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BRITISH IMPERIALISMENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH
ENGLISH RELATIONS W/ SPAINENGLISH CHARTERS TO NEW WORLD
SETTLERS RELATIONS W/ NATIVE POPULATION
The English Empire in America: Setting the Stage
New World at dawn of 17th C
Spain’s Empire in America: Spanish stole Indian gold Infected local population w/ disease Enslaved native population Crafted a sprawling empire (largest in the world) Stretched from California to Florida to Central and South Am. Diffused laws, customs and language
North America remained largely unexplored (1600) European crops found throughout N. America- along eastern
seaboard Disease affected health of indigenous population Several hundred thousand African slaves worked on sugar
plantations (Caribbean and Brazil) Yet: most of North America still laid unclaimed
Until…. The English
Major European Powers in N.America
Three Euro powers set foot in N.Amer.- led to over 100 years of conflict Spanish at Santa Fe (1610) French at Quebec (1608) English at Jamestown (1607)
England in the 1500s
1500s: England ruled by dysfunction; religious wars, violence between Cath. & Protestants
King Henry VIII broke from Catholic church; Reformation sparked rivalries in England and Ireland English crushed Catholic uprising in Ireland; took Irish
lands owned by Catholics; planted Protestant colonists in Ireland
“Many English soldiers developed in Ireland a sneering contempt for the ‘savage’ natives, an attitude that they brought w/ them to the New World” – pg 26, American Pageant
Elizabethan England
Elizabeth I crowned Queen in 1533 No friend of Catholic Spanish King- Philip IIEncouraged the plunder of Spanish ships & settlements
Brazen act of overt aggression; most famous ‘pirate’ was Francis Drake
Philip II infuriated by thievery & demanded English ships be held accountable
Spanish Armada defeated in 1588- left England as sea power Sir Walter Raleigh
Organized an expedition that landed on Roanoke Island (1585) The expedition searched American mainland, dubbed land
‘Virginia’ after Elizabeth They spied on Spanish defenses in Caribbean & returned to
England
Subsequent Explorations
Colonists abandoned Roanoke Island (1586); left for England w/ Sir Francis Drake
John White led expedition (1587) leaving another group of people Returned to England after
granddaughter was born- Virginia Dare (first English child born in New World)
White returned in 1590, found no trace of colonists
George Weymouth searched (1605-1606) for suitable territory for English Catholics
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Francis Drake
Motivating Factors for English Emigration
Desire for profit; mineral wealth & investment wealth
Chance to start over- variety of opportunities & vast amounts of land
Religious freedom Elizabethan Settlement (provided more rights to Protestants
than Catholics) English who wished Crown would purge/purify England of all
Catholicism known as Puritans Separatists left the Anglican Church in frustration w/
Elizabethan policies Separatists had no hope Church could be salvaged Migrated to Holland and later America- Pilgrims
Financing for Colonial Development
Four types of financing methods (for exploration & colonization) in 1500s Trading Company or Joint Stock Company: Used individual
investors to subsidize exploration; if something of value discovered it made money on investments
Company charters enabled owners to sell stock or shares to private investors
Covenant or Self-governing Colony: colonies created and governed by settlers (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Plymouth)
Proprietary Colony: One individual or group given by Crown the right to govern or settle a specified colony (Maryland)- gov’t formed could be any type but colonists had to be guaranteed basic English rights
Royal Colony: remained under Crown control- many of the colonies lost their separate status and reverted to Royal colonies by 1776
Chesapeake Colonies
Settlement of Virginia
London Company sent 3 ships to Chesapeake Bay who settled around Jamestown (April, 1607)
Plymouth Company landed 100 men in Maine (Aug, 1607)- later abandoned
Poor climate, famine, disease, antagonistic Indian population decimated colony to 32
Cpt. John Smith elected President (1608) Compulsory work program (“he who shall not work, shall
not eat”) Introduced self-sustaining agriculture London Company turned company into Joint Stock
company, with permission from Crown
Jamestown under Company Control
Several companies anxious to invest in VirginiaNo import or export duties charged on goods to
New WorldSettlers were promised land after working for
the company for up to seven yearsJohn Rolfe (1612): introduced cash crop -
tobacco First shipment of crop to England (March, 1614) Settlers w/ own land grew own tobacco; hurt Company financially Smoking became popular in the King’s court (James I) & in England Most profit from tobacco made from London merchants & investors
Chesapeake Bay and early Virginia Colonies; Jamestown Settlement to the right
From Company to Royal Colony
Sir Edwin Sandys gained control of company in 1618 Introduced harsh legal code that was repealed in 1619 Rights of Englishmen and Representative Assembly was put in place
General Assembly (Burgesses); Governor and Council met in Jamestown Church (Aug, 1619) First legislature in the New World; representative gov’t
1607-1619: 1,650 settlers left England for Virginia 300 returned Only 351 alive at the beginning of 1619 Next five years: 8,000 immigrants; pop. Jamestown- 1,132
Problems faced by Company Colony: Financial problems; not enough profit Virginia became first Royal Colony Colonists retained rights of Englishmen House of Burgesses continued to meet after 1629
Labor in Virginia
To encourage settlements- women were sent to colony (about 125 lbs of tobacco paid for a wife & passage)
Dutch ship stopped at Jamestown- left 20 black “indentured servants”
Labor shortages aided by indentured servants: Person paying passage fee
received land (from Crown)while one who migrated worked period of years
Food & shelter given, no wages
At end of service, servant was to receive cash or land or tools
Slavery in Virginia
First Africans in Chesapeake (1619)- status unclearSlaves or indentured- the difference was blurred in
early 16th C.# of slaves increased
White colonists reacted to threats; put down possible racial threats Slavery transformed from economic way of life to economic & racial institution By mid-1680s- blacks outnumbered white indentured servants
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
1607 1630 1650 1670 1690
White
Black
Colonial Slave Codes
Beginning in 1662: Made blacks (and children) property of white masters
for life It became a crime to teach slaves to read or white Conversion to Christianity did not qualify slave for
freedom Virginian Law, 1662: “Whereas some doubts have arisen whether
children got by any Englishmen upon a Negro shall be slave or Free, Be it therefore enacted and declared by this present Grand assembly, that all children born in this country shall be held bond or free only According to the condition of the mother."
