The Birth of a Nation
What can we extrapolate from
these pie charts?
Lecture Objectives
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To compare and contrast the 13 colonies
To explore controversies within and among the colonies
To analyze the political, economic and social objectives of the colonies
To assess the various successes and failures in experiments with selfgovernment
To assess the role of European powers in the formation and the
governance of the colonies
To explore the role of religion in the colonies
To examine the extent to which the colonies were democratic
To examine the extent to which the colonies were independent and to
trace the evolution of their independence.
To assess the role of dissent and rebellion in the colonies
To determine the role of values such as liberty, equality, and fraternity
To analyze the role of Natives in Colonial America
To identify the role of various European, Native and Colonial leaders
To determine which colonies were more/less influential in the
development of a national identity
To foreshadow the implications of colonial development on the United
States.
Financing for Colonial Development
Four types of exploration and colonization financing methods
a. Trading Company or Joint Stock Company Colony –
(1) With the king's permission, a company was formed which often
had exclusive rights of trade in a particular area or over a particular
product.
(2) These company charters enabled the owners to sell stock or
shares to private investors, who were hoping for dividends.
a. Covenant or Self-governing Colony - colonies created and governed by
the settlers (Plymouth, Rhode Island and Connecticut).
b. Proprietary Colony - One individual or group was given by the crown the
right to govern or to settle a specified colony (Maryland). The government
formed could be any type except that colonists had to be guaranteed basic
English rights.
c. Royal Colony - remained under Crown control. For various reasons all
English colonies lost their independent status and became royal colonies
Northern, Middle & Southern
Northern Colonies
• Massachusetts Bay
– later MA and ME
• Rhode Island
• New Hampshire
• Connecticut
Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1629
Formation of the MBC
A. Push factors for Puritans
>Charles I dismissed Parliament in 1629 and sanctioned anti-Puritan persecution.
a. Moderate Puritans had gathered support in Parliament for reforms
b. King refused to guarantee power of parliament or basic rights for people.
B. MBC founded in 1629 by non-Separatist Puritans out of fear for their faith and
England's future.
C. The "Great Migration" (1630’s)
1. Pilgrims came to America aboard the Mayflower in 1620.
a. Since they had a 2,000 colonists had arrived in Boston
2. English Civil War (1642-1649) slowed the Great Migration
a. Puritans remained in England to fight the Royalist forces.
b. Puritans in England, led by Oliver Cromwell, took gov't 1642 - 1660.
c. Charles I beheaded in 1649
patent to settle in Virginia, it wouldn’t be valid; they drafted the Mayflower Compact
while aboard, an agreement to form a government,
“combine our selves
together into a civil body politick.”
b. By 1631,
Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1629
Formation of the MBC
D. John Winthrop - Governor of MBC
1. Covenant Theology: Winthrop believed Puritans had a covenant with God to
lead new religious experiment in New World
-- "We shall build a city upon a hill."
2. Most distinguished of the early MBC leaders.
a. Elected governor 12 times and set the tone for much
of its sense of religious mission.
b. Leadership helped Massachusetts to prosper
E. MBC became biggest and most influential New England community.
-- Economy: fur trading, fishing, shipbuilding, and some farming (wheat & corn)
-- Politics: because any church-going male could vote, the MBC had a strong
franchise--at least 40% of males could vote during the 1630s.
Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1629
MBC Politics, Society & Culture
A. Governing open to all free adult male Puritans (40% of pop.)
1. Percentage of eligible officeholders was more than in England.
2. Eventually, Puritan churches grew into the Congregational Church
-Non-church members required to pay taxes for the gov't-supported church.
3. Non-religious men and all women could not vote
4. Townhall meetings emerged as a staple of democracy
-- Town governments allowed all male property holders to vote and publicly
discuss issues. Majority-rule show of hands.
B. Function of government was to enforce God's laws (part of covenant theology)
1. Provincial gov't was not a democracy or a theocracy. Congregational ministers
had no formal political authority.
