Colonies
Nick McIntosh
Jamestown
- the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
- Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607
- Jamestown served as the capital of the colony for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699.
- In 1699, the capital was relocated from Jamestown to what is today Williamsburg, after which Jamestown ceased to exist as a settlement, existing today only as an archaeological site.
- During what became known as the "Starving Time" in 1609–1610, over 80% of the colonists perished, and the island was briefly abandoned that spring.
- The three ships that the settlers took to Jamestown were the Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed.
- Jamestown had an extremely high mortality rate. This was due to disease, gross mismanagement, and later Native American raids.
- Jamestown had a House of Burgesses established in 1619 that ruled the colony.
- The survival of Jamestown remained in question for over ten years as the settlers were not willing to work together and plant crops.
- A generation later, during Bacon`s Rebellion in 1676, Jamestown was burned, eventually to be rebuilt.
Massachusetts Bay
- Led by John Winthrop, the group formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony
- They settled in New England in 1630.
- These Puritans wanted to freely practice their religious beliefs in their new home.
- The soil was rocky, and winters could be harsh, but there were also vast forests and clean water.
- The winter cold killed insects and germs that caused disease
- situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston
- The colony was economically successful, engaging in trade with England and the West Indies.
- In the early years of the colony, it was highly dependent on the import of staples from England, and was supported by the investments of a number of wealthy immigrants.
- the land was not as suitable for agriculture as that of other colonies like Virginia, where large plantations could be established.
- Major rivers included the Charles and Merrimack, as well as a portion of the Connecticut River, which was used to transport furs and timbers to Long Island Sound.
Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania means"Penn's forest".
the population of Pennsylvania was 638 in 1638.
- William Penn founded Pennsylvania for religious reasons.
- Penn made a Constitution for Pennsylvania in 1682 which explained the government of Pennsylvania.
William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1638.
- The colonial government, established in 1682 by Penn's Frame of Government, consisted of an appointed Governor, the proprietor (Penn), a 72-member Provincial Council, and a larger General Assembly.
- William Penn and his fellow Quakers heavily imprinted their religious values on the early Pennsylvanian government.
- The Charter of Privileges mandated fair dealings with Native Americans.
- As the colony grew, colonists and British military forces came into conflict with Natives in the Western half of the state.
- Until the French and Indian War Pennsylvania had no military, few taxes and no public debt.
Maryland
- Maryland lies at the center of the Eastern Seaboard
- In 1608, Capt. John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay.
- Religious freedom, granted all Christians in the Toleration Act passed by the Maryland assembly in 1649, was ended by a Puritan revolt, 1654–1658.
- From 1763 to 1767, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed Maryland`s northern boundary line with Pennsylvania.
- In 1814, during the British attempt to capture Baltimore.
- During the Civil War, Maryland was a slave state but remained in the Union.
- Charles I granted a royal charter for Maryland to Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in 1632, and English settlers, many of whom were Roman Catholic, landed on St. Clement's (now Blakistone) Island in 1634.
- King Charles I of England specified that the name for the new colony was to be called Maryland in honor of his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria.
- Not dominated by a specific religion which gave way to religious freedom for Baptists, Catholics, Anglicans and others.
- main exports were Tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo (dye), lumber, furs, farm products
Georgia
- founded in 1732 by James Oglethorpe and others
- Oglethorpe extended freedom of religion to all Christians except Catholics.
- As the colony's governor, Oglethorpe banned slavery and alcohol.
- After Oglethorpe left his post 12 years later to return to England, the colonists immediately lifted the ban on alcohol. Three years following, in 1749, Georgia allowed slaves.
- The colonists hoped to make silk Georgia's chief product, because the colony's plentiful mulberry trees were a food staple of the silkworm.
- The venture failed, and rice, indigo, lumber and fur became Georgia's primary exports.
- It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States.
- colonists weren't allowed to own more than 50 acres (0.20 km2) of land.
- Oglethorpe finally bent the rules and the colony started to grow much faster.
- One plan had called for Georgia to be created to be a safe home for debtors. However, this purpose was never fulfilled and 116 men, women, and children were selected to become the original colonists.