American History I

Unit OneEuropean Exploration and Expansion

EQ: Who were the first inhabitants of the Americas?

• Nomadic hunters from northeast Asia• Crossed the land bridge (Beringia) during the Ice

Age (15,000 to 30,000 years ago)• Land bridge connected Asia and present day Alaska• Descendants of early settlers moved south and east

across the Americas• Agricultural revolution in Mesoamerica (southern

Mexico and Central America) 9,000-10,000 years ago

• Learned to cultivate crops

Olmec• Believed to be the first to create a civilization in Mesoamerica, 1500 to 1200

B.C.• Located in the area of present day Vera Cruz, Mexico• Olmec society had large villages, temple complexes, pyramids, large sculpted

monuments, standing 8 feet high, weighing 20 tons• Olmec culture lasted until 300 B.C.• Olmec ideas spread across Mesoamerica• Peoples influenced by the Olmec constructed the city of Teotihuacan just

northeast of present day Mexico City, near a volcano• Large deposits of obsidian, volcanic glass- valuable material, sharp strong edges

used to make tools and weapons• Peoples of Teotihuacan established large network of trade based on obsidian• City lasted from 300 B.C. to A.D. 650- influenced the development of

Mesoamerica

Maya• A.D. 200 Yucatan Peninsula• Maya civilization expanded into Central America and southern Mexico• Skilled in engineering and mathematics• Complex and accurate calendars based on stellar positions• Temple pyramids- center of Maya cities (Tikal and Chichen Itza)• Some pyramids 200 feet tall• At the top of each pyramid was a temple, used by priests to perform

ceremonies to the Maya gods (polytheism)• Maya linked by common culture and trade, not truly united• City-states controlled own territory• Different city-states often went to war

• A.D. 900 Maya left cities in the Yucatan- believed that the exodus occurred due to lack of food from overuse of the land- led to famine, riots and collapse of cities or they Maya fell victim to invaders from the north

• Maya cities in Guatemala lasted for several hundred years, by the 1500s in a state of decline

Toltec and Aztec• Toltec people constructed the city of Tula north of the Maya

civilization• master architects; large pyramids, palaces with pillared halls• First Americans to use gold and copper in art and jewelry• A.D. 1200 fell to northern invaders (Chichimec)• Mexica (Chichimec peoples), constructed the city of Tenochititlan

1325 where Mexico City sits today• Mexica took the name Aztec, created an empire• Conquered neighboring cities- used military to control trade and

force the payment of tribute from the conquered cities• Used conquered people in religious ceremonies as human sacrifices• 1500s estimated 5 million people under Aztec rule

Inca• Andes Mountains, Peru in South America• Civilization lasted 300 years• Oral tradition, no written language• Polytheistic• gods attached to natural objects; sun, moon, and earth• Believed emperors were descended from the Sun god Inti- similar to the Egyptian

Pharaohs• Greatest achievement was architecture• 1438, Emperor Pachacutec engaged in aggressive military expansion- created the

most powerful nation in South America• Empire split into two factions after the death of Pachacutec, each faction led by

one of his sons• Division led to civil war, ended 1532, same year that the Spanish conquistadors

arrived, defeated the Inca, melted down gold and silver Inca metalwork

Hohokam• North of Mesoamerica agricultural technology spread into the

American southwest and up the Mississippi River• A.D. 300 south central Arizona the Hohokam constructed irrigation

canals using the Gila and Salt Rivers as a water supply• Irrigation canals moved water hundreds of miles to Hohokam farms• Grew corn, cotton, beans, and squash• Made pottery decorated with turquoise, used cactus juices to etch

shells• Hohokam culture lasted for over 1,000 years• 1300s began to abandon irrigation systems, most likely due to floods

and more competition for farmland• Hohokam had left the region by 1500

Anasazi• A.D. 700-900 people living in the Four Corners (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and

New Mexico meet) developed a culture• Navajo called them the Anasazi or ancient ones- called “ancestral Puebloan”

today• Dry desert area, gathered water by constructing a series of basins and ditches

to channel rain into stone-lined depressions• A.D. 850 – 1100 Anasazi lived in Chaco Canyon in present day northwestern

New Mexico- built multistory structures of adobe and cut stone• The buildings had connecting passageways and circular ceremonial rooms- kivas• Spanish explorers called the structures pueblos- Spanish for village• People who built them called Pueblo people• Anasazi built pueblos where streams and rainwater ran together• Pueblo Bonito had 600 rooms- housed a minimum of 1,000 people

• At Mesa Verde the Anasazi built cliff dwellings• A.D. 1130 Chaco Canyon endured a 50+ year

drought• Drought most likely made the Anasazi leave

the pueblos• Mesa Verde pueblos lasted another 200 years,

abandoned in 1270s due to drought

Peoples of the American Southwest

• European contact with the Americas, 50 + groups resided in the arid Southwest

• Zuni, Hopi, and other Pueblo peoples• Corn vital to survival in arid climate- long taproot, corn could reach

moisture deeper in the soil• Squash and beans also staple crops• Division of labor by gender, men: farmed, ceremonies, moccasins, wove

clothing and blankets, women: meals, pottery and baskets, carried water• Men and women shared the task of harvesting crops and building

housing• A.D. 1200-1500 Apache and Navajo arrived in the area from the

northwest

• Arrival may have led to the migration of the Chichimec into Mexico where they formed the Aztec empire

• Apache remained nomadic hunters• Navajo learned agricultural skills from the

Pueblo and lived in dispersed settlements

Mississippian Culture• A.D. 700-900, agricultural advancement: technology and new strains of

maize and beans spread north from Mexico up the Mississippi River• Led to emergence of the Mississippian culture• Mississippi River Valley- floodplain contained rich soil suited to intensive

cultivation of maize and beans• Skilled builders, city of Cahokia (near St. Louis, Missouri) at its peak A.D.

1050-1250 covered 5 square miles, 100 flat topped pyramids and mounds- estimated 16,000 people

• Pole and thatch houses spread over 2,000 acres• Monks Mound, largest pyramid 100 feet high, four levels, covered 16

acres, more than any pyramid in Egypt or Mexico• Wall of logs, watchtowers, gates surrounded central plaza and larger

pyramids

• Mississippian culture spread across the American South- gave rise to at least three flat-topped mounds: Spiro, Oklahoma, Moundville, Alabama, Etowah, Georgia

• Mississippian culture spread north and west along the Ohio, Missouri, Red, and Arkansas Rivers

Southeast Peoples• A.D. 1300 the population of Cahokia declined• Reasons:• -attack by other Native Americans• -population too large to support, famine and emigration• -city hit by epidemic• Mississippian Culture survived in the Southeast until the arrival of the Europeans• Southeast peoples lived in towns, buildings around a central plaza, stockades

surrounded towns, moats and earthen walls also used• Houses made of poles covered with grass, mud, thatch• Women farmed, men hunted• Cherokee largest group, located western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee ,

20,000 lived in 60 towns at the time of European arrival• Other Southeastern peoples: Choctaw, Chickasaw, Natchez, Creek (largestgroup in

50 villages spread across Georgia and Alabama)

Great Plains• European arrival Great Plains peoples nomadic• Recently gave up farming• Until 1500s Great Plains influenced by Mississippian Culture- lived near rivers,

planted corn, found wood to build homes• Around 1500 western Plains peoples left homes, became nomads• Reasons:• -war, drought, • Eastern Plains peoples, Pawnee, Kansas, Iowa continued to farm and hunt• Nomadic western Plains Sioux hunted migrating herds of buffalo on foot, lived in

conical tents- tepees• Great Plains life changed with the domestication of horses• Horses brought to Americas by the Spanish in 1500s, horses escaped or were

stolen, spread northward, reached Great Plains• Sioux mastered the horses, became the great mounted hunters and warriors

Algonquian Peoples• 1500s, one million square miles of woodlands east of the Mississippi River and

south of the Great Lakes• Supported a large diverse plant and animal population• Woodlands peoples hunted, fished, farmed• Deer in large numbers = regular supply of meat in addition to corn, beans, and

squash, deer hides used for clothing• Most peoples of the Northeast belonged to either the people of the Algonquian

language or the Iroquois language• Algonquian lived in New England: Wampanoag in Massachusetts, Narragansett

in Rhode Island, Pequot in Connecticut, Powhatten Confederacy of Viriginia• New England Native Americans among the first to encounter English settlers• Delaware lived near the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey

