Colonial America
In the years that followed the Age of Exploration,
European nations raced to settle in North and South
America. For religious reasons, the desire for land,
and economic opportunity, each of the major European
powers established "colonies" in the New World. Often
times this competition led to war and conflict for
control over territory. A colony is a group of people
living in a distant land ruled by the government of
their homeland. Most notably the English established
the original 13 colonies along the Atlantic Coast.
These colonies along with their English legal traditions
eventually become the United States. Each of these
colonies was established for unique reasons and
lifestyles varied greatly in each region of the 13
colonies.
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"Settling the New World" Guided Notes
"Colonial
America" Guided Notes
REASONS FOR ENGLISH COLONIZATION:
-increasing population
-enclosure (hurt small farmers)
-unemployment
-primogeniture (first son gets all)
-Joint Stock Companies (pool capital)
-religious intolerance
-need for new markets
THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES
(MASSACHUSETTS, NEW HAMPSHIRE, CONNECTICUT, RHODE ISLAND)
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY:
(will merge with Plymouth & become Mass. 1691)
-founded by the PURITANS: Protestants who wanted the Church of England to
become purer by getting rid of Catholic practices. (organ music, garments,
others)
-unlike the Pilgrims, the Puritans did not want to separate from the Church
of England
-King James I disliked the Puritans as much as the Pilgrims and made their
lives difficult
-when James I dies his son Charles I threatens the Puritans with harsher
punishments
-Puritans can not stay in England and decide to emigrate (leave the country)
-the Puritans get a charter from the king to establish the Mass. Bay Colony
-within a year over 1,000 leave England for Mass. Bay
-between 1629-1640 over 20,000 Puritans will settle in Mass. Bay
-this is known as the GREAT MIGRATION (settle in Salem, Boston, & other
towns)
-Economy based on fur, fish, lumber, & ships
GOVERNMENT IN THE BAY COLONY:
-Puritans wanted a new society based on the laws of God – God would protect
them
-John Winthrop (a well to do lawyer) – selected as governor – under his
leadership the colony would grow and prosper
-“We shall build a city on a hill.” – covenant with God to build a holy city
-theocracy; government based on religion
-at first very few settlers could vote (had to own stock) – few settlers did
-later all free adult Puritan males (about 2/5 of men)
-they were allowed to vote for governor & representatives to the GENERAL
COURT
-GENERAL COURT (Representative Assembly)
-town government was run by men who owned property in town meetings
-distrusted democracy – only free men (visible saints) could govern in order
to enforce God’s laws
-taxes: everyone paid
-public education – people need to read the Bible (Harvard 1636)
RELIGION:
-religious leaders were most influential in the colony (John Cotton)
-congregation could hire and fire clergy
-clergy could technically not hold government office, but were very
influential
PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC:
-serious commitment to work and affairs of government
-“Ideal hands are the work of the Devil!”
-few simple pleasures were allowed
PROBLEMS & DISSENTERS IN PURITAN SOCIETY:
-Winthrop felt as governor he could rule as he wished
-some disagreed and wanted laws to limit the governor’s power – lead by
Thomas Hooker
-in 1636 Thomas Hooker and about 100 others decided to leave Mass. Bay
-they settled in the Connecticut River Valley and built the town of Hartford
-others soon followed – found the Colony of Connecticut
CONNECTICUT:
-they set up rules for the colony called the:
-FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT: (1639)
-first modern constitution & allows democratic control by “substantial”
citizens
-“the free consent of the people”
-1662 becomes an official separate colony
-self governing under local control granted by royal charter
-ROGER WILLIAMS: Separatist
-believed in many things against Puritan thinking
-condemned charter for taking land from Indians
-felt the king could not give land to Puritans or anyone else (Indian land)
-denied that civil government could regulate religious behavior
-felt that the church and state should be separated
-he also believed in religious Toleration
-you should be able to practice any type of religion you please
-banish to England (never makes it there – later founds Rhode Island)
RHODE ISLAND:
-Roger Williams: escapes from Mass. Bay and founds RI in 1636
-given an official charter in 1644 by Parliament
-Established Baptist Church
-ALLOWED COMPLETE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
-no payment to churches by citizens
-male suffrage (land owners)
-settled mostly by malcontents & exiles
-self governing colony
-MISTRESS ANN HUTCHINSON: wife, mother, midwife, intelligent, devout
-Hutchinson claimed many ministers were teaching incorrect doctrine
-claimed that God spoke to her directly
-to truly be saved, one did not need to work or obey, nature of God’s grace
will save you
-brought to trial for heresy and banished from the colony – flees to Rhode
Island
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
-1641 part of the Mass. Bay colony
-1679 made a royal colony by the king
*In 1691 Plymouth and Mass. Bay Colonies unite to for Massachusetts
-colonist continue taking more and more land from Indians (if they do not
farm it’s not their land)
INDIAN WARS:
THE PEQUOT WAR:
-English accuse the Pequot of killing two traders in Conn.
