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Colony • Colony – A settlement of people living in a new territory, linked with a parent country by trade and direct government control. During the 1500s and 1600s Spain, Portugal, England, France, and the Netherlands all established colonies in the New World (North and South America).
Powhatan • Chief of the Algonquian Indians at the time of the arrival of British colonists in the early 1600s. Although in his sixties, Powhatan impressed the English colonists with his dignity, keen mind, and powerful build. Hoping to avoid heavy casualties, Powhatan made an alliance with the English in 1607. However, within two years the British broke their treaty and attacked the Algonquians, pushing them off their traditional lands.
Jamestown • First successful English colony established in North America. • Founded May 13th, 1607 • Led by Captain John Smith, the British settlers made an alliance with the Algonquian Indians and survived off of the food provided by the Indians for the first few years of the colonies. • With the discovery, production and popularity of Tobacco, Jamestown eventually became a profitable colony. • An increase in European settlers hoping to get rich of tobacco led to a land war with the Algonquian Indians in 1622.
House of Burgesses • Established in Virginia in 1619 as the first representative government in colonial America. Male landowners over 17 years of age voted for two Burgesses (representatives) to represent their settlement. The House had the power to make laws and raise taxes, beginning a strong tradition of representative government in the English colonies.
Bacon’s Rebellion • In 1675 poor colonists in Virginia fought a brutal war with Native Americans. During the way the Governor assigned by the King did not provide help to the colonists, leaving the lower-class to fight on their own. • Following the Indian War, in 1676 Nathaniel Bacon led a group of angry colonists to Jamestown.
Indentured Servant • A form of debt bondage common during the early colonial period in Virginia and the Middle Colonies. The laborer is under contract of an employer for some period of time, usually seven years, in exchange for their transportation to the Americas, food, drink, clothing, lodging and other necessities. Original Indentured Servant Contract, 1736 AD
Bacon’s Rebellion • The colonists forced the Governor to leave and burned Jamestown to the ground. • Nathaniel Bacon died in the winter of 1676-1677 and the King appointed a new Governor who was accepted by the colonists. • Bacon’s Rebellion marked the first armed rebellion by colonists against a leader who was appointed by the King.
Triangular Trade • 17th and 18th Century trade between Europe, West Africa, and the Americas. • Europe sent manufactured goods and rum south to West Africa • West Africa shipped slaves to the Americas (The Middle Passage) • The Americas sent raw materials, such as gold, lumber, furs, and sugar back to Europe
Puritans • Religious movement begun in England by those who wished to purify the Church of England. Puritans believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible and that salvation depended on the will of God and not on observance of rituals. In 1620 the King of England gave permission to a group of Puritans, later known as Pilgrims, to establish a colony along the Northeast Coast of North America.
Puritan beliefs • The Puritans followed the teachings of the theologian John Calvin. They believed that they could prepare for God’s saving grace by leading moral lives, praying devoutly, reading the Bible, and heeding their minister’s sermons. But not even the most devout could claim salvation as a right and a certainty, for they believed God alone determined who was saved. Salvation depended on the will of God rather than good behavior or adherence to church rules. • Puritans came from all ranks of English society, including aristocrats. Most belonged to “the middling sort” – a term used to describe small-property holders, farmers, shopkeepers, and skilled artisans. Their modest properties put them economically ahead of much of the English population. Puritanism reinforced the values of thrift, diligence, and morality. Puritans insisted that men honored God by working hard in their occupations. One Puritan explained, “God sent you unto this world as unto a Workhouse, not a Playhouse.”
Plymouth Colony • Established in 1620 by a group of Puritans who came to be known as Pilgrims. Located just south of modern Boston. Upon arrival in America the group of 100 settlers made an agreement known as the Mayflower Compact in which they agreed to a semi-democratic government and agreed to obey common laws. 19th Century depiction of Puritans landing at Plymouth Rock
Massachusetts Bay Colony • Second Puritan Colony in North America, much larger than Plymouth Colony • Established in 1630 under the leadership of John Winthrop and with Boston as its capital • Settlers believed that they were “A City on a Hill”
Compare and contrast the governments of the Virginia and Massachusetts colonies. • In 1620, the first Puritan emigrants, who were later called Pilgrims, crossed the Atlantic in the ship the Mayflower to found the Plymouth Colony on the south shore of Massachusetts Bay. Before they disembarked, the group of about 100 made an agreement called the Mayflower Compact. The settlers agreed to form a government and obey its laws. This idea of self-government would later become one of the founding principles of the United States. • In 1630, John Winthrop led a much larger group of Puritans to America. Winthrop exhorted his fellow Puritans to make their new colony “A City on a Hill,” an inspirational example for the people of England. Beginning with the town of Boston, these Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony on the north shore of that broad bay. In Massachusetts, settlers established a republic, where the Puritan men elected their governor, deputy governor, and assembly. This was the most radical government in the colonies because it was the only one that elected its governor.
