I. During the Reign of James I, 1603 1625: Permanent Colonies Established

English Colonial Period, 1607 - 1763

I. During the Reign of James I, 1603 – 1625: Permanent Colonies Established

A. Virginia Colony

A.1. Jamestown established as a Joint Stock or Corporate Colony in 1607.

A.2. Jamestown saved by John Smith, “Work or starve.”

A.3. Pocahontas was “an instrument of salvation.”

A.4. John Rolfe introduces tobacco as a cash crop, “Virginia gold”. Tobacco saves the colony.

A.5. House of Burgesses is the first representative government in America. Colonists retain the rights of Englishmen.

A.6. Indentured labor has a 90% mortality rate. Typhoid and malaria were a leading cause of death.

A.7. Powhatan Tribe a. Died in large numbers due to disease and wars: 1610-1614; 1622-1632; 1644-1646; 1675-1677

b. They lacked unity, while the English were better organized and practiced Total War.

c. Indians were disposed of without hurting the colonial economy. A.8. Due to corporate debt and high mortality rate, Virginia was made a Royal Colony in 1624.

B. Plymouth Colony, 1620 Joint Stock/Corporate Colony

B.1. “Saints and Strangers”: Saints were Calvinists and “Separatists” while Strangers were conforming Anglicans looking for economic opportunity.

B.2. Mayflower Compact was drafted and signed for the mutual consent of laws, since they landed outside of their corporate charter.

B.3. They were led William Bradford, elected governor 30 times and is now also remembered for his history of the colony.

B.4. Plymouth will lose its corporate charter in the creation of the Dominion of New England in 1686 and will be absorbed into Massachusetts in 1691.

B.5. The Great [Puritan] Migration, 1620 – 1640, begins with Plymouth

II. Charles I, 1625 – 1649, galvanizes Puritan opposition. Persecuted Puritans, who had sought to purify the Anglican Church, go to America to practice their faith. (The Great Puritan Migration)

A. Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630

A.1. John Winthrop creates a “theocratic commonwealth”.

A.2. 11 ships arrive at once to build Boston, “a city upon a hill”.

A.3. 20% have voting rights

A.4. The church leaders were not allowed to serve in government and office holders could not meddle in the operations of the church.

A.5. Challenges to the ruling Elites a. Roger Williams questions many of the practices of the Puritan leaders. He argues against the tax supported church and how land was taken from Indians. He was found guilty of heresy for his claim that God had spoken to him. Williams is banished and establishes the colony Rhode Island.

b. Anne Hutchinson criticized the teaching of the Church leaders and argued that it was not necessary for Christians to obey laws (antinomianism). Hutchinson was found guilty of heresy. She and her family went to Rhode Island. B. Connecticut

B.1. Two competing settlements: Hartford and New Haven

B.2. Fundamental Orders: first written constitution in America

B.3. Blue Laws: Laws regulating behavior originally issued on blue paper.

B.4. Halfway Covenant expands church membership to allow children of members to join as non-voting members.

C. Rhode Island

C.1. Separation of Church and State

C.2. Religious toleration

D. New Hampshire

E. Maryland, 1634

E.1. Lord Baltimore, cousin of Charles I, receives the Proprietary grant to create a Catholic colony. As proprietor, he had full governing rights. A feudal model is adopted; Roman Catholic overlords and Protestant laborers.

E.2. Its economy is similar to Virginia as it shares borders on the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.

E.3. Act of Toleration: religious toleration to all Trinitarians; it was issued to protect Catholics in Maryland from religious persecution.

III. Commonwealth Period, 1649 - 1660: Puritans take control over the British Government under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.

A. The British government gives little attention to the colonies. The government’s concern will be sporadic. This is called salutatory neglect. In consequence, colonies develop politically and economically on their own.

B. The Puritan republic turns into a military dictatorship. The Cromwell government’s policies treat the Irish most inhumanely. The crown’s policy led to the death of perhaps a third of the Irish Catholic population. This will be remembered by the American Revolutionaries. IV. Restoration of the Monarchy: Charles II, 1660 – 1685

A. New Colonial Policy

A.1. Enforcing Mercantilism (Mercantilism stressed self sufficiency of a country, that a country should have a positive balance of trade, export more than import; a country attempted to keep in their country as much bullion as possible. This required an extensive naval fleet to protect markets [the colony serves as a market], supervise commerce and control trade.) a. Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1663: Strengthened existing law concerning trade between colony and mother country. All colonial trade to go through England and transported on English ships.

b. The colonies are limited what the colonists in what they can produce and what they can sell.

c. Taxes were levied on foreign products and had to be unloaded in England and then be carried on English ships.

