Jamestown

• Established in 1607 by the Virginia Company as a temporary settlement in search of gold

• “Powhatan’s Confederacy,” a group of loosely united tribes in the area frequently fought with the colonists, who had taken to raiding their food

• The colonists’ inability to provide for themselves led to the Starving Time, in which people were so desperate for food that they stole from the native tribes and even ate people

• John Smith’s arrival saved the colony, as he established a law that those who could not work would not be allowed to eat (except for those who were ill)

• The Virginia Company later sent orders to destroy the crops and villages of the native people, leading to the First Powhatan War, which only ended when Pocahontas (daughter of Powhatan) married John Rolfe

• John Rolfe saved Jamestown’s economy by cultivating the cash crop tobacco

• Jamestown was also home to the House of Burgesses, which was the first elected representative government with a bicameral legislature in the colonies

Chesapeake Colonies

• Maryland + Virginia (though Virginia is also a Southern colony)

• Lord Baltimore, the founder of Maryland, intended the colony to be a Catholic refuge

  • Passed the Act of Toleration, which gave religious freedom to all Christians… but gave others like Jews and atheists the death penalty

• The Chesapeake Colonies faced rampant disease due to the warm climate, frequent death from malnutrition, and violent Native American conflicts

• HOWEVER, people still populated the colonies due to:

  • Indentured servitude: Their trip to the colonies would be sponsored, and then they would have to work for that person for several years to pay them back

  • Headright System: For every “head” a current colonist paid for the journey of, they would get 50 acres of land in repayment

  • Slavery: Enslaved people would be sold to colonists

  • Kidnapping: People in England who were homeless or criminals would be kidnapped and sent to the New World

Southern Colonies

• Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy landowner in rural Virginia was upset about Native American attacks, so he wrote to Governor Willaim Berkeley, who lived in the much safer Jamestown

• Jamestown, situated along the coast, was where most of the elites lived, while poorer individuals lived outside of it in rural areas more frequently subjected to Native American attacks

• The governor, who was safe from attacks AND benefitting from the fur trade with the Native Americans, ignored Bacon’s concerns

• Bacon’s Rebellion: Bacon and his followers marched to Jamestown, killed any Native Americans they came across, and demanded protection from the House of Burgesses

  • Protection was not provided AND the governer ran away, so Bacon and the Baconites burnt Jamestown to the ground

  • This led to an increase in slavery and a decrease in indentured servitude because servants could revolt, but slaves could be controlled

Middle Colonies

• New York

  • Peter Minuit: Founded New York for the Dutch, originally calling it New Netherlands.

  • The British later took over to gain access to the fertile land and trade

  • Had many natural resources, so colonists could produce a massive variety of products (agriculture, iron products, textiles, lumber, furs, shipbuilding, slavery)

  • Mostly Anglican Church members but allowed religious toleration

  • Heavily involved in the Triangle Trade

• Pennsylvania

  • William Penn: Quaker who founded the colony to practice their beliefs

  • Believed in nonviolence and religious toleration, had friendlier relations with the Native Americans

  • Mix of industrial and agricultural economy, provided schools for children (free for those who could not afford it, while tuition was required for those could could) and night schools for adults

  • Quakers owned the most slaves

Slavery in the Colonies

• New York City Slave Rebellion: A group of enslaved people armed themselves, set fire to an outhouse, and then killed any non-enslaved people who showed up. They then fled the scene but were captured and killed.

• Stono Rebellion: Spain offered freedom to any enslaved person who fled the British colonies to Florida; between 50 and 100 individuals in South Carolina attempted to reach Florida but were all killed or sold into Caribbean slavery

• These rebellions led to stricter slave codes that prevented teaching enslaved people to read, banned interracial marriages, banned enslaved people from trading or meeting with one another, created harsher punishments for those who broke laws, etc.

