North American Colonies
Jamestown
- The first permanent British North American colony
- Founded in 1607
- Founded by the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company
- Founded for profit
- Underwent a "starving time" due to a lack of survival skills
- John Smith saved them from the starving times
- John Rolphe started tobacco industry
- Most labor provided by indentured servants
- 1619: House of Burgesses founded, the first form of representative government in the colonies
- 1619: Slavery began
Massachusetts Bay
- Founded in 1628
- Founded by separatists fleeing persecution in England
- Only Puritan, land owning males could participate in government
- No religious tolorence for anyone who wasn't Puritan
- Many strict laws, such as the Blue State Laws
- John Winthrop was the first governor
- Wanted to set an example for how awesome Puritan communities could be
- Exiled Roger Williams, essentially causing the founding if Rhode Island
- Charter was revoked in 1684
- Eventually combined with several other colonies to form The Province of Massachussetts Bay
Pennsylvania
- Founded in 1681
- Founded by William Penn
- Founded as a haven for Quakers
- Practiced religious tolorence
- Extremely liberal government
- No laws pertaining to military defense
- Originally peacefull with Indians due to William Penn's practice of purchasing land from them
- Due to extreme tolerance, the colony eventually attracted people who were less friendly against the Indians
- Part of Pennsylvania eventually became Delaware
Maryland
- Founded in 1632
- Founded by Lord Baltimore
- Founded as a proprietary colony
- Much of its original land was granted to catholic relatives of Lord Baltimore
- Intended as a safe haven for Catholics
- Intended to have a feudal form of government
- First of the colonies to practice a form of religious tolerance, the Act of Toleration
- Religious tolerance instituted to save Catholics from encroaching Protestants
- Primarily grew tobacco
- Named after the catholic queen Mary
Georgia
- Founded in 1732
- Founded by James Oglethorpe
- Intended to be a military buffer between British and Spanish colonies
- Also intended to be a social experiment meant to see if a successful colony could be run without crime
- Inspired by one of Oglethorpe's friends dying in debtors prison
- Initially, settlers were only allowed fifty acres of land
- Slavery and liquor were also banned
- These rules eventually had to be bent to stimulate growth
- Yamasee war: effectively pushed most natives out of the area
- Effectively put a halt to Spanish encroachment