Early English Colonies (College Board AP® US History)

Summary

Timeline

England's attempts to establish permanent colonies in the Americas were initially met with failure. The first attempt, at Roanoke in 1587, ended mysteriously, with the colony disappearing without a trace, leaving only the word “Croatoan” carved on a post. This failure highlighted the difficulties of establishing colonies in the New World, such as harsh environmental conditions, limited supplies, and lack of support from England.

However, by 1607, the English succeeded in establishing Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English colony in North America. Despite facing extreme hardships, including the "Starving Time" of 1609−1610, where many colonists died from hunger and disease, the colony survived due to the leadership of figures like Captain John Smith and the introduction of tobacco cultivation. The experiences at Roanoke and Jamestown were crucial in shaping the future of English colonization, as they showed both the challenges and potential rewards of establishing settlements in the New World.

Roanoke - the first colony

Roanoke

• Roanoke was England’s first attempt to create a permanent settlement in North America

• It was established in 1585 on an island off North America’s east coast by Sir Walter Raleigh

• The initial group of settlers consisted of 107 men and no women

• A later group sent in 1587 included women and children

  • Including Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas

• The settlement was found empty in 1590 when a supply ship returned to the colony

  • Roanoke became known as the “Lost Colony” – historians do not know what happened to the settlers

  • The word CROATOAN and the letters CRO were found carved into trees in the settlement with no explanation of what that meant

  • Storms prevented searches for the missing people

Jamestown, John Smith & Powhtan

Jamestown

• Jamestown was England’s first permanent English settlement in the “New World”

• It was established in 1607; English law governed the colony King James I granted a charter to the Virginia Company of London

• The colony was established in 1607

• Settlers arrived on three ships: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery

• The settlement was financed through a joint-stock company 

  • Each investor owns shares of the company

  • The fear of bankruptcy is lower because investors share financial responsibility as liabilities are shared

  • Investment risks are lower, and money is raised to support the company’s ventures minimizes risks of investment and raises capital to expand ventures

• Jamestown’s purposes were to:

  • establish and maintain a profitable settlement

  • encourage British colonization 

  • bring Christianity to the region

• Jamestown’s location was in a low-lying marshland

  • This environment increased levels of disease 

• Jamestown settlers and leadership did not plan or prepare for permanent life in the colony, which led to the “Starving Time” in the winter of 1609−1610

  • The lack of skilled labor, food, and supplies contributed towards the “Starving Time” 

  • Deaths and diseases occurred from starvation and contaminated drinking water

  • The water was dirty and salty and unfit for drinking or farming

  • The marshland was home to mosquitoes that carried malaria

• Jamestown faced conflict from inside and outside the colony

  • Leadership that mismanaged the settlement and contributed to the effects of the “Starving Time” 

  • Colonists disagreed about the colony’s priorities 

  • There were disputes with Indigenous peoples about available resources and territory

John Smith

• John Smith became Jamestown’s leader in 1608 

  • He encouraged trade with Indigenous peoples to provide a food supply for the colony and established a stronger system of government

  • He introduced a rule that required colonists to work in order to receive food

Powhatan

• Powhatan was chief of the Powhatan confederacy, a powerful Indigenous tribe in the region where Jamestown was established 

• Powhatan was considered to be a strict ruler who could also be cruel to maintain control over his people and territory

• Powhatan society had the following attributes:

  • It had a complex social system and a political organization that included multiple tribal groups

  • Used a system of trade, offering corn and beans in exchange for European items

    • This helped establish early relationships with the Jamestown settlers

  • They were strong negotiators and had excellent diplomacy skills

  • Produced crops including corn and beans

• The relationship between Powhatan and the English settlers was initially based on diplomacy and trade

  • It later deteriorated due to conflicts over land, resources, and cultural misunderstandings

  • This led to tensions and wars

Establishment of Plymouth

• Plymouth was established in 1620

• Plymouth was the first successful colony in New England

• Pilgrims signed a contract with the Virginia Company of London to settle near the Hudson River 

