Britain in the New WorldUnit 2Part I

Britain in the New World• Most modern American

citizens consider Great Britain to be their European "parent" country. However, by the time British arrived in the New World and established their first permanent settlement at Jamestown in 1607, much of the continent had already been claimed by other European nations.

• All of the modern Southwest, including Texas and California, had been peopled by Spanish settlers for about a century. The entire expanse of land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains had at one point been claimed by France.

• Many factors contributed to Britain's tardiness. England was not the most powerful European nation in the 16th century. Spain was most influential. Along with Portugal, Spain dominated New World exploration in the decades that followed Columbus. France, the Netherlands, and Sweden all showed greater interest in the Western Hemisphere than England did.

Late Expectations• One of England's most

adventurous sea captains, Sir Walter Raleigh was granted a charter in 1584 to seek out new lands.

John Cabot

• A voyage by John Cabot on behalf of English investors in 1497 failed to spark any great interest in the NEW WORLD.

Henry VIII• When HENRY VIII broke

with the Catholic Church in 1533, decades of religious strife ensued.

• Finally, under Henry's daughter ELIZABETH I, the English were prepared to stake their claims.

Early Ventures Fail

Francis Drake• Francis Drake was

financially supported by Queen Elizabeth.

• He was a buccaneer who found it easier to plunder the gold of others than mine it himself.

• Francis Drake gained riches for himself and his investor (Queen Elizabeth).

• After raiding ports in NEW SPAIN, Drake circumnavigated the globe in order to avoid being destroyed by the Spanish for his crime.

• Upon Drake’s safe arrival in England, the Spanish demanded his arrest.

New Spain• New Spain refers to Spanish-controlled

territories in North America.• These territories included what would become

the southwest United States, Florida, Mexico, Central America north of Panama, some West Indian islands, and the islands of the Philippines.

The Knight Stuff• Queen Elizabeth refused to comply with

Spain’s demands as she was one of Drake’s investors.

• Elizabeth knighted him on the deck of his ship.• Drake became the first to sail around the

world since FERDINAND MAGELLAN’s voyage.

• Drake completed perhaps the longest escape route in the history of the world.

Ferdinand Magellan• Ferdinand Magellan was born in Portugal circa 1480. As

a boy, he studied mapmaking and navigation. By his mid-20s, he was sailing in large fleets and was committed in combat. In 1519, with the support of King Charles V of Spain, Magellan set out to circumnavigate the globe. He assembled a fleet of ships and, despite huge setbacks, his own death included, proved that the world was round.

Early Attempts at Colonizing

• HUMPHREY GILBERT was the first to attempt to colonize the New World.

• Gilbert has already made a name for himself as a colonizer.• His fervor for the Church

of England made him ruthless.• In 1583, he claimed the

land for his queen, ignoring the fact that fishermen from other countries had already lived there for decades.• His ship was lost at sea

on his return home.

Roanoke• Sir Walter Raleigh’s expedition to ROANOKE

did not fare much better.• In 1585, Raleigh’s men settled off the coast of

modern-day North Carolina.• Amity with the Native Americans soon

dwindled, along with the colonists’ supplies.• In 1586, after beheading the local Indian chief,

WINGINA, the colonists left Roanoke.

Water color by John White, believed to be Wingina.

• Sir Walter Raleigh arranged for GOVERNOR JOHN WHITE and a group of families to return to live peacefully with the natives in 1587.

• Violence resumed within one month.• White was forced to return to England to ask

Raleigh for reinforcements.• Due to the war with Spain, White did not

return to the colony until 1590.

• White searched for the settlers.• His granddaughter, VIRGINIA DARE, the first

English New World baby, was missing as well.

“CROATOAN”• All that could be found was the remains of a

village and a mysterious word, “CROATOAN,” engraved on a tree.

• This lost colony remains one of the greatest mysteries of the colonial period.

Jamestown Settlement and the “Starving Time”

• The first joint-stock company to launch a lasting venture in the New World was the VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON.

• In 1607, 144 English men and boys established the JAMESTOWN colony, named after King James I.

• The colonists were told that if they did not generate any wealth, financial support for their efforts would end.

• Many of the men spent their days vainly searching for gold.

• As a consequence, the colonists spent little time farming. Food supplies dwindled. MALARIA and the harsh winter besieged the colonists, as well.

• After the first year, only 38 of the original 144 had survived.

“Work or Starve”

The colony may well have perished had it not been for the leadership of JOHN SMITH. He imposed strict discipline on the colonists. "Work or starve" was his motto, and each colonist was required to spend four hours per day farming.

• An accidental gunpowder burn forced Smith to return to England in 1609. After his departure, the colony endured even more hardships.

• A new boatload of colonists and supplies sank off the coast of Bermuda on its way to help the hungry settlement.

• The winter of 1609-10, known as the "STARVING TIME," may have been the worst of all.

• Disease and hunger ravaged Jamestown. • Two desperate colonists were tied to posts and

left to starve as punishment for raiding the colonies' stores.

• One colonist even took to cannibalism, eating his own wife. The fate of the venture was precarious.

• Yet still more colonists arrived, and their numbers included women.

King James I declared the Virginia Company bankrupt in 1624.

About 200,000 pounds were lost among the investors.

To be continued…

Credits• ushistory.org• biography.com• shmoop.com• Gymnopédie 1 – Erik Satie