ENGLISH COLONIZATION
I. Early English Colonial Experience
A. English Approach to Colonization
- 16th-century British society was based upon Protestant
institutions.
- Its government was a constitutional monarchy with a Parliament
with increasing power
- The new world climate was not as much of a factor for Great
Britain as for Spain.
- The area settled by Britain faced smaller nomadic tribes over
a smaller land area.
B. Background for English Colonization
- English colonies existed before England developed a concept
of empire, but at first no specific plan for colonization or
overall plan for settlement existed.
- England became unified after the War of the
Roses when the Houses of York and
Lancaster merged with the marriage of
Elizabeth of York to Henry
of Lancaster.
- Henry VII (1485-1509) strengthened the
monarchy by reducing the power of the nobility.
a. He turned down Columbus' brother who was searching for funds
for exploration.
b. Following an economic buildup, in 1497 he authorized a
venture by John Cabot.to seek a Northwest passage. Cabot found
a rich fishing area near Newfoundland.
(1) When he returned to England, the king rewarded him with ten
pounds.
(2) He disappeared during a second voyage with his brother
Sebastian (about whom rumors persisted that he had returned to
England).
(3) Because of Cabot's voyage, England claimed vast areas of
territory but soon lost interest.
- Henry VIII (1509-47) seemed more
interested in fathering sons as legitimate heirs than in
establishing English colonies.
a. His only living son, Edward , was too young
to rule without regents, dying at age 15.
b. Henry's daughter, Mary , by
Catherine of Aragon, whom he first married,
ruled bitterly, briefly returning England to Catholicism during
her five year rule, forcing many Protestants to flee the
continent to further study in leading Protestant centers of
Europe.
- Another daughter, Elizabeth I (1559-1603),
although "illegitimate" during Mary's reign, proved to be an
able ruler.
a. Elizabethan Settlement 1559 - Church of
England moved decidedly toward Protestantism
b. England gained naval supremacy after
defeating Spain's Armada (1588) but had no
empire yet
- As English naval power increased, Elizabeth I encouraged
the raiding of Spanish shipping and settlements.
a. Sir Humphrey Gilbert wrote in 1576 that
America was an island. If so there must be a way around it to
the north.
(1) He made a voyage to the New World (1578-79) to find the
Northwest passage.
(2) He returned to the Newfoundland area in June 1583 with five
ships and 260 men but perished at sea on the return voyage in
Sept.
b. Sir Walter Raleigh 's Colony
(1584-1602)
(1) After Gilbert's half brother, Raleigh, received a renewal
of the Gilbert patent, he sailed to the New World in ships
commanded by Sir Richard Grenville and
Ralph Lane .
(2) The expedition searched the North American mainland, which
he dubbed Virginia , in honor of the "Virgin"
Queen.
(a) They spied on Spanish defenses in the Caribbean and landed
on Roanoke Island before
returning to England.
(b) He dispatched a colonizing party (Apr 1585) to Roanoke
Island, leaving Lane in charge.
(c) The colonists abandoned the area (June 1586), returning to
England with Sir Francis Drake
(3) Grenville returned with supplies to find the colony
abandoned and left 15 men.
(4) Another expedition under John White
arrived in July 1587 and found no survivors, leaving another
group of colonists.
(5) White returned to England one week after his granddaughter,
Virginia Dare (18 Aug), was born, the first
English child born in the New World.
(6) Unable to return until Aug 1590, Wjote found no trace of
the colonists (except for the letters CRO
carved in a tree and the word CROANOAN carved
in a doorpost).
(7) A final expedition dispatched in Mar 1602 made a futile
search for survivors.
c. George Weymouth searched (Mar 1605 - July
1606) for territory suitable for colonization for English
Catholics, after English persecution of Catholics
intensified
- Motivating factors for English Immigration
a. Desire for a quick profit
b. A chance to start over with a variety of
opportunities and vast amounts of land.
c. Religious freedom
(1) Although the Elizabethan Settlement made
the Church of England more Protestant, in the minds of many it
did not go far enough to purge the church of remaining Catholic
vestiges.
(a) Those wishing to stay within the Church of England but
further "purify" it of remaining Catholic elements were known
as Puritans who viewed themselves as true
members of the Church of England who merely desired to make the
Church better.
(b) The struggle between the Crown as head of the Church and
Puritans resulted in a Great Migration of them
to New England during the reigns of James I ,
son of Mary, Queen of Scots (aka James
VI of Scotland ) and his son, Charles
I .
(c) James I (1603-25) believed in the divine right of
kings , saw nonconformity to his bishops as a threat
to his authority as king of the realm and therefore stiffened
in his opposition to Puritans and Nonconformists.
(d) Charles I (1625-49) proved to be even more headstrong
concerning the monarchy and ruled without Parliament from
1628-40, levying taxes by royal decree.
(e) The struggle between Charles I and Parliament intensified
into a civil war which resulted in the execution of Charles I
and an end to the Migration.
(f) Puritans ruled England during the
Interregnum (1649-60) under Oliver
Cromwell
(2) Some, frustrated at the inability to further change the
Anglican Church under Elizabeth I, eventually left the church
and were called Separatists .
(a) Separatists had no hope for the Church of England; it could
not be salvaged.
(b) Some migrated to Holland before migrating to the New World
- Pilgrims .
II. Establishment of Virginia
A. Financing for Colonial Development
- Four types of exploration and colonization financing methods
were formed in the 1500s
a. Trading Company or
Joint Stock Company Colony
- Hoping to find something of value to send back to the mother
company, using individual investors.
(1) With the king's permission, a company was formedwhich often
had exclusive rights of trade in a particular area or over a
particular product.
(2) These company charters enabled the owners to sell stock or
shares to private investors, who were hoping for dividends.
b. Covenant or
Self-governing Colony -
colonies created and governed by the settlers (as at Plymouth,
Rhode Island and Connecticutt).
c. Proprietary Colony - One
individual or group was given by the crown the right to govern or
to settle a specified company (as in Maryland). The government
formed could be any type except that colonists had to be
guaranteed basic English rights.
d. Royal Colony - remained
under Crown control. For various reasons most English colonies
lost their separate status and reverted to royal colonies by
1776.
- As a result of Weymouth's explorations, two interrelated
groups of merchants from London and Plymouth petitioned the crown
in 1605 for a patent (granted in Apr 1606) to colonize for profit,
rather than prey on Spanish settlements and shipping.
a. Two Virginia Companies were authorized:
(1) London or South Virginia
Company was to settle the region between 34
degrees North and 41 degrees North (present-day New York
city).
(2) Plymouth or North Virginia
Company was to settle the region between 38
degrees North (present-day Washington D.C.) and 45 degrees
North.
b. Because neither was to settle within 100 miles of the other, a
neutral zone occurred.
c. A company received all lands 50 miles north and south of the
first settlement and 100 miles inland.
B. Settlement of Jamestown (20 Dec 1606 - 23 May 1609)
- London Company sent 3 ships with 105 settlers to Chesapeake
Bay who settled around Jamestown (Apr 1607)
while simultaneously, the Plymouth Company landed 100 men in
Maine (Aug 1607, but this was later abandoned).
a. CPT Christopher Newport returned twice from
London with supplies in 1608.
b. Because of a poor climate, famine from a failure to grow
many crops, disease and an antagonistic local Indian
population, the colony was reduced to 32.
- The colony, now run by a council, elected CPT John
Smith , a soldier of fortune, president (Sept
1608).
a. His compulsory work program ("He who shall not work shall
not eat") emphasized self-sustaining agriculture (primarily
maize) which proved to be a turning point for the colony's
survival, but not its profitability.
b. His capture by the Indian chief Powhatan
gave rise to the "Intervention by Pocohontas "
legend (although this occurred when he had left the colony in
1607).
- Company officers requested additional help from the Crown
who granted the colony a new charter (June 1609), which turned
the trading company into a Joint Stock Company, placing its
control into the hands of a company-selected council and
extending its boundaries from "sea to sea and 200 miles north
and south of Old Point Comfort."
C. Jamestown under Company Control (1609-24)
- Several companies were anxious to invest in Virginia.
a. No import or export duties were charged on goods to the New
World.
b. Settlers were promised land after working for the company
for up to seven years.
- Thomas Lord De La Warr arrived (June 1610)
after some dissension in the colony.
a. Smith had refused to yield authority to De La Ware's
interim, Thomas Gates , but left finally (Oct
1609), because of a gunpowder burn, returning to London.
b. The colony faced a difficult time during the winter of
1609-10 without Smith's forceful leadership, and was reduced
again to only 60 survivors in 1610.
c. Sir Thomas Dale assumed control of the
colony (May 1611) after after an ill De La Warr left.
(1) Dale Code imposed severe penalties for
internal disorder.
