Roanoke Colony
• 1585
– 1st Eng. attempt to
establish colony in North Amer.
– Off coast of today’s
N.C.
– Settlers began to starve
– Abandoned the
Roanoke Colony - The Lost Colony
• 1587 Attempt
– 2nd English attempt at
colonization
– Running low on supplies but re-supply not possible due to
English war with Spain – When the 1590 supply
expedition arrived, colony was deserted
– Found the word CROATOAN on a tree
Jamestown:
First Successful Colony in North
America
Jamestown, Cont
’
d.
• House of
Burgesses: 1st
representative
democracy in N.
Amer.
– Colonists elected representatives to make laws and
speak out for them to British
government
The House of Burgesses, the first legislative assembly in the American
Bacon
’
s Rebellion (1676)
– Bacon burned
Jamestown to protest how the English
governor used colonists’ taxes
– First rebellion against Brit. govt. during
Colonial Regions:
• New England
• Middle
New England (N.E.) Colonies
– MA
– NH
– CT
Plymouth
– First successful colony in N.E
– Founded b/c of religious conflicts in England
• Henry VIII of England founded the Anglican Church in order to divorce his wife
• Many English thought it was too much like the Catholic Church
• These people wanted a purer type of church
• They were known as “Puritans”
Massachusetts Bay Colony
– 1,000 people settled a few miles north of Plymouth in 1630
– By 1643 the colony had grown to 20,000 people in 20 towns
– Had no religious tolerance – All people had to attend
the Puritan Church and pay taxes to support it
• They believed they were creating a new pure society to serve God
– Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth eventually
Salem Witch Trials
• In 1692 in Salem Massachusetts several girls
accused 3 people of being witches
• Hysteria followed and 20 men and women were
New England Colonies Cont
’
d.
– Religious dissent - common in N.E. colonies – A number of reformers split from the
Puritans to found colonies were freedom of religion was acceptable
• Roger Williams founded Rhode Island for religious freedom
Begin Notes Wed., Feb. 2
Type of Economy in N. Eng. Colonies
– Small farms, few slaves – Lots of towns, big cities
– Dependent on long distance trade w/ Europe – Largest city was Boston – trade centers
– Fishing and shipbuilding were more important than farming
Middle Passage
• Section of
Triangular Trade Route betw. Africa & the Americas
• Ships carrying slaves
– Slaves were
captured by other Africans and sold to Europeans and
Americans in exchange for weapons
– Between 1450 and 1850 more than 12 million Africans
Middle
Colonies
– NY
– DE
– NJ
• Granted by king or queen
to an individual or group.
• Could make laws and rules
as they wished.
Pennsylvania
• Established by WilliamPenn for religious toleration
• Haven for Quakers and other religious groups
• Protestant group that believed in non-violence
Economy of Middle Colonies
• Mixture of farming and commerce
• Were known as the Breadbasket –
farms produced vegetables and grains
and important cash crops like wheat
and corn
Southern
Colonies
– VASouthern Colonies, Cont
’
d.
• 1) Maryland
– Founded by English Catholics
– Escaping religious
persecution in Britain
– 1st group of Maryland colonists
consisted of 17 men & their wives & about 200 others,
mostly indentured servants who
Southern Colonies Cont
’
d.
• Maryland
– Created by Lord Baltimore as haven for Catholics being persecuted in England
– Soon, however Puritans outnumbered the Catholics
Southern Colonies Cont
’
d.
• Georgia Colony
– Wanted to create a haven for people who had been jailed in
England because they could not pay their debts
Southern Colonies Cont
’
d.
• Economy in Southern Colonies
– Plantation system of farming – cash crops (grown to be sold for profit)
• Integral to South’s economy
– VA & NC = Tobacco
– SC & GA = Rice
– Slaves supplied most labor
John Peter Zenger
– Newspapers imp. to colonists – many could read, and those who could not got the news from those who could
– J. P. Zenger published cartoons making fun of Brit. royal
governor of N.Y. in his newspaper (1735)
• Gov. threw Zenger in jail & charged him w/ treason
– Even though everyone agreed that what Zenger said was true
• Jury said: free speech was a right of colonists
• Freed Zenger
• Estb’d. freedom of speech in the colonies
Alexander Hamilton was the attorney for Zenger.
Land Ownership
– Colonists thought land should be owned & used
Focus of Colonial Trade
• Make $$$ for
England!!
• Brit.
’
s economic
policy: Mercantilism
– Control trade w/ other nations by
Focus of Colonial Trade, Cont
’
d.
• Result:
– Colonies used as source of raw
England
’
s Early
Govt.