• Shawnee of the Ohio River Valley• Algonquian words in use today: succotash, hominy,

moccasin, papoose• Peoples of the Northeast practiced slash and• burn agriculture- cut forest, burned wood, left• nitrogen rich ashes- ashes worked into soil, soil farmed,

exhausted the soil, moved to new area• Housing consisted of rectangular longhouses, barrel roofs

made of bark or wigwams (conical shaped or dome-shaped) formed by using bent poles covered with hides or bark

Iroquois Confederacy• New York, southern Ontario, north to Georgian Bay- Iroquois speaking

peoples• Huron, Neutral Erie, Wenro, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk• Similar cultures, longhouses in large towns, stockades for protection• Women: planted and harvested crops• Men: hunted• Lived in large kinship groups, extended families, headed by elder female of

each kinship group• As many as 10 related families lived in one longhouse• Women held positions of power and importance• All 50 chiefs of the Iroquois ruling council were men, women who headed

kinship groups selected the council members, appointed for life, could be removed by women if they disagreed with actions

• Women had political influence• War occurred often among Iroquois• Late 1500s five nations in western New York, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga,

Oneida, and Mohawk formed an alliance to keep peace and oppose common enemy the Huron living across the Niagara River

• Alliance known as the Iroquois Confederacy-Europeans called five nations the Iroquois

• Iroquois tradition Dekanawidah (shaman or tribal elder) and Hiawatha, chief of the Mohawk founded the

confederacy , feared war was destroying the five nations when the Huron threatened all five nations

Five nations agreed to Great Binding Law- oral constitution that outlined how the confederacy would work

The Spice Trade And The Age of Exploration

• Video clip

EQ: Why did many of the nations of Europe engage in exploration?

• Europe controlled and unified socially and politically by the Roman Empire

• A.D. 500 Roman political and economic system collapsed• Western Europe no longer connected to the rest of the

world• Western Europe saw a decline in trade• No unifying political system in place, people lived in

manors/villages ruled by local lords • Lords kept the peace on lands they controlled• A.D. 500-1500 = the Middle Ages

Religious Factors• Europe was politically fragmented but religiously unified

under the Roman Catholic Church, led by the Pope in Rome, Italy

• The Church persecuted heretics, nonbelievers, and followers of older “pagan” religions

• 1095, Pope Urban II called for the freeing of Christian Holy sites in the Middle East from Muslim control = the Crusades

• Crusades brought Europeans into contact with Arabs in the Middle East

Social Factors• Most Europeans lived under harsh conditions• Rural people survived on bread and porridge, seasonal

vegetables, and on occasion meat or fish• Disease was a problem, 1/3rd of all children died before their

fifth birthday, about 50% of the population reached adulthood

• Famines hit the countryside• Bubonic plague = The Black Death arrived from Asia 1347-

1353 wiped out a third of the European population• Disease led to famine and violence, groups fought for shares

of a shrinking economy

Economic Factors

• Labor costs, interest rates, government policy, taxes, and management

• Europeans began to trade with Middle Eastern Arabs• Europeans bought luxury goods; spices, melons,

sugar, tapestries, and silk• Demand for East Asian goods increased• The Italian city states of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa

became wealthy moving goods from the Middle East to Western Europe

• 1400s; rise of towns, merchant classes provided monarchs a new source of wealth they could tax

• Monarchs used militaries to open up and protect trade routes, enforce uniform trade laws, and created a common currency for kingdoms

• Trade revenue allowed monarchs to escape dependency on nobles• Monarchs unified kingdoms, creation of strong central governments• Middle 1400s; Portugal, Spain, England, and France were strong states• The Arab traders had a monopoly on the spice trade with India• Starting with Portugal in early 1400s, all four states financed

exploration, goal was to expand trade, find new route to Asia

Scientific Factors

• Political and economic changes prompted exploration- needed technology to launch successful expeditions

• To find water route to Asia, needed:– Navigational instruments– Ships able to travel long distances

• As monarchs were unifying kingdoms in Western Europe an intellectual movement (The Renaissance 1350-1600) began

• Renaissance led to new scientific and technological advances, artistic flowering, rebirth of interest in ancient Greece and Rome

• European scholars rediscovered the works of ancient poets, philosophers, geographers, and mathematicians- also read the teachings of Arab scholars

• Renewed interest in the past- led to renewed commitment to reason which led to a scientific revolution

• Study of Arab texts led to knowledge of the astrolabe, invented by ancient Greeks, improved by the Arab navigators- used the position of the sun to determine direction, latitude, and local time

• Europeans also acquired the compass from the Arab traders, invented in China- compass reliably shows the direction of magnetic north

• Navigational tools critical to exploration• Most important requirement = a ship able to travel long

distances• Late 1400s, European shipwrights outfitted ships with

triangular-shaped lateen sails, perfected by the Arab traders• These new sails made it possible for ships to sail against the

wind• Shipwrights used multiple masts with smaller sails mounted

one above the other = faster ships, moved the rudder from the side of the ship to the stern, ships easier to steer

• 1400s, Portuguese ship the caravel used all of the improvements in ship construction

• Small ship able to carry 130 tons of cargo• Needed little water in order sail, allowed

exploration into shallow inlets and to beach the vessel to make repairs

Portuguese• Portuguese first to explore sea route to Asia• 1419- Prince Henry the Navigator established a center for

astronomical and geographical studies at Sagres, Portugal• Had mapmakers, astronomers, shipbuilders from the

Mediterranean region come to study and plan expeditions• 1420, Portuguese mapped Africa’s west coast• 1488, Bartholomeu Dias reached the southern tip of Africa• 1498 Vasco da Gama led an expedition of four ships from

Portugal and reached the southwest coast of India- sea route to India established

Slaves and Sugar

• The institution of slavery existed in Africa as well as other areas worldwide

• African slaves captured in war, ransomed back or absorbed into captors societies

• West African slavery changed with the arrival of Arab traders, exchanged horses, cotton, other goods for slaves

• 1400s Portuguese and Spanish sugar plantations on the Canary and Madeira Islands needed labor source for the labor intensive production of sugarcane

EQ: Why did Europeans come to the Americas ?

• The mapped world in the 1400s consisted of Europe, the Mediterranean, Middle East, and the north coast of Africa

• Did believe the world was round• The work of Claudius Ptolemy (Geography, A.D. 100s)

influenced European geographers, his system of latitude and longitude still in use today

• Arab geographer al-Idrisi, 1154 published a geographical survey of the world known to Europeans and Arabs at that time

• Studying maps of Ptolemy and al-Idrisi gave western European explorers an idea of the geography of eastern African coast and the Indian Ocean

Columbus

• Ptolemy did underestimate the size of the circumference of the earth

• Italian mariner, Christopher Columbus based his calculations on those of Ptolemy and felt Spain and India were not far apart

• Columbus needed financing for his expedition across the Atlantic to Asia- searched for six unsuccessful years for financial backing

• 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain backed his venture

• Columbus set sail west for Asia with the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria August, 1492

• Reached the Bahamas in October- probable around present day San Salvador Island

• Columbus encountered the Taino peoples• Called them “Indians” thought he had reached the Indies• Moved into the Caribbean searching for gold• Discovered the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola• Returned to Spain March, 1493• Carried gold, parrots, spices, and Native Americans• Ferdinand and Isabella pleased with Columbus’ success and ready to

finance additional expeditions

• Spain involved in a competition with Portugal which had claimed control over the Atlantic route to Asia

• Both nations appealed to Pope Alexander VI to settle the dispute• 1493 the Pope devised a line of demarcation to divide control of

the Atlantic, Spain control west of the line, Portugal control east of the line

• 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas approved by both nations- Portugal controlled route around Africa to India- upheld Spain’s claim to most of the Americas

• Columbus headed back to the Americas with 17 ships and 1,200 Spanish colonists- had been promised gold

• Columbus explored Hispaniola, found loose gold to make mining viable

• Enslaved local Taino people, forced them to mine gold and plant crops

• 1496, Columbus returned to Spain, his brother founded the town of Santo Domingo on the south coast of Hispaniola, close to gold mines

