1. Colonial America
UNIT 1. COLONIAL AMERICA
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1607
1608
1609
1611
1619
1620
1622
1624
1625
1630
1632
1634
1636
1638
1639
1649
1660
1663
1664
1673
1675
1676
1677
1681
1684
1685
1686
1688
1689
1691
1692
First English settlement at Jamestown
Scrooby Congregation (Pilgrims) left England for Holland
Henry Hudson explored the Hudson river
“Starving time” in Virginia threatened survival of the colonists
First Black slaves arrived in Virginia
Pilgrims sailed on Mayflower to America and signed the Mayflower Compact
Surprise attacked by local Indians devastates Virginia
Dutch investors created permanent settlements along the Hudson River
James I, king of England, dissolved the Virginia Company
Charles I ascended the English throne
John Winthrop transferred Massachusetts Bay charter to New England
Massachusetts was founded
Colony of Maryland was founded
Roger Williams was exiled from Massachusetts to Rhode Island
Anne Hutchinson was exiled from Massachusetts to Rhode Island
Harvard College was established
Connecticut towns accepted Fundamental Orders
Charles I was executed during the English civil war
Stuarts were restored to the English throne
First Navigation Act was passed by Parliament
Rhode Island got a royal charter Proprietors received charter for Carolina
Second Navigation (Staple) Act was passed
The English conquered New Amsterdam, and renamed it New York
Plantation duty was imposed to close loopholes in commercial regulations
King Philip’s War devastated New England
Bacon’s Rebellion threatened Governor Berkeley’s government in Virginia
New Hampshire became a royal colony
William Penn was granted a Charter to set up Pennsylvania
Charter of Massachusetts Bay Company was revoked
Duke of York became James II
Dominion of New England was established
James II was driven into exile during the Glorious Revolution
Rebellions broke out in Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland
Jacob Leisler was executed
Salem Village was wracked by witch trials
1. EUROPEAN COLONIZATION AND SETTLEMENT
Viewed today, the process of colonization and settlement of North America was an
invasion of territory that had been controlled and settled for centuries by the indigenous
population. The arrival of the Europeans constituted an intrusion, which, in the long term,
the American Indians were unable to resist.
The indigenous tribes had come to North America during the last ice age from the Asian
Continent, from Siberia to Alaska, when the sea levels dropped and a land bridge was
uncovered in the Bering Strait. Over time they spread all over the American continent.
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1. Colonial America
Christopher Columbus had discovered America in 1492. A few years later, the most
powerful European nations began to claim areas of the American continent and establish
colonies there. There was a contest among European powers to exploit these new lands.
Some of the indigenous Americans traded with the Europeans. The Europeans brought
new germs with them to which the American Indians had no natural resistance. Epidemics
of European diseases, such as smallpox, measles and typhus, previously unknown in the
American continent, caused widespread death in many of the American Indian tribes.
The Europeans were initially drawn to America to acquire wealth and to establish new
homes. European sovereigns rushed to claim as much territory as possible in order to
found settlements on the territory. In the early 1600s, a number of colonies were set up in
quick progression.
English colonial policy promoted domestic industry, foreign trade, fisheries, and shipping
by establishing colonial settlements in the New World and exploiting its resources through
commercial companies.
The growing urge to colonize was due to a number of factors, which included international
rivalry and the propagation of religion - a desire to convert the indigenous inhabitants of
America to Christianity. There were also increasing numbers of religious and political
dissenters who were seeking refuge, and individuals looking for adventure and new
opportunities, and who wanted to own land. The main impulse behind colonization,
however, was to make profit in the New World.
European countries engaged in the system of mercantilism. This meant state control and
intervention, and the regulation of economic activities in the colonies. The aim was to
accumulate wealth for the European powers at the colonies' expense.
The first colonies in North America were situated along the eastern coast.
2. BRITISH POLICY WITH THE AMERICAN COLONIES UNTIL
1763
In the sixteenth-century, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh, English aristocrats,
were involved in the early English colonisation and were given a patent. In 1595, Sir
Walter Raleigh was responsible for the establishment of the first English colony in
America: Virginia. Later, in 1606, patents were granted to the London and Plymouth
Companies of Virginia. The crown provided no money, but granted the jurisdiction, since
all the land was under its sovereignty.
In 1609, a charter was issued to the Virginia Company, substituting indirect for direct
control and providing for a definite and extensive grant of land. This new policy led to the
creation of the Council for New England in 1620. Direct control reappeared in 1624, when
the political powers of the Virginia Company were withdrawn and Virginia became the first
of the royal colonies under a system of government that included a governor appointed by
the king and a colonial assembly. In 1629, however, the corporate colony of
Massachusetts Bay was granted a charter that permitted the transfer of the government of
the company to the New World. In 1632 the first proprietary colony of Maryland was
established with the granting of wide powers to the Baltimore family. Thus, three types of
colonial government emerged: royal, corporate, and proprietary.
