Transcript Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
New World Experiments
REASONS FOR ENGLISH EXPLORATION
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Driving factors for English exploration in the New World:
1. Rapid population growth in Europe
• England had over 8 million people (Today London alone has close to 10 million)
2. Desire to own land
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Unless you were born into nobility, you had no chance of owning land
3. People were either living in poverty, or feared falling into poverty
4. Religious disagreements
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Puritans, Separatists, Catholic, Church of England
OLD WAYS IN THE NEW WORLD
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The early English explorers were quick to establish their old beliefs and customs to the
new settlements in America
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Financing exploration in the New World
• New World exploration was about making money
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The English financed these business ventures through Joint Stock Companies
• Numerous investors would pool their money and split whatever was made amongst
them (similar to a modern day corporation)
• This allowed investors to buy into the New World without risking their entire
fortunes to bankruptcy.
THE VIRGINIA COMPANY (AKA LONDON
COMPANY)
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The Virginia Company
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A joint stock venture that wanted to
find New World gold and discover
the “western passage”
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Settled in Virginia along the banks
of the James River
• The sight was chosen primarily
in an attempt to avoid surprise
attacks at the hands of the
Natives
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The Virginia Company called their
settlement Jamestown (1607)
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The first permanent English
settlement in the New World
EARLY JAMESTOWN
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Hardships
• Most of the explorers that came to Jamestown were businessmen, and
inexperienced in the surviving in the wild.
• The early focus of explorers was on finding gold, and no time was spent growing and
cultivating food, or learning to hunt and fish.
•
The “Starving Time” 1609-1610
• Because the explorers wasted their time looking for non-existent gold, and not
growing food, hunting and fishing, when the winter came, many of the colonists
starved.
• Of 500 settlers in Jamestown, only 60 survived the winter of 1609-1610
• The people who lived survived on dogs, cats, rats, and one guy even ate his
pregnant wife (he was put to death).
SAVING JAMESTOWN
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During the “starving time” Jamestown
looked as if it was going to fail.
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Captain John Smith
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Rises up as the leader of
Jamestown, and whips the colony of
Jamestown into shape
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Establishes a “work to eat” policy
• Basically, if you aren’t
contributing to colony by
growing food or hunting, you
aren’t going to eat.
• No more looking for gold that
doesn’t exist.
ECONOMIC SUCCESS AT JAMESTOWN
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John Rolfe
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young English settler who arrived at
Jamestown at the end of the starving period
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brought tobacco seeds with him
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A crime punishable by death (the
Spanish had a monopoly on New
World tobacco and wanted to keep it
that way)
Planted tobacco in Jamestown, and the first
harvest was worth over a million dollars in
today’s money.
Tobacco quickly became the cash crop of the
Jamestown colony.
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Tobacco thrived in the humid climate of the
Chesapeake
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It was tobacco, not gold, that made
Jamestown a financial success.
GROWING VIRGINIA
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Because of the extraordinary success of tobacco, Jamestown continued to grow.
• Land grants were used as the vehicle to attract more workers to Virginia.
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The Headright System is established.
• A landowner in Virginia would pay for an English farmer (indentured servant) to
come to the New World, the worker would be indebted to the land owner for seven
years, and would work in the tobacco fields. At the end of the servitude, the worker
would go free to try and make his own way, and the land owner would be given an
additional 50-100 acres of land for each indentured servant that they sponsored.
THE EFFECTS OF THE HEADRIGHT SYSTEM
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Indentured servants
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Usually single, lower-class males, in
their late teens or early 20s
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would work off their debt of passage to
the New World in hopes of one day
owning land.
Landowners
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Sponsored indentured servants passage
to the New World
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Would gain more land for every
indentured servant brought here
The landowners got wealthier, and most
indentured servants had no real chance of
ever owning land in the New World.
LIFE IN THE CHESAPEAKE
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Life expectancy was about 40 years
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Disease – malaria, yellow fever, typhoid, dysentery
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Climate – hot and humid summers took its toll on the body
Male to female ratio was about 6:1
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Women’s rights
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Unless you were a wealthy land owner, your chances of getting married and starting a
family were slim to none
Women could be land owners and could inherit land from their husbands
Religion
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Played a very small role in the Chesapeake
CHANGES IN VIRGINIA
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The Virginia House of Burgesses (1618)
• The first representative assembly in the New World (an early Congress)
• Virginians elected their representation
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1624 - Virginia became a Royal Colony
• The King of England took over control of Virginia and appointed a Royal Governor
MARYLAND
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1632
• Maryland was founded by George Calvert (Lord Baltimore)
• The Capital became St. Mary’s City
• It was founded as a haven for Catholics in the New World
• It was originally set up as a feudal society, but that eventually went away
• Also began to grow tobacco
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Maryland and Virginia became known as the Chesapeake Bay Colonies.
CAROLINA
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The emergence of Carolina
• Most of the settlers came from Barbados (an island in the Caribbean)
• Rice became the main cash crop for Carolina
• The majority of African slaves brought to N. America in 1600s came to Carolina
because they were already skilled at rice agriculture.
