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Culture Documents
Introduction
o After Columbus’s discovery, New World began to change significantly
o European crops and livestock had begun to alter the very landscape
o From Florida and New Mexico southward, most of the New World lay
firmly within the grip of imperial Spain
o Still, North America remained largely unexplored and unclaimed
o Europeans began to plant 3 main outposts
Santa Fe 1610
Quebec 1608
Jamestown 1607
England’s Imperial Stirrings
o As Spain’s alley in the first half of the century, England took little interest
in establishing its own overseas colonies
o King Henry VIII, however, breaks away from Roman Catholic Church
Launches Protestant Reformation
o Ireland became scene of Protestant and Catholic rivalry
o English crown, Elizabeth, took out Irish Catholic leaders and replaced
them with Protestants
Elizabeth Energizes England
o Encouraged by Queen Elizabeth, English buccaneers now swarmed out
upon the shipping lanes
Most famous of these “Sea Dogs” was Francis Drake
o English first attempt at colonization off the coast of Newfoundland
Failed with the death of promoter Sir Humphrey Gilbert
o Led half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, to attempt colonization on North
Carolina’s Roanoke Island
Colony eventually mysteriously vanished
o In contrast, Philip II of Spain, used part of imperial gains to amass an
“Invincible Armada” of ships for an invasion of England
England resisted and won
Marked end of Spain’s New World empire
Marked England’s naval dominance and started England on its
way to becoming a master of world oceans
Win energized English people with self confidence
England on the Eve of Empire
o Population during the 17th century England was mushrooming
3 million to 4 million in 50 years
Believed to have “surplus population”
o When economic depression hit woolen states of England, thousands of
footloose farmers took to the streets
These people eventually became migrants to the New World
o Laws decreed only eldest sons were eligible o inherit landed estates
o Landholders ambitious younger sons forced to seek fortune elsewhere
Raleigh, Gilbert, Drake
o Joint Stock company created
Allowed investors to pool capital
o Stage now set for English expansion
England Plants the Jamestown Seeding
o Joint Stock company, known as Virginia Company of London, received
charter from King James I for settlement in New World
Promised gold, along with passage to Indies
Only intended for a few years
Charter guaranteed overseas settlers the same rights of Englishmen
• Made colonist still feel connected to England
o Virginia Company set sail in 1606 with 3 ships
Landed in Chesapeake Bay, where Indians attacked
Pushed up James River, decided on mosquito infested Jamestown
Colonization proved disastrous
• 40 colonists perished during initial voyage
• Result of trying to find gold rather than getting provisions
o John Smith ultimately saved Virginia from collapse
Took over in 1608
In 1607, taken hostage in mock execution
• It was there he met Pocahontas
o Out of the 400 settlers to make it to Virginia, only 60 survived starving
time during the winter 1609
o In spring of 1610, colonists traveled back to England
Met by Lord De La Warr, who ordered the colonists back to
Jamestown
Culture Clash in the Chesapeake
o When English landed in 1607, chieftain Powhatan dominated native
peoples
“Powhatan Confederacy”
o Relations between Indians and English remained tense while English
raided tribes for food during winter
o When Lord De La Warr arrived in 1610, relations became even worse
Declared war against surrounding Indians
Used “Irish tactics” against Indians
Raided villages, burned houses, torched cornfields
Peace agreement to 1st Anglo-Powhatan War came with marriage
of Pocahontas and John Wolfe
o Peace lasted 8 years, until Indian attacks left 347 settlers dead
o Set off 2nd Anglo Powhatan War
Indians made one final attempt and were defeated
Peace treaty of 1646 destroyed hopes of coexistence
• Banished all Indians from home lands (Origins of
Reservation system)
o By 1685, English considered Powhatans extinct
Suffered from 3 D’s
• Disease
o Small pox and malaria
• Disorganization
o Lacked unity and well organized military
• Disposability
o Indians served no economical function to Virginians
The Indian’s New World
o Shock of large scale European colonization disrupted Native American
life on vast scale
o Forced unprecedented demographic and cultural transformations
Horses catalyzed a substantial Indian migration onto the Great
Plains
There they adopted nomadic hunter lifestyle and thrived
Disease biggest disrupter
• Destroyed entire cultures
• Destroyed oral traditions
o Devastated Indian bands then faced the task of reinventing themselves
o Trade also transformed Indian life, as exchange networks gave way to
European commerce
o Desire for firearms intensified competition
o Resulted in escalated Indian on Indian violence
o Ultimately, the most affected were Indian tribes on the coast
Father in, native peoples had space and numbers to adapt to
European incursion
Virginia: Child of Tobacco
o John Rolfe, husband to Pocahontas, became father of tobacco industry
