Theme 4 part 2American Colonies
English Colonies of North America
By Melissa Skarnas
American Colonies 8: New England
Captain John Smith explored the coast in 1614 and named it New England saying the climate and soil was like that of home
First Puritan emigrants were known as the Pilgrims, crossing over on the Mayflower in 1620, and founding the town of Plymouth, MA
In 1630, what became known as the “Great Migration” began – a larger emigration of Puritans under the leadership of a lawyer, John Winthrop
American Colonies 8: New England
The Puritans that Winthrop brought over, settled in Boston and established a radical government in which the men elected the governor, deputy governor, and legislature
From the coastal towns, the colonist later expanded further inland during 1630's and 1640's creating new colonies
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire were the 4 colonies of New England
American Colonies 8: New England
New England was inhabited primarily by English who could pay their own way across the Atlantic – more of a “middle class”
Colder, smaller but healthier environment for the Puritans who were not afraid to work the land and were able to have large pieces of land
Puritans worked the land themselves, building and farming on their properties
American Colonies 8: New England
Land was granted to a group of men who banded together to found a town in New England
Legislature defined town boundaries but let each corporation of men allocate the land for farms, church, school and a village center
Colonists had to cut clearings, build fences, build homes and barns and plant and plow fields by hand, relying on family labor
Most farmers had complete ownership of their land unlike in England where land was leased
American Colonies 11: Carolina
3 ships from Barbados, carrying 200 colonists arrived in Charles Town in 1670
Charles Town (later modified to Charleston) was named in honor of King Charles II
The English claim to the area, was to signify it's rising power over that of the weakening Spanish power, which had laid claim to that coast
American Colonies 11: Carolina
The Carolinas attracted mostly farmers and artisans
At least a third of the earlier Carolinians started as indentured servants from either England or Barbados
If a male servant survived his term, he received his own land, barrel of maize, ax and hoe, and a set of clothes as part of the “Freedom dues”
American Colonies 11: Carolina
A new colony was founded in the 1720's by British imperialists and Carolinian officials which they named Georgia in honour of King George II
90% of the colony's funding came from Parliament which made Georgia the first colony actually funded by British taxpayers
The Georgia Trustees freely transported and provided farms to charity colonists from 1733-1742
American Colonies 11: Carolina
Georgia Trustees preferred to have more small farms worked by free families rather than the larger plantations that depended on slaves
Georgia was the first and only British colony to reject the slave system that was so fundamental in the rest of the British colonies
The Trustees tried to prohibit rum-drinking saying it was a hard work and morals, but the colonists resented this and the ban was later lifted