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The Thirteen English Colonies

Chapter 4 pp. 100 - 133

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Section 1: The New England Colonies

The New England Colonies were founded by political and social reformers and developed tightly knit towns and villages.

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The Massachusetts Bay Colony Founded by a group of English

called Puritans, who didn’t want to separate from the Church of England, but reform it.

John Winthrop was the colony’s first governor.

The Colony was run by the General Court, an assembly of elected representatives (had to be male members of the Puritan Church).

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Connecticut and Rhode Island

A minister named Thomas Hooker founded Connecticut because he believed the Mass. Bay Colony’s government was too powerful.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut: Male church members AND property owners could vote. The governor’s power was limited.

Another minister, Roger Williams, founded Rhode Island because he thought the Puritan Church was too powerful. Unlike Puritan Massachusetts, religious tolerance was

practiced in Rhode Island.

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Anne Hutchinson Speaks Out

Anne Hutchinson questioned the Puritan church’s teachings, claiming God spoke to her.

She was sent out of Mass. and settled in Rhode Island.

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Life in New England Towns and Villages Puritan Church on Sunday (Sabbath) was

mandatory and lasted all day. Government centered on town meetings,

where settlers discussed issues together. Farming was difficult, so the economy

was based on shipbuilding, fishing and whaling.

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Section 2: The Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies attracted a wide variety of immigrants who settled on farms and in the cities of Philadelphia and New York.

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New York and New Jersey New Netherland becomes

New York Settled by the Dutch

Protestants. New Amsterdam became

a trading center. Peter Stuyvesant (the

governor) surrendered the colony to England in 1664.

New Jersey Separates from New York Proprietary Colony –

Governed by a friend of the king for yearly payment.

Royal Colony – Directly controlled by the English crown.

Religiously tolerant and practiced representative government.

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The Founding of Pennsylvania

Quakers led by William Penn Quakers were a religious group of

Protestant reformers who were persecuted for very different beliefs than the English church.

All people (men and women, nobles and commoners) were equal “in God’s sight.” including Native Americans.

Philadelphia became the capital of the colony (Greek for “Brotherly Love”)

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Life in the Middle Colonies The majority of people

farmed. Cash Crops (sold for

money) included wheat, barley, rye.

There were also artisans and craftsmen who made many items by hand including clocks, watches, guns and glassware.

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Section 3: The Southern Colonies

The large tobacco and rice plantations of the Tidewater region contrasted with the settlements of hunters and farmers of the back country.

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Lord Baltimore’s Colony of Maryland The Mason-Dixon Line

divided Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Sir George Calvert, wanted to start a Catholic colony in America. He died, but his son, Lord Baltimore did start the colony.

The Colony Assembly of Maryland passed the Act of Toleration, granting religious freedom to Catholics.

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Bacon’s Rebellion (Virginia)

The governor of Virginia refused to take actions against Native Americans after bloody clashes over land.

Bacon’s Rebellion:Nathaniel Bacon led raids against Native

villages, then attacked Jamestown.The rebellion ended after Bacon died and 23

of his followers were hanged.

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The Carolinas Both North and South Carolina

were started by 8 English nobles.

North Carolina was settled by poor farmers from Virginia, while South Carolina was larger and settled by both English and other immigrants.

Carolina farms eventually grew into plantations worked by slaves.

Rice was their cash crop as well as indigo (a plant used for purple dye).

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James Oglethorpe started a colony to allow English debtors to make a “fresh start.”

Oglethorpe paid off a person’s debt in return for their work on the colony near the Savannah River.

Georgia

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Two Ways of Life Tidewater

Plantations Large farms where

tobacco, rice (and later cotton) was grown.

Anywhere from 20-100 slaves worked the fields or in the large, central house as cooks or servants.

The Backcountry South Small fields of

tobacco, beans, corn, or peas.

Farms were self-sustainable, and slavery was almost non-existent.

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Growth of Slavery and the Slave Trade Slaves were brought to

America as early as 1619. The Middle Passage: slaves

were brought across the Atlantic Ocean in horrible conditions. 10% of slaves died during the

journey. Slave codes meant to control

slaves were created out of racism.

Slaves were treated as property not people.

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Section 4: Roots of Self-Government

During the late 1600’s and 1700’s, England regulated colonial trade, while in each colony a governor carried out laws passed by the colony’s legislature.

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England Regulates Trade

Mercantilism – economic theory that a nation becomes strong by controlling trade. Exports should outnumber

imports.

Navigation Acts were passed by English Parliament and benefitted both England and the Colonies. Regulated ships and their cargo to and from England and

the colonies. Colonial merchants and shipbuilders had a guaranteed

market for their goods.

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The Triangle Trade (p. 122)

Draw the Triangle Trade on your map in your notes based on the drawing on the board.

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Colonial Government Each colony had a legislature, whose job was to

make the laws for the colony) Upper House – Governor’s appointed advisors Lower House – Elected officials with the “power

of the purse.” A Bill of Rights

Written freedoms the government promises to protect.

The English Bill of Rights protected jury trials and checks on the power of a ruler.

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Section 5: Life in the Colonies

During the 1700’s, England’s 13 colonies became societies with their own ideas and traditions.

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Colonial Society Social Classes

Gentry – Wealthy planters, merchants, ministers, lawyers, royal officials

Middle Class – Farmers and Craftspeople Indentured Servants – signed contracts to work for someone

who paid for their passage to the colonies. When finished indentured servants received “freedom dues” (tools and land).

Gentry

Middle Class

Indentured Servants

Slaves* (Most Africans in America were slaves)

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The Great Awakening A religious movement during

the 1730’s and 40’s that made people feel they could worship independently.

People then began to question how they were being governed by the British government.

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Education in the Colonies New England

First public schools supported by taxes

Middle and Southern Colonies Private schools

educated children of the wealthy.

Tutors traveled and taught at private homes.

Some boys learned trades in apprenticeships

Some girls went to dame schools or learned house skills from their mothers

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The Enlightenment Thinkers in Europe during

the late 1600’s and 1700’s (such as John Locke) started to stress human reasoning as a way of studying society.

Educated Americans (such as Benjamin Franklin) began to talk about these ideas.