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1. Colonial America
The king directed colonial policy until the outbreak of the first English civil war, when the
Long Parliament assumed control, acting mainly through a special commission or council
provided for by Ordinance of 1643. Between 1645 and 1651, the Parliament enforced
regulations to control colonial commerce and restrict colonial trade to the British, thereby
favouring its shipping and manufacturers.
Following on from this, from 1651 onwards, England instituted the Navigation Acts, which
were a series of laws of trade and navigation restricting the use of foreign shipping for
trade between England and its colonies. All trade between the colonists and the British
was to be conducted either on English vessels or on colonial-built vessels.
As Britain was too far away to control the colonists directly, representative governments
were established in the colonies. The English king appointed colonial governors who had
to rule in cooperation with an elected assembly. Voting was restricted to white males who
owned lands.
England encouraged the colonists to specialize in the production of raw materials. English
factories converted raw goods into products, which were then shipped back to the
colonies. This provided the British with a profitable market, free from competition. In 1763,
after the Seven Years War, the British started to enforce their mercantilist policies, which
led to hostility between the English and their colonies.
In colonial America, land was plentiful and labour was scarce. Most American colonists
worked on small farms. By 1770, there were urban centres. Philadelphia was the largest
city, followed by New York, Boston and Charleston. In the southern colonies, there was the
system of slavery and black people worked on large plantations. Indentured servants were
the main source of labour in the colonies. There were poor farmers who came from
England and worked for a fixed period of time, from three to seven years, in exchange for
their transportation, food, clothing, lodging, etc. The British tried to enslave the Indians but
were unsuccessful. The first Negro slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619.
By 1733, there were 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast, from New Hampshire in the
North to Georgia in the South. The Seven Years' War, also called the French and Indian
War, which lasted from 1754 until 1763, was a conflict that had enormous repercussions
for Great Britain. In spite of her victory over France in 1763, a royal proclamation denied
the English the right to establish settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains, in order
to avoid conflict with the American Indians. The war had also left Great Britain with a
considerable national debt.
Tensions between Britain and the colonies started when they began to charge taxes and
punish smugglers. Colonial policy in the eighteenth century tried to reduce the corporate
and proprietary colonies to royal colonies, which largely succeeded. In addition, the policy
increased restrictions on colonial enterprise by means of laws such as the Wool Act of
1699, the White Pine Acts, the Hat Act of 1732, the Sugar Acts of 1733 and 1764, and the
Iron Act of 1750.
3. ANGLO AMERICAN COLONIES
There were three types of British colony in North America. The first were plantation
colonies. These included Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The
second group were the Middle Colonies of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and New York. The third group consisted of the New England colonies of
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1. Colonial America
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. The economy of the
New England colonies was based on trade in rum and slaves and on shipbuilding; the
plantation colonies produced sugar, tobacco, rice, and indigo; and the Middle Colonies
produced wheat and timber.
The first permanent settlement in North America was the English colony of Jamestown, in
1607, in what is now Virginia. John Smith and the London Company had come to stay.
The Pilgrims followed in 1620, and set up a colony at Plymouth, in what is now
Massachusetts.
The British Crown reached agreements with the colonies and gave them charters. All
charters had a similar structure marking the extension of the territory and guaranteeing the
rights of their citizens. There were different colonies, thus, in 1775, of the thirteen colonies.
There were 8 royal colonies, 3 proprietorship and 2 self-government colonies.
3.1. The Plantation Colonies
3.1.1. Virginia
The first English colony in America was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 and set
the pattern for English colonization. The settlement was directed by the London Company,
which renamed itself as the Virginia Company, and was granted the authority to govern its
colony. In 1619, the first representative Assembly in Virginia was held at Jamestown. This
assembly formed the foundation of what would become the State of Virginia.
The settlement suffered from various difficulties at first and did not prosper until the
colonists received their own land and the tobacco industry began to flourish. The colony
survived and, in 1614, started to ship tobacco, its main export, to England. The estimated
population circa 1700 was approximately 64,560.
3.1.2. North Carolina and South Carolina
In 1663, eight proprietors received a royal charter from King Charles II to found a colony to
the North of Florida. Thus, Carolina was founded with a commercial and a political
purpose. The main port was Charles Town (Charleston).