• Santo Domingo, first capital of the Spanish American empire• Columbus made two more trips, mapped coastline of Central

and South America- died without the riches he had hoped to find

Vespucci

• 1499, Italian, Amerigo Vespucci sailed under the Spanish flag, repeated the western voyage of Columbus looking for Asia

• Explored coast of South America- thought he had reached the outer edge of Asia

• 1501, sailed for Portugal along the coast of South America, realized the land was not part of Asia

• 1507, German mapmaker proposed the continent be named America after Amerigo the discoverer

Ponce de Leon

• 1513, Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de Leon sailed north

• Legend was he searched for the fountain of youth, never found the fountain of youth, did find land of wildflowers and plants

• Claimed land for Spain, named it Florida = land of flowers

Balboa

• 1510 Vasco de Balboa, Hispaniola planter founded a colony on the Isthmus of Panama

• Heard that the “south sea” led to an empire of gold

• Mounted an overland expedition through jungle and swamp until he reached the Pacific coast in 1513- first European to reach the Pacific coast of America

Magellan

• Ferdinand Magellan- Portuguese mariner sailing for Spain discovered the strait at the southern tip of South America (named after him)

• Navigated the stormy narrow Strait of Magellan• Found calm seas, named the waters Mare

Pacificum = “peaceful seas”• Magellan killed in the Philippine Islands- his crew

continued west, arrived in Spain in 1522, first to successfully circumnavigate the world

EQ: What role did religion play in exploration and colonization?

• New Spain• 1519, Hernan Cortes sailed from Cuba to explore the

Yucatan Peninsula, 11 ships, 550 men, 16 horses• Cortes attacked when landing in the Yucatan• Spanish outnumbered, had superior military power;

swords and crossbows, guns, and cannons- easily killed over 200 native warriors

• Peace offering; natives gave Cortes 20 women, among them Malinche, helped Cortes with translation, Cortes had her baptized; called her Dona Maria

• Cortes heard how the Aztecs had conquered many peoples and were at war with other peoples including the Tlaxcalan

• Cortes proposed an alliance with the Tlaxcalan against the Aztecs• His military helped Cortes gain the support of the Tlaxcalan, who

had never seen horses, nor Spanish cannon• Aztec emperor Montezuma believed in the prophecy that

Quetzalcoatl a fair skinned bearded deity would return to conquer the Aztec

• Montezuma did not know if Cortes was Quetzalcoatl, did send representatives promising a yearly payment to the Spanish if Cortes stopped his advance

• Cortes refused, the Spanish and Tlaxaclan advanced- Montezuma attempted an ambush at the city of Cholula

• Cortes had advance warning, struck first, killed over 6,000 Cholulans

• Montezuma saw Cortes as unstoppable, allowed Spanish troops to enter Tenochtitlan peacefully

• City sat on an island in the middle of the lake• Larger than most cities in Europe, over 200,000

residents, systems of canals, center of city a large double pyramid and a rack displaying thousands of human skulls

• Cortes surrounded by thousands of Aztec, took Montezuma hostage

• Upon Cortes’ orders human sacrifices halted and the statues of Aztec gods replaced with Christian crosses and images of the Virgin Mary

• Aztec priests angry, organized a rebellion in 1520, battle lasted days; Spanish retreated to Tlaxcala- over 450 Spaniards and over 4,000 Aztec died- including Montezuma

• Smallpox outbreak occurred, disease ran rampant in Tenochtitlan• Cortes returned in 1521, destroyed the city, upon the ruins the

Spanish built Mexico City the capital of the colony of New Spain

Three “Gs”• Cortes sent out several expeditions to conquer the rest of Central America• Leaders of the expeditions were conquistadors• Looked for Gold• Converted natives to God• Sought Glory• 1526, Francisco Pizarro reached Peru• 1532, Pizarro returned to Peru with small group of infantry- superior

weapons- plundered the Inca Empire• 1540, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado looked north of New Spain for the

Seven Golden Cities of Cibola• Explored the region between the Colorado River and the Great Plains- no

cities of gold, found windswept plains and “shaggy cows” (buffalo)

• Hernando de Soto explored north of Florida into present day North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas

• Crossed the region killed local people, raided villages for food

• De Soto fell ill, died- his men abandoned the mission, went home

EQ: How did colonization efforts vary among the Spanish, the French, and the English in the New World?

• No gold or wealth in the regions north of New Spain- Spanish settlement of the region was slow

• 1598, settlers led by Juan de Onate pushed north of the Rio Grande River• When they reached the Rio Grande, survivors gave thanks to God in the

form of a feast- “Spanish Thanksgiving” still celebrated in April in El Paso, Texas

• Area north of New Spain called New Mexico- built presidios (forts) to protect settlers and serve as trading posts

• Few Spaniards settled in the region• The Catholic Church began to colonize the Southwest• 1600s and 1700s Spanish priests built missions to spread Christian faith to

Navajo and Pueblo peoples of the Southwest

• 1769, Franciscan missionaries led by father Junipero Serra took control of California- string of missions from San Diego to north of San Francisco

• California priests and missionaries forced the native populations to live in villages near the missions

• New Mexico; priests and missionaries adapted to attempt to fit in with lifestyle of the Pueblo

• Built churches near where the Pueblo lived/farmed• Spanish priest attempted to end traditional Pueblo religious practice in

conflict with Catholic beliefs• Whipped/beat Pueblo who defied them• Pueblo religious leader, Pope’ organized an uprising in 1680• 17,000 warriors destroyed most of the missions in New Mexico• Took the Spanish over 10 years to regain control

Spanish American Society• Cortes gave his men control over some of the towns within

the Aztec Empire• This started the econmienda system• Each deserving Spaniard was made a (encomendero)

commissioner- control over a group of villages• Villages paid a share of their harvest and worked part-time for

free for the encomendero, who was to provide protection and convert them to Christianity

• Many encomenderos abused power, worked natives to death• New Spain structured society based on birth, income, and

education

• Peninsulares, born in Spain- top government/church positions• Criollos- born in colonies to Spanish parents- wealthy but held lesser

positions• Mestizos- people of Spanish and Native American parents (frontier of

inclusion)- social status varied, most poor- lowest class with other people of mixed ancestry, Native Americans, and Africans

• People of the lowest class provided most of the labor for the farms, mines, ranches of New Spain

• 1540s Spanish discovered silver in northern Mexico- mining camps used Native American labor- dark, damp mineshafts- explosions, cave-ins killed many miners- others died from exhaustion- many mothers killed children at birth rather than have them face the harsh life

• To feed miners, Spanish established large cattle ranches = haciendas

Columbian Exchange

• From America to Europe:• -corn, peppers, cocoa, beans, disease (syphilis),

tobacco, squash and pumpkins, tomatoes, peanuts, and potatoes

• From Europe to America:• -horses, pigs, cattle, disease (small pox, flu,

measles), honeybees, bananas, coffee, citrus fruit, grains, sugarcane, and West African slaves

New France• 1524; King Francis I sent Giovanni da Verrazano to find a Northwest Passage-

northern route thru North America to the Pacific• Verrazano explored the Atlantic Coast, NC to Newfoundland- no passage• 1534; Jacques Cartier made three trips- explored and mapped the St. Lawrence

River• 1602; King Henry IV of France allowed a group French merchants to create a

colony• Merchants hired Samuel de Champlain to aid them• 1608; Champlain founded Quebec- capital of New France• Merchants wanted to profit from the fur trade- did not need settlers to clear

land and farm• New France grew slowly- most fur traders made homes among Native

Americans (frontier of inclusion)• Jesuit missionaries (Black Robes) lived among local peoples

• 1663; King Louis XIV made New France a royal colony- sent 4,000 settlers• 1670s; New France almost 7,000 settlers, by 1760 60,000• As New France grew exploration continued in North America• 1673 fur trader Louis Joliet and Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette searched for the

waterway called the “Big River” by the Algonquian• Found the Mississippi River- 1682 Rene-Robert Cavelier de la Salle followed the

Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico- claimed the region for France, named the area Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV

• Geography of lower Mississippi slowed settlement, heat caused food to spoil, mosquito filled swamps made climate unhealthy

