US History timeline & concept chart: 16th-18th centuries (to 1754) British-American colonies: Difference between revisions

From A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide
Line 5: Line 5:
== Article objectives ==  
== Article objectives ==  
* exploration & colonialism motives & purposes
* exploration & colonialism motives & purposes
* role of domestic Britain conditions and choices in American colonialism
** especially religious & political conflict, population & economic growth
* regional, economic, and demographic aspects of colonial expansion
* regional, economic, and demographic aspects of colonial expansion
* timeline up to the French-Indian War (1754)
* timeline up to the French-Indian War (1754)

Revision as of 15:10, 25 October 2021

US History timeline & concept chart: American colonies 17th & mid-18th centuries

Objectives:

  • to help students to
    • associate timelines with events, persons, themes & concepts
    • associate presidents with timelines, themes & concepts
    • identify timelines with BIG IDEAS across periods of US history
    • find connections and common themes across US history
    • easily find relevant details for larger comprehension
  • to help teachers to
    • quickly review US History content for lesson planning
    • provide students with easy and complete reference source for US history

Click EXPAND for a note for mobile phone users

  • these timeline & concept charts use tables in order to connect ideas, timelines, and major concepts
  • tables are not mobile-friendly (they do not wrap to a single column)
  • when these charts are complete, we will in the future convert the charts to mobile-friendly format as an alternative file
  • we encourage you to use a tablet or larger monitor in order to see the charts here

Index

Page structure & format guide

U.S. History course pages:


Article objectives[edit | edit source]

  • exploration & colonialism motives & purposes
  • role of domestic Britain conditions and choices in American colonialism
    • especially religious & political conflict, population & economic growth
  • regional, economic, and demographic aspects of colonial expansion
  • timeline up to the French-Indian War (1754)

Protestant Reformation & religious conflict[edit | edit source]

PERIOD / TIMELINE Major Events, Concepts & Themes Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events
  • 1517 Protestant Reformation
  • 1527 Henry VIII separates from Catholic Church
  • 1642–1651 English Civil War
  • 1649-1653 Oliver Cromwell & the Commonwealth of England (Protestant rule)
  • 1649 Maryland Toleration Act (religious tolerance)
  • 1661 "English Restoration" of Charles II
  • 1688-1689: Glorious Revolution (Catholic James II deposed & replaced by Protestant rulers William & Mary)
  • 1688-1689 Tolerance Act of 1688 & English Bill of Rights of 1689

Martin Luther & Protestant Reformation[edit | edit source]

Pilgrims, Puritans & Massachusetts colonies[edit | edit source]

English Civil War[edit | edit source]

Religious conflict & persecution as push factor on migration to colonial America[edit | edit source]

Rhode Island & religious freedom[edit | edit source]

Quakers & Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]

BIG IDEAS

  • Protestant Reformation propels European nationalism
  • Henry VIII’s break from Catholic Church ensures English-Spanish competition / wars
  • Rhode Island was started by Puritan Roger Williams who was exiled from Massachusetts
    • Williams named Rhode Island "Providence Plantation" and established religious tolerance
  • English Civil War, 1642–1651 = religious conflict that spills over to colonies
    • Charles I executed in 1649
    • the war continued until 1651 when Charles II was exiled
    • "Royalists" v. "Parliamentarians"
  • 1649-1653 Oliver Cromwell & the Commonwealth of England (Protestant rule)
    • the Commonwealth marked by political dissention
    • only Cromwell held it together, falling apart a year after his death in 1658 and his son's unsuccessful rule
    • "Restoration" of Charles II in 1660
  • 1688-1689 "Glorious Revolution
    • James II (followed Charles II) deposed after imposing authoritarian rule
      • James II was Catholic
    • William of Orange invades and takes crown as co-regent with Mary II (daughter of James II; she was an Anglican not a Catholic)
    • Tolerance Act of 1688: religious rights to non-conformist protestants
    • English Bill of Rights of 1689: clarified royal succession & protected certain rights of citizens
  • see also Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648
  • American colonial anti-Catholicism drives colonial identity and serves as catalyst for American Revolution following British take-over of French-Canadian Catholic provinces in Canada
  • Protestant objections to centralized Church of England doctrine leads to the splinter religious movement known generally as Puritans and their offshoots, including the Brownists, (from which the Pilgrims arose), Quakers, Levelers, Anabaptists, etc.
  • 1636 Rhode Island passed acts to prohibit religious persecution of "non-Trinitarians"
    • "Trinitarian" refers to believers of the "Holy Trinity", which is a core Catholic belief
    • Rhode Island is considered the first government to separate "Church and State"
  • 1649 Maryland passed the Maryland Toleration Act to enforce religious tolerance for Catholics ("Trinitarians")
    • the Rhode Island and Maryland laws explicitly protected only Christians
      • after the English Restoration, Rhode Island welcomed Quakers, Jews and others seeking religious liberty

