1492-1770
Early English Settlements
Roanoke Island
 Sir Walter Raleigh
 Est. 1585-was the first attempt
to colonize America by the
British for POLITICAL
reasons.
 Attempt to acquire more
land for the British Empire
 100 men
 After 1 year unhappy colonists
decided to return to England.
Early English Settlements
The Lost Colony
 Sir Walter Raleigh
 1587 was the 2nd attempt to




colonize America by the
British
91 men, 17 women & 9
children
Virginia Dare was the first
English settler to be born in
America
It is still a mystery as to what
happened to the settlers.
Only clue to their fate was the
carving “CROATOAN”
Early English Settlements
Early English Settlements
Jamestown
 Est. 1607 for Economic
Reasons
 Charter – written
permission to organize
settlements in an area
 Virginia Company


Joint stock companyinvestors buy stock in the
company in return for a share
of future profits.
Made up of merchants
(people who trade goods to
make money).
Early English Settlements
Jamestown (Cont.)
 The Virginia Company was
hoping to find gold and
silver.
Drawbacks of location:
 Poor farmland
 Swampy and infested with
disease carrying mosquitos
 By spring of 1608 only 38 of
144 remained alive.
Early English Settlements
Jamestown (Cont.)
Important People:
 Captain John Smith



Forced settlers to work
Explored the area
Negotiated to get food from
the Native American
Powhatan Tribe
 John Rolfe


Learned how to grow West
Indies tobacco that helped
the colony’s economy prosper.
Married Pocahontas-the
daughter of Chief Powhatan
Early English Settlements
Jamestown (Cont.)
“The Starving Time”1609-1610
 400 new arrivals
 Lack of leadership
 Food supplies ran out over
the winter
 Fighting with Natives and
cannibalism
 By spring of 1610 only 60
remained
Early English Settlements
Jamestown (Cont.)
Economy
Tobacco first sold in
England in 1614
 Colonists rented plots


Grew food and tobacco to
sell
By 1618 private land
ownership expanded
 Headright System


50 acres of land plus 50 acres
per family member over 15
and 50 acres per servant
brought to America
Early English Settlements
Jamestown (Cont.)
Government
 Colonists grew tired of taking
orders from the Virginia
Company
 The House of Burgesses
 First form of representative
government in the New
World
 10 towns in the colonies sent
2 representatives each to
make the laws for the colony
 First met in a Jamestown
church on July 30, 1619
Early English Settlements
Jamestown (Cont.)
 Jamestown was the first
successful English colony
in the New World.
Questions?
 What was Roanoke?
 Why was the House of Burgesses important?
 What was the name of the group of merchants that set
up Jamestown?
 What is important about the year 1607?
 What did the early settlers of Jamestown hope to find?
 What crop helped the people of Jamestown to
prosper?
New England Colonies
 New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island
 1. Founded for the following reasons:



a. Religious Freedom
b. Political Freedom
c. Economic
New England Colonies
Puritans vs. Pilgrims
 Puritan – wanted to reform the Anglican church.
Would go on to found the colony of Massachusetts.
 Separatists - wanted to leave and set up their own
churches

The Pilgrims were Separatists who left for the New World on a
pilgrimage.
REFORM!
NEW
CHURCH!
New England Colonies
Massachusetts
Founded for religious
freedom
 Mayflower
 Pilgrims



Sought to settle in Virginia
but landed in Plymouth,
Massachusetts in 1620.
Chose to stay in Plymouth
due to the approaching
winter season.
Almost half died during the
first year due to malnutrition,
disease and cold.
New England Colonies
Massachusetts(cont.)
Pilgrims’ Government
 Mayflower Compact


Pledged their loyalty to
England and helped establish
the laws of the colony. They
set up self-government.
An important step in the
development of
representative government in
America
New England Colonies
Massachusetts(cont.)
Important People
 William Bradford

Pilgrims’ Leader & Historian
 Squanto & Samoset




Squanto spoke English
First Native Americans to
meet the Pilgrims
Taught Pilgrims how to hunt,
fish and grow crops.
Helped broker a treaty
between Pilgrims &
Wampanoag
 Massasoit


A Wampanoag leader
Signed treaty with Pilgrims
New England Colonies
Massachusetts(cont.)
The First Thanksgiving
 Took place in the Autumn of
1621
 A celebration of peace
between 90 Native
Americans and 50 Pilgrims
 Thankful to be raising food
and for their survival
 3 day feast
New England Colonies
Massachusetts(cont.)
Massachusetts Bay Company
 Increased persecution of
Puritans in England
 1629-receive royal charter to
colonize north of Plymouth
in/around Boston
 Society based on the Bible


