APUSH: The American Pageant 16th edition CH. 3 Settling the Northern Colonies, 1619–1700 — Comprehensive Notes

Overview: Settling the Northern Colonies, 1619–1700

• The northern colonies developed distinctive settlement patterns, economies, political systems, and values compared with their southern counterparts, with New England prioritizing religious devotion over worldly wealth.
• The phrase: God hath sifted a nation that he might send Choice Grain into this Wilderness (William Stoughton, 1699) signals the Puritan belief in a providential mission for their settlement.
• The era spans roughly from 1619 to 1700, encompassing initial Puritan foundations, expansion, conflicts with Indigenous peoples, intercolonial political experiments, and rising tensions with England that would culminate in a colonial identity separate from, yet connected to, mother England.

The Protestant Reformation and the Rise of Puritanism

• Luther’s 1517 Protestant Reformation argued that the Bible alone is the source of God’s word, challenging Catholic authority.
• Calvin developed reformist ideas, emphasizing a theologically stern order: God is all-powerful and all-good; humans are corrupted by original sin; God knows who is saved (the elect) and who is damned.
• Key Calvinist doctrines:
  • Predestination: some souls are elect for heaven, others for hell; good works cannot save the elect, and salvation is not guaranteed by personal merit.
  • Conversion: an identifiable, interior experience signaling to the elect that they have saving grace.
  • Visible saints: those who have experienced conversion should be admitted to church membership.
• English reformers carried Calvinist ideas into England as Henry VIII established the Church of England (1530s). Puritans sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic remnants, especially those who believed church membership should be restricted to visible saints.
• Puritans emerged from England’s woolen districts amid social unrest and economic hardship; Calvinism offered reassurance and discipline.
• Separatists (a minority Puritan faction) wanted a complete break from the Church of England to form independent congregations. King James I (1603–1625) opposed Separatists; this persecution pushed them toward North America (Pilgrims).

The Pilgrims and Plymouth (1620)

• A group of Separatists fled to Holland in 1608 to preserve English Protestant purity. Discontent with Dutch influence on their children led them to seek a new haven in the New World.
• Negotiated with the Virginia Company for settlement rights but landed at Plymouth in 1620 aboard the Mayflower, with 102 passengers; one died en route, one was born (Oceanus).
• Found land outside Virginia Company jurisdiction and operated as squatters without formal land rights or government authority at first.
• Before disembarking, they drafted and signed the Mayflower Compact: a simple agreement to form a government and to submit to majority rule. It established a precedent for written constitutions and self-government, with forty-one adult males signing (eleven of whom were called “mister”).
• The first winter (1620–1621) was brutal: only $44$ of $102$ survived.
• The 1621 harvest yielded food and enabled a feast later known as the First Thanksgiving; the colony’s economy soon leaned on fur, fish, and lumber.
• Prominent leader: William Bradford, a self-educated scholar who read multiple languages and governed the colony thirty times.
• The Pilgrims’ experience demonstrated perseverance and faith in divine providence, and laid moral and spiritual foundations for later New England settlements.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony: Foundation and Vision

• In reaction to anti-Puritan persecutions in England (Charles I era), Puritans secured a royal charter to form the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1629, planning a large settlement near Boston. They did not intend to separate from the Church of England but to purify it from within.
• The 1630 expedition (eleven ships, nearly a thousand immigrants) established Massachusetts Bay as a major Puritan hub, outpacing earlier colonies in scale and influence.
• The era of the Great Migration (1630s): about $70{,}000$ English refugees left for the colonies; around $20{,}000$ went to Massachusetts, while many others voyaged to the Caribbean, especially Barbados, for sugar.
• Massachusetts Bay rapidly grew into the largest and most influential New England outpost due to strong leadership, resources, and economic activities (fishing, fur, shipbuilding).
• Prominent leader: John Winthrop, a well-to-do attorney and landowner who became governor for many years and viewed the enterprise as a “calling” from God.
• The Bay Colony became a powerful center for Puritan life, education, and industry, shaping regional development and national attitudes toward religious reform and civic life.

