Introduction to US History/Early Colonies

INTRODUCTION TO US HISTORY
LECTURER:GEOFFREY PLOURDE
THE EARLY COLONIES

Good Morning and welcome to Week 3 of Introduction to US History. I hope that you are enjoying this course and the interesting instructional method of writing the textbook. This week we focus on the early colonies in North America. This section covers their foundation and important information about them.

As was previously mentioned, everyone wanted a piece of America. Most European nations focused on North America, because Spain had already taken over most of South and Central America. Colonists came from the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and England.

English colonization started in 1585 when Sir Walter Raleigh sent 100 men. He called the area where they landed Virginia after Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen of England. This colony only lasted a year before the colonists returned to England. This may have been because the entire colony was filled with men, leaving no incentive to put down roots. In 1587, Sir Raleigh sent more colonists to Roanoke Island. This time, there were both men and women. He went back to England for supplies and when ships arrived in 1590, the entire colony had disappeared. The only clue was the word Croatian scratched on a nearby tree. The disappearance of this colony continues to be one of history's biggest mysteries and many explanations have been put forward.

Despite their early failures, the English eventually succeeded in colonizing America. The first English colony to take off was Jamestown in 1607. The main reason Jamestown took off was tobacco, a crop that would become one of the bases of the Southern economy. The beginning of the colony was rocky, because settlers were aristocrats who did not want to work and did not understand the peculiarities of America. The local natives, led by Powhatan, assisted the colonists in adapting to the New World. While this made it a bit better, there was a systematic problem that still needed to be addressed. In one of the earliest instances of socialism, the Virginia Colony had adopted a common store system where food was taken by the community and distributed out to everyone equally. Many of the colonists decided not to work, leading to food shortages. The system demoralized those who did work because the food they produced was being distributed to non-workers. Captain John Smith abolished common store in 1608 with a famous new policy, "He who does not work shall not eat." This policy provided an incentive to work by placing responsibility on the individual.

Despite the success of Jamestown, it was not self-sufficient and depended on what is known as a triangle trade with the Caribbean and Africa. Plantation owners quickly discovered that indentured servants (white servants for a period of year) were unreliable and rebellious. Without extremely cheap labor, they would have to stop production, which is why slavery became so prevalent in the South.

Early America

North: Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Amsterdam (New York).
South: Virginia, Maryland, Carolinas, Georgia

Life in the North was better as the climate was temperate, had fewer mosquitos, and led to longer life spans. Their lives revolved around urban cities and manufacturing. The South was an unimpressive tail, mudded with hot and humid weather accompanied by ravaging mosquitoes. They had an agricultural-based economy and relied on permanent labor.

The Northern colonies weren't established for money, but for their own religious freedom. The Puritans in Massachusetts Bay, the Pilgrims in Plymouth, the Quakers in Pennsylvania, and the Catholics in Maryland - are all examples of this.

Carolinas

South Carolina was founded in 1670 by "The Lords Proprietors", a gang of Englishmen who helped Charles II restore the monarchy and avenge his father's removal and execution. South Carolina's trading consisted of slaves to America, golden crops sent to England (sugar, tobacco), and manufactured goods (textiles) to Africa.

The Carolinas were originally one entity, but because the main settlements were on opposite sides, Carolina was split in two. South Carolina was wealthy with its rice and indigo plantations, all requiring extensive slave labor. Charleston was the capital of the South while Wilmington was the capital of North Carolina. This was full of poor and uneducated farmers, escaping the rich in the South and the overcrowdedness in Virginia.

Georgia

Georgia was established in 1733. It served as the buffer between the English and the Spanish (Florida) and the French (Louisiana). James Oglethorpe decided that Georgia could be debtors' "second chance", those that were drowning in debt. Slavery wasn't allowed at first.

Maryland

Maryland was established in 1634. Lord Baltimore wanted a place where Catholics could practice freely and he wanted a kingdom to himself. He created the 1649 Act of Toleration, which provided religious freedom for only Christians. Lord Baltimore also realized that Feudalism didn't work: colonists move about, no one works for another and eventually, Lord Baltimore's finances fail.

Plymouth

The Mayflower was supposed to go to Virginia, but instead landed in Massachusetts in 1620. These people are known as "Puritans" because they believed that the Church of England was corrupted and needed to be "purified". Whole families, instead of just men, came just to worship God in peace. The Mayflower Compact signified that majority men must be in favor of a rule for it to be enacted.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

12 Puritan leaders controlled the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which overshadowed the Plymouth colony when they arrived 8 years afterwards. Boston was the capital and John Winthrop was the leader. The royal charter given to them was used as a constitution. John Winthrop was a well educated man that focused on education and was popular among the colonists, who believed that he was chosen by God to lead the colony. He believed that government's duty was to enforce religious ruling.

Anne Hutchinson spoke against this religious ruling and believed grace was a gift and not awarded by actions, but she and her family were banished from the colony and were forced to move to Rhode Island. She was killed in an Indian massacre. Roger Williams was able to escape the Puritans and formed Rhode Island.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island was created in 1636 after a dissenter named Roger Williams was kicked out of Massachusetts. Here, separation of church and state was a rule and attending/paying the church wasn't mandatory. Jews and Atheists were welcomed, thereby giving the name to the state: "Land of misfits and outcasts".

New Amsterdam

Controlled by "Director's General", New Amsterdam was a Dutch colony of which its sole purpose was to trade furs with the American Indians (due to its great location!). The name, "Wall Street", comes from a wall that protected New Amsterdam from Indian attacks. This colony was renamed to New York after the Duke of York got rid of all foreigners. He converted it into an English colony which was, unlike the rest, pro-English.

Pennsylvania

The Quakers refused to pay taxes to the Church of England, refused to take oaths, and refused to participate in the military. William Penn established Pennsylvania in 1681 after he agreed to enter a deal where he agreed to waive a huge loan that the King owed to him in exchange for establishing a royal colony. Penn and Lord Baltimore all share these things in common:

Make a profit in America
Haven for religious refugees
Tolerance

In Pennsylvania, the land was given to the Indians as a nice gesture, no tax support for the Church was set, and they had a Representative Assembly.

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