Colonial America Overview

Juan Ponce de Leon

Juan Ponce de Leon

Claimed Florida for Spain before Jamestown

Santa Fe

Established as New Mexico's capital in 1598

French Resistance

Spain resisted French exploration of lower Mississippi

Franciscan Order

Established missions in California

John Cabot

Enabled England's colonization through exploration

Joint-stock companies

Corporate colonies owned by business

Royal colonies

Directly ruled by the king's government

Proprietary colonies

Under individuals granted charters by the king

Virginia Company

Chartered by King James I as a joint-stock company

Jamestown

First permanent English colony in America

Captain John Smith

Aided Jamestown's survival for 5 years

John Rolfe

Developed profitable tobacco varieties

Pocahontas

Wife of John Rolfe

Transition to Royal Colony

British takeover leading to direct rule by the crown

Plymouth Colony

First New England colony settled by the British

Separatists

Opposed the Church of England

Mayflower Compact

Legal agreement among New Plymouth settlers

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Founded by Puritans seeking church reform

John Winthrop

Founded Boston and sailed for Massachusetts

Great Migration

Religious and political conflict-driven settlement

Cecil Calvert

Implemented plan for Catholic haven in Maryland

Act of Toleration

First colonial statute granting religious freedom

Protestant Revolt

Civil war sparked by Catholic proprietor actions

Rhode Island

Established as a religiously tolerant colony

Roger Williams

Advocated for individual conscience beyond authority

Providence

Founded by Roger Williams after conflict with Puritans

Anne Hutchinson

Challenged Puritan doctrines and established Portsmouth

Antinomianism

Belief in salvation through faith alone

Connecticut

Established in 1665 with limited self-government

Thomas Hooker

Led Boston Puritans to establish Hartford

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Described government structure and powers

John Davenport

Founder of the New Haven colony

New Hampshire

Last of the 5 Southern colonies, a royal colony

Halfway Covenant

Allowed partial church membership without conversion

South Carolina

Known for fur trading and rice plantations

Rice-growing plantations

Boosted South Carolina's economy, relied on slavery

North Carolina

Known for tobacco farms and democratic ideals

New York

Consolidated by Duke of York, Charles II's directive

New Jersey

Split from New York, settled by Quakers

Pennsylvania

Founded by William Penn as a Quaker refuge

Delaware

Known for wheat crops, first to ratify US constitution

Chesapeake colonies

Tobacco plantations relying on indentured servants and slaves

Holy Experiment

Pennsylvania's liberal government refuge for Quakers

William Penn

Established Pennsylvania as a Quaker colony

Quakers

Radical British and colonial group advocating equality

Frame of Government

Pennsylvania's representative government guarantee

Charter of Liberties

a written constitution in Pennsylvania which guaranteed freedom of worship for all unrestricted immigration

Georgia

last colony and only one to receive direct financial support from the gov. of London; strict regulations included bans of drinking rum and slavery; later became a royal colony

James Oglethrope

Leader of Georgia; founded Savannah and was the first Governor making the colony thrive

Representative Assembly in Virginia

the house of burgesses

House of Burgesses

first representative assembly in America

Representative Government in New England

The lower house of a colonial legislature was a representative assembly

Limits to Colonial Democracy

only males that owned land could vote for representatives

Lord Baltimore

leader of Maryland; persuaded people to adopt Act of Toleration

Tobacco Farms

used to purchase indentured servants and enslaved laborers, pay local taxes and tithes, and buy manufactured goods from England

Puritans

moderate dissenters from the Church of England who wanted to purify the church; established the Massachusetts Bay Colony while seeking religious freedom

Triangular Trade

merchant ships would follow a three-part trade route involving rum, slaves, and sugar cane

Mercantilism

The idea that more sales would improve the economy

Acts of Trade and Navigation

The Navigation Acts intended to promote British Empire self-sufficiency by restricting colonial trade to England

