Colonial Period

To 1763

Four Forces Leading to the Unsettlement of Europe

1. International power struggles resulting from political centralization of Atlantic Basin countries

2. Increasing commercialization of economic activity leading to increased wealth

Four Forces Leading to the Unsettlement of Europe (Cont.)

3. Renaissance Europe witnessed a search for knowledge about the modern world

4. Western Europeans pushed outward in a quest for holiness

Western Hemisphere in 1492

• This part of the world was settled in 1492 by peoples we call Native Americans or Indians

• Demography– Entire hemisphere: perhaps 80 million

– What is now U.S. and Canada: 4-10 million

• Origins of Native America– What was Beringia?

Western Hemisphere in 1492 (cont.)

• Central characteristic of these people: diversity

• What was the Agricultural Revolution and what was its significance?

• What was the “Columbian Exchange”?

Beginning the Spanish Empire in the Western Hemisphere

• Four Voyages of Columbus– Why Columbus: “Columbus’s World” from PBS Series

Columbus and the Age of Discovery”

– First Voyage: 1492-1493. Pinta, Niña (Santa Clara), La Gallega (Santa Maria)

– Second Voyage:1493-1496

– Third Voyage: 1498-1500

– Fourth Voyage: 1502-1504

– Death: 1506

Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico

• In 1519, what was Mexico?– Valley of Mexico: dominated by Lake Texcoco. City of

Tenochtitlan

– Names: Montecuhzoma, Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl

– Cortes’s strategy: divisa et impera

– First step: to La Noche Triste (June 30, 1520)

– Second Step: Destruction of the Aztec Empire (by August 1521). Role of Disease

• Completion of the Spanish Empire

Elizabethan EnglandEngland in 1600

• Elizabeth I – Unifying Symbol• England – Strong Orientation toward Commerce

– Joint Stock Company

• Protestant Reformation in England– The Reformation in Europe (1517-1563),

Luther & Calvin– Calvinism and the Reformation in England

Elizabethan England (cont.)Political & Religious Evolution of England:Tudors

Henry VIII:Protestantism arriving in EnglandProblem of Henry’s Wives:

1. Catherine of Aragon: Mary Tudor2. Anne Boleyn: Elizabeth3. Jane Seymour: Edward

Edward VI & Mary:1548-1557First a more pronounced turn toward Protestantism, thenBloody Mary & the Exiles

Elizabethan England (cont.)

Elizabeth as Queen:1557-1603Return to ProtestantismEmergence of Puritanism

What is Puritanism? English expression of Protestant Reformation

Varieties of Puritanism: Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Separatist—Problem for Elizabeth, but

Continuing practice of Roman Catholicism is the bigger problem for England’s leaders. Why? So they “lay off” Puritans—Why?

Puritanism

• Central & distinctive conviction of the Puritan• Puritan Mission

• Resisting evil• Building up God’s world

VirginiaSouthern Colonies

• Central institution which emerged in the way of life of Virginia during the Colonial period was the ________________________

• Four essentials on which this way of life was founded

1. Marketable agricultural commodity

2. Abundance of land: Headright system

3. Degree of local self-government: House of Burgesses

Virginia (cont.)4. Effective Labor System, initially:

• Indentured Servitude, then• African Slavery

• African Slavery: A peak at how it was• Why did it replace indentured servitude• Slavery as a social institution: legalities of

slavery• “World the Slaves Made”: Family and

Religion

New England

• Central institution which emerged in the way of life of New England during the Colonial period was the _____________.

• Massachusetts Bay, the “Mother Colony”Political development of Massachusetts Bay

In developing its economy, the Bay Colony and the other New England colonies had to look to the sea: fishing, ship building, commerce rather than _____________________

New England (cont.)• “Hivings Out”

– New England, what was the nature of the Puritan “errand into the wilderness”?

• “Orthodox” interpretation, but what about dissent?

– Active Dissent: Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson (origins of Rhode Island and New Hampshire)

• Williams’s theory of separation between Church & State

• Anne Hutchinson: A woman criticized the clergy

– Subtle Dissent: Thomas Hooker & John Davenport (origin of Connecticut)

– What development was undermining the errand?

Pennsylvania and the Middle Colonies

• Diversity was hallmark of these colonies• William Penn’s “Holy Experiment”

– Who were the Quakers?

– An experiment in cultural diversity: English Quakers, German Pietists, and Irish Presbyterians?

• Who were the Pietists?

• What were the limits to this “Holy Experiment?”

Colonies & Empire• Mercantilism: In Theory & Practice

– Theory, as adapted to English conditions

– English Practice of Mercantilism• Navigation System: Discourage manufacturing, Encourage

consumption. Colonies as source of raw materials.

• New Colonies: Strengthen English Empire in North America

– Oust the Dutch from New Netherlands.

– Secure the colonies against the Spanish: Carolinas and Georgia

Colonies & Empire (cont.)

• Mercantilism: In Theory & Practice (cont.)• Centralize control in London over the colonies

• Disastrous attempt at excessive centralization: Dominion of New England:James II & Edmond Andros

• New England: Resistance and Revolt

• Glorious Revolution in England: End of the attempt

• Result: More reasonable centralization

– Royal Model

“Virtual Independence”American Colonies in the 18th Century

• Concept of Salutary Neglect– Mistaken notions about “Salutary Neglect”

– How this concept worked itself out in practice: Compromise and Tension. By 1763, how are the colonists “used to government”

• Great Wars for Empire (1689-1763)– What really lay behind “Salutary Neglect”? Common

enemy: French and (most) relevant Native American tribes

“Virtual Independence” (cont.)

• Great Wars for Empire (1689-1763) (cont.)– King Williams’s War: 1688-1697

– Queen Anne’s War: 1702-1713

– King George’s War: 1740-1748

– French and Indian War: 1754-1763. This war was decisive. French ousted from North America by Peace of Paris: 1763.

• Anglo-American army: Victory at Quebec City: 1759

Great Awakening1730-1760

• What was happening to the original Puritan emphases?

• Great Awakening re-energized Puritanism– Especially important was the old Puritan tendency to

interpret issues and conflicts as part of a battle between good and evil, thus downgrading compromise as a tool for resolving political conflicts

– In 1763, British Empire was on the eve of what political conflict? That conflict became the American Revolution.