Early American Settlements

American Colonization

Why would anyone want to come here?

• Profit• Freedom of Religion• Freedom from Tyranny• Free Land

Roanoke, 1587

• Sir Walter Raleigh tries to establish a colony in N. Carolina

• 117 people are living at the settlement, after 4 years no one is found

• This discourages others from colonizing the Americas

Jamestown, 1607

• First permanent colony in the Americas

• The Virginia Company is granted a charter.

-Their goal was to seek gold, silver, and fur for profit

Reasons why Jamestown thrived

• John Smith helped motivate colonists to do work so they could survive

• He managed to establish good relations with local tribal leader, and barter for corn

• In winter of 1609, however, Smith returned to England and the time became known as “the starving time.”

Jamestown Politics

Economics• Tobacco: a staple crop that helped investors gain much of

the profit they desired• Private Land Ownership: Englishmen were encouraged to

move to the colony were they could receive land and tend to it on their own and make profits for themselves

Government: • Representative government created through the House of

Burgesses (1619). – The first legislative assembly of elected representative in N.

America

Plymouth Colony, 1620

Background:• Back in the 1500’s King Henry 8, broke away from

the Catholic Church and named the state church Angelican. Many people were unhappy with the change, both Catholics and Protestants.

• Reason for leaving England: religious freedom- They were Separatists who called themselves

Pilgrims because their journey had a religious purpose (not all members of the Plymouth colony were religious)

Founding of the Plymouth Colony• The Mayflower carried 102

passengers to the Americas• They ended up north of their

original plan and established the Plymouth colony

• Mayflower Compact (1620): compact promised to honor the King of England and to obey laws passed for the good of the colony

• Mayflower compact was a necessary step in the development of representative government in America

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1629

The Massachusetts Bay was founded in Boston by Puritans seeking religious tolerance• John Winthrop, governor of

the colony• Great Migration

– 1630’s-15,000 puritans came to MA seeking escape from persecution

– Winthrop pushed many out because of his intolerance or differences

Connecticut

• Thomas Hooker-founded Hartford

-brought his congregation with him from Massachusetts

-Combined with two other towns, he helped create the colony of Connecticut• Fundamental Orders of

Connecticut

Rhode Island

• Roger Williams– Felt positive about

religious freedom & not taking land from natives

– Was banished from Massachusetts in 1635

– Created a safe place for dissenters

Types of Colonies

• Royal colony: a colony governed directly by the crown through a governor and council appointed by it

• Proprietary colony: a colony granted to some individual or individuals with full governing rights

Middle Colonies

New York

• Given to the Duke of York by King Charles II• Colonists were promised:

- freedom of religion- to keep their property

• Duke appoints governor and council to direct affairs of the colony, as a result of the swell in population

• After much resistance from New York colonists, the English government allows them to elect their own legislature

New Jersey

• Given to both Lord Berkeley and Sir Carteret by the Duke of York

• Colonists were offered:– Tracts of land– Freedom of religion– Trial by jury – And a representative assembly

• Eventually the land passed back into the hands of the King, because they did not make the profits they had hoped for. However, the colonists still made their own local laws

Pennsylvania

• William Penn acquired the land after an old debt was settled by King Charles

• Belonged to Society of Friends, aka Quakers

• Charter of Liberties , granted colonists the right to elect representatives

Delaware

• Delaware was created from the southernmost part of Pennsylvania, the Three Lower Counties

• Charter of Privileges allowed the lower counties to form own legislature– Thereafter, they functioned as their own separate

colony, supervised by Pennsylvania’s governor

Southern Colonies

Maryland

• Founded by Lord Baltimore as a haven for persecuted Catholics

• Colony named after Queen Henrietta Maria or the Virgin Mary

• Maryland forced colonist to plant more than just tobacco

• Aristocrats vs. Farmers• Indentured Servants vs. Slaves

Mason-Dixon Line

• The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania

• Rivalry between Calvert & Penn Families

• Settled by two astronomers

• Scientists laid out boundary stones with the family’s crest on them

Act of Toleration

• Passed in 1649• Designed to protect anyone from making

Maryland a Protestant colony (to protect Catholics)

• It gave both sects of Christianity the right to freely worship

• 1692, the Protestant-controlled assembly named the state church Anglican and placed same rules on Catholics that existed in England

North Carolina

• Founded by 8 prominent aristocrats

• Settled by farmers from Virginia’s backcountry

• They did not have a good harbor, relied on Virginia ports to export goods for trade– Crops includes Tobacco,

forest products

South Carolina

• More prosperous than the north, due to fertile land and good harbor

• Rice was a leading crop in the wet coastal lowlands

• Indigo• More than half people

in S. Carolina were enslaved

Georgia

• Last of the British colonies in America

• Led by James Olgethorpe• It was a debtor colony, were

they could make a fresh start

• Colony was also a buffer between the other colonies and Spanish Florida

• Highest percentage of non-british persons than any other colony