I.

Events in Europe led to New World Discoveries

A. The Renaissance created a curiosity about the world and led to people
searching for glory and wealth. People should not just live and die.
B. Religion had many effects on colonization.

1. At first, Moctezuma accepted the Spanish invaders because he
thought Hernan Cortez was a returning god.
2. The Spanish believed their primary mission was to Christianize the
natives.
3. The Protestant Reformation led to Dutch independence from Spain.
Holland sought to create a commercial empire for itself.
4. The Reformation caused issues in England that led to waves of settlers
to the Americas.

a. The compromise over Protestant and Catholic practices caused
racial religious groups, like the Pilgrims, to seek asylum in North
America.
b. The Pilgrims opposed many practices of the Anglican Church.

1. Opposed Catholic rituals in the church.
2. Emphasized the conversion experience.
3. Believed members should be able to read the bible.
4. Local congregations had the power to choose their own
ministers.
Pizaro Inca, Peru
Cortez Aztec, Mexico
Amerigo Vespuchi Names America
Jamestown is in South Virginia
The Puritans went to the Massachusetts Bay
Colony and the Pilgrims went to Plymouth
Rock.


C. The English practice of primogeniture caused many of the younger sons
of wealthy families to seek their fortunes in the colonies.
D. People from England, France, and Spain came to the Americas hoping to
strike it rich, escape religious wars or epidemics, or to be masters of their
own labor.

II. The Spanish Colonies

A. Spanish conquistadors wanted to strike it rich and get glory from battles.
The hoped that land they conquered would provide them with a title of
nobility.
B. Cortes was able to defeat the Aztecs mainly because the Aztec empire
suffered from disease and internal rebellion by other natives.
C. Other conquistadors were able to seize other parts of Central and South
America, as well as North America.
D. By 1650, the native population of Mesoamerica had declined
dramatically because of the diseases from Europe.
E. The Columbian Exchange was a trade system between Europe, Asia,
Africa, and North America.
F. By the late 1500s, the Spanish put missionaries in charge of pacification
and assimilation of the natives.



1. The Francian missionaries developed the mission system to force
religious conversion and assimilation of natives.
2. The natives tolerated Christian teachings until a disaster struck
and then the natives returned to their traditional beliefs.
3. In 1680, Pop led a rebellion by the Pueblo Indians against the
Spanish Americans.
a. More than 400 Spanish were killed, churches were
burned, and traditional crops replanted.
b. The Spanish reconquered the Pueblos 10 years later.

III. The French Colonies
A. New Frances economy was based on the fur trade. The French had the
best relations with the natives because of trade.
B. French missionaries also tried to convert Indians to Christianity. The
Jesuit missionaries tried to understand native culture and beliefs.
C. French exploration and trade would lead to the spread of disease to
natives and also a series of wars between tribes over trade of animal
pelts for European manufactured goods.
D. Overall, natives lost their cultural and economic independence because
of trade with Europeans.

IV. The Dutch colony of New Netherland
A. The colony grew slowly because settlers did not want to go there.
B. New Netherlands economy was also based on trade with the natives.
C. In 1664, the English invaded and took over the Dutch colony.

V. The English colonies
A. The Chesapeake Bay colonies
1. Virginia Jamestown (1607) was critical for the future US.
a. It was financed by merchants through a joint-stock company the
Virginia Company.
b. Its charter guaranteed the colonists full rights as Englishmen, a
foundation for future American liberties, such as trial by jury, the
right to assemble, etc.
c. Eventually a mini parliament called the House of Burgesses was
created, which would be a model for other colonies. When it was
first summoned to meet, it set a precedent for self-government in
the colonies.
d. The first colonist nearly starved to death because they were too
busy looking for gold and not accustomed to fending for
themselves. John Smith saved them - work or dont eat. More
than half of the colonys population dies during the first two years
because of disease and famine.
e. During the 17
th
century, disease took such a toll in the Chesapeake
region that most children lost at least one parent by the time they
were 18.

2. Tobacco would save the colony, but also was a curse. Called the poor
mans crop, it grew anywhere.
a. John Rolfe introduced tobacco production to the colony.
b. By 1700, Virginias economy was based on tobacco crops.

c. Tobacco also caused soil depletion, the dependence on one crop
agriculture, and the need for labor. It also helped lead to the rise
of the plantation system.
3. The colony grew slowly, mainly because indentured servant men were
the majority of the settlers. Few women.
a. Even after their contracts were fulfilled, most indentured servants
remained in poverty.
b. This created problems, many young men with no vote and who
could not acquire land on their own.
c. After 1660, a wealthy planter-merchant elite dominated the
Chesapeake economy and owned almost half the land in Virginia.
4. Bacons Rebellion (1676) was caused by the dissatisfaction of western
frontiersmen of Virginia with the policies of the planter-merchant elite.
a. Backcountry young men who were frustrated by their inability to
acquire land joined Roger Bacon against the governor and the
landed gentry.
b. The rebellion collapsed with the death of Bacon.
c. There were many causes of the rebellion.
1. Social inequality
2. Corruption
3. The threat of native attacks.
d. There were many consequences of the rebellion.
1. African slavery began to replace indentured servants and slavery
would be mostly permanent.

