Topic 1

The New World: Colonies and Empires

A. The Native Americans – The First Discoverers of America

1. The first discoverers of America – 15,000-20,000 or so years ago Bering Strait, perhaps using a now submerged land bridge that archeologists call Beringia.

2. As they came and multiplied two important things happened:

– Did not bring measles and smallpox with them

– Many of the large mammals they once hunted died out; hunted smaller game, fished, and about 5,000 years ago many learned how to grow crops, such as corn, beans, squash etc.

B. Early European Contacts – Another question mark….

1. Mystery Hill – (North Salem, NH) Celtic people, perhaps 2,000 years before the birth of Christ?

2. 900-1000 Scandinavian Norsemen gradually crossed the Atlantic: Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland – Why they stopped we do not know, and their crossing had no effect on Europe. Europe was not ready to explore and colonize.

C. Changes in Europe – Over the course of several centuries, four revolutions occurred that prepared Europe for the age of exploration and colonization.

1. Intellectual Revolution – Renaissance – 1300s and 1400s – Europe was stirring with new ideas.

– Middle Ages – most scratched out a bare living and prepared for the life to come after the grave.

– Now people became more interested in the world around them – knowing more and living better.

– One of the things that contributed to this new outlook on the world was The Crusades – 1096-1272. Many died, but those who returned brought back new ideas and new ways to do things: compass and the astrolabe.

– Printing press was developed

– Scholars began studying the writings of the ancient Greeks and rediscovered the idea that the world was a sphere. You could reach the East by sailing West! Columbus the first to try this.

2. Commercial Revolution

– Again the Crusades were of great importance. Brought back Eastern goods and Europeans developed a taste for them:

§ Damascus and Baghdad – steel and glass

§ Persia fine rugs

§ India – “black gold”

§ East Indies – cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves

§ China – silk and fine porcelain

§ Europeans bought Eastern goods with woolen goods, gold and silver

– Much of the trade controlled by Italian merchants in Genoa and Venice

– Eventually Europeans grew tired of this Italian control and began looking for new trade routes to the East. This would lead them to find a new world that they did not know existed!

3. The Religious Revolution – Scholars such as Martin Luther began preaching against certain practices of the Roman Catholic. Their attacks led to the Protestant Reformation which divided Europe into opposing religious camps, north and south. Southern Europe remained Catholic, northern Europe tended to become Protestant.

4. The Political Revolution – Gradually in the 1400s and 1500s the map of Europe was transformed; hundreds of small kingdoms were absorbed into and became part of the modern nations of Portugal, Spain, France, and England among others. Though poor by modern standards, they sometimes had the military and financial resources needed to explore and colonize.

D. Portugal, Spain, France, and the Dutch – A Brief Summary

Nation	Where explored	Colonies
Portugal	Explored the western coast of Africa, then eastern coast and present-day India	§ Prince Henry began sending out explorers in the 1420 – slaves and gold § Eventually,1460s, Portuguese began looking for all water route around Africa § Vasco da Gama sailed around southern tip of Africa and reached India - 1498
Spain	The Caribbean area, Central and South America, southern portion of North America	§ Explorations began with voyages of Columbus: 1492, 1494, 1499, 1502 § Others followed and through their conquests and explorations established a huge empire in the Western Hemisphere § Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Indians brought huge quantities of gold and silver to Spain. § The Columbian Exchange – What was it?
France – New France	St. Lawrence River Valley, Great Lakes region, Mississippi River Valley	§ Samuel Champlain founded Quebec in 1608 – Father of New France § Gradually pushed into the interior and eventually claimed all the territory from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi – New France
the Dutch – New Netherland	Hudson River Valley to northern end of the Chesapeake Bay	§ Called the area they colonized New Netherland – New Amsterdam the capital § Communities all very small § Conquered by the English in 1664

G. Early English Contacts

1. The English were drawn across the Atlantic during the reign of Henry VIII by the hope of finding a Northwest Passage: John Rut – 1528. Did not find it, but …..

2. After Rut’s voyage, 50 years passed before the English sent any more expeditions to the New World

3. New efforts under Elizabeth

– Sir Humphrey Gilbert – 1578 – carried the seeds of limited government (and the seeds of the American Revolution)

– Sir Walter Raleigh and Roanoke Island: 1585, 1587 (the lost colony)

– Philip II and the Spanish Armada – July 1588

– His objectives:

– A turning point in history – Showed that the English could hold their own against the Spanish, despite Spanish wealth and power, and knowing this would give the English the courage to establish their own colonies and their own empire.

