Chapter 2 Summary
The defeat of the Spanish Armada and the rise to power of Elizabeth I marked the beginning of English involvement in overseas colonization. The first English colony was founded in Jamestown, Virginia by the London Company. Initially, Jamestown was swampy, had poor drinking water, disease carrying insects, and the colonists wasted their time looking for gold instead of doing useful tasks, but the colony later prospered with the leadership of John Smith and its growth of tobacco. Although English relations with neighboring Indians such as the Powhatans were initially positive, war eventually broke out and the Powhatans were banished. Other colonies were soon established. Maryland was founded in 1634 by Lord Baltimore as a safe haven for Catholics. South Carolina established economic ties with sugar colonies in the West Indies, while North Carolina was more independent and had small farms. Georgia was intended to be a buffer between the English colonies and the Spanish and French settlements down south. These five "plantation colonies" all permitted some sort of religious toleration, depended on agriculture, and implemented slavery for labor.
Essential Questions (EQs)
1. Were the Americas "discovered" or were they conquered?
The Americas were both
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Spanish conquistadores such as Cortes and Pizarro were especially harsh, completely destroying the Aztec and Incan empires. Some natives, such as Chief Powhatan and his daughter Pocahontas, attempted to create friendly relations with the European settlers. The marriage of Pocahontas to colonist John Rolfe was successful towards maintaining peace for a short period of time, but the Anglo-Powhatan Wars soon broke out, and the Powhatans were banished from their homeland. European settlers also believed in converting the natives to their own religion, and the Spanish Mission System in California was established as a
Jamestown was the first successful settlement established by England. It was first built in 1607 and lasted until about 1614. On the first ship, 100 male settlers set off for a new settlement in the New World. Life there at times was hard for various reasons. They did, however, become 7 7 trading partners with the Indians. 80% of Jamestown’s more than 500 settlers that had arrived had been dead by 1611. The reason for this is because of sickness and disease, lack of resources, and where they chose to build their settlement.
In 1607, King James I. granted a charter to the Virginia Company which allowed them to start a colony in the New World. This colony was named Virginia after the virgin queen, Queen Elizabeth I, and was located along the Chesapeake Bay. The Virginia Company sought to build a permanent settlement, and was successful in establishing Jamestown. Virginia was also home to nearly 14,000 Algonquin speaking Native Americans who were united under the Powhatan Confederacy lead by Chief Powhattan. Other Chesapeake Bay colonies include North Carolina, whose population became dominant in African Americans with a large amount of settlers from Barbados, and Maryland. Maryland was established by the Calvert Family after King Charles I. granted 10 million acres of land to the family. Maryland became the only British colony to ever have a Catholic minority, and the population of Maryland also consisted of indentured servants, slaves, and many farmers. The Chesapeake Bay was a very hot area a...
The establishment of colonies in America took place within distinct circumstances. Some colonies were founded for the purpose of political and religious havens and pursuit of individual freedom and happiness. People came to the New World expecting a place where the rules in the Old World, such as hereditary aristocracies and dominance of church and state, would not apply. Other colonies such as the Carolinas, and Pennsylvania were established by either proprietors, or individuals who had an ideal for a place that could embrace everyone with his/her own will. With people who sought liberty in believes and equality in rights and founders of colonies who were not under direct rule or servitude to the Kings and Queens in Europe, the English colonies
In 1493 Spain led the popular discovery of America when Columbus first settled in the New World. While England's first colony was Jamestown, established over 100 years later in 1607. After the settlement of Plymouth, in 1620 America's eastern sea board soon became over crowded. Establishing the first thirteen colonies was no easy task. In Foner's textbook we study a great many men whom he claims to have a perpetual role in Americas colonial period (Foner). Foner gives an overview of the greatest men, sometimes leaving out a few equally great men. William Penn, for example, is one of these great men.
The three colonial regions blossomed quite differently in terms of economy. English colonists first settled in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Failing to find gold, however, people in the southern colonies grew tobacco and rice as marketable commodities. Since tobacco plantation was labor-intensive, a large number of the population was indentured servants and black slaves. Because of the high mortality rate and unbalanced sex ratio, headright system was created in order to attract more settlers. In New England, due to the poor soil condition, people mainly relied on fishing, and lumber. Also, the Navigation Acts stimulated shipbuilding industry. The Middle colonies were based on growing grains and trading with European nations as well as other colonies.
Between 1607 and 1733, Great Britain established thirteen colonies in the New World along the land’s eastern coast. England’s colonies included Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Though the colonies were classified as New England, middle or southern colonies, the colonists developed a unifying culture. With this new American culture, the colonists throughout the colonies began to think differently than their English cousins. Because colonial America displayed characteristics of a democratic society and, therefore, deviated from England’s monarchic ways, it was established as a democratic society.
The Spanish Armada arose in the 1580’s because the so-called “invincible” Spanish armada was on a mission to overthrow the heretic queen Elizabeth I. The Spanish also wanted to put an end to the English robbing their exports from America. Through six days of naval warfare, the English stood victors because of the innovative thinking and tactics by Sir Francis Drake. The Spanish Armada was a test of guts and strategy for both the Spanish and English Navy’s, but Sir Francis Drake, commander of the English Navy, decimated the Spanish fleet with revolutionary tactics.
