The Planting of
English America
Chapter 2
Introduction
• In the hundred years after Columbus’s
discovery, most of America north of Mexico
remained unexplored.
• By 1600, 3 European powers planted
outposts in 3 distant corners of the
continent; the English at Jamestown, VA in
1607, the French in Quebec in 1608, and the
Spanish at Santa Fe in 1610
England’s Imperial
Stirrings
• Religious conflict disrupted England in the
mid 1500s after King Henry VIII broke with the
Roman Catholic Church.
• The Protestant Reformation pitted Catholics
and Protestants against each other for
decades.
• Protestantism in England became dominant
when Queen Elizabeth took power, which
intensified the rivalry with Catholics in Spain.
England’s Imperial
Stirrings
• The Catholic Irish clashed with
Elizabeth’s English troops, who inflicted
unspeakable atrocities on the Irish
natives.
• When Protestant landlords from
England and Scotland were put into
power, the seeds of religious conflicts
that continue today were planted.
Elizabeth Energizes
England
• The first English attempt to colonize in
Newfoundland collapsed when its promoter,
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, died at sea in 1583.
• Gilbert’s half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, tried
again on warmer Roanoke Island in Virginia
(named after Queen Elizabeth, the “Virgin
Queen”).
• Roanoke disappeared mysteriously.
Elizabeth Energizes
England
• Spain, on the other hand, was thriving
in the New World.
• Phillip II of Spain used his wealth to
amass an “Invincible Armada” to
invade Protestant England.
• The English routed Spain and the
defeat marked the end of Spanish
imperial dreams.
England on the Eve of
Empire
• Large population increase (1 million
from 1550 to 1600; 3 million to 4 million)
and landlords enclosing pastures
forced many farmers off the land.
• In the late 1500s economic depression
hit the wool trade and made many
into beggars and paupers.
England on the Eve of
Empire
• People concluded that England was
burdened with a “surplus population”
even though present day London
holds twice as many people as all of
England in 1600.
• Around this time, laws of primogeniture
decreed that only the eldest sons were
eligible to inherit land and/or estates.
England on the Eve of
Empire
• The younger sons of landowners were
forced to make their own ways.
• Joint stock companies (the forerunner
to corporations) allowed adventurers
to pool their money and set off for the
New World.
England on the Eve of
Empire
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Motives for New World settlement
No competition from Spain
Population growth gave workers
Unemployment
Thirst for adventure
Religious freedom
Joint stock companies provided financial
means
England Plants the
Jamestown Seedling
• In 1606 the Virginia Company of
London received a charter from King
James I for settlement in the New
World.
• It was only intended to last for a few
years and then the stock would be
liquidated for profit.
England Plants the
Jamestown Seedling
• The Charter of Jamestown is
an important document in
American history because it
gave the settlers the same
rights are their English
counterparts in England, which
they loved (ironic, isn’t it?).
England Plants the
Jamestown Seedling
• The settlers set sail in late 1606 and
landed on Chesapeake Bay in
1607 where they were attacked
by Indians.
• They disembarked on May 24,
1607 and the first settlement
started to take shape.
Times of Trouble
• 40 men died on the voyage from
England to Virginia.
• Only 100 men got off the boat in May
1607.
• In 1609, an expedition lost its leaders
and supplies when they were
shipwrecked in Bermuda.
• Men died from diseases, malnutrition,
and starvation.
Times of Trouble
• Most settlers considered themselves
“gentlemen” and were unprepared to live in
the woods and unaccustomed to fending
for themselves.
• Most were too preoccupied with finding
gold to help find and store amenities.
• Check out Pg. 31 about John Smith.
Cultural Changes in the
Chesapeake
• When Lord De La Warr arrived, he
carried with him orders from the
Virginia Company that amounted
to a declaration of war against
the Indians.
• Troops raided Indian villages,
burned houses, confiscated
provisions, and torched cornfields.
Cultural Changes in the
Chesapeake
• The First Anglo-Powhatan War ended in 1614
with a peace settlement sealed by the
marriage of Pocahontas to John Rolfe- the
first known interracial union in VA.