2. Corruption in the House of Burgesses was curbed and taxes were
lowered on farmers.
3. Indians were removed from the Virginia frontier.

5. Maryland 1634
a. Founded by George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) as a haven for
Catholics.
b. The colony grew slowly because most newcomers were
indentured servant men.
c. The colony would also rely on the plantation system and one
crop agriculture.
d. Eventually, because of the increasing number of Protestants in
the colony, the Maryland Act of Toleration was passed (1649) to
give all Christian protection. Designed to protect the Catholic
minority.

B. New England
1. Massachusetts
a. Plymouth (1620)
1. The colony settled by the Pilgrims thrived because of a number
of factors.
a. The settles has a strong work ethic because of their religious
discipline.
b. The settlers passed a series of laws that created an egalitarian
society.

c. The cold climate limited the spread of mosquito-borne
diseases.
d. A smallpox epidemic killed most of the natives living near
Plymouth.
2. Eventually the colony was absorbed by the Massachusetts Bay
colony.

b. Massachusetts Bay (1629)
1. Had many advantages over previous colonies, including a shared
purpose of settlers, well financed and equipped, started off on a
larger scale, and had many prosperous and educated
immigrants.
2. The Puritans fled England due to religious repression,
restrictions on Puritan religious practices, and an economic
recession.
3. Calvinism influenced Puritan Doctrine
a. John Winthrop wanted to create a model society in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony a city upon a hill. They believed
they had made a covenant with god to preserve true
Christianity in the Americas.
b. Only the visible saints (those who were members of the
church) had the right to vote, which created a bond between
church and state. This resulted in ordinary farmers having
much political power in the colony.

4. In 1692, the Salem witchcraft trials began. Several girls accused
older women of putting spells on them. The trials would lead to
the execution of 19 people. Historians believe the trials were a
result of a number of factors, including tensions from Indian
attacks on Maine colonists, political instability within the colony,
economic tension between wealthier and poorer colonists, and
the effort by Puritans to subjugate women (most of those who
were tried were women).
c. Connecticut (1635)
1. Founded by Thomas Hooker and others along the Connecticut
River Valley, growing out of the Puritan settlement of
Massachusetts.
2. The settlers developed the Fundamental Orders, the first written
constitution in the Americas, It gave substantial men (those
who owned property), the right to elect a representative
government.
d. Rhode Island (1636) Rogues Island
1. Founded by Roger Williams, who had been banished from
Massachusetts Bay in part because he questioned the morality
and legality of seizing native lands.
2. He created the most democratic colony, which no special
privileges for individuals. There was complete religious freedom.
3. Rhode Island would be known for its individualistic and
independent attitude.

4. Anne Hutchinson would settle there briefly. She had been
banished from Massachusetts because she challenged Puritan
beliefs, including gender roles and was accused of heresy for
teaching that believers did not have to obey church rules.
2. The growth of New England society.
a. New England grew in an orderly fashion, life was centered in
clustered villages with farmland surrounding the villages.
Villages had a central meeting house/church.
b. The poor soil led settlers to grow a variety of crops on small
farms, and the New England economy would come to depend on
shipbuilding, fishing, and commerce.
C. Relations with other groups of people.
1. Slavery was first introduced in 1619 at Jamestown.
a. Slavery grew slowly because of the expense of slaves.
b. Gradually, the number of slaves in the colonies grew because of the
need for labor. This was especially true in the Southern colonies
because of the plantation system.
c. Treatment of slaves was based on codes developed in the West
Indies.
d. There were several incidents of slave rebellions. The Stono
Rebellion in 1739 occurred in South Carolina along the Stono River.
The slaves tried to walk to Spanish Florida but failed. It resulted in
stricter enforcement of slave codes.
2. Relations with Natives.

a. Native Americans were treated poorly overall by colonists, which
Rhode Island and Pennsylvania being the exceptions.
b. South
1. Natives suffered from the 3 Ds (Disease, Disposability,
Disorganization)
a. Natives had nothing of value to trade with colonists and
were an unreliable labor source so they were disposable
without harming the colonial economy.
b. Disease killed a large number and was the biggest disrupter
of Native American life.
c. The various tribes never really were able to cooperate
together to fight the well-organized white.
2. Originally, Powhatan believed that he could become allies with
the English and integrate them into his chiefdom.
3. The 2
nd
Anglo-Powhatan War would end any chance to
assimilate Natives into Virginian culture. Natives were separated
from whites, a forerunner of the reservation system.
c. North
a. Similar to South Puritans set high standards for Indian
converts, so few natives became church members
1. Pequot War (1637) The Pequots attacked Puritan
settlements then were nearly wiped out as a tribe.
Criticism of the Puritans would lead to feeble effort to
Christianize the natives, but these were never equal to
efforts by the French or Spanish.

2. King Philips War (Metacom) (1675-76) was an attempt
by the natives to save their lands and culture from
Puritan intrusion. It would result in the end of native
resistance in New England for years.