Chapter 3

“Settling the Northern Colonies”

The Protestant Reformation

In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg cathedral igniting the Protestant Reformation

Stated that all humans were weak and wicked and only the predestined could go to heaven.

In England, King Henry VIII was breaking his ties with the Holy Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s

England turned to Protestantism (Calvinism)

Martin Luther and the 95 Theses

Puritans and Separatists

Puritans – Unhappy with the snail-like pace of the progress of Protestant Reformation.

believed that only “visible saints” should be admitted to church membership.

Separatists - vowed to break away from the Church of England because the “saints” would have to sit with the “damned.”

Pilgrims

Separatist group who originally settled in the Netherlands but were frustrated by the “dutchification” of their children

King gave Pilgrims permission to settle in Virginia. 103 Pilgrims left Holland and sailed for 65 days at

sea on the Mayflower until they arrived off the rocky coast of New England in 1620.

102 arrived (1 died on the journey) Mayflower was blown off course and landed at

Plymouth. Before exiting the ship Pilgrims signed the Mayflower

Compact.

Mayflower

Photo: South Cape Distributors

1.The Rigging2.The Round House 3.The Half Deck 4.The Great Cabin 5.The Steerage 6.The Capstan 7.The Main Deck 8.'Tween Decks 9.The Forecastle 10.The Windlass

Mayflower Compact

William Bradford

Bradford is best known as Governor of the Plymouth Colony. He emigrated to Plymouth on the famous Mayflower in 1620, and was elected to office at least 30 times. His works in clude:

History of Plymouth Plantation, circa 1650

Rough Start for Pilgrims

In the winter of 1620-21, only 44 of the 102 survived.

1621 brought bountiful harvests, though, and the first Thanksgiving was celebrated that year.

In 1691, Plymouth merged with the

Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Squanto Native American of the Wampanoag tribe

of what is now Massachusetts. He proved an invaluable friend to white settlers in New England in the early 17th century. Early in his life he was captured and sold as a slave in Spain but eventually escaped and went to England. When he returned to New England in 1619 as pilot for an English sea captain, he escaped and discovered that his people had been destroyed by a plague. Two years later he helped the starving Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony to survive by teaching them both fishing and the planting of corn. He developed a friendship with the Massachusetts settlers and acted as interpreter at the Treaty of Plymouth, signed in 1621 between the Native American chief Massasoit and Governor William Bradford. While guiding a party under Bradford around Cape Cod the following year, he became ill and died

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Settled by strict Puritans They had their own charter and total control

of their colony. It was a well-equipped group of which about

11,000 people came to Massachusetts. They were led by John Winthrop. Winthrop wanted the Puritans to be a “city

upon a hill.”

John Winthrop

"....we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, (and that) the eyes of all people are upon us.."

Life in Massachusetts Bay

Massachusetts prosper in fur trading, fishing, and shipbuilding.

Religious leaders wielded powerful influence over the admission to church membership.

Very strict and very religious Strict Calvinist (predestination) Feared democracy because they were

afraid of the masses

Trouble in Mass Bay

Anne Hutchinson Believed in antinomianism – the belief that because of

predestination man need not obey secular laws. Banished from the colony

Roger Williams Believed in freedom of religion, separation of church

and state and thought they should pay the Indians for the land.

Banished from the colony for his beliefs Started Rhode Island

Rhode Island

Started by Roger Williams Based on complete freedom of religion, even

for Jews and Catholics Had separation of church and state Most liberal of all English colonies Planted by dissenters and exiles so Rhode

Island became strongly individualistic and stubbornly independent

Rhode Island

Connecticut Hartford

Founded in 1635 by Thomas Hooker who led a group of Puritans out of Massachusetts Bay

Drafted the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut – A written constitution guaranteeing the right to vote to the “substantial” citizens (landowners)

New Haven Started in 1638 Eventually merged with

Hartford in 1662

Connecticut

Thomas Hooker sculpture by Frances L. Wadsworth (1950), located east of the State House. Image scanned from The Colonial History of Hartford - U.S. Bicentennial Edition, by William DeLoss Love (1974).

