Early Settlements

of Colonization:
New France, Virginia & Maryland
 Early French
Explorers
 In 1524
 France sent explorers
to search for the
Northwest Passage
 hoped-for northern
route around North
America to the Pacific
Ocean.
The Fur Trade
 French laid claim to
Canada for nearly 70 years
 No real effort had been
made to colonize the
region.
 By 1600, French
merchants became
interested in colonization
 Hoped to expand the
Canadian fur trade
 New France
 Samuel de Champlain
 established Nova
Scotia
 Quebec which
became the capital
of New France.
The Mississippi &
Louisiana
 French explored North
America’s interior;
explored the Mississippi
River
 René-Robert Cavelier de
La Salle followed the
river to the Gulf of
Mexico
 Claimed Louisiana, for
France.
 Spain Counters in
Florida
 The Spanish established the town of
St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565 St.
Augustine became the first permanent
settlement established by Europeans
in the present-day United States.
 After the French arrived at the mouth
of the Mississippi River, the Spanish
established a mission in eastern
Texas to attempt to block French
expansion into that region.
The English
Reformation
 In the early 1530s, King Henry VIII of
England abandoned the Catholic
Church and joined the Protestant
Reformation by creating the Church
of England (or Anglican Church), with
himself as head of the Church.
 Henry outlawed Catholicism and
ordered his entire population to
practice only Anglicism; this move
angered both loyal Catholics and the
members of other Protestant
branches of Christianity.
 Eventually, strict limits on religious
freedom would drive many English
dissenters, including Puritans,
Quakers, and Catholics, to seek to
create new colonies in North America
Economic Forces
 By the early 1600s, a changeover
from grain farming to sheep ranching
by wealthy English landowners had
left hundreds of thousands of
Englishmen impoverished and
unemployed. Many of these would
seek the opportunity of a new life in
America.
 English merchants also needed new
markets as English industries began
overproducing goods. Many
organized joint-stock companies,
pooling the money of many
investors for large projects, such as
establishing colonies.
Military Rivalry With
Spain
 England wanted to establish
colonies in America.
 Queen Elizabeth I sent Walter
Raleigh to explore coastline
 1585, his ships landed on
Roanoke, an island in North
Carolina and became known as
the lost colony
 He named the surrounding land
Virginia
Leader John White returned to England,
intending to bring more supplies back to his
The “Lost
colony in 1588. Instead, the Anglo-Spanish
War delayed his return to Roanoke until 1590.
Upon his arrival, he found the settlement
fortified but abandoned. The word
Colony”
"CROATOAN" was found carved into the  The colony established at
palisade, which White interpreted to mean Roanoke in 1587, consisted
the colonists had relocated to Croatoan of 115 men and women.
Island. Before he could follow this lead, rough
seas forced the rescue mission to return to  When a relief ship returned
England. The fate of the 1587 colonists to the island in 1590, no
remains unknown. Speculation that they may trace of the colonists
have assimilated with nearby Native American remained and their fate
communities appears as early as 1605. remains a mystery to this
Investigations by the Jamestown colonists day.
produced reports that the Roanoke settlers
were massacred, as well as stories of people
with European features in Native American
villages, but no hard evidence
Jamestown
 In 1606, King James I of
England granted the
Virginia Company, a
joint-stock company, a
charter to establish a
colony in Virginia.
 In 1607, 104 men
established Jamestown
on an island in the
James River in modern-
day Virginia.
 Despite many problems,
Jamestown became
first permanent English
colony in North
America.
Joint Stock
Companies
➢ Joint-stock companies spurred commercial
expansion
➢ Stockholders pool money to share risks and
profits
➢ Exploration businesses
➢ Jamestown established by the Virginia Company
Jamestown’s
Struggles
 Jamestown, since it was
founded by a joint-stock
company, was intended
to be profitable
 As a result, the settlers
spent more time
looking for gold or
other valuables than
they did creating a
safe, stable, self-
sustaining colony
The Starving
Time
 The Jamestown Company offered
free land to people who worked for
the colony for seven years. New
settlers arrived (and John Smith
left) in 1609, but there was not
enough food to support them. Many
of them were wealthy seeking gold
and were not willing to work or
farm.