• Settlers arrived on two ships: the Mayflower and the Speedwell 

• Storms blew the Mayflower off course 

  • The ship landed at Plymouth (Massachusetts) instead of near the Hudson River

  • There were 102 passengers on the ship, about 40 of them were Pilgrims

• Settlers lived on the Mayflower for the first few months as they built the settlement

• During the first winter 

  • Nearly half of the settlers died from disease, 52 people survived

  • A diet high in salt weakened the settlers 

• The first leaders of the colony were:

  • Captain Miles Standish

  • Governor William Bradford

• A Mutual Protection Treaty was agreed between settlers and Indigenous People which agreed that:

  • neither group would harm each other

  • stolen goods would be returned

  • each group determined punishment for their own people

  • no weapons to be allowed in meetings between the groups

  • groups would be allies in times of war

  • Indigenous people would teach settlers how to grow corn

• Some people aboard the Mayflower were called Strangers by the Pilgrims

  • This was a name for colonists who were not Pilgrims 

  • Strangers were a more secular group  

  • Strangers felt Pilgrims did not have authority 

    • Pilgrims had contract with the Virginia Company 

    • The Mayflower did not land in Virginia

• In 1691:, the Plymouth colony became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Who were the Pilgrims? 

• Pilgrims are a subgroup of the Puritans who wanted to reform the Church of England, also known as Separatists

• Pilgrims followed the Protestant teachings of John Calvin and Martin Luther

• They left England because of religious persecution and wanted to worship freely

• Pilgrims strictly honored the Sabbath by not working or doing any labor on Sundays

The Mayflower Compact 

• The Mayflower Compact was a system of government created for the Plymouth colony before settlers left the ship

• Forty-one adult male passengers signed the document

• It was written with the aim to: 

  • end disagreements between Puritans and Strangers about authority in the colony

  • stop some passengers from leaving the group to settle on their own

• It stated all laws would be:

  • fair and just

  • made “for the general good of the colony”

First Thanksgiving

• The First Thanksgiving happened in Fall 1621

• It was a three-day harvest feast that included food, games, and military exercises

• The celebration was attended by:

  • twenty-two male colonists

  • about 90 Indigenous men from the Pokanoket group 

  • four married female colonists (many women had died the previous winter)

  • About 25 children and teenagers (colonists) 

• The food included: venison (deer) and likely turkey, chestnuts, cranberries, garlic, and artichokes

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Timeline

Puritans fled England during the Great Puritan Migration (1629 to 1640) to live in Ireland, the Caribbean, and North America’s English colonies. Some led financially successful lives and had more economic reasons to stay in England than to leave the country. Others came from the middle class. Experts estimate that between 13,000 to 21,000 people looked for religious freedom in America because England persecuted them for their spiritual beliefs

Source: https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/map-of-native-american-tribes-and-european-settlements-in-new-england-united-states-gm2089693511-565758369?searchscope=image%2Cfilm

Massachusetts Bay Colony 

• King Charles I granted the Massachusetts Bay Company a charter in 1629

  • The Massachusetts Bay colony was established in 1630

• Puritan leaders created a theocracy where only male church members who owned land could vote 

• Communities grew because many family groups arrived instead of only individual people

• Economic success came from agriculture, fishing, and trade

• Boston became the colony’s main city

• Other cities in the colony included

  • Dorchester

  • Medford

  • Watertown

  • Roxbury

• The Charter of Massachusetts Bay (1691) ended the Puritans’ governmental authority and placed the colony under English control

  • This is also called the “Charter of William and Mary” after England’s rulers at the time

  • Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, the Province of Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia all combine to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay

  • The Crown appointed the senior officials in the province, including a governor, a lieutenant governor, and a secretary

Religion and Teachings in the Province of Massachusetts Bay

• Puritans believed their destiny was to create a successful religious community that spread Christianity to make sure it survived

• They lived their lives with order, discipline, and hard work, which they saw as a dedication to their relationship with God

• Puritans believed they were God’s chosen people

• They valued education and founded the first college in the American colonies (later named Harvard)

