Chapter 2:
England’s 17th Century in
North America
The English Settle in
North America
Spread of Settlement: Atlantic Coast European
Settling the British Colonies
 Unlike the Spanish & French, the British colonies were not
funded or strictly controlled by the king:
• Joint-stock companies were formed by investors who hoped to
profit off new colonies
• Once a charter was gained from the king, the company could
maintain a colony in America
Colonizing Virginia: Jamestown
 1607 - Jamestown became the first
permanent English settlement in
North America
 One ruler, Powhatan, controlled
virtually all of the Indians nearby.
 Jamestown built on a swamp mosquitoes and malaria
Queen Elizabeth’s Visit to Jamestown in 1957
On its 350th Year of Founding
Queen Elizabeth’s Visit to Jamestown in 2007
On its 400th Year of Founding
John Smith took control, forced colonists to farm, & negotiated with
nearby Powhatan Indians
Winter of 1609-1610 “starving time” - over
80% of 500 settlers died. Smith negotiated
with the Powhatan to obtain access to
more food Implemented a “no work, no
food” policy in the colony
“He who will not work, will not eat”
Colonizing Virginia: Jamestown (2)
 Capt. John Smith rallied the settlers
at Jamestown
 Captured by Powhatan and
threatened with execution
 Smith was saved by Powhatan’s
daughter Pocahontas
 Smith returned to England in 1609
Colonizing Virginia: Jamestown (3)
 1613 – tobacco (“stinking weed”) imported to
Jamestown by John Rolfe
 Developed a pleasant smoking strain
 Tobacco would become the feature cash crop of Virginia
Virginia Workers
 To meet the demand for field workers, Virginians used:
• Indentured servants from England; Typically poor men
who agreed to work for a land owner for 4-7 yrs in
exchange for travel to America
• In 1618, the headright system was created; 50 acres were
given to anyone who brought an indentured servant to
America
• African slaves
Social Hierarchy in the Chesapeake
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African slaves
The Massachusetts Colonies: Plymouth, 1620




Pilgrims = Separatists
Left on the Mayflower, Sept. 16, 1620
Mayflower Compact - laws for the new community
1621 - only half of the 101 who had crossed the Atlantic
were still alive
 William Bradford - governor
The Massachusetts Colonies: Boston, 1630
1629  non-Separatists got a royal charter to form the MA Bay
Co.
 Wanted to escape attacks by conservatives in the Church of England.
 They didn’t want to leave the Church, just its “impurities.”
1630  1,000 people set off in 11 well-stocked ships. Established
a colony with Boston as its hub.
“Great Migration” of the 1630s. Turmoil in England [leading to
the English Civil War] sent about 70,000 Puritans to America
The Great Puritan Migration
Massachusetts Bay Colony
 Founded in 1630
 Elected Puritan leader John
Winthrop as governor
 Advocated that the
Puritans establish a “city
upon a hill” as an example
to all people of what a
godly community could
be
In what ways was colonial New England different
from colonial Virginia?
New England Colonies,
1650
The Pilgrims in Plymouth
 The Separatists (known as Pilgrims) formed a joint-stock
company & received a royal charter to create the
Plymouth Colony in America
 The Pilgrims created the Mayflower Compact agreeing to
work together as a “civil body politick” (this agreement
became the 1st example of self-government in America)
The Pilgrims in Plymouth
 Pilgrims founded Plymouth in 1620
• Faced disease & hunger; received help from local natives like
Squanto & Massasoit
• In 1691, Plymouth was absorbed into the larger, more
successful Massachusetts Bay colony
Puritans in Massachusetts Bay
 Puritans tried to remain within the Church of England,
but:
• In 1629, many Puritans felt King Charles I was ruining England
• Puritans arrived in Boston in 1630
• From 1630-1640, John Winthrop led 16,000 Puritans to the
Massachusetts Bay colony as part of the Great Migration
The Great Puritan Migration
What makes New England society unique?
“A City on a Hill”
 Winthrop wanted to build Boston as a “city on a hill” to
be a model to other Christians
 The Massachusetts colony was very different from
Virginia:
• Settlers usually came as families
• New England was generally a healthy place to live
• Settlers sacrificed for the common good, built schools, focused
on subsistence farming
Social Hierarchy in New England
Local “elite” were religious
leaders who ran town
RELIGION was
the center
meetings
of society
Large population of smallscale farmers who were loyal
to the local community
Small population of
landless laborers,
servants, & poor
What functions could this building have served in
New England?
Massachusetts Government
 Government in Massachusetts centered on the church
through town meetings:
• Each Massachusetts town was independently governed by
local church members
• All adult male church members were allowed to vote for local
laws & taxes
Town Meetings
Limiting Dissent in NE
 Puritans did not support dissent:
• Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts when he
demanded that Indians be paid for their land; He formed the
Rhode Island colony in 1636
• Anne Hutchinson was banished to Rhode Island for challenging
Puritan leaders’ authority
Mobility and Division
 After absorbing Plymouth,
the Massachusetts
colony grew & spawned 4
new colonies:
•
•
•
•
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New Haven
What is going on in this image?
Tensions in New England
 As the New England colonies expanded into new lands,
conflicts with Indians arose:
• Pequot War in 1637 led to the massacre of 600 Indians (the 1st
major British-led attack on Indians)
• King Philip’s War in 1675 resulted when the Wampanoag
raided towns, killing 10% of the colonial New England men
What might have caused the hysteria?
