Colonial America
Colonial America
New England Colonies
• Religion played a central role
• Boston became the largest city
• Became an area of small farms and towns
Puritans • Wanted to reform the
Church of England – Purify it
• Mass migration to New England in the 1630s
• Led by John Winthrop – “City upon a hill”
• Created a General Court • Believed that the Church
had supreme power • Only allowed Puritans to
vote • Founded Harvard to
educate ministers
Thomas Hooker and Connecticut
• Left Massachusetts because he felt the government and the church had too much power
• Led 100 settlers to the Connecticut River
• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut – 1639 – All men could vote – Limited the governor’s
power
• Became a separate colony in 1662
Roger Williams
• Strongly believed in religious tolerance
– Letting others practice their own beliefs
• Ordered to leave Massachusetts
– Seen as a danger
• Founded the colony of Rhode Island in 1636
• Allowed complete freedom of religion
Anne Hutchinson
• Questioned church leaders
• Very outspoken and persuasive
• Believed women could interpret the Bible
• Banished from Massachusetts and went to Rhode Island
King Phillip’s War
• New England colonists began expanding into Native American land
• Population 1670 – 45,000 • Metacom ( Chief of the
Wampanoag Tribe) – Called King Phillip by the
English
• Attacked and destroyed 12 towns and killed more than 600 colonists
• Eventually captured and sold into slavery in the West Indies
Life in Colonial New England
• Everything centered around towns and the church
• Sabbath was followed
• Town meetings – Voted on issues
– Community projects
• Shipbuilding and trade ran the economy
• Puritan influence began to decline in the 1700s
Salem Witch Trials
• Witchcraft was condemned in England
• 1692-93: In Salem, Massachusetts 150 people were arrested and imprisoned for witchcraft
• 19 were eventually executed
Middle Colonies
• Why were these colonies called the Middle colonies?
• Greater diversity of people compared to New England and the Southern Colonies
• Mix of small farmers, merchants and plantations
New York • New Netherland was
given to the Duke of York and renamed New York
– 1664
• Center of trade (especially trading furs)
• 1702 – New Jersey broke away and became its own colony
The Quakers • Despised in England
• Believed…
– All people were equal in God’s eyes
– Pacifists
• Given a charter for the colony of Pennsylvania in 1681
• William Penn – Founder and leader
Pennsylvania • Religious Freedom • Treated Native Americans
fairly – Paid for their land
• 1704 – Southern part of the colony broke off and founded Delaware
Life in the Middle Colonies • Mostly farmers
– Land along the Hudson and Delaware were very fertile
– Mild Winters
• Goods were sent to New England to be shipped
• Some slaves, but not a lot
• Some craftsmen, artisans
Southern Colonies
• Everything south of the Mason-Dixon line
• Very different from the other English colonies
Maryland • Founded by Sir
George Calvert and his son Lord Baltimore in 1634
• Passed the Act of Toleration – Religious freedom
was granted to all Christians
• Women were allowed to own land
Bacon’s Rebellion
• 1676 • Wealthy planters
controlled the best lands
• Nathanial Bacon and several hundred followers began raiding Native American lands
• Also burned down Jamestown
• Rebellion fell apart when Bacon died
The Carolinas • Consisted of small
tobacco farms and large plantations
• Rice became a staple crop
• Used slaves from Africa for labor
• 1700 – African Americans outnumbered whites in the Carolinas
Georgia • Founded by James
Oglethorpe
• A place were debtors could get a fresh start
Plantation Life • More profitable to
raise tobacco and rice on large plantations
• Small percentage of people in the South
• Owned 20 to 200 slaves
• Slaves worked as field hands, cooks, maids, carpenters, blacksmiths.
• Owner (Master) oversaw the plantation
Slavery in Africa
• Part of the social and economic system
• Slaves were people captured in war
• Slave traders set up ports along the West African coast
• Africans would go inland to capture slaves
• Loaded onto European vessels
Middle Passage
• Passage between Africa and the Americas
• Slaves were kept below the deck
• Crammed tightly together and chained
• ¼ would die on the passage
• Lasted 400 years
Growth of Slavery in North America
• As slavery increased, more limits were placed on slaves
• Slaves became seen as property
• English colonists felt they were superior
• Some colonists spoke out against slavery – Mostly from New
England and Pennsylvania
Triangular Trade