The 13 British
Colonies
(1689–1754)
The English Civil War
• England’s Parliament was made up of
representatives of the people.
• It had the power to make laws and
approve new taxes.
• King Charles I demanded money from
towns and cities without Parliament’s
consent.
• Parliament saw this as an attempt to limit
its power and the rights of English property
owners.
• Parliament’s forces
defeated and executed King
Charles in 1649.
• The leader of Parliament,
Oliver Cromwell, governed
England until his death in
1659.
• In 1660, Parliament
restored the monarchy by
placing Charles II, the son
of Charles I, on the throne.
CH 3-1 NOTES
THE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
MAIN IDEAS / VOCAB:
• Englishman wanted to gain wealth in the New World.
• Not one person had enough money to begin a colony,
thus groups of wealthy people joined together to form
joint stock companies.
• They needed permission from The King, or a charter to
grant them the rights to go to the New World.
The Tale
of the
Lost
Colony of
Roanoke…
•
The origins of one of the America’s oldest unsolved mysteries can be traced
to August 1587, when a group of about 115 English settlers arrived on
Roanoke Island, off the coast of what is now North Carolina. Later that year,
it was decided that John White, governor of the new colony, would sail back
to England in order to gather a fresh load of supplies. But just as he arrived,
a major naval war broke out between England and Spain, and Queen
Elizabeth I called on every available ship to confront the mighty Spanish
Armada. In August 1590, White finally returned to Roanoke, where he had
left his wife and daughter, his infant granddaughter (Virginia Dare, the first
English child born in the Americas) and the other settlers three long years
before. He found no trace of the colony or its inhabitants, and few clues to
what might have happened, apart from a single word—“Croatoan”—carved
into a wooden post.
The Tale of The losT Colony of Roanoke…
• Investigations into the fate of the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke have
continued over the centuries, but no one has come up with a
satisfactory answer. “Croatoan” was the name of an island south of
Roanoke that was home to a Native American tribe of the same
name. Perhaps, then, the colonists were killed or abducted by
Native Americans. Other hypotheses hold that they tried to sail back
to England on their own and got lost at sea, that they met a bloody
end at the hands of Spaniards who had marched up from Florida or
that they moved further inland and were absorbed into a friendly
tribe. In 2007, efforts began to collect and analyze DNA from local
families to figure out if they’re related to the Roanoke settlers, local
Native American tribes or both. Despite the lingering mystery, it
seems there’s one thing to be thankful for: The lessons learned at
Roanoke may have helped the next group of English settlers, who
would found their own colony 17 years later just a short distance to
the north, at Jamestown.
JAMESTOWN COLONY:
• England’s first permanent
colony in the New World.
• Was founded by the Virginia
Company, a joint stock
company.
• Had many problems at first.
Life in the New World was
full of risks, early settlers
often would run out of food
and starve.
JAMESTOWN COLONY:
• John Smith was sent to help save Jamestown.
He gained support from local Native Americans.
They were taught how to grow crops that could
sustain the swampy soil.
• Tobacco became Jamestown’s big cash crop.
• Africans were shipped in to Virginia to become
slaves. (Atlantic Slave Trade)
Jamestown Government:
• Settlers developed a Representative
government: the form of government in which
voters elect people to make laws for them.
• The lawmaking body was called the House of
Burgesses this group of elected officials would
work with the governor to make laws and set
and collect taxes. The governor could veto acts
he did not like.
PLYMOUTH COLONY:
• In England during the 1500s, people could be
punished for their religious beliefs.
• People who wanted to separate from the
Church of England were called separatists.
These people could be persecuted or killed
because of their religion.
• One group of separatists known as the
Pilgrims decided to come to the New
World where they could worship freely.
• They sailed across the Atlantic on a ship
called the Mayflower. They reached land
in what is today Massachusetts, they
called their colony Plymouth.
Plymouth Government:
• The pilgrims signed a set
of laws known as the
Mayflower Compact.
• It called for a government
that would make “Just
and equal laws.” Male
pilgrims would vote and
elect their
representatives in
Plymouth.
Salutary Neglect
• Britain allowed its colonies more
freedom to govern themselves than
other European nations did.
CH 3-2 Notes:
THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES
GEOGRAPHY:
•
•
•
•
Located along the Northern Atlantic Coast
Lots of hills, mountains and rivers.
