American Colonies: V. 1: the Settlement of North America to 1800 Pdf

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In the three centuries following the voyages of Christopher Columbus — to the Americas, the world was transformed by a massive transoceanic movement of peoples, the largest in human history up to that time. The migration of several million Europeans to the Americas during this period was fundamental to the formation of New World society. European settlement and diseases devastated indigenous populations and led to a scramble for lands on a continental scale that resulted in a checkerboard of Euro-American societies from the Hudson Bay in northern Canada to Tierra del Fuegoan island group off the southern tip of South America. From the Atlantic ports of Europe—principally of Britain, Spain, and Portugal—wave after wave of settlers, rich and poor, took ship seeking their fortune "beyond the seas. Between andapproximately 2. Across the period, slightly less than half of all migrants were British, 40 percent were Spanish and Portuguese, 6 percent were from Swiss and German states, and 5 percent were French. In terms of sheer numbers, other nationalities —Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and Finnish, for example—although contributing to the heterogeneity of Euro-American society, were negligible. Annual rates of emigration climbed steadily across the three centuries, from 2, annually beforeto 8, per year in the second half of the seventeenth century, and between 13, and 14, per year in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Three principal phases of movement can be identified. The first century and a half was dominated by Spanish and American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 emigrants, who made up 87 percent of thesettlers leaving Europe between and The second phase, lasting from tosaw a three-fold increase in numbers of emigrants. During this period, 1. Many of the British, French, Swiss, and German settlers who immigrated during this period arrived under labor contracts that typically obliged them to work between four and seven years in return for the cost of their passage, board, and lodging, and certain payments called "freedom dues. The final phase of early modern immigration, from towas once again dominated by free settlers and witnessed an enormous surge of British migrants to North America and American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 United States. These British migrants made up more than 70 percent of all emigrants who crossed the Atlantic in these years. In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the decision by Spanish and Portuguese monarchs to take possession of the New World and establish colonies governed by the crown required the transfer of large settler populations. In the long run, however, the most important development that encouraged large-scale immigration of settlers from western Europe was not so much the pillage of Indian civilizations and the discovery of precious minerals as the production of consumables in high demand in Europe, notably sugar and to a lesser extent tobacco. In the Americas, Portuguese Brazil specifically the northeastern provinces of Pernambuco and Bahia emerged as the epicenter of the world's sugar production byfollowed a half century later by a new sugar plantation complex founded by the English and French supported by Dutch merchants and planters on the islands of Barbados, Saint ChristopherMartinique, and Guadeloupe in the West Indies. Meanwhile in Chesapeake, the English colonies of Virginia and Maryland had begun to rapidly expand output of tobacco during the s and s. In Spanish and British America alike, plantation colonies absorbed the great majority of white and black enslaved immigrants. Most of theEnglish migrants who crossed the Atlantic during the seventeenth century, for example, ended up in the West Indiesand ChesapeakeEnglish immigration represented the transfer of a massive labor force to America, which was essential for the development of staple agriculture—sugar and tobacco—in the West Indies and Chesapeake. Gentlemen hildagos in Spanishgovernment officials, merchants, servants, filles du roy French maidsartisans, soldiers, planters, and farmers were among the tide of Europeans who embarked for the Americas in the early modern period. One vital distinction between them was whether they arrived free or were under some form of contractual labor obligation. Convicts and political prisoners contributed anotherbound immigrants. In addition, an indeterminate number of men and women who were servants for example, Spanish criados in the service of an official, priest, or gentleman, and who might themselves American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 of relatively high social rank, made their way to the New World. It is impossible to be precise about the proportion of those who arrived in America as unfree laborers. Across the entire period, certainly no less than 25 percent were servants, convicts, and prisoners. During the peak years of servant emigration in the second half of the seventeenth century, the figure was closer to 50 percent. Indentured servants made up between 70 and 85 percent of settlers who emigrated to the