Transcript American Beginnings and Early Colonization

American Beginnings and Early
Colonization
1
Early America Civilizations
• 22,000 years ago, the first Americans may
have arrived in North America via Beringia—a
land bridge between Asia and Alaska.
• Today, the Bering Strait separates Alaska and
Siberia (55 miles wide).
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• These explorers were
probably following their
food supply
• The Ice Age ended
between 12,000-10,000
years ago
• Large game animals
became extinct and
natives turned to hunting
smaller animals and
gathering
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Neolithic Revolution
• Between 10,000-5,000 years ago an
agricultural revolution took place
• Maize may have been the first domestic
crop (gourds, peppers, beans, pumpkins,
etc)
• Surplus of crops allowed some natives to
develop permanent settlements and
complex cultures. Other groups continued
their nomadic lifestyle
• Around 3,000 years ago, civilizations begin
to develop in the Americas
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Three Sister Farming
• Corn grew in a stalk
providing a trellis for
beans, beans grew up
the stalk, squash’s
broad leaves kept the
sun off the ground
and thus kept the
moisture in the soil.
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Olmec
• 1200 BC
• Present day Mexico
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Other Meso American Civilizations
• Maya (250-900 AD)
• Aztec (1200’s AD)
• Inca (S. America 1200 AD)
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Desert natives
• Present day SW part of
the US
• Hohokam
• Anasazi (cliff dwellers)
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Mound Builders
• Adena
• Hopewell
• Mississippian (Etowah burial mounds)
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• Northwest-Kwakiutl
• Eastern Woodlands-Iroquois
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Native American cultural
beliefs and structure
• Land was considered to be a shared resource
(source of life) & could not be owned, bought,
or sold
• Believed the natural world was filled with
spirits
• Families were the center of society (kinship)
• Social order established by the division of
labor
• Matrilineal society
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Cultures Collide
• Renaissance & Reformation
prompted an era of European
exploration
• Crusades introduced luxury
items (silk and spices) to
Europe. This led to a desire for
a more direct trade to Asia
• Nationalism sparked
competition for overseas
colonies (wealth)
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Portugal
• Exploration sponsored by Prince Henry (the
Navigator)
• New inventions and boat design make sailing
safer and more efficient
• Vasco de Gama and Bartholomew Diaz discover a
way to get to India by going around Africa
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Spanish Colonies in the New World
• “God, Gold and Glory”
• Columbus’ voyage was funded by Monarchs of
Spain (Ferdinand and Isabella)
• He would travel west instead of sailing around
Africa
• October 12, 1492—sighted land (San Salvador;
inhabited by Taino) later explored Bahamas,
Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican
Republic)
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• Returned to Spain
January 1493
• By September 1493,
Columbus was returning
to the new world with
supplies, an army, priests
and colonists with full
intentions of establishing
a Spanish Empire
• Ominous fate for the
natives (los indios) living
in those areas
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The Encomienda System
• Indians were “commended” or given over to
Spanish landlords.
• The idea of the encomienda was that Indians
would work and be converted to Christianity,
but it was basically just slavery on a sugar
plantation guised as missionary work.
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• Europeans use plantation system and forced
labor in their colonies
• Natives tried to resist European domination
but were no match against the superior
weapons
• Disease also wiped out much of the native
population
• Europeans had to find new sources of labor
for the plantations since so many natives were
dying from disease
• By the 1800’s, more than 12 millions Africans
were transported to the Americas through the
Atlantic slave trade
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Colonies offer opportunities for many
• Merchants—expand business
• Monarch—expand power (wealth and
influence)
• Commoners—hope for a better social and
economic future
• Europe would provide the market, capital,
technology.
• Africa would provide the labor.
• The New World would provide the raw
materials (gold, soil, lumber).
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Columbian Exchange
• Transfer of crops, plants, animals, disease
across the Atlantic Ocean
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Treaty of Tordesillas
• In 1493, Pope Alexander VI created an
agreement between Spain and Portugal
dividing up their rights to the land in the New
World
• Portugal—Brazil
• Spain—most of the Americas
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The Spanish Empire
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•
•
•
Conquistadors
Cortez 1519
New Spain (capital Mexico City)
Spanish churches, cities, cathedrals, university
spread out from there
• At first the Spanish used the encomienda
(forced labor of natives) but later the Spanish
monarchs outlawed this practice. The Spanish
still needed labor—turn to African slaves
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Spain’s Competition
• A threat came from neighbors…
• England – John Cabot (an Italian who sailed
for England) touched the coast of the current
day U.S.
• Italy – Giovanni de Verrazano also touched on
the North American seaboard.
• France – Jacques Cartier went into mouth of
St. Lawrence River (Canada).
