THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES

 Background: The Kings and Queens of England beginning after the War of the Roses until the
American Revolution:
 White Rose - House of York
 Red Rose - House of Lancaster
 Henry Tudor - House of Lancaster, married Edward IV's daughter - united the two houses.
 Henry VII -(1485-1509)
 Henry VIII - (1509-1547)
 Edward VI - (1547-1553)
 Mary - (1553-1558)
 Elizabeth I -(1558-1603)
 James I -(1603-1625) - 1611 King James version
 Charles I -(1625-1649) - English Revolution
 Protectorate Cromwell - (1653-1658) - Protectorate
 Charles II -(1660-1685) - Restoration
 James II -(1685-1688) - Glorious Revolution
 William & Mary -(1689-1702)
 Anne -(1702-1714)
 George I -(1714-1727)-Colonial Wars
 George II -(1727-1760)
 George III -(1760-1820)
Henry
VII
Henry VIII
Anne
Boylen
 Edward VI
Edward
VI
Portrait of Mary I
“Bloody Mary”
(r. 1553–1558),
Queen of England.
Queen Mary I, 1554 (oil on panel) by Sir Anthonis Mor (Antonio Moro)
(1517/20 - 76/7). Prado, Madrid, Spain/Bridgeman Art Library
Elizabeth Tudor when she
was a princess, 1551. The
painting shows her
blazing red hair and
alludes to her learning by
the addition of books.
 Mary,
Queen of
Scotts
 THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 VIRGINIA AND THE SOUTHERN COLONIES:
 * In 1497 JOHN CABOT under the employment of HENRY VII, landed on Cape Breton
Island (off the Canadian coast) laying the foundation for England's claim to the Atlantic coast of
North America.
 * However, Cabot failed to find gold and so Henry VII lost interest. England was also
recovering from the effects of the WARS OF THE ROSES (1455-1485) and with the difficulties
arising from the English Reformation (Explanation for Background). Therefore, it was almost a
century before England resumed interest in overseas expansion.
 Beginning with ELIZABETH (1558-1603) England began to play an active role in
international politics. She supported the rebellion of Protestant Netherlands against Catholic
Spain.
 MUSCOVY COMPANY - spent large sums trying to reach China by going around
Scandinavia by way of Russia and Persia.
 1570s - MARTIN FROBISHER made 3 voyages across the Atlantic to discover the
Northwest Passage.
 1566 - SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT - Oxford educated soldier - attempted to make a
settlement between 1578-1579 failed, set sail again with 5 ships with over 200 settlers and landed
at Newfoundland in winter time - tried to find a better settlement and gave up - he died in a
storm on his way back to England.

THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 Gilbert's half-brother - SIR WALTER RALEIGH
 English privateers (SEADOGS) such as JOHN HAWKINS and SIR
FRANCIS DRAKE - raided the Spanish ships (Drake 1577-1580) 4,600%
profit
 * 1588 PHILLIP II'S "INVINCIBLE ARMADA" defeated
 RICHARD HAKLUYT collected unpublished accounts of great voyages of
exploration
 rescued many accounts from destruction 2 major works DIVERS
VOYAGES touching the Discover of America and THE PRINCIPAL
NAVIGATOR'S Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation -also active
promoter of colonization - influenced SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
 * 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh founded a colony on ROANOKE ISLAND
off the Carolina coast (100 men) because of the hostility of the local
Indians, the colony was abandoned.
 * 1587 He tries again in the same location 117 people under
GOVERNOR JOHN WHITE - He leaves to get more supplies in England
leaving his daughter and granddaughter -Virginia Dare.
 War with Spain (Phillip II 1556-1598) prevented him from returning until
1590 when he found the colony was abandoned (lost colony) – mystery as to
what happened….probably attacked either from Spanish or Indians.
 THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA:

 Consisted of two groups of joint stock companies (1) LONDON COMPANY

(also called the VIRGINIA COMPANY) empowered to settle between 34 degrees
and 41 degrees latitude while 2nd (2) PLYMOUTH COMPANY could settle between
38 degrees and 45 degrees - claims overlapped.
 Council of Virginia consisted of 13 men who would be selected by the king and
would reside in London to run the affairs of the company and govern the colonies in
America - for each colony the council would appoint a 13 man council resident in
America to conduct the affairs of the colony - this local council would elect a
president, hold courts, enact laws, and grant land to settlers, coin money, run mines
and provide for local defense - all laws passed were subject to veto by the council of
Virginia and had to be consistent with the laws of England - all settlers were
guaranteed the rights of free born Englishmen (protection of common law, right to a
trial jury, freedom from arbitrary arrest and punishment.)
 * The King was to receive 20% of any gold and silver - Found - 1/15 of copper
 THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES


