Unit 1 Colonial Era and American Beginnings

1. Unit 1Colonial Era and American Beginnings Chapter 2: The American Colonies Emerge

2. English Settlement of Jamestown • England decided not to fund colonization of the new lands like Spain had done. • King James I, in 1606, granted a charter or official permit for two joint-stock companies to colonize the Americas, which allowed several investors to pool their wealth in support of a colony that would, hopefully, yield a profit. • The Virginia companies of London and Plymouth started organizing a colony and selling stock in order to raise funds.

3. King James

4. Royal Charter of King James

5. The Plymouth company disbanded, leaving the Virginia company of London as the sole company. • The Virginia company promised gold would be found and each person who went to colonize the land would get a share. • The king of England would get 1/5 of all the gold and silver.

6. In April of 1607 three ships of the Virginia company (Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed) sailed up the James River and started a settlement known as Jamestown. • John Smith was the leader of the colony and he sensed trouble from the start. • He noticed that everyone was consumed with finding gold and had no desire to farm or even build permanent housing.

7. Many colonists became ill from drinking infected river water. And because there were no crops, the colonists began to starve. • By the winter of 1607 only 38 of the original 150 settlers were still alive. • Many of the settlers had never done manual labor and had refused to farm or help build shelters. • John Smith finally set a law stating that, “he that will not work shall not eat.”

8. Recent Discoveries at Jamestown • Excavation since 1994 has uncovered hundreds of thousands of artifacts dating to the first half of the 17th century. Nearly half of the objects date to the first years of English settlement (1607-1610). The site of James Fort was not washed into the river as most people believed for the past 200 years. We have uncovered over 250 feet of two palisade wall lines, the east cannon projection (bulwark), three filled in cellars, and a building, all part of the triangular James Fort. Also a palisade wall line and a large building were found attached to the main fort to the east. A drawing of James Fort (c.1609) by Pedro de Zuniga, a Spanish ambassador. The sketch shows a flag-like projection which is more probably an enclosed garden. The three sides and circular bastions at the corners are common to all three descriptions of the early fort.

10. The local natives, the Powhatan Indians, were persuaded to give the settlers food and support. • John Smith was burned in an accident and had to return to England. The colonists now had no leader… • In 1609, 600 more settlers were sent to Jamestown. They found the colony in disarray and being harassed by the Powhatan. • The Powhatan killed all the settler’s livestock and kept the settlers from hunting for food. • By the spring of 1610 only 60 colonists survived.

11. Jamestown was saved when a new leader showed up. He did not hesitate to flog or even hang colonists that did not do their fair share of the work. • John Rolfe began to grow a new strain of tobacco, which was soon in high demand in Europe. • Jamestown began growing tobacco or “brown gold” and exported about 1.5 million pounds of it a year. • The farmers at Jamestown needed laborers to work the tobacco fields and began to use the headright system.

12. The headright system promised 50 acres of land to anyone who moved to Jamestown. They would also get an additional 50 acres for each family member who came along. • Indentured servants also began to move to Jamestown. Indentured servants received “free” passage to the colonies in return for a set period of time that they had to work off the debt. The servant usually worked for about 4 to 7 years as a type of slave until the debt was paid. • In 1619 a Dutch ship brought the first Africans to Jamestown. They were originally treated as indentured servants and were eventually given freedom and land.

13. As the colony grew there was a need for more land. This led to warfare between the English colonists and the Powhatan natives. • The English did not intermarry with the natives, but rather drove them away. War was always likely between the natives and any English colony. • The English forced the Powhatans to give them food and provide labor. If they refused the English burned their villages and took their children hostage. • One of these kidnapped children was Pocahontas, who later married John Rolfe in 1614. This helped to bring about temporary peace between the English and Powhatan.

14. In 1622 the Powhatan had no more patience for the English settlers and attacked them, killing 340 settlers. • The Virginia company sent more troops and supplies, but the king of England had changed his mind about the charter. • King James I revoked the charter of Virginia and made it into a royal colony under his direct control. • By 1644 10,000 colonists lived in Virginia.

15. Two classes of people began to form in Virginia: the landowners with full rights and the former servants who had no land and no rights. • The frontier settlers, those living on the outskirts of the settlement, were constantly engaged in fighting with the Indians. • They asked the House of Burgesses (the Virginia legislature; see p.48) for help, but the government refused. • Nathaniel Bacon, a frontier settler, formed an army to fight the natives, but Governor Berkeley, the governor from England, declared the local army illegal. • Bacon turned his army towards Jamestown instead and burned much of it, forcing Berkeley to sail back for England.

16. Bacon died shortly after the rebellion. • Berkeley returned and disbanded the illegal army, who now had no leader. • Although Bacon’s Rebellion was not successful, it did get King Charles’ attention and he re-called Berkeley to England.

