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to The Boisterous Sea of Liberty Teaching Guide
European
Colonization North of Mexico
Historical
Overview
For
more than a century after Columbus's voyages, only Spain and
Portugal established New World settlements. England did not
establish its first enduring settlement in Jamestown, Virginia,
until 1607; France did not found a settlement, in Quebec, until
1608. Early European migration to the New World took sharply
contrasting forms. Compared to the Spanish, Portuguese, or the
French, the English migration was larger and more gender balanced.
Altogether, about 400,000 people migrated from England to the
New World in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including
many farmers, small merchants, and artisans. Outside of New
England, most immigrants were indentured servants who agreed
to serve a term of service in exchange for transportation across
the Atlantic.
English
settlement itself took a variety of forms. In New England, the
economy was organized around small family farms and urban communities
engaged in fishing, handicrafts, and Atlantic commerce. In the
Chesapeake colonies of Maryland and Virginia, the economy was
structured around larger farms and plantations, relying on indentured
servants, and later slaves, to raise tobacco.
Debating
the Issues
1.
What factors led the English to colonize the North American
mainland? What factors pushed certain people to leave England
and what factors pulled them to the colonies? Envy of Spain's
wealth and clashes with Spain over religion. Conditions in England
that pushed people toward North America included poverty, overcrowding,
and crime. People were pulled by the desire to improve their
way of life.
2.
Why was the death rate so high in early Jamestown? Why do you
think that Jamestown's population fell from 500 to 60 during
the winter of 1609-1610? Because of disease, Indian attacks,
and starvation.
3.
What effects did demand for tobacco have on Virginia? It increased
demand for field workers and the need for land, and therefore
stimulated the demand for slaves and provoked conflict with
Indians.
4.
How was early Massachusetts similar to and different from Virginia?
5.
What role did Squanto play in the Pilgrims' survival?
He
taught them how to adapt to their new environment and feed
themselves.
What
If?
How
would American history have been different if:
1.
either the Spanish or the Indians had wiped out the Jamestown
colonists during the Starving Time?
2.
the original English settlement at Jamestown had failed just
like the colony at Roanoke Island, North Carolina?
3.
Opechancanough's attack on the Virginians in 1622 had succeeded
or if the New England Indians had emerged victorious in King
Philip's War?
Interpreting
Maps
Locate
Jamestown on a map. Why might the English colonists choose to
locate a settlement here?
They
thought it offered a good port and could be easily defended
against Indian attacks. In fact, they got poor land and drinking
water as well as mosquitoes and disease.
Making
Ethical Judgements
How
should Native Americans have acted toward the early English
colonists? Should they have assisted them and taught them how
to raise food? Or should they have tried to stop them from living
nearby?
Was
Opechancaough justified in ordering the Great Massacre of 1622?
Was King Philip's war justified?
Were
the English justified in colonizing lands already inhabited
by Indians?
Analyzing
Primary Sources
The
colonial period is truly this country's formative period. Many
of this society's fundamental principles were planted in the
colonial period-such as our commitment to freedom of religion,
representative government, and liberty and equality. But the
colonial period also left American society with less positive
legacies, such as the institution of slavery and a long history
of conflict with Indians.
Selections
1-2
In
1584, Richard Hakluyt, a London lawyer, issued a call for English
colonization in North America. According to Hakluyt, why shouldn't
the New World belong exclusively to Spain?
Hakluyt
argues that the Pope had no right to give the New World to
Spain and Portugal and that Spanish cruelty toward the Indians
undercut any claim they might have.
According
to Hakluyt, what benefits would England gain by colonizing the
New World?
Hakluyt
claims that England is overpopulated with loiterers and idle
vagabonds who might be put to work in the New World producing
timber for ships' masts, planting sugar cane, maintaining
silk worms, and pursuing many other profitable activities.
Document
5
In
1622, Indians led by Opechancanough, Powhatan's successor, nearly
succeeded in overrunning the colonists. Why did the attack almost
succeed? What consequences did the attack have upon English
and Indian relations?
Edward
Waterhouse maintains that the colonists never suspected an
Indian attack. The attack resulted in the removal of all restraints
on killing Indians.
Document
6
In
1656 John Hammond, an English pamphleteer, described servitude
in Virginia during the tobacco boom years. What was indentured
servitude like, in his view? Hammond argues that earlier in
time, the servants' labor was almost perpetual and their food
allowance was small. Servants' suffered all the cruelty that
tyranny could inflict. But Hammond claims that conditions had
greatly improved.
Document
7
During
the 1660s, Virginia adopted a series of statutes formally recognizing
slavery. Why do you think that it took Virginians over half
a century to adopt a slave code? What was the purpose of these
laws?
Earlier
in Virginia's history, when the number of blacks in the colony
was small, the status of Africans varied widely. But as the
number of Africans grew and the economy began to rely more
heavily on slavery, new statutes were adopted to denigrate
blacks and distinguish black slaves from white indentured
servants.
Document
11
What
does John Winthrop mean when he speaks of a covenant?
He
refers to the idea that all societal relations rested on consent
and mutual responsibilities.
What,
according to Winthrop, will happen if people violate their covenant
with God?
If
the Puritans abide by the covenant, God would make them an
example for the world; but if they break the covenant the
entire community would feel God's wrath.
Document
15
The
idea that prices should fluctuate according to the laws of supply
and demand is a relatively recent invention. In early seventeenth
century New England, Puritans held to the idea that goods had
a "just price." What modern capitalistic ideas did
the Puritans reject?
That
the price of goods should be determined by the marketplace;
that merchants should strive to maximize their profits, that
they should raise prices to make up for losses on other goods,
and that they should take advantage of the ignorance of others.
Documents
18-19
How
was the Salem witch scare related to the introduction of slavery
into New England?
The
first accused witch was an Indian slave from South America
who had carried new ideas about the supernatural to New England.
Document
21
During
the seventeenth century, the notion spread that Englishmen had
greater rights than people anywhere else in Europe. What, according
to Henry Care, constituted English liberties?
That
Englishmen were not subject to a ruler's arbitrary will, but
rather were protected by rule of law.
Continue to A Land of Contrasts
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