Chesapeake and British West Indies between and In British and French North Americacheap white labor was crucial to the early development of colonial economies and predated the adoption of enslaved African labor by several generations. Servants came from a broad cross section of lower-class society, embracing child paupers and vagrants, unskilled laborers, those employed in low-grade service trades, domestic and agricultural servants, and poor textile workers. The great majority were young between sixteen and twenty-five years of agemale, and single. Among sixteenth-century Spanish emigrants, women never made up more than 30 percent of the total. More than three-quarters of servants who left England in the seventeenth century were men and boys, rising to over 90 percent between and Servant emigration was generally a two-stage process shaped by American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 same social and economic forces that influenced broader patterns of lower-class movement. Indentured servants were a subset of a much larger group of young, single, and poor men and women who moved from village to village and town to city in search of greater American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 than were to be had at home. Cities and ports throughout Europe attracted the surplus labor of the surrounding countryside and market towns, as well as from further afield. London, for example, was a magnet for the poor, who poured into the capital and took up residence in the burgeoning slums outside the ancient city walls. According to a contemporary, they included "soldiers wanting wars to employ them,… serving-men whose lords and masters are dead, … masterless men whose masters have cast them off, [and] idle people, as lusty rogues and common beggars. Free emigrants—those able to fund their own transportation to American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 an equally diverse group. Hundreds of thousands of independent farmers and tenants emigrated to set up farms and plantations. Alongside them from all parts of Europe was a steady flow of lesser gentry, professional men, and artisans—merchants, factors, teachers, doctors, priests, clergymen, accountants, ministers, weavers, smiths, carpenters, and others—in continual demand as the colonies expanded and matured. What distinguished them from servants was not only the possession of some capital to set themselves up in America but also personal or political connections. Free migrants tended to be older than those who arrived under labor contracts, and they were more likely to arrive with their families, kin, or friends. Such family or kinship connections were of paramount importance in stimulating movement from Extremadura in Spain to the New World, for example, and also influenced to a lesser degree free emigration from Britain and parts of Germany. As mentioned above, free migration was the dominant form of white movement during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and in the period after A key characteristic of the second half of the eighteenth century was the increasing numbers of skilled and independent migrants opting to leave Europe against a background of growing prosperity and trade. As American commerce flourished and channels of communication were strengthened, the cost of passage fell and colonies became increasingly attractive and accessible. Whether free or unfree, emigration from Europe to America was intensely regional. During the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries, the origins of Spanish emigrants were heavily skewed toward the southwest. Andalusia alone contributed between one-third and one-half of all migrants from Spain. In the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the character of Spanish emigration changed dramatically, with far higher numbers of people moving from the poorer provinces of the north coast, the east, and from the Balearic and Canary Islands. The eighteenth century, by contrast, saw large-scale movements from northern England, Ulster, southern Ireland, the western districts of the Scottish Borders and Lowlands, the Highlands, and Hebrides. Motives for leaving Europe—religious, political, or social—were as diverse as migrants' social backgrounds, but economic opportunity in the American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 sense American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 the single most important reason that people boarded ships for the colonies. Roderick Gordon, a Scot who immigrated to Virginia, confided to his brother ina "pity it is that thousands of my country people should stay starving att [ sic ] home when they may live here in peace and plenty, as a great many who have been transported for a punishment have found pleasure, profit and ease and would rather undergo any hardship than be forced back to their own country" Hornp. America was described by one settler as a "paradise" where newcomers "had nought to do but pluck and American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 Hornp. If not paradise, the New World offered the possibility of a better future for those who risked moving to America and, if they survived, a lifestyle that would have been impossible at home. Altman, Ida. Berkeley: University of California Press, Altman, Ida, and James Horn, eds. Bailyn, Bernard. New York : Knopf, Beier, A. London: Methuen, Canny, Nicholas, ed. Europeans on the Move: Studies on European Migration, — Oxford, U. Choquette, Leslie. Eltis, David, ed. Coerced and Free Migration: Global Perspectives. Emmer, P. New York : Berg, Fogleman, Aaron Spencer. