The Planting of
English America
1500 - 1733
Christopher Columbus
Arrived North America in 1492
Sailed for Spain – Queen Isabella
Actually arrived in Caribbean
Only 10% of native population
survived the next 100 years
From Florida south, Spain controlled
“Sea Dogs”
Francis Drake
knighted by Queen Elizabeth for plundering
Spanish ships
Resulted in problems for Spain and England
Failed Attempts
1583-- First attempt of British colonization
failed in Newfoundland
1585 – Sir Walter Raleigh – Roanoke Island
Settlers landed on Roanoke
Island, NC settlement
VANSIHED!
Spain is Defeated
1588- Defeat of the Spanish Armada by
England
1604– Treaty of Peace between England and
Spain
Early 1600’s – Factors which led to
English colonization
Population
Joint Stock
increase
Company
(enclosing of land)
Religious
Economic
Persecution
depression
Peace with Spain
Primogeniture
Virginia Company
1607
Purpose: seeking gold, conversion of
Indians, & passage to the Indies
Received charter from King James I to
settle in the New World
guaranteed settlers the rights of
Englishmen
Jamestown settled
Virginia Colony
Saved from collapse by:
John Smith – Work = Food
starving time
Colonists tried to leave but were turned
back by Lord De La Warr
1625 - 1200 out of the 8000 were left
Powhatan
Chief Powhatan – dominated natives in the
James River area
Problems arose - colonists started raided Indian
food supplies
Lord De La Warr attacked Indians
First Anglo-Powhatan War-1614
Second Anglo-Powhatan War - 1644
Virginia: Child of Tobacco
John Rolfe - Saved the colony
• perfected tobacco
Tyranny of “King Nicotine”
• Drained the soil & prices fluctuated
African Slaves
1619 - African Slaves – Dutch warship sold 20
Black Africans to Jamestown
Representative Assembly
House of Burgesses organized in 1619
1st of its kind in the colonies
Upset King James I
made Virginia a royal colony
Maryland
1634 – Founded by Lord Baltimore
proprietary colony
Tobacco economy based on white indentured
servants
Maryland
A refuge for persecuted Catholics
1649 – Maryland Act of Toleration:
Guaranteed religious toleration to all Christians
– not Jews or atheists
The West Indies
1655 - England claimed Jamaica
Economy based on sugar
Slaves outnumbered white settlers
Depended on North America mainland for food &
other supplies
King Charles II
1649 - Charles I beheaded
Oliver Cromwell takes over
1660- Charles II restored to the English throne
after Cromwell’s 10 year rule
The Carolinas
1670 – settled by 8 lord proprietors
Prospered by developing close economic ties
with the British West Indies
The Carolinas
Early exports - Indian slaves & rice
Rice cultivation led to import of Africans
slaves
Slaves were immune to malaria (but susceptible
to sickle cell anemia)
Charles Town - busiest seaport in the south
The Split
1712 – “Squatters” from Virginia moved
to North Carolina
Great resistance to authority & aristocracy
North Carolina was officially separated
from South Carolina
Both became royal
colonies
Georgia
1733 – Founded by James Oglethorpe
haven for debtors
buffer against Spanish Florida & the French in
Louisiana
Only colony to receive subsidies from British gov’t
Restrictions on black slavery after 1750
Common Characteristics of the
Southern Colonies
Plantation economy
Profitable staple crops
like tobacco & rice
Slavery
Large acreage in the
hands of a favored few
“Soil Butchery” led to
expansion westward
Establishment of
churches & schools
difficult
Some religious
toleration
Tax-supported church
of England dominate