Soil is rocky, which made it difficult to farm
Longer winters
SOURCE OF INCOME:
(rocky soil and longer winters making it difficult to farm)
• Fishing and whaling
• Lumber mills
- Ship Building
- Small farms
Diverse Colonial Economies
New England Colonies
• The New England economy relied on
“carrying trade.”
• Merchants carried crops and goods
from one place to another.
• The business of trading goods
between the Americas, Europe, and
Africa, was called triangular trade.
Fishermen
•Fish was dried, salted, and shipped
out from harbor cities.
•Fishing became a strong industry
and promoted the growth of
shipbuilding.
LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND:
• Families were very close, neighbors all
knew one-another and attended church
and town meetings together.
• Religion was the center of life.
• Strict religious beliefs helped lead to the
hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials.
Colonial Society
• American colonists brought many
ideas and customs from Europe.
• Most colonists believed:
– The wealthy were superior to the poor.
– Men were superior to women.
– Whites were superior to blacks.
GOVERNMENT IN NEW ENGLAND:
• They believed in self government.
• Each town had a town meeting: an
assembly of townspeople that decided
local issues.
• Membership of town meetings was
restricted to the men of the colony.
MAJOR NEW ENGLAND
COLONIES:
•
•
•
Plymouth Colony
Founded by the Pilgrims
Based their government on being fair
and equal.
The Massachusetts Bay
Colony:
•
•
Founded by the Puritans.
Like the Pilgrims, the
puritans were unhappy with
the Church of England they wanted to “purify” or
change it
The Massachusetts Bay Colony
Continued…
• They too were forced to leave England in search
of religious freedom, they set up their colony
around Boston, a major city at the time.
• Puritans followed very strict religious laws and
believed everyone in the Massachusetts Bay
area should do the same.
• IRONY: The Puritans left England to worship
freely but they did not give the same right to
non-puritans. They did not believe in religious
toleration.
• - These strict beliefs in good and evil led to a
time of hysteria in Massachusetts. Many were
accused and put on trial of witch craft.
• This led to the start of other New England
colonies
• People were forced out of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony out of fear of
being accused.
CH 3-3 NOTES: THE MIDDLE
COLONIES
GEOGRAPHY:
• Located along the middle
Atlantic coast.
• Climate milder than the
New England colonies,
makes for a longer
growing season.
• Fertile soil well suited for
crops like wheat, fruits
and vegetables.
SOURCE OF INCOME:
• Farming: especially wheat and grains like
flour and oats.
• This is why the Middle Colonies is
nicknamed the Breadbasket Colonies!
• Fur trade.
LIFE IN THE MIDDLE
COLONIES:
NEW YORK:
• Before the English took them
over New York & New Jersey
were ruled by the Dutch as a
single colony.
• - New York was originally called
New Netherland. The Dutch
were very profitable thanks to the
Hudson River.
• The Hudson River provided excellent transportation for
natural resources and goods to be shipped down to the
port of what is today New York City. Then it was called
New Amsterdam.
• - In 1664, the Duke of York (the King of England’s
brother) conquered New Netherlands, re-naming it New
York.
• - New Jersey was split off and became a royal colony:
directly ruled by the English King.
PENNSYLVANIA AND
DELEWARE:
• were founded by a group called the Quakers.
• - Similar to the Pilgrims and Puritans, the Quakers came
to the “New World” in search of religious freedom.
• - William Penn, called the colony of Pennsylvania a “Holy
Experiment” because it was one of the first colonies
opened to all different religions. He wanted everyone to
live together peacefully.
Diverse Colonial Economies
Southern Colonies
• This economy was based on staple
crops—crops that are in constant
demand.
• Staple crops included tobacco and
rice, both grown on large plantations
worked by slaves.
Diverse Colonial Economies
Middle Colonies
• The economy of the Middle Colonies
was a mixture of farming and
commerce.
• Rich, fertile soil produced wheat,
barley, and rye.
• New York and Philadelphia supported
the business of merchants, traders,
and craftspeople.
• The differences between social ranks
could be seen in colonial clothes,
houses, and manners.
• Ordinary people wore dresses or plain
pants and shirts.