Roger Williams (1603-1683) • Founder of Rhode Island in 1644 and a supporter of religious toleration and the separation of Church and State. • Originally a member of the Church of England, Williams moved to the Plymouth Colony in 1631. In the end, he believed that both the Church of England and the Puritans were incorrect. As a result, he moved south to Rhode Island, where he is also credited with establishing the First Baptist Church.
Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) • After moving to Massachusetts in 1634 Hutchinson began to hold religious meetings in her house, preaching that God’s grace was the key to salvation. Puritan leaders banished her from New England for attempting to preach as a woman. She moved to Rhode Island, and then to New Netherland, where she was killed in a Native American attack.
Pequot War (1636-1637) • Conflict between Puritans in New England and the Pequot Indian Tribe. • The war began after the Puritans accused the Pequots of murdering an English trader, a charge which the Pequots denied. • Following a Pequot raid of a Puritan village, the Puritans responded by burning a Pequot village filled with mostly women and children. 600 to 700 Pequots were killed. • At the end of the war the Pequot tribe was eliminated completely. Those that were captured were sold into slavery in the West Indies. • The war set a precedent for future conflicts between colonists and Indians.
Puritan views of indigenous people • The Puritans saw the Indians as lazy savages who accepted life in the wild, instead of laboring to conquer nature. The colonists remade the land to resemble England by clearing and fencing fields for cultivation in the English fashion. They built English-style houses, barns, mills, and churches. They introduced domesticated cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs. Colonists also killed wild animals that preyed on livestock. • After the Pequot War, the Puritans worked to convert and transform the Indians into replicas of English Christians. They pressured the Indians to move into special “praying towns,” where they could be closely supervised by missionaries. By 1674, Massachusetts had 14 praying towns with 1,600 Indian inhabitants. After restricting the Indians to a few special towns, the Puritans claimed most of their lands for colonial settlement. The missionaries forced the praying-town Indians to abandon their traditional ways and to don English clothing. The missionaries insisted upon the English division of gender roles. The Indian women were supposed to withdraw from the cornfields to tend the home and to spin and weave cloth – just as English women did.
Quaker • A radical form of Protestantism, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) was established in England in the middle of the 17th century. Quakers did not have assigned ministers and believed that women were spiritually equal to men. They also refused to carry weapons or fight and tolerated other religions.
William Penn (1644-1718) • The son of a British Admiral, Penn was given permission by King Charles II of England to establish the Pennsylvania colony in 1680. • Though Penn was a Quaker, he supported religious freedom in Pennsylvania. • Unlike colonists in the North and South, Pennsylvanians made treaties with Native Americans, avoiding military conflicts. • Pennsylvania quickly became one of the most successful colonies in North America.
Dutch versus English settlement • The Dutch West Indian Company appointed the governor and an advisory council of leading colonists, but they did not permit an elected assembly. Although run by authoritarian governors, New Netherland tolerated religious groups, including Jews. That toleration drew an especially diverse group of colonists, not only from the Netherlands, but also from France, Germany, and Norway. As in New England, most of the colonists were of the middle class and poor. They came as families – unlike the unmarried, young men who prevailed in the Virginia colony. • In mobilizing migration to the colonies, push factors were stronger than pull factors. Push factors motivate people to leave their home countries. For example, religious persecution pushed the Puritans out of England. Pull factors attract people to a new location. For example, the promise of a better life and fertile soil may pull people to a new land. During the seventeenth century, push was stronger in England than in the Netherlands. With the Netherlands’ booming economy and a high standard of living, the Dutch had less cause to leave home than did the English, who suffered from a stagnant economy. The Dutch did not have the masses of roaming poor who became servants in the Southern Colonies. And the tolerant Dutch lacked a disaffected religious minority, such as the Puritans.
Questions • Compare the governments of the Virginia and Massachusetts colonies. How were they similar? • Consider the relationship between Indians and the following groups: Puritans, Virginians, Spanish colonists, French colonists. How did each group’s relationship with Native Americans reflect that group’s bias toward Indians? • Explain the significance of the Triangle Trade. • Read the following quote and explain how it reflects Puritan values: “God sent you unto this world as unto a Workhouse, not a Playhouse.” • Why did fewer Dutch than English immigrate to the American colonies? Describe both the push factors and the pull factors that contributed to the difference. • Compare and contrast the Puritans with the Quakers.