• After some attacks starting in 1622 that left
347 Virginians dead (including Rolfe), the
Second Anglo-Powhatan War started in
1644 and ended in Indian defeat in 1646.
Cultural Changes in the
Chesapeake
• The agreement effectively
banned the Chesapeake Indians
from their ancestral lands.
• The Powhatans continued to
decline until they were all be
extinct by 1685 having fallen
victim to the 3 Ds: disease,
disorganization, and disposability
The Indian’s New World
• The Fate of the Powhatans
foreshadowed the destinies of
indigenous peoples throughout the
continent.
• Horses catalyzed the migration toward
the Great Plains in the 1700s.
• Diseases robbed cultures of their elders
and left tribes w/o accumulated
wisdom or kin networks.
The Indian’s New World
• Natives also moved away from barter-andexchange networks in favor of European
commerce.
• One group of Virginia Indians were upset at
the price the British traders offered for their
deerskins so they loaded up a canoe and
attempted to paddle to England. They
crashed in a storm, lost their cargo, were
picked up by a British ship, and were sold
into slavery in the West Indies.
Virginia: Child of Tobacco
• In 1619, a Dutch warship
appeared off Jamestown and
sold some 20 Africans.
• This simple transaction planted the
seeds of the North American
slave system.
Maryland: Catholic
Haven
• Founded in 1634 by Lord
Baltimore.
• He wanted to reap financial
profits as well as seek refuge for his
fellow Catholics.
• Fellow colonists only agreed to
come if they had the chance to
acquire land of their own.
Maryland: Catholic
Haven
• Problems arose when the Catholic land
barons were surrounded by modest homes
of the Protestant settlers.
• Like Virginia, Maryland thrived on tobacco.
• Sensing the people were turning against
him, Baltimore signed the Act of Toleration
to allow Christians to worship freely (this act
spelled doom for Jewish and atheist
settlers).
The West Indies: Way Station to
Mainland America
• Spain was preoccupied and thus
loosened the grip it had on the
Caribbean in the 1600s.
• By mid 1600s England had secured its
claim to several West Indian islands
including Jamaica.
• Sugar was to the Caribbean what
tobacco was to the Chesapeake Bay
region.
The West Indies: Way Station to
Mainland America
• Tobacco was seen as a poor man’s crop,
whereas sugar was seen as a rich man’s
crop.
• By the mid 17th Century, the sugar lords
brought in an enormous amount of
enslaved Africans (1/4 million by 1700).
• By 1700, black slaves outnumbered white
settlers 4:1 and the area (Jamaica) has
remained predominantly black ever since.
The West Indies: Way Station to
Mainland America
• This is known as “African diaspora”- the
vast scattering of African peoples
throughout the New World after
Columbus’s discovery.
• The Barbados slave codes denied
even the most fundamental rights to
slaves and gave masters virtually
complete control over their laborers.
• Pg. 37 quote
Colonizing the Carolinas
• From 1629 to 1660, colonization was halted
for the following reasons;
o King Charles dismissed Parliament in 1629; he
eventually recalled it in 1640.
o The mutinous Parliament threw their support
behind Oliver Cromwell (a soldier).
o King Charles lost his head…literally.
o Cromwell ruled England for nearly a decade until
Charles II was stored to the throne.
Colonizing the Carolinas
• After came what is known as the
Restoration Period, when empire
building resumed with greater intensity.
• Carolina, named for Charles II was
founded in 1670.
• After much experimentation, rice
emerged as the principle export crop
in Carolina.
Late Coming Georgia: The
Buffer Colony
• Founded in 1733 and it was the last of the 13
colonies- 126 years after Jamestown.
• Originally intended to be a buffer between
the more valuable Carolinas against the
Spanish in Florida and the French in
Louisiana.
• Georgia was named for King George II and
originally wanted to be free of slavery.
The Plantation Colonies
• The plantation colonies are; Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Georgia.
• After 1750 slavery was found in all 5
colonies.
• The sprawling acres of land were
owned by a select few, which created
an atmosphere of aristocracy.
The Plantation Colonies
• Because the large plantations and
farms were widely scattered, the
growth of cities was slowed.
• All the plantation colonies
permitted some religious freedom,
but the Church of England
became the dominant faith.