The principal founder was Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftsbury, who sent over
three hundred colonists to Carolina. In 1669, Ashley requested the assistance of the
philosopher John Locke to devise the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, in order to
establish an aristocracy to govern the colony. He also planned an elected assembly of
landowners, the Council of Nobles. The Carolina proprietors were planning to organize
Carolina along the lines of a feudal state.
Carolina was a slave society. They had Indian and Negro slaves. The territory was divided
up into separate plantations. The main planters had both a plantation and a second house
in Charleston, where government was centralized and where they used to spend the
summer months.
New settlers came, mostly Scots and French Huguenots. These people of French origin
soon became the elite of the new colony. They quickly adopted the English language and
joined the established Church of England, but they retained an aristocratic tone that would
become a distinctive feature of the colony.
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1. Colonial America
In 1719, the colonists overthrew the last proprietary government, and in 1729, the king
created separate royal governments in North and South Carolina. There were differences
between them. South Carolina was richer, with more plantations, and was more densely
populated, while North Carolina was poorer, with fewer plantations and slaves, but slightly
more democratic. South Carolina’s main exports were naval supplies and rice. The
estimated population in 1700 was in the region of 5,720. North Carolina’s main exports
were wood, naval supplies and tobacco and the estimated population for the same year
was roughly 10,720. By 1729, all proprietors except for one had sold their lands back to
the crown.
3.1.3. Georgia
In the 1730s, Georgia was the last of the colonial English settlements. It was founded with
the purpose of discouraging Spanish expansion. The principal founder was a
philanthropist, James Oglethorpe, a British general and Member of Parliament. When
Oglethorpe left the army, he sympathized with the condition of the debt prisoners in
England, and devoted himself to helping the poor and debt-ridden people of London,
whom he suggested settling in America. He was granted a charter from the King for his
colony. The charter was issued in June 1732 and he landed with emigrants, near the
present city of Savannah, and there established the colony that would be named Georgia
for the King.
The amount of land a settler could own was limited to no more than 500 acres, which
could be only passed to the eldest son. People who had received charity and who had not
purchased their own land could not sell, or borrow money against it. In addition, rum was
banned. Eventually, all those restrictions disappeared and by 1751, Georgia was a slave
plantation and was returned to the king.
The major exports of the colony were silk, rice, wood, and naval supplies. The estimated
population circa 1750 was 5,200.
One controversial issue was the fact that the trustees did not trust the colonists to make
their own laws. They did not establish a representative assembly, although every other
mainland colony had one.
3.2. The Middle Colonies
3.2.1. New York
Manhattan Island was discovered in 1609 by Henry Hudson, while working for the Dutch
East India Company. Dutch traders soon settled there, and at Albany, about 150 miles up
the Hudson River. The government in Holland gave exclusive rights to Amsterdam
merchants to trade with the American Indians on the Hudson, and the area was named
Rhode Island. The Dutch West India Company, which was created in 1621, bought
Manhattan Island from the Indian chiefs and built the town of New Amsterdam.
In 1664, the Dutch surrendered to the English fleet without any resistance and this
settlement was made an English colony. Charles II granted New Netherland to his brother
James, Duke of York and it was renamed New York. The purpose of this foundation was
commercial and its major exports were furs and grain. The estimated population in 1700
was 19,107.
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1. Colonial America
3.2.2 New Jersey
New Jersey was founded in 1664 by two courtiers: Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.
In 1674, Lord Berkeley sold his propriety rights to a group of Quakers and the colony was
divided into East and West Jersey. They were reunited again in one colony in 1702 and
became a Royal Colony that same year. New Jersey was founded with the purpose of
consolidating new English territory.
The major export of the colony was grain and the estimated population circa 1700 was
approximately 14,000, with a notable ethnic and religious diversity.
3.2.3. Pennsylvania and Delaware
In 1681, Pennsylvania (literally, “Penn’s woods) was founded with the purpose of being a
refuge for English Quakers and the principal founder was William Penn. Charles II
awarded him a charter making him the sole proprietor of that area.
Penn wanted to create a Holy Society and thought that both rich and poor should
participate in political affairs. He promoted his colony so well, guaranteeing liberty of
conscience and religious freedom from persecution, that a great number of peoples of
different nationalities and religions poured into Philadelphia and its surroundings. The
colony flourished and Philadelphia began a period of rapid growth, which soon made it the
largest town in North America. The estimated population circa 1700 was 18,950. The
colony became ethnically very diversified with immigrants from Germany, Wales and
England. The major export of the colony was grain.
