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