2. Only Puritans -- the "visible saints" -- could be freemen; only freemen could vote
a. Distrusted non-Puritan common people.
b. Believed democracy was the "meanest and worst" of all forms of government.
Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1629
MBC Politics, Society & Culture
A. Church leadership
1. Public interrogations of people claiming to have experienced conversion.
2. John Cotton devoted to defending gov'ts duty to enforce religious rules yet
advocated a civil government.
3. Clergymen were not allowed to hold political office
a. Congregation had the right to hire and fire ministers and set salaries.
b. In effect, a form of separation of church and state.
c. Puritans in England had learned their lesson when they suffered at the hands
of the "political" Anglican clergy in England.
4. Cambridge Platform (1648): Voluntary synod where the 4 Puritan colonies of
Massachusetts Bay -- Mass., Plymouth, Connecticut & New Haven -- met to work
out a congregational form of church gov’t in detail.
-- Significance: Congregational church became more uniform throughout New
England.
Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1629
MBC Politics, Society & Culture
B. Early dissension in the MBC
1. Quakers, who believed in an inner light and not in theology,
flouted the authority of the Puritan clergy and were persecuted.
2. Anne Hutchinson – believed in antinomianism (predestination)
--She held prayer meetings at home to discuss John Cotton’s
sermons with other women; this was taboo for non-clergy
c. Brought to trial for heresy in1638.
i. She claimed direct revelation from God – more heresy.
ii. Banished from colony; set out for Rhode Island pregnant
iii. Eventually settled in N.Y. where she & all but 1 of 14 kids
killed by Indians
Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1629
MBC Politics, Society & Culture
3. Roger Williams -- minister from Salem (dissent cont.)
a. Extreme Separatist who challenged legality of Plymouth and Bay Colony
charters because land belonged to Indians and was not the king’s land to
grant.
-- Claimed colony took land from Indians w/o fair compensation
b. “Liberty of conscience"
i. Williams denied authority of civil gov't to regulate religious behavior.
-- Stated that no man should be forced to go to church.
-- In effect, challenged the basis of the Massachusetts Bay government.
ii. Used "wall of separation" b/w church and state
-- Jefferson would later use this metaphor to disestablish religion in
VA which later influenced "No Establishment" clause of the Const
c. General Court banished him from colony in 1635 and Williams fled in winter of
1636 to Narragansett Bay, RI; sheltered by Indian friends.
d. He purchased lands from Indians and founded the community of Providence,
accepting all settlers regardless of their beliefs.
Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1629
MBC Politics, Society & Culture
E. Later challenges to Puritanism (dissent cont.)
1. First generation Puritans began losing their religious zeal as time went on.
a. Large population influx dispersed Puritan population onto outlying farms away
from control of church and neighbors.
b. After the wave of dissention in the 1630s and 1640s (e.g. Hutchinson and Williams)
conversions decreased dramatically.
-- Children of non-converted members could not be baptized.
d. Conversions continued to decrease as 2nd generation Puritans had trouble getting their
conversions authenticated by the church, thus preventing their children from being
baptized.
2. The "Half-Way Covenant" instituted in 1662 to attract more members
-Full membership in the tax-supported Puritan church required an account of a
conversion experience, and only persons in full membership could have their own
children baptized.
-provided partial church membership for the children and grandchildren of church
members. Those who accepted the Covenant, and agreed to follow the creed and rules of
the church, could become church members without claiming a spiritual experience. These
half-members could not vote on any issues within the church
3. Eventually, Puritan churches baptized almost anyone
a. Distinction between the "elect" and other members of society subsided.
b. Strict religious purity was sacrificed for wider religious participation.
Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1629
MBC Politics, Society & Culture
F. Salem Witch Trials, 1692
a. MA suffered political, religious, and military upheaval that led to
widespread paranoia and unrest.
-- Not uncommon for Europeans and colonists in the 16th and 17th centuries to
believe that the devil worked through witches in the real world.
b. First accusations began when young girls, after listening to voodoo tales from a
black servant, began behaving oddly.
