Chapter 3: The English Colonies

1. Chapter 3: The English Colonies Section 1: The Southern Colonies

3. Settlement in Jamestown • In 1605, a company of English Merchants asked King James I for the right to establish a colony • King James I granted company’s request in 1606 to settle in a region called Virginia • Founding a New Colony • Investors in the new settlement formed a joint-stock company called the London Company • Investors shared the costs and the risks • 105 colonists sent by the London Company arrived in America in April of 1607 • On May 14, the colonists founded Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America

4. Settlement in Jamestown • Many settlers died • No farming experience • No skills (like carpentry) • Colony surrounded by swamps • Disease carrying mosquitoes • By winter, 2/3 had died • Powhatan Confederacy • John Smith • Took control of the colony in 1608 and built a fort • Forced settlers to work harder, build better housing, and created rewards system • Colonists also received help from Native Americans • 1609, more settlers arrived • Winter brought disease and famine and many died • Jamestown failed to make a profit until colonist John Rolfe introduced a new type of tobacco

5. Settlement in Jamestown • War in Virginia • John Rolfe married Pocahontas • Marriage helped form more peaceful relations with the Powhatan • Pocahontas died in England • 1622: colonists killed a Powhatan leader • In retaliation, the Powhatan attacked the Virginia colonists • Fighting between colonists and Native Americans would continue for the next 20 years • The London Company could not protect its colonists and as a result, the English Crown cancelled the company’s charter in 1624 • Virginia became a royal colony under the authority of a governor chosen by the king

6. Daily Life in Virginia • In early Virginia, people lived on scattered farms • Plantations, large farms, were established by tobacco farmers • Tobacco was extremely valuable • Headright System • Started by the London Company, under this system colonists who paid their own way to Virginia received 50 acres of land • An additional 50 acres of land was granted for each additional person brought from England • Rich colonists brought servants and relatives in order to gain large amount of land

7. Daily Life in Virginia • Labor in Virginia • High death rates led to labor shortages • **Recall that we saw this same phenomena occur in Europe during the Black Death • The majority of workers were indentured servants • Signed a contract to work for 4-7 years for those who paid for their journey to America • Expansion of Slavery • Not all laborers that came to America were Europeans • Africans • Some were servants, others had been enslaved • Some African servants became successful farmers after their contracts ended • After time, the demand for workers became greater than the supply of indentured servants • Cost of slaves fell • Led to the expansion of slavery • By the mid 1600’s, most Africans living in Virginia were being kept in life-long slavery

8. Daily Life in Virginia • Bacon’s Rebellion • As plantations grew in the Southern Colonies, the English crown began to ask for more taxes • Poor colonists objected to the raise in taxes because they were not wealthy plantation owners • They were also upset about the crown’s policies towards Native Americans and felt that the colony was not well protected • Nathaniel Bacon led a group of former indentured servants in an attack against a group of friendly Native Americans • Protested the governor’s openness to trade with them and felt that the colonists should be able to take land away from the Native Americans • When the governor tried to stop him, Nathaniel Bacon led his followers into Jamestown and burned it to the ground • Bacon’s Rebellion • At one point, Nathaniel Bacon controlled much of the colony, but after his death the rebellion ended

9. Other Southern Colonies • English Catholics began planning their move to America • To escape religious persecution • Against England’s separation from the Roman Catholic Church • Not allowed to worship freely by the Church of England • English leaders feared that English Catholics would ally themselves with France or Spain

10. Other Southern Colonies • Maryland • George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, asked King Charles I in the 1620’s for permission to begin a new colony in America for Catholics • King Charles I issued a charter to George’s son, Cecilius, who took over planning the colony • Cecilius became the second Lord Baltimore and named the colony Maryland in honor of England’s queen, Henrietta Maria • Located north of Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay area • Intended to be a refuge for English Catholics and a proprietary colony • Colonial Owners controlled the government

11. Other Southern Colonies • Maryland (continued) • The 200 English Catholics who first came to Maryland benefited from the lessons of Jamestown • Raised corn, cattle, and hogs • Soon began growing tobacco for profit • Protestants began moving to Maryland in the 1640’s • This led to religion conflicts • Toleration Act of 1649 • Presented to the colonial assembly in 1649, this bill made it a crime to restrict the religious rights of Christians • Did not stop all religious conflicts, but showed that the government wanted to offer some religious freedom and protect the rights of minority groups

12. Other Southern Colonies • The Carolinas and Georgia • 1663, King Charles II gave much of the land between Virginia and Spanish Florida to 8 of his supporters • 1712, separated into North and South Carolina • Most North Carolina colonists had moved south from Virginia • Most South Carolina colonists were from Europe • Those who paid their way received huge grants of land and the slave population increased • By 1730, 20,000 African slaves were living in the colony, compared to some 10,000 white settlers • South Carolina was managed poorly and the government was overthrown • North and South Carolina were then purchased by the crown and made royal colonies

13. Other Southern Colonies • James Oglethorpe was granted a charter by King George II in 1732 and Georgia was founded • King George II hoped that Georgia would act as a “shield” colony from Spanish Florida • James Oglethorpe hoped that debtors (who had been jailed in England for their monetary debts) could make a new start in Georgia • James Oglethorpe did not was Georgia to have large plantations owned by only a few wealthy elite • Wanted many small farms • Outlawed slavery and limited the size of land grants • Farmers grew unhappy with Oglethorpe’s rules and the colony was eventually made a royal colony with new rules

14. Economies of the Southern Colonies • The economies of the Southern colonies depended on agriculture • Exported materials for ship building, such as wood and tar • Many small farms and some large plantations • Farms did well in the south because of the warm climate • Many farms grew a cash crop, such as tobacco, for profit • Required a great deal of work and a huge workforce • Turn to slavery

15. Economies of the Southern Colonies • Slavery • Brutality • Most southern colonies passed slave codes to control slaves • Fear of slave revolt