English Colonization in North America

Focus Question:

Entering the Game Late By the time England was ready: Spain had claimed much of South and Central America France claimed the rich fur lands of Canada and the Mississippi Valley English stuck with the Atlantic seaboard

English Advantages Excess Population Enclosure Movement Religious Dissent Geopolitics Growth of Joint-Stock Companies

Enclosure Movement

Failed Early Attempts Trial and Error Method Patterns established Settlement Breakdown of order and purpose Disease and hunger Trouble with Native Americans Lacked Successful Model

The Chesapeake Settled along the James River Defensive Posture Planned by Virginia Company of London Required a commodity Very nearly failed

Achieves Success Developed New Model for Colonization Send large numbers of family groups Encourage small, privately owned farms Maintain military discipline Locate goods suitable for trade

Pilgrims Progress The Settlement of New England

Role of the Protestant Reformation Different groups protested different teachings and practices Lutherans Calvinists Anglicans Development of Puritans in England Wished to “purify” Catholic elements from the Anglican Church Adopted many Calvinist ideas, especially predestination

Pilgrims Separatists “Church of England too corrupt for salvation” Set sail for Virginia Mayflower Compact Self-Government with Town Meeting Only Church members voted Absorbed by Massachusetts Bay

Puritans in New England Sought to establish a “City Upon a Hill” How a Christian community should live Mixed Church and State Only Puritan men could vote All citizens supported the Church State had jurisdiction over ministry Established the “Protestant Work Ethic” Serious commitment to work Enjoyed simple, human pleasures

Colonial Massachusetts