A.2. Consequences of these Acts and Mercantilist polices a. Colonial manufacturing was limited to ship building. About

one-third of all British ships were built in New England.

b. Lack of competition kept prices high on English imports.

c. Government interference in trade encouraged an underground economy; smuggling became common practice.

B. Establishing a new colony in the South: Carolina, 1663

B.1. South Carolina began as a Proprietorship of a group of Noblemen who sought to recreate the economy of Barbados and Bermuda.

B.2. Sugar cane was not viable as a cash crop. Eventually, rice becomes a leading cash crop, Soon 80% of the population were African slaves.

B.3. In 1712 Carolina was split into North and South Carolina, and not long after both became Royal colonies. North Carolina produced tobacco and ship stores and had far more small independent farmers. C. The English go to war against the Dutch colony to create New York, 1665

C.1. New York is named after the Duke of York who led this military venture.

C.2. The inhabitants of New Netherland are permitted to maintain their language and customs, but are to pay English taxes and follow English navigation acts.

C.3. James later granted some of this land to two of King Charles’s advisers and named it New Jersey.

D. Crisis in Virginia and violent action against Indians

D.1. Bacon’s Rebellion, 1675 -1676 a. Tidewater Planters ignore and make no attempt to represent the concerns of Piedmont farmers: Indian attacks on settlers, taxation and representation.

b. When Indians attacked western settlers, Governor Berkeley refused to support military action.

c. Bacon, a wealthy piedmont planter, championed the back country farmers, led an attack on the Indians, and won a seat in the House of Burgesses.

d. Even having passed government reforms, Bacon and his supporters burned the capital to the ground. Virginia was in a state of civil war.

e. The rebellion collapsed as quickly as it had begun with the unexpected death of Nathaniel Bacon

f. As a result, planters began favoring slaves over indentured labor as their laborers.

D.2. King Philip’s War, 1675 a. The Wampanoag and Narragansett attack New England colonial settlements. The Wampanoag chief is called King Philip. This conflict was as violent as the American Civil War when considering the percentages of people wounded or killed. There were 18 New England towns burned to the ground.

b. The Puritans formed alliances with tribes not friendly with the Wampanoag and Narragansett. They were further prepared the 1643 military alliance of New England colonies, New England Confederation. c. After heavy losses, the Puritans destroyed the food supply of Wampanoag and Narragansett. d. Following the defeat of the Indians and the death of their leaders, Indians were rounded up and sold as slaves. e. Puritans continue their policy of organizing “praying Indians” into “Pray Towns” where Indians learned to assimilate into alien Puritan ways. E. King Charles II is not happy at the level of violence in America

E.1. King Charles awards William Penn land that becomes Pennsylvania. This is somewhat surprising since William Penn was a Quaker, a banned religion. Yet, Quakers were pacifists and did not condone violence. Also, the King settled a debt he owed to the beneficiary’s father.

E.2. William Penn’s colony was to be a refuge for the persecuted of all nations, “a holy experiment”. He advertised in Europe. Lutherans, Mennonites, Scots-Irish came to settle.

E.3. Philadelphia, the capital, within twenty years, rivaled Boston and New York as a center of trade and commerce.

E.4. The treaty that Penn signed with Indian tribes led to sustained peace.

E.5. Penn purchased three counties south of Pennsylvania and renamed the lower counties Delaware.

V. James II, 1685 -1688, reorganizes the Northern Colonies

A. Massachusetts lost its charter in 1684 and was made a royal colony due to violations of the Navigation Acts.

B. In 1685 James revoked the charters of Connecticut and Rhode Island; then he merged the colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island as the royal province called the Dominion of New England. Two years later James added New York and New Jersey to the Dominion.

C. Sir Edmund Andros was appointed governor –general. He made himself unpopular by levying new taxes and strictly enforcing the Navigation Acts. Andros also persecuted Puritans. Only marriages performed in the Anglican Church were legal.

VI. The Glorious Revolution, 1688

A. While Governor-General Andros was angering New Englanders, King James was losing support in England by disrespecting Parliament, revoking charters of many English towns and becoming Catholic.

B. With the birth of a son, James leaves London amidst protests. Parliament quickly invites King James’s daughter Mary and husband William of Orange to serve as joint sovereigns on the condition they accept the English Bill of Rights; Parliament was supreme over the Crown. C. Upon news of Glorious Revolution, the people of Massachusetts ousted Governor-General Andros and sent back to England.

D. In 1691 Massachusetts received a new charter as a royal colony. Plymouth was absorbed into Massachusetts. Connecticut and Rhode Island resumed their previous forms of government.

VII. William and Mary, 1689 -1702

A. King William’s War, 1690 – 1697

A.1. Fur trade was most important in shaping the growth of New France and created an alliance with the Huron Indians, the dominant tribe of the region.