-Witch Hunt: young female accusers were from the poor western part of the
community and accused the more prosperous people in the eastern part.
c. 19 people hanged, 1 person pressed to death, and 2 dogs were hanged
d. Cotton Mather, one of most prominent clergymen in Massachusetts, tacitly
supported the witch trials and thus weakening the prestige of the clergy
e. Explanations include: religious discord, economic tensions, misogyny, fear of
Indian attacks.
f. Things came to a sudden halt, when ministers, led by Increase Mather, urged
leniency.
Rhode Island - 1636 (recognized 1644)
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Founded on Rebellion - drew independent minded people. Most
individualistic and independent population (along with North Carolina).
Egalitarian constitution providing for majority rule and liberty of
conscience.
Progressive for its time: passed laws abolishing witchcraft trials,
imprisonment for debt, most capital punishment, and in 1652, slavery of
both blacks and whites
Church & State
Most religious groups were welcomed, with only some restrictions on
Catholicism & Judaism.
Williams built Baptist church at Providence (1st Baptist church in
Americas)
No oaths required regarding one's religious beliefs
No compulsory attendance at worship
No taxes to support a state church
Provided simple manhood suffrage
Amalgamated into the Dominion of New England in 1686, when James II
attempted to enforce royal authority over the autonomous colonies
New Hampshire - 1623
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Named after the English county of Hampshire
In 1638 Exeter was founded by John Wheelwright. Settlers
signed the Exeter Compact , similar to Mayflower Compact
All the towns agreed to unite in 1639, but MA had claimed the
territory. In 1641 an agreement was reached with MA to come
under its jurisdiction. Home rule of the towns was allowed.
The relationship between MA and NH was controversial and
tenuous. In 1679 the king separated them. They were reunited (as
part of the Dominion of New England) in 1686 and re-divided in
1691. The "Royal Province" continued until 1698 when it came
once more under the jurisdiction of MA. In 1741 New Hampshire
returned to its royal provincial status
All the while, economically dependent on MA
Modern State motto: “Live Free or Die”
Connecticut - 1636
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The English population of the area exploded in 1636 when clergyman
Thomas Hooker led 100 settlers with 130 head of cattle in a trek
from Cambridge to the CT River, where they established Hartford
Hooker objected to arbitrary strict power of Gov. Winthrop and MBC’s
magistrates. His congregation wanted more lands that MBC was
unwilling grant.
Three valley towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield
established CT
1643, New England Confederation: Connecticut, New Haven,
Plymouth, and Massachusetts formed a league of friendship for
defense and advice – step toward the later union of states.
Fundamental Orders drafted in 1639
a. First modern constitution in American history
b. Established a democracy controlled by "substantial" citizens
i. Gov’t should be based on consent of the people.
ii. Patterned MBC gov’t.
Connecticut - 1636
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Like MBC, CT was founded by Puritans who est. the Congregational
Church
Tax revenues supported the local ministers
– Colonists who failed to attend Sunday services were subject to fines.
– Until 1708, the Congregational Church was the only legal religion in CT
1718, following a substantial gift from Elihu Yale…
The Great Awakening sent shock waves through the colony in the middle
of the eighteenth century, ripping the Congregational Church apart.
– Those who embraced the Awakening were known as New Lights, while
those opposed to it became known as Old Lights.
– Unhappy with the often unemotional services of their regular ministers,
New Lights in many towns petitioned to form separate religious societies
or churches.
Pequot War (1634-1638) between an alliance of MBC and Plymouth
colonies, with Native American allies (the Narragansett and Mohegan
tribes), vs. the Pequot tribe. This war saw the elimination of the Pequot as a
viable polity. Puritans used Biblical passages to justify extermination of the
Pequots.
– Inspired, for common protection, The New England Confederation
(1643)
Middle Colonies
• New York
– later NY & VT
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Delaware
• New Netherland Colony: the
settled areas are now part of
NY, NJ, DE & CT
• Each colony developed
religiously, ethnically, and
politically heterogeneous
population, (foreshadowing
America)
New Netherland
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Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage for a NW Passage
Multiculturalism—haven for religious and
intellectual refugees.
