The 13 British Colonies

(1689–1754)

The English Civil War

• England’s Parliament was made up of representatives of the people.

• It had the power to make laws and approve new taxes.

• King Charles I demanded money from towns and cities without Parliament’s consent.

• Parliament saw this as an attempt to limit its power and the rights of English property owners.

• Parliament’s forces defeated and executed King Charles in 1649.

• The leader of Parliament, Oliver Cromwell, governed England until his death in 1659.

• In 1660, Parliament restored the monarchy by placing Charles II, the son of Charles I, on the throne.

CH 3-1 NOTESTHE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS

MAIN IDEAS / VOCAB:

• Englishman wanted to gain wealth in the New World.

• Not one person had enough money to begin a colony, thus groups of wealthy people joined together to form joint stock companies.

• They needed permission from The King, or a charter to grant them the rights to go to the New World.

• The origins of one of the America’s oldest unsolved mysteries can be traced to August 1587, when a group of about 115 English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island, off the coast of what is now North Carolina. Later that year, it was decided that John White, governor of the new colony, would sail back to England in order to gather a fresh load of supplies. But just as he arrived, a major naval war broke out between England and Spain, and Queen Elizabeth I called on every available ship to confront the mighty Spanish Armada. In August 1590, White finally returned to Roanoke, where he had left his wife and daughter, his infant granddaughter (Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas) and the other settlers three long years before. He found no trace of the colony or its inhabitants, and few clues to what might have happened, apart from a single word—“Croatoan”—carved into a wooden post.

The Tale of the Lost Colony of Roanoke…

• Investigations into the fate of the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke have continued over the centuries, but no one has come up with a satisfactory answer. “Croatoan” was the name of an island south of Roanoke that was home to a Native American tribe of the same name. Perhaps, then, the colonists were killed or abducted by Native Americans. Other hypotheses hold that they tried to sail back to England on their own and got lost at sea, that they met a bloody end at the hands of Spaniards who had marched up from Florida or that they moved further inland and were absorbed into a friendly tribe. In 2007, efforts began to collect and analyze DNA from local families to figure out if they’re related to the Roanoke settlers, local Native American tribes or both. Despite the lingering mystery, it seems there’s one thing to be thankful for: The lessons learned at Roanoke may have helped the next group of English settlers, who would found their own colony 17 years later just a short distance to the north, at Jamestown.

The Tale of the Lost Colony of Roanoke…

JAMESTOWN COLONY:

• England’s first permanent colony in the New World.

• Was founded by the Virginia Company, a joint stock company.

• Had many problems at first. Life in the New World was full of risks, early settlers often would run out of food and starve.

JAMESTOWN COLONY: • John Smith was sent to help save Jamestown.

He gained support from local Native Americans. They were taught how to grow crops that could sustain the swampy soil.

• Tobacco became Jamestown’s big cash crop.• Africans were shipped in to Virginia to become

slaves. (Atlantic Slave Trade)

Jamestown Government:• Settlers developed a Representative

government: the form of government in which voters elect people to make laws for them.

• The lawmaking body was called the House of Burgesses this group of elected officials would work with the governor to make laws and set and collect taxes. The governor could veto acts he did not like.

PLYMOUTH COLONY:• In England during the 1500s, people could be

punished for their religious beliefs.• People who wanted to separate from the

Church of England were called separatists. These people could be persecuted or killed because of their religion.

• One group of separatists known as the Pilgrims decided to come to the New World where they could worship freely.

• They sailed across the Atlantic on a ship called the Mayflower. They reached land in what is today Massachusetts, they called their colony Plymouth.

Plymouth Government:

• The pilgrims signed a set of laws known as the Mayflower Compact.

• It called for a government that would make “Just and equal laws.” Male pilgrims would vote and elect their representatives in Plymouth.

Salutary Neglect• Britain allowed its colonies more

freedom to govern themselves than other European nations did.

CH 3-2 Notes: THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

GEOGRAPHY: • Located along the Northern Atlantic Coast

• Lots of hills, mountains and rivers.

