Colonization
Unit 1
Chapters 1-3
GPS Standards 1-2
Early Exploration
• Europeans had been exploring for 3 reasons:
– God, Gold, and Glory
• This included:
– Finding all water route to Asia they called a “Northwest Passage” to
help ensure wealth due to trade.
• Settlements were NOT a priority at the time!
• Settlements became necessary following events such as:
– The Protestant Reformation
– Power conflicts involving the strong world powers: Portugal, Spain,
England, France, Netherlands
Spain
• Spain had created settlements in the southern
portions of the modern day United States,
Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America.
• Their success can be contributed to the Treaty
of Tordesillas and their drive for gold.
England
• Queen Elizabeth I strove to make
England the “main power” in Europe.
• King Philip II of Spain became the
main target due to the success of his
navy in battle and in exploration.
• The English were able to defeat the
Spanish Armada making them the top
power in Europe.
Virginia
• Sir Walter Raleigh explored the Atlantic
seaboard and named the area Virginia after
Queen Elizabeth. WHY Virginia???
• Settlement
– Raleigh sent 2 separate groups of colonists
• 1585- Roanoke Island (modern day North Carolina), the
colonists went home after a year
• 1587- More than 100 people were sent led by John
White. By 1590, there was no trace of the “Lost Colony”
Financing Voyages
• Due to domestic issues, no other efforts were
made for colonization for 25+ years.
• When it did, a different approach was taken:
– Joint- Stock Company: form of business
organization that pooled the funds of many
investors (Stockholders) who can independently
sell their shares of the company
• Increases available resource capital
• Diversifies risk
Joint Stock Companies
• King James I of England (successor of Elizabeth I)
issued Charter of 1606.
– Licensed joint stock companies to establish
settlements and find riches in specified areas.
– Companies that participated included:
• The London Company
• The Plymouth Company
Jamestown
• The London Company organized settlers for
Jamestown- named for the King.
• Settled in 1607 under the leadership of John
Smith
Problems
• Jamestown was near a marsh filled with
mosquitos.
• Many of the Colonists died in the first year by
– Disease
– Starvation
– Exposure to elements
The Powhatan
Confederation of 30 small tribes
• Local American Indians
• Led by Wahunsonacock
• Gave settlers food and
taught how to cultivate
corn.
Pocahontas
• Daughter of Wahunsonacock
• 10-12 years old at time of
English settlement
• Intermediary between English
and Powhatan
• Captured by colonists during a
time of strained relations
• Married John Rolfe
– Converted to Christianity
– Brought peace temporarily
– “Lady Rebecca”
Tobacco
Introduced to Europe in 1550s
• John Rolfe introduced this
Caribbean crop to Virginia
as an enterprise- 1612
• This brought about the
need for workers to
cultivate “black gold”
• Indentured Servitude
followed
Bacon’s Rebellion
• Due to an economic
downturn in the tobacco
prices, farmers and
laborers began to settle in
new areas.
• Main area of conflict was
western Virginia
• A treaty had been signed
guaranteeing land to the
Powhatan but white
settlers moved in.
• Attacks began to take
place by both parties
• Colonists wanted war
• Governor Berkeley
refused but Nathaniel
Bacon attacked American
Indians, looted wealthy
plantations, and burned
Jamestown.
• Bacon died of illness and
the King ordered
Governor Berkeley to
return to Britain.
House of Burgesses
• Virginia’s representative
assembly of large
planters
• Quieted opposition by:
– limiting the governor’s
power over land
– Opened American Indian
lands to colonists
Indentured Servants
Indentured servants became the
first means to meet this need for
labor.
In return for free passage to
Virginia, a laborer worked for four
to five years in the fields before
being granted freedom.
The Crown rewarded planters with
50 acres of land for every
inhabitant they brought to the New
World.