• John Winthrop delivered the sermon A Model of Christian Charity in 1630 

• In the sermon he:

  • described the colony as a “city upon a hill” 

  • characterized it as an example of Christian righteousness and charity 

  • emphasized moral duty, community, and being of the highest excellence for others to follow

Salem Witch Trials

• During the Salem Witch Trials in 1692−1693, there was a belief that the Devil was causing people to act against the Puritans 

• This led to charges of performing witchcraft 

• A special court was created for witchcraft cases

  • Punishments included hanging or being pressed to death between stones

  • Seven people were accused of performing witchcraft died in jail

Dissent in the Province of Massachusetts Bay

• John Winthrop and other Puritan leaders did not allow any dissent about the government or religion of Massachusetts Bay Colony 

• Some people believed religious matters and government decisions should be kept separate from each other 

• Courts and other officials banished anyone who disagreed with the colony’s leadership

  • Roger Williams was banished for condemning the King in his writings

  • Anne Hutchinson was accused of heresy and banished

Rhode Island and New Hampshire Colonies

• Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson established separate communities in the area now known as Rhode Island

• Roger Williams first established Providence Plantations in 1636 after his banishment from Massachusetts Bay Colony

  • He purchased land directly from the Narragansett Indigenous group and established the city of Providence 

  • He felt no civil or church authority should control an individual’s conscience

  • Williams provided religious freedom for Catholics, Quakers, and Jews to practice their faith 

  • Williams suggested Anne Hutchinson come to the Rhode Island territory after her banishment

• Anne Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony and faced harassment for years

  • John Winthrop called Hutchinson’s child who died at birth a punishment from God

  • He also spread rumors about her disabled children who died shortly after birth

  • Ministers from Massachusetts Bay came to Rhode Island to try and intimidate her so she would abandon her beliefs

  • Hutchinson came to Rhode Island and founded the Portsmouth settlement on the island of Aquidneck in 1638 

  • She believed faith, not deeds, was all that was needed for salvation

New Hampshire Colony 

• In 1623, Captain John Mason, Edward Hilton, and Thomas Hilton used a land grant to establish a fishing colony that is now New Hampshire

• Founding the colony had nothing to do with having religious or political freedom

• The Crown (James I) provided colonists with ships, food, free land, and other provisions in exchange for complete loyalty to England

The Connecticut Colonies

• Thomas Hooker established the Connecticut colony in 1636 for colonists who wanted more religious and political freedom  

• Hooker gave a sermon in 1638 where he said, “The foundation of authority is laid firstly in the free consent of people”

• Hooker also thought that:

  • voting was a God-given right, not a right only for landowners

  • people had the right to limit the power of their representatives

• These ideas formed the basis of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

• This document, adopted in 1639, is considered the first written constitution in America

  • It established a framework to bring three towns under one system of self-government

  • The document stated the power and limits of the government

  • It created a voting system where citizens (free men) could vote to elect the colony’s legislature 

• The legislature chose a governor, but to avoid abuse of power the same man could not serve as governor more than once every two years

• The General Court was the main governing body created by the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

• The court had the authority to:

  • pass and repeal laws

  • collect taxes

  • distribute lands within the colony

  • handle minor offenses, including detaining and punishing people when necessary

The Halfway Covenant

• By the 1660s, there was a decline in full church membership among the Puritans

  • Members of Puritan congregations grew older and fewer new members experienced a conversion 

• To become a full member of a Puritan congregation, an individual had to have had a conversion

  • This strict requirement made it difficult for younger members to become full members

• The Half-Way Covenant was adopted in 1662

  • It opened membership to people who wanted to join a Puritan congregation but had not experienced a conversion

  • It allowed these individuals to have their children baptized to ensure future generations remained connected to the church

• In response to the Half-Way Covenant:

  • Some leaders supported and adopted the covenant so the Puritans would continue to have voting rights and political influence in their communities

  • Others did not accept this change arguing it weakened the strict standards of the church and compromised their beliefs

  • It led to “strict” and “liberal” factions within Puritan churches