(2) He began construction of a fort at Henrico, fifty miles
from Jamestown.
d. Sir Thomas Gates (Aug 1611 - early 1614),
completed stockades at Henrico.
- A Third Charter (granted in Mar 1612) placed Bermuda under
company control and allowed the use of a lottery in England as
a fundraising device.
a. Dale served as governor (early 1614 to Apr 1616).
b. George Yeardley was acting governor in 1616-17.
c. Sir Samuel Argall misruled as deputy Governor until Nov
1618.
d. John Rolfe introduced (1612) a profitable
marketable cash crop -- West Indian Tobacco
(1) The first shipment of Tobacco went to England in Mar
1614.
(2) Because several settlers received their own land, they grew
their own tobacco and the company suffered financially.
(3) Although frowned upon by James I, pipe smoking became
fashionable in court and tobacco became very popular in
England.
(4) Although some profit was made by the settlers, most of it
was made by the tobacco merchants in London.
e. Rolfe's marriage to Pocohontas (1614) briefly stabilized
relations with local Indians
- Sir Edwin Sandys , a Puritan with a high
position in Elizabeth I's court and the Earl of Southampton,
gained control of the company (1618) and introduced reforms
through Yeardley who governed from Apr 1619.
a. The harsh legal code was repealed in 1619, allowing the
settlers the Rights of Englishmen including a
representative assembly .
b. A General Assembly composed of 22
burgesses (2 from each town, hundred or
plantation), the Governor and Council met in the Jamestown
church from 9-14 Aug 1619 -- first colonial legislature
in the New World , the beginning of representative
government).
c. A system of granting land to subordinate corporations was
continued.
(1) To encourage new settlers, a new headright
system was installed - any investor who bought a share for 12
1/2 shillings, or went to the Virginia Colony, received fifty
acres of land.
(2) To encourage agricultural settlements and families, the
company sent ninety women to the colony for more permanence.
(Payment for a wife was for her passage to the colony, about
125 pounds of tobacco).
d. A Dutch man-of-war stopped in Jamestown and left 20 black
"indentured" servants -- the introduction of black
labor in the English colonies .
- Under governor Sir Francis Wyatt
(1621-24).
a. A break in 1619 between the Sandys-Southampton group and Sir
Thomas Smith , ex-treasurer + the lottery
suspension by the Privy Council in 1622 resulted in many
unprofitable years
b. The company went into receivership to be managed by the
Privy Council starting in July 1623.
c. Its charter was revoked (24 May 1624) and the colony became
a royal colony.
d. As a profit venture, the joint-stock company failed in
America and was abandoned after the Virginia colony.
- Between 1607 - 19, 1,650 settlers had left England for
Virginia.
a. 300 returned to England
b. Of the 1,350 who remained, only 351 were alive at the
beginning of 1619.
c. Within five years, of 8,000 immigrants, Jamestown had only
1,132 population.
d. In 1622, a major Indian uprising killed 347 settlers,
including John Rolfe (after Pocohontas had died in London).
- The labor problem at least temporarily as well as the
distribution of land was greatly aided by the use of indentured
servants.
a. For passage to the New World, the one paying the passage
received land while the one who migrated to Virginia worked for
a specified period of years, usually from 5 to 7 years.
b. The servant was given food, shelter and clothing, but no
wages.
c. At the end of the period of service, the servant received
something (lump cash sum, tools, land).
- Because the company continued to suffer financially, when
the company went bankrupt, at Sandys' request Virginia became
the first Royal colony.
a. The crown appointed the governor and the council which
governed the colony.
b. Colonists retained the basic rights of Englishmen.
c. Although the crown did not call for a continuation of the
House of Burgesses, the governors found it impossible to rule
without it.
d. The House of Burgesses met annually after 1629.
- Why didn't the original promoters of the colony make a
profit?
a. Unrealistic goals -- No valuable commodity was
produced by Indians for which the company could trade and no
gold existed in the area making agriculture the key to wealth
and industry.
b. Many early settlers were not used to gathering or
producing their own food , "gentlemen" ignorant of
woodlore who did not know how to get their own game and fish
(although the area was plentiful in game, nuts and berries, and
fish) and who scorned manual labor who had come for gold, not
farmers coming to establish an agricultural settlement.
c. Poor knowledge of health practices led to settling
around marsh lands which fostered diseases
d. Working on company lands provided little incentive for
artisans and skilled laborers who were sorely needed in
Virginia.
e. Profitable staple crops like tobacco were
discovered too late for the company.
f. The relationship with local Indians was unstable
especially after John Smith left.
(1) It stabilized after John Rolfe married Pocahontas but
deteriorated after her death in London of small pox in
1620.
(2) A 2nd major uprising in 1644 resulted in nearly 350
settlers' death, after which the Indian rebellion was put down
in such a manner that a similar massive uprising never
reoccurred.
g. Bickering in London among company officials
over policy hurt the company.
D. Virginia as a Royal Colony
- James I appointed Wyatt as governor in
1624.
a. Yeardley became governor in Mar 1626 followed by
Francis West (Nov 1627 - Mar 1629) who
convened a General Assembly in Mar 1628.
b. John Harvey served until 1639 and was
replaced by Wyatt again (1639-41).
- Virginia under Sir William Berkeley
(1606-77), governor (1642-52).
a. He abolished the poll tax.
b. In Jan 1649 Virginia declared allegiance to the Stuarts
following the death of Charles I and became a refuge for
Cavaliers fleeing England.
(1) Parliament in Oct 1650 retaliated with a blockade on
Virginia, sending two armed vessels.
(2) Berkeley and the Council submitted in Mar 1652, receiving
liberal terms.
- The Burgesses chose as governor Richard
Bennett , a Parliamentary commissioner.
- Samuel Matthews , as successor until his
death in 1659, threatened to dissolve the burgesses, who
removed him temporarily as an object lesson, before re-electing
him.
- When the Protectorate collapsed in 1660, the burgesses
controlled Virginia until lawful authority was restored in
England, electing the Royalist Berkeley governor in Mar who was
then commissioned by Charles II upon the
Restoration in England.
- Virginia after the Restoration
a. Because of the Acts of Trade and Navigation
(1650), tobacco prices declined.
b. Efforts to decrease tobacco production occurred, replacing
it with cloth works in every county.
c. The Dutch Wars (1664, 1672) caused severe losses to the
tobacco fleet.
d. Continued unrest occurred after a severe cattle epidemic, a
new poll tax was introduced and many servant uprisings
happened.
e. A further outcry occurred from Virginia when Charles II
granted proprietary rights to a 5 million acre tract of land
which the Virginia colony claimed.
- Bacon's Rebellion
a. Nathanial Bacon of Henrico County without
commission led several frontiersmen against bands of renegade
Susquehannock Indians for which he was declared a traitor in
May 1676.
b. He then led 500 against Jamestown unopposed, forcing Gov.
Berkeley to sign his commission.
c. Berkeley could not raise sufficient forces against Bacon,
and fled East to the shore.
d. Large plantation owners supported Bacon who continued to
make retaliatory raids against the Indians, before driving
Berkeley's forces out of Jamestown.
(1) After Bacon died suddenly on 18 Oct, rebel forces were
captured or surrendered under promise of amnesty.
(2) COL Herbert Jeffreys was sent to restore
order, but his royal pardons for the rebels were nullified by
Berkeley (10 Feb 1677).
(3) 23 rebels were executed before Jeffreys formally took over
the government.
- Later Governors
a. Sir Henry Chicerley served as governor from
Nov 1678 - May 1680 followed by Lord Culpepper
(to Sept 1683).
b. Lord Howard of Effingham (1683-89)
struggled with Virginia's legislature who presented
James II with a list of grievances in Sept
1688.
(1) James II was removed under the Revolution of
1689 , and replaced by William and
Mary in Feb 1689 before the grievances were
addressed.
(2) Howard's removal and the accession of William and Mary were
hailed in VA as victories
III. Establishment of Maryland
A. Background -- Ten years after Virginia became a Royal Colony
- A second plantation colony (England's fourth colony of the
original thirteen) was established near VA by George
Calvert (1580-1632) who resigned as James I's Secretary
of State (1625) after converting to Catholicism, although he was
declared First Lord Baltimore by James I.
a. As a member of the Virginia Company (1609-20) and the Council
for New England (1622), Calvert purchased the southeastern
peninsula of Newfoundland and created the colony of Avalon, which
did not prosper.
b. Although he settled in Virginia in Oct 1629, he was forced to
leave when he refused to take the necessary Oaths of Allegiance
and Supremacy to the Monarch.
c. Calvert applied for a proprietary charter from Charles
I for territory north of the Potomac River, but he died
in 1632 before the request was finalized, which then passed to his
son, Cecilius , 2d Lord
Baltimore (1605-75).
d. He established the first proprietory colony, Maryland, named
after Queen Henrietta Maria
e. The charter stipulated:
(1) Colonists must be guaranteed basic English rights.
