Notes

South Colonies

Virginia, the earliest English colony, was founded in 1607 and in 1619 the governor allowed the eligible (qualified) voters in the colony to elect a local representative (spokesperson) assembly (meeting). This lawmaking body, called the Virginia House of Burgesses, was the first elected government in the colonies. The South colonies were: Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.

The colonists of the south region, relied on growing tobacco to make money but the process required very hard labor. So they started using white indentured servants (white poor people who signed a contract in Europe for their trip to be paid to come to America, in exchange for which they would work for free for 7 years) and slaves as their workforce. By 1700, in Virginia, there were 6,000 slaves. Europeans captured men and women from Africa, forced to march under whip and gun, kept in cages until sold or packed on board of a ship, in spaces not much bigger than coffins, chained in the dark, wet slime of the ship’s bottom, choking in the stench of their own excrement. The slave deck was so covered with blood and mucus that it resembled a slaughter house. One of every three blacks transported overseas died.


New England Colonies


In the self-governing (self-ruling) colonies, such as Connecticut and Rhode Island, the governor was chosen by the colonists. In 1620, before Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the settlers on board the ship Mayflower realized that they had no ruler and made plans for self-government (self-rule). They signed an agreement that became known as the Mayflower Compact (agreement) , in which they agreed to obey the laws that they would adopt. They agreed to consult each other about matters affecting the community and to go by majority rule. This Compact was one of the first steps taken towards self-government. But perhaps the most significant of all early agreements was the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, adopted in 1639, the first written constitution in America which implied (suggested) that government depended upon the consent (permission) of the governed (the people) and that it should express the will of the majority. New England colonies were: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.

The first colonists of the New England region were driven more by religious reasons than economic gain. These settlers were Puritans. Puritans wanted to “purify” the Church of England from the practices of the Catholic Church. A group of separatists (Protestants, Puritans), known as the “Pilgrims,” seeking religious tolerance, sailed to America on the Mayflower (ship).




Middle Colonies

The Middle colonies were: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania.

The most diverse colonies in British North America-in regard to religion, ethnicity, and social class-were the middle colonies. The middle colonies developed a thriving (blooming) export (send to another country for sale) economy based on the cultivation of cereal crops. In 1681, King Charles II granted an enormous piece of land to William Penn to settle debt that the king owed to Penn’s father. Penn was a Quaker and provided the guiding set of beliefs in the founding of Pennsylvania. Quakers saw one another as equals in the eyes of God. They attended “meetings” in which everyone could speak. They had friendly relations with Native Americans. They practiced religious tolerance and were against slavery.