Chapter 3: Founding the English Mainland Colonies, 1607-1732

1. England and Colonization
   1. Religious and Political Tensions in Seventeenth-Century England
      1. Between 1603 and 1688, the English people lived through intense religious conflict, economic upheavals and dislocations, civil war, and the removal of two kings from their thrones.
      2. While Elizabeth I had ignored the Puritans, James I and Charles I harassed them and actively squelched demands for religious reform.
         1. Believing in absolutism, the Stuart kings underestimated the determination of Parliamentary leaders to have a commanding voice in matters of finance, religious reform, and foreign policy.
         2. In 1642, civil war erupted, pitting Stuart loyalists against political and religious dissenters represented in the House of Commons.
            1. For almost a dozen years, the nation was a commonwealth.
            2. By 1660, the Stuart kings were invited to retake the throne, ushering in the Restoration Era.
      3. The 1688 Glorious Revolution ushered in the Protestant rule of William and Mary.
   2. Colonizer and Colonies
      1. In the midst of these dramatic events, wealthy men found ways to finance risky colonizing ventures, members of religious sects established communities in America, and impoverished men and women decided to seek their fortunes in the New World.
      2. Entrepreneurs provided the critical ingredient for empire building.
         1. Joint-stock companies took the lead in planting English colonies in the New World.
         2. Later, the monarch granted great tracts of land to establish proprietary colonies.
         3. Finally, the rulers themselves took charge of royal colonies.
      3. The colonists in these English settlements thought of themselves as residents of four distinct regions.
         1. The Chesapeake
         2. New England
         3. The Middle Colonies
         4. The Lower South
2. Settling the Chesapeake
   1. The planting of Jamestown
      1. The Virginia Company established Jamestown, named in honor of the king, in 1607.
         1. The colony’s first several years were marked by severe problems.
         2. Captain John Smith took control and imposed military order to save Jamestown.
      2. Tobacco proved to be the colony’s salvation.
         1. The headright system brought more settlers to Virginia.
         2. In 1618, the House of Burgesses was created to give the planters an active decision making role in the colony’s civil government.
      3. Expansion led to conflict with Native Americans.
         1. King James revoked the Company’s charter and made Virginia a royal colony partly for this reason.
   2. Maryland: A Catholic Refuge
      1. The Calvert family hoped to create a haven for Catholics in Maryland.
         1. They envisioned a colony of large landowners and tenant farmers.
         2. The colony drew mostly Protestants of limited means.
      2. The colony quickly came to resemble Virginia.
         1. A headright system attracted new settlers; tobacco became the economic mainstay.
         2. Virginians reacted with hostility, fearing the new colony as a competitor.
   3. Colonists at War in Maryland
      1. Civil war broke out in England in the 1640s and religious warfare also erupted in Maryland.
         1. Calvert tried to prevent it by issuing a Toleration Act.
         2. Oliver Cromwell repealed Calvert’s Toleration Act and took Maryland away from the Calvert family in 1654.
      2. In Maryland, violence ensued after the Glorious Revolution.
         1. John Coode led the Protestants in rebellion against Maryland’s proprietor and obtained a royal charter for the colony.
   4. Troubles on the Chesapeake
      1. Conflict between wealthy planters and newcomers, and between eastern inhabitants and residents of the backcountry, split Virginia.
