Problems: diseased (malaria) land,
contaminated river, lazy/proud colonists = half of settlers died by end of
first winter. They had a common
store system (communal) put in the fruit of your labor and take out your needs
1608 - Captain John Smith took
charge of colony and saved it from destruction. New biblical principle (2 Thessalonians 3:10) that those who don't
work don't eat.
Virginia settler, John Rolfe,
married the Indian princess Pocahontas and taught settler how to grow tobacco,
which would later become a profitable export crop for Virginia and southern
colonies
Large tobacco crop created need
for large labor force. an indentured servant is one whose passage to America was paid y an
established colonists and in return, the servant worked for his benefactor
without pay for an agreed-upon period of time, usually four to seven years.
many poor people came to the American colonies as indentured servants and,
after fulfilling their obligations, became prosperous colonists
1619, Dutch ship arrived from
Africa with about 30 black servants to be sold to the settlers, purchased as
indentured servants rather than slaves.
Nevertheless, their arrival marked the beginning of the slave trade in
British North America. Later, it
was millions of Africans transported to New World to be sold as slaves
1624, the king revoked the charter
of the London company, and Virginia became a royal colony (a colony owned and
controlled directly by the king)
1620 - Plymouth colony founded by Pilgrims in New England
Church of England (Anglican)
Dissenters (those that opposed the
official church): Catholics and Puritans. The Puritans / dissenters that chose
to completely separate themselves from the Church of England to establish their
own churches were Separatists.
They believed in congregationalism - the theory of church government
which says that every body of believers should be independent and
self-governing (no civil authority "king"that interfered with the
right of the individual to exercise religious freedom)
Separatists went to Holland under
leadership of Pastor John Robinson.
The Separatists courageous enough
to build a new life in North America are remembered as the Pilgrims. Those that were non-Separatists going
to the New World were called Strangers by the Pilgrims (but the two groups will
have to live and work together for the colony). Speedwell and Mayflower, then just Mayflower
Landed outside of their charter so
they wrote the Mayflower Compact before going on shore. It established "for the glory of
God...a civil body politic", not a true government, but the expression
that the people were willing to show due submission to "such just and
equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as
shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the
colony."
Going on shore December 21st, hard
winter, half died, but all stayed with colony instead of traveling back to
England with Mayflower when it set sail in April 1621.
Pilgrims blessed with help of
friendly Indians, particularly Squanto, who had visited England and learned to
speak English there. The first
thanksgiving, three day feast with Indians giving thanks to God for His
blessings because of a good harvest
The elder who served as the
Pilgrims' pastor at Plymouth - William Brewster.
William Bradford became the
governor for over 30 years and wrote the "History of Plymouth
Plantation", the first American history book
Instead of communal system,
Governor Bradford divided the land among the families, making each responsible
for itself, establishing a free-enterprise system
by 1627, the Pilgrims had paid
their debt to the English businessmen who financed the founding of the colony.
Plymouth then was a self-governing colony until 1691, when it was absorbed by
the larger Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Reasons for English colonization
1. religious freedom
2. political freedom - divine right
of kings (absolute monarchy is only form of government sanctioned by God:
monarchs have absolute authority in all matters - political, civil, and
religious =they can do no wrong and can't be criticized for their policies)
3. economic freedom - hard times in
England with opportunity for a better life in New World
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