Colonies and religion

Chapter 3

Exploration in the New World

• Trade leads to colonization throughout America–Mostly by Spanish explorers• Ponce de Leon—Florida • Hernan Cortes—Aztec Empire in Mexico• Hernando de Soto—Carolinas, Tennessee,

Mississippi River• Francisco Vasquez de Coronado—Kansas, AZ,

NM, TX, OK and Grand Canyon• Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo—California (SD &

Monterey Bay) from Mexico

Monterey Bay

San Diego

Cabrillo

De Coronado

Cortes

De Soto

De Leon

AZNM

TX

OK

KS

FL

TNNC

SC

• Explorers set up missions to spread Christianity– 20 in CA by Friar

Junipero Serra

• French, Dutch begin exploration and colonization in Americas• British colonize N. America under Elizabeth I

– Defeat the Spanish Armada to win land– Roanoke Colony 1st settlement & colony in North America

• Established in 1587 by Sir Walter Raleigh who soon leaves

• Returns 1590 to colony, no trace of existence– 1606 James I issues charters to London Co. & Plymouth

Co. to found and maintain colonies

• 1607 the Virginia Co. founds colony in Jamestown (first successful colony)– Within the 1st year most die due to exposure &

starvation– Helped by Powhatan tribe to farm & grow crops– Shaky relationship with Indians– John Smith & Pocahontas story based on this group– First colonial legislature established—House of

Burgesses 1916– Used indentured servants & slaves

New England (North) Colonies

• Economy largely based on shipping

• Settled by Puritans & Pilgrims for religious freedom

• 1620—Mayflower reaches Massachusetts

• Pilgrims sign Mayflower Compact– Laws to protect general

good

• Established Plymouth Colony

Middle Colonies• Economy largely

based on farming• New King Charles II

repays debts by giving them colonial land– New York, New Jersey,

Carolinas (Latin for Charles) and Pennsylvania are privately owned

• Drives the Dutch out of their settlement in “New Amsterdam,” or what we call New York

• Charles II issues charters & 8 men co-own Carolina– Tensions rise due to

different styles of leadership

– 1729 King divides land into North & South Carolina

• Georgia established as a buffer zone colony by English between Carolinas & Spanish Florida

The Southern Colonies• Southern colonies were much

larger than any others, cities were spaced farther apart– Causes plantations versus

farms• Economy largely based on

plantations• Plantations could grow cash

crops (product grown for sale more than personal use), causes great wealth

• South grows to heavily depend on free labor, or slavery, to manage, harvest and run plantations– Diverse population

• NORTH/NEW ENGLAND• Puritans were those who felt the Anglican church

was corrupt and wanted to ‘purify’ it. They were persecuted in England, so they left.– These were the ‘seperatists’ or aka Pilgrims. They

founded Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.

• 1620’s more Puritans settle in New England calling it Massachusetts Bay Colony– Eventually absorb the Plymouth colony as well– Felt they would be a “godly example”– Jonathan Winters gives “City on a Hill” speech– Successful colony, but very strict

• Government and laws often tied with religious rules…you could be punished for skipping church!

• Many books have been written about this time and place– The Crucible– The Scarlet Letter

• The very strict nature of society, and primitive beliefs about natural life led to the hysteria that allowed the trials to occur.

• Other causes…– 1.  Strong belief that Satan is acting in the world.

-"The invisible world": disease, natural catastrophes, and bad fortune

– 2.  A belief that Satan actively recruits witches and wizards -Prior witchcraft cases

– 3.  A belief that a person afflicted by witchcraft exhibits certain symptoms.

– 4.  A time  of troubles, making it seem likely that Satan was active. -Congregational strife in Salem Village -Frontier wars with Indians

– 5.  Stimulation of imaginations by slaves from other countries – 6. Teenage boredom. – 7. Lying– 8.  Old feuds (disputes within congregation, property disputes)

between the accusers and the accused spurring charges of witchcraft.

The story…• The preacher’s daughter and friend got caught up listening to

their slave’s native stories and folklore.• Pretended to be possessed as witches• Accused many prominent women in the community, as well as

outcasts, of witchcrafto Some traits of a witch:

o Singingo Readingo Not conforming to Puritan lawo Not getting along with your neighboro Spending time alone

• Nothing could be proved, but hysteria took over and many women were accused, tried and executed as witches on the word of two teenage girls.

In the end…o Nineteen men and women were hanged, all having been

convicted of witchcrafto Another man of over eighty years was pressed to death under

heavy stones for refusing to submit to a trial on witchcraft charges

o Many languished in jail for months without trials• At least four died in prison• Trials eventually stopped because people began to tire of the

subject, the trials and disbelief set in

• Some disagreed with the strictness of the Puritans beliefs– Roger Williams spoke out

against the punishment of settlers for their religious beliefs.

– Williams was arrested and to be sent to England, but escaped

• Williams founds Rhode Island with fundamental guarantee of religious freedom and separation of church and state

• Other dissenters split to form new colonies:– Connecticut established by

Tom Hooker– Anne Hutchinson was

banished for believing that church and elders not necessary for Biblical interpretation…flees to R.I.

– New Hampshire in 1638 by Anne’s brother in law

– Maryland established in 1634 by George Calvert, 1st Lord of Baltimore

– Established as a haven from stricter Puritan & Pilgrim colonies (big surprise!)

• MIDDLE & SOUTH• William Penn establishes his colony

(Pennsylvania) as a haven for Quakers to escape persecution

• Middle and South are less strict, and more tolerant.• More diverse groups form there including Baptists, Lutherans,

Anglicans, and Jews– Remember that the Southern colonies, and areas like Louisiana and

Florida are settled by the French and Spanish…who are Catholic.– Intermarriage between various cultures and ethnicities will spread and

change religious beliefs.

• Keep in mind, the population of slaves and immigrants is higher, so there is a more diverse set of beliefs