A.2. England was also interested in fur, forged an alliance with the Iroquois.

B. Enlightenment casts a shadow on superstition in New England

B.1. In 1692 a small group of girls accused a number of people of witchcraft.

B.2. Due to the allowing of “spectral evidence” juries were convinced of the guilt of the accused who were both low status and prominent citizens.

B.3. By the time the judges and magistrates realized that the girls were lying and that individual and community fear had caused this event, twenty were executed, many already condemned and over 500 in jail waiting for trial.

B.4. The event undermined the influence of the church leaders in New England.

VIII. The last Stuart Monarch, Queen Anne, 1702 – 1714

A. Queen Anne’s War, 1702 - 1713

IX. New Dynasty, Hanover, George I, 1614 – 1727

X. George II, 1727 – 1760

A. The Great Awakening, 1730s and 1740s A.1. It was a series of religious revivals that introduced less formal religious ministry.

A.2. Religion became more democratic.

B. Establishment of Georgia, 1733

B.1. Served as a buffer from attack by the Spanish in Florida

B.2. Settled by those in debtors prison seeking a new start

B.3. Within twenty years, the bans on alcohol, gambling and slavery were lifted.

C. War of Jenkins’ Ear, 1739 – 1748

D. King George’s War, 1744 – 1748

E. French and Indian War, 1754 – 1763; In Europe, the Seven Years War, 1756 – 1763.

E.1. By early 1750’s, England competed with French and Indians for control of three rivers: Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio.

E.2. Albany Congress was an attempt to unite English colonies in the defense against the French and Indians.

E.3. William Pitt is given the credit for the winning strategy of the Seven Years War.

XI. George III, 1760 – 1776

A. Treaty of Paris

A.1. More lands east of the Mississippi in control of England

B. Reason for success: English had come over as whole families.

C. The Colonies are prized by the Crown due to the food and raw goods they provide.

XII. Colonial History Topics

A. Three Colonial Regions A.1. New England

A.1.a) Democratic and egalitarian tradition, the town meeting

A.1.b) Long winters, rugged, rocky forest land cleared for farming

A.1.c) Diverse economy: farming, hunting, fishing

A.2. Middle Colonies

A.2.a) Diverse population

A.3. Southern Colonies

A.3.a) Cheap plentiful land created a landed aristocracy

A.3.b) Good farm land, warm long growing seasons and slow navigable rivers

B. Colonial Politics

B.1. Political power was dominated by land holding men. In the South, one required over 1,000 acres of land to stand for public office.

B.2. Royal Governors had veto power, could dismiss the legislature and scheduled elections.

B.3. Legislatures could check executive power by not paying the governor’s salary. The legislature had control over budget and approving taxes.

B.4. It was a significant problem for the Crown to govern the colonies 3000 miles away.

B.5. Criticizing government, no matter legitimate the grievance, was legally recognized as libel. In 1735 John Peter Zenger acquittal on libel was based on the jury deciding what was libel and establishing truth as a defense against a charge of libel.

C. Colonial Education

C.1. New England was the most literate population in the world. In 1636 Harvard was set up as a college to train clergy.

C.2. William and Mary was established in Virginia in 1693 with similar purpose, but southerners were the least literate in the colonies.

C.3. The first non-sectarian college was University of Pennsylvania, 1740, was founded with the help of Benjamin Franklin. D. Benjamin Franklin: The most famous American of the 18th Century

D.1. Poor Richard’s Almanac

D.2. Successful printer, was able to retire at the age of 42.

D.3. Organized an association called the Junto that later became the American Philosophical Society

D.4. Organized the first police department, fire department, circulating library, hospital, and insurance company

D.5. Started an organization to end slavery

D.6. Scientist: did important work in the field of electricity

D.7. Inventor: Heating stove, bifocals, lightening rod

D.8. Postmaster of the colonies, governor, colonel of the militia

E. Slavery

E.1. Slavery became the favored means of labor on large scale farms following Bacon’s Rebellion. Shortly after this event, wages in England began to rise, decreasing the number of indentured labor for some time.

E.2. Only 5% of the slaves shipped from Africa ended up in the English colonies. Indians were shipped to the Sugar Islands in exchange for African slaves.

E.3. Slavery grew with increased production of staple crops like tobacco and rice.

E.4. The Stono Rebellion or Cato’s Conspiracy, 1739, was the biggest slave revolt during the English colonial period. The South Carolina militia crushed the rebellion and that colony passed legislation that was extremely harsh, and now kept slaves under surveillance.

F. Colonial Population

F.1. At the eve of the revolution, the average age in the colonies was 16 years. The colonies had a high birthrate.

F.2. Colonists are seeking land beyond the Appalachian, despite the dangers and the legality of any land claim.