British North America The Chesapeake Colonies 1607 1754

British North America

The Chesapeake Colonies 1607 -1754

Key Facts About the Chesapeake Colonies • Virginia • Joint-stock companies • New colonies meant a lot of $ needed • Investors share profits and losses in proportion to the amount they invest • Virginia was founded by a joint-stock company • During its first decade, Jamestown experienced a very high mortality rate • Virginia’s House of Burgesses was the first representative legislative assembly in British North America • Maryland • Founded for profit and for religious freedom

Geographic Characteristics • • Hot summers, mild winters Long growing season Fertile soil Surrounded by swampy land – disease

Jamestown Fort and Settlement Map

Jamestown Housing

Jamestown Settlement

Jamestown Chapel, 1611

High Mortality Rates • The “Starving Time” • • 1607: 104 colonists By spring, 1608: 38 survived 1609: 300 more immigrants By spring, 1610: 60 survived 1610 – 1624: 10, 000 immigrants 1624 population: 1, 200 Adult life expectancy: 40 years Death of children before age 5: 80%

Why was 1619 a pivotal year for the Chesapeake settlement? Virginia House of Burgesses

Growing Political Power • The House of Burgesses • • Established in 1619 Functions like the House of Commons Control over finances, militia, etc. By end of 17 th century, they were able to initiate legislation • A Council appointed by royal governor • Mainly leading planters • Functions like House of Lords • High death rates ensured rapid turnover of members

Maryland • Founded by Lord Baltimore and as a refuge for Roman Catholics • Act of Religious Toleration (1649) – protect Catholics in Maryland from religious persecution by Protestants

John Rolfe What finally made the colony prosperous? ? TOBACCO

The Importance of Tobacco • Made colony economically viable • Created a demand for a large and inexpensive labor force • Initially used indentured servants • Indentured servants began to be replaced with slave labor imported from Africa in the late 1600 s • Most valuable cash crop produced in the Southern colonies until the invention of the cotton gin in 1793

Indentured Servants • 1607 -1676: main labor source in the Chesapeake • Servants were given opportunity to improve their lives in America • Headright System • Goal: attract more settlers to Virginia • Planters received 50 acres for each person they brought to the colony • Difficult Conditions • Their labor could be bought, willed, and attached for debt • Women serving as indentured servants had to remain unmarried

Bacon’s Rebellion, 1676 • What happened? • Led by Bacon, freemen in Virginia rebelled against Governor Berkeley • Followers challenged Berkeley’s power and burned down Jamestown • Bacon’s sudden death (dysentery) enabled Berkeley to crush the rebels Nathaniel Bacon Governor William Berkeley

Bacon’s Rebellion, 1676 • What caused Bacon’s Rebellion? • Former indentured servants angry about Berkeley favoring wealthy planters and not protecting them from Indian attacks • Yeoman farmers also frustrated by: • Falling tobacco prices • Rising taxes • Lack of fertile land near navigable rivers to purchase • Why should you remember Bacon’s Rebellion? • It exposed tensions between poor former indentured servants and the wealthy • It persuaded planters to replace indentured servants with African slaves

The New England Colonies 1620 -1754

Key Facts about the New England Colonies • Pilgrims • Founded the Plymouth Colony • Separatists: sever all ties with the Church of England – too corrupt to be fixed • Leader: William Bradford • Puritans • Founded the Massachusetts Colony • Want to “purify” or fix the Church of England • Leader: John Winthrop

Geographic Characteristics • • Cold winters Short growing season Rocky soil Fine harbors – Boston, Providence

Key Facts About the Pilgrims • The Pilgrims arrived in America without a royal charter • Mayflower Compact • Ensure an orderly government • 41 men signed the agreement • Pledged to “combine ourselves together into a civil body politick” • Decided to make political decisions based upon the will of the people • Established an important precedent for self-government in the British colonies

Key Quote – John Winthrop’s “City Upon a Hill” Sermon • The setting • In 1630, John Winthrop led a fleet of 11 ships and 700 Puritans destined for New England • While on board the flagship Arabella, Winthrop preached a sermon describing his expectations for the new Puritan colony

Key Quote – John Winthrop’s “City Upon a Hill” Sermon • The quote • “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we shall have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. ” • Significance • It expresses Winthrop’s belief that the Puritans had a special pact with God to build a model Christian society • Winthrop’s “city upon a hill” would serve as a beacon of righteousness that would inspire reforms in England

Puritan Beliefs and Values • The Puritans were Calvinists • Believed men and women are by nature sinful • By God’s grace a few people called the “elect” will be saved • Predestination • Because God is all-knowing, He has known from the beginning of time the identity of these lucky souls • • Directly approach God No elaborate rituals No Church hierarchy Membership limited to “visible saints” – those who were already saved • Protestant work ethic – “idle hands are the devil’s workshop”