DETAILS

  • during English Civil War American colonialists were divided in loyalties
    • Puritan colonies, especially Massachusetts, aligned with the Parliamentarians
      • with the Parliamentarian victory, some Puritan colonialists returned to England
    • Virginia (a "crown colony" as of 1634) and Maryland ("proprietary colony" but owned by the Catholic Calver family) were strongly allied with Royalists
      • The "Plundering Time" or "Claiborne and Ingle's Rebellion" = Protestant invasion of Kent Island and St. Mary's City in Maryland, 1644-46
        • two years of raiding and turmoil
        • Maryland governor, Cecilius Calvert (2nd Lord Baltimore), fled to Virginia
      • Lord Baltimore regained power 1646
      • during the Commonwealth, Parliament appointed protestant commissioners who opposed Lord Baltimore
        • the commissioners essentially ran the state from 1654-1658
        • under protestant rule, Maryland repealed the 1649 Maryland Toleration Act (which had provided for religious tolerance)
      • "Battle of the Severn" in 1655 near Annapolis, MD, called "the last battle of the English Civil War" (see Battle of the Severn (wikipedia)
        • a protestant settlement at Horn Point on the Severn River skirmished with Lord Baltimore's forces
      • in 1658 Lord Baltimore regained control and an amnesty was declared
  • Quakers = "Religious Society of Friends"
    • = Puritans who were considered extremists for their belief that the "Light of Christ" resided in every person
    • in 1681, the Quaker William Penn traded a debt owed to his father by King Charles II for the province of Pennsylvania
      • by 1685, 8,000 Quakers had moved to Pennsylvania
      • Penn encouraged protestant German immigrants, including Lutherans, Mennonites, Amish, and other sects
      • many of these groups settled on farm land, thus "Pennsylvania Dutch country"
  • Sources:

British exploration and early settlements[edit | edit source]

PERIOD / TIMELINE Major Events, Concepts & Themes Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events
  • 1497 Cabot expedition to explore coast of North America

  • 1585 Roanoke colony
    • fails; knowns as the "Lost Colony"

  • 1578 "Frobisher expedition" to find the Northwest Passage (route to Asia over Canada)
    • failed but spurred British interest in North America

  • 1607-11 Henry Hudson explorations of Canada in search of Northwest Passage

  • 1607 Jamestown settlement

  • 1614 Tobacco 1st shipped to England

  • 1625 British colonial population in areas of the 13 colonies: 2,000
    • by 1775: 2.4 million

  • 1634 Maryland founded by Catholic George Calvert

  • 1642 English Civil War

  • 1651 British Navigation Act

  • 1676 Bacon's Rebellion

  • 1681, William Penn granted charter for Pennsylvania

  • 1692 Salem Witchcraft Trials

  • 1721 British policy of "Salutary Neglect"

>> to do

BIG IDEAS

  • during 1500s Britain sponsors several exploratory expeditions to the Americas
    • the goal is to find gold and a passage to Asia
    • settlements attempted without success in 1500s
  • early 1600s, successful settlements in Chesapeake region & Massachusetts
  • Headright system used to encourage migration to colonies
  • British competition with Dutch
    • British seize Dutch colonies in central Atlantic

DETAILS

Early British explorations of North America[edit | edit source]

