Chapter 3: North America in the Atlantic World
Civil war between supporters of King Charles I (Anglican Church) and
Parliament (Puritans)
o 1642-1646
o Parliament triumphs; king is executed in 1649
o Ruled by Oliver Cromwell, parliament’s army leader
After Cromwell’s death, Parliament reinstates the kingship
Certain restrictions are placed on the kingship
Charles II, the new king, rewards nobles and supporters in the war with huge
amounts of land in North America
o Will form 6/13 of the original colonies: New York, New Jersey, PA
(Delaware later breaks off from this), and the Carolinas
o Known as “Restoration colonies” (created by restored Stuart monarchy)
New York
o Charles II gives his brother James, the Duke of York, New York
(completely ignoring the fact that New Netherland is there)
New Netherland formally cedes the colony in 1674
Mixed ethnicities
Duke’s Laws, legal code 1665
Maintained Dutch practices, gave general religious
(Christian, that is) freedom
Did not agree to a legislative body until 1683, what with
James generally distrusting them
The takeover has little short-term effect on the colony
New Jersey
o James, given this land too, gives it to his friends Sir George Carteret and
John Lord Berkely
West and East Jersey, respectively, upon formation
Generous land grants promised for those who would settle there
Within 20 years, both men sold their interests in the colonies to
investors
Many of these people were Quakers, who were persecuted
elsewhere for their non-hostile, non-sexist, friendly beliefs
Pennsylvania (“Penn’s Woods”)
o Given to William Penn, a prominent Quaker
Penn promised religious freedom, though only Christians were
“given the vote”
Publicized the readily available land in PA to non-English people
Influx of people come over to enjoy religious freedom
Philadelphia became a huge city, easily navigable due to
being on the river
Penn learns the Native’s language so he can be peaceful
towards them
Carolinas
o Given to multiple proprietors
Quickly split into two, in 1729
North Carolina was similar to England; strong ties with
Virginia due to lack of exclusive port and relying on VA’s
South Carolina resembled plantation agriculture such as in
the West Indies
o Sugar would not grow, so they found other crops
Chesapeake
o Civil war caused clashes in Maryland and Virginia
o Afterwards, large numbers of indentured servants came over as well as
more plantation holders.
o Not concerned about Indians because of the Powhatan Confederacy’s
defeat in 1646
New England
o Migration nearly ceased at the beginning of the English Civil War
Population still grew dramatically due to natural causes
By the 1670s, New England’s population tripled
Many people had to move farther inside the colonies or
migrate to different states
Others abandoned farming and took up trades to support
themselves (like blacksmith, etc.)
o Salem Witchcraft Trials
People were accused of being witches, then “tested” unfairly and
sometimes executed
Political Structure in colonies
o Well-established political structure by this time
o Leaders, appointed or elected
o Council, advising governor and served as upper house of legislature
o Judiciary; local justices of the peace, county courts
o Local political institution
Elected town governers or town meetings in N.E.
Chesapeake and Carolina, magistrates
Pennsylvania, elected county officials
New York, local elections
Indian and European relations
o New France
Mid 1670s, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, the gov.-general of
Canada, decides to expand New France
Encourages explorations in the Great lake and Mississippi region
Attempting to find a trade route to Mexico and control the fur trade
Conflict with Iroquois
o Iroquois Confederacy
Consists of five Indian nations (in 1722. Tuscaroras, added)
Mohawks
Oneidas
Onondagas
Cayugas
Senecas
Unique defensive alliance forged early in the sixteenth century
Representative council made decisions for the Confederacy
Attempted to dominate fur trade by stealing pelts from other
Indians; “Beaver Wars”
o French launched repeated attacks on Iroquois villages (Indians were
getting too strong)
o New York and Iroquois
Covenant Chain, 1677 – formal alliance between the two
o French preferred smaller settlements with less people and do not try to
subjugate Indians or take away a lot of land
Founded New Orleans in 1718
Countered English from east and Spanish from west
o Pueblos revolt against Spain (led by Popé, a shaman)
They are successful, and Spaniards are driven out of New Mexico
Spain tries to expand elsewhere instead
King Philip’s war
o English needed more land and were taking it away from Indians
o King Philip, the local (Wampanoag) chief, was troubled about this loss
and the impact of the Europeans on their culture
Led his warriors in attacks on the Europeans, joined by other
Indian tribes
Destroyed about 27 towns in 1676 inclding those such as
Providence and Plymouth
Suddenly, the Indians found themselves without important
supplies, and their efforts fell apart
Mohawk tribe turned against the Indians and destroyed
towns
Surviving Indians were sold into slavery after Philip died
