The American Colonies Emerge
Spain establishes an American empire,
devastating native populations. England
forces the Dutch from North America and
establishes thirteen colonies.
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The American Colonies Emerge
SECTION 1
Spain’s Empire in the Americas
SECTION 2
An English Settlement at Jamestown
SECTION 3
Puritan New England
SECTION 4
Settlement of the Middle Colonies
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Section 1
Spain’s Empire in
the Americas
Throughout the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish
conquer Central and portions of North America.
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SECTION
1
Spain’s Empire in the Americas
The Spanish Claim a New Empire
Cortés Subdues the Aztec
• Conquistadors (conquerors)—Spanish explorers,
seek gold, silver
• 1519 Hernándo Cortés leads army into Americas,
claims land for Spain
• Aztec dominate region; Nahua people who resent
Aztec join Cortés---NATIVE DISUNITY
• Montezuma thinks Cortés a god; gives him share
of Aztec gold
• In 1520 Aztec rebel; in 1521 Spanish and their
allies defeat Aztec
• Cortés founds Mexico City, New Spain colony on
Tenochtitlán ruins
• Disease greatly reduces native populations of Continued . . .
Aztecs, Mayans, Incas, and non-empire natives
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“This great city of Tenochtitlan is built on the salt lake, and no matter by
what road you travel there are two leagues from the main body of the city
to the mainland. There are four artificial causeways leading to it, and
each is as wide as two cavalry lances.”
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1
continued The
Spanish Claim a New Empire
Spanish Pattern of Conquest
• Spanish settlers mostly men, called peninsulares;
marry native women
• Mestizo—person of mixed Spanish and Native
American ancestry
• Landlords use encomienda—force natives to farm,
ranch, mine
• Priests object, encomienda abolished; Africans
brought as slaves
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The encomienda system
SECTION
1
The Conquistadors Push North
Other Countries Explore North America
• England, France, Netherlands sponsor voyages in
1500s and 1600s
Exploring Florida
• Juan Ponce de León discovers and names La
Florida (1513)
• Pedro Menéndez de Avilés expels French, founds
St. Augustine (1565)
Settling the Southwest
• In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado leads
expedition to Southwest
• Pedro de Peralta, governor of New Mexico,
Spain’s northern holdings
• He helps found Santa Fe (1609–1610); several
missions built in area
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Fransisco Vasquera de Coronado was sent by the viceroy of Mexico, Antonio de Mendoza, to find the
"Seven cities of Gold" and establish trade. In the early 1540s, Coronado set out with a few hundred
men and natives in order to find these cities. Coronado in turn sent out several expeditions, led by
Henando de Alverado that discovered the famous rock dwellings in the pueblo of Acoma and Lopez
de Cardenas to the north and westward where they found what is now known as the Grand Canyon.
Coronado found no gold but he did explore what is now known as the American Southwest.
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Resistance to the Spanish
Conflict in New Mexico
• Priests convert many Native Americans, try to
suppress their culture
• In 1670s Spanish force natives to pay tribute, do
labor for missions
Popé’s Rebellion
• Pueblo religious leader Popé heads uprising in
New Mexico (1680)
• Pueblo destroy Spanish churches, execute
priests, force Spanish out
• Spanish armies regain area 14 years later
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Pueblo Rebellion
Having driven the Spanish from New Mexico, Popé tried to eradicate every possible vestige of their culture.
He ordered the destruction of Christian objects and churches, punished the speaking of Spanish and the use
of Spanish surnames, and argued against using Spanish tools such as the plow. In his style of leadership and
exercise of personal power, however, Popé seems to have retained an element of Spanish authoritarianism
which alienated many and contributed to the breakup of the Pueblo alliance.
Section 2
An English Settlement
at Jamestown
The first permanent English settlement in
North America is founded at Jamestown, Virginia,
in 1607.
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SECTION
2
An English Settlement
at Jamestown
Reasons for English Exploration
• Religious: Elizabeth backs the Reformation; rivalry with
Spain over Christianity
• Social: rich and poor both leave
--Rich: nobility running out of land to give all of their sons
--Poor: opportunity; new start
• Economic: resources; joint-stock companies
• Geopolitical: England vs. Spain; dominance of the seas,
trade routes
Continued . . .
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English Defeat of the Spanish Armada
July 29, 1588: Off the coast of Gravelines, France, Spain's so-called "Invincible Armada" is defeated by an
English naval force under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake. After eight hours of
furious fighting, a change in wind direction prompted the Spanish to break off from the battle and retreat toward
the North Sea. Its hopes of invasion crushed, the remnants of the Spanish Armada began a long and difficult
journey back to Spain. The defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English fleet greatly reduced Spain’s naval
presence in the world and thrust the English onto the world stage. English naval dominance made it possible
for England to establish and expand its holdings in the New World.
