Louis Pisha
AP US History
Chapter 2: The Pattern of Empire
Mercantilism
England’s Imperial Delay
The Navigation Acts
The Dutch
The Restoration Colonies
New York
New Jersey
The Carolinas
William Penn’s Holy Experiment
Problems of Enforcement
Recalcitrant Colonists
The Dominion of New England
The Revolution of 1688
The Reorganization of 1696
The Old Colonial System
The Contest for the Continent
Indian Warfare
Rivalry with France and Spain
The Founding of Georgia
• Government wanted mercantilism from colonies, not just an outlet for dissenters
Mercantilism
• State controls all economic activities, more exports than imports
• Hakluyt explained colonies provide raw materials and buy manufactured goods—
mutually advantageous because colonies not equipped for manufacturing
• However, government had to keep colonies only trading with England, or they
would profit other countries
England’s Imperial Delay
• Early on, economic regulation not urgent, and even if was, 3000 miles away, and
hard to keep control that far
• Also, political struggle for power between Parliament and King (English Civil
War, Glorious Revolution)
• All colonies but Georgia founded under king’s charter, but clear Parliament had
control
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• Distance and power issues kept colonies out of one policy—Cromwell first to try,
but only passed laws to keep foreign shipping out of colonies and failed
in expanding empire to Caribbean
The Navigation Acts
• Since colonies trading much with other colonies, English merchants pushed for
Navigation Acts
└ Forbade all trade with colonies except in English or colonial ships
└ Forbade trade from colonies to elsewhere of “enumerated
commodities,” i.e. sugar, cotton, tobacco, etc. (added to later)
└ Forbade trade to colonies from elsewhere of most things
• More acts restricted trade of those things (e.g. Wool Act)
• Intended to help mother country but often only helped the merchant who pushed
for it
• Although themselves added no taxes, increased government revenue, but had to
be enforced more in order to receive full benefit
The Dutch
• Dutch main players of the 17th century—greatest traders, pirates, lumber, fish,
textiles, art, etc.
• Dutch did have presence in New World, not large, especially since controlled
Hudson—used it to tap the colonies
• For Charles to control Dutch colonies, simply gave them as a gift to James, and
sent 400 men to take New Amsterdam, which surrendered
• Dutch declared war and continued to violate Nav. Acts—problem could not be
solved just by war, but by colonies’ internal organization
The Restoration Colonies
• Proprietary colonies, which means founded by individuals who had total control
of them—get rich for charging rent, or quitrents, on land that others
worked
• Many of the settlers of these colonies didn’t come from England—many migrants
from New World
New York
• Originally mainly bunch of trading posts with more advanced settlements (NYC),
patroonships (estates), and Eastern Long Island mainly transplanted
Puritans
• Governed originally by a director-general w/ no representatives
└ Wouter von Twiller, Wilhelm Kieft, and Peter Stuyvesant
└ Duke of York saw no reason to change government style: Richard
Nicolls (compiled separate laws for Puritans on Long Island), Francis
Lovelace, Edmund Andros, and Thomas Dongan
• New York changed hands back and back again
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• Attracted few settlers
• Granted a representative assembly to appease, who passed Charter of Liberties
granting English rights to all inhabitants, and later repealed by Duke
New Jersey
• James gave it to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret—meanwhile, Nicolls,
who had no authority to give it to anyone, gave it to a bunch of New
England Puritans for revenue
• Berkeley and Carteret got more Puritans to move in, and appointed a governor
and representative assembly, both of which they were not allowed to do
• Meanwhile, Puritans held own representative assembly
• Berkeley and Carteret divided land and sold it to Quakers, which Puritans didn’t
like
• Finally England realized this and set it up as a royal colony with representative
assembly
The Carolinas
• Sir John Colleton set it up, who looked at Barbados and realized workers wanted
to move onto continent
• Assembled board of proprietors for new colony, including John and William
Berkeley, Carteret, Anthony Ashley Cooper (Shaftesbury), Monck,
Albemarle, Craven, and Clarendon
• Got royal charter for present-day Carolinas and Georgia to Pacific and filled it
with colonists
• Two areas of settlement: North Carolina, and Cape Fear River, later moved to
Charleston
• Government: Fundamental Constitutions: Governor, upper house of nobles (could
only initiate legislation), lower house of commoners
• Produced pitch, tar, turpentine, rice; got deerskins and slaves from Indians
• Lower house quarreled, initiated legislation, and got its way—melee until 1729
when royal governments instituted
William Penn’s Holy Experiment
• Penn the younger was a friend of the king (Charles2) because of his father, Penn
the elder
• Although otherwise conventional courtier, Penn took silly ideas seriously, like
radical Quakerism (James Nayler was the one who thought he was Jesus)
and became one of its best supporters, although generally hard times for
Quakers
• Participated in buyup of New Jersey, but filled with Puritans, so decided to go
across the Delaware River
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• Got the land from the king and also laid claim to modern-day Delaware and free
to govern if enforced Navigation Acts, get king’s approval for laws, and
provide Anglican ministers
• Had governor (himself), but council and assembly of high-class and ordinary
people, respectively, council only initiate legislation
• All kinds of Quakers flocked to colony as well as many non-Quakers, too
• Had to return to England to defend border (solved by Mason-Dixon Line) and
eventually king died
• Pennsylvania met most expectations, but although they elected council too,
assembly viewed as cheating colonists out of rights
• Blackwell was the incompetent governor attacked by assemblies and left