About 1/10 of the settlers were killed in this war, which was
devastating at the time
Bacon’s rebellion
o Governor William Berkeley of Virginia resists war with Indians
Settlers want to attack Indians for land which was given to them by
early treaties
They use the pretext of a slave killed by Doeg tribe
Susquehennas fight back
o Some colonists are dissatisfied with the lack of war (greedy b**tards)
Example, Nathaniel Bacon, who had arrived and wanted land
Indentured Servants who, after their tenure, wanted land, as
well as others, rallied behind him
Bacon held members of the House of Burgesses hostages
He also battled Indians and the supporters of Berkeley, who
ends up fleeing
Burns Jamestown, but dies soon after
They end up getting what they want after Bacon’s death (in 1676)
In 1677, a treaty is signed that gives the English most of the
land they wanted
o This rebellion impacted the relationships between Indians and English as
well as was the start of major African slave purchasing
African Slavery
o Fewer people especially in Chesapeake want to indenture themselves
o Tobacco field owners need workers, they turn to slaves
They justified it religiously: they could convert slaves
Portugal imported large numbers of slaves starting in 1440s
Established slavery in Caribbean
o Colonies had trouble defining slavery for some time
Finally started using racial terminology “Negroes, Indians, etc” as
well as religious justification; not very moral
o For some time, more Africans came to America than Europeans
Most went to the Caribbean but a lot also came to the colonies
Triangular Trade
o Chesapeake tobacco and Caribbean/Brazilian sugar Europe
o European manufactured goods and slaves America
o African slaves Europe
o New England traded food, which was cheap in that region, to Caribbean
people, where food was not cheap
Also relied heavily on selling/trading wood
o America (Rum)Africa (Slaves) West indies (Molasses for rum)Am.
10-20% slaves died en route, another 20% died shortly after arrival
Their captors also died at a high rate due to disease from sanitation
issues
o Many slaves came from the West Coast; rice, grain, ivory coasts
Some coastal rulers served as middlemen, supplying ships with
large populations of slaves
Helped create powerful kingdoms in Africa
o European countries fought to control Slave Trade
Portuguese, then Dutch, then English
o Mercantilism
Series of assumptions about the economics of the world
Europeans based their commercial policy on this
Navigation Acts between 1651 and 1673: three ideas
1. Only English or colonial merchants could trade in
colonies
2. Certain American products could only be sold to
England (ex. Tobacco, sugar, wool, indigo, rice)
3. All foreign goods destined for sale in colonies had to be
shipped via England
Later, fourth: colonies could not export products that
English also produced
Aimed at forcing American trade to center on England
Enslavement of Africans and Indians
o The number of Africans in the New World increased dramatically after
Bacon’s rebellion
Not such great conditions; few spoke the same language and they
were worked rather hard
Allowed a day off on Sunday, many grew their own small gardens
or fished or hunted to get food
Scarcity of women meant rare to form families
o Slaves usually cost about 2.5 times indentured servants, but they tended to
repay the investment if they survived
Many planters could not afford slaves
Increased the boundary between poor and rich
Some plantation owners from Barbados came to South
Carolina
o Africans had some helpful skills such as
advancements in technology and skills
o In SC, they retained these skills and also some of
the African culture such as language
o Africans helped introduce rice and indigo which
were strong demands in Europe at the time
o Indians that had been captured during wartime were also enslaved
Some Indians captured enemy tribes and traded them for goods
o New Spain (Florida) offered refuge for slaves
o Louisiana had a very small number of slaves
o Few northern colonists owned slaves, though some did
Many were domestic
Some worked in factories or as unskilled laborers
Certain northerners relied extensively on slave labor, and
unlike most others wanted to keep it
Imperial reorganization and the Witchcraft Crisis
o Colonial autonomy was challenged
James II sent officials to rule the colonies
Colonies disliked, as they were used to ruling themselves
They revolted around the time of the “glorious revolution”,
where James II was succeeded by Mary
New England hoped they’d not be ruled autocratically, but
they still were
o King William’s war
War with the French and their Algonquian allies
1692, major witchcraft thing. Stuff about that later ‘kay?
Somehow trying to keep war with natives at bay
Finally a year later courts stopped listening to claims of
witches and such
o 1696- England created Board of Trade and Plantations, chief organ of
government concerned with colonies
Did not have any direct powers of enforcement of laws
o Queen Anne’s war from 1702 to 1713
Those allied with government got offices and land grants
Opposition was in defense of colonies and disliked English rule