• First permanent French settlement in Louisiana was Biloxi in 1699• Mobile, New Orleans followed• French found sugar, rice, and indigo could be grown in Louisiana- needed large

labor source- imported enslaved Africans to work plantations

• Spanish worried about the French in North America- founded St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 to stop French attempts to settle the Carolinas

• St. Augustine prospered and became the first permanent town est. by Europeans in area that would become the US

• Arrival of French at the mouth of the Mississippi River made the Spanish build a mission in East Texas, San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690- Spanish settlers arrived in 1716 to hold Spain’s claim and block French expansion into East Texas

• John Cabot- 1479, searched coast of North America for sea route to China

• 80 years after Cabot’s expedition English made no attempt to settle in America

• Cabot found no valuable resources to encourage migration

• Late 1500s religious, economic, and political change led to England establishing colonies in North America

Protestant Reformation• The Roman Catholic Church controlled most of Western Europe until

1517• Martin Luther, German monk published an attack on the Church,

accusations of corruption• Luther called for reform, led to the Protestant Reformation• Catholic Church excommunicated Luther, his ideas spread• 1527, England, King Henry VII asked the Pope for an annulment of

his marriage to Catherine of Aragon• The Pope refused, King Henry broke with the Church and named

himself the head of the Church of England, arranged his own divorce• The new church was the Anglican Church- was Protestant, church

organization and practices kept many Catholic elements

• English citizens were divided over the Church of England, some supported, others wanted additional reforms

• Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican Church of the Catholic elements

• Disapproved of the monarch holding the power to appoint bishops to run the church

• Believed the congregation should elect its own leaders• Puritan setback, 160s, James I became king, King James was

Protestant, refused any changes to the structure of the Anglican Church

• This made many Puritans leave England for America

Economic Change• English nobles owned large estates, rented land to tenant farmers• 1500s, large market for wool developed• Landowners made more profit by evicting tenants, enclosing the land, raising sheep• Thousands of tenant farmers homeless and poor• England’s population growing in the 1500s• English leaders decided colonies were needed to provide land and work for the

growing number of unemployed• Wool market had a second impact on American colonization- to sell woolen

products merchants joined together and issued stock = some organized joint stock companies

• By combining and selling stock, raise large amounts of capital to fund major projects• Joint stock companies could bear the cost of establishing colonies around the world

England Turns to America• Looking to engage in the Asia trade, English merchants continued

to look for a water route through North America to Asia• England also looked to North America due to a growing

competition with Spain• England the strongest Protestant nation• Spain the strongest Catholic nation• Spain moved to suppress Protestantism in the Netherlands, English

Queen Elizabeth I authorized English privateers to attack Spanish shipping

• To attack the Spanish shipping in the Caribbean, England needed outposts in America- Elizabeth agreed but early attempts were not good

• 1578 & 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert attempted and failed to establish a colony• Gilbert lost at sea, half-brother Walter Raleigh sent two ships to survey the

coastline of North America• Coast of present day N.C. found an island the Native Americans called

Roanoke• Queen Elizabeth granted Raleigh knighthood, he had named the colony

Virginia in honor of Elizabeth “the Virgin Queen”• Raleigh sent settlers to Roanoke Island in 1585 and again in 1587• First group went back to England after a hard winter• The second group had disappeared by the time English ships returned in 1590 • The cause of the delay in sending ships back to Roanoke was due to the

Spanish Armada

Spanish Armada• Spanish Armada sailed from Spain July, 1588• The Armada was to overthrow protestant England led by Queen Elizabeth I• Spain controlled the Spanish Netherlands, included present day Holland and

Belgium• Holland wanted independence- did not like having to adopt the Catholic religion• Protestant ideas had taken root in Holland, many were secret Protestants• Lives in danger if they publicly pronounced Protestant beliefs• Spain used secret religious police called the Inquisition to hunt for Protestants• Under Elizabeth England helped the Dutch Protestants in Holland- angered

Philip II of Spain who wanted English aid stopped• Philip for a short time had been married to Elizabeth’s half-sister Mary- married

when England was Catholic• If England was under Philip’s control, he could control the English Channel and

his ships would enjoy and easy safe passage to the Spanish Netherlands

• Spanish troops in the Spanish Netherlands could be easily re-supplied• English “Sea Dogs” led by Sir Francis Drake were taking/sinking Spanish

silver ships in the Caribbean- Spanish wanted this to stop• 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was executed under order by Queen Elizabeth-

Mary Queen of Scots was Catholic- Philip II a duty to ensure no more Catholics were arrested in England, no more executed

• Mary Queen of Scots had made clear her intention that if she were to become Queen of England Philip II would inherit the throne upon her death

• The Armada was not a secret- Spain purchased an enormous amount of cannon, gunpowder, swords, weapons of war from whomever they could

• Armada sailed July 19, 1588 – 130 ships, included were 22 fighting galleons• Armada faced little opposition as it sailed on Cornwall, England July 29,

1588

• London had warning that the Armada was nearing the English coastline

• Armada in the English Channel, it was attacked by Sir Francis Drake, the attack did little damage

• Armada low on ammunition- trapped in the English Channel- sailed north to Scotland- encountered an epic storm- lost many ships

• 67 ships returned to Spain out of 130• English lost no ships and 100 men• Spain no longer had a naval advantage over the English

Jamestown

• Video clip

Chesapeake Colonies• 1606 Virginia Company received a grant from King James I• Stockholders had permission to start colonies in Virginia• Company sent 3 ships and 144 men to Virginia in late 1606• Hard ocean voyage- ships made it into the Chesapeake Bay, spring 1607• 104 men survived the trip- built a settlement on the James River, named the

settlement Jamestown after James I• Most of the colonists knew nothing about survival in the woods• No knowledge of fishing, hunting, or farming• “gentlemen” among the group refused to do manual labor• Lawlessness, sickness, food shortages occurred• Late 1607 winter coming, colony low on food, Captain John Smith bartered

goods for food with the Powhatan Confederacy- trade with the Confederacy enabled the colony to survive the next two winters

• Attract more settlers, the Virginia Company offered land to any who worked for the colony for 7 years

• 400 new settlers came to Jamestown in 1609• Too many settlers for the food supplies- could not grow more before winter• Settlers raided food stores of the Native Americans• Powhatan cut off trade with the colony- warriors attacked settlers• Most of the colonists came for gold or to find Northwest Passage to the Indies• Winter 1609-1610 = “the starving time” settlers went to extremes to survive• Spring 1610- 60 settlers left alive• Survivors abandoned the colony and went downriver• Met three English ships carrying supplies and 150 more settlers and the new governor

Lord De La Warr- convinced remaining settlers to stay• Governor’s deputy Thomas Dale wrote a harsh code of laws• Settlers put into work gangs- work a minimum of 6 hours a day• Death penalty for rape, swearing, desertion, theft, lying, and disrespect of the Bible

Jamestown and Tobacco• Jamestown had to make a profit for the Virginia Company• Turned to agriculture- cash crops• Tobacco had become popular in Europe• Jamestown attempted to grow tobacco- local variety was bitter• John Rolfe grew tobacco with seeds from Trinidad, developed new

method to cure tobacco• 1614 Rolfe sent first shipment to England- sold for a good price-

settlers planted large quantities• In order to profit tobacco had to be planted on a large scale- first

plantations- required large labor force• First successful cash crop in the South, Virginia, Maryland, North

Carolina

Indentured Servants• Early colonial period lots of land not enough workers- England lots of

workers not enough land due to the enclosure movement• Many left England for America in hopes of acquiring land• Came to America as indentured servants- not a slave but not entirely free• 75% of English migrants to the Chesapeake came as indentured servants• A person would buy a servant’s contract- provide the cost of getting to

America, food, clothing, shelter- in return the servant would work for a set number of years- usually 4-7 years

• Indentured servants could produce 5 times the price of their contracts in tobacco in the first year of the contract

• Almost 50% of the indentured servants who arrived in Virginia and Maryland died before earning freedom-(malaria and dysentery) those that did survive less than 50% got their own land

Virginia House of Burgesses

• 1618, Virginia Company let colonists elect group to make laws

• Jamestown first general assembly met in Jamestown church on July 30, 1619

• Governor- six councilors- 20 representatives- two from each of the colonies 10 towns