  • British interest & plans
    • after news of Columbus’ expeditions, the British organized an exploration headed by John Cabot
      • Cabot was an Italian navigator from Venice (a maritime empire at the time)
      • Cabot's name was Giovanni Caboto
      • he became the 1st European to visit to coastal North America since the Vikings
    • it is possible that Columbus had, prior to his 1492 expedition, visited Iceland, Greenland or, possibly, Canada in 1477
      • Columbus is thought to have visited Bristol, England, which maintained trade with Iceland
      • Cabot sailed from Bristol, so he used the knowledge of Bristol mariners
  • Cabot’s explorations laid the basis for subsequent British and French competition for control of modern Canada, especially Newfoundland, Quebec and the Great Lakes regions.
  • 1497 Cabot expedition
    • Henry VII sent Cabot to explore North American coast and find gold or other riches
      • and to by-pass the Americas and find a western route to Asia
    • his 1st expedition was unsuccessful
    • the 2nd reached "Newfoundland", the easternmost point of modern Canada
        • he may also have encountered Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and/or Maine
    • a third expedition was organized in 1498
      • it was unsuccessful, and Cabot may have been lost at sea
  • 1508-1509 Sebastian Cabot's expedition
    • John Cabot's son
    • he explored the North American coast from the Hudson Strait (and possibly the Hudson Bay itself) to the Chesapeake Bay
  • Henry VIII became king in 1509 and had no interest in further explorations of North America
  • 1607-11 Henry Hudson seeks the Northwest Passage
    • Hudson explored the Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Bay, the Hudson River, Nova Scotia and the Hudson Bay
    • Hudson made land claims and traded with Native Americans (fur)
      • after spending the winter of 1611 at James Bay (southern part of Hudson Bay), Hudson's crew mutinied and sent him, his son, and a few crewmen into the Bay in a small boat, where after they disappeared
      • Hudson's primary accomplishments were
        • British claims on land
        • development of fur trade
        • competition with the Dutch for North American lands and fur trade
  • Virginia settlements of North America
    • 1583 St. Johns, Newfoundland colony
    • 1585 Roanoke colony ("Lost Colony")
      • original 112-121 colonists died, dispersed or were killed by Indians
        • had poor relationship with local tribes
        • a rescue expedition in 1590 found the settlement abandoned
    • 1607 Jamestown colony
      • established relations with local Algonquin tribes
      • by 1617 only 351 out of the original 1700 English had survived
      • 1617-1620 population grew to 1240
        • in response to tobacco farming
      • relations with Indians deteriorated

Tobacco economy[edit | edit source]

  • John Rolfe planted seed from Trinidad in Virginia
    • 1614 fist tobacco shipment to England
    • European markets demanded more tobacco
    • spurred colonial growth and migration
    • headright system enacted to bring more labor to the colony
      • headright system = land grant for settlers who paid for transport of indentured servants to the colonies
  • 1619 Virginia set the value of "high quality" tobacco at 3 shillings
  • 1642 tobacco became "legal tender" (official currency/money)
    • goods, services and taxes could be paid with tobacco
  • 1727 Virginia created "tobacco notes" or "tobacco receipts"

headright system[edit | edit source]

  • started 1618 in Jamestown colony
    • to encourage migration to the colony
  • offered land in the colonies in exchange for paying passage for someone to migrate
    • those people became "indentured servants"
      • = "served" their sponsor without pay for a certain period of time (typically 3 years)
  • 1 headright = 50 acres
    • sponsors living in the colonies received 2 headrights per passage (paying for 1 person to sail to colonies)
    • immigrants who paid for their own passage received 1 headright
    • immigrants who paid for another person's passage received 1 headright per passage
      • passage typically cost 6 pounds per person
    • this system incentivized passage of families as a single household (multiple headrights to one family)
  • headright system was mostly used in central Atlantic colonies
    • system was used must less in New England

population growth & demographics of early colonists[edit | edit source]

colony of Maryland[edit | edit source]

  • 1634 Maryland founded
    • by Catholic George Calvert, Lord Baltimore; granted by English King Charles I
    • first prioprietary colony = owned and governed by an individual

British governance of early colonies[edit | edit source]

  • up until 1763, Britain largely ruled the colonies indirectly
  • events leading up to and after the English Civil War occupied British attentions outside of the colonies
    • English Civil War
    • Glorious Revolution
    • Restoration
  • the primary method of governance was through charters, grants and trade regulations
    • King James II's 1686 attempt to impose more direct rule of the colonies by revoking existing charters of most northeastern colonies into the "Dominion of New England" failed (see below)

