E

Unit 2 Overview (1607–1754)

Major Theme: Comparison of European motives and methods for colonizing the Americas.

European Colonization Strategies

Spain

  • Goal: Extract wealth (cash crops, gold, silver).

  • Methods: Subjugated natives, attempted Christian conversion, implemented racial caste system.

France

  • Goal: Trade-focused (fur, fish) rather than conquest.

  • Few settlers; mostly trading posts.

  • Alliances with Native Americans via marriage and trade (Ojibway).

  • Mutual cultural exchange:

    • Natives: Beaver skins

    • French: Iron cookware, manufactured cloth

Netherlands (Dutch)

  • Goal: Economic (fur trade)

  • Established New Amsterdam (1624)

  • Minimal interest in converting natives to Christianity

  • Thriving trade hub attracting merchants, fishermen, farmers

Britain

  • Motivation: Economic opportunity, land, religious freedom, improved living conditions.

  • Economic pressures in Britain: Inflation, wars, enclosure movement.

  • Colonies varied by region:

British Colonial Regions

Chesapeake (Jamestown, 1607)

  • Financed by joint-stock companies (profit-driven)

  • Initial hardships: Disease, famine; 7/8 settlers died by 1610

  • John Rolfe discovered tobacco cultivation (1612) → economic boom

  • Labor: Indentured servants (worked ~7 years for passage)

  • Conflicts with Native Americans → Bacon’s Rebellion (1675)

    • Led by Nathaniel Bacon

    • Highlighted tensions between poor settlers and elites

    • Resulted in shift toward African slavery

New England (Pilgrims, 1620)

  • Settled in family units; not profit-focused

  • Goals: Religious society, family farming

  • Initial hardships: Disease killed ~50% of settlers

  • Thrived after establishing agriculture and commerce

Southern Atlantic/West Indies

  • Colonies: Barbados, St. Christopher, Nevis

  • Crops: Tobacco → sugarcane (labor-intensive)

  • Labor: African slaves, strict slave codes

  • Influenced South Carolina economy and labor system

Middle Colonies (NY, NJ, PA)

  • Economy: Export of cereal crops

  • Population: Diverse; wealthy urban merchants + laborers, orphans, enslaved Africans

  • Pennsylvania: Founded by Quaker William Penn

    • Religious freedom, land acquired via negotiation, democratic governance

Colonial Governance

  • Self-governing structures due to distance from Britain

  • Examples:

    • Mayflower Compact: Self-governing congregation model

    • Virginia House of Burgesses: Representative assembly with elite control

  • Representative assemblies often dominated by elite classes

Atlantic Trade & Mercantilism

  • Triangular Trade:

    1. New England → Rum → West Africa → Enslaved people

    2. Middle Passage → West Indies → Sugarcane → New England → Rum

  • Mercantilism:

    • Fixed global wealth → nations compete

    • Favorable balance of trade: more exports than imports

    • Colonies provide raw materials for the empire

  • Navigation Acts: Required trade with English colonies and English ships

Slavery in the Colonies

  • 1700–1808: ~3 million Africans transported via Middle Passage

  • All British colonies participated in slave trade (tobacco, sugar, indigo)

  • New England: Few slaves; Chesapeake & South: Many slaves

  • Strict slave codes: Slaves as property, hereditary status

  • Resistance:

    • Covert: Maintain culture, sabotage tools, feign illness

    • Overt: Stono Rebellion (1739, South Carolina)

Native American Relations

  • Frequent conflicts with British settlers

  • Example: King Philip’s War (Metacom/1675)

    • Native alliance attacked New England settlements

    • British allied with Mohawks → Metacom killed → rebellion crushed

  • British colonists’ expansion continued despite Native resistance

Religion & Culture

Enlightenment

  • Emphasized rational thought, natural rights, social contract

  • Ideas: Government checks and balances, overthrow of corrupt governments

New Light Clergy & Great Awakening

  • Reaction against Enlightenment’s undermining of faith

  • Preached democratic principles and accessibility in churches

  • Leaders: Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield

  • Result: Large-scale religious revival, sense of American identity

Colonial Autonomy & Rising Tensions

  • Colonies developed autonomous political communities similar to England

  • Rising frustration with British practices:

    • Example: Impressment: Forced service in Royal Navy

    • Led to riots (1747) and resistance based on awareness of natural rights