Classifying the Colonies
Chandler Webb
Jamestown
1. Jamestown was the first permanent British North American colony in 1607.
This is important because it set the precedents for future British colonies being established in America.
2. John Smith positively influenced the colony when he came and helped to organize the men into different jobs. However, he had to leave after a year due to a bad powder burn.
Despite having to leave after such a short visit, Smith had shown the colony that it was possible to work together and make Jamestown a successful place to live.
3. The Virginia Company of London sent three ships to Jamestown and founded it. If the Virginia Company hadn't funded the trip, the settlement of Jamestown could have been postponed or never had been founded to begin with. This would have drastically changed history and the creation of all the original settlements.
4. John Rolfe introduced tobacco, which ended up influencing Virginia (and a lot of the South) to become a plantation economy. If Rolfe hadn't begun the planting of tobacco, then the South may have based their economy on something that required less slaves; if the South didn't require slaves at such a high level, then the future of America would have been entirely different (i.e. the civil war)
5. In 1619 they formed their own government called the House of Burgesses. It was a representative form of government and was the first representative government in British colonial America. It was important because it influenced the future governments that America would have.
6. En route to America, 40 men died. Once on shore, many more died from starvation and malaria because of the manifestation of mosquitoes in the swamps. This shows how, in addition to having to battle for their lives against the difficulties of the new land and Indians, they also had new diseases that were against them. If you survived the original trip to Jamestown and managed to survive there, you were among the minority.
7. Slavery was massively influenced because of the newly expanded plantation economy. At first slaves were all white, indentured servants but then they started importing from the Dutch West Indies. If the Dutch hadn't imported blacks to begin with, they may have not been the main source of slaves in the South.
8. 140 young, white men were brought to Jamestown. However, they were not accustomed to having to fend for themselves because they were generally raised in wealthy families and, as a result, they didn't not take full advantage of the game and wildlife for survival.
9. There was the first recording of cannibalism in America during the "starving time". They were eventually saved by the cash crop of tobacco because it became a source of income for the colony.
10. Joint stock companies became big for investing in trips. This meant that if ten men bought into a trip and it ended up failing, the economic impact of it was distributed among ten men rather than one. As a result, people were more willing to invest in trips to colonies in America, such as Jamestown.
Massachusetts Bay
1. Many settlers came to flee economic depression and cruel religious repression of Charles I. If they hadn't felt oppressed and come to start the settlement, then the story of how that area was founded would be drastically different.
2. Founded by the Massachusetts Bay Company. They brought 20,000 people to settle and successfully started the colony. If they hadn't, Massachusetts may have not been created.
3. Settlers came to New England to plant a godly commonwealth in it's rocky soil. The Puritans wanted to not only be able to believe what they wanted, but spread their religion to others also. This was the main reason they came to the Massachusetts Bay area to begin with.
4. The settlement was established in 1630. It was the second colony to be founded and was therefore one of the newer colonies and is located in New England.
5. John Winthrop was the colony's very first governor. He felt he had a "calling from God" to do it, and helped Massachusetts become very successful in fur trading, fishing, and ship building. He helped the colony realize what it's strengths were and how it could truly prosper.
6. Quakers who were adamant about their religion were not very welcome in the Massachusetts Bay colony, and some were even killed because of it. As a result, the colony stayed majorly Puritan and other colonies were created by persecuted Quakers.
7. Anne Hutchinson was a very opinionated, strong woman who stood up to the Puritans and their beliefs. Her main claim was that living a holy life was not an assurance of salvation; she also said that she had these revelations directly from God. As a result, she was banished from the Bay colony, but not before she had influenced many people.
8. Roger Williams was important to the Massachusetts Bay colony because his radical ideas influenced many of the Puritan settlers. He disliked the Church of England and wanted to break away from them, and he also spoke out against the Bay for stealing so much land from the Indians. However, his final blow was saying that the government should not regulate the religion of the colony. Eventually he was banished from the colony, but ended up escaping and starting the Rhode Island colony.
