PART 1: COLONIAL AMERICA AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS

Objectif spécifique: At the end of this class you will be able to use in different situations
information about colonial America: the main reasons, phases, places, actors, populations of
the colonial enterprise led by England from 1607 to 1776.

Colonization of England on what is known now as the USA started in 1583. A navigator
named Humphrey Gilbert received a letter from Queen Elizabeth I giving him the right to
colonize the pagan, barbarous territories of the new world.
The Atlantic Coast offered natural ports and numerous rivers to have access to the vast
continent of America. Between 1607 and 1635 the first English immigrants to what is now the
United States crossed the Atlantic to the New World. Almost all of them were European
emigrants who left their homelands to escape political or religious oppression, or to seek
better opportunities. Immigration from England was sponsored by the government but also by
private groups of individuals whose chief motive was profit.

Chapter 1: The settlement of the first colonies

Ccolonization enterprise in America by England started in 1607 and ended in 1776 with the
American revolution.
These are the main reasons of colonial enterprise were:
-Naval and military power that England wanted to develop. Religious freedom was another
reason for many religious communities.
-King James I wanted colonies for monetary reasons. He could tax exportation goods, control
the resources that came from the colonies

Jamestown was the first British colony to take hold in North America. It was created in 1607
by a group of about 100 men. They set out for the Chesapeake Bay. They travelled with a
charter (authorisation) that King James I granted to London (or Virginia) company.
Their leader was Captain John Smith. Upon their arrival they faced many hardships : quarrels,
droughts, starvation, attacks from animals and Indians, illnesses and deaths. Thanks to John
Smith's ability to enforce discipline the colony managed to survived

In the 16th century in England there were religious upheavals. A body of men and women
called themselves Puritans. They sought to reform the Church of England. They wanted to
simplify religious practices in Roman Catholicism by purifying it from its worldly rituals,
hierarchy, and decorations.

In 1620, a group of 101 Puritans, called the Mayflower congregation, set out for Virginia on a
boat called the Mayflower. They landed in New England on Cape Cod. They said they did not
belong to any organized government. But they accepted a formal agreement to live together
according to "just and equal laws" drafted by leaders of their own choosing. The document
they signed was the Mayflower Compact. In December the Mayflower reached Plymouth
harbor. The Pilgrims built their settlement during the winter. Nearly half of them died of
exposure and disease. With the help of Indians they grow maize and traded on furs and
lumber.

In 1630 another new wave of immigrants arrived on the shores of Massachusetts Bay with
the order of King Charles I. They established a colony called Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Many of them were Puritans whose religious practices were prohibited in England. John
Winthrop was their leader. He urged them to create a "city upon a hill" in the New World.
This meant a place where they lived in strict accordance with their religious beliefs. In other
words, they would set a model of Christianity for all the world. They elected John Winthrop
as governor for many years.
Puritanism was the dominant political and religious force in the colony. Puritans were called
Pilgrim Fathers. They considered their journey to the New World as pilgrimage. Puritan rules
were rigid. Simplicity, Hard work, rigid morality, unbending faith to God and strict
conformity to the doctrine was their credo. Puritans believed they were given a mission which
consisted in fighting against Satan and all forms of evil. They had the conviction that they
were specially chosen by God (election) to create His kingdom on a new earth. This new
kingdom would be a paradize on earth where Jesus would come back and live for a thousand
years (millenium) with just people.

B- Types of colonies
The first English settlements began in an area called New England located on the Eastern
coast of the Atlantic Ocean. England proceeded by progressive settlement (occupation). The
early settlers who came in New England were organized in colonies.
There were 3 types of colonies depending on the type of administration
- Royal colonies: the land belonged to the king. They were administered by governors
appointed by the king (Royal governors)
- Proprietary colonies: they were possessions of individuals or groups to whom the land was
given by the king of England. As owners, these individuals or groups governed the colonies.
- Charter colonies (chartered colonies): the land belonged to the king who gave royal charters
to Individuals or groups. The king allowed those colonies to govern themselves
There were 3 types of geographical colonies
The early settlers or colonists landed on the Northern Atlantic coast. From that area other
movements of settlers occupied the regions between the Atlantic coast and the Appalachian
Mountains in a southward progression. The different phases of colonial occupation led to the
formation of 13 colonies
These colonies were divided into 3 groups according to their geographical location
- New England colonies: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut
Puritans did not tolerate other religions or rebellion from their ranks. But There were two
cases of rebellions to be mentioned. Roger Williams was the first to challenge the General
Court of Massachusetts. He objected to the colony's seizure of Indian lands and advocated
separation of church and state. Another dissenter, Anne Hutchinson, challenged key doctrines
of Puritan theology. Both of them and their followers were banished from Massachusetts
Roger Williams purchased land from the Narragansett Indians in what is now Providence,
Rhode Island, in 1636.
- Middle colonies: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania
In 1681 William Penn, a wealthy Quaker was given a vast land by Charles II. Penn named the
land Pennsylvania and made it a place of refuge for religious groups. Penn actively welcomed
religious dissenters from Europe like Quakers, Mennonites, Amish, Moravians, and Baptists.
- Southern colonies: Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia
Baptists. In 1649 Maryland established the first religious toleration act to grant religious
freedom in the colony.
The first black Africans were brought to Virginia in 1619 just 12 years after the founding of
Jamestown. Initially, many were regarded as indentured servants who could earn their
freedom. But by the 1660s, the demand for plantation labour in the Southern colonies became
high. The institution of slavery began and Africans were brought to America in shackles for a
lifetime of involuntary servitude.

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