Download - Early Colonial America
Chapter 2
Early Colonial America
Royal Colonies received a charter and were controlled by king or queenLower colonial officials
appointed by sovereign
Proprietary Colonies received land granted to a group of private owners for developmentJoint stock companies pooled the money or
investors to start coloniesOfficials locally appointed, selected or
elected
Types of Colonies
The Chesapeake
Settlements spread out and near riversSettlers were mostly upper class men (6:1)
Labor devoted to mining rather than farmingHouse of Burgesses (1619) was first
representative bodyFree men of property votedProtestants dominated assemblyCould levy taxes, make laws, but subject to
vetoJohn Rolfe introduced tobacco which became
lucrative and the basis of economyExports of 3m pounds by 1640 10 10m in 1660Falling tobacco prices caused a turn to slave
labor
Chesapeake Society
Virginia land (named for Virgin Queen) lacked fresh water and agriculture, was swampyProne to disease
Maryland named for Charles’ wife
1649 Toleration Act in ML granted some religious freedom
60% of children in one VA county before 1680 lost one or both parents
Of 15,000 migrants between 1622 and 1640, VA only grew by 5,000
Chesapeake Society
Headright system encouraged immigrationIndentured servitude heavily relied on
(profitable)Workers received passage to America and land½ men died before contracts were up
Surplus of tobacco drove prices down 1671 House of Burgesses forbids blacks to
own guns join militias, win freedom by conversion or by moving into servitude
1705 HOB legalizes slavery
Chesapeake Society and Labor
Gov. William Berkeley thought to be corrupt
Landless distrusted his reactions to Indian raids
Bacon—a disgruntled soldier rallied troops in rebellionAfter arrest elections held to quell dissent
Bacon freed; allies plunder Jamestown and burn estates
Must appease yeoman, curtail corruption and lower taxes
Whites can‘t be trusted for labor—rely on slaves
Bacon’s Rebellion 1676
New England
Town meeting grew as institution of democratic governance
Demographics showed shared background and religion
Puritanism was the state religion, the Bible the foundation of legal guidance
Underlying society was Puritan morality and work ethic (Calvinists)
“Godly watchfulness”—spy clubs for conformity
City on a Hill
New England Society
Structured, close-knit towns Ability to defend and enforce
behavioral normsSelf-governed (Mayflower
Compact), male church members votedHealthy environment, low mortality rate yet ½ of
pilgrims dead in a yearPuritans were of different stock than Chesapeake
Middling ranks rather than gentlemenCongregations followed their ministers to New WorldFamilies cam and clustered in towns
New England Society
Small communities meant watchfulness
Believed predestination to be true
Only “elect” could govern— How elected?Conversion, calling, obeying
Calvinist dominated by TULIP moralityConformity sometimes challenged and eliminated:
Roger Williams—separated church and state (RI)Anne Hutchinson—gender roles and leadershipThomas Hooker—better land, HartfordQuakers—leadership
Religion and Society
Puritanism retained some mystical and pagan influences
Between 1647 and 1662 NE hanged 14 accused
Famously in 1692 in Salem, Mass Bay 19 executed
Patterns of social tensions emerged in the hysteria of ordeals and accusations:Gender issuesWealth distributionSecurity concerns
Witch Trials
Religious war erupted pitting Cromwell and Parliament against the CrownCharles 1 executed 1649Cromwell’s rule became a misguided dictatorship
Charles II restored the Stuart monarchy1651 Navigation Acts (later updated 1660s)
All colonial trade had to travel on English shipsMust through English ports Board of Trade set up to administer 1676
1699 Woolens Act banned colonists from selling wool to England
Adam Smith called these policies Mercantilism
Meanwhile….Back in England
Native Experience“If God were not pleased with our inheriting these parts, why doth he
still make roome for us by diminishing them as we increase?”~John Winthrop
Natives adopted tactic of retreat, collaboration, assimilation and resistance after contact
Years of war and disease devastated their numbers
Loss of land over timeIncreased reliance on European goods and
tradeAddiction to tobacco and alcoholNeglected of native cultureIncreased social division and new structuresDisruption of gender relations
Native Decline
War did not occur all the timeNatives showed the settlers how to plant
corn, where to fish, learned their language and even inter-married at times
Squanto aided the Pilgrims in their early daysPocahontas moved to adopt John Smith as
werowance or subordinate chief after flinging herself on his body after his capture She eventually married John Rolfe and went to
England
Natives Go-Betweens
Relations with the New England Wampanoag deteriorated after “first thanksgiving”Pequot War – 1634 fighting erupted after two
traders were killed in Pequot territoryKing Philip’s War - 1675 MA arrested and
executed three Wampanoag for murderWampanoag chief Metacomet, also known as King
Philip, led the fighting for over a yearTowns were burned and perhaps over 3000 died in
the fighting—including Metacomet who was drawn and quartered
Indian Wars
Forced encomienda system, treatment of women, religious oppression all contributed to upheaval in New MexicoDrought and disease had decimated native numbers
from 100,000 to 17,0001680 Rio Grande pueblo natives resisted Spanish
power by laying siege to capital Santa Fe killing 400+ and driving the Spanish out for a decade
Beaver Wars pitted armed Iroquois Confederacy against other groups to control trade with French By 1660 prisoners made up nearly half of communities
Jesuit priests began living with natives for conversion
Natives and Other Empires
Tribal confederation led by Algonquin-speaking Chief Powhatan
Traded skeptically with the colonistsOpechancanough, Powhatan’s
brother attacked Jamestown in 1622 along with 12 groups and killed 300
Charter revoked and declared a royal colonyGov and ministers appointed by KingHOB stays but new Privy Council ratifiesChurch of England established as legal church
Settlers pay taxes to church clergy
Powhatan Confederacy
Other ColoniesCaribbean, Restoration and Proprietary Colonies
Caribbean colonies were extremely profitableSugar profits exceeded all of those of the
mainland colonies2/3 of English migrants headed for the
CaribbeanBarbados was the jewel
of the regionIndenture turned to
kidnapping then convicts then slaves
The Caribbean
Upon the ascension of Charles II new colonies were chartered
1614 Dutch established trading outposts at Albany and New Amsterdam on Manhattan IslandDutch welcomed traders across nations and religionsEnglish conquered and divided into New York and Jersey
William Penn was given a land grant for a debt owed and established a tolerant Pennsylvania
Carolinas opened as a store colony to supply the CaribbeanSettled similar to Chesapeake, split between NC/SC
1700sFounders sought profit and a buffer with Spanish Florida
Restoration Colonies