“City upon a hill”
Persecuted those that held
other religious beliefs
 John Winthrop

Colony’s governor
New England Colonies
New Hampshire
Founded for economic and
religious reasons
 Captain John Mason

Fishing, lumbering, trade &
ship building.
 John Wheelwright

Led a group of dissenters
from Massachusetts to
practice religion freely
New England Colonies
Connecticut
Founded for religious,
political and economic
reasons
 Better farmland
 Thomas Hooker
 Unhappy with John
Winthrop and other Puritan
leaders.
 Wanted more restrictions to
government
 Led congregation from
Massachusetts to
Connecticut
New England Colonies
Connecticut(cont.)
Fundamental Orders of
Connecticut
 First written constitution in
America
 Described the organization
of representative government
in detail
New England Colonies
Rhode Island
Founded for Religious tolerance
Dissenters were forced from
Massachusetts
Roger Williams
 Did not believe people should
be forced to practice a
particular religion
 Disagreed with taking land
from Native Americans
Anne Hutchinson
 Questioned authority of
colony’s ministers
 Claimed god spoke to her
directly
Questions?
 What is the difference between a Puritan and a
Pilgrim?
 Why was the Mayflower Compact an important step
towards representative government?
 For what reasons were the New England colonies
founded?
 What group founded Massachusetts?
 In what year did the Pilgrims land in the Americas?
 Where did the Pilgrims land?
 What is so significant about the Fundamental Orders
of Connecticut?
Middle Colonies
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware
Founded for the following reasons:


Religious Freedom
Economic
Middle Colonies
New York
Founded for Religious tolerance
and for Economic reasons
 Originally a Dutch colony
established by the West India
Company to trade in America
 Peter Stuyvesant
 Dutch Colony Governor
 Surrendered New Amsterdam
to the English
 Charles II gifts Colony to his
brother, the Duke of York
 Renamed colony to New York
Middle Colonies
New York(cont.)
 Proprietary Colony
 Owner owns and controls the
government of all the land
 By 1691 New York has an elected
legislator
 Duke of York promises
religious freedom
 People of New York
 First Jews in North America
 Dutch, Swedes, Native
Americans and Puritans
 African slaves
Middle Colonies
New Jersey
Founded for Religious tolerance
 Given to Lord John Berkely and
Sir George Carteret by Duke of
York
 Gave settlers large tracts of
land
 Promised religious tolerance
 Trial by jury and represented
assembly

Made local laws and set tax
rates
But if you act
now and move
to New Jersey
within the next
5 months,
we’ll throw in
all these extras
for free!
Middle Colonies
Pennsylvania
Founded for Religious tolerance
Given to William Penn to repay
King’s debt
William Penn
 Believed in religious tolerance
 Believed in representative
government
 Saw the colony as a “holy
experiment”
Quakers
 Everyone equal in God’s eyes
 No church
 Pacifists
Middle Colonies
Delaware
 Originally part of southern
Pennsylvania
 Known as the “Three Lower
Counties”
 Formed their own legislature
and began functioning as a
separate colony
Questions?
 What were the Middle Colonies?
 Who were the Quakers? What are pacifists?
 What did William Penn do?
 What did he refer to Pennsylvania as?
 What were some things the colony of New Jersey
offered settlers to entice them to settle?
 What were three reasons the Middle Colonies
founded?
Southern Colonies
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and
Georgia.
 Founded for the following reasons:


Economic
Religious
Southern Colonies
Virginia
Founded for economic
purposes
 Jamestown-1607
 Looking for gold
 Ended up with prosperous
tobacco plantations
 Begin to push west and settle
new land.
 Causes conflicts with Native
Americans
Southern Colonies
Virginia(cont.)
William Berkeley
 Virginia’s Governor
 Brokered a treaty with the
Native Americans

Promised to prevent settlers
from pushing further west in
exchange for a large tract of
land.
Bacon’s Rebellion
 Nathanial Bacon




Resented colonial government
Led rebellion at Jamestown in
1676
Drove Berkeley into exile
England sends troops to restore
order
Southern Colonies
Maryland
Founded for economic
purposes and religious
freedom.
 George Calvert, Lord Baltimore



