Chapter 4 – The English Colonies

-Explorer John Cabot’s exploration of the eastern coast of North America was the basis for England’s colonial claims, and early attempts to colonize the area today comprised of Virginia and the Carolinas were failures. The colonies established by Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh at Roanoke Island were failures, mainly because the English were unprepared for the dangers and difficulties they would face in the Americas. -In 1606, English King James I would grant a charter to the London Company, a joint-stock company, to found a colony in Virginia. The London Company tried to lure settlers to Virginia by promising wealth and land to those that made the journey. They made little mention of the dangers that the settlers would face. -In 1607, the London Company would establish a settlement on Chesapeake Bay in Virginia named Jamestown, named in honor of King James I. This colony experienced problems from the start. The colonists were lazy and unprepared for the hardships they would face. Few knew how to farm the land or obtain the resources needed for survival. Most were simply interested in adventure or wealth rather than the long term success of the colony. Their choice of location for the settlement was poor. It was located in swampy marshlands next to brackish (salty) sources of water, making it necessary to travel outside of the settlement to find fresh water supplies. In addition, the swamp was a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which spread diseases like malaria to the colonists. In those early days, many of the settlers died from starvation, dehydration, disease, and conflict with the local native Americans. By winter of 1607, over 2/3 of the colonists had died. Captain John Smith, an experienced soldier, took control of the colony and established strict rules: any man that did not work would be banished from the colony, food was to be rationed, and the colonists would focus on their survival first before looking for sources of wealth and profit. Smith saved the colony from destruction.

The Virginia Colony

-The Jamestown colonists made contact with the local native Americans, known as the Powhatan Confederacy. The various tribes in the area were “united” under the chief Wahunsonacock, who initially tried t o pursue peaceful relationships with the colonists, who provided the Jamestown colony with food and taught them how to farm the Virginia soil, growing crops native to the Americas like corn and squash. However, the hungry colonists would often take the supplies they needed by force, leading to conflict with the natives. -In 1609, 400 more settlers would arrive to replace those that had died previously. John Smith returned to England, leaving the colony without a strong leader. The colonists returned to their old ways: they didn’t focus on their survival and became concerned only with finding resources in order to profit financially. Combined with a difficult winter, starvation and disease killed many of the colonists in a period known as the “starving time”. By spring, only 60 colonists remained. However, the colony itself would survive. -English colonist John Rolfe was the first to realize that tobacco was well-suited for the climate and soil of Virginia, and by 1612, was exporting tobacco back to England for profit. This convinced the London Company to invest more money in the Virginia settlement, and this newfound success attracted more settlers to Jamestown. Rolfe married the Powhatan chief’s daughter, Pocahontas, partly as a way of ensuring peace between the Powhatans and the English. Rolfe took Pocahontas back to England with him, but she soon contracted and died from smallpox. -By this time, the colony was self-sufficient, and had little reason to rely on the local natives for assistance. This led to the colonists taking more of the natives’ lands, which in turn led to more conflict and warfare. In 1622, the colonists killed the Powhatan leader. The Powhatans responded by attacking the settlers, killing over 350 people, including John Rolfe. This would lead to a vicious cycle of back-and-forth fighting between the English and the native Americans for the next two decades.

The Virginia Colony, Continued

-The growth of tobacco allowed the colony to survive. In order to attract new settlers, the headright system was established. In this system, any colonist who paid their own way to Virginia received 50 acres of land, and 50 more acres for every colonist they paid for and brought with them. This was an attractive option for the wealthy, who could receive extra land for bringing over relatives and servants. -Life was still quite difficult in the Virginia colony, where there were many dangers that affected colonial life, such as food shortages and diseases such as malaria. The London Company began to “export” women to Virginia as well, promising marriage to unmarried men. Still, men far outnumbered women in Virginia. -The colonists had to provide nearly everything for themselves, from food and clothing to furniture and other basic comforts. -Many Virginia colonists originally came to America as indentured servants. These people agreed to a contract in which they would work for a period of time, 4-7 years, in exchange for passage to America and payment of basic living expenses such as food, clothing, etc. -Due to the growth of tobacco production, there was an increased demand for workers in Virginia. The English began to purchase slaves from Dutch slave traders beginning in the year 1619. As more slaves were imported, the cost of purchasing them dropped, thus leading to a greater use of slave labor. Wealthy planters, those who owned plantations, began to rely solely on slaves for hard labor. Planters would pay them no salary and only provide for the most basic of needs. -Political conditions in the colony worsened over time. Many colonists were angered by high taxes and restrictions on farmland. Many colonists were angered by the Virginia government, as they felt it was ignoring their needs and desires. A group of colonists led by Nathaniel Bacon attacked local natives in an attempt to take their land for tobacco production, and when the governor attempted to stop him, Bacon and his followers burned Jamestown in what became known as Bacon’s Rebellion.

