Fast Facts
USI
Chap. 2
The First Colonies
During the 1600’s, wealth and power belonged to those who
owned land. The less fortunate turned to the New World, seeking
gold, God or glory.
I. The First Europeans- Spain and France came before the
British, but they came as conquers , missionaries or traders, not
really settlers.
1. Spain- The Spanish came to the southern and western
present-day US, and South America. They came looking for
gold, but didn’t find it. The Protestant Reformation was
dividing the countries of Europe, so Spain sent missionaries
to convert the Native Americans and claim the New World
for the Catholics. Conquistadors, led by DeSoto, traveled as
far north as the Carolinas, spreading disease and burning
Indian villages. They abandoned this area, but kept a
presence in Florida, (St. Augustine is the first town in the
Americas) to protect their Mexican territory and their ships
from other Europeans.
2. France-The French settled in the North. Quebec was
founded by Champlain in 1608. Robert LaSalle was hoping
to find a Northwest Passage across America. He did find the
Mississippi, which they took south and founded New
Orleans. The French were more interested in trading than
settling. They established good relationships with then
Natives, who provided the furs to take back to France.
II. The British Colonies1. The Southern ColoniesA. Virginia -after getting the King’s permission (a
charter), investors formed a joint-stock company to set
up a colony in Virginia. The first colony was Roanoke,
but the settlers of Roanoke vanished without a trace.
The second colony was Jamestown, named after King
James I. Captain John Smith was the leader. The
colonists were ill- equipped for life in the wilderness
and suffered disease and starvation. They survived due
to the help of the Native American woman,
Pocahontas, who persuaded her father, Chief Powhatan
to befriend the colonists. The colony became
successful by growing tobacco, and selling it back in
England. New settlers came, lured by the promise of
free land (the Headright System). They set up a
representative government, called The House of
Burgesses. The colony had started as a proprietary
colony (owned by individuals) but became a royal
colony (owned by the King) in 1624.
The growth of the colony led to problems with the
Native Americans. Nathaniel Bacon burned Jamestown
to protest the lack of protection for the poorer settlers
on the outskirts of the colony (Bacon’s Rebellion), so
their leaders lowered taxes and extended protection to
the frontier.
B. Maryland- King Charles gave the territory to Lord
Baltimore (proprietary colony). Baltimore was a
Catholic, and the colony became a safe place for
Catholic settlers.
C. Georgia- James Oglethorpe, leader of this proprietary
colony, created a safe place for debtors. England
wanted this settlement to protect the northern colonies
from the Spanish in Florida.
D. The English also founded North Carolina and South
Carolina, which were divided into separate colonies.
2. New England- Unlike the Southern Colonies, the New
England colonies were settled for religious reasons (God, not
gold). In spite of the cold climate and rocky soil, the colonies
were successful.
A. Puritans and Separatists felt that the Church of
England was too similar to the Catholic Church, and
they did not like the King telling them how they had to
worship. They wanted to separate (Separatists) and
practice “pure” religion (Puritans) in the new world.
B. Pilgrims- The first New England settlers were Puritans
who sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts on the
Mayflower. They wrote and signed The Mayflower
Compact, which outlined a representative government.
William Bradford was the leader of Plymouth Colony.
The Puritans were grateful for the help provided by the
Native Americans, which got them through the tough
winter, but relations became unsettled in later years.
The Puritans had far less interest in converting the
Natives than Catholic settlers from Spain.
C. Massachusetts Bay Colony -John Winthrop led a much
larger group of Puritans who founded Boston. They
spread throughout New England and founded
Connecticut and New Hampshire. The Puritans started
public schools and colleges.
D. Rhode Island- Once they Puritans had religious
freedom, they didn’t want to give it to anyone else!
Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson were kicked out of
Massachusetts for refusing to conform to Puritan ideas.
Williams founded Providence, Rhode Island and
declared that they would be tolerant of other religions
and separate church and state.
3. The Middle Colonies- Unlike the other colonies, the Middle
colonies were founded by the Dutch and the Swedes, who
were all business. These colonies attracted settlers from many
different countries.
A. New York- Businessmen formed The Dutch East India
Company to trade fur with the Native Americans. They
built New Amsterdam at the bottom of Manhattan
Island. Peter Stuyvesant was placed in charge. Dutch
settlers spread through present-day New York and New
Jersey. They called their territory New Netherlands.
England did not like this Dutch territory separating
New England and the Southern Colonies, so they sailed
in and took over. New Netherlands became New York
State, New Amsterdam became New York City and a
new colony was formed across the Hudson River (New
Jersey).
B. Pennsylvania- William Penn was granted a huge piece
of land west of New Jersey. He called its first town
Philadelphia. Penn was a member of the Quakers, a
religion that believed in peace, gender equality, and
religious toleration.
C. Delaware- The Swedes who founded Delaware
combined farming with fur trading in New Sweden. They
were eventually taken over by the Dutch.