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The Challenge to Spain and The Settlement of North
America (Read First Week of the Module)
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture
and should be reviewed.
While Spain was developing an American Empire, the
Protestant Reformation
was transforming Western Europe. Inspired by Martin Luther (Video
Clip)
and John Calvin, Protestant reformers criticized the wealth,
power and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, as well
as the failure to respond to the spiritual needs of ordinary
Christians. Protestant teachings stressed salvation by
divine grace and the ability of each individual to read and
understand the will of God as revealed in the Bible--written
in his or her native language. Christian zeal, resultant
religious wars (including England's brutal conquest of
Ireland) and other European conflicts formed the backdrop of
New World settlement in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. Conflict in Europe over power, religion and
empire spread inevitably into the Atlantic frontier, where
England, France, and the Netherlands challenged Iberian
dominance. Like the Spanish and Portuguese before them,
these countries also hungered for the vast "riches" of the
Americas. Unable to break Spain's domination of Central and
South America, they were forced to resort to piracy and
illicit trade on the fringes of New Spain. Eventually, they
initiated efforts to control trade routes, profit from the
slave trade and consider attempts to colonize North America.
In 1588, the defeat of the
Spanish Armada
(an English perspective) and the availability of
investment capital made extensive colonization efforts a
reality for other European nations. France, Netherlands and
England attempted to expand their empires and created
societies in the Western Hemisphere reflecting the
demographic, economic and cultural features of the mother
country. The French colonization effort centered in the
Saint Lawrence River Valley. The small number of colonists
maintained good relations with the indigenous tribes and
created a lucrative fur trade. The missionaries and fur
traders managed to establish a successful outpost in North
America. The Dutch settlement of North America was directed
by the Dutch West India Company. A lack of funds and
settlers limited their colonial dreams to two significant
outposts, Manhattan and Fort Orange.
Unlike the Spanish, French and Dutch--the English
gradually initiated an aggressive and diverse plan of
colonization. After early attempts to create utopia and
implement "get rich quick" themes, different
reasons/strategies for colonization began to emerge in the
northern, middle and southern regions (take a
virtual tour of
the Jamestown Colony )
along the east coast. Two recurrent themes were economic
prosperity and
religious freedom. The
Virginia Company
and the Massachusetts Bay
Company, both joint stock companies, and a small band of
Protestant Separatists who landed at
Plymouth
in 1620 established the first permanent English colonies
in North America. All three suffered from a lack of funds,
harsh living conditions and conflicts with Native American
peoples. You may find the biography video of
Pocahontas and the
Pocahontas Myth
enlightening.
In the
Chesapeake region,
seventeenth century colonial society was characterized by
disease shortened lives, weak family life and a social
hierarchy that included "successful" planters at the top of
the pyramid and poor whites and black slaves at the bottom.
Families were few, men outnumbered women and the struggle
for "survival, success and sexual relationships" became an
overwhelming preoccupation. As tobacco became the perceived
"road to riches", the labor system was based on white
indentured servants, who
dreamed of working their way up to wealthy landowners. But
by the late seventeenth century, this hope seemed
unattainable and the discontent poor whites erupted into
violence--as in Bacon's Rebellion. During this same time
period, tens of thousands of African slaves were imported to
the West Indies and mainland southern colonies to provided
the massive amounts of labor necessary for the varied cash
crops of the emerging plantation societies. Prior to this
large influx of African people, slaves in the Chesapeake and
South Carolina were often treated as servants and
experienced significant legal rights, more freedom of
movement and in some cases, the hope of eventual
freedom--similar to an indentured servant. Unfortunately, as
slave populations increased, many colonies embraced
repressive
slave codes
often resulting in brutality and an acceptance of
racism. PBS provides this recording of a the slave song,
scroll down and click on the audio sample for
"Before I'll Be Beaten".
One related current issue related to slavery is worthy of
your review, please check the CNN Law Center's article and
support materials related to the issue of
Slavery Reparations. You
may wish to discuss the multiple perspectives related to
this controversial concept/lawsuit in the Talk to the
Teacher Section for this module. Do not hesitate to revisit
this issue in later modules or in the Current Events
assignments.
In the North or New England colonies, a healthier climate
(adding over ten years to the average life span), a diverse
economic base and strong
religious foundations
contributed to the development stable settlements. Although
the religious basis of each settlement might differ from
that of their neighbors (Separatists vs. Congregationalists,
etc.), the distinguishing features of early "New
England" included rapid population growth due to high
birthrates, large patriarchal families, some theocratic
government/laws , reliance on subsistence agriculture,
widespread land ownership, potential to achieve economic
equality and an absence of slave labor. A strong belief in
town meetings and self government emerged. All was not
utopia, violent conflicts with Native American tribes
occurred as colonists surged west and threatened the
indigenous cultures. By the late seventeenth century, social
and religious tensions developed in these communities as the
Salem witch hysteria illustrates.
The Middle colonies shared with New England similar
agrarian economies, systems of free labor and patterns of
rapid population growth. Unlike New England, all of the
Middle Colonies were ruled by proprietary governments which
limited the growth of representative government. In addition
to the political strife, these colonies were ethnically and
religiously diverse. As an example, New York colonists
included: Dutch Calvinists, English Anglicans and Puritans,
French Huguenots, Portuguese Jews, Scandinavian Lutherans,
African-Americans and other groups. Regarding relationships
with Native Americans, for decades New York attempted to
appease the Iroquois, and the Quakers of Pennsylvania
peacefully coexisted with the Lenni Lenapes.
In 1688, all the English colonies were impacted by the " Glorious
Revolution" as James II
went into exile and was replaced on the throne by William
and Mary. The tension an instability of revolution and
restoration convulsed both England and her colonies. Every
colony witnessed some form of rebellion or unrest, from
Bacon's Rebellion in
Virginia and Leisler's Rebellion in New York to the
Salem
Witch Trials in
Massachusetts. You may find this article from The Early
America Review to be quite interesting:
Witchcraft, Religious Fanaticism and Schizophrenia--Salem
Revisited. This site
regarding the Salem events is more visually pleasing and
interactive
Salem Transcripts and Documents.
Be sure to access the interactive map of accusers and
witches--very interesting. Also take a moment to view the
Salem Witchcraft Video.
Yet the evolution of "representative government" continued
throughout the Empire. For more than fifty years, English
monarchs gave up efforts to impose a strict centralized
administration on the American colonies. All of the colonies
continued to enjoy relative independence in this time of
"benign neglect".
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography
of America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
, an exceptional
video instructional series for high school and college
students produced by WGBH Boston in cooperation with the
Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records
Administration. These thirty minute lectures incorporate
first person narratives, photographs, film footage and
documents related to various historical time periods.
Combined with my introductory comments, the required
textbooks and our discussions, I believe you will acquire a
more in-depth and enjoyable encounter with history. Please
note the requirements and possible download
limitations—which is why this is not a requirement. Please
follow the directions below and give it a try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs of your choice online
with a broadband connection whenever you see this icon.
 There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program
and go to the individual program description listing and
click on the icon. Free sign up required for first-time
users. To hear the sound and view video, you should have
Windows Media Player,
DSL, a cable modem, or a LAN connection to a T1 line or
greater, and have Javascript enabled. For more information,
please visit our
broadband
FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and
access the presentation: English Settlement.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview, numerous
Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents and my
favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites Related to the
Specific Topics
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
Folk Music of American History: Music and Lyrics
(highly recommended music before, during or after reading
cyberlectures!)
Additional
Folk Music and Lyrics
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