1607

Where would you set up shop and why would you choose that particular area?

Jamestown• The defeat of the Spanish in 1588 opened up English ability

and willingness to go to the new world.• 1st Colony in 1580’s failed (Roanoke)• They had heard about Spanish discoveries of gold and other

resources and wanted a piece. (Gold, wine, citrus fruits, olive oil)

• It was a business effort, not a social experiment. People invested money and hoped to be repaid handsomely.– Also a great opportunity to get rid of the “unwanted”

• The Virginia Company (Joint-Stock) was formed to fund this.• 1607 first 3 ships (105 people) left for Virginia.

– Arduous Trip took 4 months

Jamestown

• People came not to settle but to make money and go back.

•Expected to find gold, friendly natives, and easy living, but instead found disease starvation, dissension and death.• Ironic because they had a huge supply of

game and fish in the area but didn’t know how to exploit it.

•Trade and info from the natives enabled them to survive.

Natives• Powhatan “Confederacy”…

about 10,000 in this eastern part of Virginia.– Powhatan was the leader of this

group.• Loose collection of tribes ruled by

a virtual dictator

– Not nearly as big as what the Spanish encountered

– Didn’t really trust the natives but they developed a lucrative trade with them

Problems• “Gentlemen” adventurers didn’t want to work.• Of the original 105, only 38 survived the first

9 months!• On verge of starvation, John Smith took lead and imposed

strict rules (imprisoned and whipped, and forced people into labor-idleness law).

• 1609, more people came to the colony (even some women!)• Some 400 arrived in 1609 and they overwhelmed the colony.

– “Starving Time”• Governor was De La Warr and then Sir Thomas Gates.

– Gates eventually brings about very strict rules…ran it like military• 1 guy who stole oatmeal was tied to a tree, tongue pierced with a long

needle, & left to die!– Began harsh relations with natives because they were taking more

land.

Finally, a reason to exist!• 1612 John Rolfe

brought the weed over

• By 1616 it had become a stable crop• This leads to prosperity and development.• Ultimately, the sale of land and tobacco makes

Jamestown profitable.• Headright system instituted (1618)• Indentured servants come over in droves.

• England had a “surplus population” that had people that were living in squalor known as paupers

1619-Colony establishes a representative assembly (house of Burgesses)

• Political structure:– King-governor-justice of peace, sheriffs, elected assemblies– Eventually, elected assemblies came to be very significant

(set prices for tobacco, set tax rates, pay governor, etc.)– Assemblies ruled by the wealthy who were in cahoots with

the governor

• 1619 also important…first group of Africans brought over by the Dutch…(indentured servants?)

• 1619…women too!• What is the irony of this year?

Perpetual “enmity” with the Natives

• Powhatan’s brother Opechancanough tried to repel the English in 1622 – Attacked and killed 350 (Rolfe).– English then sought to wipe out

all natives in the area

By 1624, Company is dissolved

• King James the 1st no longer trusts the House of Burgesses

• Becomes a “royal” colony-ruled by King• For the most part, a handful of insiders came

to get the large estates and best land and monopolized the indentured servants.– Eventually this would be a major social problem

as the under-class couldn’t afford the “good” land

By 1650 there were 15,000 white residents

• Women had relatively good status– They could keep husband’s wealth and remarry

(although this had nothing to do with fairness and more to do with increasing the population)

• As tobacco prices leveled off, they moved to producing more foodstuffs and raising cattle.– This helped the population grow– This increased demand for land and pressure on

natives as the lower class couldn’t afford good central lands, so they often became tenants or risked going to the frontier

By 1676 problems were simmering

• Governor was Sir William Berkeley.– He despised commoners and

favored wealthy planters who supported his regime

– Newly freed indentured servants had to go west to get land and needed protection from Indians

• He refused to give it

•Here comes Nathaniel Bacon (spoiled brat from England who just got here 2 years ago)

• He leads a revolt against the governor• “Seeds of independence”?

One of the effects of the Rebellion was an increase in focus on slavery• Slavery came to be seen as a better answer to

labor problem• Initial Africans may have been treated as

Indent. Servants but there was a marked difference in the way they were treated from Europeans

THIS IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER!!!!!!!

Definition of "slaves"• Virginia, 1650 “Act XI. All persons except Negroes are to be provided with arms and ammunitions or be

fined at the pleasure of the governor and council.”• Virginia, 1662 “Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children got by any Englishmen upon a Negro

shall be slave or Free, Be it therefore enacted and declared by this present Grand assembly, that all children born in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother.“

• Maryland, 1664 “That whatsoever free-born [English] woman shall intermarry with any slave [...] shall serve the master of such slave during the life of her husband; and that all the issue of such free-born women, so married shall be slaves as their fathers were.”

• Virginia, 1667 “Act III. Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children that are slaves by birth [...] should by virtue of their baptism be made free, it is enacted that baptism does not alter the condition to the person as to his bondage or freedom; masters freed from this doubt may more carefully propagate Christianity by permitting slaves to be admitted to that sacrament.”

• Virginia, 1682 “Act I. It is enacted that all servants [...] which shall be imported into this country either by sea or by land, whether Negroes, Moors [Muslim North Africans], mulattoes or Indians who and whose parentage and native countries are not Christian at the time of their first purchase by some Christian [...] and all Indians, which shall be sold by our neighboring Indians, or any other trafficking with us for slaves, are hereby adjudged, deemed and taken to be slaves to all intents and purposes any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.”