The British colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Pennsylvania, and Maryland hold many divergent and comparable facts in regards to their beginnings as colonies, troubling periods of growth, and their ultimate status in regards to their relationship within the British Empire. Religion played an important impetus to the start of many of these colonies, so that the respective religious groups may experience religious freedom. The economy was a vital component to the growth of the colony and greatly influenced the culture and the trajectory of the colony for centuries. The religious and economic aspect of these colonies ultimately influenced the relationship they each had other colonies, as well as with the British Empire.
The New England Colonies purposes were different than the southern colonies. In the north most of the colonies were settled for religious freedom, whereas in the south they settled for profit. With having different motives for their societies, colonization became very different. The Chesapeake region originally were wasting all their time looking for gold, for money, and didn't come prepared for survival in the unknown, New World. The pilgrims, who were separatist came to the new world and were ready to “set up camp” as they were there in search to create a society where they could live by their faith without the fear of the monarch disapproving. When Maryland was
“The Conquest of New Spain” is the first hand account of Bernal Diaz (translated by J.M. Cohen) who writes about his personal accounts of the conquest of Mexico by himself and other conquistadors beginning in 1517. Unlike other authors who wrote about their first hand accounts, Diaz offers a more positive outlook of the conquest and the conquistadors motives as they moved through mainland Mexico. The beginning chapters go into detail about the expeditions of some Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernando Cotes. This book, though, focuses mainly on Diaz’s travels with Hernando Cortes. Bernal Diaz’s uses the idea of the “Just War Theory” as his argument for why the conquests were justifiable
The Chesapeake region of the colonies included Virginia, Maryland, the New Jerseys (both East and West) and Pennsylvania. In 1607, Jamestown, the first English colony in the New World (that is, the first to thrive and prosper), was founded by a group of 104 settlers to a peninsula along the James River. These settlers hoped to find gold, silver, a northwest passage to Asia, a cure for syphilis, or any other valuables they might take back to Europe and make a profit. Lead by Captain John Smith, who "outmaneuvered other members of the colony's ruling and took ruthlessly took charge" (Liberty Equality Power, p. 57), a few lucky members of the original voyage survived. These survivors turned to the local Powhatan Indians, who taught them the process of corn- and tobacco-growing. These staple-crops flourished throughout all five of these colonies.
The Conquest of New Spain Cortés came not to the New World to conquer by force, but by manipulation. Bernal Daz del Castillo, in the "Conquest of New Spain," describes how Cortés and his soldiers manipulated the Aztec people and their king Montezuma from the time they traveled from Iztapalaopa to the time when Montezuma took Cortés to the top of the great Cue and showed him the whole of Mexico and its countryside, and the three causeways which led into Mexico. Castillo's purpose for recording the mission was to keep an account of the wealth of Montezuma and Mexico, the traditions, and the economic potential that could benefit Cortés' upcoming conquest. However, through these recordings, we are able to see and understand Cortés' strategy in making Mexico "New Spain." He came as a wolf in sheep's clothing and manipulated Montezuma through his apparent innocence.
they could leave us to die of hunger with no possibility of getting to the mainland.” (4). The Spanish Conquest was a significant expedition in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Cortés’s fleet, crew, weapons, and horses helped him in his conquest. However that alone was not enough to defeat a larger society, and with the alliances formed by Cortés with the Tlaxcalans who hated the Aztecs helped him gain more power in his overpowering of the Aztec empire.
America. In 1607, a group of merchants, known as the Virginia Company, settled at Jamestown, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay (Divine, 72); while Puritan leader John Winthrop, stationed himself and his followers at Massachusetts Bay in 1630. (Divine, 90) Although both settlements started off relatively the same, the greater success of one over the other has caused continuous debates between many, including the descendants of these early Americans. Some might argue that the Virginia Colony was more successful than the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of the Virginia colonists’ motivation and interest in profit (Divine, 76). However, when efforts for income proved futile, this and survival became the colony's only interests. Therefore, Massachusetts proved itself to be the stronger colony and the most successful, as a result of its community development and social advancement, its economic growth, and the positive influence the government had on the Massachusetts Colony.
The English had two main colonies in the new world, Jamestown and Plymouth. The first colony was Jamestown, established in Virginia in 1607. Jamestown was settled by Captain John Smith, and was named after King James I. Tobacco was the main export of Jamestown, and became the basis of the Jamestown economy, sending more than 50,000 lbs of the plan back to Europe by 1618 (textbook 46). Jamestown had a very rocky start, many colonists dying in the first few years of the settlement, and the settlers had many problems with natives. Shortly after the arrival of English colonists the Natives attacked them, and were finally forced back by a canon from the English. A very uneasy truce was finally settled between the natives, called the Powhatans, and the English (textbook 44-5). Economic growth and expanding their territories were the main priorities of the English in the Jamestown colonies.