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• Robert de LaSalle
sailed down the
Mississippi River
for France claiming
the whole region
for their King Louis
and naming the
area “Louisiana”
after his king.
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Securing the Land
• Spain was still looking for gold and protecting
their new empire
• Ponce de Leon 1513 –Florida
• French pirates (Buccaneers) set up in
Jacksonville and start robbing Spanish
treasure ships sailing from the Gulf of
Mexico—so Spain set up a fort in St. Augustine
(oldest European city in US)
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Spanish Expansion
• Francisco Coronado—explored American
southwest
• Set up northern capital at Santa Fe—northern
Spanish territory (New Mexico)
• Catholic missionaries convert the remaining
natives
• El Camino Real (Royal Road) connected
Mexico City and Santa Fe
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• In an attempt to force the natives to accept
Catholicism and Spanish culture, soldiers
destroyed sacred native objects and forbid
traditional ceremonies
• Natives were also forced to pay tribute or
perform forced labor. Those who refused
were beaten
• Don Juan de Onate followed Coronado’s old
path into present day New Mexico. He
conquered the Indians ruthlessly, maiming
them by cutting off one foot of survivors
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Pope’s rebellion
• Pueblo leader was
beaten for his worship
practices (witchcraft??)
• In 1680, he led an
organized revolt
(17,000) against the
Spanish. They
destroyed Spanish
churches, executed
priests, drove the
Spanish back to New
Spain
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The Black Legend
• The Black Legend was the notion that
Spaniards only brought bad things (murder,
disease, slavery)
• Though true, they also brought good things
such as law systems, architecture, Christianity,
language, civilization
• The Black Legend is partly, but not entirely,
accurate.
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• The Spanish did encourage their colonists
to marry native women, resulting in a
mestizo culture
• The Spanish grafted their culture onto the
natives instead of shunning and isolating
the natives
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England starts an Empire
• The English victory over the of
the Invincible Spanish Armada
gave the nation the confidence
to begin establishing colonies
in the New World
• England had a popular and
strong monarchy, nationalism,
and some religious unity which
gave the nation the confidence
to begin colonization
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England claims a colony
in the New World
• 1st attempt—Roanoke (1585 and 1587) failed--embarrassment to England
• Wealthy English formed by Joint-stock companies—
investors would pool their money to support the new
colony/settlement.
• People living in the colony would work to create a
profit for the investors.
• In 1606, King James I granted a charter to The Virginia
Company giving them permission to start a colony in
Virginia
• Stock holders would receive 4/5 of the gold and silver
found by the colonists. The king would get 1/5.
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The Virginia Company Charter
• Guaranteed to colonists the same rights as
Englishmen as if they had stayed in England.
• This provision was incorporated into future
colonists’ documents.
• Colonists felt that, even in the Americas, they
had the rights of Englishmen
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The Jamestown colony
• 3 ships (Susan Constant, Discovery, and
Godspeed) with 150 passengers reached Virginia
in April,1607
• Off to a rocky start (Poor location, disease, not
practical)
• Colonists more concerned with looking for gold
rather than establishing a stable settlement or
planting food
• Most colonists were from privileged background
and not used to manual labor
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• By winter of 1607, only 38 of
the original 150 settlers
remain
• John Smith had warned of
disaster, but only now were
the colonists willing to listen
• “You must now obey this
law…he that will not work
shall not eat.”
• Forced colonists to farm
• Persuaded the Powhatan
natives to provide food
• Injured when gun powder bag
exploded—sailed back to
England
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• In the Spring of 1609, 600 new colonists arrive at
Jamestown
• Powhatan become alarmed and realize that the
English are in the New World to stay so they
sabotage colonists’ crops and livestock
• Winter 1609
• Colonists facing the “starving time” resort to
eating roots, rats, snakes, shoe leather (each
other??)
• Of the new 600 colonists only 60 survived
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Life in the American wilderness
was harsh
• Diseases like malaria, dysentery, and typhoid
killed many.
• Few people lived to 40 or 50 years.
• In the early days of colonies, women were so
scarce that men fought over them.
• Few people knew any grandparents.
• Virginia, with 59,000 people, became the
most populous colony.
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Widowarchy
• High mortality among
husbands and fathers
left many women
in the Chesapeake
colonies with unusual
autonomy and wealth!
Adult life expectancy: 40
years
Death of children before
age 5: 80%
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Just in the Nick of Time
• By June 1610, the colonists ready to pack it in
and return to England but are met by a ship
sailing to Jamestown and are convinced to
turn around.
• It was only the arrival of the new governor,
Lord De La Ware, and his supply ships that
brought the colonists back to the fort and the
colony back on its feet.
