New World Beginnings33,000 B.C. – A.D. 1769

EXPANSION

•Norsemen from Scandinavia ~ A.D. 1000

• Christian Crusaders – A.D. 1000-1300

•Marco Polo’s return from China – 1295

• Portuguese technology and exploration – 1400s

NORSEMEN• ‘Stumbled’ upon present day

Newfoundland

• No desire to expand• Lack of a strong nation-state

• Settlements abandoned• Archaeological evidence

suggests fighting with Natives

• Discoveries were mostly forgotten

THE CRUSADES

• A series of military campaigns designed by the Roman Catholic Church during the Middle Ages to restore Christian access to the Holy Land from Muslims.

• Eight separate movements from 1096-1270

• Helped open up trade with Asia

MARCO POLO• Italian explorer

• Journies reinforced trade desires in Asia

PORTUGUESE EXPLORATION

• Development of the caravel

• Exploration into southern Africa• Until then, Africa south of the

Sahara Desert was relatively unknown

• Set up trading posts• Gold – estimated that 2/3 of

European gold came from Africa

• Began African slave trade

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

• Italian sailor

• Sailed for Spain

• Objective – to find a more

suitable route to Asia

* Did not land on Plymouth Rock

“ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FAILURES IN HISTORY”

• Columbus is largely responsible for the globalization of the world

• Europe • markets (and demand)• capital• technology

• Africa• labor

• The Americas• raw materials• precious metals• fertile soil

The Planting of English America1500 – 1733

INITIAL NORTH AMERICAN COLONIZATION• French (Quebec) – 1608

• Spanish (Santa Fe) – 1610

• English (Jamestown) – 1607• Slow to compete (Protestant Reformation – 1530s)• Elizabeth (1558)• Protestantism becomes dominant• Rivalry with Spain

EARLY ENGLISH FAILINGS

•Newfoundland•Humphrey Gilbert•Died 1583

•Roanoke•Walter Raleigh (1585)•Colony vanishes

DOWNFALL OF SPAIN

•Philip II – Enemy of Protestantism•Defeat of Spanish Armada – 1588•Height of power

•English victory Naval dominance in the Americas•Nationalism / “National Destiny”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGjOsfV3ar8

JAMESTOWN

• Joint-Stock Company• Virginia Company of

London• Charter from James I

• Jamestown (1607)• “He who shall not work

shall not eat.”• John Smith

• Pocahontas

ENGLISH COLONIES BECOME PROFITABLE

• Tobacco• John Rolfe

• Precursor to Antebellum South• Crop was hard on the soil• Economy relied on a single item• Promoted plantation system• Labor concerns Slavery • 300 black slaves +/- in 1650• Slaves = 14% of population by 1700

IMPACT ON NATIVES• Wars with the Powhatan• 1610-1614• 1622• Continuous raids

• 1644-1646

• Population of Natives in Virginia• 1669 ~ 10% of initial population encountered in 1607• 1685 ~ None

• Disease, disorganization, and disposability

MARYLAND• Settled by Lord Baltimore (1634)

• Financial Profit (2nd plantation colony)• Refuge for fellow Catholics

• Early tensions• Protestants v. Catholics

• Baltimore allowed freedom of worship• Hoped for tolerance for Catholics

• Act of Toleration (1649)• Guaranteed tolerance to all Christians (death to non-Christians)

THE CAROLINAS

• Carolina• Given to eight nobles by Charles II

1670• Hoped to provide food to West

Indies• Connection brought slavery to

colony• Created Native slave trade

• Goal: also to export wine, silk, olive oil

• Rice emerges as main crop• Charleston becomes busiest

seaport in South

• Early struggles with Spanish Floridians• Religious motivation

• NORTH Carolina• Combination of Virginians and

current populations• Mostly poor farmers (Tobacco)

• Did not fit with ‘aristocracy’ of their neighbors

• Officially separate from South Carolina in 1712

GEORGIA

• Officially founded in 1733• Savannah – largest settlement

• Buffer zone between Spanish Florida and English Carolinas• Only colony to receive subsidies from English government

• Became a safe haven for debtors• “The Charity Colony”• Led initially by James Oglethorpe• Religious tolerance for non-Catholic Christians

Settling the Northern Colonies1619 – 1700