(2) Calvert could make laws with the consent of free male property
owners.
(3) The first legislative assembly met in 1635, and split into two
houses in 1650.
(4) Because the charter did not forbid the establishment of
churches other than Protestant, Lord Baltimore made Maryland a
haven for English Catholics.
(5) The proprietor could grant manorial estates which he did to
many Catholic relatives and friends but settlers could not be
attracted without the promise of land of their own.
(6) Few Catholics would migrate, and Protestant settlers soon
outnumbered Catholics, who were now threatened with restrictions
in their own colony.
IV. Founding of Plymouth Bay
A. Early Activities of the Plymouth Company
- The first company expedition (1606) was captured by the
Spanish in the West Indies.
- Sir John Popham led a second expedition, exploring the coast
of Maine to the South.
- Sir Ferdinando Gorges in 1607 sent the
Gift of God under George Popham and the Mary
and John under Raleigh Gilbert who landed in Maine, where a
fort was erected.
- The initial colony failed because of idleness and
factionalism.
- Trading and fishing activities were sent to the Maine coast by
Sir John Popham (son) as well as the Dutch, French and
Spaniards.
- John Smith explored the New England coast
(1614) for the company, finding many possible settlement areas on
which he published A Description of New
England , which gave the region its name.
- Richard Vines, after a winter at the mouth of the Saco,
reported on the rich cod fishing which revived the interests of
the Plymouth Company.
- Although the Plymouth company received a charter from James I
in 1620, a new charter granted to the Council for New
England all land between 40 and 48 degrees North and from
"sea to sea."
B. Founding of Plymouth Rock
- James I required all Englishmen to attend the services of
the Anglican Church, permitting no any other church services to
be held in England.
- Some Separatists migrated to the Netherlands where they
were granted limited asylum by the Dutch Calvinists beginning
in 1607.
- Some English Separatist immigrants, who had settled in
Leyden in 1609, became concerned after ten years in Holland
that their children were losing contact with English culture,
could not join local Dutch guilds, and would be subject to the
Inquisition once a 12-year Spanish and Dutch truce expired in
1621, and began negotiations with the VA Company to emigrate to
company lands in the New World.
- Leyden group leaders included their pastor John Robinson
andWilliam Brewster (1567-1644).
- They secured a patent from the Virginia Company in 1619 to
settle within company borders in the name of an English
clergyman, John Wyncop, and also had gained an important
concession from James I, that he would not interfere with their
religious practices -- observance of Anglicanism would not be
enforced in their colonies.
- After rejecting a Dutch offer, they combined with Thomas
Weston, an ironmonger, and John Pierce, a clothmaker and set up
three groups in 1620, which controlled all capital and profits
for seven years after which it would be divided
proportionately:
a. 70 adventurers in England at 10 pounds per share;
b. Adventurer-planters received 2 shares per 10 pound
consideration for their settling;
c. Planters who received one share each for their labor.
- Pilgrim Voyage (22 July-9 Nov 1620)
a. Thirty Pilgrims from Leyden sailed to
London and boarded the Mayflower as part of
101 persons plus crew and officers.
b. CPT Miles Standish (c.1584-1656), a
non-Pilgrim, was hired as military leader.
c. Because some doubted the legality of their patent, they (may
have deliberately) landed outside of the Virginia Company's
boundaries.
d. After several non-pilgrim passengers asserted that no one
had authority over them, Pilgrim leaders drafted the
Mayflower Compact , a social
contract, setting up a "civil body politic" to frame "just and
equal laws," signed by 41 adults, not all of whom were pilgrims
(21 Nov 1620).
C. Plymouth Colony 1620-24
- Plymouth was chosen as the sight of the colony on 25 Dec
and a deacon, John Carver (c.1576-1621) served as the first
governor through the mild first winter
- Weakened from the journey, half the Pilgrims died within
four months of landing.
- The survivors in the spring of 1621 owe their lives to
Squanto and Samoset, two Indians who taught the Pilgrims how to
grow corn and also helped to initially establish good relations
with local Indian tribes, although with the firearms the
Pilgrims were able to become the dominant partner.
- This provided the roots for the traditional
Thanksgiving celebration, first celebrated
after the harvest of 1621 as a way of cementing their
relationship with the Indians, a three-day event with some 90
men present.
- Relations with the Indians worsened after news of the
Virginia massacre of 1622 forcing the Pilgrims to militarize
their colony, under the leadership of Miles
Standish .
- By imposing stern discipline the Pilgrims managed to become
agriculturally self-sufficient, but after seven years the
Pilgrims were heavily in debt that they faced fifteen more
years of labor to free themselves.
a. Fishing failed to be profitable for them, but they learned
to trade their corn surpluses with the Indians of Maine in
exchange for furs.
b. The colony prospered by fur trading and by preparing lumber
for shipment to England.
c. The settlement finally freed itself from its debts and grew
to several hundred, living in present day Massachusetts
- William Bradford , second governor who
held the post except for 5 years until his death in 1656, kept
a journal of colony activities until 1651 which was published
as Of Plymouth Plantations .
8. The colony received a second patent in June 1621 from the
Council for New England, which gave title to land jointly for
adventurers and planters (100 acres per person transported and
1,500 acres for public use) at an annual rent of 2 shillings
per 100 acres, although the exact boundaries of the colony were
undefined.
9. The colony abandoned its communal economy in 1623.
- Additional attempts by others to found colonies in the same
area failed either because of mismanagement, or they were
driven away because of "uninhibited lifestyles."
D. Plymouth Colony 1625-91
- Pilgrims bought out the London investors and assumed all
debts (15 Nov 1626).
- The buy-out was underwritten by eight colonists who were
granted a trade monopoly and given a tax of corn and tobacco
per shareholder until the debt was paid.
- This groups established two trading posts near
Plymouth.
- In Jan 1630 a new Plymouth patent was granted by the
Council for New England which defined the colonies's boundaries
to include the trading post lands.
- A code, Great Fundamentals ,
drawn up in 1636, established a single house General Court
(composed of two deputies from each town elected by the
freemen), a Governor and his assistants.
- Although the colony held a land grant from the Council for
New England, it had no charter from the government, and in 1691
was absorbed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with a population
of 7,000
Significance of the Pilgrims
They helped inspire the American vision of sturdy,
self-reliant, God-fearing folk crossing the Atlantic to govern
themselves freely.
They also foreshadowed the methods that later generations would
use to gain mastery over the Indians -- firearms.
F. Additional Colonies in Present-day Maine and New Hampshire
- John Mason and Sir Ferdinando
Gorges in Aug 1622 received a patent from the Council
for New England to all lands between the Merrimack and Kennebec
Rivers.
- David Thomson (1622), and Christopher Levett (1623)
received a grant of 6,000 acres
- John Oldham and Richard Vines settled on the Southside of
the Saco River in 1623-24.
- Mason and Gorges divided their joint northern holdings in
1629 after which they were given trading rights to an extended
area as far as Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence
- In 1631 Gorges received a grant of 24,000 acres on the
Agamenticus (York) River where he concentrated his efforts.
V. Establishment of Massachusetts Bay Colony
A. Background of the Massachusetts Colony
- By 1600 Puritans held considerable influence in the Church of
England and when the economy grew worse, many Puritans became
interested in colonizing New England.
a. Puritans wanted to eliminate the office of bishop but James I
bitterly opposed their efforts, believing the monarch's power to
name bishops greatly strengthened his power because bishops
comprised about a quarter of the House of Lords, the upper chamber
of Parliament which at that time had strong voice in enacting
laws.
(1) Bishops also controlled the clergy and could silence ministers
whose sermons were critical of government policies.
(2) James I consequently made it clear that he
saw Puritan attacks on bishops as a direct threat to himself when
he snapped "No bishop, no king."
b. After Charles I came to the throne in 1625,
Anglican authorities undertook a systematic
campaign to eliminate Puritan influence in the church.
(1) Bishops insisted that services be conducted according
to the Book of Common Prayer which prescribed
rituals similar to Catholic practices
(a) They dismissed Puritan ministers who refused to perform
High Church rites
(b) Church courts also judged cases involving religious laws and
harassed Puritan laity with fines or
excommunication .
(c) Also a deep recession plagued England during the
Thirty Years War that prevented Germany from
buying English cloth after 1618.
(2) This further encouraged Puritans to look for opportunities
away from England's constricting environment.
- An earlier colony of the Dorchester Company planted a
settlement near present-day Gloucester in 1624-26 which failed,
although almost forty settlers remained at a trading post near
present-day Salem.