• Tough leadership stabilized the colony
• A new type of “gold” created financial profits
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Tobacco—“brown gold”
• 1612—John Rolfe had experimented with
different strains of tobacco until he developed
a high quality tobacco that thrived in the
Virginia climate
• By the late 1620’s Jamestown was exporting
1.5 million pounds of tobacco to England
• Tobacco was very labor intensive and depleted
the soil of nutrients
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• Chesapeake Bay exported 1.5 million pounds
of tobacco yearly in the 1630s, and by 1700,
that number had risen to 40 million pounds a
year.
• More availability led to falling prices, and
farmers still grew more
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• The Virginia Colony used the
headright system to lure
immigrants to the colony
• Anyone who paid for his own
passage or paid for another’s
passage received 50 acres of
land.
• This system attracted both
the wealthy who got large
amounts of free land
(plantations) and indentured
servants who agreed to work
for 4-7 years in exchange for
their passage to Jamestown
and food and board
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Primogeniture
• According to custom, the oldest born son
inherited the family wealth and estate
• Younger sons often were left to find their own
money, careers, and land
• The headright system provided an opportunity
for many of England’s younger sons to own
land
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Enclosure
• English land owners wanted to capitalize on
the growing wool industry
• The open field farming system on large estates
was replaced with smaller enclosed areas of
land
• Common farmers, villagers and workers were
no longer needed to grow crops
• Unemployment made the idea of indentured
servitude in the New World more appealing
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Jamestown
Settlement
Pattern
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Slavery in America
• 1619—20 Africans were brought to Jamestown
by Dutch traders and were sold to the colonists in
exchange for food supplies. These Africans
worked as indentured servants. They were
granted their freedom after their term of
servitude was over.
• Slavery would not take hold for many more years.
Why??
• An indentured servant might cost 1,000 pounds
of tobacco, a slave might cost triple that amount.
As plantation owners became more wealthy and
as indentured servitude declined by the late
1600’s, slavery increased
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Conflict with American Natives
• As the need for land increased, so did the
conflict between colonists and natives
• The English used “Irish tactics” when dealing
with the natives (when England confiscated
land from the Catholics of Ireland in the
1570’s, troops raided villages, burned houses,
torched cornfields, and stole provisions)
• English brought this contempt for “savage”
natives with them to the New World and
applied it to Native Americans
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• The English had no desire to live among or
intermarry the natives (unlike the Spanish)
• Leaders of Jamestown demand tribute from
the Powhatans (retribution for the natives’
sabotage during the starving time)
• Demands for tribute were reinforced by
setting native villages on fire and kidnapping
natives (children)
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Chief Powhatan
• Powhatan dominated a few dozen small tribes
in the James River area when the English
arrived.
• The English called all indians in the area
Powhatans.
• Chief Powhatan probably initially saw the
English as allies in his struggles to control
other Indian tribes in the region.
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The Powhatan Confederacy
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The First Powhatan War
• 1610-1614
• Governor De La Ware had orders to make war
on the Indians.
• The English colonists raided villages, burned
houses, took supplies, burned cornfields.
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• Marriage between John Rolfe
and Pocahontas created a
temporary peace lasting until
1622
• Powhatans get fed up and
attack Jamestown. The
Virginia Company has to send
more troops to protect the
colony (costly)
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• 1622-1644 :
periodic attacks
between Indians
and settlers.
• Virginia Co. called
for a “perpetual
war” against the
Native Americans.
• Raids reduced
native population
and drove them
further westward.
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The Second Powhatan War
•
•
•
•
1644-1646
Last effort of natives to defeat English
Indians defeated again
Peace Treaty of 1646
• Removed the Powhatans from their original
land
• Formally separated Indian and English
settlement areas
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Colonial government
• On July 30, 1619, the 1st representative
government in the colonies met and formed The
House of Burgesses.
• Each of the 11 districts sent 2 citizens (burgesses)
to the meeting.
• The House could raise taxes and make laws, but
the governor had the right to veto legislation the
House passed.
• It only represented a small segment of the
colonial population as only land owners could
vote.
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The House of Burgesses, the first
legislative assembly in the American
colonies, held its first meeting in the choir
at Jamestown Church in the summer of
1619. Its first order of business: setting a
minimum price for the sale of tobacco.
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Making a Royal Colony
• King James I never liked tobacco and the
conflicts with the natives pushed him to
revoke the Virginia Company’s charter and
made it a royal colony—Jamestown was now
under the direct control of the king (not the
joint stock company) 1624
• By 1644 the population of Virginia had grown
to 10,000 and the Powhatan were rapidly
losing power in the Chesapeake region
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Conflict between Colonists
• Freed indentured servants could not buy land
(no $) and lived on the frontier areas of
Virginia (outskirts of society) where they
fought with Native Americans for land
• Only land owners could vote (plantation
aristocracy). These poor free men did not
have many rights in the colony.