Daily Life in Virginia

-While English colonization in Virginia was focused on making profits from tobacco production, there were other groups that came to America for reasons other than economic profit. -One such group were the Puritans, an English sect, or religious group, that wanted to separate from the Church of England. These people, known as separatists, wanted to purify the Church of England, which they felt did not follow the principles of the Protestant Reformation in mainland Europe. They believed in a closer, more personal relationship with God and wanted to abolish many Church institutions and practices. As the head of the Church of England, King James took these criticisms personally and English leaders began to punish and persecute the Puritans. -One particular group of Puritans known as the Pilgrims first settled in the Netherlands, where there was more religious toleration. However, these immigrants, or those who move from the land of their birth to a new country, wanted to live in a purely English Puritan community. The Pilgrims formed a joint-stock company and obtained a charter to settle in Virginia. -in 1620, The Pilgrims boarded a ship known as the Mayflower and began their voyage across the Atlantic. Heavy storms blew them off course and they landed in present-day Massachusetts at Plymouth Rock. These Pilgrims were led by William Bradford, who acted as the governor of this new colony, and Miles Standish was to organize the colony’s defenses against possible hostile natives. -When the Pilgrims first arrived, they established basic government and laws for themselves under a document known as the Mayflower Compact. This was the first example of self-government in the colonies. -The early days of the Plymouth colony were difficult. Many Pilgrims died from cold, starvation, and disease. The colony was threatened with destruction. -That changed with help from the local native American community, who taught the Pilgrims how to hunt, fish, and farm the American soil. Squanto, a local native who had been taken to England as a boy, knew English and acted as a teacher and interpreter for the Pilgrims. Conditions in the colony improved greatly. To celebrate their success in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims hosted a feast to which they invited the local natives. At this feast they thanked God for their success. This celebration of thanks to God became known as Thanksgiving, an American tradition still celebrated today.

The Pilgrims

-Despite their initial success, the Pilgrims still struggled to survive in America. The soil around Plymouth was poor and good hunting and fishing was sparse. As a result, the Pilgrims began to venture further into native territory in search of resources, which would lead to conflict with the natives. -Unlike the colony in Virginia, the colony in Massachusetts was more family oriented, including many women and children. The Pilgrim community was very family oriented, and when parents died, children were often adopted by other families and raised as their own. Children were seen as vital as future workers who could help the community as a whole. -Children received a basic education in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The primary purpose of education in Massachusetts was so that people could read, interpret, and understand the Bible in order to have a more personal relationship with God. -Each person in the colony had a role to fulfill. Men typically were charged with the government and defense of the colony, hunting, fishing, and farming. Women were typically in charge of family households and chores such as cooking, cleaning, and raising the children. However, women in America enjoyed more rights than those in England, where they were often forbidden from owning land, businesses, etc. Due to the radically different conditions in America, women could inherit land and businesses from their husbands if they died. Women could bring cases before local courts in order to ensure their rights were recognized, and could enter into and sign contracts, unlike in England. -The Pilgrims were not particularly open to outsiders, however. They wanted to keep their community very isolated from those who did not share their religious beliefs.

The Pilgrims (Continued)

-By the 1620’s, the Church of England was persecuting and punishing the Puritans, who were dissenters, or those who disagreed with official Church opinion.. In addition to political and economic turmoil, these Puritans looked to the example of the Pilgrims and began the Great Migration, in which thousands of English Puritans migrated to America, where they would settle in New England, specifically Massachusetts. These Puritans formed a joint-stock company call the Massachusetts Bay Company, which would fund the migration and the colony. In 1630, the first of these Puritans would reach New England, led by governor John Winthrop. These people believed that they had made a covenant, or sacred agreement, with God to build an ideal Christian community. These Puritans were well supplied and prepared for their lives in America, which faced fewer dangers than those colonists that had arrived in America before them. They established new towns and cities, such as Boston and Salem, Massachusetts. -In Puritan New England, church and state were often directly connected. The laws of the colony reflected their religious beliefs and devotion to God. The Puritans were able to exercise relative self-government in the form of the General Court, which acted as the legislature of the Massachusetts colony, in which each town sent two or three elected delegates to represent it in the colonial government. In 1644, the General Court became a bicameral, or two-house legislature. -The colony expanded, and in 1679 New Hampshire was given a royal charter. -Church members were politically powerful in New England. Only male church members were allowed to vote, and the only way to become a church member was to be part of God’s elect, or chosen people.