 The new settlers stole food from
the native Powhatan tribe, who
retaliated by attacking them if they
left the safety of the fort.
 Recent evidence suggests that the
colonists resorted to cannibalism to
survive.
 By spring of 1610 only 60 out of
about 500 settlers survived at
Jamestown.
Jamestown’s
Struggles
 1. Jamestown had also
been poorly sited – the
area was swampy and
mosquito ridden, so the
settlers were forced to
battle disease as well as
hunger
 2. To make matters even
worse, the local Algonquin
Indians were often
openly hostile, forcing
the settlers to spend
time building a fort
(which they needed in
case of Spanish attack, as
well)
3. Many colonists died
of disease or
starvation
➢ One man was executed
for killing his pregnant
wife and feasting on
her remains
So how did they survive?
➢ John Smith
➢ A mercenary hired by
the Virginia Company.
➢ Saved Jamestown from
disaster
➢ Said “He that will not
work will not eat.”
➢ He kept the colony going
for a time but it still as
wasn’t profitable as
hoped
The strict discipline of Captain John
Smith and the assistance of the
friendlier Powhatan Indian
Confederacy, helped the colony survive,
but neither Smith nor the Indians were
very popular with the settlers
John Smith lead leaders
enforced a strict militaristic
discipline to help colony
survive
➢ Those who tried to escape &
join the Indians were hanged
or burned at the stake
➢ One man caught stealing
oatmeal was chained to a tree
& left to starve to death as an
example
➢ Local chief was Powhatan
➢ Chief of around 10,000 other
Native Americans
➢ Subjects belonged to other tribe
he had conquered
➢ Conquered tribes handed over
80% of their farm crop to
Powhatan
➢ Powhatan’s initial strategy
was to watch the colonists
and wait, although his men
captured Smith when he
trespassed on their territory
➢ Powhatan almost had Smith
executed, but supposedly his
daughter Pocahontas begged
for his life
➢ Pocahontas was actually about
11 when she supposedly saved
John Smith
- Pocahontas was kidnapped and
held hostage, but she decided
to join the English
- Pocahontas married John
Rolfe, who together taught
others how to grow tobacco in
New World
-Soon millions of pounds of
Virginia tobacco were sold in
England
Tobacco Saves the
Colony
 It was this John Rolfe developed
a strain of tobacco that was
marketable in England,
 Jamestown with the ability to
finally turn a profit for its
investors.
 The Jamestown settlers soon
began growing large quantities of
tobacco, but needed to import
slave labor to maximize
production. The first African
slaves arrived in Jamestown in
1619.
A Growing
Population
 The Virginia Company created the
system of headrights.
 new settlers who bought a share in the
company or paid for their passage
were granted 50 acres.
 They received more land for each
family member or servant they
brought to Virginia.
 The Native Americans near Jamestown
grew alarmed at the increasing
population. In 1622, they attacked the
settlements around Jamestown, killing
nearly 350 settlers.
Bacon’s Rebellion
 As population increased, more settlers began to settle
inland in Virginia
 Poor farmers tended to migrate west to farm for food
 Wealthy farmers tended to farm the eastern shores for
cash crops and take advantage of the fur trade
 Native Americans began to attack newcomers
encroaching their territory.
 Poor farmers in the west wanted the eastern
wealthy elite to help them defend their lands BUT
the wealthy refused.
 Nathaniel Bacon, a nobleman, represented the poor
farmers to rebel against the elite and the governor,
William Berkeley.
Maryland
 Catholics were persecuted in England
 Lord Baltimore, a Catholic member of British
Parliament, founded a colony in America
where Catholics could practice their religion
without persecution.
 The king granted Baltimore an area of land
which Baltimore named Maryland.
 Baltimore legally owned Maryland, making it
the first proprietary colony.
 Although Maryland was founded as a Catholic
refuge, most of the colony’s settlers were
Protestant.
 Maryland Toleration Act- mandated religious
toleration for all Christians