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• The Governor of Virginia, Sir
William Berkeley forced the
poor frontier settlers to pay
most of the taxes he levied.
• This angered the settlers
because most often the
money only benefitted the
wealthy landowning class
(along the east coast).
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• The western settlers wanted the taxes to be
used to build forts that would protect them
from the natives.
• In 1675, a bloody conflict erupted between
the western settlers and several Native
American groups.
• The governor refused to finance a war that
would help the frontier farmers (not in the
best interest of the landowners)
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Bacon’s rebellion
• In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon raised an army of
frontier farmers to fight the Indians. It’s not
as if he empathized with the plight of the
western settlers, he just despised the Native
Americans.
• Governor Berkley declared the army illegal.
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• In response, Bacon’s army marched into
Jamestown to talk to the colonial leaders about
several grievances (being taxed without
consent).
• The conflict turned violent and the rebels set
the town on fire. (Berkley escapes, but
returned when Bacon died a month later)
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Significance of Bacon’s Rebellion
• King Charles started to investigate Berkley’s
colonial government
• It also exposed the growing powers of the
small farmers and indentured servants.
• Plantation owners start to re-evaluate the use
of indentured servants and start looking for a
less troublesome labor force
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Southern Society
• A social gap between the land owners and
the yeoman farmers began to widen.
• The First Families of Virginia (FFV’s) owned
large tracts of land and dominated the House
of Burgesses (Fitzhughs, the Lees, and the
Washingtons).
• Few cities sprouted in the South, so schools
and churches were slow to develop
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The West Indies
• As the British were colonizing Virginia, they
were also settling in the West Indies (Spain’s
declining power opened the door).
• By mid-1600s, England had secured claim to
several West Indies islands, including Jamaica
in 1655.
• Sugar became the profitable crop of the West
Indies and thousands of African slaves were
needed to operate sugar plantations
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British colonies in North America
around 1750
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
New Foundland
Nova Scotia
13 colonies
Bermuda
Bahamas
British
Honduras
7. Jamaica
8. Lesser Antilles
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Slavery Becomes an Institution
• Slave Codes began in 1662
• These laws made slaves [and
their children] property, or
chattel, for life
• In some colonies, it was a crime
to teach a slave to read or write.
• Conversion to Christianity did
not qualify the slave for
freedom.
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• By the mid 1680s, for the first time, black
slaves outnumbered white servants among
the plantation colonies’ new arrivals.
• After 1700, more and more slaves were
imported, and in 1750, Blacks accounted for
nearly half of the Virginian population.
• Most of the slaves were from West Africa,
from places like Senegal and Angola.
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• Some of the earliest Black slaves gained their
freedom and some became slaveholders
themselves.
• Eventually, to clear up issues on slave
ownership, it was made so that slaves and
their children would remain slaves to their
masters for life, unless they were voluntarily
freed.
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Population in the Chesapeake Area
in the 17th century
100000
80000
60000
White
40000
Black
20000
0
1607
1630
1650
1670
1690
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Impact of Slavery on Culture
• New blended languages—combination of
their native language with English.
• Music--banjo and bongo drum.
• Woven baskets
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• Many African dances led to modern dances
(the Charleston).
• Christian songs could also be “code” for
slaves on neighboring plantations
• Jazz is the most famous example of slave
music entering mainstream culture.
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Slave Revolts
• In 1712, slave revolt in New
York City cost the lives of a
dozen Whites and 21 Blacks
were executed.
• In 1739, South Carolina
slaves along the Stono River
(Stono Rebellion) revolted
and tried to march to
Spanish Florida, but failed.
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The Settlement of Maryland
(Another Chesapeake Colony)
• A royal charter was granted to George Calvert,
Lord Baltimore, in 1632.
• A proprietary (privately owned) colony
created in 1634.
• A healthier location than Jamestown
• Tobacco would be their main crop
• His plan was to govern as an absentee Lord
Proprietor (in a feudal relationship).
• Granted huge tracts of land to his Catholic
relatives.
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A Haven for Catholics
•
Colonists only willing to come to MD if they
received land. They received modest farms
dispersed around the Chesapeake area.
•
Catholic land barons surrounded by mostly
Protestant small farmers.
•
Conflict between barons and farmers led to
Baltimore losing proprietary rights at the end
of the 17th century.
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Protecting the Catholic Minority
•
Lord Baltimore permitted a high degree of
freedom of worship in order to prevent
repeat of persecution of Catholics by
Protestants.
•
Act of Toleration 1649
•
Supported by the Catholics in MD.
•
Guaranteed toleration to all CHRISTIANS.
•
Decreed death to those who denied the
divinity of Jesus [like Jews, atheists, etc.].
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Act of Toleration 1649
• In one way, it was less tolerant than before the
law was passed!!
