Discuss the founding of Virginia and Plymouth.
Explore
the founding of all the colonies; why were they settled, who settled, when settled,
economics of each colony, religions of each colony, ethnic make up of each
colony, government of each colony, relations with the natives (positives and
negatives), who were significant individuals of each of the colonies?
How
does the founding of the New England colonies compare with the origin of the middle
colonies?
In
what ways were New England and the middle colonies each like the South, and in what
ways were they different?
Why
was family life in New England so different from family life in the South?
During
the early years of the colonies, what was the relationship with Great Britain?
This post will expire at midnight on February 08, 2014.
This post will expire at midnight on February 08, 2014.
Why was family life in New England so different from family life in the South?
ReplyDeleteThe primary reason for the differentiation between the family life of the New England colonies and the South was the distances of families and communities. In New England families were close-knit and communities helped each other with tasks. In the South on the other hand their economy was based on plantations, acres and acres of land separated families and communities. New England's economy flourished with jobs such as trading, which involved contact with one another. Small towns were the center for local government. These towns, including Plymouth and New Haven banded together to form the New England Confederation. This confederation helped to bring the families in New England even closer. Since there weren't many towns in the Southern colonies because of the large plantations, there wasn't much governmental control. There was nothing like the New England Confederation in the Southern colonies which kept the colonists more distant.
Southern communities were founded for trade and agricultural purposes by isolated white male farmers. This caused the family life in the South to lack a female leader, which led to less religious and moral families in the South. Family units in the North were founded on religious freedom, made up of close-knit communities with families. This led to the families being morally and religiously righteous, contrary to Southern families.
DeleteDiscuss the founding of Plymouth.
ReplyDeleteA group of separatists, who wanted to find a place where they could live and die as purified English Protestant men and women, departed from holland in 1608. They negotiated w/ the Virginia Company to settle under their jurisdiction. However, w/ a total 102 passengers, the Mayflower missed their target destination and arrived off of the coast of New England. In 1620, the pilgrims then chose to settle on the shore of Plymouth Bay, which was outside of the Virginia Company's domain. They created the Mayflower Compact which instituted the first form of self-government in the America's and they were to submit to the will of the majority under the regulations of which were agreed upon. The first winter for these settlers was a hard one, between the years of 1620-1621, where only 44 out of the 102 settlers survived. The next Autumn, in 1621, brought plentiful harvests and w/ that the first Thanksgiving. Their leader was William Bradford who was a self-taught scholar who read Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, and Dutch. William Bradford was elected Governor 30 times in the annual elecetions. His major worries was his fear that independent, non-Puritan settlers might corrupt his godly experiment in the wilderness. The major economy here was fur, fish, and lumber.
Why was family life in New England so different than family life in the South?
ReplyDeleteIn New England their society was focused on trade as a result of Boston being a port city. It continuously had imports and exports coming in and out for a profit. Most of the citizens who lived in New England at the time were Puritan and lived in urban environments. The South on the other hand had an economy that was based on their cash crops like tobacco. Slavery was also very popular in the South and those citizens lived in rural areas rather than industrial areas. The farmers tended to only stay in contact with their own family so they were always connected. Women would tend to all the housekeeping and the men would tend to their plantation.
Also, the difference between the rural agriculture of the South and the more urban life in the North made it so that families in New England came into contact much more frequently, just as those in the South were kept farther apart by their duties.Although the women in New England also had more domestic duties than the men, they were not as separated- their husband or child was always close by.
DeleteColonies in the south utilized the old methods of cultivating and living. This was the predominant reason for their unhealthy lifestyles and the failure to mature in different manners alongside the rest of the colonies. Southern economies were based on one universal idea: plantations worked on by slaves. The predominant number of slaves was located in the south, where they worked on large plots of land cultivating everything from food to cotton. Religion played a key role in the south, but on different levels. Unlike many of the white land owners, slaves used religion as a means of hope and inspiration to survive. Religion served more as a surviving tactic in the south compared to any of the other colonies. They needed this hope because of the great distinction in the classes of the society in the south. There was no assimilation of cultures between the home owners and the slaves. Tensions arouse from this and the political system was forced to maintain a stranglehold on the slaves in order to keep the plantations functioning as a unit.
DeleteExplore the founding of all the colonies; why were they settled, who settled, when settled?
ReplyDeleteGeorgia, founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe, was established as a debtor colony to be a buffer between Spanish Florida and more profitable colonies of the Carolinas and Virginia.
South Carolina was founded in 1670 by a group of proprietors for trade and profits. South Carolina became an agriculture-based colony.
North Carolina was founded in 1653 by another group of proprietors from Virginia. North Carolina was meant to be an agricultural and trade colony.
