English Colonization

• Throughout the 1500s, England sponsored several expeditions to the New World in search of the Northwest Passage. These expeditions resulted in the explorations of present-day northeastern North America.

• England began colonizing North America in the 16th century.

• Reasons for late start:

  • Initially aligned with Spain

  • Religious unrest- resulted in the Protestant Reformation

  • Subjugation of the Irish- “Irish tactics”

  • Failed settlements: Newfoundland, Roanoke Island

• With the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, England now ruled the North Atlantic and had several other favorable factors to expand:

  • Religious stability

  • Popular ruler: Elizabeth I

  • National unity

  • Growing nationalism

  • Peace with Spain/early 17th century

• Other factors to consider:

  • Enclosures and population growth created unemployment

    • This provided the colonizers

  • Primogenitures restricted land to eldest

    • This provided the investors, who formed joint companies

  • Puritanism grew in woolen districts

    • This proved the desire for religious freedom

• The Virginia Company was granted a royal charter by James I, and the colony of Jamestown was established in 1607.

  • The charter guaranteed colonists the same rights as English citizens, thus offering them some sense of security so far from their homeland.

Jamestown Colony

• Established in Virginia in 1607 as a profit-seeking venture, the colony nearly failed early on because of disease and famine.

  • Location- nearby swamps contained disease-carrying mosquitoes.

  • Poor Leadership- no solid leader of the colony

  • Starvation- poor agricultural production “starving time”

  • Misguided work ethic- people were not prepared for the hardships associated with forming a new colony. Many were wealthy adventurers who were more intent on finding gold and other riches.

• Captain John Smith’s leadership infused direction and discipline to the colony. This allowed the colony to grow despite constant disease and severe famine.

• Relations between settlers and Native Americans were unstable because the English saw the N.As as savages and used “Irish tactics” against them- especially during food raids.

  • The First Anglo-Powhatan War ended when John Rolfe married Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan.

  • The Second Anglo-Powhatan War signaled the virtual elimination and banishment of the Indians from Virginia.

  • The new English policy for dealing with Indians focused on removal, as land was the ultimate commodity, not gold or spices.

    • The discovery of tobacco saved the colony and turned it into a profit-making venture.

    • In addition, Native Americans aided colonists with food production

• Indian life post-contact

  • Disease continued to wipe them out

    • Loss of languages, cultures, religions

  • Removal led to migration

    • Mixing of tribes

      • conflicts

    • Utilization of the horse

The Southern Colonies Expand

• Maryland- founded in 1634 by Lord Baltimore as a haven for Catholics.

  • Tobacco was the major source of income.

  • Protestant and Catholics often clashed.

  • To protect Catholics from persecution by Puritans in the region, Lord Baltimore ordered the passage in the region, Lord Baltimore ordered the passage of the Maryland Act of Toleration. This law stated that anyone who believed in Jesus shall be free of persecution.

• Carolina- formed in 1670 by English nobles who hoped to enhance British commerce in the Atlantic spice islands.

  • Slavery was introduced immedietly, establishing the slave trade on the Atlantic Coast

  • The English spice islands had developed a brutal system of slavery to maintain sugar plantations, which Carolina adopted

  • In addition to Africans, Native Americans in the vicinity of Carolina were enslaved and exported to other colonies and the West Indies.

  • Rice from Africa became the staple crop. As such, African slaves were needed for crop production.

  • North Carolina became a separate colony in 1712. It was much less aristocratic than both Carolina. (Now South Carolina and Virginia).

• Georgia- 1733. Initially intended to be a buffer between the other southern colonies and the Spanish in Florida and the French in Louisiana.

  • It was intended to be a reform-minded haven for the less fortunate.

  • Parliamentary leaders sought to offer debtors and the English poor a place to start anew.

  • Led by James Oglethorpe, Georgia initially banned slavery and the comsuption of hard liqour. Eventually, however, Georgia too embraced slavery and ignored temperance.

  • Ultimately, Georgia was not settled by debtors. Scottish Presbyterians, Jews, and German Lutherans were some of the early settlers of Georgia.

Vocabulary

Elizabeth I: religiously united England through the Anglican Church. She also encouraged exploration of the New World and reigned from 1558 to 1603.

John Rolfe: an English colonist who married Pocahontas. His marriage to her fated peace at the end of the First Anglo-Powhatan War

John Smith: led Jamestown out of starvation by his method of “Don’t work, Don’t eat.” He also was captured by the Powhatans, but Pocahontas saved him before he was killed.

Lord Baltimore: made Maryland a place for anyone to practice any form of Christianity without persecution. He passed the Maryland Act of Toleration to ensure this.

Pocahontas: married John Rolfe at the end of the First Anglo-Powhatan War. This settled peace between the Natives and the English. She also saved Captain John Smith from being killed. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, and a peacekeeper between the Natives and the English.

The Act of Toleration: was an act allowing anyone in Maryland to practice any type of faith as long as they believed in Jesus. This law also saved these people from being persecuted

Anglo-Powhatan Wars: caused by the English raiding the Natives food supply. The First Anglo-Powhatan War ended with Pocahontas and John Rolfe getting married. The Second Anglo-Powhatan War was the Natives last attempt at getting their land back. This result of this war completely separated the Powhatans and the English.

House of Burgesses: the first English government set up in the New World. The Virginia Company allowed the colonists to set up a small, representative government in the settlement.

Indentured servants: poor English people who got sponsored to come over to North America. They had to work for their sponsor for an allotted amount of time to pay off their voyage debts.

The Iroquois Confederacy: a strong group of Natives made up of 5 different tribes. They settled in what is now New York, and they were fierce warriors.

Joint-stock company: a company set up by a group of people. These companies were short-term , and they wanted to go to the New World in hopes of the colonists finding gold, land, or other riches. Many of the men in these companies were younger sons, who lost out on their father’s land because of primogeniture laws.

Primogeniture: an English law in which father’s could only give their land to their oldest son. Younger sons were given money, so they had to earn their fortune somewhere else. Many of these younger sons joined joint-stock companies.

Roanoke Island: an early English settlement. The colonists settled there, but they all mysteriously disappeared. Sir Walter Raleigh led this settlement.

Royal charter: a document from the King to allow citizens to settle somewhere else for the British crown. This document laid out rules for the settlers and told them where to settle. This charter also guaranteed the settlers the same rights as British citizens.

Slave codes: laws guiding the treatment of slaves. They included harsh repercussions for slaves, but not for the master’s mistreatment of their slaves. These were later used in the American plantation system.

Squatters: farmers who were illegally on land. They would take other people's land or be on the land before it was legally allowed. Many farmers in North Carolina did this.

Starving time: a time of starvation in Jamestown. The men did not know how or want to farm, so they starved instead. Many of the settlers died during this cold winter. They resorted to eating dogs, cats, mice, rats, and even dead humans.

Virginia Company: a joint-stock company that was granted a royal charter from King James I to settle in Virginia.