         1. Nathaniel Bacon became the leader of those living in the backcountry.
      2. War between backcountry inhabitants and Indians led to rebellion against the government.
         1. Governor Berkeley refused to assist the westerners.
         2. Bacon and his men, joined by members of the lower classes, marched against the capital (Jamestown).
         3. Bacon’s sudden death doomed the rebellion.
   5. Colonial Chesapeake Life
      1. The rhythms of life in the Chesapeake region revolved around tobacco.
         1. Planters moved frequently and did not create many communal institutions.
         2. Until the 1680s, much of the population consisted of indentured male servants working in the tobacco fields.
         3. As the English economy improved, planters were forced to turn to the purchase of African slaves.
3. New England: Colonies of Dissenters
   1. The Plymouth Colony
      1. Unwelcome in England, the Pilgrims and other Separatists boarded the Mayflower to head to the New World.
      2. The Mayflower Compact granted political rights to any man willing to remain and to abide by the laws.
      3. The settlers received crucial assistance from American Indians.
         1. Squanto’s assistance was indispensable to the colony’s survival.
      4. Plymouth colony grew slowly but steadily.
         1. Expansion occurred peacefully through land purchases from the local Indians.
   2. Massachusetts Bay and Its Settlers
      1. John Winthrop obtained a charter for a Puritan colony.
      2. During the 1630s, a "Great Migration" of Puritans was fueled by religious tensions and economic distress in England.
      3. Massachusetts developed into a society of small farming villages and small seaport towns.
      4. Puritan ministers reinforced the ideal of a hierarchy within the family.
   3. Government in Puritan Massachusetts
      1. The colony’s design was based on Puritan views of God’s law.
         1. There was no social equality.
         2. Political participation was restricted to saints (church members).
         3. Personal behavior was strictly regulated.
         4. Religious dissent was not tolerated.
      2. Quakers who challenged this system could eventually be hanged.
      3. Roger Williams preached freedom of religious belief.
         1. Banished for his views, he established Rhode Island, where church and state were kept separate.
      4. Anne Hutchinson criticized the Massachusetts clergy.
         1. Her followers included not only women but also merchants and artisans.
         2. She was banished for her unorthodox belief in direct communication with God.
      5. Some Puritans left Massachusetts voluntarily.
         1. Thomas Hooker and his followers as well as other Puritans established Connecticut.
         2. Others moved north to Maine and to the area that became the colony of New Hampshire.
   4. Indian Suppression
      1. War broke out with the Pequots in 1636.
         1. It was part of a struggle between Massachusetts and the Connecticut Valley settlers over who would control Connecticut.
         2. The war ended with the destruction of the Pequots.
      2. King Philip’s War began in 1675.
         1. Its roots lay in Puritan expansion onto Indian lands.
         2. American Indian resistance ceased permanently in New England when the Indians lost this war.
   5. Change and Reaction in England and New England
      1. Declining religious intensity was apparent by the 1660s.
         1. Fewer individuals qualified for church membership and therefore for political participation.
         2. The introduction of the Half-Way Covenant allowed the Puritans to maintain political control.
      2. The English crown attempted to assert greater control.
         1. Charles II revoked the colony’s charter.
         2. James II established the Dominion of New England, with Sir Edmund Andros as governor.
         3. Massachusetts overthrew Andros when news of the Glorious Revolution reached the colony.
      3. Massachusetts became a royal colony in 1691.
         1. The new charter granted by William and Mary ended Puritan political, religious, and social control.
         2. The Salem witchcraft episode occurred in the context of this great change.
4. The Pluralism of the Middle Colonies
   1. From New Amsterdam to New York
      1. A very diverse population settled in the colony, which remained small and unprosperous.
      2. England seized control of New Netherland.
         1. While the new government was liberal, the crown taxed the colony heavily and maintained political control.
         2. By 1685, James, now King of England, had lost interest in the colony.
   2. Leisler’s Rebellion
      1. Jacob Leisler led a successful rebellion when news of the Glorious Revolution reached New York.
      2. Although he surrendered to the new governor appointed by William and Mary, he was executed.
         1. Pro- and anti-Leisler forces contended in the political life of New York for many years to come.
   3. William Penn’s Holy Experiment
      1. William Penn established Pennsylvania as a refuge for Quakers.
         1. The crown granted him a charter because of his political loyalty, loans, and his father’s service to the king.
      2. Penn envisioned a colony built on Quaker values.
         1. These included social equality, religious toleration, genuine political participation, and fair treatment for American Indians.
      3. Non-Quaker immigrants moved the colony in other directions.
         1. They seized lands from the Indians.
         2. Quakers, whose religious principles included pacifism left political life when western farmers demanded military action against the Indians.
5. The Colonies of the Lower South
   1. The Carolina Colony
      1. Eight proprietors received title to Carolina from the crown.
         1. They hoped to establish a society there dominated by great landowners, small farmers, and serfs.
         2. The headright system of Virginia and Maryland quickly replaced the original plan.
      2. The Carolinas produced cash crops for export.
      3. The southern part of Carolina became the royal colony of South Carolina in 1719.
      4. The northern part of Carolina was settled by small farmers.
         1. Their economy centered on tobacco and naval stores.
      5. Both Carolinas eventually became royal colonies.
   2. Georgia, the Last Colony
      1. James Oglethorpe established Georgia as a place for imprisoned debtors to start their lives over.
      2. The intention was to create a colony of small farmers; buying and selling land was prohibited, as was slave labor.
         1. Settlers challenged both these ideals.
      3. Georgia became a royal colony in 1752 when Oglethorpe gave up on his project.