Colonial AmericaPart 4

The English Establish Colonies in the New World

England Challenges Spain•With England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, other countries saw that Spain could be beaten, and some decided to challenge Spanish land claims.

•Many explorers from several countries continued to search for a water route called the NORTHWEST PASSAGE that would take them through the American landmass and onto Asia.

For many years,

explorers searched

for a waterway through North

America that would

lead to Asia.

A route was eventually found in the 20th Century.

•Throughout the late 1500s, and into the 1600s countries like Holland, France, and England continued their explorations, sometimes setting up colonies. The French were successful in establishing colonies in Canada, and the Dutch were actually the first Europeans to colonize what is now New York. New York City’s original name was New Amsterdam.

New Amsterdam in 1660

Two Early English Colonies Fail•As early as 1585, the English tried to establish a colony on the east coast of North America.

•It was located on an island called Roanoke off the coast of modern-day North Carolina.

Sir Walter Raleigh, a soldier, statesman, and adventurer who served under Queen Elizabeth I

received permission to start a colony. The colonists originally relied on

Native Americans for food, but when the natives realized they were

planning to stay and use the land, the food supply was cut off. In the

following year of 1586, the surviving colonists returned to England.

Sir Walter Raleigh was a

favorite of Queen Elizabeth

I. She never married, and was known as

the “Virgin Queen”. That is where “Virginia”

got its name.

•In 1587, an artist named John White convinced Raleigh to try again, with White as the governor.

•That year, along with over 100 settlers returned to Roanoke Island.

•In the summer, White’s daughter Elinor gave birth to a little girl named Virginia, the first English child born in North America.

•In late 1587, White returned to England for some much needed supplies, promising to return the next year.

•However, England’s war with Spain and other delays prevented John White from returning until 1590.

•When he and his crew arrived, they found the settlement eerily quiet and abandoned with no sign of the more than 100 men, women, and children that had been left there.

The only clue that could be found was the word “Croatoan” carved on a post, and

“Cro” carved on a tree. Croatoan was the name of some friendly Indians located on a

nearby island. John White wanted to search for the colonists, but his crew

refused, as a large storm was brewing. They were blown out to sea and lost their

anchor. Low on supplies, they headed back to England. John White was never

able to return and look for them.

The “Lost” Colony

What Might Have Happened?There are theories that maybe they

moved to another area, or that maybe the Spanish found the colony and

killed or enslaved them. Some speculated that maybe they even tried

to sail back to England themselves and didn’t make it. One of the more accepted theories is that they joined with some natives either by choice or force. There is possible evidence of

this.

•In 1607, another colony called Sagadahoc was tried in what is now the state of Maine.

•Fights among the colonists (many of them convicts), clashes with Natives, a harsh winter, and food shortages, forced they people to go back to England.

Financing a Colony•Sir Walter Raleigh had financed the colony at Roanoke and lost his investment.

•The English now tried forming joint-stock companies with multiple investors.

•Investors would now share both profits and losses.

•Merchants organized the Virginia Company of London and also the Virginia Company of Plymouth.

•King James I granted CHARTERS to both companies giving them permission to establish colonies.

In 1607, the Virginia Company of London financed a colonial attempt to the Chesapeake Bay area. More than

100 colonists sailed up the James River to look for a place to settle.

They found a spot, and named their colony Jamestown after the king. They picked a terrible spot for the colony. It was swampy, and many

colonists died from malaria.

The drinking water was also unclean. Instead of spending their time

building shelters and trying to grow food, many of the men spent valuable time looking for gold, which was not

to be found. The hot, humid summers, and bitter winter cold took their toll. By January of 1608, there

were only 38 colonists still alive.

Jamestown Grows •Later in 1608, a

soldier and adventurer named John Smith took control.

•Smith announced, “He that will not work shall not eat”.

•His methods began to work.

•He also persuaded the Powhatan tribe to trade corn to the colonists.

•Unfortunately, in 1609 he was injured in a gunpowder explosion and had to return to England.

•That same year more than 800 English settlers arrived in Jamestown.

•Unfortunately, tensions rose again with the Natives, and they stopped trading with the settlers and attacked them.

During a period known as the “starving time”, the colonists ate rats, mice, and snakes. Only 60

colonists remained when in 1610, a new governor arrived, and things

began to get better. In 1612, a man named John Rolfe developed a high-grade tobacco that grew well in the area, and became very popular in

England. Tobacco really helped save Jamestown.

The colony continued to grow, and the Virginia Company began to let people own their own land, and they worked even harder. The company offered a

50-acre land grant for each man, woman, or child who could pay their way to the colony. The first Africans also arrived in 1619, many of them as

slaves. Jamestown’s population jumped to 2,000.

Indentured Servants•More workers were needed, but not everyone could afford to pay for the passage to America.

•Some became INDENTURED SERVANTS.•These were men and women who sold their labor to the person who agreed to pay for their passage to the colony.

•After working for a set number of years, they could have their freedom and could become farmers or take up a trade of their own.

Conflicts With the Powhatan•Cultural differences between the settlers and Powhatan continued to worsen.

•In an effort to improve relations, John Rolfe married Chief Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas in 1614.

