The English Colonies

Chapter 2 Section 3

Atlantic Coast The Spanish colonized

the south and west The French colonized

the North The Atlantic Coast

was left open for England

Early Attempts Wealthy Englishmen

obtained charters to establish new colonies in the New World

Colonies were to be populated by the English poor, and were to generate new wealth for England

Jamestown Founded in 1607 The first permanent

English settlement Pocahontas was

captured and forced to marry John Rolfe

Colonists turned to tobacco farming for money

Free Land Tobacco farming

became so profitable, free land was given to anyone who made the trip

Massive landholdings were acquired by the wealthiest colonists

Government The Virginia House of

Burgesses was the first representative government in America

H.o.B. had the power to make laws and raise taxes.

Proprietary or Royal Colonies were either

controlled by the Crown (Royal) or by wealthy individuals (proprietary)

Bacon’s Rebellion Farmers wanted to

settle on land in Western Virginia that was promised to the Powhatan Indians.

Colonists demanded the gov’t protect them, they refused.

Led by Nathaniel Bacon, colonists raided Jamestown and burned the city

Bacon died and his rebellion collapsed

Maryland Maryland was founded

by Lord Baltimore in 1632.

Named after King Charles French wife, Henrietta Marie

Lord Baltimore founded Maryland as a haven for fellow Roman Catholics against the Protestant majority

The Carolinas After Oliver Cromwell

died, power was restored to the king (the Restoration)

The King rewarded his supporters with grants of land

Carolina, the Latin form of Charles

Georgia Georgia was founded

as a “social experiment”

James Oglethorpe planned the colony in order to provide a fresh start for England’s poor

The colony was also there to provide a buffer between the Seminole Indians and the Carolinas

The colony had rigid rules including no rum or slavery, so it attracted few settlers

Eventually Oglethorpe gave up his experiment and Georgia became a Royal Colony