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Gemery, Henry. Horn, James. Horn, James, and Philip D. Klooster, Wim, and Alfred Padula. Wokeck, Marianne S. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. October 16, Retrieved October 16, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia. History Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps European Migrations to American Colonies, — European Migrations to American Colonies, — gale. Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. More From encyclopedia. The emergence of a new world shaped by contact across and around the Atlantic is one of the single most significant historical develo… Indentured ServantsIndentured servitude was an important form of labor utilized in British North America during the colonial and early national periods. Its rapid acceptance throughout the world made it a profitable commodity in a very short ti… convict laborIndentured Servitude Sources Servitude. Immigration and Immigrants: England and Wales. Wars and Empires. Immigrants, European. Export Commodities. English Indentured Servants. Atlantic Colonial Commerce. Trans-Atlantic Migration. British colonization of the Americas - Wikipedia

American coloniesalso called thirteen colonies or colonial Americathe 13 British colonies that were established during the 17th and early 18th centuries in what is now a part of the eastern United States. The colonies grew both geographically along the Atlantic coast and westward and numerically to 13 from the time of their founding to the American Revolution — Their settlements had spread far beyond the Appalachians and extended from Maine in the north American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 the Altamaha River in Georgia when the Revolution began, and there were at that time about 2. The American colonies American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 the British colonies that were established during the 17th and early 18th centuries in what is now a part of the eastern United States. The colonies grew both geographically along the Atlantic coast and westward and numerically to 13 from the time of their founding to the American Revolution. Their settlements extended from what is now Maine in the American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 to the Altamaha River in Georgia when the Revolution began. In the Virginia Company crossed the ocean and established Jamestown. In the ship the Mayflower carried about Pilgrim Separatists to what is now Massachusettswhere the Plymouth colony took root. After the French and Indian War the British government determined that the colonies should help pay for the cost of the war and the postwar garrisoning of troops. It also began imposing tighter control on colonial governments. Taxes, such as the Sugar Act and the Stamp Actaimed at raising revenue from the colonies outraged the colonists and catalyzed a reaction that eventually led to a revolt. The colonists were remarkably prolific. Economic opportunity, especially in the form of readily available land, encouraged early marriages and large families. Bachelors and unwed women could not live very comfortably and were relatively few. Widows and widowers needed partners to maintain homes and rear children and so remarried quickly. Accordingly, most adults were married, children were numerous, and families containing 10 or more members were common. Despite heavy losses as a result of disease and hardship, the colonists multiplied. Their numbers were also greatly increased by continuing immigration from Great Britain and from Europe west of the Elbe River. In Britain and continental Europe the colonies were looked upon as a land of promise. Moreover, both the homeland and the colonies encouraged immigration, offering inducements to those who would venture beyond the ocean. The colonies particularly welcomed foreign Protestants. In addition, many people were sent to America against their will—convicts, political prisoners, and enslaved Africans. The American population doubled every generation. In the 17th century the principal component of the population in the colonies was of English origin, and the second largest group was of African heritage. German and Scotch-Irish immigrants arrived in large numbers during the 18th century. Other important contributions to the colonial ethnic mix were made by the NetherlandsScotlandand France. New England was almost entirely English, in the southern colonies the English were the most numerous of the settlers of European origin, and in the middle colonies the population was much mixed, but even Pennsylvania had more English than German settlers. Except in Dutch and American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 enclaves, which diminished with the passage of time, the English language was used everywhere, and English culture prevailed. William Livingstonthree-fourths