The Planting of English America

1. The Planting of English America Chapter 2

2. Introduction • In the hundred years after Columbus’s discovery, most of America north of Mexico remained unexplored. • By 1600, 3 European powers planted outposts in 3 distant corners of the continent; the English at Jamestown, VA in 1607, the French in Quebec in 1608, and the Spanish at Santa Fe in 1610

3. England’s Imperial Stirrings • Religious conflict disrupted England in the mid 1500s after King Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church. • The Protestant Reformation pitted Catholics and Protestants against each other for decades. • Protestantism in England became dominant when Queen Elizabeth took power, which intensified the rivalry with Catholics in Spain.

4. England’s Imperial Stirrings • The Catholic Irish clashed with Elizabeth’s English troops, who inflicted unspeakable atrocities on the Irish natives. • When Protestant landlords from England and Scotland were put into power, the seeds of religious conflicts that continue today were planted.

5. Elizabeth Energizes England • The first English attempt to colonize in Newfoundland collapsed when its promoter, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, died at sea in 1583. • Gilbert’s half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, tried again on warmer Roanoke Island in Virginia (named after Queen Elizabeth, the “Virgin Queen”). • Roanoke disappeared mysteriously.

6. Elizabeth Energizes England • Spain, on the other hand, was thriving in the New World. • Phillip II of Spain used his wealth to amass an “Invincible Armada” to invade Protestant England. • The English routed Spain and the defeat marked the end of Spanish imperial dreams.

7. England on the Eve of Empire • Large population increase (1 million from 1550 to 1600; 3 million to 4 million) and landlords enclosing pastures forced many farmers off the land. • In the late 1500s economic depression hit the wool trade and made many into beggars and paupers.

8. England on the Eve of Empire • People concluded that England was burdened with a “surplus population” even though present day London holds twice as many people as all of England in 1600. • Around this time, laws of primogeniture decreed that only the eldest sons were eligible to inherit land and/or estates.

9. England on the Eve of Empire • The younger sons of landowners were forced to make their own ways. • Joint stock companies (the forerunner to corporations) allowed adventurers to pool their money and set off for the New World.

10. England on the Eve of Empire • Motives for New World settlement • No competition from Spain • Population growth gave workers • Unemployment • Thirst for adventure • Religious freedom • Joint stock companies provided financial means

11. England Plants the Jamestown Seedling • In 1606 the Virginia Company of London received a charter from King James I for settlement in the New World. • It was only intended to last for a few years and then the stock would be liquidated for profit.

12. England Plants the Jamestown Seedling • The Charter of Jamestown is an important document in American history because it gave the settlers the same rights are their English counterparts in England, which they loved (ironic, isn’t it?).

13. England Plants the Jamestown Seedling • The settlers set sail in late 1606 and landed on Chesapeake Bay in 1607 where they were attacked by Indians. • They disembarked on May 24, 1607 and the first settlement started to take shape.

14. Times of Trouble • 40 men died on the voyage from England to Virginia. • Only 100 men got off the boat in May 1607. • In 1609, an expedition lost its leaders and supplies when they were shipwrecked in Bermuda. • Men died from diseases, malnutrition, and starvation.

15. Times of Trouble • Most settlers considered themselves “gentlemen” and were unprepared to live in the woods and unaccustomed to fending for themselves. • Most were too preoccupied with finding gold to help find and store amenities. • Check out Pg. 31 about John Smith.

16. Cultural Changes in the Chesapeake • When Lord De La Warr arrived, he carried with him orders from the Virginia Company that amounted to a declaration of war against the Indians. • Troops raided Indian villages, burned houses, confiscated provisions, and torched cornfields.

17. Cultural Changes in the Chesapeake • The First Anglo-Powhatan War ended in 1614 with a peace settlement sealed by the marriage of Pocahontas to John Rolfe- the first known interracial union in VA. • After some attacks starting in 1622 that left 347 Virginians dead (including Rolfe), the Second Anglo-Powhatan War started in 1644 and ended in Indian defeat in 1646.