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Colonizing the Carolinas
• In England, King Charles I had been beheaded
in 1649.
• Political turmoil (Oliver Cromwell) interrupted
colonization until a new monarch was
restored to the throne.
• With more political stability, English
colonization resumed
• Carolina (named after King Charles II) was
created in 1670 as a proprietor colony with 8
owners
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Carolina’s Economy
• Carolina flourished by developing close
economic ties (sugar) with the West Indies.
• Many original Carolina settlers had come
from Barbados.
• Despite violence with Spanish and Indians,
Carolina proved to be too strong to be wiped
out.
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• Rice emerged as the principle crop in
Carolina.
• Indigo was also a valuable crop
• African slaves were hired to work on rice
fields, due to their immunity to malaria and
their familiarity with rice.
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The Emergence of North Carolina
• Many newcomers to Carolina were
“squatters,” people who owned no land.
• North Carolinians developed a strong
resistance to authority (geographically
trapped between planter aristocracy of
Virginia and Carolina)
• In 1712, North and South Carolina were
officially separated.
• NC was more democratic and open minded
(similar to RI)
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Georgia: The Buffer Colony
• Georgia was intended to be a buffer between
the British colonies and the hostile Spanish
settlements in Florida and the enemy French
in Louisiana.
• Founded in 1733 by a high-minded group of
philanthropists, it was the last colony
founded.
• Named after King George II of England,
Georgia was also meant to be a haven for
Englishmen in debt.
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• James Oglethorpe saved
the “Charity Colony” with
his energetic leadership
and by using his own
fortune to help with the
colony.
• Religious toleration
except for Catholics
• Many missionaries came
to try to convert the
Indians.
• Georgia grew very slowly.
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The Plantation Colonies
• Maryland, Virginia, N & S Carolinas, GA
• Slavery was established in all the plantation
colonies.
• Few cities (stunted by forests)
• Few schools and churches (why?)
• Cash Crops: tobacco and rice.
• All the plantation colonies permitted some
religious toleration.
• Need for land led to frequent confrontations
with Native Americans
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The New England Colonies
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Conflict Over Religion Formed a
New Colony
• The Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican
Church of England because they believed it
had too many Catholic rituals and traditions.
• Separatists (Pilgrims) were Puritans who felt
the only way to eliminate the Catholic features
of the church was to break away completely.
94
• All believed that only “visible saints” should
be admitted to church membership.
• Separatists vowed to break away from the
Church of England because the “saints”
would have to sit with the “damned.”
• King James I, father of the beheaded Charles
I, harassed the Separatists out of England
because he thought that if people could defy
him as their spiritual leader, they might defy
him as their political ruler.
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Plymouth Colony is Formed
• Pilgrims formed their own
congregations with their own
ministers. They fled to Holland
to avoid being prosecuted, but
were afraid their children were
becoming too “Dutchified”.
• In 1620, some Pilgrims sailed to
America to guarantee freedom
of worship-- the Plymouth
Colony.
96
Mayflower Compact
• Their original charter only allowed for them to
settle in Virginia. However, their ship ended
up north around Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
• The Pilgrim men on board signed the
Mayflower Compact:
• loyalty to the king
• majority-based government to create laws
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• The Pilgrims became
squatters, people
without legal right to
land and without
specific authority to
establish government
98
Strong Leadership Helped to
Establish the Colony
• William Bradford--elected
governor, 30 years
• His leadership helped
Plymouth to stabilize and
create a thriving trade in
fur, fish, and lumber
99
Massachusetts Bay Colony
is Formed
• Meanwhile other Puritans started to feel
persecuted and unwelcome in England
• In 1629, the joint stock company, the
Massachusetts Bay Company, was granted
a charter allowing the company to trade
and colonize in New England
• Omitted from the charter was the usual
clause requiring the company to hold its
business meetings in England
100
• Puritan stockholders used
this omission to transfer
control of the colony to
America and create a
theocracy
• In September, 1630 the
Puritans aboard the
Arabella established the
Massachusetts Bay
Colony. The capital was
Boston.
101
• 1st governor—John
Winthrop was elected
governor or deputy
governor for 19 years
• His leadership helped
Massachusetts prosper
in fur trading, fishing,
and shipbuilding.
• Within the 1st year, 17
ships brought 1,000
settlers (Puritan and
non Puritan)
102
• Eventually in
1691,
Massachusetts
Bay Colony
incorporated
the Plymouth
Colony
103
A Role Model for Others to Follow
• Governor Winthrop envisioned Mass Bay to be a City
Upon a Hill in his 1630 sermon “A Model of Christian
Charity”
• “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a
hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we
shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have
undertaken... we shall be made a story and a by-word
throughout the world. We shall open the mouths of
enemies to speak evil of the ways of God... We shall
shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and
cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us til
we be consumed out of the good land whither we are
a-going.”
