European Colonization of North America Study Guide

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What were the Spanish Colonization and New Spain Conquistador’s primary motivations?

Spanish conquistadors came to the Americas seeking gold, silver, and other, wealth, while also spreading Christianity.

Who were some key figures of the Spanish Colonization and new Spanish conquistadors

Key figures include: Hernan Cortes who conquered the Aztec empire in mexico and Francisco Pizarro who conquered the Inca Empire in Peru

How did the Spanish Conquer

They had superior weapons and military technology, the spread of European diseases that decimated native populations, strategic alliances with native groups who opposed Aztec/Inca rule, they also had religious and psychological warfare.

Peninsulares

People born in Spain who held the highest positions in colonial government and society

Creoles

People of Spanish descent born in the Americas

Mestizos

People of mixed European and Native American ancestry

Native Americans and enslaved Africans

forced to work in mines, plantations, and other labor

The transatlantic Slave Trade

System of forced migration of millions of Africans to the Americas, it was made to provide labor for plantations and mines.

French, Dutch, and Early English Colonization, French Exploration and Colonization

First permanent settlement was Quebec.

Key areas are St Lawrence River Valley, Great Lakes, Mississippi River Valley, they focused on fur trade, and alliances with Native Americans

Dutch Exploration and Colonization

New Netherland and New Amsterdam played big roles, being trade posts.

They had large economic focus. 

What was Jamestown (1607)?

Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America, established by the Virginia Company.

It faced early challenges like disease, starvation, and poor leadership, but tobacco cultivation eventually made the colony profitable.

How did the Protestant Reformation influence colonization?

Religious changes in Europe, driven by the Protestant Reformation, led Protestant groups to seek religious freedom in the New World.

It also fostered competition between Catholic and Protestant nations for colonial territories.

What was the primary motivation for the New England Colonies?

The New England colonies were primarily motivated by religious freedom, particularly for groups like the Pilgrims (Separatists) and Puritans, who sought to establish communities based on their religious beliefs.

Plymouth Colony

Founded by the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower.

They had assistance from the Native Americans (Wampanoag)

Mayflower compact 

Mayflower Compact: First governing document created in the Colonies that established self-government.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Larger and more organized than Plymouth. Established by Puritans under John Winthrop.

“City upon a hill”

vision of creating a model Christian community

Religous disagreements and New colonies

Rodger Williams founded Rhode Island after being expelled from Massachusetts.

Thomas Hooker founded Connecticut.

Anne Hutchinson challenged Puritan leadership and was banished.

Life in New England towns

Town-centered communities with common areas.

Town meetings for local governance.

Focus on religion, education, and community.

Economic activities: Farming, fishing, shipbuilding, and trade

MIddle Colonies: New York and New Jersey

Originally Dutch New Netherland, taken by English in 1664. 

Became proprietary colonies (New York to Duke of York, New Jersey to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. 

Types of Colonies

Proprietary Colony: Land granted to an individual or group by the king.

Royal Colony: Colony governed directly by the crown

Charter Colony: Self-governing colony established by a charter

Pennsylvania and Delaware

Wiliam Penn: Quaker who established Pennsylvania and Delaware

Delaware: Originally part of Pennsylvania, became seperate colony.

Holy Experiment

Penn’s vision for a colony based on religious tolerance and fair treatment of Native Americans

Characteristics of Middle Colonies

Religious Tolerance

Ethnic diversity

Fertile farmland (also known as a breadbasket colony)

Important port cities (Philidelphia, New York)

Colonial Society and Culture Social Classes in Colonial America

More opportunity for social mobility than in Europe.

Wealth often tied to land ownership

Regional differences in social structure

Working life

Rural areas: Farming, seasonal work

Cities: Trade, crafts, maritime industries

Indentured Servitude: Con for several years of labor in exchange for passage to America

Slavery: Primarily in southern colonies but present throughout

African Influence on Colonial Culture

Language, music, food, agricultural techniques

Religious practices and traditions

Resistance to slavery through various menas

The Great Awakening

Religious revival movement in the 1730s-1740s

Emphasized emotional, personal religious experience

Important Preachers; Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield

Challenged established church authority and promoted new religious groups

Education in the Colonies

New Engalnd: Public education emphasized

1647 “Old Deluder Satan Act”: Required towns to establish schools

Harvard college: First higher education institution in colonies

Less formal education in Southern Colonies

Southern Colonies Characteristics

Plantation-based agricultural economy

Reliance on cash crops (tobacco, rice, indigo)

Heavy dependence on slave labor

Dispersed population with few large towns

Anglican Church dominant

Economy and Society

Large plantations owned by wealthy planters

Small farms owned by yeoman farmers

Social hierarchy based on land and slave ownership

Less emphasis on formal education than in New England