Royal charters & mercantilism[edit | edit source]

  • colonial reorganization
    • in order to control the colonial possessions, the British government/ King created or reorganized colonial charters
    • Plymouth colony, for example, never received a Royal charter and thus lacked legal standing after dissolution of the Dominion of New England in 1689
    • and the Massachusetts Bay Colony's charter was revoked by James II
      • the British "Lords of Trade" incorporated them in 1691 into Province of Massachusetts Bay along with coast islands and most of modern Maine (but without New Hampshire)

Dominion of New England[edit | edit source]

  • in response to colonial resistance of the Navigation Acts, as well as in order to more directly rule the region
    • in 1686 King James II reorganized various New England and Mid-Atlantic colonial entities into the Dominion of New England
      • the proprietary colonies of Delaware and Pennsylvania were excepted
      • especially targeted was the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Boston merchants for resisting the Navigation Acts
  • colonial resistance:
    • resented the revocation of their charters
    • and feared that the English King was trying to impose the Church of England
      • the 1689 Boston revolt and Leisler Rebellion (in New York) resisted Dominion rule
      • the Dominion was dismantled in 1689 and new charters were granted after the Glorious Revolution under William & Mary
  • mercantilism
    • European political and economic policy of forcing colonial possessions to trade directly with the home country and not others
  • Navigation Act of 1651
    • required that all trade to/from colonies had to be conducted on English ships
    • designed to force American colonists to trade directly with England
    • was mostly targeted at colonial trade with the Dutch, which the English wanted to halt
    • the Act contributed to the Anglo-Dutch war of 1652-54 (impacted colonial trade but no battles in North America)
  • Navigation Acts of 1651, 1660 & 1696
    • targeted specific goods that were to be transported only on English ships
      • including: sugar, tobacco, fabric, indigo (dye), ginger
    • required that ships trading with American colonies must first stop at British ports for inspection and taxes
  • the 17th century Navigation Acts were largely unenforced in the American colonies

Salutary neglect[edit | edit source]

  • "salutary" = "producing good effects," usually as result of something unwanted
  • lax British control of the colonies up until 1763 (after the French-Indian War)
    • Britain governed through granting or reorganization of land and colonial charters, taxes on imports into England and occasional enforcement of "Navigation Acts"
  • British fiscal policy 1721 followed the idea of "salutary neglect":
    • Robert Walpole, British Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in 1721:
      • sought to increase taxes on colonies by reducing them, which would allow for greater economic activity
      • Walpole wrote: " “if no restrictions were placed on the colonies, they would flourish”
        • which would lead to an increase in trade with the colonials, and, thus, higher tax receipts on duties on that trade
  • the term "salutary neglect" was coined in 1775 by Edmund Burke, a pro-colonial Irish-British politician

click EXPAND for excerpt from Burke's speech to Parliament in 1775:

“That I know that the colonies in general owe little or nothing to any care of ours, and that they are not squeezed into this happy form by the constraints of watchful and suspicious government, but that, through a wise and salutary neglect, a generous nature has been suffered to take her own way to perfection; when I reflect upon these effects, when I see how profitable they have been to us, I feel all the pride of power sink, and all presumption in the wisdom of human contrivances melt, and die away within me.”

Early British North American colonization[edit | edit source]

PERIOD / TIMELINE Major Events, Concepts & Themes Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events
  • 1583: English claim Newfoundland

  • 1585: first English settlement at Roanoke, VA

  • 1587: "Lost colony" of Roanoke (abandoned by 1590)

  • 1603: King James I crowned

  • 1606 First Charter of Virginia

  • 1607 Jamestown settlement

  • 1608 Separatist group moves to Holland

  • 1618 Great Charter (established VA self-governance)

  • 1620 Mayflower Company/ Plymouth settled by Pilgrims

  • 1622 Jamestown Massacre

  • 1624: Virginia Company abolished; royal Colony

  • 1639: Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

  • 1642: House of Burgesses

British colonial population growth

  • 1530-1680: 200,000 immigrants arrived to the colonies

Push / Pull factors

  • conditions that "pushed" British emigration
  • conditions that "pulled" colonial immigration

