Classifying the Colonies
Nicole Messer
Jamestown
- In 1607, a group of male colonists landed at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.
- Jamestown was the first permanent British North American colony and was a joint stock company.
- Colonists emigrated with hopes of finding gold, which led to problems due to the fact that they put all of their energy into finding gold instead of hunting and farming. The colonists consisted of 144 upperclass men, typically not first borns due to the fact that the first borns inherited everything and the ones after were left with nothing.
- A majority of the colonists died quickly due to new diseases such as malaria and other diseases that came with the humid climate.
- John Smith arrived and brought order to the colony, saving it. One of his famous quotes was, " He who shall not work shall not eat".
- Smith was injured and had to return to England after less than two years, and the colony went through what is known as the "Starvation Period".
- When the English arrived, the Powhatans dominated the area. The tribes didn't have a system of land ownership, which made the Anglos believe that the land was theirs to take. This was one of the factors that led to a series of Anglo-Powhatan wars.
- In 1614, Pocahontas (Powhatan) married John Rolfe (Anglo), and there was a time of peace between the two peoples.
- John Rolfe introduced tobacco, or "King Nicotine", to the colonists. This was a fast growing crop, however it ruined the land that it grew in. With tobacco came the introduction to indentured servants, which were British people under contract to farm for others for 5-7 years in return for the promise of freedom and 50 acres. However, in the first four years, only 1/10 outlived their contract.
- The House of Burgesses was created in 1619 by the London Company, and became a model for the House of Representatives.
Massachusetts Bay
- In 1619, Parliament was dismissed by Charles I and sanctioned anti-Puritan persecutions of Archbishop William Laud.
- A group of Non-Separatists Puritans secured a royal charter in order to form the Massachusetts Bay Company and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629.
- In 1630, a thousand immigrants boarded eleven vessels and set off for the melt established colony.
- John Winthrop was the colony's first governor and governed the colony for 19 years.
- With the help of Winthrop, the colony was successful in building strong fur, fishing and shipbuilding colonies.
- Boston soon became the "hub" of the colony.
- Out of the New England colonies, Massachusetts Bay became the most influential outpost.
- One of the main goals for the colonists was to make Massachusetts Bay a Christian model society for the world. However, they were unsuccessful.
- In 1684, King James revoked the charter and established the dominion of New England and put it under royal rule.
- Sir William Phelps arrived with the Charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which combined the Massachusetts Bay territory with Plymouth Colony.
Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn in 1681.
- This colony was known for better relations between the whites and Indians than most of the rest of the colonies.
- Some of Penn's main goals were to try new liberal ideas and bring in a greater profit.
- Pennsylvania was a very peaceful and loving colony due to the fact that it was made up of Quakers.
- Due to the amount of liberal freedom, Pennsylvania had a lot of ethnic and religious diversity.
- While Pennsylvania had no immigration restrictions, they were against black slavery.
- The colony brought lots of economic opportunity, liberty and religious freedom to the colonists.
- Unlike a majority of the other colonies, Pennsylvania had better relationships between the Anglos and the Native Americans.
- Pennsylvania had little taxes, no public debt, and no military.
- In 1683, the Charter of Privileges was created.
Maryland
- Maryland was a proprietary colony that was established in 1634 after a royal charter was granted to Lord Baltimore in 1632.
- This colony was in a lot healthier location than Jamestown, giving the colonists a longer life expectancy and more success.
- Like Jamestown, tobacco was the main crop.
- His plan was to rule Maryland as an absentee proprietor.
- Maryland had a system of Feudalism, which was all about contracts of labor and bondage. Lord Baltimore had control over the land and the crops, but he had serfs working for him with promise of things such as land and part of the profits in return.
- He granted large plots of land to his relatives (Catholics) who rented it and were known as serfs.
- Maryland was known as a haven for Catholics, due to the fact that Lord Baltimore permitted a large amount of freedom of worship because he didn't want to repeat what happened with the persecution of the Catholics by the Protestants.
- This in turn aggravated the Protestants, causing many of them to threaten him and his colony.
- The Toleration Act of 1649 was highly supported by the Catholics in Maryland and guaranteed toleration of all christian religions and their people. However, it also decreed that those who failed to believe in Jesus (like atheists and Jews) were condemned to death.
- Although the Toleration Act was passed and cured many issues, in some ways, it made Maryland less tolerant than before.
Georgia
- Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe in 1733.
- A group of philanthropists are what launched the colony.
- It was the last of the 13 colonies to be established.
- The purpose of Georgia was to act as a "buffer" between the Carolinas, Spanish Florida and French Louisiana. In order to offset the cost, Georgia received subsidies from the British government.
- Georgia's main exports were silk and wine.
- The colony was a safe haven for debtors.
- At first, Georgia was determined to keep slavery our of their colony, but by 1750, it found its way in.
- For the most part, Georgia was diverse. Catholics were the only Christians that weren't tolerated.
- Missionaries were very common and worked with the debtors and Indians. Out of the missionaries, John Wesley was the most famous because he founded the Methodist church.
- The Port of Savanah was very successful in terms of trade and immigrants. It was also known as a melting pot.