-they attack and kill hundreds of Pequots
KING PHILIP’S WAR: (1675-1676)
-Indian is tried in an English court
-Indian Chief’s attack White settlers
-Indians were from the Wampanoag tribe and were led by Metacom
-war lasts 15 months with both sides committing terrible acts
-attacks were put down
-Metacom was captured and executed – other Indians sold as slaves to West
Indies
SALEM WITCH TRIALS:
-Salem Village, Mass. 1692
-two girls are found dancing in the woods (this was not allowed in Puritan
society)
-when asked they explained that a spell had been placed on them by a women
in the town
-soon they accused others and panic swept Salem
-many women were put on trial for witchcraft
-if they admitted to witchcraft their lives were spared
-if they denied taking part they were hanged
-over 200 were accused and 20 executed
THE MIDDLE COLONIES: (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware)
NEW YORK:
-already occupied by the Dutch (New Netherland)
-Dutch had granted huge portions of land to rich land owners to encourage
settlement in New Netherland
-owners of this land were called PATROONS (FDR’s family were patroons)
- they would also promise to bring over 50 other families in return for the
land
-Patroons ruled the lives of the families they brought over
-because of the sometimes harsh rule of the patrons the population remained
small
-the colony was run by Peter Stuyvesant (had one leg)
– colonists had no say
-Stuyvesant drove the colony into debt
THE ENGLISH MOVE INTO NEW YORK:
-the English wished to link New England and Virginia
-war in Europe brakes out between England and Netherlands
-England sends warships to New Amsterdam
-Stuyvesant and the Dutch were outgunned and forced to surrender without a
fight
-King Charles gave control of New Netherlands to his bother the Duke of York
-1683 the people in New York were allowed to choose an assembly to make laws
New Jersey:
-In 1664 the Duke of York gave part of his land to two friends
-Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret
-both men set up a PROPRIETARY COLONY: king give land to one or more people
and takes a percentage of the profits
-New Jersey was divided into East & West NJ
-Settled by many different groups of people (Puritans, French, Protestants,
Scots, Irish, Dutch, Finns, etc.)
-In 1702 New Jersey was united into one colony
-it was made a ROYAL COLONY: under the king’s control
-colony was allowed religious freedoms & an assembly to vote on local
matters
PENNSYLVANIA: “holy experiment”
-founded by William Penn 1682
-wanted religious freedom for a group known as the Quakers
-land in new world had been given to Penn’s father by the king
-Quakers believed that men and women were equal
-they had no ministers or priests and paid no taxes
-Quakers ha no religious ceremonies and refused to fight in wars
-In England & New England, Quakers were arrested, fined, even executed
-Frame of Government: how the colony would be run
-Penn appointed a governor and a council of advisors to make laws
-a representative assembly accepted or rejected these laws
-any white man who owned property could vote
-Penn felt that the land belong to the Indians and even paid them for it
-allowed freedom of worship (Protestants, Catholics, Jews, others)
-Penn advertised all over Europe (large number of Germans went to PA)
-built the capital at PHILADELPHIA “City of Brotherly Love”
DELAWARE:
-the Duke of York gave some land to PA so they could have an outlet to the
coast
-residents did not like being under PA control
-in 1701 Penn allows them to set up their own assembly
-new colony called Delaware
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES:
(VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, N. CAROLINA, S. CAROLINA, GEORGIA)
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUTHERN COLONIES:
-large plantations with slaves
-staple crops
-aristocratic
-few cities, churches, schools
-some religious tolerance
COLONY OF VIRGINIA:
-Jamestown founded in 1607 – later settlement grows into Virginia
-colony in trouble at first until they start to grow tobacco
-Tobacco – John Rolfe – problem (ruined soil, single crop economy, need for
labor)
-many indentured servants (males 15-24)
-1619 first African slaves were sold in Jamestown (Dutch ship knocked off
course)
-Representative Government (House of Burgesses) 1619
-1624 King James I revokes charter, made Virginia into a
royal colony (directly under the kings control)
-Virginia company had gone bankrupt after Indian wars
MARYLAND:
-founded by Lord Baltimore (never visited, but planned colony)
-Proprietary Colony
-large estates given to Catholic land owners (smaller for protestants)
-Tobacco economy – indentured servants and slaves
-ACTS OF TOLERATION: 1649
-all Christians tolerated – death to Jews and atheists
ENGLISH CIVIL WAR (1629-1660)
-interrupted colonization
-restoration encourages colonization again
BACON’S REBELLION
-new poorer settlers in Virginia clashed with Indians for land
-wanted the Governor to help protect them
-governor refuse
-Bacon raises army – attacks Indian villages – marches on & burns Jamestown
THE CAROLINAS:
-Royal Colonies granted to Lord proprietors in the 1670’s
SOUTH CAROLINA:
-Sugar & Rice Economy
-at first Indian slaves then African slaves used (majority of population by
1710)
-Charlestown – large port
-English aristocrats
-often threatened by Spanish in Florida
NORTH CAROLINA:
-outcasts from Virginia mostly squatters – not nearly as wealthy as people
in South Carolina