Joint Stock Company

  • shared ownership for commercial venture; used by England for 1st colonies
  • Virginia Company: to establish colonies & find gold (didn’t)

Headright System

  • land grant for brining laborers to colonies

Indentured servants

House of Burgesses

  • legislature, governing body of VA colony

Separatists (religious)

  • wanted autonomous congregations “separate” from Church of England
  • Puritans: anti-papal/ anti-Catholic, wanted to “purify” English Churches
  • Pilgrims: separatists group sailed to Plymouth from Holland
  • Mayflower Compact: Pilgrim contract for self-rule
  • William Bradford: became Plymouth Colony governor; wrote book “On “Plymouth Plantation”

John Winthrop & "city upon a hill"

  • “A Model of Christian Charity”: Winthrop sermon declaring Christian mission of the colony

BIG IDEAS

  • Corporate structure & charters of British colonial enterprises
  • British settlements & interactions/ conflicts with Native Americans
  • Religious movements & motivations
  • Concept of self-governance expressed/ experienced:
    • House of Burgessses
    • John Winthrop
    • Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
  • Push/Pull factors for British settlement in North America
Push factors
  • population growth in England
  • religious & political persecution
  • primogeniture (1st born inherits), so 2nd+ sons seeking opportunity
  • political advantage
  • corporate organization (formal structures for exploration & migration)
  • criminality
Pull factors
  • economic opportunity
  • adventurism
  • religious freedom
  • political opportunity
  • economic opportunity
  • "new start"
  • demand for labor
  • slavery

DETAILS

British colonial population growth[edit | edit source]

    • 1625: 2,000
    • 1775: 2.4 million
  • from 1530-1680 200,000 immigrants arrived to the colonies
  • demographic impact
    • increasing diversity of migrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany
    • diverse origins, religions, and motives
    • headright system & indentured servitude led to diverse economic class
    • African slavery
    • 1630-1770s, 1/2 to 2/3rds of European migrants to the American colonies came as indentured servants

https://web.viu.ca/davies/H320/population.colonies.htm

  • Joint-stock company
    • = artificial entity to limit liability and distribute profits/losses across multiple ownership via “stocks” or portions of the enterprise
    • originated in order to distribute risk in dangerous/ uncertain ventures such as trans-oceanic trade or colonial enterprise
    • generally require legal authorization, esp. from monarchs in early modern Europe
  • Virginia Company of London aka the "London Company" or the "Virginia Company," 1607-1624
    • 1624: abolished and Virginia became “crown colony”
    • Chartered by James I, actually a series of companies and colonial activities
    • goal = establish English settlements on N.A. east cost
      • also = find gold (didn’t), but did learn tobacco from Indians, John Rolfe (married Pocahontas) cultivated new strains for European market
    • self-governed enterprise
    • = possible source of democratic impulse among colonials
  • Jamestown, 1607
    • 1st settlements failed, resupplied
    • Anglo-Powhatan wars
    • English enmeshed in Indian tribal warfare
    • 1610: English attacked tribes, took hostages,
    • 1612 tribal leader Powhatan arranged peace, married daughter to Rolfe
    • Powhatan’s successor took anti-English position, led attacks
    • Jamestown Massacre, 1622, Indians murdered colonials
    • peace agreements by 1627-32, but English expansion westward continued, led to war in 1644, finally Treat of 1646 turned tribes into English subjects, Virginia Colony expansion
  • Headright System/Headrights
    • = grant of land to colonial settlers
    • first employed w/ VA colony, then Plymouth and others
    • the “great charter” 1816 established headright system
    • purpose was to populate, invest and procure labor
    • land grants up to 1000 acres prior to departure
    • in exchange for sending labor, usually indentured servants
  • Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639
    • Ii 1636, disaffected Massachusetts Puritans settled in Connecticut River valley
    • 1638 Roger Ludlow petitioned Governor Winthrop for authority for those settlements to “united ourselves to walk and lie peaceably and lovingly together”
    • 1639 Connecticut established as separate colony
    • Fundamental Orders document declared protection of certain rights of individuals, limits on the government and the secret ballot for election of magistrates
    • = considered first written constitution in English tradition and important step towards “self-goverance”
    • thus the modern “Constitution State” state motto
  • House of Burgesses, 1642-1776
    • local assembly/ legislature for Virginia colony, bicameral
    • replaced the “Council of State” which operated under the Great Charter
    • gained power over governors over time, representation expanded w/ colony
    • tension w/ British government
  • Separatists, 16th-17th centuries
    • Protestants who wanted independent churches from Church of England
    • initially illegal and persecuted but gained power under Oliver Cromwell, a separatist (1649-1660)
    • wanted congregations to be self-determinant (i.e., anti-centralized church, = democratic spirit)
    • 1608 separatist group fled to Holland (under James I of England who was persecuting them)
    • 1620, off-shoot group, Pilgrims sailed to Plymouth, MA from Holland where they had lived apporx 10 yrs to escape persecution in England; wanted religious freedom but didn’t want to become Dutch
  • Puritans
    • wanted to “purify” Church of England from Catholic remnants
    • strongly anti-papist (“popery”)
    • want total separation from Catholic church
    • most stayed with Church of England (see separatists and pilgrims)
    • established Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630 w/ Pilgrim separatists
  • Mayflower Compact
    • signed on the ship, Nov. 11, 1620 just off Cape Cod
    • destination was Virginia Colony, but the ship landed at Cape Cod, and stayed there
    • used that as excuse to declare self-governance
    • maintained allegiance to England & James I
    • text:
“IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We… Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience …”
    • = declaration of self-governance/ democracy
  • William Bradford, 1590-1657
    • of Plymouth Plantation
    • Separatist, Pilgrim, 2nd & on/off governor of Plymouth Colony starting 1635
    • inherited farm & wealth
    • interested in philosophy & religion, was persecuted as separatist
    • in 1607 left for Holland to escape, started a business, married into a wealthy English family
    • became ill during 1st winter at Plymouth (others died)
    • as governor negotiated w/ local Indians (Massasoit of the Pokanokets), created alliance w/ Pokanokets
    • wrote “on Plymouth plantation” = important historical record

