13 Colonies Notes

Massachusetts

Pilgrims: 1620- Mayflower. Created Plymouth Colony. Leader was William Bradford. Wanted to live a life based on teachings of the Bible and escape religious persecution in England.

Puritans: mid 1620’s Created Massachusetts Bay Colony. Leader was John Winthrop. Very strict religious society…they kicked people out of their colony.

New Hampshire

John Wheelwright in 1638 left the Mass. Bay Colony and founded Exeter, New Hampshire.

Other Puritans settled another area that same year (F Gorges and John Mason) It was settled for religious freedom. It was named after Hampshire England, Mason’s former home in England.

Rhode Island

Created in 1644 by Roger Williams because he was kicked out of the Mass. Bay Colony. He befriended the local natives- he bought land from the natives. Rhode Island was seen as a “safe haven” due to its toleration of all religions.

Connecticut

1636 Thomas Hooker founded the town of Hartford. It had fertile land. Hooker was a minister that disagreed with the Puritans.

First Constitution in the U.S. called the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.

New York

First controlled by the Dutch (Netherlands) and was called New Netherlands

England wanted the colony because of the great river trade and takes it over without a fight.

King Charles II gave the land to his brother- Duke of York and named it New York

Very Diverse in its population of settlers

Delaware

Swedes settled the area then the English took it over to expand their trade.

1st Delaware was part of Pennsylvania, then with the Charters of Privileges it was allowed to have their own legislature which will later become Delaware.

New Jersey

Founded in 1636 by Lord Berkley and Carteret because the Duke of York gave southern New York to them.

It was Proprietary colony. It allowed ethnic and

religious diversity, representative assembly, trial by jury and freedom of religion.

Name after Jersey Island in England, birth place of Carteret.

Pennsylvania

1682- William Penn received land from the King of England to pay back a loan that Penn’s father gave to the King.

Penn was a Quaker and the colony would be a “Holy Experiment.”

Penn designed the city of Philadelphia- “City of Brotherly Love.”

Virginia

Jamestown in 1607. First permanent colony in North America by the English.

Wanted to expand the English empire, make money/profit.

Farmed Tobacco- need more workers so Virginia Company offered 50 acres of free land…..colony grew!

Maryland

C. Calvert from England wanted a safe place for Catholics in the New World.

Problem: Protestants outnumbered the Catholics in Maryland and made the official church- the Church of England in Maryland!

Mason Dixon Line

North Carolina

King Charles II gave land to 8 wealthy (aristocrats) called Carolina (combined North & South Carolina).

Farmland- Indigo (dye)

1729 created North Carolina.

South Carolina

King Charles II gave land to 8 wealthy (aristocrats) called Carolina (combined North & South Carolina).

Farming- Rice Charleston

(Charlestown major sea port)

1729 became South Carolina

Georgia

1733 James Oglethorpe created a colony where debtors in England could make a fresh start in the New World.

Georgia was seen as a protection barrier between Spanish Florida and the rest of the Colonies.

Officially banned slavery and rum for a short time.