• Magna Carta (1215)
– Document that
guaranteed = treatment under the law for nobles; trial by jury of peers; & said even King was
Parliament
• 1
stEnglish legislature – made laws (1264)
• 1300s, Parliament was running everyday
work of English govt., not the king
King Henry III, son of King John (who signed the Magna Carta) established Parliament in 1264. He built
Westminster.
English Bill of Rights (1689)
• Parliament wrotelist of basic rights for all English
people
• Limited king’s
power – Parliament had to approve
some things
•Glorious Revolution (1688) – Peaceful transfer of power that changed idea of govt. in England
Common Law
• Laws developed by judges through court decisions
• First use of Brit. common law: year 1066
• Precedent – previous cases that judges look at to decide another case
Using English Ideas of Government in
American Colonies
• Virginia House of
Burgesses (1619) – Marked beginning of self-govt. in colonies
– Established 1st
representative
democracy in colonies
– 2 reps from each county met with the colony’s
Remains
uncovered
in
Mayflower
Compact (1620)
• Pilgrims’ written plan for govt.
– Compact = agreement
– Established a direct democracy instead of representative one – each person got one vote
– Majority rule
Protection of the Colonies
Birth of a Democratic Nation
• EQ: Could the
American Revolution have been avoided?
• EQ: Who was to blame for the
Revolution – Brits or the colonists?
• EQ: Was there an American identity before the
Why Did Colonists Govern
Themselves?
• England was
too far away
for the king to
govern them
directly
1) British
Mercantilism
• Brit. policy to sell more goods to other countries than they bought from other countries
• Brits. bought raw
materials from colonies at cheap prices
Mercantilism and the Colonies
Cont
’
d.
• Purpose of the colonies was to be a
2) No Taxation Without
Representation!
Stamp Act
• Brit. tax onnewspapers, legal documents, etc. in colonies
• Colonists formed
“Sons of Liberty” &
boycotted Brit. goods
Punishment
for tax
collectors in
the
Townshend Acts (1767)
• Brit. law that set up new high taxes on basic goods sent to colonies.
Boston Tea Party (1773)
• Tea Act – Parl. Law tocharge high taxes to colonial tea merchants who bought Brit. tea and resold it to colonists
4) British laws passed to take
away rights of colonists as
Declaratory Act
• Said Brits could
tax & make laws
for colonies
“
in all
Intolerable Acts
• A.K.A.
“
Coercive Acts
”
• Took away colonists
’
right
to trial by jury.
5. Boston Massacre – British troops in Boston opened fire on rioters, killing five people. This further ignited the colonists’
hatred of the king, his
Colonial Response
• Legislators from each colony met in Philadelphia
• First Continental Congress (1774)
• Demanded the king give back their rights • Agreed to boycott of
British Response
• First battles of
Revolution -
Second Continental Congress
(1775)
• Debated
whether or not
to fight for
independence
• Became official
govt. of
Common Sense
• Pamphlet by Thomas
Paine
– Convinced many
colonists to fight
– Called the king a
Declaration of Independence
(DOI)
• Listed reasons why U.S. should be a
free nation
• Listed colonists belief about the rights
of individuals
Declaration of Independence
Cont
’
d.
• Purpose of govt. is to protect the rights of people
– If the govt. does not, it should be overthrown
• Main author: Thomas Jefferson
John Locke: Social Contract
Theory
• John Locke
’
s
“
Second
Treatise of Government
”
– Argued that good govt. is based on a social contract between
Social Contract Theory, Cont
’
d.
• Citizens agree to give up some freedom and abide by decisions of the govt.
• In return, govt. promises to protect the lives, property, and liberty of the people
Early State Constitutions
• Constitution = Written plan for govt.
• New state legislatures were bicameral
(2 houses), like Brit. Parliament
• New Hampshire wrote the first state
Massachusetts Constitution
• 1780 – Mass. Was last of the original 13 states to draw up a constitution
• Divided govt. power between state legislature, the courts, and the governor
Other unique elements of Mass.
Constitution
• Special delegates were elected to
create the constitution in Mass.
• The constitution was then approved by a
vote of the state
’
s citizens.
Articles of Confederation
(A.O.C.)
• First Constitution of the U.S.
Problems with A.O.C.
• Congress could only pass a law if 9 of the
13 states approved it.
• Any amendment, or change, to the A.O.C.
required a unanimous vote of all 13 states.
Problems with A.O.C. cont
’
d.
• Even when Congress managed to pass
laws, it had no way to enforce them
• Did not provide for a president or for
courts
Shaky National Govt.
• After the Revolution was won in 1783:
– Congress did not have power to collect taxes
– States were deeply in debt and taxed their citizens heavily to pay back war debts
– High taxes drove many farmers out of business
– States also taxed goods imported from other states and foreign