click EXPAAND for Bradford's account of the cicada outbreak of 1633:

"It is to be observed that, the spring before this sickness, there was a numerous company of Flies which were like for bigness unto wasps or Bumble-Bees; they came out of little holes in the ground, and did eat up the green things, and made such a constant yelling noise as made the woods ring of them, and ready to deafen the hearers; they were not any seen or heard by the English in this country before this time; but the Indians told them that sickness would follow, and so it did, very hot, in the months of June, July, and August of that summer."
  • John Winthrop, 1587-1649
    • Pilgrim, arrived 1630, settled in area of Boston today
    • leader of Mass Bay Colony
    • encouraged common effort (not relying on servants for labor)
    • helped shape legal system, opposed magistrate (officials in the “General Court” which served as the government) powers as arbitrary, called for laws to shape policies
    • opposed pure democracy but supported rights of members of community, especially in church / congregation affairs
    • did not support offshoot religious views, including Ann Hutchinson and other new arrivals (1630s), who were banished
    • “antinomians” argued against following strict religious law and for salvation through grace
    • famed for vision of colony as “city upon a hill” , saw the movement as a modern biblical exodus and example for the world “the eyes of all people are upon us”
    • "A Model of Christian Charity"
      • started as a diary of voyage to America and life in the colony, important primary source document
    • later expanded on his philosophy and religious/ political outlook
    • from it, “Model” was a sermon to define Christian community
    • “City upon a Hill” from this speech
      • saw puritan society as a model state
      • saw religious rules as essential, called them “Justice and Mercy” and should apply to all, rich and poor
    • historians see “City upon a Hill” as a statement of “American exceptionalism”

Southern colonial economies & demographics[edit | edit source]

PERIOD / TIMELINE Major Events, Concepts & Themes Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events
  • 1660–1677 Governor Sr. William Berkely in office

  • 1660s settlers encroach upon Indian lands along "Northern Neck"
    • land between Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers

  • 1666 colonists declare war upon Native Americans in Northern Neck region

  • 1675-76 Bacon's Rebellion

  • 1680s significant growth in slavery
  • 1730s rice economy

cash crops[edit | edit source]

plantation economy[edit | edit source]

coastal elites[edit | edit source]