SECTION
2
An English Settlement
at Jamestown
English Settlers Struggle in North America
The Business of Colonization
• Joint-stock companies—investors fund colony,
get profits
• In 1607, Virginia Company sends 150 people to
found Jamestown; the start of American history
A Disastrous Start
• Sir Walter Raleigh and Roanoke (1584) first
attempt fails; second attempt—the Lost Colony
• Colonists seek gold, suffer from disease and
hunger; droughts/lack of crop cultivation
• John Smith forces colonists to farm; gets help
from Powhatan people
• (1609) 600 colonists arrive; Powhatan destroy
farms; “starving time”
Continued . . .
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Above: Burial of the Jamestown dead during
the "starving time," winter 1609-10
The winter of 1609 to 1610 was treacherous for early American settlers. Some 240 of the 300 colonists at
Jamestown, in Virginia, died during this period, called the "Starving Time," when they were under siege and
had no way to get food. Desperate times led to desperate measures. New evidence suggests that includes eating
the flesh of fellow colonists who had already died.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/01/us/jamestown-cannibalism/
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2
continued English
Settlers Struggle in North America
Jamestown Begins to Flourish
• New arrivals revive and expand colony; John Rolfe
(Pocahontas’) husband, grows tobacco
“Brown Gold” and Indentured Servants
• Tobacco becomes profitable; export 1.5 million
pounds by late 1620s (mercantalism)
• Virginia Company reforms
--Headright system—purchaser of passage gets
50 acres—lures settlers
--Develops representative government
• Plantation owners use indentured servants—
work 4–7 years for passage
Continued . . .
NEXT
SECTION
2
continued English
Settlers Struggle in North America
The First African Laborers
• First Africans arrive (1619); treated as
indentured servants
• After a few years, most receive land and freedom
• Late 1600s, owners begin importing costly slaves
because
- indentured population decreases
- colony becomes wealthy
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African Slaves in Jamestown
The arrival of a ship in North America in the year 1619: Sails furled, flag drooping at her rounded stern, she
rode the tide in from the sea. She was a strange ship, indeed, by all accounts, a frightening ship, a ship of
mystery. Whether she was trader, privateer, or man-of-war no one knows. Through her bulwarks black-mouthed
cannon yawned. The flag she flew was Dutch; her crew a motley. Her port of call, an English settlement,
Jamestown, in the colony of Virginia. She came, she traded, and shortly afterwards was gone. Probably no ship
in modern history has carried a more portentous freight. Her cargo? Twenty slaves.
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2
The Settlers Clash with Native Americans
The English Pattern of Conquest
• Laws prevent English from living or intermarrying with Native
Americans
• English view the Natives like the viewed the Irish: “savages”
The Settlers Battle Native Americans
• Continued hostilities between Powhatan and English after
starving time
• 1614 marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe creates
temporary peace
• Renewed fighting; king makes Virginia royal colony under
his control
• By 1644, 10k Englishman live in VA; Powhatan populations
fall
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Pocahontas
The Virginia Company decided to bring Pocahontas to England in 1616 as a symbol of the tamed New World
"savage" and the success of the Jamestown settlement. John Smith was living in London at the time and while
Pocahontas was in Plymouth, she learned he was still alive. In March 1617, Rolfe and Pocahontas boarded a
ship to return to Virginia when she fell ill. She was taken ashore and died in Rolfe’s arms, most likely from
smallpox, pneumonia, or tuberculosis.
SECTION
2
Economic Differences Split Virginia
Hostilities Develop
• Former indentured people settle frontier,
cannot vote, pay high taxes
• Frontier settlers battle natives; class tensions
between frontier, wealthy
• Governor Berkeley refuses to give money to help
frontiersmen fight local natives
Bacon’s Rebellion
• Nathaniel Bacon raises army to fight natives
on frontier (1676)
• Bacon resents being taxed and governed without
their consent; SOUND FAMILIAR?
• Governor calls Bacon’s army illegal; Bacon sets
fire to Jamestown; Bacon’s Rebellion represents
a split between planters and frontiersmen
NEXT
Nathaniel Bacon confronts
William Berkeley about
attacking the Native Americans
Burning of Jamestown
Section 3
Puritan New England
English Puritans come to North America,
beginning in 1620.
