IW

Colonial Foundations: Virginia to First American Revolutions

Outline & Guiding Question

  • Guiding question: On what basis did colonial governments in the Americas claim power? (Outline: Virginia, 1607–1622; Origins of Early New England; Of Kings and Colonies; The First American Revolutions; Conclusion)

A New Colony

  • King James claimed possession of Virginia in 1606.
  • Charters issued to corporations: Virginia Company and Plymouth Company.
  • Practice: settler colonialism.

The Virginia Charter

  • Issued in 1606.
  • Governing structure: self-appointed 13‑man council; colonists retained rights as English subjects.
  • Purpose: preserve English liberties in the new colony.

Jamestown

  • 1606: three ships, about 105 Englishmen seeking gold and adventure; Native food was seized.
  • 1608: John Smith as governor; policy: "He who does not work, shall not eat."
  • Colonial governance challenged; Smith returned to England after a rebellion.

Surviving in Virginia

  • Winter of 1609–1610: widespread starvation.
  • Native attacks due to disease and settler demands.
  • 1622: Virginia massacre.
  • Tobacco export drives economy; repopulation via immigration.
  • House of Burgesses establishes political order.

The Law of Slavery

  • Atlantic slave trade dominated by England; labor demand for sugar production.
  • Enslavement of Africans; brutal Middle Passage.
  • New laws codify slavery and racial divisions.

The Atlantic Slave Trade and English America, 1641–1690

  • Enslaved Africans embarked from Africa and disembarked in English America by region (1641–1690): major entries from Central and West Africa to Maryland, Virginia, Carolina, and the Caribbean.
  • Enslaved Africans also moved to English Caribbean (e.g., Jamaica, Barbados).
  • Overall pattern: growth of slave labor undergirds colonial economies.

Discussion Question

  • How were slavery and freedom embedded in the founding of Virginia?

Origins of Early New England

  • Pilgrims and Puritans: Protestant dissenters seeking religious reform or exile.
  • Mayflower voyage to Plymouth; cooperative self-government without a royal charter.
  • Mayflower Compact (1620) as a foundational self-government agreement.

England’s “Ancient Constitution”

  • Magna Carta (1215) established rule of law and trial by jury.
  • Edward Coke advocated active Parliament (1621).
  • Charles I dissolves Parliament (1629), fueling migration to colonies.

John Winthrop’s “City on a Hill”

  • Massachusetts Bay Colony; Puritans seek religious freedom for themselves.
  • Winthrop: governor; sermons and writings emphasize communal virtue and exemplar governance.
  • Vision: a moral model for others in the Old World.

Discussion Question

  • How does Winthrop’s vision of a "city on a hill" relate to broader ideas about America?

The Growth of England’s Colonies

  • Dissenters establish Rhode Island (Roger Williams) and Catholic Maryland.
  • Expansion involves displacement of Native peoples and appropriation of land.
  • Population growth through migrating families and town formation.
  • Prosperity interpreted as God’s favor.

Eastern North America in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries (Map Context)

  • Key colonies: Plymouth (1620), Massachusetts Bay (1629–1630), Connecticut (1636–1639), Rhode Island (1636–1643), New York (1664), Maryland (1632), Virginia (1607), Carolina (1663), Pennsylvania (1681), Georgia (1732).
  • Major Native nations and trade networks shown; European territorial claims and strategic towns.

Wealth and Enslavement

  • New England enslaves Native peoples captured in war (e.g., Pequot War, 1636–1637).
  • West Indies sugar fuels colonial growth.
  • Massachusetts’ Body of Liberties codifies enslaved status and rights (or lack thereof).

A New Legal Fiction

  • Sovereignty of the people grows from the English Civil War; replaces divine right.
  • Parliament claims to represent the people; Levellers' ideals (e.g., An Agreement of the People, 1647).
  • Charles I trial and execution (1649); Commonwealth period (1649–1660).

Restoration of the Monarchy

  • Charles II (1660) restores monarchy with promises of toleration.
  • Restoration colonies reflect political shifts; religious toleration expands, including Quakers, Jews, Presbyterians.
  • Pennsylvania’s Frame of Government (1682) emphasizes religious freedom and popular self-government.

Locke on Government and America

  • Government exists to protect property; supports taking Native lands under some arguments.
  • Locke criticized slavery and argued for natural equality, though Carolina constitutions legalized slavery for Blacks.
  • Religious expression protected in certain contexts.

Discussion Question

  • How did disputes over royal authority alter English ideas about freedom and truth?

First American Revolutions

  • Native peoples and enslaved Africans resist European rule.
  • Metacom’s War (1675–1678); Pueblo Revolt (1680).
  • Colonists feared conspiracies and insurrections.

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

  • Nathaniel Bacon leads a 500-man rebellion; Jamestown set on fire; Berkeley’s stance against retaliation.
  • Rebellion reveals fears of domestic upheaval and prompts political changes.
  • White male suffrage expands; racialized distinctions between free and enslaved tighten as a response to rebellion.

A Spirit of Rebellion

  • Dominion of New England ends; charters restored; parliamentary limits on royal power.
  • Declaration of Right (1689) asserts Parliament’s supremacy.
  • Salem witchcraft accusations reflect gendered power dynamics and political anxiety.

Conclusion

  • European political ideas travel to the Americas and are reshaped by colonial rebellion.
  • Key questions: Who counts as part of English liberty? Who is excluded? How do rebellions redefine freedom and truth?

Additional Resources

  • Lecture PowerPoint: The Rulers and the Ruled, 1590–1692
  • Combined Volume and Volumes 1 & 2: URLs provided in the source material