104
• Puritans believed in predestination. This
doctrine holds that God is all-powerful and allknowing; therefore, the fate of each individual
soul is known to God at birth. Nothing an
individual can do or say could change their
ultimate fate.
•Puritans believed that
those chosen by God to
be saved — the elect —
would experience
"conversion.“
105
• In this process, God
would reveal to the
individual His grace,
and the person would
know he was saved.
• Puritans would then
live by example--a life
of holy behavior as a
“living saint”
Puritan church with pulpit,
pews, and, significantly, no
altar. Old Ship Meeting
House, Hingham, Mass., built
in 1681.
106
The Chosen Few
• Only the elect could serve as Church
members. If a person were truly
saved, he would only be capable of
behavior endorsed by God. These
"living saints" would serve as an
example to the rest of the world.
• During the early years, ministers
such as John Cotton carefully
screened individuals claiming to
have experienced conversion.
107
The Great Migration
108
The Puritan Government
• All adult men who belonged to
the Puritan church could vote (in
addition to the Mass Bay
Company stock holders) about
40% of the male pop.
• Laws were made by the General
Court who chose the governor
(self-government)
109
• Governor Winthrop feared and distrusted the
common people, calling democracy the
“meanest and worst” of all forms of
government
110
The Town Meeting
• The first town meeting
was held, October 8,
1633 in Dorchester,
Massachusetts by
citizens who wanted to
address issues that
affected the "common
good.“
• This style of local democratic self government is
still used in New England towns today to vote on
local laws and budgets
111
Town Organization
• New towns were legally chartered by colonial
authorities.
• A town usually had a meetinghouse
surrounded by houses and a village green.
• Towns of more than 50 families had to
provide primary education.
• Towns of more than 100 had to provide
secondary education.
112
Higher Education
• In 1636, Massachusetts Puritans established
Harvard College to train boys to become
ministers.
• In 1693, Virginia established their first
college, William and Mary. Why the delay?
113
Puritan Society
• Laws in the colony reflected religious morals
• Drunkenness, swearing, theft, idleness
• Puritans came to the New World with their
families (more incentive to make the colonies
a success)
• The community would not hesitate to step in
and provide marriage counseling or remove a
child from a home to be placed with a more
“God-fearing” family
114
Puritan Society
• There were celebrations and
festivals. People sang and
told stories. Children were
allowed to play games with
their parents' permission.
Wine and beer drinking
were common place.
Puritans did not all dress in
black as many believe. The
fundamental rule was to
follow God's law.
Mrs John Freake and
Baby Mary 1674
115
The New England Quality of Life
• In New England, there was clean water and
cool temperatures—not as much disease
(as the Southern colonies) led to an average
life expectancy of 70 years.
• In contrast to the Chesapeake, the New
Englanders tended to migrate as a family,
instead of individually.
116
• Women usually married in their early
twenties and gave birth every two years until
menopause.
• A typical woman could expect to have ten
babies and raise about eight of them.
117
• In the South, women usually had more
power, since the Southern men typically died
young and women could inherit the money,
but in New England, the opposite was true.
• In New England men didn’t have absolute
power over their wives (as evidenced by the
punishments of unruly husbands) but they
did have much power over women.
118
Religious Dissent
• Not all Puritan colonists agreed with the
control the Church had over the colony
(malcontents)
• Those that outwardly disagreed with the
social order of the colony were called
dissenters
119
Roger Williams’ Beliefs
• Colonists had no rightful claim to
the land unless they paid the
natives for it
• Government officials had no right
to punish the colonists for their
religious beliefs (a person should
be free to worship according to
his conscience)
•The General Assembly ordered Williams to be
arrested and be sent back to England
120
• Williams left Mass
Bay and formed his
own colony—
Providence (later
Rhode Island) from
land he purchased
from the
Narragansett tribe
• In his colony there
was a separation of
church and state
and freedom of
religion
121
The Rhode Island “Sewer”
• Land of the Outcasts “Rogue’s Island”
• People who went to Rhode Island weren’t
necessarily similar; they were just unwanted
everywhere else.
• “Little Rhody” was later known as “the
traditional home of the otherwise minded.”
• It finally secured a charter in 1644
122
Anne Hutchinson
• Anne Hutchinson, another dissenter,
claimed that a holy life was no sure sign of
salvation and that the truly saved need not
bother to obey the law of either God or
man.
• She promoted the idea that worshippers
did not need the Puritan church nor its
ministers to interpret the Bible
(antinomianism)
123
• Brought to trial in 1638,
Anne boasted that her
beliefs were directly from
God.
• She was banished from
the colony in 1638 and
eventually made her way
to Rhode Island.
• She died in New York after
an attack by Indians.
