Chapter 2 Notes – The Planting of English America – 1500 – 1733
Overview- The English for the most part settle in areas without
large native empires. Over a 150-year span Britain created 13
colonies that provided a profitable trade and a home to a diverse
group of people. The colonies evolve over that time…from struggle
into permanence… Farms, towns and cities are settled. Comingling
various; cultures, economic plans, and ideas about governance…
Motivation or reasons for coming, topography, natural resources,
climate, and background of settlers influenced the differences that
develop among the colonies. Demand for labor influences the
Southern colonies the most…due to their dependence on large
scale commercial agriculture; Indentured servitude and African
Slavery both develop as options… They all depend on the “Atlantic
Trade” for their economic livelihood. The Dutch (ny) French
(Canada and Ohio R. valley) and the Spanish (southeast and
southwest ) along with the English develop diverse patterns of
colonization… These efforts in colonization leads to intercultural
contact and conflict. Political, Economic, and Cultural exchanges
with the “Atlantic World” had a profound effect on Colonial
Societies.
All English colonies receive their identity and authority to operate
by means of a Charter granted by the King/English Monarch. 3
types of colonies develop: corporate- e.g. Jamestown/Va. Company,
Royal: under authority of the King (Most by 1775) , and
Proprietary: e.g. Maryland (Lord Baltimore, Cecil Calvert) &
Pennsylvania ( William Penn) under the authority of the individual
who were granted the charter.
All English colonies came with a tradition of Representative Gov’t
and were accustomed to elections…although most colonists were
excluded from this process and the concept of “Deference” was key.
The development of a “limited democracy” occurs alongside antidemocratic processes that develop as well; e.g. Slavery- massacre
of natives…etc…
Part 1 pp. 25 – 32 “Virginia”
Introduction –
By 1600 (appx. 100 years after European Contact) much of the New World had been
Transformed… especially in Caribbean, Central, and South America.
ECOLOGICAL REVOLUTION – effects on: people, animals, landscape, plants
- disease, armed conquest, and African Slaves
- From Fla/Nm South Spain Dominates
BUT North America in 1600 remained Largely Unexplored by the Eouro’s… with
some early exceptions… Cabrillo – Calif, de Onate – NM, DeLeon-Fla, CabotNortheast, Cartier- St. Lawrence River area, Verrazano- NE. etc…
The coming CONFLICT would center on Three (3) Nations; Spain, England, and
France…although the Dutch in NY, the Swedes in NJ, and the Russians, in the Far
Northwest would attempt to plant their flags here as well.
The conflict for control of North America really begins in earnest beginning in 1607
with the 1st successful English colony Jamestown on the Chesapeake Bay, The 1st
successful French colony at Quebec in 1608, and with the success of the Spanish at
Sante Fe in 1610.
A Change in England –
The Protestant Reformation begins in England when King Henry the VIII breaks
with the Catholic Church and begins the Church of England. In the 1530’s…
(Anglican – Episcopal)
By 1558 and the Rise of Elizabeth (The Virgin Queen) the protestants become
dominant and although conflict develops with the Catholic Irish…they are easily
subdued and The English take Irish land and plant new protestant English land
owners from Scotland (some later to be migrants to America The Scots-Irish) and
England…where a conflict still simmers today.
Elizabeth
Now energized England begins to compete with their main CATHOLIC rival
Spain…Sending Buccaneers (Pirates – freebooters) such as Sir Francis Drake and his
Sea Dogs to the Caribbean to raid wealthy Spanish Treasure ships and raiding
Spanish settlements…This turned out to be a great investment for the financial
backers of Drake… a profit of 4600% on his return…surely not discouraging the
English…
Two failed attempts at colonization were attempted by Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir
Humphrey Gilbert (Raleigh’s ½ brother) at Newfoundland in 1583 and at ROANOKE
ISLAND (off the coasts of future NC and Virginia-named in honor of the Virgin
Queen) in 1585 (John White one of Roanoke’s earlier settlers paints a series of
watercolors of the native inhabitants).
Spain is frustrated with the English interrupting their success and flaunting their
Protestantism…so Phillip II begins to plan for a showdown… THE INVINCIBLE
ARMADA. In 1588, the outcome of the NAVAL Conflict between England and Spain
CHANGES WORLD HISTORY FOREVER… With England’s Victory Spain begins it’s
decline…and England surges into World Hegemony due to its NAVAL DOMINANCE
OF THE WORLD [ THE SYMBOL OF THE FUTURE BRITISH EMPIRE sun on the
horizon]
The sun was shining somewhere on the Empire at all times… leading to the
GREATEST EMPIRE IN WORLD HISTORY…
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada and England’s hegemon over the World’s Oceans
was a “Red-letter Day” for American History… As this occurrence allows England
now to begin a Golden Age… leading to it planting its flag across the world and
successfully in America as well… a unified national state, religious peace, flowering
literature (Shakespeare) the Future of England indeed looks bright…
England on the Eve of Empire
Economic and Social change begins in England… a Population surge to 4million by
1600… Cropland Enclosure force many small farmers off their rented lands and onto
the “roads” and in many cases becoming beggars in the streets of the overflowing
cities…in these areas many of these farmers had become Puritans (following the
ideas of John Calvin- a kind of super protestant that opposed any church similarities
to Catholicism –more in Chapter 3) These Puritans from the Woolen districts are
some of the earliest migrants to America.