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SECTION
3
Puritan New England
Puritans Create a “New England”
Puritans and Pilgrims
• Puritans, religious group, want to purify Church
of England
• Believed Church of England didn’t go far enough to get
rid of corrupt Catholic practices and leaders
• Separatists, including Pilgrims, form independent
congregations
• In 1620, Pilgrims flee to escape persecution, found
Plymouth Colony (2nd perm. English colony)
• Diff. b/w VA & MA settlers’ intentions: VA was profitmotivated; MA was to create a model society
The Massachusetts Bay Company
• In 1630, joint-stock company founds Massachusetts Bay
Colony
• John Winthrop is Puritan colony’s first governor
Continued . . .
• Port city of Boston becomes their capital
• 1000 men, women, and children within the first year
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SECTION
3
continued Puritans
Create a “New England”
“City Upon a Hill”
• “For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a
Hill, the eyes of all people are on us”
• Puritan adult males vote for General Court;
Court chooses governor
• However, no social or political equality
Church and State
• Civic officials are church members, have duty to do God’s
will
• Strong connection between church and state
Importance of the Family
• Puritans generally migrate as families, unlike in VA
• Community makes sure family members behave in “God-fearing”
way
Continued . . .
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SECTION
3
Dissent in the Puritan Community
The Founding of Providence
• Roger Williams—extreme Separatist minister with
controversial views
--No right to take Native land
--Gov’t had no right to punish people for religious
beliefs
• General Court orders his arrest; Williams flees
• In 1636 he founds colony of Providence
- negotiates for land with Narragansett tribe
- guarantees separation of church and state,
religious freedom
Anne Hutchinson Banished
• Anne Hutchinson teaches church, ministers are
unnecessary; you can interpret the Bible yourself
• Hutchinson banished 1638; family, followers leave
colony
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SECTION
3
Native Americans Resist Colonial Expansion
Disputes Over Land
• Settlers spread to western Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Connecticut
• Natives fear expansion of settlers will lead to an end
of their way of life; fight over meaning of land
ownership
The Pequot War
• Pequot War—Pequot takes stand against colonists
in Connecticut; nearly destroys Pequot tribe; men,
women, and children massacred
King Philip’s War
• Deprived of land, natives work for English, must
follow Puritan laws
• Wampanoag chief Metacom organizes tribes to wipe
out settlers (1675); use guerilla tactics
• King Philip’s War fierce; hunger, disease, immense
casualties defeat tribes; Metacom killed
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King Philip’s War
The war ended in August 1676, shortly after Metacom was captured and
beheaded. Some of his supporters escaped to Canada; those who
surrendered were shipped off as slaves to the West Indies. The Puritans
interpreted their victory as a sign of God's favor, as well as a symbolic
purge of their spiritual community. The Indians who remained faced
servitude, disease, cultural disruption, and the expropriation of their lands.
Section 4
Settlement of the
Middle Colonies
The Dutch settle New Netherland; English
Quakers led by William Penn settle Pennsylvania.
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SECTION
4
Settlement of the Middle Colonies
The Dutch Found New Netherland
A Diverse Colony
• In 1621, the Dutch West India Company colonizes
New Netherland; granted permission by the Dutch
government
• Diversity: settlers from other European countries
and Africa (free and enslaved) welcomed
• Religious toleration
• English—religion; for Dutch—it’s all about $$$
English Takeover
• To the English, N. Netherland is a wedge b/w NE & VA
• English ships arrive; Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant
tries to defend it; no one fought; no shots fired
• In 1664, duke of York becomes proprietor (owner) of
New Netherland
- renames colony New York, later gives part of land to
friends, names it New Jersey (overshadowed by NE
and VA
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The Fall of New Amsterdam
Peter Stuyvesant (left of center, with wooden leg) standing on shore
among residents of New Amsterdam who are pleading with him not to
open fire on the English who have arrived in warships waiting in the
harbor to claim the territory for England.
SECTION
4
The Quakers Settle Pennsylvania
Penn’s “Holy Experiment”
• In 1681, William Penn founds Pennsylvania on
Quaker principles
• Quakers ideas attract immigrants to settle: equality,
cooperation, religious toleration, pacifism
• Pennsylvania meant to be a “holy experiment”
- adult males get 50 acres, right to vote
- representative assembly
- freedom of religion
• Yet, Penn owns slaves
• Penn treats native people fairly; over 50 years
without conflict
• Philadelphia (port city called “The City of Brotherly
Love” by Penn) becomes the center of English
colonial empire
Continued . . .
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SECTION
4
continued The
Quakers Settle Pennsylvania
Thirteen Colonies
• 1600s-1700s: other British colonies founded for
varying reasons
• Lord Baltimore, a Catholic, founds Maryland; has
religious freedom
• King Charles II awards key supporters land
between VA and FLA; becomes NC and SC
• James Ogelthorpe founds Georgia as haven for
debtors
--Drinking, slavery prohibited
• By 1752, there are 13 British colonies in North
America
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