Colonial Settlement

British North America, 1607-1750

Premise

• “Throughout the colonial period, economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious concerns.” Assess the validity of the statement.

Chesapeake Economics

• London Company (1607)• Smith, Rolfe, tobacco• Headright and Indenture• House of Burgesses (1619)• Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

Chesapeake Religion

• Church of England/Anglican• Maryland and Calverts (1634)• Maryland Toleration Act (1649)

New England Religion

• Plymouth, Mayflower, Bradford (1620)– Separatists

• Mass Bay, Winthrop (1630)– Non-Separatist Congregationalists– “City Upon Hill” (Am. Exceptionalism)

• Williams, Hutchinson, RI (1636)

New England Economics

• Fishing, timber• Subsistence farming• Puritan minority

Other Key Colonies

• New York (1624/1664) - Dutch traders

• Carolina (1663) - land speculation

• Pennsylvania (1682) - Quakers

• Georgia (1733) - debtors

Thesis• “Throughout the colonial period, economic concerns had

more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious concerns.” Assess the validity of the statement.

• While there were examples of religiously-motivated settlements, such as the Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics, most of the colonial settlers were motivated by the economic opportunities present in the New World. Tobacco cultivation in the Chesapeake, fishing and ship-building in New England, and the general availablity of cheap, productive farm land throughout the colonies drew thousands of Englishmen, rich and poor, to the American coast.