Puritans Vs. Indians

Before the Puritans had arrived in 1620, an epidemic had swept through the Indians, killing over three quarters of them.

In 1637, after mounting tensions exploded, English settlers and the powerful Pequot tribe fought in the Pequot War, in which the English set fire to a Pequot village on Connecticut’s Mystic River, annihilating the Indians and bringing about forty years of tentative peace.

In 1675, Metacom (called King Philip by the English) united neighboring Indians in a last-ditched attack that failed.

The King Philip’s War slowed colonial western march but only temporarily

New England Confederation

First seeds of colonial unity In 1643, four colonies banded together to

form the New England Confederation. Massachusetts Bay Plymouth New Haven Hartford

A group of semiautonomous commonwealths that dealt with defense against Indians, French and Dutch

Dominion of New England

In 1686, the Dominion of New England was created to bolster the colonial defense against Indians

Also and attempt to tie the colonies closer to Britain by enforcing the Navigation Acts.

Head of the Dominion was Sir Edmund Andros, who was autocratic and set many unpopular rules

Sir Edmund Andros

Glorious Revolution

William and Mary took over power in England

Never again was England ruled by a monarchy

Parliamentary rule Salutary neglect

followed

William and Mary

Northern (New England) Colonies

1. Massachusetts

2. Rhode Island

3. Connecticut

4. New Hampshire Settled for Religious

reasons Trade, shipbuilding,

fishing were main source of income

Fiercely independent Rocky infertile soil Subsistence farms

New York (New Netherlands)

Originally settled by the Dutch Based their claim on the voyage of Henry Hudson,

an English explored sailing on a Dutch ship in 1609 The Dutch East India Company was established,

with an army of 10,000 men and a fleet of 190 ships

The Dutch gave patroonships (large areas of land) to promoters who agreed to settle at least 50 people on them.

Indian attack was always a problem. Built wall to keep them safe (Wall Street today)

New Amsterdam was capital (New York City)

This painting shows New Amsterdam in 1664 and was painted at that time. The painting shows buildings clustered at the tip of Manhattan Island, which was the center of activity for the growing city until the mid-nineteenth century. The Dutch West India Company settled New Amsterdam in 1624 as a permanent trading post. The company encouraged settlement in the new town and transported whole families. The initial purpose of the colony was commerce, and the settlement welcomed a diverse group of immigrants from many countries, eventually becoming known as a bustling and tolerant settlement. In 1665, New Amsterdam fell to the English and became New York.

Source: From the Bettman Archives.

Manhattan Island Today

England’s Conquest of New York

In 1664, Charles II granted the area of modern-day New York to his brother, the Duke of York, and that year, British troops landed and defeated the Dutch, kicking them out, without much violence.

Peter Stuyvesant surrendered and England took over

Peter Stuyvesant

New York

Pennsylvania

Started by William Penn and his Quaker followers

Penn called it a “Holy Experiment” – All religions were welcome, except Catholics and Jews

Philadelphia was the capital – “City of Brotherly Love”

It was the best advertised of all the colonies.

Very good relations with local Indians

Pennsylvania attracted a great variety of people from all races, class, and religion.

Penn Receiving the Charter

Quakers

Feared God They “quaked” under deep religious

emotion. Abhorred strife and warfare and refused

military service First in the colonies to oppose slavery Persecuted in England

William Penn and the Indians of Pennsylvania

Map of Pennsylvania

New Jersey

Started in 1664 when two noble proprietors received the area from the Duke of York.

Settled by many Quakers

Delaware

Settled by Swedish Named after Lord De La

Warr, the harsh military governor who had arrived in Virginia in 1610

Granted its won assembly in 1703

Middle Colonies

1. Pennsylvania2. New York3. New Jersey4. Delaware Fertile soil – Breadbasket

of the colonies Religious toleration Racially diverse

Settled by Dutch, Swedish, English, Spanish, Irish, and Scots-Irish

Better farming techniques