17. The Puritans • The Puritans came to the New World not for profit like at Jamestown, but rather to build a model new society and for religious freedom. • Why they left: The Puritans believed that the Anglican Church was still too much like the Catholic Church. • The Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican Church from any form of Catholicism.

18. Puritans believed that everyone should worship through faith, prayer, and study of the Bible. Puritans believed that the power of the church was with the congregation and not with the minister. Some Puritans wanted to reform the Anglican Church from within, but others did not. • Those who did not want to reform the church were known as Separatists. • King James I punished any Separatists that he could find. • One group of Separatists, known as the Pilgrims, moved to Holland and then eventually to the New World in 1620, forming the Plymouth Colony.

19. In 1629 John Winthrop and some friends secured a royal charter to form a joint-stock company, known as the Massachusetts Bay Company. • In 1630 17 ships with 1000 new colonists arrived at the new Massachusetts Bay Colony. • These colonists were well prepared to start a new colony because they planned the move and had many artisans or skilled workers with them. • John Winthrop, the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony called this new colony a “City upon a Hill.” • In the next 10 years 20,000 more English colonists immigrated to the colony.

20. The Puritan colony turned out to be a type of democracy. • The Mass. Bay Co. allowed all male members of the Puritan church, as well as stockholders, to vote. • These voters, called Freemen, voted on the members that made up the General Court that selected the Governor. • Puritans came to the New World to follow their own form of worship. They were very intolerant of other religions in their colony and of those who had different beliefs.

21. Roger Williams believed that the Puritan gov’t had no right to punish people for their religion, and he was considered a huge threat to the Puritan way of life. • He also believed that the royal charter was illegal since the land was not purchased from the local natives. • The General Court ordered his arrest and removal back to England. • Williams escaped and negotiated some land from the natives in order to start a new colony, which he called Providence. • Williams guaranteed separation of church and state and religious freedom to all settlers.

22. Anne Hutchinson was also in trouble with the Puritans because she believed that the Holy Spirit was in all believers and that any believer could read and interpret the Bible. She also believed that there was no need for a church or minister for people to depend on. • Hutchinson was banished from Mass. Bay and moved to Williams’ colony of Providence/Rhode Island or “Rogue Island.”

23. As more and more colonists began arriving and claiming land, more problems arose between settlers and natives. • Settlers brought European diseases which often spread to the natives and killed hundreds and thousands. • The natives realized that as soon as they died from disease the English would claim their lands. • The English often tried to make treaties with the natives, but both groups had different views or ideas of treaties. The natives believed that the treaties for land use were temporary since no one actually owned the land. The English settlers look at the treaties and permanent and binding.

24. Puritans viewed the natives as “heathen agents of the devil” who wanted to destroy them and their societies. • However, the natives eventually came to believe the same things about the English. • The Pequot nation arose against the colonists, but the colonists surrounded them and killed all but 5 of 600. • 40 years later Chief Metacom aka King Philip started a bloody revolt, attacking and destroying colonial villages. • Eventually the natives were worn down by disease and starvation and were forced to surrender. • After King Philip’s War the natives were never a force of hostility in the northeastern colonies again.

25. Settlement of the Middle Colonies • Henry Hudson was an Englishman who was employed by the Dutch. • Hudson sailed up the Hudson river and explored the area. The Dutch soon built trading posts near Manhattan Island. • The Dutch started a fur trade with the Iroquois. • The Dutch gov’t chartered a new colony (under the Dutch West India Co.) known as New Netherland and named their capital New Amsterdam.

26. At first the Dutch colony had trouble attracting people. Eventually the colony was opened to anyone. The Germans, French, Scandinavians, and other Europeans soon came to New Netherland. • The Dutch colony was open to all types of religions and attracted Protestants, Catholics, and Jews to the colony. • The Dutch also treated the local natives with respect. • The English did not want the Dutch between their northern and southern colonies, so a military force under the command of the Duke of York was sent to take over.

27. New Netherlands was taken without firing a shot. The Duke of York soon renamed the colony New York. • He also gave a friend some land nearby which was named New Jersey. • Land was also given to those owed money by King Charles II. William Penn was owed 16,000 pounds and was granted property in the New World: Pennsylvania and Delaware. • Penn guaranteed every male settler 50 acres of land and the right to vote. He also formed a representative type of government. • Penn provided a separate assembly or gov’t for Pennsylvania and Delaware. • He was determined to have peace with the native people and made sure that they were paid in full for their lands. • Penn also regulated trade with the natives and even formed a court with colonists and natives on the board.

28. Other settlers included the Quakers, who believed in having no formal ministers and allowing anyone to speak as they were moved. • Quakers dressed plainly and refused to follow a social ranking system. They also believed in pacifism or refusing to serve in the military.