Colonization and Settlement of
“America”
Nations’ Reasons for Exploration
 New, cheaper, more efficient routes to China,
India, East Indies and Asian goods (i.e. spices, silk,
porcelain – that is, Luxury Goods)

…SE route (Portugal); SW route (Spain); “NW Passage”
(England, France, Netherlands)
But, why would an individual risk life
and limb and go out to explore?
THREE G’S—IN THIS ORDER
1. GOLD: any riches (gold, silver,
resources) - most important to most
explorers
2. GLORY: to make a name for self and
country (and therefore win favor with
king/queen)
3. GOD: to win converts to Christianity
FIRSTS
• First European explorers to
Ask me: “Why was the ‘New
World’ called the Americas?”
Hint: This guy
reach the Americas: Vikings
– Leif Eriksson - in Canada
– around 1000 A.D.
• First European to make it to
the “New World” during
Age of Exploration:
Christopher Columbus - in
Caribbean - 1492 A.D., then
3 more times by 1504
• First European country to
permanently colonize
anywhere in the Americas
(“New World”): Spain
Three Spanish Systems of Colonization
 Conquistador – To conquer the land; Pizarro and
Cortez
 The Plantation System – To use the land for its
natural resources…To mine(gold and silver) and
farm (sugar cane) the land
 The Encomienda System –, using natives as workers
on the plantations in in the mines. –HORRIBLE
TREATMENT, but the most deadly problem for
natives….
Disease, particularly Smallpox
Native populations were devastated by disease
Bartolomé de las Casas
• 16th-century Spanish historian, social
reformer, and Catholic priest.
• He started his colonial experience in
Hispanola, but became the first
resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first
officially appointed "Protector of the
Indians”.
• His extensive and most famous
writings A Short Account of the
Destruction of the Indies and Historia de
Las Indias, chronicled the first decades
of colonization of the West Indies and
focused on the atrocities committed by
the colonizers against the indigenous
peoples….let’s see what he had to say…
It worked...well, sort of.
 The New Laws of 1542 (and the reality of the
dramatically declining Native populations) meant that
The Encomienda system would be replaced by African
Slavery in the New World…
The Columbian Exchange
Columbian Exchange:
The widespread exchange of animals, plants,
culture, human populations, and
communicable diseases between the ”Old
World” (Europe and Africa) and the “New
World” (Americas) following the 1492
voyage of Christopher Columbus and the
resulting colonization, trade, and institution
of the African Slave Trade by Europeans in
the Americas.
Pumpkins
Turkeys
Squash
Avacado
yellow fever
Location, Location, Location
So, let’s pick up US
History here The English focused on the
Atlantic Coastline of North
America because:
 Looking for NW Passage
and “found the Atlantic
Coast of North America”
 Interested in room for
expanding population
 Agriculture
 Protestant Reformation –
Religious Freedom
 Late entering American
colonization due to issues
at home (Civil War)
Roanoke Voyages
 The English made 3 voyages to the Atlantic Coast
of North America – specifically the Outer Banks of
NC - organized by Sir Walter Raleigh (Raleigh himself never
visited North America, but NC capital will be named for him)
 1st voyage: 1584— landed on Roanoke Island - named land
“Virginia”, but included modern-day VA, WV, MD, NC, and SC
 2nd voyage: 1585—”discovered” Chesapeake Bay; attempted to
create military settlement, ended in violence with local natives
 3rd voyage: 1587/1590—The Lost Colony—a colony of men,
women, and children (Virginia Dare, born in Roanoake colony
on August 18, 1587) led by John White; White left for England to
get help/provisions; do not know what happened to the 115ish
colonists- had disappeared by the time White returned in 1590
Jamestown (King James I)
 1st permanent English settlement –1607 (though
brief abandonment in 1610); Funded by jointstock company (The London Company)
 John Smith (colonial leader); John Rolfe
(tobacco cultivator); helped by Pocahontas
(daughter of local Powhatan chief) married
Rolfe, not Smith, whom she saved from
execution
 Colony almost did not survive – tough (marshy)
location; bitter cold, and weak colonists. In the
"Starving Time" of 1609–1610, the Jamestown
settlers faced mass starvation for want of
additional provisions. Only 61 of the 500
colonists survived the period.
 1619 House of Burgess (1st representative
assembly), English women arrive, Africans
brought as Indentured Servants;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvvZ1TEQRB8
The Success of
Jamestown
Brought Further
English
Colonization to
North America
 Split into three
regions:



New England
Colonies
Middle Colonies
Southern
Colonies
New England Colonies
Middle Colonies
Southern Colonies
The New England Colonies
 Massachusetts (1630)
 Rhode Island (1636
 Connecticut (1639)
 New Hampshire (1638)
New England (MA, NH,RI,CN) – settled by many
people seeking religious freedom  examples:
•Pilgrims - Settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts -1620
•Puritans - Settled in Boston, Massachusetts -1630
Economy was based on fishing, lumbering, and
shipbuilding/trade with the “Old World”
The Middle Colonies
 New York (1626)
 Delaware (1638)
 New Jersey (1664)
 Pennsylvania (1682)
Middle Colonies (NY, NJ,PA,DE) –
–More of a mix coming for
religious freedom (ex: Quakers in
Pennsylvania; Catholics in
Maryland), as well as economic
The Southern Colonies
 Virginia (1607)
 Maryland (1633)
 North Carolina(1653)
 South Carolina (1663)
 Georgia (1732)
Southern Colonies –(MD, VA, NC,
SC, GA) mostly came for economic
opportunities  Economy was
based on agriculture – Tobacco,
Cotton, Rice, Indigo; Georgia
founded as a place for debtors and
the poor to live
cotton
Carolinas
 Settled by members of
the other colonies.
Original settlers were
English. Granted a
private company in
1653 and later divided
into two colonies.
 Great
climate/conditions to
grow indigo, rice, and
tobacco, and cotton.
 Name came from the
Latin word carolus,
meaning “Charles.”
Great Wagon Road
Colonial Social Structure
Social Classes
 1. Gentry – rich planters, doctors, lawyers
 2. Artisans – craftsmen – blacksmith, cobblers
 3. Free Small Farmers – Yeomen – biggest group
 4. Indentured Servants – poor people who bought their
passage to America with their service (usually 7 years).
 5. African Slaves and Indians
African Slavery - Triangle Trade
Europe to Africa – manufactured trade goods
Africa to America (Middle Passage)- slaves
America to Europe – raw materials (lumber, cotton, tobacco)
Triangle Trade
Early Government in the
Colonies
 English Bill of Rights – limited King’s power; gave






representative government (Parliament) more power
Representative Government – the people elect
representatives to speak for them in government
Mayflower Compact – first attempt at self-government in
the English colonies
Town meetings – first form of American government in
which all free men could participate
House of Burgess – first representative government in
America
Proprietary colony – privately-owned colony
Royal colony – government-run colony