124
Puritans vs. Indians
• Before the Puritans had arrived in 1620, an
epidemic had swept through the Indians,
killing over three quarters of them.
• At first, Indians tried to befriend the Whites.
• Squanto, a Wampanoag, helped keep relative
peace.
125
Pequot War
• In 1637, mounting tensions exploded,
between English settlers powerful Pequot
tribe
• The English set fire to a Pequot village,
annihilating the Indians and bringing about
forty years of tentative peace.
• In an attempt to save face, the Puritans did
try to convert some of the Indians, though
with less zeal than that of the Spanish and
French.
126
The New England Confederation
• Political and military alliance of the English
colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth,
Connecticut, and New Haven
• It was established May 29, 1643
• The New England Confederation excluded
Rhode Island (anarchistic and more
sympathetic to Native Americans)
• Its primary purpose was to unite the Puritan
colonies against the Native Americans
127
128
• The New England Confederation was highly
successful in terms of bonding the colonies
together, and provided a basis for the further
collaboration of Colonies
• The Confederation addressed inter-colonial
issues such as:
slavery indentured servants, expansion
• Each colony had two votes, another step to
representative government
129
Downfall of the Confederation
• King Charles II revoked Massachusetts's
charter in 1684 as a result of colonial
insubordination with trade, tariff and
navigation laws.
• This led to the Confederation's collapse
• In 1686, the centralized Dominion of New
England was imposed on the colonies (more
to come on this)
130
King Philip’s War
• In 1675, Metacom (called King Philip by the
English) united neighboring Indians in a lastditched attack that failed.
• Metacom was beheaded and quartered and
his head was stuck on a sharp pike for all to
see, his wife and son sold to slavery.
• King Philip’s War slowed the colonial western
settlement
131
King Philip’s war
132
Additional Problems in
Massachusetts Bay
• First-generation settlers were beginning to
die out, while their children and
grandchildren often expressed less religious
piety and more desire for material wealth
• As Puritans began to worry about their
children and whether or not they would be as
loyal and faithful, and new type of sermon
came about called “jeremiads.”
• Earnest preachers scolded parishioners for
their waning piety in hope to improve faith.
133
A Solution
• Troubled ministers announced a new formula
for church membership in 1662, calling it the
“Half-Way Covenant.”
• Partial church membership was granted to the
children and grandchildren of church
members. They did not have to testify and
prove a conversion experience
• The half-way covenant provided that the
partial members could be baptized in the
church.
134
• Puritan preachers hoped that this plan would
maintain some of the church's influence in
society
• In addition, it was hoped that these 'half-way
members' would see the benefits of full
membership, be exposed to teachings and
piety which would lead to the "born again"
experience, and eventually take the full oath
of allegiance
135
Witchcraft Hysteria
• In the 1690’s, a group of Salem girls claimed
to have been bewitched by certain older
women.
• What followed was a hysterical witch-hunt
• The main factors that started and fueled the
trials were politics, religion, family feuds,
economics, and the imaginations and fears of
the people.
• Those who were accused of being witches
were considered to be wealthy or outspoken
136
•
•
•
•
19 people were hung
1 was crushed to death by stones
150 others were imprisoned
2 two dogs were killed
137
Puritan Ministers
•
•
•
•
Cotton Mather
John Cotton
Increase Mather
Thomas Hooker
138
Other New England Colonies
139
Connecticut, New Hampshire
and Maine
• In 1635, Hartford, Connecticut was founded.
• Reverend Thomas Hooker led an energetic
group of Puritans west.
• In 1639, settlers of the new Connecticut River
colony drafted in open meeting a document
called the Fundamental Orders. Basically a
modern constitution.
• In 1638, New Haven was founded and
eventually merged into Connecticut.
140
• In 1623, Maine was
absorbed by
Massachusetts and
remained so for nearly a
century and a half.
• In 1641, New Hampshire
was absorbed into
Massachusetts.
• In 1679, the king
separated the two and
made New Hampshire a
royal colony.
141
The New England Way of Life
• Due to the hard New England soil (or lack
thereof), New Englanders became great
traders and relied on the fishing industry
• The climate of New England encouraged
diversified agriculture and industry.
• New England was also less ethnically mixed
than its neighbors.
• Black slavery was attempted but didn’t work.
142
The Middle Colonies
143
A Sanctuary for the Quakers
• The Quakers (characteristics)
• They “quaked” under deep religious emotion.
• They addressed everyone with simple “thee”s
and “thou”s and didn’t swear oaths because
Jesus had said “Swear not at all”
• They were simple, devoted, democratic
people against war and violence.
144
A New Colony is Formed
• William Penn, a well-born
Englishman, embraced
the Quaker faith.
• In 1681, he managed to
secure an large land grant
from the king.