• Gentry (“gentle folk” ) wore wigs, silk
stockings, lace cuffs, and the latest
fashions.
• Gentry — men and women wealthy
enough to hire others to work for them
Wealth in Land
• For English colonists, land was the
foundation for real wealth.
• Most landowners were white men.
• In the 1700s, gentry built mansions to
display their wealth and filled them with
fine furniture, silver, and porcelain.
• In each colony, a small group of elite,
landowning men dominated politics.
Trades and Occupations
Artisans •Young
boys became apprentices,
individuals placed under a legal
contract to work for another person in
exchange for learning a trade.
•Artisans made silver products,
cabinets, tinware, pottery, and
glassware.
Printers •Colonial
printers were considered
vital because they gathered and
circulated local news and information.
•Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s
most famous printers, published Poor
Richard’s Almanac.
•An almanac is a book containing
information such as calendars,
weather predictions, and advice.
Farmers •Farms
in the colonies varied in size
from large cash-crop plantations in the
South to small, self-supporting farms in
the Middle and New England Colonies.
Indentured
Servants
•Many immigrants came to the colonies
as indentured servants.
Colonial Women
Women and the Law
• Under English common law, a husband
had complete control over his wife.
• Women could not
– Own property.
– Vote.
– Hold office.
– Serve on a jury.
• Husbands were allowed to beat their
wives.
Women’s Duties
• Cooking
• Gardening
• Washing
• Cleaning
• Weaving cloth
• Sewing
• Assisting other women in childbirth
• Training daughters to do all of the above
The Nature of Work
• The goal of the colonial household
was to be self-sufficient.
• Self-sufficient — able to make
everything needed to maintain itself
• Everyone in the household worked to
produce food and goods.
• Men grew crops, or made goods like
shoes, guns, and candles.
• Women ran the household and assisted
with the crops.
• Children helped both parents.
Colonial Education
• During colonial times, children received
very little formal education.
• Because Puritans believed everyone
should be able to read the Bible, the New
England Colonies became early leaders in
the development of public education.
• In 1647, Massachusetts passed a law
requiring towns to set up grammar schools
for boys.
• Girls were expected to learn from their
mothers at home.
• Generally, only the wealthy attended
college, where they trained to be lawyers
or ministers.
• Harvard, Yale, and William and Mary were
the only three colleges in the colonies until
the 1740s.
The Middle Passage
• The Middle Passage was
one leg of the triangular
trade between the
Americas, Europe, and
Africa.
• This term also refers to the
forced transport of slaves
from Africa to the
Americas.
• Roughly 10 to 40 percent of Africans
on slave trips died in the crossing.
• Slaves were beaten and had to
endure chains; heat; and cramped,
unsanitary conditions.
• Occasionally enslaved Africans
staged a mutiny, or revolt, on the
slave ships.
• Many of these were successful.
Slavery in the Colonies
South Carolina and Georgia
•High temperatures and disease made slave
conditions especially harsh in this region.
•African Americans made up the majority of
the population in South Carolina and more
than one third of Georgia’s population.
•Southern slaves kept their culture alive
through their speech, crafts, and music.
Slavery in the Colonies
Virginia and Maryland
• Slaves in Virginia and Maryland made up a
minority of the population.
• Few of those slaves came directly from Africa.
• Slaves had other tasks in addition to growing
crops.
• There was more integration of European
American and African American cultures than in
South Carolina and Georgia.
• To save money, slave-owners encouraged
slaves to have families.
Slavery in the Colonies
New England and the Middle Colonies
• There were far fewer slaves in New England
and the Middle Colonies than in the South.
• Slaves had more freedom to choose their
occupations.
• Slaves in this region typically worked as
cooks, housekeepers, and personal servants.
• They also worked as skilled artisans,
dockworkers, merchant sailors, fishermen,
whalers, privateers, lumberjacks, and in
manufacturing.
Estimated African American
Population, 1690–1750
Year
New England
Colonies
Middle
Colonies
Southern
Colonies
1690
950
2,472
13,307
1700
1,680
3,661
22,476
1710
2,585
6,218
36,063
1720
3,956
10,825
54,058
1730
6,118
11,683
73,220
1740
8,541
16,452
125,031
1750
10,982
20,736
204,702
SOURCE: Historical Statistics of the United States,
Colonial Times to 1970