Dutch and one-fourth Scottish, described himself as an Anglo-Saxon. The opening of the 17th century found three countries— FranceSpainand England —contending for dominion in North America. Of these England, the tardiest on the scene, finally took control of the beginnings of what is now the United States. The French, troubled by foreign wars and internal religious quarrels, long failed to realize the great possibilities of the new continent, and their settlements in the St. Lawrence Valley grew feebly. But the English, after initial failures under Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleighplanted firm settlements all the way from Maine to Georgia, nourished them with a steady flow of people and capital, and soon absorbed the smaller colonizing venture of the Dutch in the Hudson Valley and the tiny Swedish effort on the Delaware River. In a short time the colonists pushed from the Tidewater strip toward the Appalachians and finally crossed the mountains by the Cumberland Gap and Ohio River. Decade by decade they became less European in habit and outlook and more American—the frontier in particular setting its stamp on them. Their American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 from most of the feudal inheritances of western Europe, and the self-reliance they necessarily acquired in subduing nature, made them highly individualistic. American colonies Article Media Additional Info. Article Contents. Print print Print. Table Of Contents. Facebook Twitter. Give Feedback External Websites. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article requires login. External Websites. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree See Article History. Alternative Titles: colonial America, thirteen colonies. Top Questions. 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The Russian colonization of the Americas covers the period from towhen the Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas. Russian colonial possessions in the Americas are collectively known as Russian America. Russian expansion eastward began inand in Russian explorers reached the Pacific Ocean. The Russians were primarily interested in the abundance of fur-bearing mammals on Alaska's coast, as stocks had been depleted by over hunting in Siberia. Bering's first voyage was foiled by thick fog and ice, but in a second voyage by Bering and Aleksei Chirikov made sight of the North American mainland. Russian promyshlenniki trappers and hunters quickly developed the maritime fur tradewhich instigated several conflicts between the Aleuts and Russians in the s. The fur trade proved to be a lucrative enterprise, capturing the attention of other European nations. In response to potential competitors, the Russians extended their claims eastward from the Commander Islands to the shores of Alaska. Ten years later, the first group of Orthodox Christian missionaries began to arrive, evangelizing thousands of Native Americans, many of whose descendants continue to maintain the religion. Angered by encroachment on their land and other grievances, the indigenous peoples' relations with the Russians deteriorated. This failed to expel the Russians, who reestablished their presence two years later following the Battle of Sitka. Peace negotiations between the Russians and Native Americans would later establish a modus vivendia situation that, with few interruptions, lasted for the duration of Russian presence in Alaska. InRedoubt Saint Michael was rebuilt as New Archangel and became the capital of Russian America after the previous colonial headquarters were moved from Kodiak. A American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 later, the RAC began expanding its operations to more abundant sea otter grounds in Northern Californiawhere Fort Ross was built in By the middle of the 19th century, profits from Russia's American colonies were in steep decline. Competition with the British Hudson's Bay Company had brought American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 sea otter to near extinction, while the population of bears, wolves, and foxes American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 land was also nearing depletion. Faced with the reality of periodic Native American revolts, the political ramifications of the Crimean Warand unable to fully colonize the Americas to their satisfaction, the Russians concluded that their American colonies were too expensive to retain. Eager to release themselves of the burden, the Russians sold Fort American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 inand inafter less than a month of negotiations, the United States accepted Emperor Alexander II 's offer to sell Alaska. Europeans first sighted the Alaskan coastline in ; this sighting was made by the Russian maritime explorer and navigator Ivan Fedorov from sea near present-day Cape Prince of Wales on the eastern boundary of the Bering Strait opposite Russian Cape Dezhnev. He did not land. These claims were later abandoned at the turn of the 19th century. Count Nikolay Rumyantsev funded Russia's first naval circumnavigation under the joint command of Adam Johann von Krusenstern and Nikolai Rezanov in —, and was instrumental American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 