•Things improved somewhat but there were still tensions.

•In 1622, after settlers continued to develop land, the natives killed hundreds.

The House of Burgesses

Some of the colonists wanted to have more local control over their affairs, eventually, “burgesses” or

elected representatives were allowed to meet yearly, starting

in 1619. This was the first elected assembly in America.

Voyage of the Mayflower

In the early 1500s King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church

and formed his own Church of England. In the early 1600s, a group of people known as SEPARATISTS wanted to completely break with the

Church of England because they thought it was “too Catholic”. The

PILGRIMS were a separatist group that were especially persecuted in

England.

•For awhile, the Pilgrims moved to Holland, a country that was more accepting of them.

•After awhile, the Pilgrims became dissatisfied with life there and approached the Virginia Company about settling in America.

•They were given permission, and set off on the Mayflower, but were blown off course. In November of 1620 they landed to the north of Virginia at a place called Plymouth, and decided to sign the MAYFLOWER COMPACT.

•The men who signed the agreement vowed to obey laws agreed upon for the good of all.

The Plymouth Colony

•Like the settlers at Jamestown, the Pilgrims at Plymouth endured a starving time.

•That first winter, over half of the colonists died, mainly from starvation and disease.

Things Begin to Improve

•The following spring, the colonists met an Indian named Samoset who had learned English from European fisherman.

•He introduced them to Squanto, a native who had earlier been taken captive, and had lived in England.

•Squanto helped work out differences between the Pilgrims and the Natives.

•He also helped teach them ways to hunt, fish, and plant crops.

•Trade began to grow, and the settlers were preparing goods to ship back to England.

The First Thanksgiving

It was common for both English and Native American people to have harvest celebrations. In 1621, sometime during the Fall, a three-day feast was held that

included both the Pilgrims and some Natives. The meal helped symbolize how the two groups were working together,

and that the Pilgrims were giving thanks to god for the harvest.

The Puritans Come to Massachusetts

•Between 1630 and 1640, another religious group known as the PURITANS left England.

•Approximately 20,000 crossed the Atlantic to America.

•Unlike the Pilgrims who just wanted to separate themselves from the Church of England, Puritans wanted to completely reform or “purify” the Church.

•They received a charter to settle north of the Plymouth Colony.

•They were better financed and better supplied than the Pilgrims were, and therefore, didn’t suffer as much.

The Puritans led a very strict life. The center of their towns was the

meetinghouse, where frequent meetings were held. By law, everyone in a town had to attend church where they stressed strong beliefs in duty to

God, hard work, and honesty. Puritans wanted everyone to read the

Bible, so laws were passed that required that all children learn to

read.

Some Puritans set up other colonies

in places like Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Others, who had disagreements with the church left to form their

own colonies.

•Roger Williams was a minister who didn’t believe in forced church attendance.

•He also didn’t believe in the forced taking of land from natives.

•He was forced to leave Massachusetts, and started a settlement in what is now Rhode Island.

•Anne Hutchinson believed a person could worship God without the help of a church or minister.

•She also would hold Bible study sessions in her home.

•She was eventually put on trial, and forced to move to Rhode Island.

The Quakers

The Quakers were a religious group who got their name from the way they would

tremble or shake “at the word of the Lord”. They believed that people could

know God through an “inner light”. They also believed in treating Natives fairly. Because of these beliefs, Quakers were sometimes whipped, imprisoned, and hanged. Some went to Rhode Island.

The Middle Colonies

•The Middle Colonies included New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

•Settlers included Swedes, Dutch, English, Germans, and Africans.

•Protestants, Catholics, Jews and Quakers also came for religious freedom.

•The Dutch originally colonized the land along the Hudson River.

•Because they wanted to grow, their leader attacked a Swedish settlement along the Delaware River.

•When they became a threat to England, action was taken.

England didn’t want another power between its colonies in New England

and Virginia. In 1664, the king’s brother, the Duke of York appeared in

the harbor of New Amsterdam with some warships. The colony

surrendered, and was renamed New York in honor of the Duke. The Duke

also owned land that became the colony of New Jersey after he gave

some of the land to his friends.

•Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn who was a Quaker.

•He welcomed people of different religions and ethnic groups, and also believed in treating the Natives fairly.

•In 1704, William Penn granted the three lower counties of Pennsylvania their own legislative assembly. They eventually formed their own colony of Delaware.

Does William

Penn look at all

familiar to you?

•The Southern Colonies included Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

A man named Lord Baltimore founded

the colony of Maryland as a refuge

for England’s persecuted Catholics. Maryland based its economy on tobacco which required the

use of slaves or indentured servants.

•The Carolinas were founded by English colonists from the Caribbean island of Barbados.

•They built the settlement of Charleston in 1670, and made money by cutting timber, raising cattle and trade with the Natives.

•Slaves were imported to grow rice and indigo, a plant that can be used to make a blue dye.

•The Carolinas eventually split into two separate colonies in 1729.

Georgia was originally founded in 1732 by a man

named James Oglethorpe as a

refuge for debtors. The English were

hoping it would act as a buffer

between Spanish Florida and

French Louisiana.

By 1732, the English had

established 13 colonies along

the Atlantic Seaboard.