The American Colonies

Types of Colonies

• Royal Colonies– King chooses a royal governor to run

the colony

»Example: Massachusetts & Virginia

Types of Colonies•Proprietary Colonies

–King gifts land to an individual or group

»Examples: Pennsylvania & Maryland

Types of Colonies• Charter

–King grants charters to establish colony–Colonies governed themselves

»Examples: Connecticut & Rhode Island

Southern Colonies

First Attempts

• Roanoke Colony – Sir Walter Raleigh, favorite of Queen

Elizabeth I, sent a group of colonists to the island of Roanoke, off the northern coast of North Carolina.

– Colonists mysteriously disappeared while John White was away in England.

Virginia (1607)• Jamestown• 1st permanent settlement mostly males

(indentured servants and treasure hunters)• 60/900 colonists survived• Ruled by John Smith• Founded by the Virginia Company

– Joint-stock company: organized to raise money by selling stocks/shares to investors

– Becomes a royal colony

House of Burgesses (1619)-22 representatives called burgesses met to outline laws for the colony

– Maryland (1634)• Founded by George

Calvert as an area of religious freedom for Catholics

• Was also established for trade, finding precious metals and to locate a water passage across the continent

• Proprietary Colony

Maryland Act of Toleration• 1649

• Granted freedom of worship for all Catholics

• Symbolic beginning of freedom of religion

– North Carolina (1653)• Founded by a group of proprietors: business venture• Settlers from Virginia • Farming, trade and profit• Anglican• Becomes a royal colony

– South Carolina (1670)• Founded by a group of proprietors• Settlers from France, England, and Africa• Food crops• Anglican• Proprietary to royal

– Georgia (1733)• Founded by General James Oglethorpe as a haven for debtors

and convicts intended to protect colonies from Spanish and French invasions

• Slow economic growth farmed, harvested lumber and traded furs

The Charter of Carolina 1663

Bacon’s Rebellion• Virginia, 1676• Cause:

Small farmers treated unfairly; wealthy landowners paidfewer taxes and received many benefits

• Rebellion was led by Nathaniel Bacon • Failed but resulted in the need for representation in government for the “common man”

New England Colonies

Massachusetts

• Pilgrims (Plymouth) (1620)• - led by William Bradford

– Separatists• wanted to separate from the

Church of England

– Mayflower Compact• 41 men drew up the

agreement to outline fair and equal laws for the colony; signed on the Mayflower

Massachusetts Puritans

• Purify and reform Anglican Church• Massachusetts Bay Colony• Strict religious beliefs; radical

• John Winthrop: City upon a Hill

– New Hampshire (1630)• John Mason• English and Scots-Irish settlers• Economic freedom• Settled for religious freedom• Escape for those constricted by harsh religious and

economic rules of the Puritans• Royal Colony

– Rhode Island (1636)• Founded by Roger Williams after being exiled by

Puritans in Massachusetts settled in Providence• Religious freedom: most religiously tolerant colony

– Connecticut (1636)• Founded by Thomas Hooker after being asked to

leave Massachusetts for dissenting with Puritan leaders.

• Settled by the Dutch for economic freedom and the English for religious freedom.

• Agriculture and trade

Middle Colonies

– New York (1626)• Peter Minuit• Dutch (Netherlands), taken over by English• Trade and profits• Anglican• Proprietary to royal colony

– New Jersey (1660)• Established by Dutch and Swedish but became English. • Land given to friend of the King, Lord Berkely• Proprietary to royal colony

– Delaware (1638)• Peter Minuit• Dutch, Swedish and English• Farming, trade and profits• Proprietary Colony

Pennsylvania (1682)– William Penn– Proprietary Colony– Quakers– Home to many European

Immigrants: Swedish, Dutch, English, Scots-Irish and German

- Allowed for religious freedom

• Quakers– Equality and all possessed

“Inner Light”

Ethnic and Religious Diversity

Discrimination in Massachusetts

• Salem Witch Trials (1692-3): series of trials and hangings of people accused of witchcraft

Discrimination in Massachusetts• Anne Hutchinson: Puritan spiritual advisor that

was banished for her criticism of the colony’s ministers. Fled to Rhode Island.

• Roger Williams: Banished for speaking out against the Plymouth church and the colony for taking Indian land without buying it. Fled to & founded Rhode Island.

Discrimination

• African Americans– Slaves

• Native Americans– Pushed off of land

by settlers

Religious Tolerance• Roger Williams Providence, Rhode Island • Pennsylvania

– English Quakers– German Lutherans – Scotch-Irish Presbyterians– Swiss Mennonites

• New York linguistic and cultural diversity– First synagogue (Jewish)

Colonial Economy

Economic Diversity:

-South= Agriculture

-North = Commerce

-Towns and cities

develop along water

Economy

• Mercantilism: A system where England exploited raw materials produced by the colonies to become rich.

– Economic policy– Way for the Mother Country to get rich– Export more than you import, become self-

sufficient

Effect= Britain creates rules for colonial trade

Southern Economy

• John Rolfe and tobacco: Rolfe discovered new ways to cultivate tobacco– Virginia, Maryland, NC

• Plantations develop– Need for labor– Indentured servants

• Agree to work for landowner for 4-7 years, then given freedom

– slavery

Southern Plantation Systems

• Exported cash crops to make money

• Creates: (1) Large farms around rivers

(2) Need for lots of labor

(3) Wealthy class of plantation owners

New England

• Commerce

• Port cities– Boston

• Shipbuilding

• Fishing

Immigration to Colonies

• Immigrant population increases due to religious freedom and economic opportunities (German, Scotch-Irish, Dutch)

• Came in search of prosperity and wealth and to avoid religious persecution

• Voluntary and involuntary immigration

Slave Trade

• African slave trade flourished by 1700s

• Slaves endured a harsh voyage: Middle Passage

• Widespread use in Southern colonies

Slave Trade Ship

Colonial Government

• Britain allows the colonies to govern themselves– Salutary neglect: Because Britain was thriving

economically in large part due to their exploitation of the colonies, they allowed the colonies to govern themselves.

• Colonial legislatures hold the power

Self-Government & the Colonies

• Enlightenment (1600s)• John Locke (1632-1704)

– Two Treatises on Government (1690)• Natural rights: life, liberty, property• These rights can’t morally be taken away by

government• Social contract theory

– Implied contract between government and citizens

– People submit themselves to follow the law for the common good and to cultivate civic virtue

– Government fails= replace government

Self-Government & the Colonies• House of Burgesses (1619)

• First elected body in New World• Citizens should have a voice• Created laws for the colony of

Jamestown

• Mayflower Compact (1620)• Document drafted by Pilgrims• Created an elected legislature• Government received power from

the people of the colony• Demonstrates desire to be ruled by local government instead

of England

Self-Government & the Colonies

– Town meetings

• Representative government

• Local citizens met to discuss and vote on issues

• Belief in democratic ideals

• Town meetings were more popular in the North because there were more towns there than in the South

– Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)

• Written body of laws for the colony

• Government’s power came only from the “free consent of the people”

• Set limits on what government could do