queen
Elizabeth was the ruler of England
Sir Francis Drake, an English Explorer, attacked
Spanish Ships and ports and was not punished
by the Queen, she instead made him a knight
Early English Settlements
– The Spanish King sent the Spanish Armada to
conquer the English ships, but failed miserably.
– The war would continue until 1604, and the
ending result was Spain losing control of the seas.
Early English Settlements
• The Lost Colony of Roanoke
– In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed
Newfoundland for the Queen, and continued
searching the coast for a place to establish a
colony, but died at sea.
– In 1584, the Queen gave Sir Walter Raleigh the
right to establish colonies in the New World.
– His expedition concluded that Roanoke Island, off
the coast of present day North Carolina was the
place to set up a colony
Early English Settlements
– In 1585, 100 men were sent to settle the island, but
left after a difficult winter and returned to England.
– In 1587, a group of English settlers tried again, led by
John White. Shortly after arriving, his wife gave birth
to Virginia Dare, the first English child born in North
America.
– After the establishment of the colony, the settlers
were in need of supplies. White set out to England,
but a war with Spain delayed his return for three
years. When he returned, the colony was deserted.
Only the word Croatoan was carved on a gatepost.
Early English Settlements
• The Virginia Company
– The Roanoke failure discouraged settlements for
many years. In 1606, many groups appealed to
King James I for charters, the right to organize
settlements in an area.
– The Virginia Company received permission to
make a colony in “the part of America, commonly
called Virginia.” The company was a joint-stock
company, investors bought ownership in exchange
for a share of future profits.
Early English Settlements
– In December 1606, 144 settlers in 3 ships set out
to build a colony. They were supposed to look for
gold, and establish a fish and fur trade. Forty of
them died during the voyage.
– In April 1607, the ships arrived at Chesapeake Bay
and entered the river. The settlement was named
Jamestown, in honor of the king, and built on a
peninsula for defense purposes.
– Many mosquitoes brought in diseases and there
was a lack of good farmland.
Early English Settlements
– Many settlers were not used to hard labor. In
addition, they spent their time looking for gold
instead of growing food.
– By Spring of 1608, more ships arrived with
supplies, and only 38 of the original colonists were
alive.
– The colony was able to survive in its first few years
due to the leadership of Captain John Smith who
forced settlers to work, explored the area, and
managed to get corn from the local natives, led by
Chief Powhatan.
Early English Settlements
– In August 1609, 400 new settlers arrived from
England, and shortly after, Capt. Smith returned to
England. Without his leadership, there was
hunger and fighting with the natives. When he
returned, only 60 survivors were left.
– The colonists did not find gold or silver, but
instead began to grow tobacco from seeds
originating from the West Indies. The first crop of
this was sold in England in 1614. This cash crop
brought a great profit that encouraged the settlers
to grow it and work harder for prosperity.
Early English Settlements
– Relations with the natives improved when John
Rolfe married Pocahontas who was the daughter
of the Chief.
– By 1614, some colonists were allowed to rent
land, allowing them to grow crops for profit,
which encouraged colonists to work harder and
put forth more effort to succeed.
– Land ownership expanded in 1618, all colonists
who paid their own way to America were given
100 acres of land.
Early English Settlements
– Nearly all of the colonists were men, working for
the Virginia Company with strict rules. In 1619,
the company allowed the colonists to have a say in
their government. Each town sent
representatives, called burgesses, to an assembly
that had the right to make laws for the colony.
– In 1619, 90 women were sent to Jamestown.
Colonist men who wanted to marry one of the
women had to pay 120 pounds of tobacco. Men
still outnumbered the women, but marriage and
children became a part of the colony.
Early English Settlements
– Also in 1619, a Dutch ship arrived carrying 20
Africans, who are thought to be servants, and not
slaves. By 1640, some of them were free and
owned property.
– William Tucker was the first African-American
born in the Americas, and was born a free man.
– In later years however, ships began to arrive with
unwilling African passenger, slaves, which was first
recognized in the 1660s.
Early English Settlements
– Overall, the Virginia Company was not generating
a profit, and in 1624, King James I cancelled the
charter and made Jamestown the first royal
colony.