His son Cecil inherited colony
Wished to establish a safe place
for English Catholics
Hoped to make a fortune
 Mason-Dixon Line

Set boundary between
Pennsylvania and Maryland
 Act of Toleration


Guaranteed religious toleration
Only lasted 43 years
Southern Colonies
North & South Carolina
Founded for economic
purposes
Hoped to make money by
selling and renting out land
 Constitution written by John
Locke


Main concern was principles
and rights.
Needed slave labor for growth
and harvest of their crops.
 Rice and indigo were major
crops grown there.
 1729 – Divided up into North
and South Carolina due to
disputes over how the colony
should be ruled

Southern Colonies
Georgia
Founded for political
purposes.
 James Oglethorpe
 Banned slavery, Catholics and
Rum
 Founded as a place where
debtors, the poor and some
criminals could make a fresh
start rather than go to jail
 Could protect other colonies
from Spanish attack from the
south.
Other Empires
 New France
 Established in Canada and along the Mississippi River .
 Had good relations with the Native Americans.
 Mostly interested in the fishing and fur trapping economy.
Other Empires
 New Spain
 Controlled Mexico, Caribbean, Central and South
America
 Created missions to convert native people to the
Catholic faith
Questions?
 Why did George Calvert establish the colony of Maryland?
 Why did Bacon oppose the colonial government?
 How did Georgia serve as protection for the English




colonies?
Why were the Southern colonies founded?
What were some cash crops grown in the Southern
colonies?
Why did France begin exploring and settling the New
World?
Why did Spain begin exploring and settling the New
World?
LIFE IN THE NEW ENGLAND
COLONIES
GEOGRAPHY
 Climate: The Climate in the New England colonies was
colder than the other two regions due to the northern
location.
 Geography: The geography of New England was mostly
hills and rocky soil.
 Natural Resources: The natural resources of New
England were fish, whales, trees, and furs.
ECONOMY
 Some major businesses in the New England
colonies were shipbuilding, fishing, fur
trapping and trade
LIFE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES
GEOGRAPHY
 Climate: The climate in the Middle Colonies was
relatively hot. This allowed for a longer growing
season. It was warmer than its northern counterpart
New England but cooler than the Southern colonies
 Geography: The geography of the middle colonies
was made up of hills and flat lands with good soil.
 Natural Resources: The natural resources of the
middle colonies were iron ore and good soil.
ECONOMY
 The Middle colonies made money by farming
cash crops and industries such as lumber
and mining.
LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN
COLONIES
GEOGRAPHY
 Climate: The climate in the southern colonies was the
warmest of the three regions and boasted the longest
growing season.
 Geography: The geography of the Southern Colonies
which had a broad, coastal plain that was hilly and
covered with forests.
 Natural Resources: The natural resources found in the
south were the rich farm lands, forests, and fish.
ECONOMY
 The Southern Colonies had an agrarian
economy. They grew cash crops (tobacco,
rice, cotton, indigo).
The Triangular Trade?
 It was a trade route that exchanged goods
between Europe, the Americas and West
Africa.
The Middle Passage
 The part of the Triangular Trade which
shipped slaves to the Americas.
SLAVE CODES
 Slave codes were strict rules stating how
slaves should behave and how they would
be punished.
 Examples of some slave codes:



Slaves cannot leave the plantation without
written permission.
It was illegal to teach slaves to read and write.
Slaves would be whipped for minor offenses and
hanged or burned to death for serious crimes.
CULTURE IN THE COLONIES
THE GREAT AWAKENING
 1720’s-1740’s
 A return to strong religious beliefs in the
colonies.
 More people went to churches and new
denominations started forming.
 More people began believing that all people
were equal in the eyes of God.
 Jonathan Edwards

Delivered powerful and convincing sermans
 George Whitefield
 Spread revivals throughout the colonies
CULTURE IN THE COLONIES
The Enlightenment
 a movement that began to spread the idea
that knowledge, reason and science could
improve society.
Education
 Primary purpose was to make sure everyone
could read and study the Bible.
Family Life
 Family was the foundation of colonial life
 Women tended to domestic affairs
 Men were heads of household and managed
the farm
GOVERNMENT
Glorious Revolution
England parliament replaced James II with
William & Mary


Showed power of elected representatives
English Bill of Rights



William & Mary forced to sign
Grants certain basic rights to all citizens
Inspired the creation of our Bill of Rights
Voting

Only white men who owned property had
the right to vote. Women, indentured
servants, landless poor and African slaves
could not vote.