• Soil is rocky, which made it difficult to farm

• Longer winters

SOURCE OF INCOME:(rocky soil and longer winters making it difficult to farm)

• Fishing and whaling - Ship Building

• Lumber mills - Small farms

Diverse Colonial Economies

New England Colonies

• The New England economy relied on “carrying trade.”

• Merchants carried crops and goods from one place to another.

• The business of trading goods between the Americas, Europe, and Africa, was called triangular trade.

Fishermen

•Fish was dried, salted, and shipped out from harbor cities.

•Fishing became a strong industry and promoted the growth of shipbuilding.

LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND:• Families were very close, neighbors all

knew one-another and attended church and town meetings together.

• Religion was the center of life.

• Strict religious beliefs helped lead to the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials.

Colonial Society

• American colonists brought many ideas and customs from Europe.

• Most colonists believed:– The wealthy were superior to the poor.

– Men were superior to women.

– Whites were superior to blacks.

GOVERNMENT IN NEW ENGLAND:

• They believed in self government.

• Each town had a town meeting: an assembly of townspeople that decided local issues.

• Membership of town meetings was restricted to the men of the colony.

MAJOR NEW ENGLAND COLONIES:

• Plymouth Colony

• Founded by the Pilgrims

• Based their government on being fair and equal.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony:

• Founded by the Puritans.• Like the Pilgrims, the

puritans were unhappy with the Church of England - they wanted to “purify” or change it

The Massachusetts Bay Colony Continued…

• They too were forced to leave England in search of religious freedom, they set up their colony around Boston, a major city at the time.

• Puritans followed very strict religious laws and believed everyone in the Massachusetts Bay area should do the same.

• IRONY: The Puritans left England to worship freely but they did not give the same right to non-puritans. They did not believe in religious toleration.

• - These strict beliefs in good and evil led to a time of hysteria in Massachusetts. Many were accused and put on trial of witch craft.

• This led to the start of other New England colonies

• People were forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony out of fear of being accused.

CH 3-3 NOTES: THE MIDDLE COLONIES

GEOGRAPHY:• Located along the middle

Atlantic coast.• Climate milder than the New

England colonies, makes for a longer growing season.

• Fertile soil well suited for crops like wheat, fruits and vegetables.

SOURCE OF INCOME:

• Farming: especially wheat and grains like flour and oats.

• This is why the Middle Colonies is nicknamed the Breadbasket Colonies!

• Fur trade.

LIFE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES:

NEW YORK:• Before the English took them

over New York & New Jersey were ruled by the Dutch as a single colony.

• - New York was originally called New Netherland. The Dutch were very profitable thanks to the Hudson River.

• The Hudson River provided excellent transportation for natural resources and goods to be shipped down to the port of what is today New York City. Then it was called New Amsterdam.

• - In 1664, the Duke of York (the King of England’s brother) conquered New Netherlands, re-naming it New York.

• - New Jersey was split off and became a royal colony: directly ruled by the English King.

PENNSYLVANIA AND DELEWARE:

• were founded by a group called the Quakers.

• - Similar to the Pilgrims and Puritans, the Quakers came to the “New World” in search of religious freedom.

• - William Penn, called the colony of Pennsylvania a “Holy Experiment” because it was one of the first colonies opened to all different religions. He wanted everyone to live together peacefully.

Diverse Colonial Economies

Southern Colonies• This economy was based on staple

crops—crops that are in constant demand.

• Staple crops included tobacco and rice, both grown on large plantations worked by slaves.

Diverse Colonial Economies

Middle Colonies• The economy of the Middle Colonies

was a mixture of farming and commerce.

• Rich, fertile soil produced wheat, barley, and rye.

• New York and Philadelphia supported the business of merchants, traders, and craftspeople.

• The differences between social ranks could be seen in colonial clothes, houses, and manners.

• Ordinary people wore dresses or plain pants and shirts.

• Gentry (“gentle folk” ) wore wigs, silk stockings, lace cuffs, and the latest fashions.