The Bay Colony as a Bible Commonwealth

• Franchise and governance:
  • Adult male church members (freemen) could vote for governor, assistants, and a General Court; unchurched men and women were disenfranchised.
  • Public life was organized through town meetings with broad participation by male property owners; voting occurred by a majority vote.
• The Covenant and the role of religious leaders:
  • The colony was deeply influenced by the covenant, enforcing God’s laws across believers and nonbelievers alike.
  • Clergymen, such as John Cotton, were highly educated and preached extensively; they defended government’s duty to enforce religious rules but could not hold formal political office.
  • The separation of church and state was practiced in a limited sense to prevent church control over political authority.
• The Puritan work ethic and social life:
  • The Protestant ethic emphasized diligence and worldly engagement, alongside spiritual devotion.
  • Puritans enjoyed simple pleasures but sought to restrain moral excess through sumptuary and other laws.
  • New Haven and other towns developed strict moral codes; New Haven became particularly associated with tighter church–state alignment.
• Education and culture:
  • Clergy and educated elites played central roles in society and education; a strong emphasis on literacy supported congregational life and civic order.
• Notable examples of early Puritan domestic life and policy:
  • Blue Laws (sumptuary laws) in places like New Haven tried to regulate moral behavior (e.g., public displays of affection were punished in some towns).
  • The Day of Doom (1662) by Michael Wigglesworth was a widely read Puritan poem describing hell and judgment.

Challenges, Dissent, and Toleration in New England

• Anne Hutchinson (antinomianism): argued that a holy life did not guarantee salvation and criticized civil obedience to religious law. Trial in 1638 led to banishment; she and her followers migrated to Rhode Island, then New York, where many were killed in subsequent conflicts.
• Roger Williams: a Separatist minister who questioned the legality of seizing Indian lands and condemned civil government’s authority over religious matters. Banished in 1635–1636, he founded Providence in Rhode Island with a policy of religious liberty, toleration for Jews and Catholics, no mandatory worship, no taxes to support a state church, and freedom of conscience. Rhode Island became a liberal haven in contrast to Massachusetts.
• Rhode Island: a squatter colony that gained a charter in 1644, later known as a home for dissenters and “the sewer” of Puritan orthodoxy; emphasized religious freedom and broad suffrage (initially broad manhood suffrage that was later narrowed by property requirements). It became a symbol of religious liberty and independence.
• Other settlements: scattered Rhode Island towns and new colonies formed around dissenters and exiles, contributing to a regional culture of independence and tolerance.

Connecticut and New England Expansion

• Hartford (1635) and the Connecticut River settlements expanded westward; Thomas Hooker led an expedition to Hartford, aiding the westward spread of Puritan influence.
• The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639): a modern constitution drafted in open town meetings, establishing a regime democratically controlled by “substantial” citizens and influencing Connecticut’s later charter and state constitution.
• New Haven (1638): founded by Puritans seeking a harbor for trade; it grew under a church–government model more restrictive than Massachusetts. In 1662, Connecticut received a royal charter that absorbed New Haven by merging with Connecticut Valley settlements.
• The expansion helped lay a foundation for a spread of town-based governance and contributed to New England’s distinctive political culture that persisted into the American Revolution.

Indian Conflicts and Intercolonial Unity

• Early cooperation with Indigenous groups:
  • The Wampanoag, aided by Squanto, helped the Pilgrims establish relations that culminated in the 1621 harvest and Thanksgiving.
• Intertribal and colonial warfare:
  • The Pequot War (1637) on the Mystic River resulted in a devastating assault on a Pequot village and a brutal defeat of the tribe, inaugurating decades of uneasy peace.
  • Metacom, also known as King Philip (Massasoit’s son), forged a pan-Indian alliance and led King Philip’s War (1675–1676), attacking Puritan settlements and challenging colonial encroachment. The war inflicted heavy losses on both sides; Metacom was killed, his wife and son were enslaved, and his head was displayed in Plymouth for years. The war significantly slowed westward expansion and diminished Indigenous resistance for decades.
• Colonial unity:
  • The New England Confederation (1643) united four Puritan colonies (Bay Colony, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven) for defense and intercolonial matters; Rhode Island and Maine were excluded for religious and political reasons. The Confederation served as an early step toward colonial cooperation and representative governance even though it was limited and exclusive.

Crown, Dominion, and Colonial Policy under English Rule

• Royal intervention and charter revocation:
  • Charles II asserted tighter control, granting Connecticut a sea-to-sea charter in 1662 and Rhode Island a charter in 1663, while revoking Massachusetts’ charter in 1684, which reduced its autonomy.
• Dominion of New England (1686–1689):
  • A centralized royal authority under Sir Edmund Andros, encompassing New England, New York, and New Jersey, designed to streamline administration and enforce Navigation Laws. It restricted town meetings, curtailed courts and schools, and levied taxes without popular consent. It faced fierce resistance and collapsed after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–1689 in England.
• Glorious Revolution effects:
  • In America, Boston briefly rose against Andros; the Dominion fell, and Massachusetts became a royal colony again in 1691 with a new charter and royal governor. The revolution also led to a period of salutary neglect where Navigation Laws were weakly enforced, though remnants of royal control persisted.

