British Colonies Notes 2.3

Jamestown (1607): First North American colony, funded by a joint stock company (investors pooled money, shared financial risk).
Purpose: Profit (gold/silver). Initially faced famine and disease, but was saved by the cultivation of tobacco in 1612.
Labor: Primarily indentured servants (7-year labor contracts).
Tensions: Increased demand for land led to conflicts with Native Americans.
Bacon's Rebellion: Nathaniel Bacon led farmers against Indians and Governor Berkeley; led to the transition from indentured servants to enslaved African labor.

Settled by Pilgrims (1620) and later Puritans seeking religious freedom.
Migrated as families to establish a society; family economies focused on agriculture and commerce.
Initial hardships: Faced fever and disease, but established a thriving society and economy.

British colonies established in the Caribbean in the 1620s (e.g., Barbados). Warm climate allowed for long growing seasons.
Sugarcane replaced tobacco as the primary cash crop, creating a high demand for enslaved African labor.
Harsh slave codes: Strict regulations and enslaved people defined as chattel.
South Carolina: Inspired by British West Indies practices, replicated similar society on the mainland.

New York & New Jersey: Export economy based on cereal crops due to location near the sea and rivers.
Diverse population: Led to social inequality, with wealthy merchants at the top and enslaved Africans at the bottom.
Pennsylvania: Founded by William Penn (Quaker, pacifist) with religious freedom for all.

Democratic self-governance: Colonies developed mostly democratic systems due to Britain's distance.
Virginia: The House of Burgesses was a representative assembly that could levy taxes and pass laws.
New England: Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, organizing government based on a self-governing church.
Middle & Southern Colonies: Representative bodies dominated by elite merchants (middle) and elite planters (South).