Chapter 2

Early Colonial America

Royal Colonies received a charter and were controlled by king or queenLower colonial officials

appointed by sovereign

Proprietary Colonies received land granted to a group of private owners for developmentJoint stock companies pooled the money or

investors to start coloniesOfficials locally appointed, selected or

elected

Types of Colonies

The Chesapeake

Settlements spread out and near riversSettlers were mostly upper class men (6:1)

Labor devoted to mining rather than farmingHouse of Burgesses (1619) was first

representative bodyFree men of property votedProtestants dominated assemblyCould levy taxes, make laws, but subject to

vetoJohn Rolfe introduced tobacco which became

lucrative and the basis of economyExports of 3m pounds by 1640 10 10m in 1660Falling tobacco prices caused a turn to slave

labor

Chesapeake Society

Virginia land (named for Virgin Queen) lacked fresh water and agriculture, was swampyProne to disease

Maryland named for Charles’ wife

1649 Toleration Act in ML granted some religious freedom

60% of children in one VA county before 1680 lost one or both parents

Of 15,000 migrants between 1622 and 1640, VA only grew by 5,000

Chesapeake Society

Headright system encouraged immigrationIndentured servitude heavily relied on

(profitable)Workers received passage to America and land½ men died before contracts were up

Surplus of tobacco drove prices down 1671 House of Burgesses forbids blacks to

own guns join militias, win freedom by conversion or by moving into servitude

1705 HOB legalizes slavery

Chesapeake Society and Labor

Gov. William Berkeley thought to be corrupt

Landless distrusted his reactions to Indian raids

Bacon—a disgruntled soldier rallied troops in rebellionAfter arrest elections held to quell dissent

Bacon freed; allies plunder Jamestown and burn estates

Must appease yeoman, curtail corruption and lower taxes

Whites can‘t be trusted for labor—rely on slaves

Bacon’s Rebellion 1676

New England

Town meeting grew as institution of democratic governance

Demographics showed shared background and religion

Puritanism was the state religion, the Bible the foundation of legal guidance

Underlying society was Puritan morality and work ethic (Calvinists)

“Godly watchfulness”—spy clubs for conformity

City on a Hill

New England Society

Structured, close-knit towns Ability to defend and enforce

behavioral normsSelf-governed (Mayflower

Compact), male church members votedHealthy environment, low mortality rate yet ½ of

pilgrims dead in a yearPuritans were of different stock than Chesapeake

Middling ranks rather than gentlemenCongregations followed their ministers to New WorldFamilies cam and clustered in towns

New England Society

Small communities meant watchfulness

Believed predestination to be true

Only “elect” could govern— How elected?Conversion, calling, obeying

Calvinist dominated by TULIP moralityConformity sometimes challenged and eliminated:

Roger Williams—separated church and state (RI)Anne Hutchinson—gender roles and leadershipThomas Hooker—better land, HartfordQuakers—leadership

Religion and Society

Puritanism retained some mystical and pagan influences

Between 1647 and 1662 NE hanged 14 accused

Famously in 1692 in Salem, Mass Bay 19 executed

Patterns of social tensions emerged in the hysteria of ordeals and accusations:Gender issuesWealth distributionSecurity concerns

Witch Trials

Religious war erupted pitting Cromwell and Parliament against the CrownCharles 1 executed 1649Cromwell’s rule became a misguided dictatorship

Charles II restored the Stuart monarchy1651 Navigation Acts (later updated 1660s)

All colonial trade had to travel on English shipsMust through English ports Board of Trade set up to administer 1676

1699 Woolens Act banned colonists from selling wool to England

Adam Smith called these policies Mercantilism

Meanwhile….Back in England

Native Experience“If God were not pleased with our inheriting these parts, why doth he

still make roome for us by diminishing them as we increase?”~John Winthrop

Natives adopted tactic of retreat, collaboration, assimilation and resistance after contact

Years of war and disease devastated their numbers

Loss of land over timeIncreased reliance on European goods and

tradeAddiction to tobacco and alcoholNeglected of native cultureIncreased social division and new structuresDisruption of gender relations

Native Decline

War did not occur all the timeNatives showed the settlers how to plant

corn, where to fish, learned their language and even inter-married at times

Squanto aided the Pilgrims in their early daysPocahontas moved to adopt John Smith as

werowance or subordinate chief after flinging herself on his body after his capture She eventually married John Rolfe and went to

England

Natives Go-Betweens

Relations with the New England Wampanoag deteriorated after “first thanksgiving”Pequot War – 1634 fighting erupted after two

traders were killed in Pequot territoryKing Philip’s War - 1675 MA arrested and

executed three Wampanoag for murderWampanoag chief Metacomet, also known as King

Philip, led the fighting for over a yearTowns were burned and perhaps over 3000 died in

the fighting—including Metacomet who was drawn and quartered

Indian Wars

Forced encomienda system, treatment of women, religious oppression all contributed to upheaval in New MexicoDrought and disease had decimated native numbers

from 100,000 to 17,0001680 Rio Grande pueblo natives resisted Spanish

power by laying siege to capital Santa Fe killing 400+ and driving the Spanish out for a decade

Beaver Wars pitted armed Iroquois Confederacy against other groups to control trade with French By 1660 prisoners made up nearly half of communities

Jesuit priests began living with natives for conversion

Natives and Other Empires

Tribal confederation led by Algonquin-speaking Chief Powhatan

Traded skeptically with the colonistsOpechancanough, Powhatan’s

brother attacked Jamestown in 1622 along with 12 groups and killed 300

Charter revoked and declared a royal colonyGov and ministers appointed by KingHOB stays but new Privy Council ratifiesChurch of England established as legal church

Settlers pay taxes to church clergy

Powhatan Confederacy

Other ColoniesCaribbean, Restoration and Proprietary Colonies

Caribbean colonies were extremely profitableSugar profits exceeded all of those of the

mainland colonies2/3 of English migrants headed for the

CaribbeanBarbados was the jewel

of the regionIndenture turned to

kidnapping then convicts then slaves

The Caribbean

Upon the ascension of Charles II new colonies were chartered

1614 Dutch established trading outposts at Albany and New Amsterdam on Manhattan IslandDutch welcomed traders across nations and religionsEnglish conquered and divided into New York and Jersey

William Penn was given a land grant for a debt owed and established a tolerant Pennsylvania

Carolinas opened as a store colony to supply the CaribbeanSettled similar to Chesapeake, split between NC/SC

1700sFounders sought profit and a buffer with Spanish Florida

Restoration Colonies