18. Cultural Changes in the Chesapeake • The agreement effectively banned the Chesapeake Indians from their ancestral lands. • The Powhatans continued to decline until they were all be extinct by 1685 having fallen victim to the 3 Ds: disease, disorganization, and disposability

19. The Indian’s New World • The Fate of the Powhatans foreshadowed the destinies of indigenous peoples throughout the continent. • Horses catalyzed the migration toward the Great Plains in the 1700s. • Diseases robbed cultures of their elders and left tribes w/o accumulated wisdom or kin networks.

20. The Indian’s New World • Natives also moved away from barter-and-exchange networks in favor of European commerce. • One group of Virginia Indians were upset at the price the British traders offered for their deerskins so they loaded up a canoe and attempted to paddle to England. They crashed in a storm, lost their cargo, were picked up by a British ship, and were sold into slavery in the West Indies.

21. Virginia: Child of Tobacco • In 1619, a Dutch warship appeared off Jamestown and sold some 20 Africans. • This simple transaction planted the seeds of the North American slave system.

22. Maryland: Catholic Haven • Founded in 1634 by Lord Baltimore. • He wanted to reap financial profits as well as seek refuge for his fellow Catholics. • Fellow colonists only agreed to come if they had the chance to acquire land of their own.

23. Maryland: Catholic Haven • Problems arose when the Catholic land barons were surrounded by modest homes of the Protestant settlers. • Like Virginia, Maryland thrived on tobacco. • Sensing the people were turning against him, Baltimore signed the Act of Toleration to allow Christians to worship freely (this act spelled doom for Jewish and atheist settlers).

24. The West Indies: Way Station to Mainland America • Spain was preoccupied and thus loosened the grip it had on the Caribbean in the 1600s. • By mid 1600s England had secured its claim to several West Indian islands including Jamaica. • Sugar was to the Caribbean what tobacco was to the Chesapeake Bay region.

25. The West Indies: Way Station to Mainland America • Tobacco was seen as a poor man’s crop, whereas sugar was seen as a rich man’s crop. • By the mid 17th Century, the sugar lords brought in an enormous amount of enslaved Africans (1/4 million by 1700). • By 1700, black slaves outnumbered white settlers 4:1 and the area (Jamaica) has remained predominantly black ever since.

26. The West Indies: Way Station to Mainland America • This is known as “African diaspora”- the vast scattering of African peoples throughout the New World after Columbus’s discovery. • The Barbados slave codes denied even the most fundamental rights to slaves and gave masters virtually complete control over their laborers. • Pg. 37 quote

27. Colonizing the Carolinas • From 1629 to 1660, colonization was halted for the following reasons; • King Charles dismissed Parliament in 1629; he eventually recalled it in 1640. • The mutinous Parliament threw their support behind Oliver Cromwell (a soldier). • King Charles lost his head…literally. • Cromwell ruled England for nearly a decade until Charles II was stored to the throne.

28. Colonizing the Carolinas • After came what is known as the Restoration Period, when empire building resumed with greater intensity. • Carolina, named for Charles II was founded in 1670. • After much experimentation, rice emerged as the principle export crop in Carolina.

29. Late Coming Georgia: The Buffer Colony • Founded in 1733 and it was the last of the 13 colonies- 126 years after Jamestown. • Originally intended to be a buffer between the more valuable Carolinas against the Spanish in Florida and the French in Louisiana. • Georgia was named for King George II and originally wanted to be free of slavery.

30. The Plantation Colonies • The plantation colonies are; Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. • After 1750 slavery was found in all 5 colonies. • The sprawling acres of land were owned by a select few, which created an atmosphere of aristocracy.

31. The Plantation Colonies • Because the large plantations and farms were widely scattered, the growth of cities was slowed. • All the plantation colonies permitted some religious freedom, but the Church of England became the dominant faith.