the outfitting of the voyage of the Riurik's circumnavigation of —, which provided substantial scientific information on American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 and California's flora and fauna, and important ethnographic information on Alaskan and Californian among other natives. Imperial Russia was unique among European empires for having no state sponsorship of foreign expeditions or territorial conquest settlement. The first state-protected trading company for sponsoring such activities in the Americas was the Shelikhov-Golikov Company of Grigory Shelikhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov. A number of other companies were operating in Russian America during the s. Shelikhov petitioned the government for exclusive control, but in Catherine II decided to grant his company a monopoly only over the area it had already occupied. Other traders were free to compete elsewhere. Catherine's decision was issued as the imperial ukase proclamation of September 28, Siberian merchants based in Irkutsk were initial major stockholders, but soon replaced by Russia's nobility and aristocracy based in Saint Petersburg. The company constructed settlements in what is today Alaska, Hawaiiand California. The first Russian colony in Alaska was founded in by Grigory Shelikhov. The Russian-American Company was formed in with the influence of Nikolay Rezanov for the purpose of hunting sea otters for their fur. The number of Russians rarely exceeded at any one time. Spanish concern about Russian colonial intrusion prompted the authorities in New Spain to initiate the upper Las Californias Province settlement, with presidios fortspueblos townsand the California missions. The fort was the northernmost Mexican outpost to halt any further Russian settlement southward. The restored Presidio and mission are in the present day city of Sonoma, California. In a one-hundred pound bronze church bell was unearthed [ by whom? It has an inscription in the Russian language translated here : "In the Yearin the month of January, this bell was cast on the Island of Kodiak by the blessing of Juvenaly of Alaskaduring the sojourn of Alexander Andreyevich Baranov. The Russian colonies were rarely profitable, primarily due to transportation costs for supplies. In addition, Russia was in a difficult financial position and feared losing Russian Alaska without compensation in some future conflict, especially to the British. The Russians believed that in a dispute with Britain, their hard-to-defend region might become a prime target for British aggression from British Columbiaand would be easily captured. Seward in the beginning of March The canceled check is in the present day United States National Archives. The Soviet Union USSR released a series of commemorative coins in and to commemorate the th anniversary of the first sighting of and claiming domain over Alaska — Russian America. The commemoration consisted of a silver coina platinum coin and two palladium coins in both years. At the beginning of the 21st century, a resurgence of Russian ultra nationalism has spurred regret and recrimination over the sale of Alaska to the United States. The Orthodox Church in Americawhich was formerly a missionary diocese of the Russian Orthodox Churchtraces its history back to the early Russian missionaries in 'Russian America'. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Main article: Russian-American Company. Main article: Russian America. See also: Alaska boundary dispute. Main article: Fort Ross, California. Main article: Alaska Purchase. History portal. Seattle, Wash. First Approaches to the Northwest Coast. Vancouver: J. Robert Natural History of the Islands of California. California natural history guides. University of California Press. Retrieved A small Russian f1shing and sealing colony was established on Southeast Farallon Island at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Russians brought in Aleuts from Alaska to hunt the seals, and by they had killed off all Northern Fur Seals [ Retrieved 26 November The Moscow Times. The New York Times. Anchorage Daily News. Our Documents. The United States National Archives. Black, Lydia T. Russians in Alaska, — University of Washington Press. Frost, Orcutt Bering: The Russian Discovery of America. Grinev, Andrei Valterovich The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, — Miller, Gwenn A. Oleksa, American Colonies: v. 1: The Settlement of North America to 1800 J. Orthodox Alaska: A Theology of Mission. Alaskan Missionary Spirituality 2nd ed. Starr, S. Fredericked. Russia's American Colony. Vinkovetsky, Ilya Russian America : Russian colonization of the Americas. Michael Three Saints Bay Unalaska. Armed conflicts involving Russia incl. Imperial and Soviet times. History of Alaska. History of California. San Fernando Valley. Former colonies and territories in Canada. Claims Russian America. Claims Oregon Country. Claims Nova Dania. Claims Sverdrup Islands. History of the Americas. Indigenous peoples Indigenous population Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories Discovery Exploration European colonization Spanish colonization French colonization Portuguese colonization British colonization Columbian Exchange Decolonization.