Chapter 3: Settling the Northern Colonies 1619-1700

Intro:

• North and South: common language and allegiance to England. Religion rather than wealth drove settlers in the north.

The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism:

• Martin Luther - 1517 - Wittenberg's Cathedral
• John Calvin: "predestination" - spurred Puritans
• Puritans were against 'unholy fraternizing,' these were called Separatists. King James I wanted them gone.

The Pilgrims End Their Pilgrimage at Plymouth:

• Separatists fled to Holland. They negotiated with the Virginia Company to let them settle in the New World.
• Settled at Plymouth Bay (outside the domain of the Virginia Company)
• Mayflower Compact: (not a constitution) submit to the will of the majority. 41 white men signed.
• William Bradford: governer 30 times! scholar.

The Bay Colony Bible Commonwealth:

• Non-Separatists (less extreme Puritans) formed the Massachusetts Bay Company
• Started colony off with 11 vessels and 1000 immigrants
• "The Great Migration" (1630s), 70,000 people came from England to the New World. Mostly to the West Indies, but 20,000 to Massachusetts.
• John Winthrop: governer for 19 years, talented dude.

Building the Bay Colony:

• Majority vote system - white, free, church men
• NOT a democracy - purpose of government was to enforce God's laws
• John Cotton: member of the clergy, very religious
• Separation of church and state (in a limited way)
• "they ate plentifully, drank heartily, sang songs occasionally, and made love monogamously"
• Serious about life and the idea of hell

Trouble in the Bible Commonwealth:

• Quaker vs. Puritan trouble
• Anne Hutchinson: sharp challenge to Puritan orthodoxy
• Roger Williams: extreme Separatist, wanted to break away from Church of England - was banished.

The Rhode Island "Sewer":

• Roger Williams fled to Rhode Island and built the first Baptist church. Complete religious freedom.
• Rhode Island became the most liberal (accepting) of all English colonies.
• Became a mix of all outcasts, "a sewer"
• "Independent Man" statue - still here today

New England Spreads Out:

• Thomas Hooker - Connecticut
• "Fundamental Orders" 1639 - modern constitution
• Puritans founded New Haven, even closer church-state relationship
• New Haven got merged with more democratic Connecticut Valley
• New Hampshire sprung, fishing, and trading w/ Mass., but then separated and made a "royal colony."

The English:

• Population explosion + economic depression + religious repression = colonization in the New World
• 3/4 of immigrant colonists were indentured servants
• Kept English roots in practice in the colonies

Puritans Versus Indians:

• 3/4 natives killed by epidemic
• Wampanoag Indians (Squanto) - peace treaty w/ Pilgrims 1621, "the first Thanksgiving"
• 1637 hostilities. English vs. Pequots.
• Intertribal unity! Metacom (King Philip) the Indian leader mounted assaults on English villages.
• This "King Philip's War" weakened Indians.

Seeds of Colonial Unity and Independence:

• New England Confederation: England was in civil war. Purpose: to protect themselves from Indians, French, and Dutch. Made of 4 colonies. Each colony got 2 votes. Consisted of: MA Bay, Plymouth, New Haven CT, and scattered CT colonies
• Mass. = most defiant to English King Charles II

Andros Promotes the First American Revolution:

• Dominion of New England: imposed from London
• Put restrictions on the American's trade
• Edmund Andros: head of the dominion. People did NOT like him.
• 1688-1689 England. Glorious "Bloodless" Revolution. New Protestant rulers => Dominion of New England collapsed. Andros was sent back to England
• MA was made royal - new charter and new governer
• Royal grip on colonies relaxed, "salutary neglect"
• Colonies unhappy with all things English

Old Netherlanders at New Netherland:

• Netherlands won independence from Spain
• Henry Hudson: explorer hired by the Dutch East India Company, Hudson went to NY bay and Hudson River.
• "New Netherland" planted along Hudson River in 1623-1624 (established by Dutch West India Company). Bought Manhattan from Indians for pennies.
• New Amsterdam - company town - no religious toleration, free speech, or democratic-ness
• Aristocratic, cosmopolitan, "18 languages!"

Friction with English and Swedish Neighbors:

• Indians attacked Dutch, so they built a wall: "Wall Street"
• CT and Mass. unhappy w/ Dutch, wanted to invade them, but didn't
• Sweden planted colony "New Sweden" on Delaware River
• Dutch, led by one-legged Peter Stuyvesant, attacked Swedes and Swedish rule came to an end.

Dutch Residues in New York:

• Duke of York (England) came and pwned the Dutch and renamed it New York.
• English now had Maine to the Carolinas
• New York was aristocratic; population decline because of few immigrants.

Penn's Holy Experiment in Pennsylvania:

• Quakers: rebels, not well-liked
• William Penn: the Quaker thing attracted him.
• Penn got land grant for the New World from the king, "Pennsylvania"
• Advertised his colonies => immigrants!

Quaker Pennsylvania and Its Neighbors:

• Pennsylvania launched in 1681.
• Quakers + Indians = peace
• Super liberal and cool with everyone
• By 1700, surpassed in wealth and popularity only by VA and Mass.
• New Jersey 1664 was founded. Quakerish and pretty cool.
• Delaware: 1703 granted assembly, but under gov of Pennsylvania

The Middle Way in the Middle Colonies:

• Middle = NY, NY, Delaware, and Penn.
• Fertile soil: breadbasket colonies.
• Fur trade. Rivers = good.