3. New England Company was established 19 Mar
1628 by the Rev. John White , a member of the
Dorchester Company
a. The company received a patent to land extending three miles
north of the Merrimack river to three miles south to the Charles
river.
b. Its 90 members, nearly all Puritan, included six from the old
Dorchester group.
- John Endecott (1589-1655) arrived with
colonists in Sept 1628, serving as the colony's first governor
until 1630.
5. Massachusetts Bay Company (Mar 1629) with a
royal charter replaced it.
a. The charter, however, failed to specify where its annual
meeting would be held.
b. The government was transfered to New England as a result of
this oversight.
c. The company was transformed into a self-governing
commonwealth.
d. The Salem church was established along separatist lines and two
freemen were expelled when they insisted on conforming to the
Anglican ritual.
- Cambridge Agreement 1629,
prepared by 12 members of the Massachusetts Bay Company who
ratified it in Aug, transfered the charter and the government of
the company to the new world.
- The Puritan position decreased after William
Laud became Bishop of London in 1628 and Charles I
dissolved Parliament in Mar 1629.
8. Not until 1630 however did a large scale migration begin,
building communities based on religious ideals, believing they
could found America's first Utopian society.
VI. Offshoots from Massachusetts 1631-60
A. Connecticut
- Edward Winslow explored the Connecticut
Valley (Fall 1632) into Dutch territory (New Amsterdam) and built
a fort and trading post near present-day Hartford (1633).
- John Oldham of the Bay Colony led a party to
winter at present-day Wethersfield in 1634-35 while LT.
William Holmes , commissioned by Winthrop,
established a trading post above Hartford at Windsor on land
claimed by Plymouth.
- Several colonists from the Massachusetts seacoast towns moved
to Windsor in the spring of 1635 and again in Oct.
- In July 1635, a group headed by Lord Saye and Sele, claimed
rights to the region on the basis of a patent from the Council for
New England, and authorized John Winthrop the
Younger (1606-76) to take control at the mouth of the
Connecticut River.
a. Winthrop's authority was accepted by the settlers before Mar
1636.
b. Massachusetts General Court's plan of government gave authority
to the inhabitants.
- Rev. Thomas Hooker and several from Newton
reached Hartford (May 1636).
a. His democratic views were expressed in a sermon in May 1638 in
which he declared that authority rested upon the free consent of
the "people."
b. His views were shared by John Haynes and
Roger Ludlow who founded Fairfield and Stratford
in 1638.
- The frame of government known as the Fundamental
Orders was adopted by Hartford, Windsor and
Wethersfield (Jan 1639).
a. Springfield under William Pynchon refused to
join and after 1649 regularly sent deputies to the Massachusetts
General Court.
b. Freemen, or "admitted inhabitants" (Trinitarian male
householders) who were approved by the General Court or by one or
more of the magistrates, selected the magistrates and the Governor
from an approved Congregation.
c. Voting in town affairs was open to "admitted inhabitants" who
after 1657 were in possession of an estate valued at thirty
pounds.
- The franchise was as restrictive as the Massachusetts Bay
Colony and was composed of 15 towns by 1662 before New Haven was
absorbed into it.
B. Rhode Island (1636-56)
- Roger Williams established Rhode Island on
the basis of an Indian deed.
- Dissenters from other colonies flocked to Providence and
soon established other towns.
a. William Coddington from Boston in Apr 1638
with Anne Hutchinson founded Pocasset or Portsmouth.
b. Coddington split from Hutchinson and established Newport in
May 1639.
c. Warwick was founded by Samuel Gorton in 1643.
- Williams' colony required no oaths regarding one's
religious beliefs, no compulsory attendance in worship
services, and no taxes for a state church, and granted full
religious freedom, even to Jews
- Williams established the first Baptist church in the
English colonies, but died as a Quaker.
- Facing hostility from the New England Confederacy, Williams
returned to England via New Amsterdam in Mar 1643 to obtain a
charter, which was granted in Mar 1644.
- The charter allowed a general assembly, composed of freemen
from four towns.
a. It convened at Portsmouth in May 1647 to draft a
constitutional structure.
b. The constitution gave freedom of conscience, separated
church from state, provided for town referenda on laws passed
by the Assembly, and gave towns the same right as the Assembly
to initiate laws.
- Anti-unionist William Coddington sought a separate charter
for the island of Aquidneck (Mar 1651), but it was not revoked
by the council of State (Oct 1652), after which Coddington
accepted the authority of Providence Plantations (Mar
1656).
C. New Haven (1637-42)
- Rev. John Davenport (1597-1670). a friend
of John Cotton, arrived in Boston (June 1636) with several
others including Theophilus Eaton
(c.1590-1658) before establishing a colony and trading post at
Quinnipiac or New Haven.
- A town established on land purchased from the Indians was
laid out on a modified grid pattern and a government was
established, restricting the franchise to church members.
- Stamford was established in 1641 and in 1643 the
independent settlements of Guilford and Milford joined the New
Haven colony.
- A General Court was established, comprised of two deputies
from the four towns, which adopted in Nov 1643 a Frame of
Government, and made the Mosaic law the basis of its legal
system, but no provision was made for trial by jury.
D. New Hampshire (1638-43)
- Fishing and trading activities north of Boston resulted in
new communities.
a. John Wheelwright , banished from
Massachusetts (Apr 1638), established the town of Exeter.
b. Settlers signed the Exeter Compact ,
similar to Mayflower Compact, in July 1639
- Portsmouth and Dover conceded the authority of
Massachusetts in 1641 followed by Hampton in 1642 and Exeter in
1643.
- Wheelwright withdrew to Maine rather than submit to
Massachusetts.
E. Maine (1640-51)
- Although Gorges tried to govern Maine through his cousin,
Thomas Gorges, and through a provincial court, established at
York in June 1640, Massachusetts continued its northward
expansion.
- Although the Maine government appealed to Parliament in
1651, the Massachusetts General Court claimed that Maine was
included within the boundaries of their colony.
- Several communities were annexed in 1652 and others
capitulated to Massachusetts.
F. Massachusetts as an Independent Commonwealth (1641-60)
- The General Court in Dec 1641 a code, the Body of
Liberties , drawn up by Nathaniel
Ward , over one porposed by John Cotton (published in
England as An Abstract of the Lawes of New
England (1641).
- The Body of Liberties based its criminal code on the
Pentateuch.
- In Nov 1646, Robert Child along with
others complained that the Bay Colony discriminated against
non-Puritans, in violation of the laws of England.
- The General Court adopted in 1648 a more extensive code
which was influential throughout the northern colonies, except
for Rhode Island whose code of 1647 adhered to English common
law.
- The General Court began to mint its own coins in June 1652
(down to 1684) and in defiance of Parliament, in Oct 1652,
declared itself an independent commonwealth.
G. New England Society -- Government Structure, Community Life,
Occupations, Family Life
- To preserve the New England Way, Puritans developed
religious institutions far more democratic than those in
England.
a. Massachusetts Bay company gave the right of electing the
governor and his executive council to all male saints and in
1634 each town gained the option of sending two delegates to
General Court
b. In 1634 a bicameral or two-chamber
lawmaking body was established when the town's deputies
separated from the Governors council to form the House of
Representatives.
c. Massachusetts did not require voters or officeholders to own
property but bestowed full citizenship on every adult male
accepted as a saint.
d. By 1641 about 55% of the colony's 2300 men could vote, while
England's property requirements permitted only about 30% could
vote.
e. New England legislatures established a town by awarding a
grant of land to several dozen heads of families who enjoyed
almost unlimited freedom to lay out the settlement, organize
its church, distribute land among themselves, set local tax
rates, and make local laws.
f. Each town then determined its own qualifications for voting
and holding office in the town meeting yet custom held that all
male taxpayers including non saints be allowed to
participate.
g. The meeting could exclude anyone from settling in the town,
or it could grant the right of sharing in any future land
distributions to newcomers.
- Community Life in New England
a. The founders of a town usually granted each family a
one-acre house lot (enough for a vegetable garden) within
one-half-mile of the meetinghouse.
b. A town meeting gave each household strips of land
or small fields farther out for its
crops and livestock.
(1) Some individuals owned several parcels of land in different
location and so gained the right to graze a few extra animals
on the town commons.
(2) By granting families no more land than they needed
to support themselves, towns were inherently created to
maintain a tight cluster for community life (tending more
toward an urban rather than
rural atmosphere).
(3) By separating a family's home from its farm acreage,
forcing all residents to live within a mile or one another,
created a physical setting conducive to traditional
reciprocity.
(a) In England however this mode of land division was becoming
inefficient as farmers tried to produce a greater surplus for
sale by consolidating landholdings.
(b) By 1600 English agriculturalists preferred scattered farms
away from village centers.
(4) New England's compact system of
settlement forced people to interact with each other
and created an atmosphere of mutual watchfulness that promoted
godly order.