Virginia was founded by John Smith in 1607 with trade as his purpose. Later Virginia was settled by more traders, intending to make a profits by trade and agriculture.
Maryland was settled in 1634 by George Calvert for religious freedom for Catholics.
Delaware was founded in 1638 by Peter Minuit for trade and profit reasons.
New Jersey was founded in 1660 by Lord Berkeley for trade and profit reasons, similar to many other Middle Colonies.
New York was founded in 1626 by Peter Minuit for trade and profits.
New Hampshire was founded in 1630 by John Mason for religious and economic freedom.
Rhode Island was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams for religious freedom.
There were two main colonies in Massachusetts, Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Plymouth was founded by William Bradford in 1620 for religious freedom for Separatists. Massachusetts Bay was founded by John Winthrop in 1620 for religious freedom for Puritans.
Since Maryland was a Catholic haven amidst a predominantly Protestant region, Lord Baltimore and his fellow Catholics sought to preserve their religious freedom. In 1649 the Act of Toleration was passed, which guaranteed tolerance for all Christians, but decreed a death penalty for those who rejected the divinity of Jesus.
DeleteIn New England, family life was much different from the life in the southern colonies. This is largely due to the demographics of the settlers in each area: in the South, the majority of the colonists were poor or single, and family life was far less important in society; in the New England region, most of the immigrant colonists came to the Colonies as family units and were held together by their religious beliefs as well.
ReplyDeleteIn the South, especially the Chesapeake area, the majority of the colonists were single men who came in hopes of making their fortune. When there were whole families, they were generally poor, or even debtors from the English prisons. This meant that they had to work, generally in farming, and had little time for activities as a family- the family unit was less common.
In New England, however, the vast majority of the colonists came as entire families who were of the middle classes, with a strong sense of religion. This meant that they were much closer as a unit, and due to the fact that there was no large-scale farming, were generally in close contact. Also their religion led them to have many religion-centred gatherings of the family, bringing the unit closer together.
Additionally, as the southern colonists were busy farming to stay alive, they generally lived alone. This meant that trips to town were few, and actual towns even fewer. By contract, New England colonists, with their affinity for the family unit and religion, typically bunched together in or around towns, which brought about feelings of community that the "loners" in the South did not develop until much later.
DeleteHow does the founding of the New England colonies compare with the origin of the middle colonies?
ReplyDeleteThe New England colonies were settled by English dissident religious people. They had buckles on their shoes and had a good friendsgip with the Indians. The New England settlers ate turkey with the Indians who thought settlers how to make pop corn. However, unlike the settlers in the New England colonies, the settlers in the middle colonies were different. The settlers of the middle colonies accepted and tolerated many more religions than the New England colonies. Allowing many religions into the colony caused diversity in people which was not the case in the New England colonies.
During the early years of the colonies, what was the relationship with Great Britain?
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning years of the colonies, Great Britain, more or less, abandoned them. This is called salutary neglect. Even though Great Britain had laws in place, they did not enforce them in the colonies. This left the colonies alone during this their early years to govern themselves. So, there was simply not a relationship with Great Britain when the colonies were first established. The colonies were neglected until they began to feel a sense of independence and became scared of losing such.
Great Britain was always cruel and neglected the colonist. But they also kept the colonies at peace due to the economical profit they achieved from the new world in the early years. So they were noticed but it wasn't until after the French and Civil war did they notice the reason for secession from the motherland and forming a land of their own.
DeleteAlways cruel...how, in what way?
DeleteIn the colony of Jamestown colonist and native relations began peacefully. In December 1607 the future leader of the colony John Smith was captured and subjected to a mock execution by Chief Powhatan, whose daughter Pocahontas "saved" Smith from the execution. This ritual was to impress Smith with Powhatan's power and his desire for peace with the colonists. Pocahontas essentially became a diplomat between the two peoples, preserving peace.
ReplyDeletePeace met its end when Lord De La Warr became the colony's governor in the spring of 1610. He undertook agressive military action against the Indians, resulting in the First Anglo-Powhatan War that ended in 1614 with the marriage of Pocahontas and colonist John Rolfe. This peace was not permanent though, and in 1644 the Second Anglo-Powhatan War began, ending in 1646 with the banishment of the Chesapeake Indians form their ancestral lands.
During the early years of the colonies, what was the relationship with Great Britain?
ReplyDeleteInitially, the colonies had a very close relationship with Great Britain; they shared, after all, the bond of mother and child. Citizens of of the colonies were citizens of Great Britain, both in legality and in popular belief. The colonists were proud to be apart of the British Empire, for, at the time, Great Britain was on the fast track to becoming the most powerful and influential nation in the world. Because of this, the colonists had no problem with participating in Great Britain's economic system of Mercantilism, largely due to the coinciding policy of Salutary Neglect, which provided them with a measure of self-governance. Additionally, colonists were grateful for the protection their European counterparts provided from both the Natives and other foreign powers. It was not until after the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War in Europe) that opinions of the British started to decline, and not until over a year into the American Revolution that they actually wanted to break ties with their creator.