– But it took a few more years before the English came back. The war with Spain continued, off and on, and the English had trouble subduing the Irish and getting them to accept English rule.

H. Cast of characters:

1. James I – 1603-25
2. Charles I – 1625-1649
3. Oliver Cromwell – Lord Protector – 1649-58
4. Richard Cromwell 1658-60
5. Charles II – 1660-85
6. James II – 1685-88 – William and Mary

I. First, Why and how?

1. Desire to build up the wealth of England – The Spanish had found huge quantities of gold and silver, and the English hoped that they could do the same.

2. Love of adventure – There are always those who want to step out into the unknown and see what they might accomplish!

3. Economic hard times – The enclosure movement of the 1500s and 1600s had thrown large numbers of farm laborers out of work. Appeared that England was over populated (which it really was not) and there was the hope that once colonies were established some of the poor and unemployed could get a fresh start.

4. Religion – The teachings of the Protestant Reformation led to the Puritan movement in England. The Puritans wanted to be left alone to worship as they desired, which is not to say they favored complete religious freedom!

5. How: many were established by privately owned joint stock companies, profit-seeking business enterprises similar to modern-day corporations..

J. The 13 Original Colonies

The Chesapeake Colonies
Virginia	167 – 120 men and boys sent by Virginia Co. of London founded Jamestown Went through a “starving time” – Company largely to blame Tobacco proved to be the source of profit Two things of importance: representative government and slavery
Maryland	1632 by Cecilius Calvert – haven for Roman Catholics Never went through a “starving time” Economy based on tobacco
The New England Colonies
Plymouth	Established in 1620 by radical Puritans, the Separatists Mayflower Compact – first written form of government in America 1691 – became part of Massachusetts
Massachusetts	First colonists sent out by Mass. Bay Co. in 1630 A “city upon a hill” Not tolerant people – close relationship between church and state Strong believers in education
Rhode Island	Roger Williams – a rare bird among the early Puritans
Connecticut	Farmers looking for new lands to cultivate
New Hampshire and Maine	Started as a real estate venture by two enterprising Englishmen (John Mason and Ferdinando Gorges) Split in 1629 – N.H. became a separate colony Maine was absorbed into Mass.
The Middle Colonies
New York and New Jersey	These colonies established in 1664 after the Dutch surrendered New Netherland
Pennsylvania	Founded by William Penn in 1682 – A tolerant man who invited hard-working people to his colony Became a haven for persecuted religious minorities
Delaware	Originally part of Pennsylvania – lower counties allowed to separate in 1773
The Southern Colonies
Carolina, North and South	1669 – Some friends of Charles II founded Charles Town – rice 1729 – Became separate colonies
Georgia	1732 – James Oglethorpe Hoped Georgia would be a utopia – no slaves, no alcohol 1752 – Colony’s charter given back to the King, George II
NOTE: If a colony’s name does not appear in bold face, it is not considered one of the 13 original colonies.

Reading Assignments:

1. New England Society, pp 54-56
2. King Phillip’s War – pp 70-72
3. The Entrenchment of Slavery in British America – pp 87-92

Topic 1 Review

• The Native Americans: where did they originally come from?
• What about diseases such as smallpox and measles?
• How did they support themselves?
• What about the place today called Mystery Hill; who may have lived there?
• What were the changes than enabled Europe to begin exploring and colonizing?
• Who was Prince Henry?
• Why was he interested in exploring?
• Christopher Columbus: did he think the voyage westward across the Atlantic to Asia would be long and difficult?
• What was the Columbian Exchange?
• Who was Samuel Champlain?
• Who was Sir Humphrey Gilbert?
• Who was Sir Walter Raleigh?
• What was the lost colony and where was it?
• Who was Phillip II?
• What was the Spanish Armada and what happened to it?
• What were the Chesapeake Bay colonies?
• What two things gained a foothold in Virginia and spread to other English colonies?
• How did Maryland differ from Virginia? How was it the same?
• Who were the Puritans?
• Who were the Separatists?
• What was the Mayflower Compact?
• What were the New England colonies?
• What colony was supposed to be a “city upon a hill”?
• What is the oldest college or university in what is now the U.S.?
• Who was Roger Williams?
• What role did religion play in the founding of New Hampshire and Maine?
• How did the English acquire the area that the Dutch called New Netherland?
• What were the southern colonies located south of Virginia and Maryland?