Navigation Acts

a series of laws passed by the British Parliament that imposed restrictions on colonial trade

Impact on the Colonies

navigation act had mixed effects on colonies, aiding New England with shipbuilding and providing Chesapeake tobacco a monopoly in England

Enforcement of the Acts

British rule in the colonies enforced by the colonial governor, appointed by the King, serving as the chief law enforcement officer

Salutary neglect

the unofficial British policy where parliamentary rules and laws were loosely enforced on the American colonies and trade

A New King

James II aimed to increase royal control over the colonies by combining them into larger administrative units and eliminating representative assemblies

Dominion of New England

James II combined NYC, New Jersey, and many New England colonies

Sir Edmund Andros

sent to govern the Dominion of New England; became unpopular by levying taxes, limiting town meetings, and revoking land titles

Glorious Revolution

James fall from power brought the Dominion of New England to an end

New England Confederation

consisted of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, New Haven for mutual protection

Metacom's War (King Philip's War)

helped New England colonists win a vicious war

Wampanoag, Metacome

united many tribes in southern New England

Sir William Berkeley

royal governor of Virginia, antagonized farmers from Virginia's western frontier

Bacon's Rebellion

seized upon the grievances of the western farmers to lead a rebellion against Berkeley's government

Indentured Servants

agreed to work for a specific period in return for a bedroom and board

Headright System

Virginia attempted to attract immigrants through offers of land

Slavery

enslaved Africans were primarily delivered to the West Indies or Brazil

Increased Demand for Enslaved Africans

reduced migration, dependable workforce, low-cost labor

Slave Laws

white colonists adopted laws to assure that slaves would be held in bondage for life and that slave status would be inherited

Resistance to Slavery

Africans challenged enslavement and struggled to maintain family ties

Middle Passage

horrendous voyage for slaves in triangular trade that led to the West Indies

Immigrants

came to escape religious persecution and for economic opportunities

English

England settlers that came to the Americas

Germans

Group on the west farmlands of Philadelphia, maintained their beliefs and customs

Scotch-Irish

English speaking Protestants from Ireland with little respect for the British

Other Europeans: Huguenots, Dutch, Swedes

These groups made up 5 percent of the population

Africans

did not immigrate by choice, 20% of population, lived in lifelong bondage on southern plantations

Religious Toleration

all colonies permitted the practice of different religions with varying degrees of freedom

Hereditary Aristocracy

nobility inheriting special privileges, not present in the colonies

Social Mobility

all people (besides African Americans) had an opportunity to improve their standard of living and social status by hard work

Men

farmers or artisans, could own property and participate in politics

Women

performed multiple house tasks, educated children, and often worked alongside their husbands

Subsistence Farming

farming in which only enough food to feed one's family is produced

Middle Colonies

rich soil produced abundance of wheat and corn

Southern Colonies

relied on a cash crop economy with tobacco and sugarcane as major products

Monetary System

Used limited gold and silver and used domestic trade and paper money. Caused inflation because it caused it to decline in value.

Transportation

Used water for easy transportation of goods. Trading centers like Boston, NY, Philadelphia and Charleston. Overland transportation such as horses and stagecoach, taverns and postal systems.

Challenges

Poor location, uneasy Native American relations, the inept labor abilities of the colonists, and the incredibly high death tolls.

Established Churches

The colonies of New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia officially maintained the Church of England as the established church.

Jonathan Edwards

Reverend in Mass. that expressed the Great Awakening ideas in his sermons, 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'. Argued that individuals who expressed deep penitence could be saved by God's grace, those who did not would suffer eternal damnation.

George Whitefield

Spread the Great Awakening - barnstorming where he delivered rousing sermons that stressed that God was all powerful. Taught that ordinary people with faith could understand the gospels without ministers.

Religious Impact

Christian religious groups played an influential role in each of the British colonies, and most attempted to enforce strict religious observance through both colony governments and local town rules.