Religious freedom and free-trade (including a
stock market)
Initially a private venture to exploit fur trade, NN
was slowly settled over decades.
Early conflicts with Natives
Mismanagement by the Dutch West India Co.
New York - 1664
– England captured NN from the Dutch in 1664. The
English sent Navy to seize the colony, and the Dutch
didn’t resist, though their last director-general, Peter
Stuyvesant, urged them to fight to the end.
– The capture was confirmed by the Treaty of Breda in
1667. Renamed for James, Duke of York, brother of
Charles II In 1688 the province was made of part of
the Dominion of New England.
• Religious toleration
• Set up local governments. NY remained diverse,
loosely collected, independent communities.
New York - 1664
– 1683, New York Chapter of Liberties: Granted freedom of religion to
all Christians and gave all freeholders the right to vote. Created to
attract more settlers to NY
• Governor Andros said "permit all persons of what religion soever,
quietly to inhabit within the precincts of your jurisdiction"
• Colonial Assembly created - gave New Yorkers more rights than
any other group of colonists including the protection from taxation
without representation.
– NYC was the largest importer of slaves and a supply port for pirates.
• benefited from being a supplier to the British fleet during wars with
France
– The early economy of colonial NY consisted primarily of fur trade. As
the importance of the merchant port of New York grew, and the
agricultural areas of Long Island and the regions further up the Hudson
River developed, the economy expanded and diversified.
New Jersey - 1665
• Part of Duke of York’s charter. NJ was called "Albania“
• Lord Berkeley of Stratton, a close friend of the Duke, was also given
a part of NJ. Became East and West Jersey. Border was not
demarcated and often disputed.
• In 1665, NJ was split off from NY to become a separate province,
but the final border was not finalized until 1765
– New York–New Jersey Line War a series of skirmishes and raids that
took place for over half a century between 1701 and 1765 at the
disputed border
• Offered religious freedom to attract settlers. Quakers came.
• In 1746, The College of New Jersey (now Princeton) was founded in
Elizabethtown by a group of Great Awakening "New Lighters"
• 1766, Queens College (now Rutgers) was founded in New
Brunswick by Dutch Reformed ministers with a Royal Charter from
George III.
Pennsylvania - 1681
• William Penn received the colony as payment in lieu of
a £16,000 debt that the Crown owed his father, naval
hero William Penn.
• Establishment of the colony also solved the problem of
the growing Society of Friends or "Quaker" movement
in England, which was causing much embarrassment to
the established Church of England.
• a. Extensive advertising with the British Isles, Holland
and Germany
(1) Many immigrants were Quakers from the Rhineland,
Ireland and England.
(2) German Protestant groups were called the
Pennsylvania Dutch ("Deutschland")
(3) Scot-Irish Presbyterians arrived in the 1700s as
indentured servants.
Pennsylvania - 1681
• Radical beliefs: religious freedom for everyone & fair dealings with
Natives (had healthier relationships with Natives).
– No need for learned ministry, as one person’s interpretation of
scripture was as valid as anyone’s. This was a liberating belief,
especially for lower-class English.
– Despite Quaker opposition to slavery, by 1730 colonists had
brought about 4,000 slaves into Pennsylvania. The
Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act of 1780 – 1st
emancipation statute in the colonies
– Other pertinent Quaker beliefs
(1) Equality - All people were equal. Quakers used "thee" and
"thou" when addressing each other (no “you”)
– (2) Simplicity - wore darker colors, like grays, browns and blacks
and did not like to have their portraits painted
(3) Peace - Quakers refused military service as pacifists and
when they controlled the legislature, they refused to appropriate
any monies to fight the Indians.
Pennsylvania - 1681
• By 1750’s, Quakers lost their numerical edge,
abandoned the government and left for the countryside
to live by their credo
• German refugees prospered on the fertile soil
– Mennonites - founded Germantown in 1683
– Northkill Amish Settlement, est. 1740, 1st Amish
settlement in Americas.
