English Settlement in North America

English Backgrounds

Claims and Conflict

During the second half of the 1400s the English were caught up in a series of civil wars.
King Henry VII showed interest in the New World and hired an Italian mariner to explore the coast of North America for England.
The explorer John Cabot provided the basis for England's claim to land in the New World.
Henry VII's son Henry VIII changed religion in England because of a disagreement with the Pope. He persuaded Parliament to set up the Church of England, with the monarch as the church's leader. Many people were displeased with this and bitter conflict followed.

Rule of Elizabeth

She worked to create religious as well as political unity in England.
Actions by the English that led to war with Spain were taking cargoes from Spanish ships and sinking them.
Elizabeth approved of attacks on Spanish ships.

Early Exploration and Settlement

Gilbert's Voyage: Sir Humphrey Gilbert was sent to the New World to establish an English settlement. He became lost at sea. Queen Elizabeth then sent Sir Walter Raleigh to complete the job.
The Lost Colony: The first English settlement in the New world was Roanoke Island, Virginia; however, the people disappeared!
Invincible Armada: The Spanish became angry at the repeated robbery of Spanish ships by English sea dogs. In 1588, Spain sent a fleet of warships to attack England. The guns of the smaller, more maneuverable English ships damaged the Spanish fleet. The English defeated the Spanish and became a major naval power.

First Permanent Colonies

Joint Stock Companies

The first English settlements were financed by joint stock companies.

Jamestown Settlement

Starving Time: Hardships the first settlers faced were disease and a lack of food.
Tobacco Farming: this and cattle raising became the basis for early settlers to make money. Tobacco brought a high price in England which enabled settlers to make good profits to buy manufactured goods.
Indian-Settler Relations: John Rolfe married Pocahontas in 1614, and the relationship between natives and settlers was okay. Later, diseases began to kill many Native Americans, and disputes over land led to a poor relationship.
Representative Government: formation of the House of Burgesses began the first representative government in North America.

Plymouth Colony

Mayflower Compact: Puritan (Pilgrim) agreement to set up a civil government and to obey its laws.
Plymouth Plantations: Pilgrim farms taken over from the Indians who had died from disease.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Two religious groups that formed settlements in Massachusetts during the 1600s were the Puritans and the Separatists.
Rhode Island and Connecticut
Roger Williams: Rhode Island and Connecticut became colonies when Roger Williams, a religious dissident from Massachusetts, started the settlement of Providence and in 1644 received a charter for the colony of Rhode Island.
Anne Hutchinson: founded a settlement to the south of Providence.
Thomas Hooker: In search of greater religious and civil freedom, Thomas Hooker of Massachusetts established towns in the Connecticut Valley and in 1662 was granted a charter for the colony of Connecticut.

Maryland

The colony of Maryland was different from early colonies in that it was the first proprietary colony, and it protected religious freedom.

Maine and New Hampshire

These proprietary colonies were formed in hopes that they would weaken the power of Puritan Massachusetts; however, the Massachusetts Bay Colony began buying up land in later years. New Hampshire was then made a royal colony (the first colony of this type) and put under direct control of the king.

Later Colonies

The Carolina Grant

In 1642 a civil war broke out in England. The king, Charles I, was executed and Parliament took control of running the country under the direction of Oliver Cromwell. No new colonies were established in the New World, and those that existed were allowed to handle their own affairs. By 1660 a new king, Charles II, was back in power in England.
The Carolina colony, at first a proprietary colony, ran from Virginia to Spanish Florida. The northern part had many farms and used slaves. The southern part was involved mainly in trade as a port settlement, and in 1719 broke away from the north to become a royal colony. The North became a royal colony a few years later as the king took away their grant.

New York and New Jersey

England gained control of New York and New Jersey as it took them from the Dutch.
Pennsylvania
The Society of Friends (Quakers) established the colony of Pennsylvania.
Delaware
This colony was established by William Penn to provide a water outlet for Pennsylvania. It was under the control of Pennsylvania for 20 years and shared the same governor.

Georgia

James Oglethorpe founded the colony of Georgia as a refuge for English debtors.

Governing the Colonies

Royal Colony Government

Charles II formed royal colonies to have colonies that were under the direct control of the Crown.

Dominion of New England

The Dominion of New England was created to organize and unify the colonies.
The Dominion of New England came to an end because when the "Glorious Revolution" in England deposed James II, some people in Boston imprisoned Edmund Andros and his followers.

Glorious Revolution

When the English drove out James II, they asked his daughter Mary and her husband William to be joint rulers. They agreed and the change took place without bloodshed.
The Glorious Revolution guaranteed important rights for the English people, including the people in the colonies. The Declaration of Rights of 1689 said that the crown could not pass tax laws without the consent of Parliament, could not keep an army in peacetime, and stated other basic rights.

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