• Colony taken away from Penn for 2 years because in with James2 and given
assembly right to initiate legislation, and when he got it back, he asked
them to draft a government, and they removed the legislative function of
the council, making it the only unicameral colony
• Penn ended up in debtor’s prison and died there
Problems of Enforcement
• In most colonies, England had no voice in government so no one English colonial
policy
• Charles distributed authority to colonies when he should have kept it by giving
them royal charters containing choosing own government officials
• Also required consent of settlers to legislation, which meant assembly, but things
usually worked like Parliament not cooperating with the king
Recalcitrant Colonists
• New England not suited for mercantilism—went into trade instead, and became
merchants
• More profitable for New England to trade illegally with other countries and
suspicious of Charles (not a Puritan)
• Easily resisted attempts of control by England, like commission under
Archbishop Laud
• Charles told Massachusetts to change those laws that conflicted with England’s,
and since they refused, sent investigators, who were treated nicely
everywhere that wanted more land, but ignored in Massachusetts so told
king to revoke their charter, which he couldn’t unless there was proof
that they were breaking it
• Told Massachusetts to send agents to account for it, but didn’t, and got away with
it for 10 years
• Meanwhile, Parliament passed act in 1673 making smuggling harder but
Massachusetts did it anyway
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• Charles had had no board devoted to colonies but set up Lords of Trade who
decided to make more colonies royal
• Massachusetts took over New Hampshire and Maine, and Charles took New
Hampshire away (royal-colonized it) but before he could take Maine
away, Massachusetts purchased it from counterclaimant (Gorges, heir of
original one)
• Returned to asking for agents and sent insufficient ones but called for
enforcement of Navigation Acts
• King sent Randolph to see, imprisoned by Massachusetts, charter revoked
The Dominion of New England
• Lords of Trade envisioned one royal colony from New Jersey up with no
representative assembly with governor and council appointed by king
• Massachusetts talked of resistance but didn’t do any
• Sir Edmund Andros took over easily—not the best choice for governor
• Few enemies of old government system, but Andros alienated them all: taxes w/
no representative assembly, told citizens they had no rights, said all land
ownership from towns were invalid and had to specifically ask governor
for it + pay money
• Could not be expected to freely impose rule on people who had governed
themselves
The Revolution of 1688
• Boston imprisoned new government and restored old government
• Mather tried to convince William and Mary to give Massachusetts back old
charter, and they authorized temporary old government until could
investigate
• Nicholson, Andros’ deputy governor, overthrown by local militia headed by
Leisler, who elected as commander in chief
• Leisler claimed authority from some ambiguous letters, and hanged for treason by
the newly appointed governor 2 years later
The Reorganization of 1696
• Seven years of neglect because England busy
• Parliament came up with good system: all governments had to swear to enforce
acts and established regular customs in all colonies with ability to search
for smuggled stuff and arrest smugglers easier
• Board of Trade replaced the Lords of Trade, control by king
• Parliament objected to taking away colonial assemblies but did not object to
instituting royal governors, so royalized Maryland, New Jersey, North
and South Carolina, Massachusetts (somewhat)
• King got more control over laws, even if just veto power, but lower assembly
usually held power of the purse
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The Old Colonial System
• The agencies set up could be thwarted but ended up making legitimate trade more
profitable
• In general things worked and both colonies and mother country profited
The Contest for the Continent
• As colonies expanded, came into conflict with other groups
Indian Warfare
• Indians sold land to Europeans without realizing they would be driven out—then
too late
• Often at war with each other anyway, and eventually dependent on the white man
for weapons and metals
• Massachusetts wiped out Powhatan Confederacy; Puritans in New England
destroyed the Pequots
• Only other major Indian attack was of Wampanoag chief Metacomet
Rivalry with France and Spain
• French interested in internal North America, especially coureurs de bois
• Got Louisiana with settlement at Biloxi and elsewhere
• French better at getting furs and getting Indians’ friendship
• French government made New France the equivalent of a royal colony and
discouraged activities of coureurs—on the contrary, Louis wanted settled
and civilized French farmers there
• However, French colonial leaders didn’t follow this policy, and the coureurs led
Indians to attack English settlements during the wars of the next
century—i.e., the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the
Spanish Succession, during which the governments did not waste troops
on the New World but the settlers fought
• In the south, South Carolinians got allegiance of Creek and Cherokee tribes who
helped them push back French and Spanish, but then Creeks failed in
attack on English and left westward
• Spanish had wanted the land they moved out of, but England occupied it
The Founding of Georgia
• Founded to defend southern flank with settlers and as place for poor to go to get a
new life (Oglethorpe’s idea)
• Tried to keep sin (rum, slavery) to keep the settlers in check but eventually
conceded defeat and turned colony over to king
• Not really successful there militarily
• During War of Austrian Succession, attention shifted to North, and Britain
captured French Louisburg (but returned it later) as only success during
the war
• Americans started having their own ideas about stuff
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