The Early Chesapeake

1. The Early Chesapeake • 1606 Charter to the London Company from James I gave colonizing rights to the southern lands • 144 men on the Godspeed, the Discovery, and the Susan Constant sailed for the New World, 104 survived the crossing arriving in spring of 1607

2. The Early Chesapeake • Jamestown was an inland setting, on a peninsula, low and swampy, hot and humid in the summer, prone to outbreaks of malaria, surrounded by thick woods that were difficult to clear, and located in the territory controlled by Powhatan

3. The Early Chesapeake • Colonists spent time searching for gold, tried to pile up lumber, tar, pitch, and iron for export, spent little time growing food • No women were sent, could not establish households, order domestic lives, have a sense of permanent stake in the community

4. The Early Chesapeake • By January 1608, 38 colonists left alive and Captain John Smith assumed a leadership role • New charter from the King in 1609, increased power over colony and enlarged the land it controlled

5. The Early Chesapeake • “Adventurers” bought stock in the Virginia Company but remained in England • “Planters” given stock in the Virginia Company in exchange for paying their own way to the New World

6. The Early Chesapeake • Free passage given to poorer individuals who would serve the company for 7 years • Spring of 1609 a fleet of 600 colonists set sail for the New World and arrived in the fall of 1609 after a difficult passage

7. The Early Chesapeake • Winter of 1609 – 1610 (The Starving Time), Indians killed all the livestock in the woods, kept the colonists barricaded in Jamestown, colonists ate “dogs, cats, rats, snakes, toadstools, horsehides” and “corpses of dead men” 60 people lived through the winter

8. The Early Chesapeake • Lord De La Warr Virginia’s first governor imposed harsh and rigid discipline, settlers formed into work gangs, violators were flogged, hanged or broken on the wheel, offered private land ownership and allowed cultivation of the land, colony began to spread

9. The Early Chesapeake • John Rolfe successfully grew high quality tobacco in Virginia starting in 1612 and found ready buyers back in England. • Tobacco Economy: profitable, uncertain, land and labor intensive. • Tobacco exhausted the land after a few years of growing, settlers began to encroach on territory belonging to the natives

10. The Early Chesapeake • Virginia Company still had not turned a profit by 1616, so it introduced the Headright System in 1618 • Colonists already in Virginia received 100 acres of land each, each new settler received 50 acres (encouraged families to migrate together), if you paid for a settler to migrate to Virginia you also got 50 acres

11. The Early Chesapeake • Transported ironworkers and other skilled craftsmen to Virginia • 100 women were transported to Virginia in 1619 and could be purchased for 120 pounds of tobacco

12. The Early Chesapeake • Colonists were promised the full rights of Englishmen, and given some self-government (House of Burgesses meets on July 30, 1619) • “About the latter end of August” 1619 a Dutch ship brought in “20 and odd Negroes” but their status as slaves is uncertain, planters preferred European indentured servants until the 1670’s

13. The Early Chesapeake • In March 1622, the natives attacked Jamestown resulting in the deaths of 347 settlers (including John Rolfe)

14. The Early Chesapeake • The Virginia Company goes bankrupt and in 1624 King James I revokes the company’s charter and Virginia becomes a Royal Colony

15. The Early Chesapeake • In 1632 the second Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert) received a charter from the King of a grant of land that encompassed parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and all of Maryland and made them “true and absolute lords and proprietaries” who had to acknowledge the ultimate sovereignty of the King by paying an annual fee to the crown

16. The Early Chesapeake • In March 1634 the Ark and the Dove bearing 200 to 300 settlers arrived in Maryland and founded the village of St. Mary’s hoping to establish a haven for Catholics in the New World • Early Marylanders experienced no Indian assaults, no plagues, no starving time as the Indians were more worried about rival tribes

17. The Early Chesapeake • The Calverts needed Protestant settlers as well as Catholic settlers in order to make their colony profitable so they adopted a policy of religious toleration • In 1648 Calvert appointed a Protestant governor and then in 1649 he passed an “Act Concerning Religion” which granted freedom of worship to all Christians, in 1655 a civil war broke out in Maryland between Protestants and Catholics