(a) New Englanders showed little disposition to settle as
individuals upon separate farms.
(b) Long established custom, along with the desirability of
having a church easily accessible and the need to protect
against hostile Indians, kept settlers together in
villages.
(5) Consequently the development of a New England town came to
be the social and economic unit on which all New England life
tended to center.
(a) The town as a natural self-governing political unit and
practice among Puritans with respect to church government
allowed each congregation to choose its minister, deacons and
elders, and tithing men.
(b) Even in matters of doctrine, the decision of the
congregation was final.
(c) In secular government matters, the same ideas of democracy
prevailed as matters of local importance were brought before
town meetings to which usually all church members were entitled
to come.
(d) Levying of taxes, land distribution, establishment of
schools, passing local ordinances were all brought before the
town meeting.
(e) The town was also the unit from which members or
representatives were chosen to the lower house of the colonial
legislature.
- Occupations
a. New England's climate and topography prevented the
development of staple money crops for import to England (like
tobacco, rice and indigo as in the South).
b. Fields in New England were cleared of timber and stones,
stones being used extensively for the construction of stone
walls to serve as fences, yet crops of many kinds were
planted.
c. Normally each family had land of their own because it was
plentiful and usually each farmer tilled his own land.
d. Because labor was scarce, landholdings tended to be no more
than one man could work.
e. Because most New Englanders lacked money with which to buy
manufactured goods from Europe, farmers tended to fashion for
themselves the tools they used, they shoes the family wore, the
furniture they needed and the women spun wool or flax in yarn,
wove cloth, and made the clothes the family wore
f. The shortage of money caused New Englanders to develop
habits of thrift and frugality.
g. Agriculture was supplemented by fishing and commerce,
because New England coasts were rich in fish, and fishing led
to commerce because they were able to export vast amounts to
the West Indies and in Southern Europe, coming to be known as
"Yankee traders"
(1) Commerce expanded into other commodities (molasses, sugar,
ginger, lumber and furs).
(2) As slaves were brought to the West Indies they were
exchanged for molasses, which was brought to New England to
make more rum, to acquire more slaves, to exchange for more
molasses and so on.
(3) New Englanders developed a taste for rum which became the
standard drink of New England.
(4) Shipbuilding paralleled fishing and commerce as skillful
craftsmen built strong ships to withstand the elements and
smuggling developed as the Navigation Acts tightened.
- Puritan Family Life
a. Puritan society rested upon the little
commonwealth -- nuclear family, not the
individual.
b. "Well-ordered families," declared Cotton Mather in 1699,
"naturally produce a Good Order."
c. A proper Puritan family of wife, children and servants
dutifully obeyed the husband.
(1) Winthrop said a 'true wife" thought of herself "in
subjection to her husband's authority"
(2) Matrimony was defined as a contract
subject to state regulation rather than a religious sacrament
and so were married by justices of the peace, not
ministers.
(a) Marriage could be dissolved by the courts for desertion,
bigamy, adultery or physical cruelty
(b) Divorce was allowed only as a last extreme measure, as a
remedy fit only for extremely wronged spouses.
(3) English Common Law did not extend
property rights to a wife independent of her husband unless he
consented to a prenuptial agreement giving her control over any
property she already owned.
(4) Only if a husband died heirless or in his will awarded his
widow full control could she claim rights over household
property, yet she normally held a legal lifetime use of one
third of the estate for her support.
(a) A typical male in England who reached age 18 could expect
to die at age 53 and females who reached 18 lived to about
45
(b) A typical family had five children of who three grew to
adulthood.
(c) One in six never married
(d) Most women who married were already orphans by the time of
their wedding day.
(5) New England settlers did better because of a more disease
free environment
(a) They received a better diet and less disease and
infection
(b) New Englanders lived long and raised large families, having
a life expectancy of 65 for men and women lived nearly that
long
(d) More than 80% of all infants survived long enough to get
married
(d) Large families helped supply a labor force on the
homesteads.
(e) Children depended on parents to provide enough acreage to
get started.
(f) Young men often stayed at home and postponed marriage until
receiving their own land.
(g) Average family raised three to four boys to adulthood and
could depend on thirty to forty years of work if their sons
delayed marriage until age 26.
(6) Because of short growing seasons, rocky soil salted with
gravel and an inefficient system of land distribution, farmers
were forcedto cultivate widely scattered strips which prevented
them from becoming wealthy yet they fed large families and
stayed just ahead of their debts.
(a) Because New England was not suited for farming, some New
Englanders turned to lumbering, fishing, fur trading, and rum
distilling into major industries which employed much seasonal
labor
(b) It also caused the New England economy to be much more
diversified and its inhabitants to grow more worldly
(secular).
(c) This shift toward secularism caused fewer and fewer of the
children to emerge as saints.
H. Demise of the Puritan Mission -- Changes within
Massachusetts Society
- Following the capture of Parliament by Puritans in 1640,
the Great Migration subsided.
a. The number of Puritan church members dwindled to a
minority.
b. Second and Third generation settlers decreasedthe number of
church members per capita
- As England fell into civil war chaos in 1642 over
Charles I 's efforts to impose taxes without
Parliamentary consent, Puritans gained control of the
government with the Lord High Protector Oliver
Cromwell.
- After Cromwell's death, the Stuart restoration of
Charles II doomed Puritanism in England.
a. High Church Anglicans ruthlessly expelled Puritan ministers
from their parishes.
b. Anglican harsh laws forbade Separatists from establishing
churches and schools.
c. One English saint believed "God has spit in our face."
d. Restoration of the Anglican Monarchy left American
Puritans without a mission
- American Puritans hoped their example would shame England
into reforming its church, but having conquered the wilderness
and built their city upon a hill, New Englanders discovered
after 1660 that the eyes of the world were no longer on them,
creating an internal crisis in the New England Way, which
stemmed from the failure of their children to declare
themselves saints
a. First generation Puritans believed they had a hold contract
or covenant with God, which obliged them to establish a
scripturally-ordained church, preserved by their children.
b. In return they believed God would prosper them and shield
them from corruption.
c. Yet few second-generation Puritans were willing to join the
elect by required conversion before their congregation.
- By 1650, less than half the adults in John Winthrop's
congregation were saints as very few of the second generation
were willing to subject themselves to a grilling before
relatives and friends
a. Most second-generation Puritans had witnessed the ordeal
that potential saints suffered such as Sarah
Fiske who, for more than a year, had to answer charges
of speaking uncharitably about relatives (esp her husband) and
was admitted to the Church only after publicly denouncing
herself as worse than a toad .
b. Second-generation Puritans were more passive preferring a
more inclusive religious community like the English
Puritans.
(1) In England non-separatist ministers routinely certified
adults as members worthy of taking communion after hearing a
private conversion relationship with God.
(2) This entitled their children to be baptized.
c. Second-generation Puritans also rejected the public
conversion-ritual as unnecessary because it created bitterness
and division that undermined Christian fellowship.
d. Half-Way Covenant - 1660s
(1) A new kind of church membership was created -- First
generation Puritans had only baptized babies born to saints and
were finding that now their grandchildren were not baptized
because second generation Puritans had not gone through the
ceremonial public confession to become a saint or full church
member
(2) This created the need to loosen the standards for church
membership.
(3) Half-Way Covenant -- Those whose parents
had been members, who agreed with the general beliefs of the
church, could have their children baptized, which as half-way
church members, allowed them to vote in colony elections, but
not partake in communion or vote in church affairs.
(4) Although this broadened the voting base of the colony,
Anglicans complained to the king because they were not
permitted to vote yet in Massachusetts.
e. This signaled the end of the New England Way because it
sacrificed purity for community, as most second-generation
adults chose to remain in "halfway" status for their entire
life and thus the "saints" became a shrinking minority as the
third and fourth generation matured.
(1) There were finally more women in saint status than men, but
since women could not vote in church affairs, religious
authority stayed in male hands.
(2) The Puritan Church thus became more
secularized and shifted from a first
generation focus on collective welfare toward
a individualistic , more
worldly groups of Americans who demanded less restrictions on
their economic behavior.
(3) Farmers lost their political control to the merchant who
now controlled town meetings and eventually outnumbered farmers
in officeholdings six to one.
(4) New England became highly vulnerable to internal conflict
between prosperous merchants and its agricultural folk.
(5) Secularization permeated New England with a major shift in
values so that by 1700 they were no longer called Puritans but
Yankees because of the growing interest in
shrewd business practices and sharp eye for economic
opportunity, made them appear as business predators building a
thriving international commerce, although most New Englanders
maintained strong religious roots and convictions.
