Exploration and Colonization of the New World
1450-1733
Early Exploration
• Motivated by the economy
• Portugal and Spain look for direct way to obtain Asian goods– Portugal
• Dias & Da Gama sail around Africa to India• Also claim Brazil in South America
– Spain• Columbus sails west to get to Asia; “finds” the
New World (Columbian Exchange)• Spanish begin colonization of Americas
Spanish Explorers• Cortez subdued the Aztecs in Mexico• Ponce de Leon –Florida (gold & fountain of
youth)– St. Augustine, FL 1565 (oldest continual settlement)
• Sante Fe 1610– Little economic gain; Christianize natives
• Spanish were fairly unsuccessful in colonization– Pueblo Revolt
• Natives defeated Spanish
– Only remote Catholic missions in territory until well after 1700
French Explorers
• John Cabot-Nova Scotia, Newfoundland
• Cartier-Montreal and St. Lawrence River– Main colonization area– Followed river, relied on fur trade
• Sought the ‘Northwest Passage”
• Quebec 1608– First permanent settlement
Dutch Exploration
• Henry Hudson –Hudson River1609
• 1614, founded New Netherland
• 1626, purchased Manhattan
• Fur trade and Iroquois Confederation were basis of colony
English Exploration
• Wanted to create a demand for products, adventure for gentry
• Two major objectives– Northwest Passage– Raid Spanish colonies and destroy
• First major attempts by Raleigh and Gilbert– 1583-1590– Failed (Lost Colony)
• 1588, England defeated Spanish Armada– Changed the balance of power
Reasons to Come to New World
– Necessity of wealth• Eldest son inherited (primogeniture)• Landed gentry ruled Parliament (no titles)• Most people had limited power/influence
– Population explosion• Towns were overcrowded• Food shortages (agr. has hard time keeping up)• Towns deadly due to disease
– Religious persecution• Some look for religious freedom
Geography of Early American Colonies
• Southern– Virginia, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Georgia,
Maryland*
• Middle– Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey,
Delaware
• New England– Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island,
New Hampshire
Virginia
• Founded by the London Company (later known as Virginia Company)– Cape Fear River (NC) to Hudson River
• Jamestown 1607– Poor location due to river and dense forest– Three major goals
• Find gold– Brought goldsmiths, not farmers
• Northwest Passage• Cure for syphilis
• Failed miserably the first year– No crops, no work force, lazy
• John Smith assumed command 1608– Developed martial law
• “work to eat”
– Worked for peace with Powhatan• Bought corn
– Very successful, then returned to England
• 1610, 400 died in colony– No crops– Indians refused to deal with Virginians
Pocahontas ‘saving’ John Smith
• John Rolfe introduced milder version of tobacco 1619– Major cash crop
• Reforms in colony attracted new colonists– Established common law– House of Burgesses (1622)
• Met with governor, could pass laws
– **settlers could own land**• Headwright system
– Settlers paid for indentured servants, received 50 acres of land per servant
– Encouraged families and created plantations
• First colony to introduce slavery– 1619, first slaves arrived by Dutch ship– By 1660, slavery became a legal condition
defined by the mother
Triangular Trade
• Raw materials, tobacco sent to Europe
• Rum, trinkets, guns sent to Africa
• Slaves and gold to Caribbean and America
• First slaves to Jamestown: 1611
21
22
• Virginia survived despite leadership– Became a royal colony in 1624 (under control
of Crown)– Became self-sufficient
• Taxed themselves
– Had regular assembly meetings– 1650s, government split
• House of Burgesses was elected• Governor’s Council
– Lifetime appointment
• Copied agricultural techniques from Natives
• 1634, divided into counties– Justice of peace
• Appointed by governor• Set tax rates, built roads
• Established the Anglican Church– Paid tax until 1662– Very little religious influence– Few churches
Social Classes in Va.