18. The Early Chesapeake • Lord Baltimore gave large grants of land to family members and other English aristocrats so that a large landed aristocracy prevailed in MD • By 1640 a labor shortage existed in Maryland, so Lord Baltimore adopted a “headright” system similar to that in Virginia, and the economy revolved around the cultivation of tobacco

19. The Early Chesapeake • By the mid 1600s Virginia was expanding westward into lands held by the natives, there became increasing numbers of conflicts • Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia (1642 – 1670s), sent explorers across the Blue Ridge Mountains to open up the western interior of Virginia

20. The Early Chesapeake • In 1644 the Powhatan Confederacy made one last uprising against the English but were defeated and ceded a large area of land to the British, but Berkeley agreed to prohibit white settlement west of a line he negotiated with the tribes

21. The Early Chesapeake • There was period of massive population growth in Virginia from 8,000 settlers in 1640 to 40,000 settlers in 1660, this led to increased settlement in western Virginia and continued conflict with the natives, by 1652 settlers had established 3 counties in western lands promised to the natives

22. The Early Chesapeake • In the House of Burgesses in 1619 all men 17 and older could vote, but by 1670 the vote was restricted to landowners and elections were rare, each county got 2 representatives in the House of Burgesses and the western counties of Virginia had many more people than the older counties in the tidewater, the recent settlers living in the “backcountry” were underrepresented in the House of Burgesses

23. The Early Chesapeake • In 1673 Nathaniel Bacon arrived in Virginia, purchased a substantial farm in the west and won a seat on the governor’s council • Conflicts between western settlers and eastern aristocrats arose over the issue of natives and political representation, and a personal conflict arose between Berkeley and Bacon over the fur trade with the natives

24. The Early Chesapeake • In 1675 a conflict erupted on the frontier between English settlers and natives, with many on both sides being killed, Bacon (frustrated with the lack of response from Berkeley) led a group of western settlers in an unauthorized assault against the natives, Berkeley dismissed Bacon from the governor’s council and declared him and his men rebels

25. The Early Chesapeake • Twice Bacon led his men east in raids against Jamestown, and on the second assault they burned Jamestown and drove the governor into exile, then Bacon suddenly dies of dysentery and the rebellion is over, but the rebellion is significant for several reasons: • Part of a continuing struggle to define the boundary between native and white lands

26. The Early Chesapeake • Showed the bitterness between eastern and western landowners and the competition for control of the government • Revealed the potential for instability among a large population of freemen who were propertyless, unemployed, and had no real prospects, this leads to a common interest among landowners to preventing social unrest from below (possibly leading to an increase in slavery)

27. The Growth of the Chesapeake

28. The Growth of New England • Puritan Separatists were imprisoned and executed for defying the government and the Church of England, it was also illegal to leave England without the consent of the King

29. The Growth of New England • In 1608 the Scrooby Separatists began to emigrate quietly to Leyden, Holland where they could worship freely, but were stuck in menial jobs, were barred from craft guilds, and didn’t like the tolerant Dutch society which attracted their children away from the Puritan lifestyle

30. The Growth of New England • Leaders of the Scrooby group obtained permission from the Virginia Company to settle in Virginia (Hudson River area) and assurances from the King that he would “not molest them, provided they carried themselves peaceably”

31. The Growth of New England • In September 1620 they left Plymouth on the Mayflower, with 35 “saints”(full members of the Puritan church) and 67 “strangers” (people who were not full members of the Puritan church) and arrived off the coast of Cape Cod (outside of the Virginia Company’s territory) in November • On board the Mayflower the “saints” signed the Mayflower Compact which established a civil government and pledged their allegiance to the King, and then stepped ashore at Plymouth Rock on December 21, 1620

32. The Growth of New England • The Puritans suffered casualties (50% - primarily from malnutrition, exposure, and disease) that first winter, the natives in New England were greatly weakened by smallpox epidemics and the Puritans were not hostile towards the natives, in fact the Puritans received a tremendous amount of help from the natives (Squanto and Samoset)

33. The Growth of New England • Miles Standish imposed discipline on the colony (Plymouth Plantation), eventually allowing them to establish a trading surplus in agricultural products and furs, the population reached 300 within a decade, William Bradford was elected governor every year, eventually they paid off their debt and became self-sufficient but poor

