Exploration and Colonization of the New World

1450-1733

Early Exploration

• Motivated by the economy

• Portugal and Spain look for direct way to obtain Asian goods– Portugal

• Dias & Da Gama sail around Africa to India• Also claim Brazil in South America

– Spain• Columbus sails west to get to Asia; “finds” the

New World (Columbian Exchange)• Spanish begin colonization of Americas

Spanish Explorers• Cortez subdued the Aztecs in Mexico• Ponce de Leon –Florida (gold & fountain of

youth)– St. Augustine, FL 1565 (oldest continual settlement)

• Sante Fe 1610– Little economic gain; Christianize natives

• Spanish were fairly unsuccessful in colonization– Pueblo Revolt

• Natives defeated Spanish

– Only remote Catholic missions in territory until well after 1700

French Explorers

• John Cabot-Nova Scotia, Newfoundland

• Cartier-Montreal and St. Lawrence River– Main colonization area– Followed river, relied on fur trade

• Sought the ‘Northwest Passage”

• Quebec 1608– First permanent settlement

Dutch Exploration

• Henry Hudson –Hudson River1609

• 1614, founded New Netherland

• 1626, purchased Manhattan

• Fur trade and Iroquois Confederation were basis of colony

English Exploration

• Wanted to create a demand for products, adventure for gentry

• Two major objectives– Northwest Passage– Raid Spanish colonies and destroy

• First major attempts by Raleigh and Gilbert– 1583-1590– Failed (Lost Colony)

• 1588, England defeated Spanish Armada– Changed the balance of power

Reasons to Come to New World

– Necessity of wealth• Eldest son inherited (primogeniture)• Landed gentry ruled Parliament (no titles)• Most people had limited power/influence

– Population explosion• Towns were overcrowded• Food shortages (agr. has hard time keeping up)• Towns deadly due to disease

– Religious persecution• Some look for religious freedom

Geography of Early American Colonies

• Southern– Virginia, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Georgia,

Maryland*

• Middle– Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey,

Delaware

• New England– Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island,

New Hampshire

Virginia

• Founded by the London Company (later known as Virginia Company)– Cape Fear River (NC) to Hudson River

• Jamestown 1607– Poor location due to river and dense forest– Three major goals

• Find gold– Brought goldsmiths, not farmers

• Northwest Passage• Cure for syphilis

• Failed miserably the first year– No crops, no work force, lazy

• John Smith assumed command 1608– Developed martial law

• “work to eat”

– Worked for peace with Powhatan• Bought corn

– Very successful, then returned to England

• 1610, 400 died in colony– No crops– Indians refused to deal with Virginians

Pocahontas ‘saving’ John Smith

• John Rolfe introduced milder version of tobacco 1619– Major cash crop

• Reforms in colony attracted new colonists– Established common law– House of Burgesses (1622)

• Met with governor, could pass laws

– **settlers could own land**• Headwright system

– Settlers paid for indentured servants, received 50 acres of land per servant

– Encouraged families and created plantations

• First colony to introduce slavery– 1619, first slaves arrived by Dutch ship– By 1660, slavery became a legal condition

defined by the mother

Triangular Trade

• Raw materials, tobacco sent to Europe

• Rum, trinkets, guns sent to Africa

• Slaves and gold to Caribbean and America

• First slaves to Jamestown: 1611

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• Virginia survived despite leadership– Became a royal colony in 1624 (under control

of Crown)– Became self-sufficient

• Taxed themselves

– Had regular assembly meetings– 1650s, government split

• House of Burgesses was elected• Governor’s Council

– Lifetime appointment

• Copied agricultural techniques from Natives

• 1634, divided into counties– Justice of peace

• Appointed by governor• Set tax rates, built roads

• Established the Anglican Church– Paid tax until 1662– Very little religious influence– Few churches

Social Classes in Va.

