James Smith

ENGLISH COLONIES OF NORTH AMERICA

The Spani.sh and the French both tired to conquer the land that would eventually become

Virginia. The French would later move north and the Spanish empire would later abandon their colony once they got their hand on Florida and were sure it would satisfy their needs. This lead

the English to colonize the land and name it after Queen Elizabeth I, since she was virgin

AMERICAN COLONIES 6- VIRGINIA

AMERICAN COLONIES 6- VIRGINIA

Roanoke• One of the first English

Colonies it was placed in bad area where it was difficult for English ships to bring supplies

• The settlers who came under the command of Sir Walter Raleigh relied on the natives for their survivals and once the natives grew tired of their antics, Raleigh killed their leader and the settlers left.

• Later Raleigh would send John White into the Americas, on the voyage White and his group dropped 94 civilians at the island. When he returned from chasing Spaniard ships everyone was gone accept one word “Croatoan”.

Jamestown• After a 1604 peace treaty with the Spaniards, King James

allowed the Virginia Company to colonize and govern Virginia leading to the city of Jamestown.

• Disease and hunger unfortunately followed and of the 104 settlers only 38 were alive nine months later.

• Even though there was a high death rate many English continued to arrive, at one point the settlers attempted to flee the city but they were met by ships from English that had even more people so they had to return to Jamestown.

• It’s believed that because Jamestown was located next to a swap, there were many chances for the colonist to become sick and die.

AMERICAN COLONIES 6- VIRGINIA

Tobacco

Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, the Virginia Company needed a way to make up the amount they had spent on trying to colonize Virginia. In the year of 1616 colonist learned how to grow tobacco. Tobacco was seen a cash crop since: it had become popular and because the famers of England couldn’t grown it as efficiently as the colonist. Soon the town of Chesapeake became the number one supplier of Tobacco taking the West Indies place.

AMERICAN COLONIES 6- VIRGINIA

With the colonies in Virginia becoming a haven of prosperity there was a increase in the amount of emigrants to the Americas. Those who couldn’t pay for their way often went to Virginia while those who could would go up north

to the new colony of New England.

Those who came to New England were often religious puritans who believed in hard work, which they needed

since the land of New England was not as rewarding as the land in New England.

AMERICAN COLONIES 8- NEW ENGLAND

Land and Labor

Unlike the Chesapeake Colonies those in New England wanted their townspeople to close for not only

defense but for public schools and to promote going to church. These

towns also acted as local government establish how land was given out, usually in 10-50 acres a piece. The farms in New England

were not as profitable as the farms in Virginia since they couldn’t produce tobacco, instead they

produce wheat, potatoes and other vegetables.

AMERICAN COLONIES 8- NEW ENGLAND

Family Life

In England most marriages were chosen by parents and duties were split between the husband and wife as Men and

Women duties. In New England things changed just a bit. Parents didn’t have to chose who their children would

marry but they could stop a marriage if they believed it wasn’t “Wise”.

And being different from Chesapeake in Virginia, women were not given as much respect as the women were in New

England this was because many in New England were under the puritan faith that believed in “love and mutual respect” and the church often sought to protect women.

Women were often allowed to participate in court proceeding appearing as plaintiffs, defendants and

witnesses.

AMERICAN COLONIES 8- NEW ENGLAND