I. Salem Witch Trials 1691
- A West Indian slave woman named Tituba
taught voodoo (witchcraft) to some Salem New England girls who
began to act strangely, casting spells on people, bringing
illnesses and destroying property
- After questioning, things got way out of hand as the girls
indicted prosperous farm wives and also accused a local
minister of being a wizard (male witch).
- The jails overflowed as more people were accused to the
extreme
a. One suspect's four year old daughter spent nine months in
heavy chains, believing she was "possessed" (demonized).
b. A seven-year-old sent her mother to the gallows, and a wife
and daughter, facing death testified against her husband.
- Fifty persons saved themselves by "confessing" but twenty
who would not disgrace themselves went to their deaths.
- The hysteria continued until some church ministers began to
demand evidence to corroborate the accusations after which the
indictments subsided.
VII. Beginnings of Unification
A. Pequot War (1636-37)
- Puritan Expansion
a. As Native Americans continued to die drastically from disease
Puritans sought to expand their settlements.
b. As the Puritans moved further inland they met Indian resistance
beginning in 1633 with the Pequot tribe who controlled the trade
in furs and wampum with New Netherlands.
- A punitive expedition in Aug 1636, led by John Endecott of
Massachusetts, against the Pequots was in reprisal for the murder
of a New England trader John Oldham.
- The Pequots in turn made reprisal raids in the Spring.
4. CPT John Mason of Connecticut destroyed the
main Pequot village in May.
- Gov. William Bradford saw it as a good thing as the English
praised God for helping to destroy these Indians.
- A fleeing remnant was slaughtered in July near New Haven by a
combined force from Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
- Surviving Pequots were taken as slaves and the settlement of
Connecticut proceeded unimpeded
VIII. English Colonies From the Restoration To the Glorious
Revolution 1660-89
A. Background
- After Oliver Cromwell died in 1660, the government temporarily
was headed by his son, Richard, but he was no Oliver, and a move
was made to restore the monarchy to England.
- Charles II, son of the beheaded Charles I, was crowned
king.
- The restoration of the monarchy to England placed the New
England colonies in peril.
a. When the Puritans ruled England, they were sympathetic to the
cause of the Bay commonwealth and to the independence of New Haven
as a colony.
b. Gradually, however, as judges and governors were replaced by
monarchists and not Puritans, the colonies were converted into
Royal colonies.
B. Fate of the New England Colonies
- New England's colonies gradually accepted the ascension of
Charles II to the throne: (18 Oct 1660), Connecticut (14 Mar
1661), New Haven (5 June) and Massachusetts (7 Aug).
- Fate of Connecticut and Rhode Island
a. Connecticut had no charter and Rhode Island's charter of
1644 was no longer legal.
b. Governor John Winthrop Jr (since 1657)
obtained in May 1662 a royal charter for Connecticut, with
clearly defined boundaries.
c. Connecticut's charter now included Providence, but an
agreement with Rhode Island limited the eastern boundary of
Connecticut to the Pawcatuck River.
d. The Charter granted to Rhode Island in July 1663 guaranteed
religious freedom regardless of "differences of opinion in
matters of religion."
- Fate of New Haven
a. In accordance with the Charter of 1662, Connecticut demanded
its incorporation, but New Haven's freemen voted to maintain
independence in Nov 1662.
b. Stamford, Guilford and part of Milford decided to join
Connecticut in Dec 1664 to avoid coming under the jurisdiction
of the Duke of York.
c. New Haven formally submitted in Jan 1665, although some
colonists went to Neward in East Jersey, rather than yield.
- Establishment of the King's Commissioners
a. The crown sent four commissioners to New England to enlist
aid in the war against the Dutch, investigate the colonial
governments, settle all boundary disputes between the colonies,
and secure enforcement of the Navigation Acts.
b. Four requirments were placed on the colonists:
(1) all householders must swear an oath of allegiance to the
crown;
(2) all men of competent estates must be freemen;
(3) all orthodox believers must be admitted to existing
churches or to churches of their own choosing;
(4) all laws derogatory to the crown must be removed
C. Plymouth, Connecticut and Rhode Island agreed to comply, but
not Massachusetts.
D. Three commissioners recommended the Bay Colony charter be
revoked, but in 1666 Massachusetts refused to send
representatives to England to answer charges.
- Fate of Maine
A. The king's commissioners set up a government in Maine (Oct
1665-May 1668)
B. A special convention at York recognized Massachusetts' claim
of authority in July 1668 and three Maine deputies were seated
in the Massachusetts General Court.
- Duke of York's Claim
A. In June 1674, a patent issued to the Duke of York recognized
his title to lands between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers
and the St. Croix and Kennebec in Maine.
B. Sir Edmund Andros (1637-1714) was
designated Governor-General by the Duke of York.
C. King Philip's War (1675-76)
- Background
A. 5 New England Indian Tribes increasingly were pressed by
English expansion.
B. Philip, who became chief of the Wampanoags, yielded only a
token amount of arms (Apr 1671), when Plymouth authorities
requested that they be turned in.
c. This led to charges of conspiracy against the colonists
resulted in the murder of the accuser and the trial and
execution of three Indians (June 1675).
- Start of Hostilities 1675
a. Philip's forces attacked a settlement at Swansea in June and
colonists from Boston and Plymouth retaliated by attacking the
Wampanoag stronghold at Mt. Hope.
b. Philip, now joined by other Indian tribes attacked the
entire southern frontier.
c. New England Confederation declared war (Sept), assigning
each colony a quota of men.
- Narragansett Campaign (2 Nov 1675-Jan 1676)
a. Josiah Winslow from Plymouth led combined
forces against the principal fort of the Narragansetts (in
Rhode Island).
b. Although killing some 300 women and children and most of the
old men, most of the warriors had escaped by Jan.
- Indian Counterattack (10 Feb-30 Mar 1676)
a. Indians, driven by starvation, attacked Lancaster, sacked
the town and took hostages, including Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson whose True
History described her captivity and the
starvation.
b. Attacks on other settlements followed, including Plymouth
and Providence.
- Collapse of Indian Resistance (18 May - 28 Aug 1676)
a. A colonial force of 180 attacked Indians near Deerfield in
the Connecticut Valley and destroyed many supplies before being
annihilated.
b. A war of attrition conducted by colonists and friendly
Indians gradually stripped the Indians of their offensive power
until many were killed or driven into the New Hampshire hills,
before many started surrendering in large numbers.
c. Philip was betrayed, run down, shot and his wife and child
were sold into West Indian slavery.
d. The last sizeable surrender took place 28 Aug.
- War in the North (5 Sept 1675 - 12 Aug 1678)
a. 80 Maine settlers were killed (Dec 1675) and many others
abandoned their settlements when war resumed (Aug 1676).
b. Indian raids resumed (Spring of 1677).
c. Sir Edmund Andros successfully negotiated peace terms with
Indians (Apr 1678) by which the Indians received one peck of
corn annually from each family settling in Maine.
- Cost of the War
a. One out of every 16 men of military age died.
b. 90,000 pounds was spent on the war.
c. 12 New England towns were entirely destroyed and 1/2 of the
rest were damaged.
D. Problems with Massachusetts
- Special agent of the Crown, Edward
Randolph , arrived in Boston with instructions from
the king and he investigated the enforcement of the Navigation
Acts.
- His reports charged Massachusetts with failure to enforce
the Navigation Acts, with executing English citizens for their
religious beliefs, for denying Englishmen the right of appeal
to the Privy Council, and for refusing the oath of
allegiance.
- The Lords of Trade upheld the title to Maine of the heirs
of Sir Fernando Gorges.
a. Massachusetts bought out the heirs for 1,250 pounds in Mar
1677.
b. Maine remained part of Massachusetts until 1820.
- Additional negative reports from Randolph led to the Court
of Chancery annulling the charter of the Bay Colony in June
1684 (finalized in Oct).
E. New Hampshire 1680-86
- New Hampshire was separated from Massachusetts in Sept 1680
by royal decree and John Cutt served as governor until
1682.
- Edward Cranfield (1682-85) ruled with no assembly after
they refused to his revenue bills in 1683.
- Walter Barefoote served briefly until the Dudley Commission
arrived.
- New Hampshire was part of the Dominion of New
England (1686-89).
- Its royal authority was restored in 1692 after which its
only connection to Massachusetts was that each colony had the
same governor from 1698-1741.
F. Dominion of New England and the Andros
Regime (1685-88)
- Joseph Dudley (1657-1720) in London to protest the loss of
the Bay Colony charter was appointed Governor over
Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire by James II.
- Sir Edmund Andros assumed the governorship
in Boston in Dec 1686 over all of New England (except for
Connecticut and Rhode Island).
- He organized the Dominion of New England
to include NY, NJ and PA for more effective military operations
in the event of war with France and for better enforcement of
Navigation Acts.