New England Colonies

• Pilgrims

  • Separatists: Wanted to completely break from the Church of England

  • English law dictated that all citizens had to worship the Church of England, so Pilgrims traveled to the Netherlands for religious freedom

  • They were only able to have low paying jobs as immigrants and they were upset that their children were becoming “Dutchified” so they fled to the New World

  • Traveled on the Mayflower, led by William Bradford

  • They were supposed to go to Virginia, but because the colony was almost all men and had little religious freedom, they went to Massachusetts instead

  • Created the Mayflower Compact: agreement to work together for the good of the colon, but also established majority rule

• Puritans

  • Non-Separatists: Did NOT want to separate from the Church of England, but instead to reform it

  • Traveled to the New World to establish their ideal church, and because of the good opportunity to own land

  • Led by John Winthrop: Made the “city upon a hill” speech encouraging the Puritans to work hard to be a shining example for their religion

  • Valued education and enacted the Old Deluder Satan Law: Any town with at least 50 families must have a school with a teacher; also founded Harvard college

  • Puritans were led by the Elect: Church members who could vote and participate in politics

    • You could only join the elect by persuading them of your conversion experience: how god had spoken to you and that you were predestined for heaven

    • Women could not speak in front of public audiences, and had to write theirs down— therefore less women were in the Elect

• Religious Dissenters in Puritan Society

  • Roger Williams: Spoke out against the right of civil authorities to punish religious dissenters + steal Native American land, founded Rhode Island based on religious freedom after being banished from Massachusetts

  • Anne Hutchinson: Banished for being a woman who spoke her mind, believing God spoke to her and not just the church leaders, and holding her own prayer meetings in her home

  • Thomas Hooker: Disagreed with the limiting of voting rights to freemen (the church members/elect) and founded Connecticut based on the consent of the governed

    • Fundamental Orders of Connecticut: First colonial Constitution creating a government framework, stated structure and limitations of the government

Conflicts in New England

• Witchcraft Trials: A series of accusations of witchcraft that ended when the Massachusetts governor’s wife was accused.

  • Potential causes:

    1. More religious rural population blaming the amoral actions of the town population for an increase in Native American attacks

    2. Revenge against church members who did not pay a reverend (his daughter was the first to make an accusation of witchcraft)

    3. Puritan society attacking strong-willed women

    4. Social class conflicts (rural population wanted access to the coastal land in the town, many of the accusations were against widows whose land would be available once they were convicted)

• King Philip’s War

  • Metacom, also called King Philip, was a Native American angered by the colonists stealing Native American land and hanging a Native American suspected of a murder without giving him a trial

  • He led several Native tribes to attack the colonists, but lost after three years of fighting and his remaining forces were sold into slavery in the Caribbean

  • With the Native tribes now wiped out, the English could travel westward and continue to colonize Massachusetts without reproach

Economics of the English Colonies

• Mercantilism: Economic policy that wealth was equal to power, and that this could be achieved by exporting more than you import

• England did this by having the colonies send them raw goods, which were then made into finished products and exported at much higher prices and with extra taxes

• Navigation Act: Only British ships could import and export goods to/from the colonies; enumerated goods (things like sugar, cotton, and tobacco) could be exported only to British ports

• Salutary neglect: Unofficial British policy of not really enforcing trade regulations, allowing some traders in the colonies to ignore the Navigation Act

Social Movements

• Great Awakening

  • Movement for the masses

  • Major ideas/events:

    • Predestination is incorrect, and people’s choices in life determine whether they go to heaven or hell

    • Questioning religious leaders… and the King/Queen, as they were the leader of the Church of England

    • More religious toleration, which led to the creation of new churches

    • New schools created for education (Princeton, Yale, UPENN, etc)

    • Equal rights for all, started to denounce slavery

  • Jonathan Edwards: Scared people into religion, everyone is a sinner and must ask forgiveness

  • George Whitefield: Charismatic, loved by the people, much less focused on fear

• Enlightenment

  • Movement for scholars/educated elites

  • Major ideas/events:

    • Knowledge, observation, and science/reasoning

    • Education to allow people to think for themselves

    • Question authority

    • Government requires consent of the governed

    • Deism: There is a God, but God does not intervene with humankind

  • John Locke: Everyone has natural rights, and if the government doesn’t protect these rights then the people can revolt

  • Benjamin Franklin: Embraced science, reason, natural rights, free thinking, and morality