• Representatives called Burgesses• First representative democracy in America

Headrights

• To encourage settlement the Virginia Company put in place a system of headrights

• Settlers who paid own way to Virginia got 50 acres of land for each member of the family over 15 and for each servant transported to Virginia

• Headrights allowed planters to benefit from bringing indentured servants to Virginia

Jamestown and Slaves

• 1619 a Dutch slave ship sailed up the James River to Jamestown for supplies

• Jamestown residents purchased 20 African men as “Christian servants” not slaves

• Within a few short years enslaved West Africans were coming to Jamestown to be purchased

Frontiers of Exclusion

• Little need to incorporate Native Americans into the English population as workers or marriage partners

Settlement and the Powhatans• The Powhatans were pushed to give up more land to the colonists

for tobacco production• Chief Opechancanough prepared his people for battle to run the

English out of the area• Opechancanough received support from Nemattanew, native

shaman- instructed followers to reject English and their way of life• First of many Native resistance movements led jointly by strong

political and religious figures• Nemattanew murdered by colonists March 1622• Native uprising started two weeks later on Good Friday- surprised

English• 347 people killed- almost 1/3rd of Virginia’s colonial population

• Colonists managed to hold on during a 10 year war of attrition

• Powhatans sued for peace in 1632• The war sent the Virginia Company into bankruptcy,

1624 the King turned Virginia into a royal colony with civil authorities appointed by the crown

• Did continue the practice of property-owing colonists electing representatives to the House of Burgesses which held the power over taxes and finances

Maryland• Catholics subject to persecution in England because they did

not accept the king as the head of the Church• Seen as traitors who would help Catholic nations overthrow

the English monarch• Catholics could not practice law or teach school- fined for not

attending Anglican Church services• George Calvert Lord Baltimore (Catholic) to found a colony in

America as a refuge for Catholics• 1632 King Charles granted Calvert land northeast of Virginia-

Calvert named the colony Maryland• Calvert owned Maryland = proprietary colony

• Proprietor had virtually unlimited power over the colony

• Appointed government officials, established courts, coined money, imposed taxation, grant lands, create towns, raise an army

• Could not do anything contrary to established English law

• Calvert died just before settlers arrived in Maryland- 1634 20 gentlemen- most Catholic and 200 servants and artisans- mostly Protestant came from England

• Calvert wanted Maryland for Catholics- most of the migrants were Protestants

• Government officials, large landowners were Catholic

• Religious differences led to conflict- to eliminate conflict the Maryland colonial assembly passed the Toleration Act 1649, religious toleration for all Christians, did make the denial of the divinity of Jesus a crime punishable by death

Pilgrims and Puritans

• Separatists- Anglican Church too corrupt to reform- formed their own congregations

• 1608 one group left England for the Netherlands to escape persecution

• These Separatists left the Netherlands because of the loss of cultural identity of their children

• Called Pilgrims- set sail for America in 1620

Plymouth Colony• September 16, 1620- 102 passengers set sail for America

onboard the Mayflower for Virginia• Ran out of food- many ill- one death• November saw land on Cape Cod• Not exactly lost- the area had been mapped by John Smith in

1614 by request of the Virginia Company- Pilgrims had a copy of Smith’s Map of New England- settled in area called Plymouth

• Prior to landing male members of the voyage set up a civil government- where all male members held the right to meet, discuss and vote on laws and ordiances

• Established the first direct democracy in the Americas- meet annually in town meetings

• William Bradford- leader of the colony- Pilgrims went to work constructing a common house

• Settlers built small homes of frame construction and thatched roofs• Plague hit the colony- only 50 survived• The survivors would have died except Squanto (Wampanoag)

showed settlers how to plant corn, where to find fish, and get commodities

• Next autumn, Pilgrims joined with the Wampanoag- three day festival to celebrate the good harvest and thanks to God – basis of Thanksgiving

Massachusetts Bay Colony

• 1625, Charles I on the throne- Puritan persecution increased

• Economic depression in the wool industry• High unemployment- most in the southeastern

counties- area with many Puritans• John Winthrop saw religious and economic

hardship on Puritans• Winthrop and a group of wealthy Puritans were

stockholders in the Massachusetts Bay Company

• Massachusetts Bay Company had a charter from King Charles to start a colony in New England

• Winthrop turned business venture into a refuge for Puritans in America

• 1630 11 ships, 900 settlers• Winthrop “We shall be like a City upon a Hill; the eyes of all

people are on us”• End of 1630 additional 1,000 settlers• Conditions in England worsened, large numbers left- became

the Great Migration• 1643, estimated 20,000 settlers had arrived in New England

• Massachusetts Bay Company charter created the colony’s government

• People who owned stock in the company were “freemen”• Upon arrival in New England all male heads of household

became freemen• Freemen gathered together in the General Court• General Court made laws and elect governor• John Winthrop the first governor• Winthrop ignored the charter, told settlers only he and

his assistants could make laws for the colony

• Winthrop kept charter locked away- settlers did not know he violated charter

• Freemen elected Winthrop in four consecutive elections

• 1634 freemen demanded to see the charter- Winthrop complied

• Reading charter realized General Court was to make laws

• General Court assembled- reorganized government

• General Court became a representative assembly, freemen from each town elected deputies to go to the Court each year

• Each congregation controlled its own church• Only church members could vote and hold office• Puritans separated governance of the church and state• General Court made laws regulating moral behavior and

collected taxes to support churches• Gambling, blasphemy, adultery, and drunkenness were

illegal and had severe punishments

• Puritans intolerant to other religions• Heretics were considered a threat to the community• Ideas that contradicted Puritan beliefs cold be charged with heresy

and banished• -Roger Williams, criticized Puritan leaders, minister in Salem, moved

to Plymouth, returned to Salem in 1632- accused Puritan church leaders of not making a complete break from the Anglican Church

• Wanted more separation of church and state• Denounced the Massachusetts Bay Company charter- king had the

ability to give away Native lands• Williams left before he was banished- 1636 founded Providence-

became part of Rhode Island-

• Williams bought land from the Narragansetts• New colony a haven for Quakers, Separatists, Jews, and peoples of other

religions that were not tolerated in other colonies• Williams promoted freedom of religion- important American principle• -Anne Hutchinson- midwife, wife of a successful merchant, arrived Boston

1634• Anne held meetings with other women and later men to discuss sermons,

express her beliefs, evaluate ministers• Her views on salvation were controversial- heresy to most Puritans• Massachusetts General Court tried her for sedition• Hutchinson refused to repent, “God hath let me see which was the clear

ministry and which the wrong”• Asked how God let her know- “by an immediate revelation”

• Hutchinson was banished• She and her family and followers created a

settlement in Rhode Island (Portsmouth)• 1643 moved to Long Island after the death of

her husband• She, her children, and all but one of her

followers were killed by Native Americans

Salem Witch Trials• “I am but a wife, and therefore it is sufficient for me to follow my

husband”- Lucy Winthrop• Women were subordinate to men• Wives who failed to bear children, widows who were financially

independent brought suspicion upon themselves from their neighbors• Mistrust of women surfaced during the witchcraft scares• 17th century 342 women were accused of being witches• Most of the accused were unmarried, childless, or widowed, or had

reputations among neighbors of being assertive or independent• Most of the cases were dismissed• 1692 Salem, Massachusetts the entire community was in a panic when a

group of girls claimed they had been bewitched by a number of old women

• Before the colonial governor stopped the persecutions in 1693, 20 people had been tried, condemned, and executed

• Salem witchcraft accusations may have reflected social tensions that found an outlet through the attack on people seen as outsiders

• Most of the victims were from the commercial east end of town, most of the accusers were from the economically stagnant west end of town

• Most of the accused were Anglican, Quaker, or Baptist• Majority of victims were old women, suspect because they lived

alone without men• Salem witch trials illustrated the dark side of Puritan ideas about

women

Rhode Island- Colony for Dissenters

• Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts 1635• Massachusetts General Court ordered him deported to England• Williams escaped, along with some followers, bought land from the