Naturally, the colony began to
expand. That expansion was soon
challenged by the Native American
confederacy formed and named
Middle Passage
• The middle passage was the slave’s voyage from the western
coast of Africa to the new world.
– The trip was horrible.
– Each person had less than 15 square feet to call his own.
– Several slaves were whipped, thrown overboard, or forced to eat in
order to avoid starving to death.
Consequences of Atlantic Slave Trade
• Generations in Africa
lost its fittest members.
• Depleted populations in
Africa.
• Created new
populations in the
Americas
• Created new cultures
• The slave trade
introduced guns into the
African continent.
Travel across the Middle
Passage
Slavery
Slave Codes
– Designed to prevent
rebellions, slaves could not:
• leave plantation without
permission
• meet together in large
numbers
• own weapons
• learn to read or write
– This did not stop uprisings
Abolition
• Quakers- members of a
Protestant sect that
rejected wealth, clergy, as
well as abolition- wanted to
get rid of slavery
Growth of African-American
Population
• Slaves generally worked
hard on farms and
plantations – they banded
together to remember their
African heritage and valued
the bonds of family
• Free African-Americans
generally did the same kind
of work as slaves before the
American Revolution – they
generally lived in worse
conditions and had minimal
rights
New England
Settlement
Religion
• 1620
• Traveled on the Mayflower
• Pilgrims- left England for
religious reasons
• Landed near Cape Cod bay in
Massachusetts.
• Puritans
• Religious Conflicts:
– Following the break with the
Roman Catholic church by King
Henry 8th, there were further
divisions.
– tried to “purify”- make pure or
fix the church from within
– Most Puritans did stay in
England unlike Pilgrims.
– Those that left were seeking
religious freedom in America.
They arrived in Plymouth ten
years after the Pilgrims.
• Separatists
– Broke with the Anglican Church
and many fled to other
countries
The Great Migration- Beginning in 1630, more than 40,000 left England for
the Americas to escape religious persecution and economic ruin.
Plymouth Colony
Mayflower Compact
• Established a self-governing
colony based on the
majority rule of male church
members.
• Around half of the colonists
died in the first winter.
New England
Relationship with Native
Americans
• Squanto- Patuxet Indian
who spoke English
– Was kidnapped in 1615 and
had lived in Spain and
England before returning to
his village to find it wiped out
by disease in 1619.
– Taught Pilgrims how to grow
crops
– Joined in the Wampanoag
tribe in a harvest celebration
• Became basis for
Thanksgiving
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Governor John Winthrop
Politics
• Leader who wished to build a
model community of
Christians
• Charter allowed for selfgovernment but they COULD
NOT violate English law.
• Voting rights for all freemen
• Elected representatives were
part of the General Courtgoverning body
• Only half the men had right to
vote
Navigation Acts
• Restrictions on the colonies
to ensure profit for the
mother country by
protecting English shipping.
*COLONIES EXIST FOR
THE GOOD OF THE
MOTHER COUNTRY!
Loss of Massachusetts Charter
• Revoked by King George II
because the colonists
refused to obey the
Navigation Acts.
New England Way
Cooperation of Church and state
Meetinghouse
• Place where town meetings
and church services were
held
• Everyone in the community
expected to live a moral life
or ALL would suffer God’s
anger.
• Predestination- God already
determined who would be
saved
• King Philip’s War
• Politics
New England Society
Women and Families
• Unlike Jamestown, women
and children came with their
husbands to New England.
• Most families had 6-9 children
• Women made everything by
hand: soap, yarn, candles,
butter, cheese, etc.
• Because food was better and
disease not as much of an
issue, most survived to
adulthood.
Commerce
• There were indentured
servants, but due to the
large families, extra labor
was not as necessary as in
Virginia.
• Crops were sufficient for
survival but not a lot of
surplus (extra) to sell for
profit
Religious Dissent
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
• Minister Thomas Hooker
and his group left due to
religious differences and the
desire for more farmland.
