UNIT 2 (1607 - 1754)

EUROPEAN COLONIZATIONS

FRENCH

• Interested in trade than conquest, especially fish and fur trade

• Established trading settlements

• some married native women to maintain trading relations with the natives

DUTCH

• Goals were economic; not too much christian conversion

• 1609 - established fur trading on hudson river

• 1624 - amsterdam established; was a hub of trade

BRITISH

• Motivation for colonization:  economic opportunities, lands which they could seek opportunities, those seeking religious freedom, improvement of living conditions

BRITISH COLONIES

• CHESAPEAKE - JAMESTOWN 1607

  • Established in 1607; Funded by joint-stock companies

  • Profit seeking colony: solely dug gold and silver and built military to protect gold and silver

  • First two years - disease and famine killed the settlers

  • 1609 - 1610 starving time; resorted to stealing food from natives and faced attacks from the natives

  • 1612 - tobacco found marketable

  • labor system: indentured servants

  • Demand for tobacco → demand for land → took land from natives → tension increase → native retaliates by raiding colonial farms

  • Settlers appealed to british governor to send troops for safety → Gov. berkeley refused → BACON’S REBELLION: nathaniel bacon + farmers + indentured servants attacked natives and burned plantations owned by the governor

  • Side result: less reliance on indentured servants and more on slaves

• NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

  • Settled by pilgrims to established society; founded on their christian religion

  • Established Family economy as farmers

  • Fevers and diseases killed settlers but established commerce and agriculture

• BRITISH WEST INDIES AND SOUTHERN ATLANTIC COAST COLONIES

  • 1620s permanent colonies

  • Grew tobacco - 1630s introduced sugarcane → popular in europe → labor intensive → demand for slaves

  • In 1660 more black people than white → introduced Laws to govern africans that made them property

  • Carolina colonies were influenced and established their own labor system based on caribbean colonies

• MIDDLE COLONIES

  • Thrived on export economy (new york and new jersey)

    • Success led to Growing inequality in classes

  • Founded by quaker william penn (Pennsylvania)

    • Religious freedom

    • Land was negotiated; bit democratic

Colonies had established self- governing structures

• Mayflower compact (pilgrims) :organized government based on self-governing church structure

• House of burgesses (virginia): representative assembly that regulated taxes and passed laws

• Self-governing structures were dominated by the elite class

TRIANGULAR TRADE (below is definition)  - exchange of trade between the new world, europe and africa

MERCANTILISM (Late 17th Century)

• Believed the world had a fixed amount of wealth and that wealth was measured in gold and silver

• Each state wanted to Gain more wealth and did that by maintaining a favorable balance of trade → more exports than imports

• Colonies were important in trading

• NAVIGATION ACTS: increased colonies dependence on english trade, by restricting trading to england and ships had to pass through british ports for tax

KING PHILIP’S WAR 1675-1678

• Tensions with the natives increased over british encroachment of ancestral land

THE ENLIGHTENMENT IN EUROPE

• Emphasized rational thinking over religion and beliefs

  EFFECT ON COLONIES

• Transatlantic print culture spread ideas of enlightenment thinkers like john locke, voltaire that Introduced natural rights

• introduced that the best government involved checking and balancing power

  • Split the government into 3 branches : legislative, executive, and judicial

• Idea of Social contract: people were in contract with their government ; government protects the people; people had the right to overthrow

GREAT AWAKENING 1730s-1740s

• Chritstian revival throughout colonies

• Preachers during the great awakening *Jonathan edwards and george whitefield

• The great awakening bounded the colonist by christain faith and led to an increasing american identity