English Colonization and the 13
Colonies
Chapter 1 Section 3
English Colonization of North America:
Background
• No English Colonization before the late 1500s
– Late 1400s civil war
– Early 1500s Protestant Reformation (Henry VIII)
• Late 1500’s major issues over—ready to go
• Wanted to compete with Spain
• Enclosure movement in England—surplus
population
• Religious issues: more later
English Colonization: Early Attempts
• Newfoundland (Canada) 1583 failed—too cold
• Roanoke (North Carolina/Virginia Border)
1585 failed—got cut off by Spanish navy
• 1588 Spanish Armada defeated by the
English—no more barriers to colonization
Southern Colonies: Virginia
• 1607 Virginia Company of London establishes
Jamestown—1st permanent settlement by the
English in future US
• No reason for the colony, didn’t make money,
until tobacco 1612—cash crop
• Interacted and fought with the Powhatan
Confederacy of Virginia
Southern Colonies: Maryland
• 1634 founded by Catholics seeking refuge
from persecution in England
• George Calvert, Lord Baltimore
• 1649 Act of Toleration (meant to protect
Catholics from persecution) didn’t protect
whom?
• A lot like Virginia—tobacco centered
• Virginia+Maryland=Chesapeake Colonies
Southern Colonies: Carolinas
• North Carolina: unofficially settled by poor/outcasts from
Virginia in the 1650s
• 1663 area of soon-to-be North and South Carolina granted
to 8 nobles by King Charles II (Carolina) at first one big
colony
– Fun fact: religious toleration
• Southern part settled by wealthier English from the English
Caribbean: important African slavery AND slave codes
• North and South Carolina very different: North=a lot like
Virginia (tobacco), South=richer, grew rice and indigo tied
to the Caribbean
• 1712 the colony split in 2—North and South Carolina
Southern Colonies: Georgia
• 1733 founded by James Oglethorpe (General)
• 2 purposes:
– more humane option than prison for non-violent
prisoners, and
– military buffer against Spanish in Florida
• Religious toleration but no Catholics allowed,
why?
• Successful as a military buffer, not successful as a
reform colony
• A lot like S. Carolina, grew rice indigo for sale as
cash crops, became dependent on African slavery
Southern Colonies: Recap
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5 total
Virginia-1607
Maryland-1634
N. Carolina-unofficially 1650s, officially as part
of Carolina Colony 1663, own colony 1712
• S. Carolina-organized on paper 1663, actually
settled 1670, own colony 1712
• Georgia-1733
New England Colonies: Background
• Protestant Reformation in England, new
religion=Church of England, Anglican Church
• Protestant but still a lot of Catholic traditions
• Some wanted to “Purify” the Anglican Church
of its Catholic traits—Puritans
• Some wanted to leave entirely—Separatists
• Catholics persecuted (Maryland), other
Protestant religions persecuted as well,
Puritans/Separatists
New England: Plymouth and
Massachusetts
• SeparatistsEnglandHollandEngland
America
• Headed for Virginia, ended up in New England
1620
• Pilgrims—Mayflower Compact
• 1629-1630 Puritans decided to leave as well
• Massachusetts Bay Colony, Boston 1630
• 11 ships over 1,000 colonists
• Massachusetts took over Plymouth eventually
New England: Massachusetts
Offshoots
• 1635 migrants from Mass want more room, settle
at Hartford: Thomas Hooker—Connecticut
• 1638 New Haven—eventually becomes part of
Connecticut
• 1636 Roger Williams kicked out of Mass—Rhode
Island—religious toleration
• 1640’s New Hampshire and Maine settled by
migrants from Mass, king grants both areas to
two of his friends, one sells his land to Mass
(Maine), one doesn’t (New Hampshire)
New England: Recap
• 4 colonies
• Massachusetts Bay (includes Plymouth and
Maine)
• Connecticut 1635 (includes New Haven)
• Rhode Island 1636
• New Hampshire 1640’s
• All New England colonies dominated by
Puritanism (except Rhode Island)
• Note: Maine and Vermont not part of the 13
colonies
Middle Colonies: Beginnings
• Not colonized by the English at first: Dutch,
Swedes
• Dutch: New Netherland (Modern-day NY, NJ)
• New Amsterdam (NYC), Fort Orange (Albany)
• Swedes: New Sweden (Delaware)-taken over
by Dutch
• 1664 New Netherland conquered by the
English, given to the Duke of York
Middle Colonies: English Colonization
• New York 1664
• New Jersey 1664 given by the Duke of York to two
of his noble friends, eventually sold to a group of
Quakers—used as a haven for Quakers
• Pennsylvania 1681 given to William Penn by the
King: based on Quaker ideals—religious
toleration, non-violence toward Indians, equality
among social classes, slavery discouraged (not
banned though)
• Delaware 1681 part of the land given to William
Penn: separate colony but same governor as PA
Middle Colonies: Recap
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4 middle colonies
New York 1664
New Jersey 1664
Pennsylvania 1681
Delaware 1681
All colonies except NY influenced by the Quakers,
all colonies except NY had official religious
toleration (New York was pretty tolerant of other
religions although Anglicanism was the official
religion technically)