The New England Colonies

-Some thought it unfair and unjust that the Puritan Church was so involved in New England politics. Some, like Thomas Hooker, thought that voting rights ought to be expanded to non-church members. He and his followers left Massachusetts and founded the colony of Connecticut, where they established a government under the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, a set of basic principles under which the colony would be governed. One of the important changes was the expansion of voting rights to males who were not members of the Puritan church. The Orders were an important step towards further democratic traditions in America, and would form the basis of future documents like the US Constitution. -Life in New England centered around the Church and the family unit. Agriculture in New England mostly focused on staple crops, or those intended for general consumption and daily use, rather than cash crops such as tobacco. New England’s lack of plantations and cash crops reduced the need for laborers such as slaves, and New England had relatively few compared to Virginia. -Also unlike in Virginia, most people who came to New England came with their families. The entire family was expected to help run farms. Children would receive basic educations, but were otherwise expected to work. Women were expected to obey their husbands, raise children, and run the household, while men were in charge of business matters. -As for education, it was very important to the New England colonists. Primarily intended to help children read the Bible, education was made a requirement in Massachusetts. In 1636, Harvard University was founded primarily as a college to train ministers and preachers. Overall, there was more literacy in New England than in Virginia, where there was less focus on education.

The New England Colonies, Continued

-As mentioned previously, there were those in Massachusetts who believed that the colony was too restrictive in terms of its reliance on the church in political matters. There were those who believed that church and state, while having their particular place in New England society, should be separated. -Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts in order to found Connecticut, which expanded voting rights for its citizens and created the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. -Another Puritan, a minister by the name of Roger Williams, urged a split in the Puritan church because of their involvement in politics. He also criticized the General Court of Massachusetts (the colonial legislature) for their refusal to compensate native Americans for land taken from them. -Massachusetts leaders saw Williams as a threat to the colony, and forced him to leave the colony. He and his followers then founded the colony of Rhode Island, for which he received a charter in 1644. In Rhode Island, Williams promoted separation of church and state, fair treatment for native Americans, and religious tolerance, all things denied in Massachusetts. -Another dissenter of the Puritan church was Anne Hutchinson, who church leaders thought too radical, or too outspoken and “far out” in her ideas. Hutchison told people she believed that God would speak to people directly, including herself, and not just through the Bible. Puritan leaders worried about her corrupting influence on the people of Massachusetts, and after a trial, exiled her from the colony. She went to Rhode Island as well. -Puritan radicalism reached its height with the Salem Witch Trials, in which women were accused by others of practicing witchcraft. 19 Salem women were put to death based upon the accusations and “testimony” of other women in the village. The judges in the case would later apologize for the Witch Trials, saying their were wrong and the women were unjustly accused and put to death.

Dissent in Massachusetts

The Southern and Middle Colonies -Outside of New England, other colonies were founded and developed by English settlement. -The English colonies are divided into three primary groups: the New England (which have already been covered), Middle, and Southern colonies. -The Middle Colonies: a) Maryland: founded by English Catholics seeking religious freedom. Founded by Cecilius Calvert, also known as Lord Baltimore. Maryland was a proprietary colony with Calvert as its proprietor (governor). The proprietor was the “owner” of the colony, and he sold or rented land there accordingly. In 1649, Maryland passed the Toleration Act of 1649, which made it a crime to restrict the religious freedom of Christians. b) New York: originally founded by the Dutch as a colony for both staple farming and religious toleration. One of its most well-known Dutch leaders was Peter Stuyvesant, a harsh ruler who ruled the colony as a dictator. During a war with the Netherlands in 1664, the English captured New Netherland and named it New York, after the Duke of York of England. New York became an important colony economically. c) New Jersey: New Jersey was founded as a proprietary colony, attracting settlers with the promise of cheap land. c) Pennsylvania: Founded in 1681 by William Penn, a Quaker. The Quakers were a Christian sect that worshipped by “quaking” their bodies, and believed in pacifism, or non-violence. They were persecuted for their beliefs in England, and Penn was granted a charter to found a colony in the Americas. Pennsylvania was known for its abundance of cheap land with fertile soil and climate, religious toleration, and acceptance of a wide variety of ethnic groups and cultures. It was often called an “ideal” colony. Its capital was Philadelphia, which means “City of Brotherly Love” in Greek. -The Southern Colonies: a) The Carolinas: The Carolinas were founded as proprietary colonies primarily intended for plantation agriculture, focused primarily on rice production. The colony was then later split into two parts: North and South Carolina. b) Georgia: Founded by James Oglethorpe as a colony for England’s poor and indebted. Colonists were able to settle there and gradually pay off the debts they owed back in England.