History Exam Notes 3: Colonial Period

Early British Colony History: - Economic development loosened English society, giving individuals opportunity to change from one social class or occupation to another - Woolen industry expanded = enclosure movement (landlords end leases to tenant farmers & confiscated land) - tenants forced to move to London or sign up as colonists for America - opportunities for merchants rise as well - since trade in Belgium decline, investors formed joint-stock companies to explore trade routes & establish new markets - first permanent English colonies provided by jointstock companies - 1606~ Virginia Company attain rights to settle colonies in North America A. London Group: Connecticut to Carolinas B. Plymouth Group: Maine to Virginia - May 1607: Virginia Company of London funded 1st permanent English colony at Jamestown A. 104 settlers B. Purpose: searching for gold and silver mines, finding a passage to Asia, & establishing industries and trade that would offer great returns C. settlers = gentlemen/ adventures (not ready for labor or farming) Result: Became aimless & starved (could find no mines) D. 1608~ John Smith takes control = stabilizing the colony briefly by making everyone work E. May 1611~ Sir Thomas Dale became governor of Jamestown: Law Divine, Morall and Maritall > Men received military ranks, divided work into gangs, and proceeded from home to work (church 2 times daily) > 1st offence of failing work= tied neck to heel at night > 2nd offence= whipping > 3rd offence= death

Bacon's Rebellion: -uprising in 1676 in the Virginia Colony -led by Nathaniel Bacon -former indentured servants, poor whites & blacks -resented Governor William Berkley's friendly policies towards the Native Americans -Berkley refused to retaliate for a series of Indian attacks on frontier settlement -took matters in their own hand & attack indian -burned Jamestown -awakened elites the danger of large class freemen -importing more slaves William Penns Holy Experiment -Pennsylvania -requested for a colony on the west bank of Delaware River -was a place where Quakers a. could exercise belief w/o interference b. government operate like Quaker meeting c. act in unison, following Gods will Navigation Acts 1651 -series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between England (after 1707 Great Britain) and its colonies -goal: to force colonial development into lines favourable to England & stop direct colonial trade with the Netherlands, France and other European countries Dominion of New England (168689) -an administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America. -ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed (from the Delaware River in the south to Penobscot Bay in the north), was too large for a single governor to manage. -Additional factors: its governor, Sir Edmund Andros, was highly unpopular, engaging in actions that offended significant segments of the New England population. Mayflower Compact -1st governing document of Plymouth Colony -written by the Pilgrims: part of a separatist group seeking the freedom to practice Christianity according to their own determination and not the will of the Anglican Church. -signed on November 11, 1620 -agreement to form a government & obey its law