BRITISH IMPERIALISMENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH

ENGLISH RELATIONS W/ SPAINENGLISH CHARTERS TO NEW WORLD

SETTLERS RELATIONS W/ NATIVE POPULATION

The English Empire in America: Setting the Stage

New World at dawn of 17th C

Spain’s Empire in America: Spanish stole Indian gold Infected local population w/ disease Enslaved native population Crafted a sprawling empire (largest in the world) Stretched from California to Florida to Central and South Am. Diffused laws, customs and language

North America remained largely unexplored (1600) European crops found throughout N. America- along eastern

seaboard Disease affected health of indigenous population Several hundred thousand African slaves worked on sugar

plantations (Caribbean and Brazil) Yet: most of North America still laid unclaimed

Until…. The English

Major European Powers in N.America

Three Euro powers set foot in N.Amer.- led to over 100 years of conflict Spanish at Santa Fe (1610) French at Quebec (1608) English at Jamestown (1607)

England in the 1500s

1500s: England ruled by dysfunction; religious wars, violence between Cath. & Protestants

King Henry VIII broke from Catholic church; Reformation sparked rivalries in England and Ireland English crushed Catholic uprising in Ireland; took Irish

lands owned by Catholics; planted Protestant colonists in Ireland

“Many English soldiers developed in Ireland a sneering contempt for the ‘savage’ natives, an attitude that they brought w/ them to the New World” – pg 26, American Pageant

Elizabethan England

Elizabeth I crowned Queen in 1533 No friend of Catholic Spanish King- Philip IIEncouraged the plunder of Spanish ships & settlements

Brazen act of overt aggression; most famous ‘pirate’ was Francis Drake

Philip II infuriated by thievery & demanded English ships be held accountable

Spanish Armada defeated in 1588- left England as sea power Sir Walter Raleigh

Organized an expedition that landed on Roanoke Island (1585) The expedition searched American mainland, dubbed land

‘Virginia’ after Elizabeth They spied on Spanish defenses in Caribbean & returned to

England

Subsequent Explorations

Colonists abandoned Roanoke Island (1586); left for England w/ Sir Francis Drake

John White led expedition (1587) leaving another group of people Returned to England after

granddaughter was born- Virginia Dare (first English child born in New World)

White returned in 1590, found no trace of colonists

George Weymouth searched (1605-1606) for suitable territory for English Catholics

Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Francis Drake

Motivating Factors for English Emigration

Desire for profit; mineral wealth & investment wealth

Chance to start over- variety of opportunities & vast amounts of land

Religious freedom Elizabethan Settlement (provided more rights to Protestants

than Catholics) English who wished Crown would purge/purify England of all

Catholicism known as Puritans Separatists left the Anglican Church in frustration w/

Elizabethan policies Separatists had no hope Church could be salvaged Migrated to Holland and later America- Pilgrims

Financing for Colonial Development

Four types of financing methods (for exploration & colonization) in 1500s Trading Company or Joint Stock Company: Used individual

investors to subsidize exploration; if something of value discovered it made money on investments

Company charters enabled owners to sell stock or shares to private investors

Covenant or Self-governing Colony: colonies created and governed by settlers (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Plymouth)

Proprietary Colony: One individual or group given by Crown the right to govern or settle a specified colony (Maryland)- gov’t formed could be any type but colonists had to be guaranteed basic English rights

Royal Colony: remained under Crown control- many of the colonies lost their separate status and reverted to Royal colonies by 1776

Chesapeake Colonies

Settlement of Virginia

London Company sent 3 ships to Chesapeake Bay who settled around Jamestown (April, 1607)

Plymouth Company landed 100 men in Maine (Aug, 1607)- later abandoned

Poor climate, famine, disease, antagonistic Indian population decimated colony to 32

Cpt. John Smith elected President (1608) Compulsory work program (“he who shall not work, shall

not eat”) Introduced self-sustaining agriculture London Company turned company into Joint Stock

company, with permission from Crown

Jamestown under Company Control

Several companies anxious to invest in VirginiaNo import or export duties charged on goods to

New WorldSettlers were promised land after working for

the company for up to seven yearsJohn Rolfe (1612): introduced cash crop -

tobacco First shipment of crop to England (March, 1614) Settlers w/ own land grew own tobacco; hurt Company financially Smoking became popular in the King’s court (James I) & in England Most profit from tobacco made from London merchants & investors

Chesapeake Bay and early Virginia Colonies; Jamestown Settlement to the right

From Company to Royal Colony

Sir Edwin Sandys gained control of company in 1618 Introduced harsh legal code that was repealed in 1619 Rights of Englishmen and Representative Assembly was put in place

General Assembly (Burgesses); Governor and Council met in Jamestown Church (Aug, 1619) First legislature in the New World; representative gov’t