Narrangansetts • Founded Providence in 1636• Government had no authority over religious matters• Rhode Island offered religious toleration• Anne Hutchinson, 1637 General Court charged her with heresy, banished her• Founded Portsmouth, Rhode Island• Other dissenting Puritans were banished founded Newport in 1639• Warwick in 1643• Religious freedom important part of the charter of Rhode Island

Expansion of New England• 1636 Rev. Thomas Hooker asked the General Court of

Massachusetts to let him move his congregation to the Connecticut River valley

• Hooker did not like the Massachusetts political system• He did not like that voting was limited to male church members• General Court granted request• Hooker and 100 settlers founded the town of Hartford• 1638 Hooker drafted the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut-

constitution that allowed all adult men, not just church members to vote and hold office- created the colony of Connecticut

• A large area of land north of Massachusetts had been granted to Sir Fernando Gorges and Captain John Mason

• Mason took the southern part- called it New Hampshire• Gorges called his area Maine• Government of Massachusetts claimed both areas• New Hampshire and Maine challenged the claims of Mason

and Gorges in court- 1677 English court ruled against Massachusetts

• 1679 New Hampshire became a royal colony• Massachusetts bought Maine from Gorges’ heirs- Maine part

of Massachusetts until 1820

King Philip’s War• 1637- English settlers and Pequot peoples of New England • Conflict ended- near extermination of the Pequot peoples• Led to a period of peace between settlers and Native

Americans• Fur trade helped with peaceful relationship, allowed Native

Americans to acquire tools, guns, and European goods- exchanged for furs

• 1670s fur trade in decline, colonial governments demanded Native Americans follow English law and custom

• Native American response was anger saw demands as insulting

• Tension peaked 1675, Plymouth Colony arrested, tried, executed three Wampanoag men for murder

• Start of King Philip’s War- , named after Wampanoag leader Metacomet- called King Philip by settlers

• Colonists killed Metacomet, put his head on a pike in 1676- paraded head thru settlements

• King Philip’s War ended in 1678- few Native Americans left in New England

England’s Civil War and the Colonies

• Power struggle in England- King Charles I vs. Parliament• 1642 became an armed conflict- King Charles I sent

troops into the Puritan dominated Parliament to arrest Puritan leaders

• Parliament organized an army- years of battle- Parliament’s army defeated the army of King Charles I and had him beheaded in 1649

• Oliver Cromwell took power and title of “Lord Protector” ruled as a dictator of the new English Commonwealth

• Cromwell died 1658- his son failed in attempts to rule in his place

• Parliament asked Charles II to take the throne• 1660, monarchy restored- English government

started a new round of American colonization

New York and New Jersey

• Between the Chesapeake Colony and the New England colonies lay a Dutch colony

• 1609, Dutch East India Co. hired English navigator Henry Hudson to search for a river that ran thru North America

• Did find a river that would be named for him• Dutch claimed the region, named it New

Netherland- established a settlement called New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island

• Colony slow to grow- fur trade was the primary focus of the colony

• To attract settlers the Dutch allowed anyone from any nation to buy land

• By 1664 the colony had a population of 10,000 plus• Immigrants from the Netherlands, Britain,

Scandinavia, Germany, and France- enslaved Africans in the 1620s

• England and the Netherlands were commercial rivals

• 1664 Charles II took the New Netherlands from the Dutch

• Charles II granted his brother James, Duke of York the land- renamed colony New York

• James also given land between the Delaware Bay and the Connecticut River

• James granted this land to two of Charles II advisors- named it New Jersey

• New Jersey, generous land grants, religious freedom, and right to a legislative assembly

Pennsylvania and Delaware

• Society of Friends (Quakers) faced religious persecution in England

• Charles II owed a debt to the deceased father of William Penn

• Penn, a Quaker- radical group- no need for ministers- Bible less important than each persons “inner light” from God- Quakers practiced religious toleration and pacifism

• 1681, to settle debt Charles II granted William Penn a large tract of land between New York and Maryland

• Penn’s colony- complete political and religious freedom

• Attempted to treat Native Americans fairly- led to years of peaceful relations

• Penn named the capital of the colony Philadelphia- city of brotherly love

• Colonial government allowed and elected assembly, religious freedom, right to vote was limited to Christian men with 50 or more acres of land

• Religious freedom and land brought immigrants from diverse faiths- England, Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Germany

• By 1684 Pennsylvania over 7,000 residents, by 1750 Philadelphia largest city in all of the colonies

• 1682 Penn bought three counties south of Pennsylvania from the Duke of York, became the colony of Delaware

Carolinas• Charles II awarded land between Virginia and Spanish Florida to

eight Lords Proprietors- named the land Carolina- Latin for Charles• Not two different colonies until 1729• NC home to small dispersed population of farmers• Lack of good harbors slowed NC growth• Farmers of NC grew tobacco as a cash crop, also harvest naval

stores- pine tar, pitch, turpentine- pine trees used for masts• Lords Proprietors interested in southern Carolina- cultivate

sugarcane- first settlement Charles Town• Sugarcane did not grow well, early colonists of SC sold deerskins

obtained from Natives, started a slave trade in Native American prisoners of war

Tuscarora War

• Early relations between Carolinas colonists and Native Americans was good

• Problems arose over land, trade, and colonial treatment of Native Americans

• 1711, Tuscarora attacked N.C. colonists along the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers- killed 130 colonists

• N.C. governor Edward Hyde drafted all men ages 16-60, asked for aid- two colonels from S.C. led whites and the Yamasee Indians who won two battles in 1712, crushed Tuscarora in 1713

Yamasee War

• Dishonest trading practices by colonists led to war again

• War started on Good Friday in 1715- involved almost all Native Americans trading with S.C.

• The colonists of S.C. allied themselves with the Cherokee (largest Native American nation)

• War ended by 1716

Georgia• Refuge for the “worthy poor” of England• 1720s, James Oglethorpe, member of Parliament-

investigated prisons in England• Found many in prison were debtors, not really criminals• Oglethrope asked the George II for a colony so the poor could

start life again• 1732, George II made Oglethrope and 19 other

philanthropists trustees for the territory between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers

• Oglethrope named the colony Georgia to honor George II- settlers arrived in 1733

• Georgia banned slavery, rum, and brandy• Limited size of land grants• Still attracted settlers from all over Europe• Settlers did not like strict rules- 1740s the restrictions on

brandy, rum, and slavery ended• 1750, settlers were allowed to elect own assembly• 1751- Georgia became a royal colony• By 1775, 2.5 million lived in England’s thirteen colonies• England successfully built a large, prosperous society on

the east coast of North America

Colonial Life

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Southern Colonies

How did the environmental, and cultural factors influence the

economic, social, and political development of Colonial America?

• Southern Colonies: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland

• Large flat coastal plain• Rolling piedmont• Mountains

• Long growing season- warm climate• Coastal plain suited for the production of cash crops• Coastal Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina rice

and indigo• Coastal regions of Virginia and Maryland tobacco• Piedmont regions of all southern colonies wheat and corn• Large deep rivers, good harbors, largest towns located on

the coast• N.C., naval stores from long leaf pines- pitch, turpentine,

tar, and ship masts

• S.C. tried to grow sugarcane with no success, turned to rice, introduction of a new variety and slave labor from Africa familiar with rice production made rice a major cash crop in S.C. and Ga.

