COLONIAL AMERICA—(1607 to 1754)



COLONIAL AMERICA—(1607 to 1754)

New England

Colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. These were known for being rich in forests and fur trapping. Harbors were located throughout the region. The area was not known for good farmland. Therefore, the farms were small, mainly to provide food for individual families. New England flourished instead with fishing, shipbuilding, lumbering, and fur trading along with trading goods with Europe.

The famous Triangle Trade occurred in the New England colonies where slaves were sold in the West Indies for molasses. This was sent to New England to make Rum which was then sent to Africa to trade for slaves.

In New England, small towns were the centers of local government. In 1643, Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven formed the New England Confederation to provide defense against Indians, Dutch, and the French. This was the first attempt to form a union between colonies.

A group of Massasoit Indians organized themselves under King Philip to fight the colonists. King Philip’s War lasted from 1675-78. The Indians were finally defeated at a great loss.

Middle Colonies

Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. This area was excellent for farming and included natural harbors. Farmers grew grain and raised livestock. The Middle Colonies also practiced trade like New England, but typically they were trading raw materials for manufactured items.

One important event that happened in the Middle Colonies during the colonial period was the Zenger Trial in 1735. John Peter Zenger was arrested for writing against the royal governor of New York. Zenger was defended by Andrew Hamilton and found not guilty helping to establish the idea of freedom of the press.

Southern Colonies

Colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Southern colonies grew their own food along with growing three major cash crops: tobacco, rice, and indigo. These were grown on plantations typically worked by slaves and indentured servants. The main commerce of the South was with England. Plantations kept people widely separate which prevented the growth of many towns.

An important event that occurred in the Southern Colonies was Bacon's Rebellion. Nathaniel Bacon led a group of Virginia colonists against Indians who were attacking frontier farms. The royal governor, Sir William Berkeley, had not moved against the Indians. Bacon was labeled a traitor by the governor and ordered arrested. Bacon attacked Jamestown and seized the government. He then became ill and died. Berkeley returned, hanged many of the rebels, and was eventually removed from office by King Charles II. Because of this rebellion, plantation owners felt they could not rely on white indentured servants any more and began to look at Africans as a source of labor for their farms. Thus, slavery became much more prevalent in the American colonies.

Virginia Colony

Year Founded: 1607 (Jamestown was founded).

In 1624, Virginia was created as a royal colony that included the original Jamestown settlement.

Founded By: The London Company founded Virginia during the reign of James I (1566-1625).

Motivation for Founding: Jamestown was originally founded from a desire to gain wealth and to a lesser extent to convert the natives to Christianity. Virginia became a royal colony in 1624 when King James I revoked the charter of the bankrupt Virginia Company. He felt threatened by the representative assembly known as the House of Burgesses. His timely death in 1625 ended his plans of disbanding the assembly.

Significance:

• First permanent English settlement in the New World at Jamestown.

• It provided a source of fertile land and great wealth to England in the form of the cash crop, tobacco.

• With the House of Burgesses, America saw the first institutional instance of representative self government.

Important People:

• Captain John Smith

• Pocahontas

• Chief Powhatan

• John Rolfe

• Nathaniel Bacon

Massachusetts Colony

Year Founded: 1620

Founded By: Separatists - Puritans

Motivation for Founding: Separatists in England fled to Holland in 1608 and then decided to find refuge in America where they could create a home for themselves. They came over on the Mayflower.

Significance: The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower created the Mayflower Compact. This agreement to form a government and to submit to the will of the majority set up the precedent of written constitutions.

Important People: William Bradford - Chosen governor thirty times in annual elections.

Priscilla and John Alden

John Winthrop

New Hampshire Colony

Year Founded: 1623

Founded By: John Mason

Motivation for Founding: New Hampshire was a planned colony. The land in the New World was granted to Captain John Mason who lived in Hampshire County, England. He sent settlers to the new territory to create a fishing colony. However, he died before ever seeing where he had spent a considerable amount of money building towns and defenses.

Significant Events:

• This colony was part of Massachusetts at one time until England granted Massachusetts a royal charter in 1679.

• Their ratification (they were the ninth) of the Constitution assured its passage.

Maryland Colony

Year Founded: 1634; Was given the charter for founding in 1632

Founded By: Lord Baltimore (Cecil Calvert)

Motivation for Founding: Lord Baltimore was motivated both by the desire for profit and the desire to create a refuge for Roman Catholics who were still being persecuted in Protestant England.

Significant Events:

• Maryland was a proprietorship which means that the proprietor had executive authority.

• Tobacco was very profitable for the colony.

• Religious freedom for different sects of Christianity was widespread, especially after the passage of the Act of Toleration in 1649 which allowed for toleration to all Christians. Maryland eventually became known as a 'haven for Catholics'.

Important People:

Lord Baltimore

Connecticut Colony

Year Founded: c. 1635/1636; Colonists were moving into and starting towns in future Connecticut in 1635 but the main towns did not join together to form the Connecticut colony until 1636.

Founded By: Thomas Hooker and a group of Massachusetts colonists.

Motivation for Founding: Individuals from the Massachusetts colony moved to what would become Connecticut because they were looking for more freedom and financial opportunities.

Significant Events:

• Pequot War - 1636-1637 - This 'war' was fought between the settlers in Connecticut and the Pequot Indians. By the end of the war, the Pequot Indians were decimated.

