The Planting of English AmericaChapter Two

Elizabethan EnglandNorth America largely unexplored by Europeans before 1600

Spain controlled the New World

Protestant Reformation after Henry VIII broke from Catholic Church

Rivalry with Spain intensified when Elizabeth I became first Protestant Queen

A Rocky StartKing James I divided North America between the London Company and the Plymouth Company

Joint-stock companies

Governed the colonies on their own, investors kept most of profit

Sir Walter Raleigh sent group to find site for English colony in America and they named it Virginia after Elizabeth

Roanoke was founded but had a tragic end

Someone expected the Spanish… ArmadaPhilip II of Spain had

created an Armada of ships to invade England

England’s ships were smaller, faster, and well prepared to easily overtake the Spanish fleet

This began the end of the Spanish empire

They had overextended themselves in the New World and in Europe

Helped ensure England’s dominance in the North Atlantic

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A Land Ripe for ChangePuritanism taking strong hold

Primogeniture still in existence

Failing job market

Monarch wished to show the world that England could dominate

Permanent Virginia1606 – VA Company of London received charter from King James I

Gold

Site was poor choice, named it Jamestown

Jamestown was first successful English colony

Many settlers died of malaria or dysentery

Spent more time looking for gold than growing food and the harsh winters took their toll

As colonists were about to leave, Lord De La Warr (new governor) imposed military regime

Tobacco was planted in Jamestown by John Rolfe who was taught to plant it by his wife Pocahontas

Concerns with the NativesTension between colonists

and nativesColonists raided food supply of natives

Series of attacks on both sides

As in Spanish colonies, disease killed off many of the natives

Indian population began a move westward

Lakota Sioux benefitted from the horse

Assimilated (both sides) in some cases

Virginia GrowsTobacco not wisest crop choice

Land leached of nutrientsSlaves

Formation of House of Burgesses

First parliament in America

King James I grew hostile

Hated tobaccoRevoked VA Company charter

MarylandLord Baltimore wanted place to make money and serve as haven for English Catholics

Despite tension between local protestants, Maryland thrived

Tobacco initially grown with labor from indentured servants

Act of Toleration (1649)Guaranteed toleration for all ChristiansExecution for Jews or atheists

The West IndiesSugar

Labor and capital intensive crop

African slaves brought to Caribbean

By 1700 slaves outnumbered white settlers 4 to 1

Other types of agriculture suffered

Had to rely on imports of food from North America

Farmers who were forced out of sugar planting in Caribbean moved to North America

The Carolinas and GeorgiaCarolinas were land gifts

from King Charles II

South based on plantations, depended on slave labor

North mainly small farmers

Eventually the king divided them into 2 royal colonies

South Carolina began enslaving Indians

Rice and indigo emerged as major export crops

With French to north (Canada) and Spanish to south (Florida), England wanted buffer zone which led to establishment of Georgia

Slavery initially banned

Debtors colony