The Dutch and the Swedes in the Middle Atlantic: New Netherland and New Sweden

• Dutch New Netherland (1623–1664):
  • Established by the Dutch West India Company for fur trade; Manhattan was purchased from Native Americans in exchange for trinkets, creating a valuable base for commerce with a relatively autocratic company governance that restricted religious tolerance and political liberties.
  • Notable Dutch legacies: Wall Street (wall), Harlem (Harlem), Brooklyn (Breuckelen), and Hell Gate (Hellegat); dense population mixing and cosmopolitan culture, including diverse languages and customs.
• New Amsterdam/New York:
  • In 1664, the English seized New Amsterdam from the Dutch and renamed it New York; empire shifts reoriented regional power to the English colonies and solidified English control over the Hudson region.
• New Sweden and Dutch conflict:
  • The Swedes established New Sweden on the Delaware (1638–1655). The Dutch commander Peter Stuyvesant defeated Swedish forces, and New Sweden was absorbed into Dutch New Netherland, leaving a lineage of Swedish influences in the region.
• After the conquest, New Netherland’s social and political structure remained aristocratic; the English takeover led to New York’s landed elite (e.g., Livingstons, De Lanceys) wielding power and shaping long-term social structures.

Pennsylvania and the Quakers: The Promised Land of Religious Liberty

• The Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) emerged in mid-17th-century England and faced religious and civil persecution for their beliefs and practices (e.g., refusing to take oaths, pacifism, tax resistance). They proclaimed equality, simplicity, and inner light.
• William Penn: a young English Quaker who secured a royal charter in 1681 granting him vast tracts of land (Pennsylvania, meaning “Penn’s Woodland”) as repayment of a debt owed to his father. Penn became a prominent advocate of liberal, humane governance and religious tolerance.
• Pennsylvania’s founding principles and governance:
  • The colony was designed as a liberal haven with religious freedom, political representation, and no tax-supported church. It included a representative assembly elected by landowners, a relatively open path to immigration, and easy naturalization.
  • Penn’s policies welcomed diverse groups (German, Scottish, Dutch, Welsh, English, etc.) and promoted civil liberty and economic opportunity. He encouraged land purchases from Indians and promoted fair treatment, although he faced pressure to restrict Catholic and Jewish voting or offices.
  • The Quakers’ early aversion to slavery influenced a more progressive stance on race relations, though practical realities of migration and economy gradually introduced complex dynamics.
• Philadelphia: planned as a grid-like, orderly city with wide streets and a focus on humanist ideals; it became a center of commerce, culture, and political experiment in the mid-Atlantic.
• Neighborhoods and neighboring colonies:
  • New Jersey (East and West Jersey) and Delaware developed under Quaker influence and later merged into royal colonies, with Delaware gaining its own assembly in 1703 but remaining under Pennsylvania’s governance until the Revolution.

The Middle Colonies: A Mosaic of Economies and Peoples

• Core characteristics (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania):
  • Fertile soil and broader lands compared with New England; the middle colonies became known as the “bread colonies” due to their grain exports.
  • Rivers (Susquehanna, Delaware, Hudson) connected interior fur trade to coastal markets and fostered trade and expansion; many towns and ports developed along these waterways.
  • Industry: fewer than New England but more than the South; diversified economy including lumber, shipbuilding, and trade. Albany emerged as a port along the Hudson; Philadelphia and New York became major urban and commercial centers.
  • Ethnic and religious pluralism: compared with New England, middle colonies were more ethnically mixed and religiously tolerant, with Quakers playing a major role in Pennsylvania but with broader tolerance for other faiths elsewhere.
• Notable figures and ideas:
  • Benjamin Franklin, a quintessential figure of the middle colonies, embodied the era’s practical, cosmopolitan, and enlightened spirit. He originated from the Boston Puritan milieu but found a home in Philadelphia by 1720, symbolizing the region’s openness and opportunity.
• Colonial governance and social structure:
  • Land was generally more accessible than in New England or the South, contributing to broader ownership and more democratic practices in certain communities (though not universally).
  • The middle colonies fostered a uniquely American blend of civic culture, market capitalism, and religious liberty that would influence later national development.