• The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were created in 1639. Many believe that this written Constitution would become the basis for the later United States Constitution.

Important People:

Thomas Hooker

Rhode Island Colony

Year Founded: 1636

Founded By: Roger Williams

Motivation for Founding: Roger Williams was banished to England by the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his beliefs in separation of church and state and freedom of religion. He fled and lived with the Narragansett Indians and formed Providence in 1636. Anne Hutchinson was also banished for speaking out against the Church in Massachusetts Bay. She formed Portsmouth. Two other settlements arose and all four joined together with permission from England to form Providence Plantations – later called Rhode Island.

Significant Events:

• This colony was the first to guarantee all its citizens freedom of worship.

• The colony was founded on separation of church and state.

• Rhode Island is known for its fierce independence.

• The colony was the last to ratify the Constitution – after it had already gone into effect and the government had been established.

Important People: Roger Williams & Anne Hutchinson

Delaware Colony

Year Founded: 1638

Founded By: Peter Minuit and the New Sweden Company

Motivation for Founding: Peter Minuit was Dutch and formed New Sweden as part of New Netherland. When Charles II, King of England gave his brother James, the Duke of York, New Netherland, he demanded and received its surrender. He renamed New Sweden to Delaware.

Significant Events:

• Delaware was a part of Pennsylvania until 1703.

• The colony was governed by Pennsylvania until the Revolutionary War.

Important People:

• Peter Minuit

• James, the Duke of York

North Carolina Colony

Year Founded: 1653

Founded By: Virginians

Motivation for Founding: In 1653, some Virginians settled in what would become North Carolina. In 1663, King Charles II issued a royal charter to eight nobles to settle the area south of Virginia. They created Carolina and included the previous settlement. However, because of internal problems, the crown took over the colony and formed North and South Carolina out of it in 1729.

Significant Events:

• This was a collection of disparate settlers which often led to internal problems and disputes.

• The colony was one of the last hold outs to ratify the Constitution – after it had already gone into effect and the government had been established.

• The lost colony of Roanoke was located in what is now North Carolina.

South Carolina Colony

Year Founded: 1663

Founded By: Eight nobles with a Royal Charter from Charles II.

Motivation for Founding: In 1663, King Charles II issued a royal charter to eight nobles to settle the area south of Virginia. They created Carolina and included the previous settlement. However, because of internal problems, the crown took over the colony and formed North and South Carolina out of it in 1729.

Significant Events:

• One of the wealthiest colonies.

• More Revolutionary War battles were fought in this colony than any other colonies.

New Jersey Colony

Year Founded: 1664

Founded By: Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret

Motivation for Founding: In 1664, James, the Duke of York, received control of New Netherland. He granted land to two of his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, that would become New Jersey. The two advertised and promised settlers many benefits for colonizing including representative government and freedom of religion. The colony quickly grew. Quakers eventually purchased both of their charters and created East and West Jersey which were joined by the crown in 1702.

Significant Events:

• New Jersey was the third state to ratify the Constitution.

• New Jersey was the first to ratify the Bill of Rights.

Important People:

• James, Duke of York

• Lord Berkeley

• Sir George Carteret.

New York Colony

Year Founded: 1664

Founded By: Duke of York

Motivation for Founding: In 1664, James, the Duke of York, received control of New Netherland. The name of the colony was changed to New York in honor of the Duke.

Significant Events:

• The Albany Congress occurred at Albany, New York in 1754 to help unite the colonies for defense against the Iroquois Confederacy.

• The Federalist Papers were published in New York newspapers to sway voters to accept the new constitution.

• New York was the eleventh state to ratify the Constitution.

Important People:

• James, Duke of York

• Thomas Dongan

• Alexander Hamilton

• Peter Minuit

Pennsylvania Colony

Year Founded: 1682

Founded By: William Penn

Motivation for Founding: William Penn founded Pennsylvania with a land grant that was owed his deceased Father. His goal was to create a colony that allowed for freedom of religion due to his desire to protect himself and fellow Quakers from persecution.

Significant Events:

• The colony was well-advertised and by 1700 was the third biggest and richest colony in the New World.

• Penn allowed for a representative assembly elected by landowners.

• Freedom of worship and religion was granted to all citizens.

Georgia Colony

Year Founded: 1732

Founded By: James Oglethorpe

Motivation for Founding: In 1732, James Oglethorpe was given a charter from King George II to create a new colony which he would name Georgia. This was located between South Carolina and Florida. It had two main purposes: to serve as a place where debtors in prison could go to start anew and it served as a barrier against Spanish expansion from Florida.

Significant Events:

• In 1733, a group of settlers joined Oglethorpe to found Savannah, Georgia.

• Georgia began with the intention to have little landholding and no slavery. However, when it became a royal colony in 1752, plantations and slavey became a major part of the Georgian economy.

• Georgia was in the first group of states to ratify the new Constitution after the Revolutionary War ended.

Important People:

• George II

• James Oglethorpe

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COLONIAL AMERICA—(1607 to 1754)

Complete the charts by using the Colonial America information packet.

|Colony |Year Founded |Founded by… |Why was it founded? |Important events |

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|Types of colonies |Colonies in this area |How did they make $$$? |Important Event(s) |Impact of the important event(s) |

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