Tensions in New England
 By the 1660s, many New England towns experienced a
drop-off in church membership & responded with the
Halfway Covenant:
• Granted church membership
to people who had not had a “conversion experience”
• This compromise revealed the declining importance of religion
in New England
Tensions in New England
 In 1692, the Salem witchcraft trials led to the death of 19
& imprisonment of 150 citizens:
• Caused by a variety of factors: Indians attacks, religious
fanaticism, lack of available land, accusations by local girls
Salem Witch Craft Trials, 1692
Closure Activity
 On the map provided, label each:
•
•
•
•
Virginia
Massachusetts
Plymouth
Rhode Island
 For each of the above colonies, create a symbol that
summarizes the characteristics of the colony
 Essential Question:
• What are the similarities & differences among the Southern,
New England, & Middle colonies?
The Massachusetts Colonies: Connecticut &
Rhode Island
 Thomas Hooker - led followers to Connecticut in 1636.
Fundamental Order of Connecticut - gave all free men
the right to vote for their leaders
 Roger Williams - banished to Rhode Island in 1636
 Anne Hutchinson - excommunicated by Winthrop in
1637, ended up in Rhode Island
Dissention in the Colony – Anne Hutchinson
 Articulate, strong-willed, &
intelligent wife of a prominent
merchant
 Held prayer meetings in her
home to discuss sermons &
provide her own commentary
on religious matters
 Holy life was no sure sign of
salvation.
 Truly saved didn’t need to obey
the law of either God or man.
(Antinomianism)
Maryland
 The colony was the vision of Sir George Calvert (Lord
Baltimore)
 Founded in 1632 as refuge for Catholics in America
 1632 - granted a charter for Maryland
 He died, but his son Cecilius took over
South Carolina
 Charles II granted land south of
Virginia to 8 supporters in 1663
 Given the title of Lord
Proprietors
 Able to exercise their
authority with virtual
independence
 Developed a plantation
economy, first with sugar,
then rice in later years.
Southern Plantation Economy
The Southern Colonies
Charleston, South Carolina Founded in 1680, Charleston grew to become the bustling seaport
pictured in this drawing done in the 1730s. Charleston was by then the largest city in the mostly rural
southern colonies. It flourished as a seaport for the shipment to England of slave-grown Carolina rice.
Additional Colonies: Continued Settlement and
Development
 Carolinas - most settlers were former indentured
servants from Virginia and Maryland or Barbados
 New York - was originally New Netherland, founded by
the Dutch
 Pennsylvania - the colony was largely the work of one
man - William Penn, Quakers
Thomas Coram’s oil painting (c. 1770) shows the main residence and slave quarters on the Mulberry Plantation near Charleston, South Carolina. The
distinctive steep-roofed design of the slave cabins on the left probably reflects African building styles. Slave quarters may not have been located quite
as close to the main house as this picture suggests.
Thomas Coram, “View of Mulberry Street, House and Street.” Oil on paper, 10 3 17.6 cm, Gibbes Museum of Art/ Carolina Art Association. 68.18.01
Pennsylvania: Dream of toleration and peace
 Another proprietary colony
 William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1681 hoping to provide a refuge
for Quakers and a model of justice and peace.
 Quakers believed in the “Inner Light,” that all people are equal, & the
ability to communicate directly with God
 Penn established good relations with Indians by purchasing land and
signing treaties.
 Pennsylvania’s frame of government provided religious freedom and
created a legislature with limited powers.
 The population was ethnically and religiously diverse with most settlers
living on farms.
No colonial proprietor was more idealistic
than William Penn, shown here in a
portrait made in about 1698 by Francis
Place. Penn wanted Pennsylvania to be a
place of peace, prosperity, and religious
toleration—especially for his fellow
Quakers. The colony eventually became
an economic success but failed to
achieve the social harmony that Penn
had wanted.
Quakers - Society of Friends
Penn's "Holy Experiment"
 William Penn’s colony was to serve as a “holy
experiment”
• Promoted religious toleration, bought land from
the Indians, & did not tolerate slavery
• Allowed a diverse population to move there
 Philadelphia had an excellent harbor, making it an
important trade city in the British colonies
Closure Activity
 On the map provided, label each:
•
•
•
•
New York
Pennsylvania
North & South Carolina
Georgia
 For each of the above colonies, create a symbol that
summarizes the characteristics of the colony
Lectures
?
?
?
Why & How
Europeans
Became
Colonizers?
(Why would you leave
your country for a new
home?)
?
?
Possible Answers:
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
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Changes in social and political culture during the Renaissance were important factors, as
were economic changes that took place as merchants gained access to new products,
which translated into wealth and political power as well as increased demand for luxury
goods.
Kings and princes saw opportunities for new taxation, economic development, and the
physical expansion of their empires.
Early experiments with ending serfdom => mobile population in search of new
opportunities.
Prince Henry of Portugal’s establishment of a naval academy led to technological
developments that were crucial for new exploration and discoveries.
The ability of wealthy Spanish monarchs to financially support what seemed an
improbable idea for finding a new route to Asia.
European Colonial Strategies?
Commercial Incentive? Social
Spanish
English
French
Dutch
Political
Consequences?