Key Facts About Puritan Society • Unlike the early Chesapeake settlers, the Puritans migrated to America in families • They lived in compact villages clustered around a community meetinghouse where they met to discuss local issues • Patriarchal society – women and children were subordinate • Valued education – needed to be able to read and understand the Bible • Communities of 50 or more families had to provide a teacher of reading and writing • Harvard College was founded to train ministers • Puritans were more devout than the Chesapeake settlers • Communities were characterized by a close relationship between church and state

Religious Conformity, Dissent, and Toleration • Religious conformity • Convinced that they were undertaking God’s work, the Puritans emphasized religious conformity • Although the Puritans came to America for religious freedom, they did not tolerate dissent • Roger Williams • Challenged the religious authority of Puritan leaders by arguing for the complete separation of church and state • Declared that, “Forced worship stinks in God’s nostrils” • Called for freedom from coercion (the use of force, pressure, and threats) in matters of faith • Banished from Massachusetts and founded Rhode Island based upon freedom of religion

Religious Conformity, Dissent, and Toleration • Anne Hutchinson • Advocated unorthodox (unconventional) religious views that challenged the authority of Puritan magistrates • Claimed to have had revelations from God • Questioned established religious doctrines • Questioned role of women • In 1638, Massachusetts authorities banished Hutchinson to Rhode Island • She later moved to Long Island where she was killed by Indians • Religious toleration • Could not get rid of religious dissent • Ironically, religious intolerance in Massachusetts promoted religious tolerance in Rhode Island

Relations With the Indians • As many as 100, 000 Indians lived in New England when the Puritans arrived • Coastal Indians taught the Puritans how to plant corn • Smallpox epidemics soon decimated the Indian population – by 1675 tribal populations fell from 65, 000 to just 10, 000 • Many New England Indians were determined to defend their way of life from the relentless growth of white settlement • Led by Chief Metacom (also known as King Phillip), the Indians attacked and burned settlements across Massachusetts • Although they suffered great losses, the colonists killed Metacom and defeated his followers

The Middle Atlantic Colonies 1664 -1754

Key Facts about the Middle Atlantic Colonies • Founded for profit • Toleration – religious and ethnic • Multiple countries represented

Geographic Characteristics • • Moderate winters Fertile soil Fine harbors Longer growing season than the New England colonies • The Hudson, Delaware, and Susquehanna rivers enabled early settlers to tap into the lucrative interior fur trade

The Dutch and New Netherland • Founded by the Dutch West India Company in 1626 • Goal: trade and profit • Fur trade • Able to befriend the Indians • Prize location • Between New England to the north and the other English colonies further south • New Amsterdam, one of the finest harbors on the eastern coast of North America • English takeover • In 1664, King Charles II of England sent a fleet of warships to force New Netherland’s governor, Peter Stuyvesant, to surrender • Unprepared to fight, he reluctantly surrendered without firing a shot • The town and colony were renamed New York after the king’s brother, James, Duke of York

William Penn and Pennsylvania • Founded by William Penn as a refuge for Quakers • “Holy Experiment” • Operated in accordance with Quaker religious principles • Every person had an inner light and needed only to live by it to be saved • Since every person had an inner light, all people were equal • Advocated religious toleration • Supported a greater role for women in public worship • Refused to bear arms • Opposed slavery

William Penn and Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania did not have an established church • Quakers worshipped without formal rituals, sacraments, music or art in their churches • Friendly with the local Indian tribes • He paid them for lands • Protected them from dishonest people • Advertising campaign • Encouraged people to move to his colony • Published pamphlets in several languages promising settlers fertile land, low taxes, religious freedom, and a representative assembly • Success • Attracted a diverse mix of ethnic and religious groups • By 1700, only Virginia and Massachusetts had a larger population than Pennsylvania • Philadelphia quickly became a prosperous port that rivaled Boston and New York City

The Southern Colonies

Key Facts about the Southern Colonies • North Carolina • Settled by Virginians • Founded by a group of proprietors • South Carolina • Founded by a group of proprietors • Settled by planters from Barbados • Top 3 cash crops • Tobacco • Rice • Indigo • Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe • Penal colony • Buffer colony

Geographic Characteristics • • Fertile land Warm climate Long growing season Numerous navigable rivers – Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah

The Growth of Slavery in the Southern Colonies • Economic factors • Tobacco and other cash crops required a large supply of inexpensive labor • The spread of tobacco cultivation beyond the Chesapeake colonies created additional demand for slave labor • Less indentured servants because conditions in England improve • Indentured servants were unreliable and rebellious • Following Bacon’s Rebellion (1676), indentured servants are replaced with imported African slaves

The Growth of Slavery in the Southern Colonies • Social factors • By the early 1700 s, slavery was legal in all of the colonies • By the mid 1700 s, slaves comprised about 40% of the South’s population • A small but powerful group of wealthy planters dominated Southern society • Most whites in the South did not own slaves but they did aspire to become slave owners • Impoverished whites felt superior to black slaves thus providing further support for the slave system • Few 17 th and early 18 th century white colonists questioned human bondage as morally unacceptable