9. John Winthrop helped the colony become a successful fur, fishing, and shipbuilding industry. The Massachusetts Bay was the most successful outpost of the New England colonies.
10. Sir William Phelps arrived with the Charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay which combined the Massachusetts Bay territory and the Plymouth colony. However, in 1684, King James revoked the charter and created the Dominion of New England. This brought the colony under his royal rule.
Maryland
1. Catholics who wanted religious freedom came to Maryland. They'd had a religious minority in England and this was their chance to practice on their own.
2. Maryland was a much healthier area to settle in than Jamestown and so, as a result, it was easier for the colonists to live there in a higher abundance with a higher survival rate.
3. The colony was founded in 1632 by George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. The settlement is located in the Southern colonies.
4. Maryland was considered a proprietary colony, which means that Lord Baltimore supplied the money for and gained the profits from the land. He also had executive authority.
5. A large influence for Maryland was the Toleration Act of 1649. The Act said that all Christians were allowed, but anyone who did not believe in Jesus (Jews, Atheists, etc) were to be killed.
6. Maryland was the fourth English colony to settle in North America and the second plantation colony, so it greatly influenced the future creation of colonies that would also depend on plantations economically.
7. Maryland had a feudal relationship. This means that if the land as attacked the people living there would have to go fight for the proprietor (Lord Baltimore) along with giving the proprietor homage, labor, and a share of the produce.
8. Because Maryland was so warm, the climate made it easy to grow crops year round. This is why it was such a successful plantation colony.
9. The colony was named after King Charles I's wife, Queen Henrietta Maria of England. It helped the colony because it was respectful to the King and helped assure that he would approve of and support the colony.
10. The main crop in Maryland was tobacco because it grew so well in the colonial area.
Pennsylvania
1. Pennsylvania was made up mostly of Quakers. They originally came and settled for religious freedom and to practice what they wanted.
2. Because Quakers were peace makers, there wasn't any tension between the settlers and the Indians. Since Quakers made up the majority of the Pennsylvania colony, the entire settlement was relatively peaceful.
3. Tobacco was the main crop that was harvested from Maryland, which makes sense because it is located so close to Virginia and would have been influenced directly from colonies/plantations located there.
4. Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 by William Penn.
5. Pennsylvania did not have any public debt, few taxes, and no military.
6. Pennsylvania was very liberal. As a result, it had a lot of religious and ethnic diversity within the colony.
7. The Charter of Privileges was created in 1683. Penn wanted freedom of religion, consent and participation of the government, along with other laws regarding property rights. It created a local government while still giving the King and Parliament power over the colony.
8. Pennsylvania was against black slavery, but it permitted it. William Penn himself even had slaves.
9. The Frame of Government, under William Penn, was made up of a proprietor, 72 men that made up the "Provincial Council", and a General Assembly.
10. The main goal of Pennsylvania was to bring in a large profit along with having liberal ideas for the residents.
Georgia
1. Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe in 1733.
2. Georgia was the last of the 13 colonies to be created. It was named after King George II.
3. The main exports of Georgia were silk and wine. This was one of the reasons Georgia was created.
4. Georgia was originally founded to act as a sort of "buffer between the valuable Carolinas, Spanish Florida, and French Louisiana".
5. Many debtors were sent to Georgia to live there. It was one of the the alternatives to being thrown in prison in England.
6. Originally, Georgia wanted to keep slavery out. However, by 1750 slavery was already being enforced.
7. John Wesley was a very famous missionary because of his founding of the Methodist Church. There were many missionaries like him who worked to preach to debtors and Indians in the colony.
8. Georgia was very diverse. There was a great amount of religious liberation for Christians except for Catholicism.
9. The port of Savannah was a very successful port for Georgia. It was known as the "melting pot" and was great for trade and immigrants.
10. The colony was launched by a group of philanthropists.