North Atlantic Exploration and the
Chesapeake
BRITISH COLONIZATION
Early Atlantic Economy
Richard Hakluyt’s Argument
• Richard Hakluyt made argument to English royals and
merchants in favor of British colonization in the Americas:
• Main points:
• Agriculture and wealth to be found
• It’s easy – open areas of N. America, no interference or
conflicts with Spanish (or other powers)
• No competition for wealth, power, control
• Religion – spread Christianity to new areas of the world
• Protestantism – spread British Anglicanism instead of
Catholicism
• Safety valve for the poor – Britain’s many poor can be
relocated to Americas, making them useful, and getting
them out of the Crown’s hair
Hakluyt Map, 1599
British Economic Motives
 Competition with Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and French
 Explored and exploited northern Atlantic waters for fish
(cod) for centuries before formal colonization of Americas
 Wanted what Spain had: riches, gold, silver
 Found out that it was harder than it looked:
Very little gold and silver in N. America
Hostile native populations, less-densely populated, large
wilderness they could flee into
Hostile environment (experience of first settlers in
Chesapeake and New England?)
Problems and Developments, 1607-1650
THE CHESAPEAKE
First English Settlements in
the Chesapeake, 1607-1652
Jamestown, 1607
English settled in Powhatan
territories
The Chesapeake: Environmental
Factors
• Jamestown was settled in horrible spot – good
for protection and water travel, bad for living
• Hot and humid
• Swampy
• Tidal waters: mixture of fresh and saltwater,
bacteria, fecal matter, unfit for human
consumption
• Disease vector: climate, water, mosquitoes,
human and animal waste
The Chesapeake: Native
Americans
• Algonquian tribes dominated eastern woodlands
from Canada to Virginia
• Paramount Chief Powhatan dominated
Chesapeake region
• What options were available to English at
Jamestown?
• How did English goals, ideals, and preconceptions
of colonization affect the outcome?
Native American and British Settlements, early 1600s
Comparison: Native & French
Relations
 A different model than N.A.-English relations
 Based on the fur trade – after 1608, the French had est.
fur trading posts in Quebec and along the St. Lawrence
River
 Missionaries – sent to convert natives, lived with them
 French had to work and live with native groups
Learned customs, language to achieve their ends
Intermarriage
 Trade as center of relationship – search for common
ground, fair trade, and respect
 Creation of “middle ground” – balance of power,
maintenance of relationships and respect over time
John White’s Watercolors
• English scientist and artist at Roanoke Colony,
1585
• Watercolors documented Native American –
Algonquin – life
• A Road Not Taken?
• Depicted Native Americans in realistic manner,
not idealized or caricatured
• Depictions show respect for and interest in
native life and customs
English-Native American
Relations
Different than French-Indian relations
British only used trade relations when it suited
them – when they needed corn to survive first
few years
Broke agreements and raided Algonquin towns
Distrust and animosity grew
Native attacks on Roanoke Colony and Jamestown
after initial English violence
Three wars between 1610 and 1646
English Mishaps
Bad choice of settlement site
Too many explorers, wealthy, tradesmen with little
to know willpower to grow crops
Dependence on Powhatan Indians who didn’t want
them there
Bad luck: harsh winters, hot summers, drought
Malnutrition, disease, laziness
Between April and Sept., half of 104 original
settlers were dead; only 38 alive by following
spring
King Tobacco
English searched for way to make colony lucrative and
successful
John Rolfe bred new type of tobacco – gained English
and European markets
Tobacco Fever - Frenzy to buy land in Chesapeake for
tobacco, to sell as much as possible
The first American get-rich scheme
Virginia Co. gave land to stockholders and those who
settled in Virginia
Turned to indentured servants for labor (think about
Hakluyt’s argument from earlier)
Tobacco Economy spurred population growth through
immigration and natural increase
Indentured Servitude
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Contract for 5-7 years
Between servant and landowner
To pay off debt for passage to chesapeake
High death rate
More economical (at first) than buying slaves
Bad living conditions
2 perspectives: one guy who hated it
Guy who said it was good: the opportunity
Contracts extended for breaking rules/laws, pregnancy
Curing, airing, and
storing of Tobacco
Growing Inequality
Inequalities of wealth and power developed
quickly in the Chesapeake
Reflected in land ownership patterns – wealthy
snatched up best lands near water
Wealthy: more land, close to water, lower
transport costs = more tobacco, more profits
Indentured servants lacked wealth and power
Indentured servants mistreated, beaten, worked
to death in hot, humid, backbreaking labor
Terms of service could be extended for minor
infractions, pregnancy
Tobacco Economy Dictated Land
Use and Settlement Patterns
Great Chain
of Being
God
Angels
Mortals
(diff. levels of
humans)
Birds
Fishes
Mammals
Plants
New Class Relations in America
Main question: How did American context affect
class relations?
Paternal relations in England – the Great Chain of
Being
Traditional class relations: royalty, aristocracy,
peasantry – supposedly unchanging
But new wealth in America = new social classes
How did new economy affect class relations?
What conflicts and how were they worked out?
Who would have power in America if there was
no settled aristocracy or king present?
Future Topics and Themes
• Ongoing issues of power, wealth, land
• Class issues and conflicts
• Indentured servitude and the white poor
• Servitude to Slavery
• Political rights – who gets them?
Links
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Link to newspaper article on John White watercolors
Link to British Museum online exhibit of White’s watercolors
3D Virtual Algonquin Village
Virtual Jamestown Site (with contracts of indenture, maps, etc.)
John White Watercolors, Fort Raleigh, NPS