PURITANS AND SEPARATISTS
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In early 17 th Century England, there was a lot of religious dissention from various groups:
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Separatists vs. Puritans
• All Separatists are Puritans, but not all Puritans are Separatists
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Puritans – a religious sect in England that wanted to “purify” the corrupt practices of the
Church of England
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Separatists – advocated a complete break from the Church of England
THE INFLUENCE OF JOHN CALVIN
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The religious doctrine of John Calvin influenced the decision of Puritans in the 16 th and
17th centuries.
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John Calvin of Geneva
• Elaborated the ideas of Martin Luther
• Calvinism becomes the theological credo for the Puritans (New Englanders
• Predestination
• God predestined people for heaven or hell before birth (the elect)
• No belief or good work could save those predestined for hell.
THE SEPARATISTS LEAVE
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Separatists
• Left England in 1608 and headed for Holland to escape the religious persecution of
the King
• After 12 years in Holland, they decided to leave so they could raise their family with
English customs
• The kids were getting “Dutchified”
• 1620
• The Separatists (aka The Pilgrims) set sail on the Mayflower
• They settled at Plymouth (Massachusetts)
ESTABLISHING GOVERNMENT
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Before the Pilgrims stepped off the boat at
Plymouth, they set up a system for politically
governing the new colony.
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The Mayflower Compact
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Signed by the men on the Mayflower
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Agreed to govern by the consent of
the people (democracy)
• Not a constitution, but a huge step
in the right direction as far as selfdetermination of government is
concerned.
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William Bradford became the first
governor and was elected annually for
30 years.
PURITANS IN NEW ENGLAND
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Puritans (Not Separatists)
• Individuals committed to significant institutional change
• Thought the best way to facilitate change in the Church of England was to remain
connected and try to change the Church from the inside
• Based their culture around the family
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Congregationalism
• Only the “elect” or predestined could be part of the church
• You had to be a church member to vote
• Women had very little say in the church or government
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY
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MBC - Where the Puritans settled
• Economy based on:
• Furs
• Ship building
• Fishing
• John Winthrop was first governor
• Called Massachusetts “a city upon a hill” because he believed that their colony
was ordained by God.
RELIGIOUS DISSENTERS
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Anne Hutchinson
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Challenged gender roles in
Massachusetts
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Became an outspoken proponent of
antinomianism
1. Predestination didn’t exist
2. Faith in Jesus Christ (not
Church membership) was the
only way to salvation
3. Obeying moral or religious
laws does not guarantee
salvation
4. Belief in personal revelation
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Put on trial and banished from MBC
RELIGIOUS DISSENTERS CONTINUED…
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Roger Williams
• Claimed Massachusetts was an
illegitimate colony based on it’s
lack of Royal Charter
• Claimed that the land belonged to
the Indians and the Puritans stole
it.
• Demanded that separation of
church and state be implemented
in Massachusetts
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Put on trial, but fled south and formed
his own colony – Rhode Island
RHODE ISLAND
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Rhode Island
• Founded by Roger Williams
• Guaranteed complete and total religious freedom (first colony to do so)
• Became known as “the sewer” because of its willingness to accept society’s
outcasts
• Gained a reputation among the colonies of being independent and individualistic
LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND
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Life Expectancy was into the 70’s
• The cold climate limited the germs
• Access to cleaner water
• Less physical labor
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Male to female ratio was about 1:1
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Society centered around the family – “New England invented grandparents”
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Education was paramount
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Religion played a huge role in society.
NEW NETHERLAND
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New Netherland
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Discovered by an English explorer sailing
on behalf of the Dutch – Henry Hudson
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Founded by the Dutch as a
commerce center for the Dutch East
India Company
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Manhattan was purchased from the
Natives for 24 dollars
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Capital of the province was New
Amsterdam
Taken by the English in 1664
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New Netherlands was renamed New
York after the king’s brother – The
Duke of York
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The capital was changed from New
Amsterdam to New York
WILLIAM PENN
William Penn was a Quaker
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Quakers:
• Pacifist - Did not believe in war
• Refused military service
• Did not believe in retaliation
• Highly democratic
• Believed everyone was a child of
God
• Had excellent relationships with
the Natives
PENNSYLVANIA
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Pennsylvania
• The province was a gift from the King of England to William Penn as repayment of a
debt that the King owed to Penn’s father.
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Reason for Penn’s founding of Pennsylvania
• Founded as a haven for Quakers
1. They had been the victims of extreme persecution in Europe
2. Experiment with more loose governmental practices
3. Turn a profit
CONNECTICUT
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Hartford, Connecticut
• Founded by Dutch and English (1635)
• Puritans (Led by Thomas Hooker) swarmed into Hartford
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Three years after the establishment of Hartford:
• A document called the Fundamental Orders was drafted
1. The first modern constitution
2. Highly democratic (Run by the people)
3. Used as a benchmark for later state constitutions
GEORGIA
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Georgia (1732)
• The last of the original 13 colonies
• Founded and funded by James Oglethorpe
• Georgia became a place where debtors could work off their debt instead of
being thrown into a debtor’s prison
• Wine became a major export for GA