- RI was incorporated (Dec), and CN was taken over (Nov
1687)
- Andros became more unpopular for actions such as these:
a. He demanded that Anglicans share the Old South Meeting House
(Mar 1687) which he then converted into an Anglican church;
b. He reexamined all land titles which led to an insistence
that all regrants pay a quitrent;
c. He imposed assessments, resisted by an Ipswich town meeting
in Aug led by Rev. John Wise (1652-1725),
which led to the arrest and fining of some and their
disqualification for holding office
d. He limited town meetings to only one annually (Mar 1688)
e. He placed the militia under his direct control (Mar
1688)
- Rev. Increase Mather (1639-1723),
President of Harvard, sailed to England to make grievances
against Andros before the Lords of Trade (Aug 1688).
G. Glorious Revolution in New England Jan-July 1689
- After Andros learned of the landing of William of
Orange on English soil (Jan), he returned to Boston
but had to seek refuge in a fort to escape an angry mob in
Apr.
- A manifesto, mostly by Cotton Mather
(1663-1728), was read which justified the uprising because of
abuse by the Andros regime, the fear of a French alliance and a
rumored Popish plot.
- Andros surrendered and was jailed.
- A "Council for the Safety and the Conservation of the the
Peace" was established in Apr and the election of Deputies to a
General Court was held in June.
- An Order in Council in July called for the return of Andros
and his councilors for a trial.
H. Massachusetts Royal Charter
- A royal charter replaced the old and incorporated Maine and
Plymouth into Massachusetts, provided a Governor appointed by
the Crown, permitted a Council to be elected by the General
Court but subject to the Governor's veto, substituted property
for religious qualification, permitted the crown to review all
legislation, and allowed appeals to be made to the King in
Council.
- Rhode Island and Connecticut still operated under old
charters until 1842 and 1818 respectively.
IX. Settlement of the Middle Colonies
A. New Netherland based on Dutch claims in the New World through the
exploration of Henry Hudson.
- Adriaen Block (d. 1624) further explored in the early
seventeenth century, and noted on maps for the first time that
Manhattan and Long Island were separate islands.
- Dutch West India Company, chartered by the States General, had
a trading monoploy and the right to colonize in the New World and
along the west African coast below the Tropic of Cancer.
- A Provincial Order (Mar 1628) was issued to govern life aboard
ship.
- Colonists were divided into free colonists
(who could own their own homesteads and were given transportation,
seeds, cattle and other necessities for 2 years) and
indentured husbandmen (who worked for company
officials or on company farms for a specified time).
- Trading with outsiders was banned, being confined to the
Company.
- The first permanent settlement was established in 1624 under
the leadership of CPT Cornelis Jacobsen May near NY Bay.
- In 1626 Peter Minuit , director of the
colonies, purchased Manhattan from native Indian chiefs for 60
guilders ($24.00) worth of goods.
- He erected 30 houses on the island and changed its name to
New Amsterdam .
- Patroonships were established by the States General which
confirmed the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions
.
a. The company granted feudal rights to estates along the river to
those transporting 50 settlers.
b. By 1630, 5 patroonships were granted, but only one
succeeded.
- Minuit was replaced by Wouter Van Twiller (1633-38) because he
was too liberal in granting trading privileges to patroons.
- Willem Kiefft (1597-1647) replaced him after he was charged
with illegal trading activities and with hostility toward the
Dutch Reformed Church.
B. Further Dutch Expansion
- Increased English settlement into their territory and the
ascendancy of Iroquois created tensions between Dutch colonies
and local Indians, some of whom raided Dutch settlements in the
1640s.
- Peace between the Dutch colonies and the Indians was not
restored until Aug 1645.
- The Dutch resettled Long Island in 1646, but were gradually
frozen out of Connecticut because of English expansion into
that region.
- Peter Stuyvesant (1610-72) succeeded
Kiefft and permitted the Dutch colonists to elect a council of
Nine to advise him and to act judicially.
- New Amsterdam was granted a municipal charter in 1652.
C. New Sweden -- founded by Dutch and Swedish investors in 1633
through the New South Co
- A charter was granted in 1637 to settle on the Delaware,
and Ft. Christina was built in 1638, lasting until 1640,
leaderless after Minuit was lost at sea in June 1638.
- The Dutch members of the New Sweden Co. were bought out in
1641 and Johan Bjornsson Printz (1592-1663) served as governor
from 1643-53.
- Struggles increased between Dutch settlements and New
Sweden, esp over Ft. Casimir, which when recaptured by the
Dutch in Sept 1655, effectively ended Swedish colonization in
America.
D. Anglo-Dutch Relations 1650-64
- Stuyvesant negotiated a boundary settlement with the New
England Confederation which divided Long Island and the
mainland.
- This treaty, although never recognized by Britain, remained
in force until the fall of New Netherland.
- Anglo-Dutch War July 1652-Apr 1654
a. New England Confederation was reluctant to declare war on
New Amsterdam, although Ft. Good Hope was seized by
Connecticut.
b. Stuyvesant was forced to recognize English suzerainty over
towns on Long Island in 1664.
- Indian relations were strained with attacks upon each
other's villages until May 1664, when the Indians surrendered
the Esopus Valley to the Dutch.
E. Conquest of New Netherland
- The English considered the Dutch settlements to be a
hinderance to their expansion westwardly and to the successful
enforcement of the Navigation Acts.
- Charles II gave his brother, James, Duke of York a sizeable
land grant (Mar 1664).
- The Duke appointed COL Richard Nicolls
(1624-72) to capture New Amsterdam and to settle disputes in
the New England colonies.
a. Stuyvesant quickly surrendered to the British, lacking
support from his colonists
(1) The British granted the Dutch settlers liberty of
conscience, property and inheritance rights, and the right to
trade with Holland for six months.
(2) The British took over other Dutch settlements without much
incidence, although a show of force was necessary before the
Dutch surrendered in Delaware.
b. New Amsterdam was renamed New York in honor
of the Duke of York.
c. Colonial deputies in 1665 from English and Dutch towns
approved the Duke's Laws , a civil and
criminal code, by which the government was organized.
- The British replaced the Dutch as allies of the
Five Nations of the Iroquois .
- Second Anglo-Dutch War (Dec 1664-July
1667)
a. The property of the Dutch West India Company was seized in
1665 as well as property of Dutch colonists who did not swear
allegiance to the British crown.
b. Peace of Breda July 1667 officially
recognized British control of New Netherland after which COL
Francis Lovelace served as governor (1668-73).
- Third Anglo-Dutch War (Mar 1672-Feb
1674)
a. The Dutch under CPT Anthony Colve, briefly reoccupied NY in
Aug 1672 and recaptured Esopus and Albany before the
Treaty of Westminster restored English control
under Sir Edmund Andros.
b. Andros reconfirmed the government established under Duke's
Laws and extended his control over other towns in the area.
- In the 1670s the Duke of York resisted colonial desires for
a representative assembly but finally under Thomas Dongan
(1634-1715) he let a general assembly convene at least once
every 3 years
a. The assembly enacted the Charter of
Liberties in 1683 and approved taxes.
b. After the Duke became James II in Feb 1685,
he tried to cancel this legislation, shifting power to the
Royal Governor instead.
c. The assembly never met again after its disolution in
1687.
- Leisler's Rebellion (11 Aug 1688-20 May
1691)
a. NY was included in the Dominion of New England under
Andros.
b. After war broke out between France and England, it reached
NY in 1689.
c. Amidst rumors of a Catholic plot, which included CPT Francis
Nicholson left in charge by Andros, Jacob
Leisler (1649-91) seized Ft. James in May 1689,
recognizing William and Mary
(1) He called upon other counties and towns to send
representatives to NY's government.
(2) He established a Committee of Public Safety.
d. Meeting in Albany in May 1690, representatives from MA, NY,
CN and Plymouth agreed to invade Canada, but this proved
disastrous.
e. COL Henry Sloughter, commissionedby the Lords of Trade in
Nov 1689 as the new governor, was delayed in arriving.
f. MAJ Robert Ingoldesby arrived with a regiment of troops, but
Leisler refused to recognize his authority, and hostilities
broke out.
(1) Only after Sloughter arrived in Mar 1691, did Leisler
surrender.
(2) He and 7 others were tried, sentenced to death but only he
and his lieutenant were hanged.
- An assembly met in Mar 1691, beginning representative
government in NY.
F. Establishment of New Jersey
- Duke of York granted John Lord Berkeley
and Sir George Carteret land between the
Hudson and Delaware Rivers.
- Although no governmental rights were granted, proprietors
in Feb 1665 in their Concessions and
Agreements , granted freedom of conscience, very
generous land concessions, and a general assembly of deputies
elected by freeholders, which met from June 1668 to Nov
1671.
- Philip Carteret was appointed governor in Feb 1665 and was
accepted by the Dutch in the North, but was resisted by English
settlers in the South.
