Unit 2 Notes: The Thirteen Colonies and the British Empire
Introduction
● Jamestown, Virginia, 1607, first of 13 colonies; Georgia in 1733, last
● To establish a colony, a charter was required (“document granting special privileges”)
● Three kinds of charters (which in turn created three kinds of colonies)
○ Corporate colonies: operated by joint-stock companies; Jamestown
○ Royal colonies: under direct rule of British gov; Virginia after 1624
○ Proprietary colonies: under rule of individuals who were given charters; Maryland
● English people brought representative government to the colonies
Early English Settlements
● 1588: England defeats the Spanish Armada & establishes self as a naval power
● During this time, many poor people in England; perfect time for England to begin est’ing
overseas colonies
● Joint-stock companies funded these colonies ( multiple investors pool investments so risk
is equal among everyone)
● Jamestown
○ King James I of England est’d Virginia Company, which was a joint-stock
company that est’d Jamestown in 1607
○ Early Problems
■ Jamestown was ets’d on swampy land- outbreaks of dysentery and malaria
■ Many men who went weren’t used to physical labor, others refused
■ Settlers traded w/ natives for most of their resources -when tensions arose,
they lost these relationships & all of their resources
■ Captain John Smith led Jamestown for first 5 years; John Rolfc and wife
Pocahontas developed new tobacco, which was very profitable for colony
○ Transition to a Royal Colony
■ 1624, Jamestown about to fall apart- King James I took away the Virginia
Company’s charter for the colony and took direct control
■ Jamestown became known as Virginia, England’s first royal colony
● Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay
○ These two colonies were settled in by those who wanted religious freedom
○ Protestants settled in both seeking safety from King James I’s persecutions
○ The Plymouth Colony
■ Separatists: radical English Christians who wanted to est. a completely
new church, away from king’s rule
■ These Separatists traveled to Holland searching to est. their new religion,
their frequent travels caused them to be known as Pilgrims
■ Living in Holland, tensions grew btwn Dutch & Pilgrims, causing Pilgrims
to move again, this time to new colony of Virginia
● They landed north of destination, so est’d new colony at Plymouth
■ Early Hardships
● American Indians helped Pilgrims settle down, they celebrated
together at first Thanksgiving in 1621
● Captain Miles Standish, Gov. William Bradford helped Plymouth
grow
○ Massachusetts Bay Colony
■ Puritans- believed the Anglican Church could be reformed
■ Charles I began killing Puritans in 1625, so some got a charter to est. the
Massachusetts Bay Company, and the colony
■ 1630- Puritans under John Winthrop est’d Boston
■ The Great Migration- many English moved to colonies bc of civil war
Early Political Institutions
● Representative Assembly in Virginia
○ Virginia Company guaranteed settlers of Jamestown representation in legislature
○ 1619: Virginia colonists est’d America’s first representative assembly, House of
Burgesses
● Representative Government in New England
○ On the Mayflower, Pilgrims signed Mayflower Compact, ensuring rep. in gov
○ In Massachusetts Bay Colony, all free Puritan men could take part in elections
● Limits on Colonial Democracy
○ Despite using representative form of gov, most colonists were excluded from
legislation, specifically women, landless people, slaves, and indentured servants
○ Many leaders of colonies had unlimited power
The Chesapeake Colonies
● 1632: King Charles I divided Virginia, chartering new colony on each side of Chesapeake
Bay - Virginia and Maryland
● He gave control of Maryland to George Calvert/ Lord Baltimore (reward for loyalty)
● Religious Issues in Maryland
○ King Charles I expected proprietors to rule in accordance w/ him, so he would
have control over the colonies
○ Lord Baltimore died before he could do much, his son Cecil took control in 1634
○ Act of Toleration
■ 1649: Assembly of Maryland est’d Act of Toleration, first colonial statute
giving religious freedom to Catholics; killed anyone denying Jesus
■ Thus, Catholics began to dominate Maryland
○ Protestant Revolt
■ Late 1600s, Protestants fought Catholics in civil war in Maryland
■ Protestants won, repealed Act of Toleration, Catholics lost right to vote
■ In 18th century, Maryland was place of religious tolerance for Protestants
● Labor Shortages
○ Landowners saw opportunities for profit in Virginia & Maryland
○ They could obtain land, but not enough workers
○ Indentured Servants
■ Virginia Company wanted to supply laborers through indentured servants
■ These servants worked under a master for some time in return for a place
to live and food- at the end of this, they could work for money
■ This provided laborers, but only temporarily
○ Headright System
■ To attract workers, Virginia offered land to immigrants who paid for their
passage, and plantation owners who paid for an immigrant’s passage
■ Slavery
● 1619: Dutch ship brought African indentured servants
● At the time, no laws recognizing hereditary slavery- first