• Planters tried indigo- made a blue dye- was rare and in high demand- very profitable

• Limited success in growing indigo- Eliza Lucas (17 year old) found indigo grew well on high ground with sandy soil- not wetlands- indigo became important cash crop

Southern Society

• Planters at the top• Small farmers in the middle• African slaves at the bottom• All groups linked by an economy based on the

production of cash crops grown for export• Immigrants to the southern colonies hoped to get

rich, few did• Plantation system created a society with distinct

social classes

• Planter elite (southern elite) were few in number- held great economic and political influence

• Served on governing bodies- commanded the militia- were county judges

• Plantations were large, few towns or roads• Plantations were self-sufficient• Buildings were grouped together- had schools,

chapel, workshops for blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers, coopers, leatherworkers

• Most landowners were small farmers, lived in the inland or backcountry region

• Cultivated small plots of land- lived in small houses• Grew tobacco, most practiced subsistence

farming- produce enough to feed families• Landless tenant farmers constituted a large group• Land easy to get, many settlers and former

indentured servants could not afford the cost of the deed, land survey, tools, seed, and livestock

• Worked land they rented from the planter elite

• Tenant farmers had hard lives but higher social status than indentured servants

Bacon’s Rebellion

• 1660s Virginia- planter elite controlled the colonial government

• Governor Sir William Berkeley led the planter elite• Berkeley had majority support in the House of Burgesses

and worked to restrict the right to vote to people who owned property- cut number of eligible voters in half

• Berkeley arranged to have himself and his supporters exempted from taxation

• Berkeley’s actions angered backcountry and tenant farmers

• Governor’s Native American policies led to a rebellion• Land was the goal of most colonists• Indentured servants and tenant farmers wanted to own

land• Backcountry farmers wanted more land• 1670s most uncultivated land belonged to the Native

Americans in the Piedmont region• Planter elite lived in the coastal region (Tidewater)• No interest in backcountry- did not want to endanger

plantations by going to war with the Native Americans

• Planter elite opposed expanding Virginia territory into Native American lands

• 1675, war- backcountry settlers and the Susquehannock people

• Governor Berkeley refused any military action• Backcountry farmers angered- April, 1676 Nathaniel Bacon,

successful planter on the governor’s council took action to help the backcountry settlers

• Organized his own militia, attacked the Susquehannock- won a seat in the House of Burgesses which approved another attack on the Native Americans

• Restored the vote to all free white men and took away tax exemptions for the governor and his supporters

• Bacon did not feel the reforms did enough• Marched to Jamestown in July, 1676 with several hundred

armed men and charged Berkeley with corruption• Berkeley raised his own army, civil war ensued• Two sides fought for control of the colony• September, 1676 Bacon’s army burned Jamestown to the

ground• Rebellion ended when Bacon sickened and died- without a

leader the army fell apart- Berkeley returned to power

• Bacon’s Rebellion- planter elite saw a need for more land for backcountry farmers

• 1680s forward, Virginia government supported westward expansion regardless of impact on Native Americans

Slavery• Bacon’s Rebellion led to the replacement of indentured

servants with West African slaves• 1680s after the rebellion the number of Africans brought to

Virginia increased• Planters switched to slaves because:• -enslaved workers did not have to be freed, never given own

land• -1680s more cheap land, fewer English settlers wanted to

become indentured servants• -English government had policies that encouraged slavery-

English law limited trade between colonies and other countries

• Prior to 1670s slaves had to be bought from Dutch or Portuguese- difficult to arrange

• 1672, Charles II granted a charter to the Royal African Co. to engage in the slave trade

• Easier to buy slaves• Planters found additional advantage to slavery- slaves

considered property, indentured servants were not• Slaves could be used a collateral to borrow money

and expand plantations

New England Colonies

• Massachusetts• Connecticut• Rhode Island• New Hampshire• Poor rocky soil• Colder climate, shorter growing season• Narrow coastal plain• Not suited for the production of cash crops• Small farms, not plantations• Subsistence farming

• Main crop wheat• Grew other grains, vegetables, apple orchards, dairy

cattle, sheep, and pigs• Fishing and whaling were the most profitable activities• Grand Banks, offshore, attracted cod, mackerel,

halibut, herring• Good harbors, abundant timber for boat construction• New England colonists found markets for their fish in

colonial America, southern Europe, and Caribbean

• Whale blubber used to make candles, lamp oil, bones used to make buttons, combs

• Strong lumber industry• Maine and New Hampshire- waterfalls near coast

to power sawmills• Lumber used for furniture, buildings, barrels• Shipbuilding important industry- ships built quickly

and cheaply- 30 to 50% less than in England• By 1770s one in three English ships built in America

Social Life• Town was the center of social life• Puritans- Christians must form groups united by a church

covenant- voluntary agreement to worship together• Commitment to church covenant led to development of

small towns surrounded by farms• Town common or open public area was important to daily

life• Marketplace, school, meetinghouse or church bordered the

town common• Families had a lot for a home and storage buildings, garden

New England Government• Early colonial period, General Court appointed town officials to

manage town affairs• Evolved to where the town’s citizens met to discuss issues at town

meetings• Town meetings became the local governing body- landowners had the

right to vote and pass laws• Elected selectmen to oversee town matters, appoint clerks, constables, • Any resident could attend a town meeting, express opinion• New England settlers allowed to participate in local government-

strong belief they had the right to govern themselves- town meetings set the stage for the American Revolution and democratic government

Puritan Society• Puritans valued• -hard work• -religious devotion• -obedience to strict rules• -card playing, gambling were banned• Stage performance and mixed dancing looked down upon• Watching neighbors behavior was a religious duty• Did not lead a pleasureless life- drank rum, enjoyed

music, wore bright clothes

• Valued education• 1642- Massachusetts legislature made parents

and ministers teach all children to read so they could understand the Bible

• 1647- legislature made towns with 50 or more families establish elementary school and 100 or more families set up secondary school

• Other New England colonies passed similar mandatory education laws

New England Trade• New England colonial merchants developed a system of Triangular

Trade- a three way exchange of goods• Fish, flour, meat to Caribbean- enslaved peoples, money, molasses,

sugar to the colonies• Rum, cloth, tools to Africa- enslaved peoples to British West Indies =

Middle Passage• Lumber, fur, fish, whale oil, grain, naval stores, tobacco, indigo to

England – manufactured goods, furniture, clothes, luxuries to colonial America

• Trade with Caribbean sugar plantations made many New England merchants wealthy- with wealth built factories to refine raw sugar and distilleries to make rum from molasses

• Traded with southern colonies- fish, rum, grain, for tobacco and indigo

Urban Development• Trade made Northern ports of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia grow

into cities• South, trade made Charles Town, S.C. the southern regions largest urban

center• Cities developed a new society with social classes• Wealthy merchants at the top- controlled city’s trade- were a minority of

the population• Artisans and families made up almost half of the urban population- skilled

workers, carpenters, smiths, coopers, bakers, masons, shoemakers• On the same level as the artisans were innkeepers and retailers- owned

and operated own businesses• Under the artisans- the unskilled or those without property- loaded and

serviced ships- worked as servants- 30% of the urban population

• Indentured servants next in line and then enslaved Africans

• Few enslaved peoples in the North, usually in the cities (port cities),10-20% of the population

Middle Colonies

• New York• New Jersey• Pennsylvania• Delaware• Combination of the Southern and New England

economies• Fertile soil, long growing season- rye, oats, barley,

potatoes, wheat- economy based on exportation of cash crops- most important cash crop wheat

• Trade led to the growth of cities along the coastal region

• Merchants from the Middle Colonies sold wheat and flour to colonies in the Caribbean

• Geography of the Middle Colonies included three large rivers- Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna- ran into the interior- allowed farmers to ship crops to coast

• Early to mid 1700s demand for wheat up- population growth in Europe- wheat prices more than doubled = prosperity

• Wheat boom led to the creation of a new group of wealthy capitalists- money to invest in business

• Industry did not develop on a large scale- did build large mills near New York and Philadelphia to produce flour for export

• Glass and pottery works also built

EQ: How did English government policy impact Colonial America?