o By 1612, he perfected cultivation methods for tobacco
o A tobacco rush swept over Virginia as a result of popularity in England
o Colonist who once hungered for food now hungered for land to plant
tobacco
o Tobacco started the broad-acred plantation system
o 1619, Dutch warship appeared off Jamestown and sold 20 Africans
Planted seed for North American slave system
In the beginning, slaves to expensive
Yet after 50 years, slaves accounted for 14% of population
o Representative Self Government
London Company authorized the settlers to summon an assembly
First of many mini-parliaments
o Over time, James I became disgusted with Virginia
Revoked charter in 1624, and made colony royal under his control
Maryland: Catholic Heaven
o Second plantation colony by fourth English colony
o Founded 1634 by Lord Baltimore
He embarked on venture to reap financial profits and secure a
refuge for Catholics
o 200 settlers founded Maryland at St. Mary’s
o Huge estates awarded to largely Catholic relatives
o Colonists proved willing to come only if offered the opportunity to acquire
land
o Tensions arose between protestant backcountry farmers and Catholic land
owners
o Virginia and Maryland both prospered from Tobacco
o Lord Baltimore permitted unusual freedom of worship at outset
Passed Act of Toleration
Eventually guaranteed toleration to all Christians
Also decreed death for atheists
The West Indies: Way Station to Mainland America
o By mid seventeenth century, England had secured its claim to several
West Indian islands
o Sugar formed the foundation of West Indian economy
o Sugar can was rich man’s crop
o The need for land and for labor to run mills made sugar cultivation a
capital intensive business
o To work their plantations, owners imported large numbers of African
slaves
By 1700, black slaves outnumbered white settlers in West Indies
Owners defined formal slave codes to decide slave legal status and
master rule
Barbados slave code of 1661 denied all rights for slaves
o The West Indies increasingly depended on North America for food and
basic supplies
o Settlers took with them model of slavery to New World
Colonizing the Carolinas
o Civil War in England disrupted colonization during 1640s
o Carolina, named for Charles II, was founded in 1670
o Carolina prospered by developing close economic ties with flourishing
sugar islands of West Indies
o Most Carolina settlers had immigrated from Barbados
Brought slave trade with them
o Indians now became the source of slave trading, and soon became top
Carolina export
o Indians attempted to go to Pennsylvania = slaughter
o Rice emerged as principle crop
Allowed for flourishing of West African slaves
o Charlestown quickly became South’s biggest seaport
Emergence of North Carolina
o From the older colony there drifted a rag tag group of poverty stricken
outcasts
o Many repelled by atmosphere of Virginia
o The newcomers were essentially squatters, as the raised tobacco on small
farms without legal right
o Inhabitants earned reputation for being irreligious and hospitable to pirates
o North Carolina officially separated in 1712, and both became royal
colonies
o North Carolina and Rhode Island were most democratic, independent
minded, and least aristocratic of original colonies
o Over time, North Carolina became increasingly involved in slave trade as
well
o With the conquests of the Yamasees, all coastal Indian tribes in southern
colonies had been destroyed by 1720
Late Coming Georgia: The Buffer Colony
o Georgia founded in 1733
o Last of the 13 colonies to be planted
o English crown intended Georgia to be a buffer between Spanish Florida
and Louisiana French
o Only colony to receive monetary subsidies from British government at the
outset
o Georgia was launched by a high-minded group of philanthropists
Hoped to keep slavery out
Most prominent founder was James Oglethorpe
• Repelled Spanish attacks
• Also saved colony with his energetic leadership and
mortgaging his own personal fortune
o Savannah was melting pot community
All Christian worshippers except Catholics enjoyed religious
toleration
The Plantation Colonies
o Broad acred, these colonies provided outposts of empire
o All promoted commercial agricultural products
o Slavery was found in all of the colonies
o The wide scattering of plantations hurt the establishment of churches and
schools
o The tax supported Church of England became dominant faith
The Iroquois
o Emerged in Mohawk Valley (New York)
o Iroquois confederacy formed in 1500s
o Building block of society was longhouse
o All families residing in longhouse related, all through maternal line
o Men dominated Iroquois society, but they owed their positions of
prominence to their mother’s families
o The 5 nations of Iroquois Confederacy joined by kept separate lives
o Reservation life provided unbearable for the tribes
Moral failed and fighting increased
o However, customs of Iroquois religion still survive to this day
Chapter 3: Settling The Northern Colonies (1619 – 1700)
XV. 1664: England seizes New Netherland from Dutch. East/West Jersey colonies
founded
a. Charles II had granted the land to his brother, but never claimed it
b. Sent a squadron to New Amsterdam and Dutch were forced to surrender
c. Renamed New Netherland New York