• Considered first written
constitution in the colonies
Providence, Rhode Island
• Minister Roger Williamsbelieved in strict separation
of church and state.
• He was banished by the
Puritans
• Purchased land from
Narraganset Indians
• Obtained royal charter in
1644 allowing religious
freedom.
Religious Dissent Continued
Anne Hutchinson
• Banished from
Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1638 for going against
church ideas.
• Went to Rhode Island and
later Long Island.
• Killed in American Indian
attack.
Salem Witch Trials
• 1690- Two dozen had been
accused of witchcraft
• 1692- A series of tales were
told by a group of girls in
Massachusetts.
– led to hundreds being
accused of witchcraft
– 19 people were hanged.
King Philip’s War 1675-1676
• Last major effort by the
Indians to push out English
settlers
• Brutal conflict between the
Massachusetts settlers and
the Wampanoag Indians
• Indians led by Metacom
(aka King Philip)
• Metacom was caputured
and beheaded.
• Supporters fled and those
captured were sent to the
West Indies as slaves.
• Puritans saw the victory as a
sign of God’s favor.
Half Way
Covenant
• A method for members to have partial
membership in the New England Puritan
church.
• Promoted by Rev. Stoddard
Mid-Atlantic Colonies
• New Amsterdam, New
Netherlands
– Settled by the Dutch West
India Company in 1621.
• Fur traders
– Leaders ineffective
– English took over without a
shot being fired.
– King’s brother the Duke of
York took over, hence the
name change to New York.
New Jersey
• The Duke of York took
land rom his acquired
colony of New York and
gave it to his friends.
Mid-Atlantic Colonies Continued
• Pennsylvania
•
•
•
•
The land was given to the son of Sir William Penn to pay off a debt.
Penn was also later given Delaware.
Setup as a haven for fellow Quakers but the area was geographically and
religiously diverse. Religious tolerance was followed
Crops included grain that was made into flour and exported.
Trade and Economics in the Colonies
• Mercantilism
– Economic philosophy that
the control of imports was
the key to success.
• Colonies existed for the
good of the home country
• Colonies were a source of
raw materials
• Colonies were a market for
manufactured goods.
• Needed :
– 1. Colonies
– 2. Navy
– 3. Sell more than you buy
Main goal of Mercantilism:
FAVORABLE BALANCE OF
TRADEYou export more than you
import
• Trans-Atlantic Trade
– The trade of African slaves
by Europeans.
– Most slaves were shipped
from West Africa to the
new world.
Quebec
• The French created
their North
American colonial
empire that they
called “New France”
• France did not top
the English because
they failed to settle
their land claims.
Reasons for the Settlement of Quebec
• Samuel Champlain founded Quebec after failing to find a
Northwest Passage to India
• Worked towards converting Indians and establishing missions
• Created a fur trade along the Mississippi river to Louisiana
• Society: Friendly with Indians
–Because the French needed furs,
they were the most friendly with the
local Native Americans
Benjamin Franklin
–Benjamin
Franklin
represented
opportunities in
colonial
society; He
used scientific
innovation &
political writing
to gain world
fame
Franklin’s Key Concepts
• Social Mobility
– Allowed for people to
change their social
status or position
• Individualism
– The value of a person is
based more on their
morals, abilities, and
work rather than their
family. Focus on selfreliance and personal
independence.
Great Awakening
• To counter the
Enlightenment (focus
on reason), a series of
religious revivals swept
through the British
colonies in the mid1700s
• Led to development of
other Protestant
denominations such as:
– Baptist
– Methodist
Great Awakening
• –Used “fire & passion” to
encourage people to examine
their eternal destiny (“New Light”)
• Jonathan Edwards
– Credited with launching Great
Awakening in New England.
• –Preached sermons to 1,000s
in large “camp revivals”
• –Encouraged questioning of
established churches
• George Whitefield
– Spread the message in Britain but
also took tours of the colonies to
preach.