In 1682, Penn bought the Three Lower Counties that finally became Delaware. The
Swedes had founded the colony of Delaware in 1638 for commercial reasons. This area
became part of Pennsylvania and remained so until 1703, when it created its own
legislature.
3.2.4. Maryland
In 1634, Maryland was founded and established as a proprietary colony by George
Calvert, known as Lord Baltimore. He was a royalist and a Catholic who thought of this
colony as a refuge for English Catholics persecuted elsewhere. However, a decade later,
the Catholics had become a minority and the Protestants a majority. Lord Baltimore had to
find a way of providing protection for them.
Charles I granted Lord Baltimore the right to establish this proprietary colony in 1632. This
marked a turning point in the English colonial quest. Joint-stock companies disappeared
and proprietary colonies reappeared to become the principal pattern of colonization for the
remainder of the seventeenth century.
This colony was characterized by religious acceptance. The Maryland Toleration Act, also
known as the Act Concerning Religion, was signed in 1649, thereby institutionalising
toleration and providing impermanent protection for Catholics. In the eighteenth century
the Church of England became the established church.
The major export of the colony was tobacco. The estimated population circa 1700 was
34,100.
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1. Colonial America
3.3. The New England Colonies
3.3.1. Massachusetts
English Puritans escaping religious persecution in their homeland settled in New England
and founded a colony with their own religious ideals, seeking to purify the Church of
England. One group of these Puritans, the so called “Pilgrims” crossed the Atlantic in the
ship called the Mayflower and settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. Before landing,
they established their own government, the basis of which was the Mayflower Compact.
The principal founder was William Bradford. Plymouth was the second colony with its own
charter.
The original purpose of this foundation was to be a refuge for English Separatists but it
was also a joint-stock venture. The Pilgrim Fathers obtained rights to a “particular
plantation” from the Virginia Company of London.
The Mayflower Compact, which was signed on November 11th 1620, founded selfgovernment for the colony. It was an agreement based on the approval of the people. It is
the earliest known case in American history of people establishing a government for
themselves by mutual agreement. This turned out to be one of the foundations of the
subsequent process of independence, and served as a model for future governments.
Apart from having their own laws, the Plymouth people also applied the common law of
England. In spite of this, political authority was never secure and it was an independent
colony only until 1691 when it was absorbed by Massachusetts.
The economy of the colony in the first years was a subsistence economy, but later it
developed trade, with grain becoming the major export.
In 1628, the Massachusetts Bay Company was formed and many Puritans continued to
settle in the area around Boston. Other puritans were to follow, and the foundations of the
State of Massachusetts were laid.
In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a joint-stock company resident in England, whose
membership included landed gentry and merchants, received its charter from the crown.
The principal founder was John Winthrop, who became governor, leading the community
by strict puritan laws.
Another chief founder, although he never migrated to America, was the Reverend John
White, who worked to establish an English colony in New England in order to relieve the
concern in English social and religious life.
The economy of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was based on exporting grain and wood.
The estimated population circa 1700 was 55,941, including the population of Plymouth.
In 1691, Plymouth joined with the Massachusetts Bay Colony and became a Royal
Colony.
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1. Colonial America
3.3.2. Connecticut
The first permanent settlement made in the valley of the Connecticut River was created by
Puritans from Massachusetts circa 1635. The colony of Connecticut was founded by
Thomas Hooker. It was really an expansion of Massachusetts and it is the present site of
Hartford. In 1638, another group from Massachusetts settled on the site of New Haven.
The two settlements were politically united, and laid the foundations for the commonwealth
of Connecticut in 1639. It received a royal charter in 1663, but self-government preceded
official recognition. The major export of the colony was grain. The estimated population
circa 1700 was 25,970.
3.3.3. Rhode Island
Rhode Island was founded by squatters. Puritans who protested that the state should not
interfere with religion were forced to leave Massachusetts Bay. In 1636, Roger Williams, a
minister who criticised the religious-political establishment and argued for freedom of
religion and separation of church and state, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay
Colony. He founded Providence in Rhode Island and became a refuge for dissenters from
Massachusetts. Then, in 1638, Anne Hutchinson was also banished from Massachusetts
and she settled Portsmouth. The two settlements were consolidated under one
government, called the Providence and Rhode Island Plantation, for which a charter was
given in 1644.
3.3.4. New Hampshire
In 1622, the Plymouth Company granted land in northern New England between the
Merrimac Kennebec and St. Lawrence Rivers to John Mason and to Sir Ferdinando
Gorges. Mason eventually founded New Hampshire and Gorges’ land led to Maine.
Massachusetts controlled both until New Hampshire was given a royal charter in 1679 and
Maine was made its own state in 1820.
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