- Acquisition by Quakers 1674-87
a. Lord Berkeley sold his proprietary rights for 1000 pounds to
John Fenwick (1618-83) and Edward Byllinge (d. 1685), both
Quakers.
b. Carteret was given the northern part of New Jersey and the
province was divided by the Quitipartite Deed
between Carteret on one side (East Jersey )
and Byllinge, William Penn, and two other Quakers on the other
(West Jersey ).
c. Byllinge's heirs sold their share to Dr. Daniel Coxe of
London while Carteret's heirs sold their share to
William Penn and eleven associates, mostly
Quakers.
- East Jersey
a. A power struggle between Andros, head of the Dominion of New
England and Philip Carteret, governor of East Jersey, resulted
in the arrest of Carteret.
b. James II secured the surrender of both proprietor charters
and incorporated the area into the Dominion of New England.
c. With the removal of James II, the proprietors resumed
control in 1692, and sent Andrew Hamilton, a Scot, as governor
until his death in Apr 1703.
- West Jersey
a. Struggles between Andros and Fenwick over West Jersey
continued until 1682 when Fenwick sold his holdings to Penn
b. 4 proprietors (Mar 1677) issued the Laws,
Concessions, and Agreements (mostly authored by Penn),
granting freedom of conscience, civil rights (trial by jury and
no taxation without representatives of the voters [proprietors,
freeholders and inhabitants]).
c. An Assembly, meeting at Burlington from 1681-1701,
challenged the rule of the proprietors (1683), by electing
their own governor, Samuel Jennings.
d. Coxe in 1692 sold out to the West Jersey Society, 48
investors, mostly Anglicans.
e. Board of Trade recommended that the Crown resume control of
private colonies (1701).
(1) Surrendering to crown authority, the proprietors retained
property rights (1702)
(2) NY's Governor served as NJ's Governor under a separate
commission until 1738, when NJ had its own Governor, beginning
with Lewis Morris (1671-1746).
G. Pennsylvania
- In college William Penn (1644-1718),
joined the Society of Friends or
Quakers
a. His father, Admiral Sir William Penn, had a claim against
the crown for 16,000 pounds.
b. Although a Quaker, Charles II granted a charter to the son
in 1681 to satisfy this debt.
c. Penn became absolute proprietor of the area between 40 and
43 degrees North, west from Delaware through five degrees in
longitude.
(1) Settlers paid to Penn a small tax as quick rent.
(2) Penn paid the crown two beaverskins per year as rent.
d. Pennsylvania became a haven for Quakers ;
its leaders endeavored to build it upon the kingdom of God,
having the church and state work closely together.
(1) While Puritans had substituted the Bible as the source of
authority, instead of the Pope or Crown, the Quakers believed
the only source of authority was God who spoke to
individuals.
(2) The Spirit of God resided within every man (who was
basically good) and guided each individual as an inner
light.
(3) Germantown Quakers issued the 1st colonial protest against
slavery (1688).
(4) Quaker missionaries were active in every colony, especially
Massachusetts.
(5) Aid was given to individuals for specific persons because
humans in the event of misfortune deserved the help of other
humans.
e. Other pertinent Quaker beliefs
(1) Equality - All people were equal. In the English
language of the 1600s, "you" denoted social superiority and was
used when talking to inferiors. Thus the Quakers used "thee"
and "thou" when addressing each other;
(2) Simplicity - to emphasize their plain living, they
wore darker colors, like grays, browns and blacks and did not
like to have their portraits painted;
(3) Peace - Quakers refused military service as
pacifists and when they controlled the legislature, they
refused to appropriate any monies to fight the Indians.
f. Penn, granted limited governmental powers, was required to
obey the Navigation Acts, have his laws approved by an
assembly, and make all legislation subject to the Privy Council
for five years.
g. The Crown also heard appeals from provincial courts, and
reserved the right to impose taxes through Parliament (although
not done until 1765).
- Penn Takes Over Delaware
a. In Aug 1682, the Duke of York granted Penn title to an area
which contained Delaware, although no rights of government were
conferred.
b. The Charter of 1701 permitted Delaware a separate government
from Pennsylvania.
c. In Nov 1704, the first independent assembly met at New
Castle.
d. Both areas had the same governor, pending royal approval,
until the Revolution.
- Beginning of Pennsylvania's Government
a. Initially upon receipt of the property from the Duke of
York, Penn proclaimed that the Duke's Laws would be enforced
until the people decided otherwise.
b. Penn's Frame of Government (May 1682)
provided a Governor (who was the proprietor or his deputy), a
council (originally 72 members, 1/3 being elected each year),
and an assembly of between 200 and 500 members elected by
freeholders.
(1) The council initiated laws, performed administrative and
judicial functions, and tried officials impeached by the
assembly.
(2) The assembly either ratified or rejected legislation until
1696, when it also had the power to initiate laws.
(3) The assembly in 1683 declared liberty of conscience.
c. A second Frame of Government (Apr 1683)
reduced the council to 18 members and the assembly to 32
delegates.
d. Penn returned to England in Aug 1684 to defend his title in
a boundary dispute with Lord Baltimore.
- Early Settlement
a. Extensive advertizing with the British Isles, Holland and
Germany, resulted in sizeable immigration from the beginning of
Penn's colony.
(1) Many immigrants were Quakers from the Rhineland, lower
Palatinate, Ireland and England.
(2) German Protestant groups were called the Pennsylvania Dutch
("Deutchland")
(3) Scot-Irish Presbyterians arrived in the 1700s as indentured
servants.
b. Because land grants were careless, Penn's second son,
Thomas (1702-75), tried to organize the land
system and settle the title quarrels.
- Glorious Revolution in Pennsylvania 1688-94
a. Because Penn enjoyed a good relationship with James II, and
Quakers remained passive toward England's war with France, the
crown appointed (Mar 1692) Benjamin Fletcher (NY governor)
b. The proprietary government was restored in Aug 1694.
c. Penn returned to the colony as resident Governor in
1699.
- Charter of Liberties Nov 1701
a. Penn granted a charter which was the constitution of
Pennsylvania until the Revolution.
b. The unicameral legislature approved laws
passed by the governor.
c. Propietary rule ended, except for the appointment of the
Governor.
d. Penn returned to England in 1701 and left James
Logan (1674-1751) in charge.
e. The penniless Penn had to mortgage his province to trustees
in 1708.
- Pennsylvanian Society
a. Social Mobility - the example of John Bringhurst
(1) This son of a London printer arrived in Pennsylvania in the
1690s with his mother and was apprenticed as a barrel maker
(hooper) at age ten.
(2) He went to sea as a hooper, saving his money from voyages
to the West Indies.
(3) He became a ship navigator.
(4) He returned to Pennsylvania and built his own barrel making
company, bought shares in ships, and by the 1740s was an elder
at Quaker meetings.
b. A Center of Science and Culture -- The first general
hospital, the first medical school, the first center of the
only inner colony philosophical society.
c. An early business and farming center
d. After the Quakers lost their numerical edge they lost
control of the legislature.
e. When that one-house legislature voted to raise an army to
fight the Indians, many Quakers left the Government
(1750s).
X. Establishment of the Lower Thirteen Original Colonies
A. Development of Spanish Florida
- First Spanish Missionary Efforts 1577-1600
a. Franciscan activity under Fray Alonso de
Reynoso was unsuccessful.
b. Fray Juan de Silva (1595) intensely
established several mission provinces.
c. Although meeting with some Indian hostility, hundreds of
Indians were converted and several chapels were erected north of
St Augustine.
d. Indian attacks (1597-1600) resulted in the abandonment of all
missions north of St. Augustine except for Santa Elena.
e. Retaliatory strikes against Indian villages resulted in a
return to peace by 1600 and the establishment of numerous missions
throughout Florida.
- Second Line of Advance
a. Franciscans pushed northward establishing many missions
(1601-80).
b. Activity also pushed westward across the neck of the Florida
peninsula
c. Despite Indian uprisings through 1647, 38 missions existed with
26,000 Indians at least partly converted by 1655.
B. English Activity in the Carolinas
- Background
a. Sir Robert Heath received a patent (1629) to settled the
area between 31 and 36 degrees North (New
Carolina ).
b. Henry Lord Maltravers was granted the
province of Carolina by Heath and by Gov John
Harvey of Virginia (1632), although no settlements
were begun.
c. Albermarle Colony 1653-54
(1) Several colonists from VA moved into present NC in 1653,
north of the Albermarle Sound.
(2) This was encouraged by Virginia for the protection of its
southern frontier.
d. Spain's Colony at Jamaica fell to the English (1655),
fostering a belief that Spain could be driven from North
America and encouraging English expansion southward
e. Cape Fear Company , organized in 1660 by