England Takes Interest in America Click the mouse button to display the information. In 1497 John Cabot sailed to the American continent to find a western route to Asia.  He landed in what is today Nova Scotia and explored the region southward.  However, at that point England did not attempt to colonize North America.

Click the mouse button to display the information. Several changes in England in the 1500s led to renewed interest in colonization.  One change was the Protestant Reformation.  Martin Luther, a German monk, published an attack on the practices of the Catholic Church.  The Reformation spread across western Europe. England Takes Interest in America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. In England the Reformation involved a disagreement between King Henry VIII and the pope, who refused to annul the king’s marriage.  The king then broke with the Church and declared himself the head of the Anglican Church. England Takes Interest in America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. Some English people wanted to keep the organization of the Catholic Church in the Anglican Church.  Others, however, wanted to “purify” the Anglican Church of all Catholic elements.  These people became known as Puritans. England Takes Interest in America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. King James I refused to implement the changes to the Anglican Church that the Puritans wanted.  This forced many Puritans to leave England for America. England Takes Interest in America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. Economic changes in England also led to colonization.  In the early 1500s, much of England’s land was divided into large estates.  The landowners rented the land to tenant farmers.  Then the demand for English wool increased dramatically, leading English landowners to convert their estates into sheep farms by enclosing the land. England Takes Interest in America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. The evicted tenants were left unemployed and poor.  Leaving England for America was a possible economic opportunity. England Takes Interest in America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. The English merchants needed new markets for their surplus wool.  Many organized joint-stock companies, pooling the money of many investors for large projects, such as establishing colonies. England Takes Interest in America (cont.)

What religious and economic changes led to England’s interest in establishing colonies in America? The Reformation in England led Puritans to want to leave England for America; the change from tenant farming to sheep raising left many poor and unemployed people looking toward America for economic opportunities. Click the mouse button to display the answer. England Takes Interest in America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. England Returns to America After England emerged as the leading Protestant power and Spain the leading Catholic power, the two countries became enemies.  When the Spanish tried to check the spread of Protestantism in the Netherlands, which was part of the Spanish Empire, the Dutch rebelled, and England came to the aid of the Dutch.

Click the mouse button to display the information. Queen Elizabeth allowed privateers to attack Spanish ships.  Privateers are privately owned ships licensed by the government to attack ships of other countries. England Returns to America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. To be able to more easily attack Spanish ships in the Caribbean, England needed to establish colonies nearby in order to establish bases.  Walter Raleigh obtained a charter from the queen to explore the American coastline.  He sent two ships, which landed on Roanoke Island near present-day North Carolina, and he named the land Virginia. England Returns to America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the answer. Why did England come to the aid of the Dutch in the mid-1500s? The Dutch were Protestant and part of the Spanish Empire, which was Catholic. Spain was trying to check the spread of Protestantism in the Netherlands. The Dutch rebelled, and England came to their aid against the Spanish. England Returns to America (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. Jamestown in Founded In 1606 the king of England granted the Virginia Company a charter to establish colonies in Virginia.  The 144 men sent to Virginia founded the settlement of Jamestown.

Click the mouse button to display the information. Jamestown faced many problems.  Most of the colonists were townspeople who knew nothing about living in the woods.  Many were upper-class “gentlemen” who refused to do manual labor.  Lawlessness, sickness, and food shortages resulted.  The leadership of Captain John Smith and assistance from the local Native Americans led by Chief Powhatan helped the colony survive. Jamestown in Founded (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. The Jamestown Company offered free land to people who worked for the colony for seven years.  New settlers arrived in 1609, but there was not enough food for them.  To survive, the settlers stole food from the Native Americans, who retaliated by attacking them.  By 1610 only 60 settlers survived. Jamestown in Founded (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. John Rolfe, a Jamestown colonist, developed a strain of tobacco that was marketable in England.  The Jamestown settlers soon began growing large quantities of tobacco for profit. Jamestown in Founded (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. To attract more settlers to Jamestown, the Virginia Company gave the colony the right to elect its own general assembly.  The elected representatives were called burgesses, and the legislative body was called the House of Burgesses. Jamestown in Founded (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. The Virginia Company also introduced the system of headrights.  Under this system, new settlers who bought a share in the company or paid for their passage were granted 50 acres.  They received more land for each family member or servant they brought to Virginia. Jamestown in Founded (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. The Native Americans near Jamestown grew alarmed at the increasing population.  They attacked the settlement, killing nearly 350 settlers.  King James blamed the Virginia Company for the high death rate in the colony, revoked the colony’s charter, and declared it a royal colony. Jamestown in Founded (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the answer. Why was the settlement of Jamestown in trouble from its beginning? Most of the Jamestown settlers were townspeople who knew nothing about living in the woods or farming. Many refused to do the necessary manual labor. Sickness and food shortages occurred, and many settlers died. Jamestown in Founded (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the information. Maryland is Founded Catholics were persecuted in England for their beliefs.  Lord Baltimore, a Catholic member of Parliament, decided to found a colony in America where Catholics could practice their religion without persecution.

Click the mouse button to display the information. The king granted Baltimore an area of land northeast of Virginia, which Baltimore named Maryland.  Baltimore owned Maryland, making it the first proprietary colony.  Although Maryland was founded as a Catholic refuge, most of the colony’s settlers were Protestant.  Maryland passed the Toleration Act in 1649, granting religious toleration to all Christians in the colony. Maryland is Founded (cont.)

Click the mouse button to display the answer. Why did Lord Baltimore establish the colony of Maryland? He wanted to establish a refuge for Catholics, who were being persecuted in England. Maryland is Founded (cont.)