Virginian Law, 1667: Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children that are slaves by birth [...] should by virtue of their baptism be made free, it is enacted that baptism does not alter the condition to the person as to his bondage or freedom; masters freed from this doubt may more carefully propagate Christianity by permitting slaves to be admitted to that sacrament.”
Atlantic Slave Trade
Powhatan Confederacy
Powhatan dominated few dozen tribes in James River area
English called these Indians Powhatans
Powhatan may have seen English as ally first, in desire to take control over other tribes in area
Culture Clash in the Chesapeake
1614-1622: Peace between settlers & Powhatans
1622-1644: periodic assaults made by both settlers & Powhatans
1622: Indians attacked English, killing 347 (including John Rolfe)
Virginia Co. called for perpetual war vs. Natives Raids reduced Native
pop. & drove them westward
Failures of Original Promoters of Colony
Unrealistic goals: No valuable commodity traded w/ Indians; settlers wanted gold
Survival Skills: Area full of game, berries, fish ‘Gentlemen’ who settled & sought only profit had no survival skills
Health Practices: Settled in a marsh land
No Incentives for artisans & skilled laborers:Profitable staple crops:
Tobacco discovered too late; other maladies already took toll
Relationship w/ Local Indians: Constant instability, uprisings of Indians
The Settlement of Maryland
Royal charter granted to George Calvert (Lord Baltimore)- 1632
Healthier location than Jamestown- tobacco would be main crop
Huge tracts of land granted to Catholic relatives
Toleration Acts of 1649: guaranteed rights of all Christian religions; decreed death to all those who denied Christ divinity
Black slaves imported by late 1600s
Southern Colonies
MarylandVirginiaNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaGeorgia
Indentured Servitude Slavery to work lrg
plantations Cotton, rice, tobacco Fertile soil Fewer urban areas:
Baltimore, Savannah, Charleston
Settling the Carolinas
Charles II provided large land tracts to nobles who assisted him after English Civil War ended
Charles Town formed in 1670 by English & planters from Barbado
Large rice growing production using slave labor mirrored that in Barbados
Culture & economy resembled that of Barbados, rather than England
Carolinas kept close ties to West Indies- early settlers whites and
blacks from islands
Carolinas kept close ties to West Indies- early settlers whites and
blacks from islands
Carolinas closer to Chesapeake, but culturally closer to W. IndiesCarolinas closer to Chesapeake, but culturally closer to W. Indies
Culture and Location
Democratic N. Carolina
Small farmers from Va. And NE established farms in N. Carolina
Few good harbors & poor transportation
Fewer large plantations & fewer reliance on slavery
By 18th century, colony earned reputation as being democratic in nature & autonomous from Britain
Georgia
Proprietary colony: only one to receive direct financing from London
Set up to: Defensive buffer Rid England’s overcrowded jails of debtors
Special Regulations: Ban on drinking rum Prohibition of slavery
Colony did not thrive for constant fear of Spanish attack Colony grew slowly:
Adopted plantation system of Carolinas Dropped ban on slavery
Southern Colonies: Chart
Colony/Date Person Responsible
Why Founded Governed/Owner
Virginia: 1607- Jamestown
•Joint Stock Co.•Virginia Co.•Capt. John Smith•John Rolfe
•Attract new settlers •Search for wealth in form of gold
•Representative Gov’t•House of Burgesses•Royal Colony
Maryland: 1634 Lord Baltimore •Religious toleration•Allowed persecuted Catholics to settle in Maryland
•Representative gov’t•Proprietary Colony
North/South Carolina: 1663
John Locke8 English Nobles
•Colony based on social classes•Failed- colony divided into 2 parts
•Representative gov’t•Royal Colony
Georgia: 1732 James Oglethorpe •Provide a place for debtors to start over•Buffer against Spanish Florida
•Royal Colony
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