• First Families– Gentry left Va quickly– Dominated by middle class 1630-1660
• Gamblers, had few children
– **New immigrants after 1645• Became the planters• Controlled the House by 1670
– Huge land grants
– Became the first families of Va• *dominated politics for 200 years (in Va)
Maryland
• Lord Baltimore, 1632– Could appoint leaders
• Purpose of colony –provide a refuge for Catholics
• Would establish a manor system• Adopted the headwright system• Encouraged Protestants and Catholics to
settle– Cheap land
• Colony prospered– Conflict arose between religions
• Lord Baltimore lost control– Bicameral legislature
» Lower house-elected (Protestant)» Upper House-appointed (Catholic)
• ***Religious Toleration Act of 1649– Tolerated all religions except Judaism
• By 1670, Maryland is very similar to Va– Tobacco, corn, livestock
Carolina
• 1663, land given to proprietors• Ashley Cooper led settlement
– Gave 50 acres to every family member
• 1670-South Carolina• Near Charleston
– Bicameral legislature• Based on John Locke’s idea• Guaranteed religious freedom to all
– Must join a church or lose citizenship
• North Carolina– Shipping materials
main economic source
– Some tobacco near coast
– Most independent of colonies
– Few plantations
• South Carolina– Began to grow rice
• Saw major profits• Needed a labor force
– West African slaves
» Immune to malaria
• ***major increase of slaves
– By 1720 67% of population was slave
Colonies divided in 1729
Georgia
• Founded by James Oglethorpe– Savannah
• 1733• Outpost against Spanish and refuge for debtors• Outlawed slavery
– Eventually overturned• Grew rice
• Little religious influence– John Wesley, founder of Methodism
‘Old South’
• Dependent upon slavery
• Created plantation system (owned 20+slaves)
• By 1740 – 40% of Va is slave– 30% of Maryland is slave– 60% of South Carolina
Slavery
• Chesapeake– Organized into work
gangs– Supervised by
whites– Encouraged
reproduction
– Few were trained
• Low Country– Lived separately
from whites– Slow assimilation
– Low reproduction rates
– Slaves were allowed free time
– Some artisans
Colony Founded Leader First
Settlement
Virginia 1607 John Smith Jamestown
Maryland 1632 Lord Calvert St. Mary’s
Carolina 1663 Eight
Lords
Proprietors
North: Albemarle
South:
Charles Towne
Georgia 1732 James Ogelthorpe
Savannah
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Religion leads to New England
• Most Europeans claimed to be Christian– Feared witches and magic
• Catholic Church– Sacraments were very important– Repeated at worship– Priests
• Reformation– Cannot earn salvation, but through faith
Colony Settled in - by reason economics
Plymouth 1620
William Bradford
religious persecution
Fishing, lumber, whaling, trade
Mass Bay 1630
John Winthrop
Establish Puritan Society
Same as Plymouth
New Hampshire 1623
John Wheelwright
Religious
persecution
Trade & fishing
Connecticut 1636
Thomas Hooker
Establish Puritan settlement and fur trade
Fur trade
Rhode Island 1636
Roger Williams
Escape religious intolerance in Mass Bay
Shipping &
farming36
• John Calvin (predestination)– Only a few will experience God’s grace
• Reformation impact world four ways– Led to almost all Christian traditions– Must be able to read– Denied power to priests– Created a new crusading spirit
Puritans• Puritans = Congregationalists• Predestination• Intolerant of all other religions• Loyal to Anglican [Church of England] • “City upon a Hill”• Congregations self governing• Bible & sermon most important• Emphasized work ethic• Material gains signified holiness• Blue Laws• Only “visible saints” are saved 39
Plymouth Plantation
• 1620, Pilgrims (Separatists)• Governor was William Bradford• Small families arrived on Mayflower (102 people)• Did not land in Va, but outside boundary
– No legal rights
• *Mayflower Compact– Signed by 41 males– ‘civil government’ formed– Agreed to a form of direct democracy
Mayflower Compact• Not a constitution but provided a precedent
for later democratic compacts
“We solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together in a civil body
politic.”42
• 50% died within one year, no crops
• Squanto and Samoset helped sustain colony– Taught to grow corn– 1st Thanksgiving in fall 1621
• English controlled Natives quickly
• Divided land among individuals
• Paid off debts
• Very poor people
Massachusetts Bay Colony
• 1630, led by John Winthrop– Carried their charter
• Moderate Puritans (non-separatists)• Started at Salem, then grew to Boston• Government granted all males the right to vote• “City upon a hill”
– Utopian society– Model of Christianity– Very little class conflict– Government would prevent rich from exploiting
the poor
• Church was the center of community– Chose ministers and magistrate– Town meetings made decisions