• First Families– Gentry left Va quickly– Dominated by middle class 1630-1660

• Gamblers, had few children

– **New immigrants after 1645• Became the planters• Controlled the House by 1670

– Huge land grants

– Became the first families of Va• *dominated politics for 200 years (in Va)

Maryland

• Lord Baltimore, 1632– Could appoint leaders

• Purpose of colony –provide a refuge for Catholics

• Would establish a manor system• Adopted the headwright system• Encouraged Protestants and Catholics to

settle– Cheap land

• Colony prospered– Conflict arose between religions

• Lord Baltimore lost control– Bicameral legislature

» Lower house-elected (Protestant)» Upper House-appointed (Catholic)

• ***Religious Toleration Act of 1649– Tolerated all religions except Judaism

• By 1670, Maryland is very similar to Va– Tobacco, corn, livestock

Carolina

• 1663, land given to proprietors• Ashley Cooper led settlement

– Gave 50 acres to every family member

• 1670-South Carolina• Near Charleston

– Bicameral legislature• Based on John Locke’s idea• Guaranteed religious freedom to all

– Must join a church or lose citizenship

• North Carolina– Shipping materials

main economic source

– Some tobacco near coast

– Most independent of colonies

– Few plantations

• South Carolina– Began to grow rice

• Saw major profits• Needed a labor force

– West African slaves

» Immune to malaria

• ***major increase of slaves

– By 1720 67% of population was slave

Colonies divided in 1729

Georgia

• Founded by James Oglethorpe– Savannah

• 1733• Outpost against Spanish and refuge for debtors• Outlawed slavery

– Eventually overturned• Grew rice

• Little religious influence– John Wesley, founder of Methodism

‘Old South’

• Dependent upon slavery

• Created plantation system (owned 20+slaves)

• By 1740 – 40% of Va is slave– 30% of Maryland is slave– 60% of South Carolina

Slavery

• Chesapeake– Organized into work

gangs– Supervised by

whites– Encouraged

reproduction

– Few were trained

• Low Country– Lived separately

from whites– Slow assimilation

– Low reproduction rates

– Slaves were allowed free time

– Some artisans

Colony Founded Leader First

Settlement

Virginia 1607 John Smith Jamestown

Maryland 1632 Lord Calvert St. Mary’s

Carolina 1663 Eight

Lords

Proprietors

North: Albemarle

South:

Charles Towne

Georgia 1732 James Ogelthorpe

Savannah

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Religion leads to New England

• Most Europeans claimed to be Christian– Feared witches and magic

• Catholic Church– Sacraments were very important– Repeated at worship– Priests

• Reformation– Cannot earn salvation, but through faith

Colony Settled in - by reason economics

Plymouth 1620

William Bradford

religious persecution

Fishing, lumber, whaling, trade

Mass Bay 1630

John Winthrop

Establish Puritan Society

Same as Plymouth

New Hampshire 1623

John Wheelwright

Religious

persecution

Trade & fishing

Connecticut 1636

Thomas Hooker

Establish Puritan settlement and fur trade

Fur trade

Rhode Island 1636

Roger Williams

Escape religious intolerance in Mass Bay

Shipping &

farming36

• John Calvin (predestination)– Only a few will experience God’s grace

• Reformation impact world four ways– Led to almost all Christian traditions– Must be able to read– Denied power to priests– Created a new crusading spirit

Puritans• Puritans = Congregationalists• Predestination• Intolerant of all other religions• Loyal to Anglican [Church of England] • “City upon a Hill”• Congregations self governing• Bible & sermon most important• Emphasized work ethic• Material gains signified holiness• Blue Laws• Only “visible saints” are saved 39

Plymouth Plantation

• 1620, Pilgrims (Separatists)• Governor was William Bradford• Small families arrived on Mayflower (102 people)• Did not land in Va, but outside boundary

– No legal rights

• *Mayflower Compact– Signed by 41 males– ‘civil government’ formed– Agreed to a form of direct democracy

Mayflower Compact• Not a constitution but provided a precedent

for later democratic compacts

“We solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together in a civil body

politic.”42

• 50% died within one year, no crops

• Squanto and Samoset helped sustain colony– Taught to grow corn– 1st Thanksgiving in fall 1621

• English controlled Natives quickly

• Divided land among individuals

• Paid off debts

• Very poor people

Massachusetts Bay Colony

• 1630, led by John Winthrop– Carried their charter

• Moderate Puritans (non-separatists)• Started at Salem, then grew to Boston• Government granted all males the right to vote• “City upon a hill”

– Utopian society– Model of Christianity– Very little class conflict– Government would prevent rich from exploiting

the poor

• Church was the center of community– Chose ministers and magistrate– Town meetings made decisions

• Hard working people– Maintained ‘holiness’– Only church members could vote

• Very successful colony– Lots of immigrants, esp. families

Puritan Orthodoxy

• Self-governing congregations– Influenced by John Cotton

• Required voters to be “saint” (church member)– Not property owners– Higher percentage could vote in America than