145
Pennsylvania—The “Holy
Experiment”
• It was the best advertised of all the colonies.
• Thousands of squatters already lived in
Pennsylvania.
• Philadelphia, The City of Brotherly Love”, was
more carefully planned than most cities, with
beautiful, wide streets.
• His treatment of the Indians was so gentle
that Quakers could walk through Indian
territory unarmed without fear of being hurt.
146
• However, as more and more non-Quakers
came to Pennsylvania, they mistreated the
Indians more and more.
• Freedom of worship was available to
everyone except for Jews and Catholics (only
because of pressure from London), and the
death penalty was only for murder and
treason.
• No restrictions were placed on immigration,
and naturalization was made easy.
147
• The Quakers also
developed a dislike
toward slavery.
• Pennsylvania
attracted a great
variety of people
from all races, class,
and religion.
• By 1700, only
Virginia was more
populous and richer.
Anthony Benezet
offering instruction at
his school in
Philadelphia
148
Common Traits of the
Middle Colonies
• New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and
Pennsylvania
• Common Traits:
• All had fertile soil and broad expanse of land.
• All except for Delaware exported lots of grain.
• The middle colonies were the middle way
between New England and the southern
plantation states.
149
• The middle colonies were more ethnically
mixed than other colonies.
• A considerable amount of economic and
social democracy prevailed.
• Benjamin Franklin, born in Boston, entered
Philadelphia as a seventeen-year-old in 1720
and immediately found a welcoming home in
the open atmosphere of the city.
• Americans began to realize that not only
were they surviving, but that they were also
thriving.
150
Colonial Rebellious Spirit is
Formed
151
Massachusetts Became
a Royal Colony
• Massachusetts merchants had not adhered to
the Navigation Acts of 1651 and had
continued their illegal smuggling activities
• To make an example of the rebellious colony
and to punishment the disobedience, in 1684,
the Massachusetts Bay colonial charter was
revoked by King Charles II
• This ended self-rule and brought the Puritans
under the direct control of the crown
152
Andros Promotes the First
American Revolution
• Opposition to English control of the colonial
economies started to grow
• In 1686, the Dominion of New England was
created to bolster the colonial defense
against Indians and tying the colonies closer
to Britain by enforcing the hated Navigation
Acts.
• The acts forbade American trade with
countries other than Britain. As a result,
smuggling became common.
153
Sir Edmund Andros
The Tyrant
• Head of the
Dominion of New
England
• Establishing his
headquarters in
Boston, he openly
showed his
association with the
locally hated Church
of England.
154
• Andros responded
to opposition by:
• curbing town
meetings
• restricting the courts
and the press
• and revoking all land
titles.
• taxed the people
without their
consent
155
The Glorious Revolution
Stops the Dominion
• At the same time, the people of England
staged the Glorious Revolution, instating
William and Mary to the crown
• The change in leadership led to the collapse
of the Dominion of New England
• The Massachusetts charter of 1691 allowed
all landowners to vote, as opposed to the
previous law of voting belonging only to the
church members
156
New Netherlands Becomes the
Dutch Wedge
• In the 17th Century, the Netherlands revolted
against Spain, and with help of Britain, gained
their independence.
• The Dutch East India Company was
established, with an army of 10,000 men and
a fleet of 190 ships (including 40 men-ofwar).
• In 1609, Henry Hudson ventured into
Delaware and New York Bay and claimed the
area for the Netherlands.
157
• The Dutch West India Company bought
Manhattan Island for some worthless trinkets
(22,000 acres of the most valuable land in the
world today).
• New Amsterdam was a company town, run
for the and in the interests of the Dutch West
India Company stockholders.
• The Dutch gave patroonships (large areas of
land) to promoters who agreed to settle at
least 50 people on them.
• New Amsterdam attracted people of all types
and races.
158
Friction with English and
Swedish Neighbors
• Trouble for the Dutch
• Indian’s attacked the Dutch for their cruelties.
• New England was hostile against Dutch
growth (calling it a wedge between English
territory)
• Things got so bad that the Dutch erected a
wall in New Amsterdam, for which Wall Street
is named today.
159
Claiming the Dutch Colony
• In 1664, English King Charles II granted the
Dutch land to his brother, the Duke of York
and sent troops to claim the land
• Peter Stuyvesant , the unpopular governor of
New Netherland’s, called for colonists to
defend the colony, but no one responded
• New Netherlands surrendered to the British
without a shot being fired
• New Netherlands was renamed New York.
160
The Dutch Legacy
• Dutch names of cities remained, like Harlem,
Brooklyn, and Hell Gate.
• Even their architecture left its mark on
buildings.
• The Dutch also gave us Easter eggs, Santa
Claus, waffles, sauerkraut, bowling, sleighing,
skating, and golf
161
162