New England Colonies
• Religious Freedom
– The next series of colonists were in the new world
in search of religious freedoms
– King Henry VIII’s Anglican Church wasn’t
welcomed by all
– Dissenters – those that disagreed with the beliefs
of practices of the Anglicans
– Persecuted – treated harshly
New England Colonies
– Puritans – those that sought out to reform the
Anglican Church
– Separatists – those that wanted to leave and start
their own churches
– Many Separatists fled to the Netherlands and
gained their religious freedom, but had trouble
finding work
New England Colonies
• The Pilgrims’ Journey
– Separatists in the Netherlands made
arrangements with the Virginia Company to settle
in Virginia and practice their religion
– Pilgrims – those that journey for a religious
purpose
– Only 35 of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower
were ‘Pilgrims’
– Set sail in September 1620
New England Colonies
• The Mayflower Compact
– Aiming for Virginia, the Pilgrims landed in Cape
Cod, present day Massachusetts
– Needing to stop for the winter, they went ashore
at an area called Plymouth
– William Bradford – the Pilgrim leader and
historian
New England Colonies
– Outside of the Virginia Company and its laws, the
Pilgrims designed the Mayflower Compact
– Pledged loyalty to England and the intention of “a
civil body politic, for our better ordering and
preservation.”
– Laws were passed “For the general good of the
colony”
– Big step in representative government in America
New England Colonies
• Native American Help
– During the first winter, almost half of the Pilgrims
died of malnutrition, disease, and cold
– Two Native Americans made friends with the
Pilgrims; Squanto and Samoset
• Squanto was kidnapped to Europe and learned English
– These two helped the Pilgrims grow corn, beans,
and pumpkins and showed them where to hunt
and fish
New England Colonies
– Pilgrims made a treaty with the Wampanoag
Indians, whose leader was Massasoit
– Treaty was signed in March 1621, and brought
peace and cooperation with the Pilgrims and the
Native Americans
New England Colonies
• New Settlements
– 1625 – Charles I takes the throne in England and
Puritan persecution begins again
– 1629 – a group of Puritans formed the
Massachusetts Bay Company and gained a charter
to establish a colony north of Plymouth
– They wanted to create a new society based on the
Bible
New England Colonies
– John Winthrop named the colony’s governor
– 1630 – 900 men, women, and children to
Massachusetts Bay, settling around present day
Boston
– 15,000 Puritans came over to Massachusetts to
escape religious persecution and hard economic
times in England
– This became known as The Great Migration
New England Colonies
– Winthrop and his assistants made the colony’s
laws, chosen by the General Court, which was
made up of the colony’s stockholders
– In 1634, colonists wanted a larger role in the
government proceedings, and the General Court
became an elected assembly
– Adult male church members were allowed to vote
for representatives. Later, they had to be property
owners
New England Colonies
– The Puritans came to America to escape religious
persecution and put their beliefs into practice.
But the Puritans had little toleration to those with
other religious views
• Toleration – the acceptance of different beliefs
– This lack of toleration would lead to groups
splitting off to form new colonies
New England Colonies
• Connecticut and Rhode Island
– 1630s, colonists begin to settle the fertile
Connecticut River Valley, with much better
farmland than was found in the Boston area
– In 1636, Thomas Hooker was unhappy with the
Puritan colony of Massachusetts and led his
congregation to Connecticut and founded the
town of Hartford
New England Colonies
– In 1639, Hartford formed a colony with Windsor
and Wethersfield, and adopted the Fundamental
Orders of Connecticut, the first written
constitution in America
• Described the organization of representative
government in detail
– Roger Williams, a minister, felt that people should
not be persecuted for their religious practices or
force Native Americans away from their lands
New England Colonies
– In 1635, Massachusetts leaders banished Williams
from their colony and he took refuge with the
Narraganset people, who later sold him land to
found the town of Providence
– 1644 – Williams received a charter to form the
colony Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
• The first place in America where people could worship
freely
– 1638 – John Wheelwright led a group of dissenters
and formed the town of Exeter, in New
Hampshire, which became fully independent of
Massachusetts in 1679
New England Colonies
• Conflict with the Native Americans
– Native Americans helped the colonists adapt to
the land and traded goods with them
– Eventually, settlers were moving onto Native
