English colonization

1. English colonization M. Carter/ American Pageant Chapter 2

2. When and why? • Late 1500s • Ambitions of Queen Elizabeth • Competition and rivalry with Spain • Money $$$ • Expansion of Protestantism

3. Roanoke colony • Sir Walter Raleigh’s attempt at colonizing • 1585 • Failed when the colony disappeared • An attempt to block Spanish colonization of North America and claim land for England

4. Dominance of the sea • England defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588 • What significance does this one event have on the history of America? Would our history have been different if the British had not won the battle of the seas?

5. England at the turn of the century(16-17th) • Increasing population • Decreasing availability of farmland • Depressing economy • Homeless, unemployed, wanderers of the land • What were the primogeniture laws? • What impact did they have on English society? • What were joint-stock companies? • How did they work?

6. Jamestown: the facts • 1607 • Virginia Company of London, a joint-stock company • A business venture; they sought profit • Site chosen for its defensible position along the James River • Named James Town after King James I

7. Jamestown: 1625

8. Jamestown: the facts • Problems faced: • Disease: malaria carried by mosquitoes • Lack of food = starvation • Lack of clean water = cholera, typhoid, dysentery • Lack of shelter • Laziness • Most early settlers to Jamestown were men of means and were unused to manual labor. Also, they were interested in gold and profit, not growing crops or building shelter.

9. Jamestown: the facts • Strained relationship with Algonquin • Early friendship with Chief Powhatan • Jamestown colonists took advantage of friendliness- became too dependent upon the food crops of the Algonquin. • Eventual demise of the Algonquin and other surrounding tribes due to the “three Ds: disease, disorganization, and disposability.” (Kennedy 33)

10. The “Starving Time” • Winter of 1609-1610 • Jamestown ran out of supplies • Algonquin refused to trade with them • Colonists raided for food • Ate anything they could find • Some instances of cannibalism • Approx. 60 colonists remained by spring

11. jamestown: today

12. Impact of European colonization on native American populations • Disease • Trade Decreased populations or loss of culture • Competition between tribes • Hunting ground • Technology (i.e. guns) • Increased violence • Increasingly dependent upon European trade

13. Tobacco • John Rolfe • Early 17th C. • Tobacco was in high demand in Europe- because of this farmers in VA continued to make a profit into the late 17th C.

15. 1619 • House of Burgesses • Self-government • 1st shipload of African slaves arrived in VA

16. Maryland • A proprietary colony • Lord Baltimore • Mid-17th century • A haven for Catholics- looking for refuge • Goal: Tolerance of Catholics • Act of Toleration- tolerance toward Christians, not toward other religious belief systems

17. Caribbean islands • Sugar plantations • Slave labor (Africans) • Enacted the Barbados slave codes – denied basic human rights to slaves- in an effort to maintain complete control over the labor force

18. Restoration colonies • The Carolinas and Georgia • Became colonies after the restoration of a king to the thrown (Charles II replaced Oliver Cromwell) • South Carolina = Indian slave trade • Rice was cultivated in the coastal lowlands of Carolina and led to the need for Africans- experienced in growing rice • Charles Town (Charleston)- biggest S. port

19. Georgia • James Oglethorpe • Penal colony- emptied debtors’ prisons into Georgia • Buffer between Spanish Florida and the British colonies

20. Southern colonies • From Maryland to Georgia, these colonies shared a few things in common: • Agricultural base • Close ties with England • Mostly Protestant (specifically, Anglican) • Used slave labor or indentured servants (labor intensive) • Profit-based society • Problems with natives as their plantations spread westward encroaching on native land