Puritans, Prostitutes Pennsylvanians, and Progress Coming to America Puritans, Prostitutes Pennsylvanians, and Progress

Reasons for Migration

Virginia Company An English joint-stock company started by London entrepreneurs Joint-stock company – Business venture in which multiple investors share financial interest and liability. Started for the purpose of sharing the risk of overseas trading. Secured a charter for colonizing land on America’s Eastern shore

Jamestown Settlement Settled as a chartered joint-stock venture in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London First permanent British colony in America Names James Town after King James I of England who granted the charter

The Problem of Jamestown Largely gentlemen (no women) Wanted adventure Looking for gold and fame Limited skills for survival Leadership was ineffective People began to starve Anger mounted

What saved Jamestown?

The Puritans Arrived at Plymouth, Mass in 1630 Led by John Winthrop “City upon a hill” Religion Strict Calvinism All people born in sin and must purify themselves in life Priesthood of all believers Increase Mather Cotton Mather Alan Mather?

Things Fall Apart Puritan intolerance leads to expulsions: Anne Hutchinson 1637 moved to Rhode Island Believed sinners could still get salvation and that women were not cursed due to gender Gained sanctuary in Roger Williams’ Rhode Island Puritan ideology faced difficult competition Emergence of cities placed emphasis on commerce and “vice” Many younger Puritans moved to cities—found pleasure in gambling, drinking, and sex…oh my!

Pleasure as a reason for migration Prostitution flourished in colonial cities. John Adams would have counted over 3 dozen “bawdy houses” within walking distance of his Philadelphia home Taverns were the bane of the Founding Fathers. Lower and middling classes of all races found spirits, dancing, interracial mingling, sex, and gambling in 18th century bars Source: Thaddeus Russell, A Renegade History of the United States

William Penn A leading defender of religious toleration in England Imprisoned six times for speaking out against religious intolerance While in prison, he wrote numerous pamphlets about Quaker ideology and attacking intolerance One of his criminal cases helped secure the right to trial by jury

Settlement of Pennsylvania Charter granted to William Penn in 1681 from King Charles II in payment of a debt Penn asks for the land as a refuge for Quakers Quakers, or Society of Friends, were persecuted harshly by the English crown and throughout Europe

Frame of Government Pennsylvania was settled on the Quaker principles of complete freedom of conscience, religious tolerance, and peace (especially with Native tribes) Frame of Government, Pennsylvania’s written constitution, limited the power of government and guaranteed many fundamental liberties

Settlement of Georgia Chartered in 1732 by a group of trustees led by James Oglethorpe Founded as a colony for jailed debtors, criminals, and political prisoners from England English Debtors Prison

Soldier; Philanthropist; Founder of Georgia James Oglethorpe Soldier; Philanthropist; Founder of Georgia “In America there are fertile lands sufficient to subsist all the useless Poor in England, and distressed Protestants in Europe”

Settlement of Georgia King George was not a philanthropist like Oglethorpe He wanted a buffer between Spanish Florida and the Carolina colony