England

• Created a General Court– Representative democracy

• Must be a ‘visible’ saint• Created a Covenant with God

– Applied to the entire household– Rules were enforced by society

• Punished publically

– Must read scriptures• Old Deluder Act

– Every town must have a school

• Harvard College 1636– Founded to train ministers

– Parents were responsible for child’s education

– No originality or initiative • Came from Satan

Roger Williams

Puritan minister in Mass. Bay– Wanted to separate from Church of

England– Did not believe church should punish religious

crimes– Banished by colony– Founded Providence, Rhode Island

• Secured religious freedom

Anne Hutchinson

• Believed that true saints could not be controlled by non-saints– antinomianism

• Charged her minister to be a ‘non-saint’• Divided the colony

– Supported by merchants• Already upset with church leaders

– Church controlled prices within colony

• Youth of colony– Did not like rigid control of church

• Women especially rebelled

• Charge with heresy– Gave great testimony

• Claimed to have spoken with Holy Spirit

• Banished by colony

• Founded Portsmouth RI

• Results– More restrictions on women– No public roles for women– Women must relate conversion experience in

private

Connecticut

• Thomas Hooker, 1639– Fundamental Order of Connecticut

• First written constitution• Modeled after Mass. Bay charter• All male landowners could vote

• New Haven 1643– Strict sainthood enforced

Puritans v. Indians

• Pequot War 1637– Englishmen set fire to Indians, killed most

• King Phillips War (Metacom) 1675– Forged an alliance of Indians– Hit frontier settlements– Hundreds of colonists and Indians died– Slowed western expansion – Indians were essentially gone from New

England

New England Confederation

• 1643; 1st major union among English colonists

• Included Mass. Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and valley settlements in Conn.

• Wanted to be prepared to fight against the Dutch, French, and Indians

• Chose elected representatives

Dominion of New England

• 1686 – included all NE; later includes NY and E/W Jersey.

• Created by Charles II• Purpose- promote enforcement & efficiency of

Navigation Laws– Led to increased smuggling

• Sir Edmund Andros was leader– Hated by the Puritans

• Did away with self-government• Restricted courts, press, schools• Revoked land titles• Taxed the citizens without their consent

Glorious Revolution

• Occurred in England– Removed Stuarts from monarchy, replaced

with William and Mary

• Impact on colonies– Mass. was made a royal colony 1691

• New charter and new governor• All male property owner could vote (not just church

members)

New Netherland-New York

• 1623

• Established by the Dutch West India Co– Fur trade

• Little toleration or freedom allowed

• Ran by aristocrats– Patroons built feudal estates on Hudson

• Had to settle 50+ people• Maintained control for well over 100 years

New Sweden-Pennsylvania

• 1638

• Ruled for approximately 20 years

• Absorbed into New Netherland

• Some Swedish influences– Log cabins

New York

• Lost to British in 1664

• Dutch refused to leave– Gradually became loyal British subjects

• Continued to own massive amounts of land

– Influenced much• Architecture• Names of places• Social customs

Pennsylvania

• William Penn• 1681• Founded to an asylum for Quakers• Well advertised

– Sought out British, French, Dutch, German

• Attracted lots of immigrants due to land policy• Philadelphia

– First planned city

• Bought land from Indians– Known for good relations w/ Indians

• Representative assembly– Elected by landowners

• No tax supported church

• Freedom of worship– Catholics and Jews could not serve in

public office or vote

Last Colonies

• New Jersey– Founded by

Quakers who left PA– Became a royal colony

1702 (combined W & E Jersey).

• Delaware– Closely associated

with Pa– Shared a governor

until the American Rev.

Middle Colonies

• ‘most American’ of them all– Diverse groups of immigrants– various languages– Many religions

• Rivers were key to economy– Trade

• Grew wheat• Built ships• Somewhere in the middle

– Large landholdings, but not quite as large as South, bigger than New England

Colony Founded Leader First

Settlement

Delaware 1638 Peter Minuit Wilmington

New York 1664

Dutch before

Religious tolerance

Peter Minuit New York

New Jersey 1664 Lord Berkeley

Sir Carteret

East: Carteret

West: Salem

Pennsylvania 1681

Quakers, tolerant, pro-Indians

William Penn

“holy experiment”

Philadelphia

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