American lands without payment or permission
– 1636 – Settlers fought with the Pequot tribe and
two traders were killed
– Massachusetts sent troops to punish the Pequot
New England Colonies
– The Pequot retaliated by attacking a Connecticut
town and killing 9 people
– May 1637 – Colonial troops attacked a Pequot fort
with the help of the Narraganset tribe, burning
the fort and killing hundreds
– 1675 – Settlers execute three Wampanoag indians
for murder. Metacomet, the chief, began to lead
attacks on towns, killing hundreds
– King Philip’s War – defeat of the Wampanoags
Middle Colonies
• England and the Colonies
– In 1642, Civil War broke out in England, with a
Puritan named Oliver Cromwell defeating King
Charles I
– 1649, Charles I found guilty of treason and
beheaded
– Cromwell was named Protector under the new
government
Middle Colonies
– During the Civil War, Puritans were leaving New
England and returning to England to fight with the
Parliamentary forces
– English men and women loyal to the king left for
the royal colonies in North America
– Cromwell dies in 1658, and Parliament brings back
the monarchy, making Charles II king in 1660
– This period of time in England is known as the
“Restoration”
Middle Colonies
• England Takes Over
– New Netherland (present day New York) had an
excellent harbor and thriving river trade that
England wanted to acquire
– 1664, England sends a fleet to attack New
Amsterdam
– Peter Stuyvesant, governor of the colony, had
strict rules and heavy taxes that people didn’t care
for
Middle Colonies
– When English ships arrived, Stuyvesant was
unprepared for conflict and surrendered the
colony to England
– Charles II gave the colony to his brother, the Duke
of York, who renamed it New York
– It was a proprietary colony, where the owner
controls the land and the government. English
colonies at this time had voters electing officials
Middle Colonies
– Most of New York’s settlers lived along the
Hudson River Valley, the Duke of York allowed
them to keep their property and practice their
religions
– Many of the Dutch colonists decided to stay in
New York, which had 8,000 people by 1664
– By 1683, the population had grown to 12,000
people, who were governed by a governor and
council appointed by the Duke of York
Middle Colonies
– People living in the area demanded a
representative form of government seen in the
other English colonies
– By 1691, the English government allowed the
population to elect its own legislature
Middle Colonies
• New Jersey
– The southern part of the Duke of York’s colony,
between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, was
given to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George
Carteret
– They named the colony ‘New Jersey’ after the
island of Jersey in the English Channel where
Carteret was born
Middle Colonies
– In order to attract settlers, the proprietors of New
Jersey offered large portions of land and generous
terms
– Additionally, settlers were allowed to practice
their religion, have a trial by jury, and a
representative assembly, which made local laws
and set taxes
– Lacking natural harbors, it did not develop to the
extent of New York
Middle Colonies
– Proprietors of New Jersey did not make the profits
they were expecting, and Berkeley sold his shares
in 1674. Carteret sold his in 1682
– By 1702, New Jersey was given back to the King
and named a royal colony
Middle Colonies
• Pennsylvania
– In 1680, William Penn asked King Charles II for
land in North America as payment on a debt owed
to his family
– The plot of land given away was nearly as large as
the country of England
– William Penn was a member of a Protestant group
known as the ‘Society of Friends,’ or Quakers
Middle Colonies
– Quakers believe that everyone had an ‘inner light’
that would give them to salvation, making church
services unnecessary
– Everyone was equal in God’s eyes; the Quakers
were firm in their beliefs, but tolerant of others
– This group was seen as a threat in England
because they not only felt that everyone was
equal, but also that they were pacifists
• Pacifists – Refuse to use force or fight in wars
Middle Colonies
– Pennsylvania was seen as a ‘holy experiment’ to
put Quaker ideals into practice
– In 1682, Penn sailed to America to supervise the
building of Philadelphia, ‘the city of brotherly love’
– Penn designed the city himself and wrote their
first constitution
– Believing that the land was rightfully the Native
Americans’, Penn negotiated treaties with them
Middle Colonies
– Encouraging settlers to the area, Penn published
pamphlets in several languages and distributed
them throughout Europe.
– By 1683, more than 3,000 English, Welsh, Irish,
Dutch, and German settlers arrived
– 1701, The Charter of Liberties gave the colonists
the right to elect representatives to a legislative
assembly