generation of Africans in Virginia were not slaves for life, their
children were free (settlers were also too poor to buy them)
● End of 1660s: House of Burgesses made laws discriminating btwn
black and white people, permanently est’ing Africans as slaves
■ Economic Problems
● 1660s: low tobacco prices meant difficult economic conditions for
Chesapeake colonies
● House of Burgesses attempted to raise tobacco prices, but London
merchants did the same to all their goods exported to Virginia
● Conflict in Virginia
○ Sir William Berkeley, royal governor of Virginia, used dictatorial power to
govern, caused farmers on the western front to be attacked by native people
○ Bacon’s Rebellion
■ Nathaniel Bacon, a poor farmer, took advantage of the tensions btwn
western farmers and the governor and began a rebellion against Berkeley
■ 1676: gathered army, raided Indian villages on western Virginia frontier
■ Bacon & army were accused of rebelling against royal rule; continued in
rebelling, defeating governor’s forces and burning Jamestown settlement
○ Lasting Problems
■ Bacon’s Rebellion/ Chesapeake Rebellion highlighted:
● Differences in class of rich platers & poor farmers
● Colonial resistance to royal authority
● These problems would continue into next century
Development of New England
● Puritan leaders did not allow anyone to question their teachings; those who disagreed w/
what was being taught were banished, they eventually formed new colonies
● Rhode Island
○ 1631, Roger Williams went to Boston; upon arriving there, his ideas clashed with
Puritan leaders, and he was banished - so he went to Narragansett Bay, est’ing
Providence as a settlement in 1636, & one of first Baptist churches in America
○ Providence allowed Catholics, Quakers, and Jews to practice their religions
○ Also respected American Indians & paid them for using their land
○ Anne Hutchinson, another dissident, was banished from Bay colony, est’d colony
of Portsmouth in 1638
○ 1644: Roger Williams was given a royal charter, joining Providence &
Portsmouth into one colony - Rhode Island, which allowed many diff beliefs
● Connecticut
○ Rev. Thomas Hooker founded colony of Hartford in 1636
○ Hartford settlers est’d first written constitution in America: Fundamental Orders
of Connecticut in 1639, which est’d a representative government
○ 1637- John Davenport est’d another settlement in Connecticut Valley, New Haven
○ 1665: New Haven & Hartford joined to form colony of Connecticut
● New Hampshire
○ Last colony of New England; King Charles II separated New Hampshire from
Bay colony in 1679 to increase royal control over colonies, & took power over it
● Halfway Covenant
○ To fully be a Puritan, one needed to have an experience known as a conversion
○ 1660s, after full generation was raised in colonies, fewer ppl experienced this
○ So, to maintain members of the church, some clergy offered a halfway covenant,
which said ppl could be partial members of the church even w/out conversion
○ Strict Puritan policies weakened over time
● New England Confederation
○ 1640s, colonists were constantly under attack from Indians, Dutch, & French
○ W/ England in a civil war, they couldn’t be helped by them
○ So, Plymouth, Mass. Bay, Connecticut, & New Haven joined together in the New
England Confederation, directed by a board of representatives from each colony
○ The Confederation did little to prevent attacks, and fell apart in 1684
● King Philip’s War
○ The Confederation, before collapse, helped colonies w/ threat from Indians
○ Chief Metacom/ King Philip of the Wampanoags united tribes against colonists bc
of disregard for their territory
○ 1675-1676, Indians and colonists fought in a brutal war, w/ colonists ultimately
winning, & most Native Americans giving up on resisting colonist power
Restoration Colonies
● 17th century, new American colonies est’d during English period known as Restoration,
referring to restoration of English monarchy w/ Charles II after rule of Oliver Cromwell
● The Carolinas
○ As reward for helping him get back the throne, Charles II gave land btwn Virginia
& Spanish Florida to 8 nobles, 1663 they became proprietors of Carolinas
○ 1729- two royal colonies, North & South Carolina, formed from original grant
○ South Carolina
■ 1670- in southern Carolinas, settlers & planters from Barbados est’d a
town named after their king, Charlestown
■ At first, economy of south was based on trading furs, food to West Indies
■ Mid-18th cent, became reliant on slaves to work large rice plantations
○ North Carolina
■ Farmers here est’d small tobacco farms, less reliant on slavery
■ Was known for democracy & king’s approval for self-governing
● New York
○ Charles II wanted to close gap btwn New England & Chesapeake colonies- to do
so, needed to take/ convince Dutch to give up their colony of New Amsterdam
○ 1664- Charles gave his brother Duke of York (soon to be King James II) lands
btwn Connecticut & Delaware Bay
○ James sent out naval force that took New Amsterdam; ordered all Dutch colonists
be treated well
○ He instituted new taxes w/out any rep in gov; this upset settlers, bc no taxation
without representation!