• 3rd richest colony in the New World. Philadelphia as
America's most important city.
Delaware - 1701
• Land that became DE changed hands many times.
Because of this, DE became a very heterogeneous
society made up of individuals who were religiously and
culturally diverse (Swedes, Finns, Dutch, French, and
some English).
• William Penn was granted right to rule by Crown in 1681
– had a hard time governing DE because the population
was diverse. He attempted to merge the governments
of PA and the lower counties of DE. Representatives
clashed.
– 1701 Penn agreed to having two separate
assemblies. Delawareans would meet in New Castle
and Pennsylvanians would gather in Philadelphia.
• The Charter of 1701 permitted Delaware a separate
government from Pennsylvania
Southern Colonies
• Maryland
• Virginia
– later VA, KY & WV
• North Carolina
– later NC & TN
• South Carolina
• Georgia
Virginia - 1624
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King James > Jamestown > 1607 >
Christopher Newport > John Smith > Disaster.
90% of Natives wiped out by mid-Century
Never would have made a profit, if it weren’t
for the “stinking weed.” John Rolfe, who had
married Chief Powhatan’s daughter
Pocahantas, experimented with the Indian
tobacco crop, creating a milder version that
appealed to Europeans.
Virginia - 1624
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Under Sir Edwin Sandys, the Company made a number of
reforms, including creating the House of Burgesses
• authorized by London Company in 1619.
• 1st mini parliament in English American colonies.
– Representative self-government
– Created as an incentive to attract settlers to the
Virginia "Death Trap"
– Most representatives were substantial property owners
• Sandy also devised the headright system
– gave adventurers a 50-acre plot of land for themselves
and each servant or family member they brought over,
provided they covered their own transportation costs
– Created a rise in indentured servitude - most came over
as teenage boys to work under contract (few outlived
their 4-7 yr. contract).
Virginia - 1624
– King Charles I was embarrassed by
Jamestown, and made the charter Royal,
appointing the governor and council himself.
Though he dissolved the House of Burgesses,
they continued to meet and in 1639 the body
was officially recognized.
– Daily life in VA was centered on working one’s
own land. People were isolated and there
were no population centers besides
Jamestown.
Virginia - 1624
Bacon’s Rebellion
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Nathaniel Bacon, who arrived in Virginia in 1674, led a group of
disgruntled planters in an uprising against Sir William Berkeley,
Virginia’s governor.
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Bacon and others were angry that the governor proposed
ineffective solutions to Indian attacks, and because Berkeley
reserved fur trading for his cronies
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Black slaves and white servants, who had their own desires for
reform, joined Bacon.
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The rebellion was disorganized and ineffective. When Bacon died
in 1676, the rebellion dispersed
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Significance of Bacon's Rebellion: Planters saw white indentured
servants as too difficult to control and significantly increased
importation of black slaves while reducing number of indentured
servants.
– Planter elite increasingly played the "race card" by
encouraging poor whites to discriminate against blacks;
planters feared blacks and poor whites could ally again
Maryland - 1632
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Despite early competition with VA, MD developed along similar lines to VA
Like VA, MD relied on tobacco and had plantations spread out along the
river and therefore didn’t need towns to exchange goods [b/c they could just
send it on down the river].
– Early settlements and populations centers tended to cluster around the
Chesapeake Bay.
Charles I gave Sir George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, a portion of VA
for a Catholic haven and profit. Eventually Catholics became a minority and
feared loss of religions freedom.
Act of Toleration (1649)
– Guaranteed toleration to all Christians but instituted death penalty for
anyone denying the divinity of Jesus (e.g. Jews & atheists)
– Motive: Catholics sought to protect their faith by granting certain degree
of religious freedom.
