Chapter Summary

Chapter 2: American Experiments, 1521-1700

Americas History: p. 40-72
5 Steps: p. 62-64, 69, 71, 95
Summary
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, well see three types of colonies taking shape in the
Americas. In Mesoamerica and the Andes, Spanish colonists will make indigenous empires their own, capitalizing
on pre-existing labor systems and using tribute and the discovery of precious metals to generate enormous wealth,
which Philip II will use to defend the interests of the Catholic Church in Europe. In tropical and subtropical regions,
colonizers will transfer the plantation complexa centuries-old form of production and labor disciplineto places
suited to growing exotic crops like sugar, tobacco, and indigo. The rigors of plantation agriculture will demand a
large supply of labor, which will be first filled in English colonies by indentured servitude and later supplemented
and eclipsed by African slavery. The third type of colony, neo-European settlement, will be in North Americas
temperate zone, where European migrants will adapt familiar systems of social and economic organization in new
settings.
Everywhere in the Americas, well find that colonization was, first and foremost, a process of
experimentation. As resources from the Americas flowed to Europe, monarchies will be strengthened and the
competition among themsharpened by the schism between Protestants and Catholicswill gain new force and
energy. Establishing colonies will demand political, social, and cultural innovations thatll throw Europeans, Native
Americans, and Africans together in bewildering circumstances, triggering massive ecological change through the
Columbian exchange, and demanding radical adjustments. In the Chesapeake and New Englandthe two earliest
regions of English settlement on mainland North Americathe adjustment to the new circumstances will spark
conflict with neighboring Indians and waves of instability in the colonies. We will see that these external and
internal crises will be products of the struggle to adapt to the rigors of colonization.
Key Terms/Key People
Chattel Slavery
Neo-Europes
Enocmienda
Columbian Exchange
Outwork
Mercantilism
House of Burgesses
Royal Colony
Freeholds
Headright System
Indentured Servitude
Pilgrims
Puritans
Joint-Stock Corporation
Metacoms War
Bacons Rebellion

Predestination
Toleration
Covenant of Works
Covenant of Grace
Town Meeting
Philip II
Francis Drake
Openchancanough
Lord Baltimore
John Winthrop
Roger Williams
Anne Hutchinson
Metacom

Essential Questions
How did Spains conquest of Central Mexico and the Andes shape European competition in the Americas?
How did the Protestant Reformation affect this competition?
What push factors caused people to leave England for its colonies in the 17th century? What pull factors
drew them to particular colonies or regions?
How did political developments in 17th century Europe impact the development of its American colonies?

Explain and analyze how English expansion led to conflict with Native Americans and its important effects
Timeline (1550-1700)
Competition Between England & Spain (1550-1588)
1556-1598: Reign of Philip II (King of Spain)
1558-1603: Reign of Elizabeth I (Queen of England)
1588: Storms & English fleet destroy Spanish Armada
English Mercantilism (1550-1630)
1607: English traders settle Jamestown (Virginia)
1620-1660: Chesapeake colonies enjoy tobacco boom
1624: Virginia becomes royal colony
Growth & Spread of Puritanism (1560-1700)
1560-1620: Growth of English Puritan movement
1630: Puritans found Massachusetts Bay Colony
1642-1659: Puritan Revolution in England
Colonial Turmoil (1630s-1700)
1636: Roger Williams founds Providence
1637: Anne Hutchinson banished from Massachusetts Bay
1675: Bacons Rebellion in Virginia
1692: Salem Witchcraft Trials