34. The Growth of New England • In 1620’s Puritan merchants obtained a grant of land in New England comprising most of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, then they received a charter from the King allowing them to form the Massachusetts Bay Company, in 1629 the Puritans bought out the other investors in the company so that they could create a haven for Puritans in the New World

35. The Growth of New England • John Winthrop commanded the expedition that sailed in 1630 comprising 17 ships and 1000 settlers, mostly in family groups, and carried with them the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company so that they were not responsible to anyone in England

36. The Growth of New England • The Massachusetts settlement quickly produced several towns (Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge, Roxbury, Dorchester, Ipswich, Sudbury, Concord, Watertown, and others) and were governed by a colonial government run by 8 stockholders or “freemen” but the later definition of “freemen” evolved into all male citizens

37. The Growth of New England • In every town the community church had “complete liberty to stand alone”, each congregation chose its own minister and regulated its own affairs, this became known as the Congregational Church

38. The Growth of New England • Massachusetts Puritans, led by John Winthrop, were serious and pious people, strived to lead useful, conscientious lives of thrift and hard work, material success was viewed as a sign of God’s favor, they believed they founding a holy commonwealth, a “city upon a hill”

39. The Growth of New England • Massachusetts Puritans founded a theocratic society in which ministers exerted great influence on church members who could vote or hold office, the government then protected ministers, taxed the people to support the church, and enforced the law requiring attendance at services, there was no freedom of worship

40. The Growth of New England • The number of families insured a feeling of commitment to the community, a sense of social order, and a measure of social stability • People began to come into the colony who were not Puritan “saints” and could not vote, or who did not accept all the religious tenets of the colony’s leaders, these people had a choice of conforming or leaving

41. The Growth of New England • Thomas Hooker, minister from Cambridge, left the colony in 1635 and led his congregation into the wilds of the Connecticut Valley and founded Hartford, the colonial government was established under a constitution called the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut that gave the right to vote and hold office to a larger proportion of the men

42. The Growth of New England • The New Haven colony grew on the Connecticut coast and under the Fundamental Articles of New Haven (1639) established a religious government even stricter than that in Boston • The Hartford and New Haven colonies were combined in 1662 under a royal charter and renamed the colony of Connecticut

43. The Growth of New England • Roger Williams called for a complete separation of church and state in order to protect the church from the corruption of the secular world, he was branded a heretic by the government and banished, in 1636 he bought a tract of land from Narragansett tribesmen and founded Providence.

44. The Growth of New England • In 1644 he received a charter from Parliament and founded Rhode Island, the colonial government of Rhode Island gave no support to the church and allowed “liberty in religious concernments”, it was the only colony in which all faiths could worship without interference

45. The Growth of New England • Anne Hutchinson shared the strict Puritan belief that only the “elect” were entitled to any position of authority and in order to be part of the “elect” one had to have a conversion experience, Hutchinson believed that some ministers were not part of the “elect” and therefore should have no authority.

46. The Growth of New England • Puritan leaders did not like this challenge to their authority especially coming from a woman, Hutchinson was put on trial for heresy in 1637 and she was convicted of sedition and banished from the colony as “a woman not fit for our society”, she would die in a native attack on Long Island in 1643

47. The Growth of New England • In 1637 the Pequot War broke out in the Connecticut Valley, caused by land disputes and disputes between the natives and the settlers over trade with the Dutch in New Netherland, the Pequot tribe was almost wiped out as a result of the bloody and savage war

48. The Growth of New England • In 1675 King Philip’s War broke out in western Massachusetts, the Wampanoags led by Metacomet (King Philip) resisted British expansion into native lands and the imposition of English law on the natives, the natives resisted for 3 years being well-organized and well-armed under Metacomet destroyed 20 Massachusetts towns and killed almost 1000 settlers greatly weakening the society and economy of Massachusetts

49. The Growth of New England • The British allied themselves with the Mohawks and the “praying Indians” of the region and went on the offensive destroying native villages and food supplies on the frontier, a band of Mohawks ambushed and killed Metacomet then took his severed head to Boston and presented it to colonial authorities, after this the English were able to crush the uprising

50. The Growth of New England • Life on the frontier in New England was still quite dangerous, natives resented further westward expansion, the were conflicting territorial claims in the interior among the English, French, and the Dutch, the most prominent threat coming from the French who were allied with the Algonquins