1607-1619: 1,650 settlers left England for Virginia 300 returned Only 351 alive at the beginning of 1619 Next five years: 8,000 immigrants; pop. Jamestown- 1,132

Problems faced by Company Colony: Financial problems; not enough profit Virginia became first Royal Colony Colonists retained rights of Englishmen House of Burgesses continued to meet after 1629

Labor in Virginia

To encourage settlements- women were sent to colony (about 125 lbs of tobacco paid for a wife & passage)

Dutch ship stopped at Jamestown- left 20 black “indentured servants”

Labor shortages aided by indentured servants: Person paying passage fee

received land (from Crown)while one who migrated worked period of years

Food & shelter given, no wages

At end of service, servant was to receive cash or land or tools

Slavery in Virginia

First Africans in Chesapeake (1619)- status unclearSlaves or indentured- the difference was blurred in

early 16th C.# of slaves increased

White colonists reacted to threats; put down possible racial threats Slavery transformed from economic way of life to economic & racial institution By mid-1680s- blacks outnumbered white indentured servants

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

1607 1630 1650 1670 1690

White

Black

Colonial Slave Codes

Beginning in 1662: Made blacks (and children) property of white masters

for life It became a crime to teach slaves to read or white Conversion to Christianity did not qualify slave for

freedom Virginian Law, 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."

Virginian Law, 1667: 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.”

Atlantic Slave Trade

Powhatan Confederacy

Powhatan dominated few dozen tribes in James River area

English called these Indians Powhatans

Powhatan may have seen English as ally first, in desire to take control over other tribes in area

Culture Clash in the Chesapeake

1614-1622: Peace between settlers & Powhatans

1622-1644: periodic assaults made by both settlers & Powhatans

1622: Indians attacked English, killing 347 (including John Rolfe)

Virginia Co. called for perpetual war vs. Natives Raids reduced Native

pop. & drove them westward

Failures of Original Promoters of Colony

Unrealistic goals: No valuable commodity traded w/ Indians; settlers wanted gold

Survival Skills: Area full of game, berries, fish ‘Gentlemen’ who settled & sought only profit had no survival skills

Health Practices: Settled in a marsh land

No Incentives for artisans & skilled laborers:Profitable staple crops:

Tobacco discovered too late; other maladies already took toll

Relationship w/ Local Indians: Constant instability, uprisings of Indians

The Settlement of Maryland

Royal charter granted to George Calvert (Lord Baltimore)- 1632

Healthier location than Jamestown- tobacco would be main crop

Huge tracts of land granted to Catholic relatives

Toleration Acts of 1649: guaranteed rights of all Christian religions; decreed death to all those who denied Christ divinity

Black slaves imported by late 1600s

Southern Colonies

MarylandVirginiaNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaGeorgia

Indentured Servitude Slavery to work lrg

plantations Cotton, rice, tobacco Fertile soil Fewer urban areas:

Baltimore, Savannah, Charleston

Settling the Carolinas

Charles II provided large land tracts to nobles who assisted him after English Civil War ended

Charles Town formed in 1670 by English & planters from Barbado

Large rice growing production using slave labor mirrored that in Barbados

Culture & economy resembled that of Barbados, rather than England

Carolinas kept close ties to West Indies- early settlers whites and

blacks from islands

Carolinas kept close ties to West Indies- early settlers whites and

blacks from islands

Carolinas closer to Chesapeake, but culturally closer to W. IndiesCarolinas closer to Chesapeake, but culturally closer to W. Indies

Culture and Location

Democratic N. Carolina

Small farmers from Va. And NE established farms in N. Carolina

Few good harbors & poor transportation

Fewer large plantations & fewer reliance on slavery

By 18th century, colony earned reputation as being democratic in nature & autonomous from Britain

Georgia

Proprietary colony: only one to receive direct financing from London

Set up to: Defensive buffer Rid England’s overcrowded jails of debtors

Special Regulations: Ban on drinking rum Prohibition of slavery

Colony did not thrive for constant fear of Spanish attack Colony grew slowly:

Adopted plantation system of Carolinas Dropped ban on slavery

Southern Colonies: Chart

Colony/Date Person Responsible

Why Founded Governed/Owner

Virginia: 1607- Jamestown

•Joint Stock Co.•Virginia Co.•Capt. John Smith•John Rolfe

•Attract new settlers •Search for wealth in form of gold

•Representative Gov’t•House of Burgesses•Royal Colony

Maryland: 1634 Lord Baltimore •Religious toleration•Allowed persecuted Catholics to settle in Maryland

•Representative gov’t•Proprietary Colony

North/South Carolina: 1663

John Locke8 English Nobles

•Colony based on social classes•Failed- colony divided into 2 parts

•Representative gov’t•Royal Colony

Georgia: 1732 James Oglethorpe •Provide a place for debtors to start over•Buffer against Spanish Florida

•Royal Colony