-separated from South Carolina (1712)
-more democratic, independent, less aristocratic
GEORGIA: THE LAST COLONY
-established in 1733 by James Ogelthorpe
-founded as a buffer between S. Carolina and Spanish Florida
-populated by people released from debtors prison in England
-religious tolerance except Catholics
-least populous, slowest growing
GOVERNING THE COLONIES:
England believes in the idea of MERCANTILISM (economic theory)
-colonies exists only to benefit the mother country
-a nation becomes strong by building up gold supplies & increasing trade
-Trade: IMPORTS are goods brought into a country EXPORTS are goods sent to
markets outside of the country
-Mercantilism calls for a country to export more than it imports
-Parliament passes a law to govern trade between England and the colonies
-laws are intended to make England richer
-NAVIGATION ACTS:
1. only ships built in England or the colonies could carry good to and from
the colonies
2. sailors on board these ships must be from England or the Colonies
3. any ship carrying European goods to the colonies must first stop in
England
4. ENUMERATED ARTICLES: some colonial goods could be sold to England
(tobacco)
*some benefits and draw backs
-protection but limited freedom for the colonies
-DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND
-New England smugglers often did not honor the Navigation Acts
-King James I combines the New England Colonies
-better protection & enforce laws
-dismisses colonial assemblies and governments - Andros in charge
-after English civil war William & Mary restore colonies & assemblies
-each colony had a legislature (group of people who make laws)
-revolution also brings about the ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS
-protects the rights and freedoms of individuals
-INDENTURED SERVANTS
-people signed a contract agreeing to work for a certain amount of time for
the person who paid for their trip to the colonies
LIFE IN THE COLONIES:
THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES:
-SUBSISTENCE FARMER: grows enough food to feed themselves & family
-mostly found in the New England colonies (bad climate, rocky soil)
-SURPLUS FARMERS: grows more food than they need – able to sell extra food
-very small amounts in New England
-New England built many ships (used for trade, fishing, whaling)
-New England towns usually had a public square, meeting place, church
-stocks were used to punish people found guilty of crimes such as
drunkenness & swearing
-Church services were solemn times – worshipers sat on hard wooden benches
-Town Meetings: citizens met to discuss what was going on in the town
THE MIDDLE COLONIES (THE BREAD BASKET COLONIES)
-land and climate much better then in New England
-farms were larger and more spread out – towns were not the center of life
-CASH CROPS: surpluses of crops to be sold (wheat, barley, rye)
-farmers also raised livestock
-manufacturing and crafts (clocks, watches, locks, glass, stoneware, etc)
-many people owned huge tracks of land especially in New York
-TENANT FARMERS were hired to work the land – repaid by being allowed to
live on the land – many tenant farmers left (NY) and moved to (PA)
-many Germans & Scotch Irish settle in the Middle Colonies
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES:
-warm hot climate great for growing rice & tobacco
-large plantation with slaves
-people acted more like they did in England (dress, foods, lifestyle, etc.)
-extravagant plantation lifestyle – became rich
-coastal plain was know as the Tide Water
-Tide Water planters needed many workers to keep their large plantations
operating
-English colonists saw how slave labor made money for the Spanish
-planters preferred slaves to indentured servants (one time expence)
-SLAVE CODES were laws which controlled the behavior of slaves
THE MIDDLE PASSAGE:
-Europeans traded for slaves along the African coast
-slaves were packed into ships and carried to the Americas
-horrible condition existed on these slave ships as the slaves were chained
to the floor
-many died along during the trip
-poorer whites settled in the Backcountry inland from the Tide Water
EDUCATION IN THE COLONIES:
-Puritans wanted to be well educated to read the Bible
-1636 Harvard established to educated ministers – Yale 1701
-first public schools in Massachusetts (1647)
-one room school houses – teachers paid in goods not money
-In the Middle Colonies churches and rich families set up schools
-Southern Colonies rich plantation owners hire tutors
-Many people had no formal education
-APPRENTICE: work for a master craftsman to learn a trade or craft
-starts when you are 12 or 13
-people in the colonies enjoyed more social equality than in England
-some divisions
-GENTRY: wealthy planters, merchants, ministers, lawyers, etc. (top class)
BEN FRANKLIN: (1706-1790)
-one of 17 children
-born in Boston – no formal schooling – self educated
-at 17 Franklin ran away from Boston to Philadelphia
-becomes a successful inventor and scientist
-stove, almanac, electricity, helped improve city life
THE GREAT AWAKENING:
-religious movement swept through the colonies (1730’s-1740’s)
-Jonathan Edwards encouraged people to examine their lives and give up their
unholy ways
TRIANGULAR TRADE ROUTE:
-illegal effort to avoid Navigation Acts by colonists
-slaves from Africa to the West Indies for molasses
-molasses to New England to make rum – rum sent to Africa for more slaves
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