EARLY ENGLISH COLONIES AND JAMESTOWN

After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, England is ready to start colonizing the New World

Richard Hakluyt says:

We should colonize the New World because…

It’s a source of raw materials

We can increase trade

We can build up a gold supply

Plus…

We can convert the Indians to Christianity

England is overcrowded, dirty, and dangerous

There are stories of gold mines in the New World

The English colonists are off to a rough start

The Roanoke Island colony

Named the colony “Virginia” after Queen Elizabeth

Started by Sir Walter Raleigh

The colonists at Roanoke rely on the Native Americans for food

Their greed for land angers the Indians, and they cut off the food supply

The survivors return to England

A year later, Raleigh tries again. 1587, Roanoke, again

Raleigh runs back to England for supplies and more colonists, when he comes back, the colony is deserted

The word CRO is carved into a tree, and Croatan is carved into a door post

Were they killed by Native Americans?

Did they leave to another island?

Sagadoc colony

Most of the settlers were convicts They fought wit the Indians, stole

from them, and eventually were starved into returning to England

The joint-stock company

Joint stock companies are backed by people investing in a new project

Everyone gets a piece based on how much they put into the project

King James of England wries a charter, or contract for two new joint stock companies

1607 - Virginia

Settlers arrive in Virginia to set up the first permanent English colony

Off to a bad start

Diseases nearly wiped out Jamestown

They camped in a swamp Spent their time looking for gold The Indians also made things hot

By the end of the first year, only 38 out of 100 colonists are still alive

Enter John Smith

He gets the settlers focused on building shelters, growing food, and work

You don’t work, you don’t eat

Pocahontas

She meets John Smith, and it’s love at first sight

She teaches him about tobacco

Highly addictive Never seen by

Europeans before

BY THE WAY, HE’S IN HIS LATE 30’S…

so Pocahontas meets another guy, John Rolfe

Rolfe takes the secret of tobacco back to England

Tobacco allows Jamestown to survive, and grow

Tobacco makes Jamestown and Virginia successful

Chesapeake bay becomes known as the tobacco coast

The founding of Jamestown marks the beginning of the Colonial Period (1607-1776)

Virginia is the first English colony By the beginning of the

Revolutionary Era (1776), there will be 13

Colonists want a piece of the profits from tobacco

Everybody gets 50 acres if they can pay to get to Virginia

More labor is needed, so the rich folks come up with the idea of indentured servants

Poor people can come to America for free if they agree to work for someone for X amount of years

Regular people want more freedom in the decisions of the colony

House of Burgesses – created in 1619; first representative assembly in the colonies

More and more tobacco plantations are moving onto Indian land

The Indians strike back

The Indians are attacking former indentured servants, poor people moving into Indian lands

Nathanial Bacon asks Governor William Berkeley to declare war on the Indians to take their land

Berkeley refuses

Conflict with Native Americans, poor people with no land, and a governor with too much power leads to Bacons Rebellion in 1676.

Bacon and his men take over the House of Burgesses and burns Jamestown in 1676

Later, Bacon dies of disease, and the House of Burgesses passes laws to prevent a governor from becoming too powerful

CHAPTER 3 SECTION 2: THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

The Seperatists seek refuge

A. Seperatists or Pilgrims wanted to separate from the Church of England

They want a tougher church

B. To escape persecution, they go to Leyden (Netherlands)

After 12 years of hard work and poverty, Seperatists decide to go to the New World

Jamestown was started for money, but the Pilgrims are coming for religious freedom

The Pilgrims come over on their boat the Mayflower

They were headed for Virginia, but get blown off course

They arrive in Massachusetts in 1620

The Mayflower Compact

Before landing in America, the colonists were faced with the need to establish a government of their own

Everyone must obey the laws agreed upon for the good of the colony

They Mayflower Compact, signed by 41 Pilgrims, agreed to consult each other about laws for the colony and promised to work together

This is the first example of self-rule in the colonies

THINGS DO NOT START OFF WELL…

Hard Times = Success!

The Pilgrims start off their first winter on the Mayflower Shelter was inadequate Starvation Disease

The Pilgrims had strong religious faith

They believed it was the will of God for them to stay at Plymouth

If it weren’t for the Indians, the Pilgrims would have died

Squanto and Samoset are two Indians that help out

The Indians teach the Pilgrims how to fish, plant corn, and hunt

Over the next few months, the Pilgrims find their way around and learn to survive

In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims hold a three day festival of thanksgiving

The Indians were invited to join them in a celebration of plenty and peace

The First Thanksgiving

Developments in Plymouth Colony Each settler acquired land of his own Pilgrims repaid merchants who had

sponsored their journey

Outcome of Plymouth

A. Plymouth remained small B. 1691 – Plymouth merged with

Massachusetts Bay Colony C. Successful in furs, fish, and

lumber

The New England Colonies

Massachusetts, 1620 Reasons for coming to America

Get rich Improve their lives by owning land Freedom of religion

10 years later…

The Puritans are another group that are facing hard times in England

1. They want to Purify the English church, not separate from it

They are really unpopular

The Puritans were: A. powerful and well educated B. successful merchants C. landowners

They receive a charter to form the Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Great Migration1629 to 1640 – 16-20,000 settlers land in Massachusetts

Massachusetts government was based on God’s laws

If laws were obeyed God would protect and bring prosperity

John Winthrop – the Governor

The New England Way

The basis of each town is the congregation, a church group

The meetinghouse is the base of law

Town meetings

Only male members of the church have a voice or a vote

Everyone must attend church

The Puritans were hard workers, honest, and dutiful

They called this the New England Way

Because of their hard work, New England has rapid growth

The law required children to read (so they could read the Bible

Rhode Island - 1636 Settled by Roger

Williams The King has no

right to land to anyone

The land belongs to the Indians. It should be bought, not taken

Separate church and state

All white men could vote, including non church members

People can worship as they please

1636

Connecticut - 1636 Settled by Thomas Hooker

Life in the Colonies

New England Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island,

New Hampshire

Hooker’s beliefs: 1. Officials could mean well but

govern badly 2. Governors should have limited

power

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut First constitution, a written plan of

government Limits the powers of the governor Established a government run by

the people

New Hampshire

Settled by John Mason Originally part of Massachusetts 1661 – became a separate colony 1679 – became a royal colony Portsmouth – main city

Not everyone agrees with the New England Way

Anne Hutchinson

A woman who spreads her own religious beliefs

She was kicked out of Massachusetts and went to Rhode Island in 1638

The Quakers

Another religious group

You don’t need the Bible or ministers

Treat Native Americans fairly

Slavery is evil!

The Puritans don’t like them either They are whipped, tossed into prison or

hanged Most flee to Rhode Island

King Phillips’ War

More and more colonists are arriving, and spreading out into Indian territory

The Indians fight back under a leader named King Phillip

The Wampanoag Indians lose the war, and most are killed or sold into slavery

The Salem Witch Trials

Several young Puritan girls claim to have been possessed by a slave woman

They also accuse several others in the village of witchcraft

More than 100 people were taken to trial as witches

19 women and one man were convicted

17 hangings, 2 were crushed to death

Eventually, the town came to it’s senses

Witches, or drugs?

Ergot