Indentured Servants, Slavery, and Labor Patterns

• Labor supply and migration patterns:
  • In the Chesapeake and southern mainland colonies, about $40\%$ of English indentured servants did not survive their terms, which affected reproduction and social structure; the death toll and harsh conditions were enduring realities of colonial labor.
  • The decline of indentured servitude after $1660$, coupled with growing labor demand, shifted the balance toward African slavery in the Chesapeake and Southern colonies.
• Demographic shifts and economic implications:
  • The Atlantic economy’s labor demands shaped the social hierarchy and tied the colonies more closely to transatlantic trade networks.
  • In contrast, the middle colonies and New England relied more on family migration and diversified economies, with fewer indentured remnants by comparison.

The Great Migration, Population, and Economic Life

• New England’s Puritan migration (1629–1642): about $20{,}000$ Puritans to Massachusetts Bay; others settled in various towns and colonies, contributing to a dense, community-centered society.
• New England towns and local governance:
  • Town meetings and local self-government nurtured a sense of civic virtue and participation, with notable variety among towns (e.g., Ipswich’s long-serving selectmen vs. Newbury’s contentious politics).
• Economic life:
  • Maritime economy (fishing, shipbuilding), trade, and subsistence farming were common; Puritan values shaped social norms and economic activities.
• Cultural and social life:
  • The combination of strong religious culture and local autonomy produced a durable public life that contributed to a strong, self-reliant regional identity.

Chronology of Major Events (Selected Milestones)

• $1517$: Martin Luther begins the Protestant Reformation.
• $1536$: John Calvin publishes Institutes of the Christian Religion.
• $1620$: Pilgrims sail to Plymouth Bay on the Mayflower.
• $1624$: Dutch found New Netherland.
• $1629$: Charles I dismisses Parliament; Puritans face persecution.
• $1630$: Puritans found the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• $1635-1636$: Roger Williams founded Rhode Island colony.
• $1635-1636$: Connecticut and New Haven colonies established.
• $1637$: Pequot War.
• $1638$: Anne Hutchinson banished from Massachusetts.
• $1639$: Connecticut’s Fundamental Orders drafted.
• $1642-1648$: English Civil War.
• $1643$: New England Confederation formed.
• $1655$: New Netherland conquers New Sweden.
• $1664$: England seizes New Netherland; colonies in New Jersey established.
• $1675-1676$: King Philip’s War.
• $1681$: William Penn founds Pennsylvania colony.
• $1686-1689$: Royal authority creates the Dominion of New England.
• $1688-1689$: Glorious Revolution overthrows James II; Dominion collapses.
• $1691$: Massachusetts becomes a royal colony with new charter.
• $1702-1703$: Dominion-era governance ends; New Jersey and Delaware experience separate governance paths (Delaware gains its own assembly in 1703).

Varying Viewpoints: Europeanizing America or Americanizing Europe?

• Historiographical shifts:
  • Earlier scholars tended to view American history as the Europeanization of the New World, focusing on mother-country dynamics and religious reform.
  • Later scholars emphasized American distinctiveness, highlighting internal diversity, regional differences, and the interactions between European, African, and Native American peoples.
  • A transatlantic approach has emerged, treating empires and colonies as interlinked, with cultural exchange and mutual influence across the Atlantic.
• Key observations about migration and society:
  • By 1700, roughly $220{,}000$ English colonists migrated to the Caribbean, about $120{,}000$ to the southern mainland colonies, and around $40{,}000$ to the middle Atlantic and New England colonies.
  • Economic motives (Sugar, Slaves, tobacco, fur, timber) and religious motives (Puritans’ search for a holy society) both propelled migration, but the Caribbean and Chesapeake migrations were often driven more by economic opportunity and debt servitude, while New England migrations were more family-based and religiously motivated.
• Scholarly debates and examples:
  • Studies such as Richard S. Dunn’s Sugar and Slaves highlight economic factors; Edmund S. Morgan’s American Slavery, American Freedom emphasizes the role of slavery in shaping American life; Bernard Bailyn and David Hackett Fisher stress diversity among English migrants and the conflicts within colonial societies.
  • The evolving view recognizes that colonial America was not a single European transplant but a complex, diverse society shaped by multipleEuropean and African influences, Indigenous interactions, and local innovations.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

• Religious foundations shaped political life: the Puritan idea of covenant and church membership influenced governance and civic virtue. The Puritan commitment to education, literacy, and local governance laid groundwork for civic participation that would echo in later American political culture.
• Religious liberty as a political ideal: Rhode Island and Pennsylvania’s policies highlighted early experiments in religious tolerance and freedom of worship, foreshadowing later constitutional protections.
• Democracy and self-government: Mayflower Compact, town meetings, the Fundamental Orders, and early colonial confederations all contributed to a developing democratic ethos, even though franchise and political inclusion were limited by gender, religious affiliation, and property requirements.
• Ethnic and religious pluralism as a defining feature: The Middle Colonies’ mix of Dutch, Swedish, English, German, and various religious groups, including Quakers, Catholics, and Jews, introduced a pluralistic social fabric that would influence American concepts of liberty and rights.
• Economic transformations and labor systems: The transition from indentured servitude to African slavery in the Chesapeake and Southern colonies, contrasted with the more diverse economies of the middle and New England colonies, illustrates early labor market changes that would have lasting social and political implications.