• Virginia, 1705 “ All servants imported and brought into the Country...who were not Christians in their native Country...shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion...shall be held to be real estate.“

• South Carolina, 1712 "Be it therefore enacted, by his Excellency, William, Lord Craven, Palatine.... and the rest of the members of the General Assembly, now met at Charles Town, for the South-west part of this Province, and by the authority of the same, That all negroes, mulattos, mestizos or Indians, which at any time heretofore have been sold, or now are held or taken to be, or hereafter shall be bought and sold for slaves, are hereby declared slaves; and they, and their children, are hereby made and declared slaves...."

MARYland• Founded as a proprietary colony in 1634.• Refuge for English Catholics• George Calvert (1st Lord Baltimore) • Appointed as Governor by Charles 1st

Maryland Act of Toleration-1649

“…That whatsoever person or persons within this Province and the Islands thereunto helonging shall from henceforth blaspheme God, that is Curse him, or deny our Saviour Jesus Christ to be the son of God, or shall deny the holy Trinity the father son and holy Ghost, or the Godhead of any of the said three persons of the Trinity or the Unity of the Godhead, or shall use or utter any reproachfull speeches, words or language concerning the said Holy Trinity, or any of the said three persons thereof, shall be punished with death and confiscation or forfeiture of all his or her lands and goods to the Lord Proprietary and his heires.”

Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay

• Plymouth settled in 1620 by “Pilgrims”– Belonged to the Separatists-an uncompromising sect of

Puritans– Originally went to Holland in 1607 but missed English ways– 102 Men, Women and Children went on Mayflower– Secured a charter from Virginia Company– Were supposed to be close to Virginia but a “storm” blew

them off course and they landed in Massachusetts area– Since they were out of the jurisdiction of their charter they

signed an agreement indicating their intentions• Mayflower Compact…they would setup a government upon

landing and choose their leaders. Only men could vote

Massachusetts Bay

• 1630…another group came over• These were the Purtians (not Pilgrim Separatists)• Led by John Winthrop

– “we shall be a city upon a hill”

• Government setup differently…they had their charter and could govern as they deemed fit.– Winthrop was like a dictator but they had a general court

which consisted of “freemen” who were members of the church

– This court had a bicameral assembly (“Deputies and assistants”).

Political History here

Very strict ways in Massachusetts• Didn’t tolerate dissent

– People who dissented were called Antinomians

• Roger Williams was an early dissenter– He believed that the covenant God made was not with a group of

people but with individuals. – Was not just good works that demonstrated whether or not one was

“chosen”…faith also played a part– He believed that there must be a separation between Church and state

“forced worship stinks in God’s nostrils.”– He was banished and eventually went to Rhode Island…i.e. “hippy

land”

• Anne Hutchinson was also an Antinomian– She believed to have inner communication with God– Believed that ministers were not necessary

• Also disagreed with the idea of “grace by good works”…people could have grace directly from God.

Quick…brainstorm with a partner as many “great” women in

American history as you can

Native Relations

• New England>originally relatively positive– Then became hostile as more settlers arrived– Pequot War 1637 (Why is this called a war?)

• Terrible slaughter of native towns

– King Philip’s (Metacom) War 1676 (recognize the year???)• Natives united and coordinated multiple assaults on English

– Metacom caught, beheaded, d & q, then displayed for 25 years!• Single greatest calamity to hit New England in 1600’s.

– Half of region’s towns destroyed, economy ruined, people dead

Dominion of New England

• Sir Edmund Andros was appointed governor (1686)– He was responsible for bringing more efficiency to the colonies– Part of that meant that he had to enforce English Navigation

Laws– he brought English leadership ways to New England

• They were not accustomed to that and scoffed at him

– Glorious Rev. in England 1688-89 led to Andros being run out.– Seeds of discontent– “Salutary Neglect” period

Witch Trials• Strict limitations on women• Tensions from uneven economic growth• Strained relations with N.A.• Misdirected religious zeal (fanatical beliefs)• Girls had begun accusing members of Salem, Mass. of

being witches• People were put on trial and considered guilty until

proven innocent (looked for the mark of the devil)• 19 persons had been hanged and another person killed

by being crushed to death with stones; 150 spent time in prison

• After this episode you are innocent until proven guilty

The Great Awakening

• It pushed individual religious experience over established church doctrine, thereby decreasing the importance and weight of the clergy and the church in many instances.

• New denominations arose or grew in numbers as a result of the emphasis on individual faith and salvation.

• It unified the American colonies as it spread through numerous preachers and revivals. This unification was greater than had ever been achieved previously in the colonies.

• Went hand-in-hand with the enlightenment (1730’s-40’s)• Jonathon Edwards and Charles Whitefield

Break it up into 3 categories• Political

– Joint-stock vs. royal vs. proprietary

– Assemblies by 1629

– Governor– ?

• Social/Cultural– Women– Social classes– Race– Native relations– ?

• Economic• Joint-stock• Gold• Tobacco• Foodstuffs• ?

How much did you learn?

• Give yourself a “formative” assessment!