  • Governor Berkeley

backcountry farmers[edit | edit source]

  • yeoman farmers

Bacon's Rebellion[edit | edit source]

slavery[edit | edit source]

BIG IDEAS

  • plantation economy
  • social/ economic stratification
  • frontier settlements & conflict with Native Americans
  • Bacon's Rebellion
  • expansion of slavery
      • by early 1700s VA & MD planters switch from indentured servants to slaves

DETAILS

  • cash crops:
    • tobacco in NC, VA and MD
    • rice/ indigo in SC
  • plantation economy
    • increasing use of slaves
  • demographics
    • stratification of southern society
  • Southern gentry
    • large estates
      • gentry lifestyle, including hunting, horse racing, gambling, dancing
      • coastal or Tidewater elites based on plantations and ports
  • indentured servants and "backcountry" farmers:
    • half of indentures servants died in colonies before earning freedom
    • yoeman farmers owned their land, engaged in subsistence farming
    • many former servants become tenent farmers (rent not land ownership) due to costs of land surveys, fees, farming equipment & animals, etc.
    • general trend is towards small-farm ownership and westward expansion in search for new lands to farm
  • rice economy
    • 1730 Parliament removed rice from mercantalist restrictions, freeing sale directly to other nations
    • rice economy rose/fell with wars
    • when price was high benefited freeholders and not large plantations


Bacon's rebellion

  • background:
    • Governor Sr. William Berkely
      • controlled House of Burgesses via political patronage and favors among elites
      • exempted himself and ruling "governor council" members from taxes
      • restricted right to vote to property ownership (cut vote rolls by half)
  • growing conflict with Native Americans over colonial encroachment on frontier lands
    • 1675 war between Native Americans and frontier settlers
    • coastal elites did not want war with Indians
  • Nathaniel Bacon
    • = wealthy landowner, buys frontier land, attacked by Indians
    • member of the governor's council
      • but sides with frontier farmers on war with Native Americans
    • Bacon leads his own militia to fight Native Americans
    • Gov Berkeley calls for new election
      • but new legislators back Bacon and authorize militia
    • known as "Bacon's Laws"
      • also restores vote to all free men and removed Berkeley's tax exemptions
    • Bacon still opposes Berkeley regime, with small army takes over capital at Jamestown and charges Berkeley with corruption
    • Berkeley flees, raises his own army and battles Bacon's army
    • Bacon escapes but dies while hiding in a swamp and his army disintegrate

Colonial slavery[edit | edit source]

PERIOD / TIMELINE Major Events, Concepts & Themes Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events
  • 1619 first Africans colonial America
  • 1638 Maryland legally recognizes slavery
  • 1705 Virginia slave code enacted

subtitle[edit | edit source]

BIG IDEAS

DETAILS

  • 1619: first African slaves brought to British colonies by Dutch merchants
  • British entry to slave trade via Royal African Company (1672)
  • 1680s growth in central / south colonies

slavery & slave culture

  • growth in slavery in 1680s
    • after Bacon's rebellion wealthy planters increased reliance on slaves instead of indentured servants
    • expanding frontiers, especially in Pennsylvania, had diminished flow of indentured servants
    • increase in transatlantic slave trade, including by British under the Royal African Company starting 1672
  • slave culture
    • maintain oral traditions, songs
    • mixture of African and colonial cultures


New England colonial expansion[edit | edit source]

PERIOD / TIMELINE Major Events, Concepts & Themes Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events

subtitle[edit | edit source]

BIG IDEAS

  • coastal economy
  • townships
  • frontier
  • Indian Wars

DETAILS

  • coastal economy
    • King George's War spurred adventurism and privateerism

>> see Taylor on 1/4th of Boston freeman had ownership of a ship

central colonies[edit | edit source]

PERIOD / TIMELINE Major Events, Concepts & Themes Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events

subtitle[edit | edit source]

BIG IDEAS

DETAILS

  • PA land >> = decline in indentured servitude
  • Quakers
  • During King George's war European demand for food due to war and poor harvests increased demand for grain
    • Chesapeake region conversion to diverse crops
      • tobacco still largest export
      • growth in central coast ports, especially Baltimore


