British Colonization and Society in North America

British Colonization in North America

• Distinct Development
  • British colonies developed into varied societies despite all being British, attributed to regional differences and specific economic and social factors.

Chesapeake Colonies

• Establishment of Jamestown (1607)

  • First British colony funded by a joint stock company, differing from Spanish crown financing.
  • Investors pooled money to share financial risks; profit or loss was collectively experienced.

• Initial Struggles

  • Focused on searching for gold and silver, neglecting food production, leading to famine and disease.
  • Cannibalism reported due to extreme hunger.

• Tobacco Cultivation (1612)

  • John Rolfe introduced tobacco planting, a key crop that saved the colony economically.
  • Labor was predominantly from indentured servants, who worked for seven years to pay off passage.

• Land and Conflict with Native Americans

  • Increased tobacco demand needed more land, leading to encroachment on Native lands and violent retaliation from Native tribes.
  • Governor William Berkeley's indifference to conflict led to Bacon's Rebellion (1676).

Bacon's Rebellion

• Background
  • Led by Nathaniel Bacon, an angry farmer against Indian violence and elite neglect.
• Outcome
  • Rebellion was suppressed, but it led elite planters to shift from indentured servitude to enslaved African labor due to fear of uprisings.

New England Colonies

• Settlement Overview

  • Settled by Pilgrims in 1620, followed by Puritans seeking to live according to their conscience, often misconstrued as solely for religious freedom.

• Family Migration vs. Profit Motives

  • Families migrated to establish communities rather than seek profit, leading to different societal structures compared to Chesapeake colonies.

• Economic Development

  • Initially faced disease and hardship, but established a thriving agricultural and commercial economy over time.

British West Indies and Southern Atlantic Coast

• Early Colonization

  • 1620s saw establishment of colonies in the Caribbean (Saint Christopher, Barbados).

• Cash Crops

  • Initially tobacco, followed by a shift to sugarcane as the primary crop, necessitating a high demand for labor, resulting in the importation of enslaved Africans.
  • By 1660, majority of Barbados' population was enslaved, leading to the implementation of harsh slave codes defining enslaved people as property.

Middle Colonies

• Economic Structure

  • Export economy based on cereal crops, with a diverse population that resulted in increasing social inequality.

• Social Hierarchy

  • Wealthy urban merchants at the top, followed by middle-class artisans, unskilled laborers, orphans, and a significant population of enslaved Africans.

• Pennsylvania

  • Founded by Quaker William Penn, promoting religious freedom and negotiations with Native Americans for land rather than conflict.

Common Governance Features

• Democratic Governance

  • Geographical distance from Britain facilitated self-governance in colonies, establishing models of democratic assemblies.

• Examples of Governance

  • Virginia's House of Burgesses: representative assembly for taxation and law-making.
  • New England's Mayflower Compact: organized government via self-governing church congregation model and participatory town meetings.

• Dominant Social Elites

  • Middle and Southern colonies' legislatures were predominantly influenced by elite merchants and planters, reflecting societal power structures.