Key Concepts, Definitions, and Formulas (LaTeX)

• Puritan Covenant: a religious-social contract guiding political legitimacy and communal order.
• Visible saints: the Puritan standard for church membership based on demonstrable grace and conversion.
• Predestination: the Calvinist belief that God has chosen who is saved and who is damned from creation.
• Mayflower Compact: early written agreement for self-government by the Plymouth settlers. ext{Mayflower Compact}
  ightarrow ext{Majority rule and self-government}
• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639): an early modern constitution establishing government controlled by substantial citizens.
• King Philip’s War: conflict ( $1675-1676$ ) between English settlers and Indigenous alliances led by Metacom; significant impact on Native American populations and colonial settlements.
• Navigation Laws: English laws restricting colonial trade to English ships; enforcement varied during the periods of royal control and salutary neglect.
• Blue laws: religiously influenced laws intended to regulate personal conduct and maintain moral order.
• Bread colonies: economic designation for the middle colonies due to their grain exports. ext{Middle colonies}
  ightarrow ext{bread colonies}
• Indentured servitude: labor system where individuals signed contracts to work for a set period in exchange for passage; often faced high mortality and harsh conditions.
• Salutary neglect: a period during which England relaxed strict enforcement of the Navigation Laws, allowing colonial self-government to flourish to a degree.

Connections to Previous Lectures and Real-World Relevance

• The Puritan settlement in New England reflects early American themes of religious liberty within a framework of social order and obedience to civic authority, a tension that recurs in American political development.
• The Middle Colonies’ religious tolerance and economic dynamism foreshadow the pluralistic and commercially oriented American society that would emerge in the colonial and revolutionary eras.
• The evolution of governance—from town meetings to colonial assemblies, then to royal and dominion structures—mirrors the ongoing negotiation between local autonomy and imperial authority that characterizes American political development.
• The shift in labor systems (indentured servitude to slavery) highlights how economic needs shape social hierarchies, race relations, and political power—a theme central to later American history.

Summary of Major Takeaways

• The Northern Colonies (New England) developed around religious conviction, community governance, and education, producing a distinctive social and political culture that emphasized covenantal ethics, town-based democracy, and a strong role for clergy in public life.
• The Puritan experiment generated enduring debates over church–state relations, religious freedom, and dissent, producing Rhode Island as a liberal exception and shaping broader American notions of liberty and tolerance.
• The Middle Colonies created a more diverse, economically dynamic society with significant potential for cultural exchange and democratic participation, contributing to a broader American idea of pluralism and opportunity.
• Intercolonial cooperation (New England Confederation) and subsequent royal interventions (Dominion of New England) illustrate the evolving balance between colonial self-government and imperial control, culminating in the Glorious Revolution’s upheaval and the beginnings of a more autonomous colonial identity.
• The Transatlantic perspective highlights how migration, economics, religious reform, and colonial competition intertwined to shape a uniquely American society that grew from a mosaic of European, African, and Indigenous influences.

Brief Glossary of People and Places

• Puritans: English Protestants seeking to purify the Church of England of Catholic remnants.
• Separatists: Puritans who advocated breaking away from the Church of England; Pilgrims were Separatists who founded Plymouth.
• William Bradford: Plymouth leader and chronicler; governor of Plymouth.
• John Winthrop: Leader and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; spoke of the “city upon a hill.”
• Anne Hutchinson: Puritan dissenter exiled for antinomianism.
• Roger Williams: Founder of Rhode Island; advocate of religious liberty.
• Massasoit and Squanto: Wampanoag leaders who aided the Plymouth settlers.
• Metacom/King Philip: Leader of a pan-Indian alliance that attacked Puritan settlements (King Philip’s War).
• Peter Stuyvesant: Director-General of New Netherland; led defense against Swedish incursions.
• William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania; Quaker advocate of religious liberty and fair Indian policy.
• Ben Franklin: Prominent figure of the middle colonies, emblematic of openness and practical civic enterprise.
• New England Confederation: Early intercolonial defense alliance (1643).
• Dominion of New England: Royal authoritative union (1686–1689) aimed at centralized control and enforcement of Navigation Laws.

End of Notes