○ 1683, James gave in, & gave the right for a representative assembly in New York
● New Jersey
○ 1664: James split New York, giving a section of the colony to Lord John Berkeley
& Sir George Carteret
○ 1674: one of them got East New Jersey, and the other West
○ Both proprietors attracted settlers by promising land, religious freedom, assembly
○ Control over the Jerseys changed hands often, which caused confusion- 1702 two
Jerseys were combined as one royal colony: New Jersey
● Pennsylvania and Delaware
○ Quakers
■ Religious Society of Friends, Christian sect- believed in equality for men
& women and religious authority only within oneself, not Bible or outside
■ This was seen as threat to leaders, so English Quakers were persecuted
○ William Penn
■ Young Quaker convert; father did not approve of religion, but allowed his
son to practice regardless
■ Royal family owed Penn’s father money, which they paid to William in
land in American colony, which he called Pennsylvania, “Penn’s Woods”
○ “The Holy Experiment”
■ In new colony, wanted a refuge for Quakers & other persecuted, liberal
gov. ideas, generate profit for himself
■ Frame of Government: guaranteed representative assembly, written
constitution, & Charter of Liberties (freedom of religion, unrestricted
immigration)
■ Penn designed Pennsylvania streets in a grid, treated Indians fairly
○ Delaware
■ 1702: Penn gave lower 3 counties of colony own assembly - led to
Delaware becoming own colony, despite having same governor
● Georgia: The Last Colony
○ 1732, 13th colony was chartered: Georgia, which was only colony to receive
direct financial support from England
■ This was because Britain wanted a buffer between threat of Spanish
Florida & prosperous South Carolina
■ Also: many English people were in jail for debt, so wealthy philanthropists
proposed sending them to Georgia to start over
○ Special Regulations
■ James Oglethorpe, a philanthropist, was first governor of Georgia’s first
settlement, Savannah in 1733
■ Strict regulations on drinking rum & slavery; Georgia did not prosper
○ Royal Colony
■ 1732: Oglethorpe gave up Georgia to British gov
■ Georgia grew slowly, adopting South Carolina’s plantation system
Mercantilism and the Empire
● Most European kingdoms in 17th century used mercantilism: economic policy which
looked at country’s trade, colonies, & wealth to determine its military & political strength
● Colonies existed to provide resources & wealth to parent country; England adopted
mercantilism after civil war, unlike France & Spain, which had always used it
● Acts of Trade and Navigation
○ England est’d mercantilism w/ Navigation Acts, which stated: all trade to & from
colonies must be in English ships & crews, goods going to colonies must be
inspected by English, & enumerated goods could only go to England
● Impact on the Colonies
○ Nav. Acts caused New England shipbuilding to prosper, Chesapeake tobacco
became monopoly in England, provided English forces to protect from attacks
○ Acts also limited colonial manufacturing, Chesapeake farmers were forced to sell
crops at low prices, & colonists to pay high prices for English goods
○ Colonists hated the acts, defied them by smuggling French, Dutch, & other goods
● Enforcement of the Acts
○ British didn’t enforce acts, revoked Bay colony’s charter bc center of smuggling
● The Dominion of New England
○ 1685: King James II wanted to increase royal power over colonies by combining
them, getting rid of rep assemblies- 1686 New York, New Jersey, New England
colonies combined into Dominion of New England
○ Sir Edmund Andros was governor of dominion, who became unpopular w/ taxes
○ James II overthrown during Glorious Revolution, replaced by William and Mary
○ Dominion of New England ended w/ James’s fall, once again separate colonies
● Permanent Restriction
○ Lots of English officials in colonies, didn’t enforce restrictions on colonial trade,
although colonists still hated the restrictions
The Institution of Slavery
● 1750: ½ of Virginia & ⅔ of South Carolina were slaves
● Increased Demand for Slaves
○ Increased wages in England meant less people wanted to immigrate to colonies
○ Large plantation owners were scared by possibility of rebellion by indentured
servants (Bacon’s Rebellion), thought slavery would be safer
○ Rice & indigo became more profitable crops, but required more workers
● Slave Laws
○ As slavery became more common, laws were put in place for slaves, ex: 1641
Massachusetts recognized enslavement of captives, 1661 Virginia enacted
hereditary slave laws, and racism soon developed in the colonies
● Triangular Trade
○ Merchant ships were main source of trading slaves, went on triangular trade route
○ Ships started in New England w/ rum to be traded for Africans, who would have
to survive inhumane conditions on the Middle Passage, then traded as slaves in
West Indies for sugarcane, which was traded back in New England to make rum