Other Economic and Social Changes that motivated migration to the English colonies
around the World… Laws of primogeniture, The creation of the Joint-Stock company,
Peace with Spain signed in 1604 provided the opportunity, Population Growth
provided the Workers, Unemployment, Adventure, and Religious Freedom provided
the Motives, Joint-Stock companies provided the financial means… Now England is
on the Move…
England Plants the Jamestown Seedling
Note: Why do the Southern and New England (Northern) areas DEVELOP so
differently?
Two clues have to be considered…their motives or reasons for coming
;as well as geography …This difference becomes part of a HUGE idea as
America develops its national IDENTITY…
The Virginia Company – A Joint-Stock Company forms and receives a CHARTER for a
settlement in North America…Purpose- to find GOLD and a NW Passage through the
Americas to the Indies.
The Va. Co. was INTENDED to be temporary… lasting long enough to make lots of
$$$$.
The details of the VA Co Charter has huge implications for the Future… it
GURANTEED THE SETTLERS THE SAME RIGHTS AS IF THEY WERE IN ENGLAND
(The Magna Carta-Petition of Right- English Bill of Rights) THIS GURANTEE WAS
ALSO GRADUALLY EXTENDED TO ALL SUBSEQUENT ENGLISH COLONIES **** by
1763 this insistence on the “Rights of Englishmen” nourished the Independence
Movement in the 13 American British colonies…
Jamestown is created near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (later sharing this with
Maryland…the two later known as the Chesapeake colonies due to their similarities)
UNHEALTHFUL LOCATION…100 MEN DISEMBARK… a “nightmare” begins…
Due to its lack of preparation for long-term survival…many starve, However,
Jamestown is saved initially by Captain John Smith – “he who shall not works shall
not eat,” eventually Pocahontas and Powhatan (natives) help with foods.. but not
before they resorted to eating “dogges, Catts, Ratts, Myce, Corpses, and even (one
man) salting and eating his wife.. of the 400 who came by 1609 only 60 survive the
“Starving Time 1609-1610.
FATE- in the Spring of 1610 the colonists attempt to leave…[STORY] however…as
fate would have it …at that moment…a new Governor, Lord De La Warr ( which state
eventually is named for him?) shows up in Jamestown at the same moment the
colonists were leaving…orders the colonists to return and begins a Militaristic
Regime with a focus on destroying the Indians…
Survival was difficult early in Virginia… of the 8000 who attempt to settle here by
1625 only 1200 are left…
Cultural Clash in the Chesapeake
Immediately the English settlers have to deal with the POWHATAN
CONFEDERACY…. The natives were known as the Powhatan’s, after their chief and
Pocahontas father. The beginning was somewhat nice… however it soon
deteriorated into War…especially after the arrival of Lord De La Warr in 1610…
The Virginia Company orders De La Warr to introduce “irish tactics” against the
Indians…raiding villages, burning houses, taking food, and burning indian food
supplies… The First Anglo-Powhatan War ends in 1614 with the Marriage of John
Rolfe to Pocahontas… supposedly the 1st interracial marriage in Virginia …
The Natives after suffering much decide to attempt to rid themselves of the English
and attack in 1622 and kill 347 settlers…including John Rolfe… In response the VA.
Co. calls for a perpetual WAR … to wipe out the natives… The 2nd Anglo-Powhatan
War turns out again in defeat for the Powhatans… and in the Peace Treaty signed in
1646 –effectively banished them from their lands and separated the natives from
white settlements… THE ORIGINS OF THE LATER “RESERVATION SYSTEM”… BY
1685 the English considered the Powhatans EXTINCT.
The THREE D’S - disease, disorganization, disposability… **** cause all native
Americans problems… disease kills many, the lack of unity leaves them at a severe
disadvantage, and the fact that early on the Indians provided no use to the English
(somewhat later this changes- Fur Trade, alliances against other Euro’s) they could
be disposed of without harm to the English economy… and without question
delayed the English desire for LAND….
The Indians New World
The shock of large scale European colonization affects the Native American life
dramatically…and the EFFECTS foreshadow the destinies of most indigenous
peoples throughout the continent…..
Change: Effect …. Horses – influences indian migration and cultural patterns, disease
wiped out entire cultures and helped shape new ones, e.g. The Catawba –in NC
Southern Piedmont was formed from splintered tribes. Trade: barter and exchange
networks change to include the Europeans; Firearms… intensify competition among
tribes for fur trade, etc…
The Natives along the Atlantic Seaboard felt the worst effects of the Euro’s arrival…
however, the Interior Tribes had the advantages of Time, Space, and Numbers… and
sought to adapt… and dealt from a position of strength…therefore…the Euro’s had to
ACCOMMODATE…the interior tribes to do business….Finding a Middle Ground… at
least until more Euro’s could arrive.
End Part 1 Notes
Virginia: Child of Tobacco…look at Map p. 34