• Gentry — men and women wealthy enough to hire others to work for them

Wealth in Land

• For English colonists, land was the foundation for real wealth.

• Most landowners were white men.

• In the 1700s, gentry built mansions to display their wealth and filled them with fine furniture, silver, and porcelain.

• In each colony, a small group of elite, landowning men dominated politics.

Trades and Occupations

Artisans •Young boys became apprentices, individuals placed under a legal contract to work for another person in exchange for learning a trade.

•Artisans made silver products, cabinets, tinware, pottery, and glassware.

Printers•Colonial printers were considered vital because they gathered and circulated local news and information.

•Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s most famous printers, published Poor Richard’s Almanac.

•An almanac is a book containing information such as calendars, weather predictions, and advice.

Farmers •Farms in the colonies varied in size from large cash-crop plantations in the South to small, self-supporting farms in the Middle and New England Colonies.

Indentured Servants

•Many immigrants came to the colonies as indentured servants.

Colonial Women

Women and the Law

• Under English common law, a husband had complete control over his wife.

• Women could not – Own property.– Vote.– Hold office.– Serve on a jury.

• Husbands were allowed to beat their wives.

Women’s Duties

• Cooking

• Gardening

• Washing

• Cleaning

• Weaving cloth

• Sewing

• Assisting other women in childbirth

• Training daughters to do all of the above

• The goal of the colonial household was to be self-sufficient.

• Self-sufficient — able to make everything needed to maintain itself

The Nature of Work

• Everyone in the household worked to produce food and goods.

• Men grew crops, or made goods like shoes, guns, and candles.

• Women ran the household and assisted with the crops.

• Children helped both parents.

Colonial Education

• During colonial times, children received very little formal education.

• Because Puritans believed everyone should be able to read the Bible, the New England Colonies became early leaders in the development of public education.

• In 1647, Massachusetts passed a law requiring towns to set up grammar schools for boys.

• Girls were expected to learn from their mothers at home.

• Generally, only the wealthy attended college, where they trained to be lawyers or ministers.

• Harvard, Yale, and William and Mary were the only three colleges in the colonies until the 1740s.

The Middle Passage

• The Middle Passage was one leg of the triangular trade between the Americas, Europe, and Africa.

• This term also refers to the forced transport of slaves from Africa to the Americas.

• Roughly 10 to 40 percent of Africans on slave trips died in the crossing.

• Slaves were beaten and had to endure chains; heat; and cramped, unsanitary conditions.

• Occasionally enslaved Africans staged a mutiny, or revolt, on the slave ships.

• Many of these were successful.

Slavery in the Colonies

South Carolina and Georgia•High temperatures and disease made slave conditions especially harsh in this region.

•African Americans made up the majority of the population in South Carolina and more than one third of Georgia’s population.

•Southern slaves kept their culture alive through their speech, crafts, and music.

Slavery in the Colonies

Virginia and Maryland• Slaves in Virginia and Maryland made up a

minority of the population.• Few of those slaves came directly from Africa.• Slaves had other tasks in addition to growing

crops.• There was more integration of European

American and African American cultures than in South Carolina and Georgia.

• To save money, slave-owners encouraged slaves to have families.

Slavery in the Colonies

New England and the Middle Colonies• There were far fewer slaves in New England

and the Middle Colonies than in the South.• Slaves had more freedom to choose their

occupations.• Slaves in this region typically worked as

cooks, housekeepers, and personal servants. • They also worked as skilled artisans,

dockworkers, merchant sailors, fishermen, whalers, privateers, lumberjacks, and in manufacturing.

Estimated African American Population, 1690–1750

YearNew England

ColoniesMiddle

ColoniesSouthern Colonies

1690 950 2,472 13,307

1700 1,680 3,661 22,476

1710 2,585 6,218 36,063

1720 3,956 10,825 54,058

1730 6,118 11,683 73,220

1740 8,541 16,452 125,031

1750 10,982 20,736 204,702

SOURCE: Historical Statistics of the United States,Colonial Times to 1970