• Hard working people– Maintained ‘holiness’– Only church members could vote
• Very successful colony– Lots of immigrants, esp. families
Puritan Orthodoxy
• Self-governing congregations– Influenced by John Cotton
• Required voters to be “saint” (church member)– Not property owners– Higher percentage could vote in America than
England
• Created a General Court– Representative democracy
• Must be a ‘visible’ saint• Created a Covenant with God
– Applied to the entire household– Rules were enforced by society
• Punished publically
– Must read scriptures• Old Deluder Act
– Every town must have a school
• Harvard College 1636– Founded to train ministers
– Parents were responsible for child’s education
– No originality or initiative • Came from Satan
Roger Williams
Puritan minister in Mass. Bay– Wanted to separate from Church of
England– Did not believe church should punish religious
crimes– Banished by colony– Founded Providence, Rhode Island
• Secured religious freedom
Anne Hutchinson
• Believed that true saints could not be controlled by non-saints– antinomianism
• Charged her minister to be a ‘non-saint’• Divided the colony
– Supported by merchants• Already upset with church leaders
– Church controlled prices within colony
• Youth of colony– Did not like rigid control of church
• Women especially rebelled
• Charge with heresy– Gave great testimony
• Claimed to have spoken with Holy Spirit
• Banished by colony
• Founded Portsmouth RI
• Results– More restrictions on women– No public roles for women– Women must relate conversion experience in
private
Connecticut
• Thomas Hooker, 1639– Fundamental Order of Connecticut
• First written constitution• Modeled after Mass. Bay charter• All male landowners could vote
• New Haven 1643– Strict sainthood enforced
Puritans v. Indians
• Pequot War 1637– Englishmen set fire to Indians, killed most
• King Phillips War (Metacom) 1675– Forged an alliance of Indians– Hit frontier settlements– Hundreds of colonists and Indians died– Slowed western expansion – Indians were essentially gone from New
England
New England Confederation
• 1643; 1st major union among English colonists
• Included Mass. Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and valley settlements in Conn.
• Wanted to be prepared to fight against the Dutch, French, and Indians
• Chose elected representatives
Dominion of New England
• 1686 – included all NE; later includes NY and E/W Jersey.
• Created by Charles II• Purpose- promote enforcement & efficiency of
Navigation Laws– Led to increased smuggling
• Sir Edmund Andros was leader– Hated by the Puritans
• Did away with self-government• Restricted courts, press, schools• Revoked land titles• Taxed the citizens without their consent
Glorious Revolution
• Occurred in England– Removed Stuarts from monarchy, replaced
with William and Mary
• Impact on colonies– Mass. was made a royal colony 1691
• New charter and new governor• All male property owner could vote (not just church
members)
New Netherland-New York
• 1623
• Established by the Dutch West India Co– Fur trade
• Little toleration or freedom allowed
• Ran by aristocrats– Patroons built feudal estates on Hudson
• Had to settle 50+ people• Maintained control for well over 100 years
New Sweden-Pennsylvania
• 1638
• Ruled for approximately 20 years
• Absorbed into New Netherland
• Some Swedish influences– Log cabins
New York
• Lost to British in 1664
• Dutch refused to leave– Gradually became loyal British subjects
• Continued to own massive amounts of land
– Influenced much• Architecture• Names of places• Social customs
Pennsylvania
• William Penn• 1681• Founded to an asylum for Quakers• Well advertised
– Sought out British, French, Dutch, German
• Attracted lots of immigrants due to land policy• Philadelphia
– First planned city
• Bought land from Indians– Known for good relations w/ Indians
• Representative assembly– Elected by landowners
• No tax supported church
• Freedom of worship– Catholics and Jews could not serve in
public office or vote
Last Colonies
• New Jersey– Founded by
Quakers who left PA– Became a royal colony
1702 (combined W & E Jersey).
• Delaware– Closely associated
with Pa– Shared a governor
until the American Rev.
Middle Colonies
• ‘most American’ of them all– Diverse groups of immigrants– various languages– Many religions
• Rivers were key to economy– Trade
• Grew wheat• Built ships• Somewhere in the middle
– Large landholdings, but not quite as large as South, bigger than New England
Colony Founded Leader First
Settlement
Delaware 1638 Peter Minuit Wilmington
New York 1664
Dutch before
Religious tolerance
Peter Minuit New York
New Jersey 1664 Lord Berkeley
Sir Carteret
East: Carteret
West: Salem
Pennsylvania 1681
Quakers, tolerant, pro-Indians
William Penn
“holy experiment”
Philadelphia
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