Colonial History
Earliest Colonies
Virginia - May 1607, 100 English settlers founded Jamestown. Problems included:
Swampy area of Jamestown meant poor drinking water and mosquitos spreading malaria and yellow fever.
Men spent time looking for gold instead of establishing themselves (building shelter or planting crops).
No women on the first ship the Virginia company received a charter from King James I. It was a joint stock company, meaning customers invest in a company, turn a profit, then sell their shares.
Jamestown finds tobacco-creating a greed for the land.
1619 - House of Burgesses- representative self-government to work out local issues.
Maryland - 1634 by Lord Baltimore as a Catholic haven. Many Catholic got huge estates, but the poorer people who settled there were Protestants, creating friction. Had a lot of indentured servants, black slavery didn’t become popular until the later 1600s.
Act of Toleration - granted toleration to Catholic faith, but decreed the death penalty to anyone who didn’t believe Jesus is the Savior (Jews, atheists, etc).
South Carolina - 1670, ties to West Indies. Brought in strict “Barbados Slave Codes”, which gave no punishment to anyone who killed a slave.
Restoration colony - founded after restoration of the monarchy.
Planters and aristocrats (wealthy) around Charleston, with rice and indigo.
Began to import slaves.
North Carolina - Squatters from Virginia who didn’t own any land. Developed a resistance to authority because of geographical isolation.
Strong-willed people on small tobacco farms.
1712, officially separated from South Carolina.
Georgia - 1733, by James Oglethorpe. Used as a buffer colony between Spanish and British. Many debtors were sent to Georgia.
SOUTHERN COLONIES: VMSNG
Slavery was founded in all the colonies. Plantations were spread out, making it hard to establish schools and Churches. All colonies had religious toleration.
Main crops: Tobacco &