– MD became largest haven for Catholics
By 1700, Maryland was third most populous colony (about 30,000
inhabitants)
Carolinas – 1663 / NC & SC – 1712/ Royal - 1729
• Charles II granted the Carolina charter in 1663 for lands south of
Virginia Colony and north of Spanish Florida
• Charleston founded (1669) by settlers from England. Significant
port town.
• Religious freedom was revised (Mar 1670) to establish the Church
of England.
• Because of communication difficulties, in 1691 a separate deputy
governor was named to administer the northern half of the colony.
The division of the colony into North and South was complete by
1712, although the same proprietors continued to control both
colonies.
• In 1729, after nearly a decade-long attempt by the British
government to locate and buy-out seven of the eight Lords
Proprietors, both Carolinas became royal colonies
• Carolina society was envisioned with a hereditary nobility granted to
proprietors
Carolinas – 1663 / NC & SC – 1712/ Royal - 1729
Impact of the British West Indies
1. West Indies, especially Barbados, developed sugar
plantation economy
2. Slaves in BWI outnumbered whites 4 to 1
3. BWI relied on mainland for foodstuffs.
4. As sugar plantations began to crowd out small
farmers, many came to Carolina with their slaves
5. Carolina adopted slave code in 1696
6. By 1710 blacks outnumbered whites.
Carolinas – 1663 / NC & SC - 1729
Stono Rebellion (1739) (aka Cato's Conspiracy or Cato's Rebellion)
– the majority of the population of the SC colony were slaves
– largest slave uprising in Colonial history
– Jemmy ("Cato") was a literate slave who led 20 other enslaved Congolese, who
may have been former soldiers, in an armed march south from the Stono River.
– Recruited 60 other slaves, marched down the road with a banner that read
"Liberty!", and chanted in unison. They attacked Hutchenson's store at the Stono
River Bridge, killing two storekeepers and seizing weapons and ammunition.
Killed 22-25 whites before being intercepted by a South Carolina militia near the
Edisto River. In that battle, 20 whites and 44 slaves were killed, and the rebellion
was suppressed.
– A group of slaves escaped and traveled another 30 miles before battling a week
later with a militia; most of the slaves were executed
• In response, the SC legislature passed the Negro Act of 1740 restricting slave
assembly, education and movement. It also enacted a 10-year moratorium against
importing African slaves, and established penalties against slaveholders' harsh
treatment of slaves.
Georgia - 1729
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James Oglethorpe saw GA as a way to thwart Spain from taking
the area; they controlled FL. England and Spain fought constantly.
Oglethorpe imagined a province populated by "sturdy farmers" that
could guard the border; because of this, the colony's charter
prohibited slavery
“The Buffer Colony” or “The Garrison State”
He also intended to populate the area with England’s “worthy poor”,
as an alternative to debtor’s prison.
In 1732, George II [“Georgia”] granted Oglethorpe a charter. Few
settlers were attracted, as there were strict rules (no slaves, no rum).
Settlers were averse to strict rules so GA soon became a harddrinking (1742 repeal) slave-owning (1749 repeal) colony, which still
attracted few settlers.
The charter granted liberty of conscience to everyone except
Catholics, and limited grants of land to 500-acre tracts. Soon
became 2,000 acre limits to attract more settlers.
Savannah emerged into a diverse community (included German
Lutherans and Scottish Highlanders; but no Catholics)
Objectives Revisited
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To compare and contrast the 13 colonies
To explore controversies within and among the colonies
To analyze the political, economic and social objectives of the colonies
To assess the various successes and failures in experiments with selfgovernment
To assess the role of European powers in the formation and the
governance of the colonies
To explore the role of religion in the colonies
To examine the extent to which the colonies were democratic
To examine the extent to which the colonies were independent and to
trace the evolution of their independence.
To assess the role of dissent and rebellion in the colonies
To determine the role of values such as liberty, equality and fraternity
To analyze the role of Natives in Colonial America
To identify the role of various European, Native and Colonial leaders
To determine which colonies were more/less influential in the
development of a national identity
To foreshadow the implications of colonial development on the United
States.
Conclusions?