In the early years between colonists and the citizens of England controversy of who is at the top was an issue. During the French and Indian war the colonist at first neglected each other but later learned to fight as one therefore leading to a mass army and political togetherness enduring the win of the war. But after the war the only leaders to be recognized were from the side of Britain and no one above the rank of captain was recognized on the colonists. This minor act opened the eyes of colonists and showed each other that they are not different from each other and that they should work together in order to achieve their equality.
ReplyDeleteSo, the relations between the two countries showed many forms of friction between the two and thus leading onto the Revolutionary War.
During the French and Indian war, the Colonists and the British banded together. Soldiers of the two forces were put together in camps and fought together as well. Colonists came to notice that they weren't all different and that there were some similarities between each other. But the British soldiers looked at the Colonists like they were the dirt under their shoe. Throughout the war, it almost felt like the they weren't fighting together but were rather distant in the thoughts that they had of each other.
DeleteFrench and Indian War is the next topic... you two are little off topic.
DeleteNathaniel Bacon was a Virginia colonist that organized Bacon's rebellion. This rebellion took place in the Virginia colony in 1676 and the causes behind the rebellion were mainly from the corrupt Governor, William Berkeley. Berkeley had intentionally left Bacon out of his inner circle, refused to allow Bacon to be part of his fur trade, and ignored the repeated Indian attacks. Bacon wanted to show the corruption of Berkeley. Unfortunately, though, Bacon died of dysentery and most of the rebellion died off. Berkeley then crushed the uprising, hanging more than twenty rebels. Bacon had ignited the smoldering resentments of landless former servants and he had pitted the frontiersmen against the haughty gentry of the tidewater plantations.
ReplyDeleteDiscuss the founding of Plymouth
ReplyDeletePlymouth - A group of separatists who later came to be known as the "Pilgrims" founded the Plymouth Colony. The core group was part of a congregation of religious separatists led by William Bradford. The main reason for the Pilgrims coming to the colonies was to escape religious persecution from the Church of England (aka Evangelical Church). Using the financing secured from the Merchant Adventurers, the Colonists bought provisions and obtained passage onto the Mayflower the in which they had planned to sail to the mouth of the Hudson River and settle there. The Mayflower anchored at Provincetown Harbor on November 11. The Pilgrims did not have a patent to settle this area, thus some passengers began to question their right to land; they complained that there was no legal authority to establish a colony. In response to this, a group of colonists, still aboard the ship as it lay off-shore, drafted and ratified the first governing document of the colony, the Mayflower Compact, the intent of which was to establish a means of governing the colony. Though it did little more than confirm that the colony would be governed like any English town, it did serve the purpose of relieving the concerns of many of the settlers. This social contract was written and signed by 41 Separatists. It was modeled on the church covenants Congregationalists used to form new congregations. It made clear that the colony should be governed by "just and equal laws", and those who signed it promised to keep these laws. Having failed to secure a proper site for their settlement, and fearing that they had angered the local Native Americans by robbing their corn stores and firing upon them, the colonists decided to look elsewhere; the Mayflower left Provincetown Harbor and set sail for Plymouth Harbor. The Mayflower dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor on December 16,1620. On December 21, 1620, the first landing party arrived at the site of what would later become the settlement of Plymouth. During the winter, the Mayflower colonists suffered greatly from diseases like scurvy, lack of shelter and general conditions on board the ship. Many of the able-bodied men were too infirm to work; 45 out of 102 immigrants died and were buried on Cole's Hill. As William Bradford wrote, "of these one hundred persons who came over in this first ship together, the greatest half died in the general mortality, and most of them in two or three months' time". By November 1621, only 53 pilgrims were alive to celebrate the harvest feast which modern Americans know as "The First Thanksgiving."
Why was family life in New England so different from family life in the South?
ReplyDeleteNew England- The area was without fertile farming or grazing land, the economy centered on the fishing industry and trade. New England, although the center of the fishing industry, held its true economic significance in trading the goods of the colonies with foreign countries. Religion, namely the Puritans played an instrumental role in New England society. Priding themselves on solid marriages and families, the society was constantly reinforced with strong values. Also, the belief in higher education led them to be more efficient politically. The eventual introduction of institutes of higher level education (i.e. Harvard, Yale) produced the most intelligent and innovative members of their society. The intelligence of the society allowed their political structure to outweigh those of the southern colonies. Everyone was under the rule of England, but New England paved the way for individual thoughts and liberties.
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