Colonial wars[edit | edit source]

War Timeline Colonial name European name Consequence

1675-1763

"French & Indian Wars" include:

  • King Philip's War
  • King William's War
  • Queen Anne's War
  • King George's War
  • French-Indian War

BIG IDEAS

    • the colonial "French & Indian Wars" were part of various European "dynastic wars"
    • in French known as "Intercolonial wars"
  • all of these wars were largely result of American colonial expansion, including:
    • rising population
    • frontier settlement, especially by small farmers'
  • European political and religious dynamics deeply influenced British and French colonial interactions
    • as well as among and between the British colonies
1675–1678 King Philip's War n/a - independent of European conflicts or involvement
  • early Pilgrims & Wampanoag chief Massasoit maintained friendly relations
  • upon his death, his son, Metacom, accused colonists of violating agreements (land use)
    • led raids on Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut villages & settlements
    • colonial militia responded
    • considered the most deadly of all colonial wars
      • half of colonial towns attacked and 12 destroyed
      • 1/10 colonial males killed
      • 100s of Wampanaogs executed or enslaved
      • Wampoaaogs lands entirely lost to them
  • impact upon New England identity
    • war conducted without British involvement or support
    • created distinct identify and sense of independence from Britain
1688–1697 King William's War
  • War of the Grand Alliance
  • War of the League of Augsburg
  • Nine Years' War
  • started due to New England expansion into Acadia, a region of New France
  • France aligned Wabanaki Confederacy opposed colonialists and their allied Iroquois Confederacy
  • wiki: The Iroquois dominated the economically important Great Lakes fur trade and had been in conflict with New France since 1680.[15]:43 At the urging of New England, the Iroquois interrupted the trade between New France and the western tribes. In retaliation, New France raided Seneca lands of western New York. In turn, New England supported the Iroquois in attacking New France, which they did by raiding Lachine.
  • also konwn as Second Indian War
  • resulted in no changes in British of French colonial territories
  • Wabanaki Confederacy" held off colonial American attempts to expand into southern Main
1702–1713 Queen Anne's War War of the Spanish Succession
  • War of Spanish Succession over death of Spanish King Charles II
    • France and England wanted colonies to remain neutral
    • existing colonial border tensions were enflamed by the European conflict
    • included French, Spanish & British boundaries in
      • Newfoundland & Hudson Bay
      • Massachusetts & Maine
      • Carolinas
  • English colonial population 250,000
  • French & Spanish populations were negligible, relying mostly on Indian allies
  • outcome:
    • British take Acadia, Newfoundland, Hudson Bay, and Saint Kitts
1722–1725 Dumner's War

n/a - colonial war

  • not part of European dynastic wars
  • series of conflicts between New England colonials and Wabanaki Confederacy
  • William Dummer was governor of Massachusetts
  • fought mostly in Maine and Nova Scotia
  • source of conflict was ongoing British colonial settlements in Maine and (modern) Vermont
    • the Wabanaki Confederacy had not been party to French and English settlement of Queen Anne's War
      • and so did not adhere to the French-British agreement
  • outcome was that New England colonials took over most of Acadia (Maine)
1739 War of Jenkin's Ear

n/a - colonial conflict

  • not part of European dynastic wars
  • a Spanish commander sliced the ear of a British merchant captain
  • the conflict was largely in the Caribbean
    • British colonials from Georgia attacked the Spanish St. Augustine, FL in 1740
      • Spanish forces retaliated in 1742 with an attack upon the Georgia coast, which was repelled
    • the conflict did not involve the French, but did morph into the larger European conflict in the War of the Austrian Succession
1744–1748 King George's War War of the Austrian Succession
  • New England colonists organized invasion of Nova Scotia
  • led to heavy losses of colonial forces, 8% of males were killed
  • the war energized New England ship building industry
    • adventurism / privateers & investments in expeditions on Spanish ships & possessions in Caribbean
    • European demand for food due to war and poor harvests increased demand for grain & rice
  • conclusion of the war changed no boundaries and did not settle tensions
    • may be considered as contributor to French-Indian War of 1754
1754–1763 French-Indian War Seven Years' War to be discussed in subsequent timeline & concepts chart