Lesson 3: Founding the Thirteen Colonies

Chapter 1: Colonizing America

England’s First Colonies

• John Cabot-– In 1497, he led the first English expedition. – England would not make an effort to explore for another 80

years. • The Protestant Reformation-

– In 1534, King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic church and created the Anglican Church or the Church of England.• Henry would make himself the head of this new church.

– Puritans-• Wanted to remove any Catholic traditions left in the Anglican church. • They also disapproved the monarch having power to appoint bishops

to run the church.

Economic Changes in England

• With the population in England rapidly growing, the English leaders concluded that the colonies in America were necessary. – The colonies provided work and land for England’s rising

number of unemployed. • Joint- stock Companies-– Form of business organization in which many investors

pool their funds to raise large amounts of money for large projects.

– England’s wool cloth trade was looking for new markets.

Roanoke

• English colonization was not easy nor always successful.

• Sir Walter Raleigh-– Sent settlers to Roanoke Island off the coast of

North Carolina.– The first group left the island after a rough winter.– The 2nd group of settlers landed in 1587 and

vanished. • The mystery behind the Roanoke settlers gives Roanoke

the nickname of “The Lost Colony.”

The Chesapeake Colonies

• Virginia Company-– Were granted a charter by King James I in 1606.– Set sail from England with 3 ships and 144 men.

• 104 men survived the voyage.• Discovered the James river and the colony of Jamestown.

• Jamestown-– Early troubles-

• Winters at Jamestown were tough.• Captain John Smith began to trade with the Powhatan Confederacy

for food.• After the winter of 1609-10, there were only 60 settlers left in

Jamestown.

Jamestown Cont.

– Tobacco Saves the Colony-• In 1614, the colony sent its first tobacco shipment to England. • In 1618, the Virginia Company granted the colonists the right to elect a

lawmaking body.– The elected representatives were called the burgesses.– The assembly was called the House of Burgesses.

• Headrights-– A system introduced by the Virginia Company.– Settlers who paid their own way to Virginia received 50 acres of land. – Settlers also received 50 acres for each family member over 15 years of age and

servant they brought to Virginia.

• In 1619, Africans were first brought to Virginia.– Jamestown purchased 20 African men as “Christian servants” not slaves.

• Virginia would become a Royal colony in 1622 after the Virginia Companies charter was revoked.

Maryland is Founded

• George Calvert (Lord Baltimore)– Founded the colony of Maryland.– The land was once a piece of Virginia.– Maryland was a place where Catholics can practice

their religion freely.– Proprietary colony-

• A colony owned by an individual.

– The Toleration Act in 1649-• Mandated religious toleration for all Christians but made

denying the divinity of Jesus a crime punished by death.

Pilgrims and Puritans• Pilgrims-

– Puritan separatist group sailed to America in 1620.• Plymouth Colony-

– On September 16, 1620, 120 passengers boarded the Mayflower and set sail for Virginia.

– In November, they reached Cape Cod and finally came ashore near Plymouth, Massachusetts.

– Mayflower Compact-• Written while the pilgrims were still aboard the Mayflower.• It was a written framework of government.

– The pilgrims may not have survived without the help of the local Native Americans.• Squanto a member of the Wampanoag tribe, showed the pilgrims how to grow corn and

fish.• The following fall, the pilgrims and the natives had a three day festival to thank god for

their harvest. – Became known as Thanksgiving.

Massachusetts Bay Colony• John Winthrop-

– After a depression in the English wool industry, Winthrop and puritan stockholders in the Massachusetts Bay Company received a charter from King Charles to create a colony in New England.

– Winthrop decided to turn this colony into a refuge for Puritans.– Winthrop was the 1st Governor of the colony.

• Mass. Bay Colony-– Grew fast and as things worsened in England, more and more people came to

the colony.• By 1643, an estimated 20,000 settlers arrived in New England.• Became known as the Great Migration.

– Puritans kept the separation between church and state.– Heretics-

• People who disagree with established religious beliefs.• Typically banned from the colony.

Rhode Island and Dissent

• In 1631, a minister named Roger Williams arrived in Mass.– Williams believed Puritans corrupted themselves by staying

within the Anglican Church.– He also declared that the king had no right to give away Native

American land.– In 1635, the Mass. General Court ordered William be deported to

England but Williams escaped.• He purchased land from the Natives and established the town of

Providence in 1636.• Religious beliefs were tolerated not suppressed.

– Other dissenters established Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick. • These towns will combine together to create the Colony of Rhode Island.

New England Expands

• In 1636, Reverend Thomas Hooker moved his congregation to the Connecticut River Valley.– They founded the city of Hartford.– The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut-• Written constitution that gave all adult men the right to

vote.

• In 1679, New Hampshire broke away from Mass. and became a royal colony.

King Phillip’s War

• Began in 1675.• The Plymouth Colony arrested and executed 3

members of the Wampanoag tribe.• King Phillip was a nickname for the Wampanoag

leader Metacomet.• Colonists killed Phillip in 1676 and mounted his

head on a pike.• By wars end in 1678, very few natives remained

in New England.

England’s Civil War and New Colonies

• The English Civil War arose because of a power struggle between King Charles I and Parliament.– With the monarchy restored after Cromwell’s

death, the English government began backing a new round of colonization in America.

New York and New Jersey

• The Dutch colony of New Netherlands grew slowly.– In 1664, King Charles II successfully took the

colony from the Dutch.– He granted the land to his brother the Duke of

York.• James renamed the colony New York.

– New Jersey attracted people by offering huge land grants, religious freedom, and the right to have a legislative assembly.

PA and Delaware

• William Penn-– A member of the Society of Friends aka the Quakers.– The Quakers saw no need for ministers and believed in

religious toleration.– In 1681, Penn was awarded a land grant from King Charles

II.• Charles owed a debt to Penn’s father.

– Pa was a colony of religious and political freedom.– Capital was named Philadelphia (City of Brotherly Love).

• Delaware-– Formed from land Penn acquired from the Duke of York.

The Carolinas

• The colonies were not divided until 1729.• North Carolina-– Home to small population of farmers that grew tobacco

as a cash crop.• South Carolina-– Colonist hoped to cultivate sugarcane, but it did not

grow well there.– Instead, they deported deer skins obtained from natives. – The colonists also developed a profitable trade shipping

enslaved natives to the West Indies.

The Georgia Experiment

• Georgia-– Founded by James Oglethrope.– Became a colony where poor people could start

over.– Settlers arrived in 1733.– Became a royal colony in 1752.– Was a buffer between Spanish Florida and South

Carolina.