• MERCANTILISM• -economic theory• -turn England into a world power• -a nation should export more than it imports • -result- more gold and silver go into a nation than

goes out• -had to be self-sufficient in regards to raw

materials- if purchased gold and silver would flow out in payment

• Self-sufficiency depended on colonies- raw materials were available• England buy raw materials from colonies- sell finished goods to

colonies• Colonies did see some benefit• -market for raw materials and a supplier of finished goods• Mercantilism had a down side for the colonies• -colonies could not sell raw materials to other nations even if they

offered a higher price• -if a colony did not produce raw materials needed in England- it

could not get gold or silver- serious problem for New England- one reason for New England engaging in triangular trade and smuggling

• NAVIGATION ACTS• -Charles II king in 1660- wanted to generate wealth from

colonial America• Based government policies on mercantilist theory• Charles II asked Parliament for a series of laws that imposed

restrictions on colonial trade• -all goods shipped to and from the colonies be carried on

English ships• -listed specific products (enumerated commodities) that could

only be sold in England or other English colonies – sugar, cotton, tobacco, wool, indigo- major cash crops for the colonies

• Colonial response- break the laws• New England merchants engaged in smuggling goods to

Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa• 1686 James II is king- move to stop smuggling • Massachusetts, Plymouth, Rhode Island merged into a

new royal colony- Dominion of New England- governed by an English governor-general appointed by the king

• 1687- New Jersey and Connecticut were added to the Dominion of New England- early 1688 New York was added

• King James II appointed Sir Edmund Andros to be the first governor-general

• Andros unpopular-levied new taxes, enforced the Navigation Acts

• Andros attempted to undermine the Puritan congregations

• Declared only marriages performed in Anglican churches were legal

Limiting the power of the monarch• Magna Carta- 1215- nobles/barons and King John signed the

great charter• King agreed to rule subjects according to customs of feudal law• Attempt by nobles to prevent King John from abusing power• First clauses deal with Catholic Church in England• Next state that King John will be less harsh on nobles• Many of the clauses deal with the English legal system• -laws good and fair• -citizens access to the legal system• -no punishment unless first going through legal system

• -last sections outline how to monitor the King- the nobles responsible to make sure king followed the Magna Carta- authorized to use force if necessary

• GLORIOUS REVOLUTION• 1688 Andros losing support in New England, James II lost

support in England by disregarding Parliament• Revoked town charters, prosecuted Anglican bishops,

practiced Catholicism• James II had a son in 1688- many had been willing to wait

until he died- thought his Protestant daughter Mary would take the throne

• Son would be raised Catholic, first in line for the throne• To stop a Catholic dynasty Parliament asked Mary and her husband

William of Orange to claim the throne• James fled England = Glorious Revolution• Colonists kicked out Governor-General Andros• William and Mary allowed Rhode Island and Connecticut to return to

previous form of government• 1691 merged Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Maine into royal colony

of Massachusetts• Headed by a governor appointed by the king- colonists elected an

assembly• William and Mary had to swear acceptance of the English Bill of Rights,

written 1689

• English Bill of Rights stated that the monarch could not suspend Parliament’s laws, create their own courts, impose taxes, raise an army without the approval of Parliament

• English Bill of Rights provided freedom of speech within Parliament- no excessive bail, no cruel and unusual punishments- every English citizen the right to an impartial jury in legal cases-English Bill of Rights influenced the American Bill of Rights

EQ: How colonial society address the increase in population?

• - 18th century population of American colonies grew quickly

• High birth rate-women married in early 20s –averaged 7 children- given birth to 12-14 children was not uncommon

• 1640-1700 colonial population went from 25,000 to over 250,000

• 1700s population doubled every 25 years• By 1776 population approached 2.5 million

• Improvements in sanitation and housing added to increase in population

• Women died during childbirth- many adults lived into 60s• Disease- typhoid fever, tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria,

scarlet fever killed many in colonial cities• Epidemic of smallpox hit Boston, 1721, Reverend Cotton

Mather, Puritan leader, promoted new method used by Africans and Asiatiks to prevent dangers of smallpox

• Inoculation proved successful- of 6,000 people who were not inoculated and caught smallpox 900 or 15% died

• Only 6 of 241 who received an inoculation died

Immigration

• Immigration led to population growth• 300,000 European immigrants 1700-1775• Most in Middle Colonies- eastern Pennsylvania• Some headed to the frontier- land free- settled in

backcountry of Pennsylvania and colonial south• Traders brought large number of African slaves to

America- most to Southern colonies• 1683- German Mennonites came to Pennsylvania to

escape religious wars in Germany • Early 1700s wave of German immigration had begun

• By 1775 over 100,000 Germans in Pennsylvania- about 1/3rd of the population, most were farmers

• Scots-Irish- descendants of Scots who helped England control Northern Ireland

• Starting in 1717- tax increases, poor harvests, religious persecution, many left Ireland

• 150,000 Scots-Irish came 1717-1776• Most settled in Western frontier- backcountry Pennsylvania and the

South• Jews came for religious tolerance- 1654 small group of Portuguese Jews

arrived in New York- (New Amsterdam) founded first synagogue in North America

• 1776- 1,500 Jews in the colonies

Women

• No equal rights in Colonial America• Early Colonial period married women could not own property,

enter into contracts, write wills• Husbands the only guardian of the children• Men could physically discipline children and wives• Single women and widows some rights- own property, file

lawsuits, run businesses• 1700s life for married women improved- husband could not

sell or mortgage his land without wife’s signature• Many women did work outside the home

Africans in Colonial America

• African experience in America started in Africa• Captured, forced march to West Africa, traded to

European slave traders, branded, packed on ships• Chained together, put in ship’s hold, voyage lasted

over a month (Middle Passage), minimal food and water, the dead or sick thrown overboard

• 10-12 million Africans enslaved and sent to the Americas 1450-1870

• Estimated 2 million died at sea• 3.6 million went to Portuguese Brazil• 1.5 million to Spanish colonies• British, French, Dutch in Caribbean imported 3.7

million to work plantations• 500,000 sent to British colonies in North America• 1619- first slaves in colonial America, English law

did not recognize chattel slavery- one human owning another

• Slavery slow to develop, slaves in Virginia and Maryland treated like indentured servants- children born to African slaves not always enslaved

• African slaves at first could gain freedom by converting to Christianity

• English settlers no problem enslaving Africans not due to the fact they were not white, but because they were not Christians

• Number of Africans increased- status changed- 1660s laws made slavery a hereditary system based on race

• 1705, Virginia- Slave Code• -defined relationship- owner and slave and free people• Other colonies followed• Slaves could not:• -own property• -testify against whites in court• -move about freely• -assemble in large numbers• -by 1775- 20% of the colonial population was of African

descent

• Slaves lowest status and encountered the most hardships

• Most lived on Southern plantations• Long days, beaten and branded, planters

threatened to sell them away from families in order to maintain control

• Family and religion helped slaves keep dignity• Some escaped to the North, others refused to

work hard, broke or lost tools

Stono Rebellion

• Some slaves revolted• 1739- group of slaves near the Stono River in

South Carolina rebelled against white overseers and attempted to escape to Florida

• Militia ended rebellion- 21 whites and 44 Africans dead

How did Old World thinking influence the New World?

• Enlightenment• 1700s English Colonies were influenced by the Enlightenment and

the Great Awakening• Enlightenment thinking- natural laws applied to social, political, and

economic relationships• People could interpret natural laws using reason• Emphasis on logic and reasoning = rationalism• John Locke , natural rights and social contract• -people are born with the natural rights of life, liberty and property,

rights are unlimited• Social contract- people give up some rights in exchange for

protection of remaining rights-

• If the government does not protect or abuses citizen rights the citizens have the right and duty to replace the government Two Treatises of Government

• Essay on Human Understanding, Locke argued that people were not born sinful- contrary to popular Christian belief- minds were blank slates, shaped by society and education making a better person-

• All people are born with rights and society can be improved became core beliefs in America

• French thinkers Jean Jaques Rousseau and Baron Montesquieu took Locke further

• Rousseau- The Social Contract-, government should be formed by the consent of the governed who would make own laws- and equality of all people

• Montesquieu-Spirit of the Laws, three types of political power- executive, legislative, judicial- powers should be separated into different branches to protect people’s liberty

• Influenced the creators of the US Constitution

• THE GREAT AWAKENING• Move to religion, renew Christian faith• Started in Europe as the pietism movement- stressed individual devoutness-

emotional union with God• Colonial America, ministers held revivals- the resurgence of religious fervor = the

Great Awakening• 1734, Massachusetts minister Jonathan Edwards played a role in the Great

Awakening- powerful sermons, a person had to repent and convert• Emotional appeal, opposite of reason and logic, typical of the Great Awakening style

of preaching• George Whitfield- Anglican minister from England-attracted many listeners• Great Awakening peaked around 1740- many churches split into groups- New Lights

and Old Lights• Those who embraced new ideas- Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and

Methodists won many converts and traditional churches lost members

• South, Baptists gained strong following among poor farmers• Baptists welcomed Africans to attend revivals, condemned

slavery• Planters used violence to break up Baptist meetings- about

20% of Virginia’s whites and thousands of African slaves had become Baptists by 1775

• Enlightenment and Great Awakening, different origins, both affected colonial America

• Enlightenment = arguments against British rule• Great Awakening = undermined allegiance to traditional

authority