 * As a JOINT STOCK COMPANY, the Virginia company hoped to profit by

finding valuable raw materials (timber, naval stores, sugar etc...) which England
needed but could not obtain at home - motive once again was mercantilism.
 In 1607 the Plymouth Company founded the KENNEBEC COLONY
(Sagadahoc) in New England but failed by the next year.
 On December 20, 1606 SUSAN CONSTANT, DISCOVERY, and GODSPEED
depart from England and land in 1607 May and founded JAMESTOWN on the
JAMES RIVER (bad location) - first permanent English Colony in the New World
(bad location) first permanent English Colony in the New World - (Colonists - 1/3's
explain) (there were plenty of farmers available) 120 men by September, only 53 of
them remained at the end of 1604
 Part of the problem had been from the company itself, it directed the energies
of the colonists to search for gold, provided 2 goldsmiths and two refiners, glass
blowing, silk raising, wine making and exploring rivers in order to find Northwest
Passage - CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH had tried to stop some of their foolishness but
was clapped in chains - one

Jamestown, c. 1607
THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
The London Company set up a COUNCIL OF SETTLERS, but it was ineffective
until September 1608 when John Smith was elected President of the Council. He (give
background) instituted a program of "NO WORK, NO FOOD" - provided valuable
leadership and discipline also good negotiator with the Indians. Once Smith became
leader, he became an expert forager and Indian trader (POCAHONTAS story)
1609 - Virginia Company or London Company moved to reinforce the colony - a new
charter was drawn up redefining the Colony's borders and replaced the ineffective
council with an all powerful Governor. It promoted the colony in advertisements to
attract new settlers with the promise of free land after 7 years. It also appointed LORD
DELA WARR (Delaware) governor. He could not come immediately so he sent as an
interim governor. SIR THOMAS GATES. In May of 1609 Gates sets out with fleet of 9
ships and 500 people – Gates’ ship was wrecked in BERMUDA – where he and his crew
spends the winter there trying to jury rig a new ship – meanwhile the rest of the fleet and
some 400 settlers arrives at Jamestown and overwhelms the settlers there (most of the
food for the new colonists was on Gates’ shipwrecked ship)-- chaos reigns – To make
matters worse, John Smith is severely wounded in a gunpowder explosion in October of
1609 and has to return to England – partly as a result of his absence of leadership, the
"STARVING TIME" occurs. By the end of the Winter of 1609-1610 only 60 settlers were
left alive.
THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 * Gates arrives in May and is horrified at the conditions of the colony - all
grain, even seeds to plant new crops, poultry, farm animals and horses had
been killed and eaten- There was even 1 case of cannibalism - dogs, cats, rats –
the buildings and Fort were in bad repair – The Indians were hostile and
therefore Gates decides to load up the survivors and leave – as they make their
way down the James river, they are met by Lord
 Dela Warr who has arrived with 3 ships and 150 additional settlers - instead of
leaving, the settlers go back and form 2 settlements near the mouth of the
James and one at HENRICO (Richmond).
 Under Lord Dela Warr, the colony is firmly established but problems
remain.
 (1) each year large numbers of colonists died and no economic base had been
established. Example: Between 1606 and 1622 the London Company invested
more than L160,000 in Virginia and sent over 6,000 colonists - yet no dividends
were earned and of the 6,000 fewer than 2,000 were still alive in 1622 - in 1625
the population dropped further to 1,300 as the result of an Indian war.
JAMESTOWN MASSACRE 1622
 THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 Lord DelaWarr only stayed 2 years and because of health had to return to
England - 1611 Thomas Gates takes charge and established what would become
known as DALES CODE or Dale's Laws after THOMAS DALE who was deputy
Governor and acted as marshall - 1614 Thomas Dale becomes Governor and is
often given credit with getting the colony on its feet - he strictly enforced the laws
which made it a capital crime to kill poultry, destroy growing crops and forbade
anyone to leave the colony to trade with the Indians without permission. All settlers
were required to attend daily religious services - profane language or disrespect to
those in authority was severely punished - *by the end of Dale's term 1616 - the
population was 350, with 60 women and children >still problem of economic
viability until 1612 when JOHN ROLFE began experimenting with tobacco and
blended with West Indian tobacco. By 1614 he had shipped Virginia's first ship load
of tobacco to England. (at first, KING JAMES tried to outlaw it. He had
determined that smoking was dangerous to your health – he was ignored the
tobacco was simply to profitable and popular—it also revolutionized the Virginia
economy (built on Smoke). By 1617 Virginia was exporting 20,000 lbs. – problem:
this created a one crop economy ultimately dependant on slavery and plagues the
South for years to come.
 THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 1619 : A crucial year in Virginias (Explanation about consequences of each)

 SIR EDWIN SANDYS becomes Treasurer of the Virginia Company in 1618

and as such - controls it. Sandys was a someone ahead of his time, who
stood for parliamentary supremacy, religious toleration, and extension of
political rights to Virginia - he launches a series of reforms that profoundly
affects the development of English America. He begins the following:
1619
 (1) HOUSE OF BURGESSES: SIR GEORGE YEARDLEY is
appointed Governor and arrives in April 1619. He has instructions to create
a legislature to make the colonies laws. Government consisted of Governor,
six councilors and twenty burgesses. The House of Burgesses first meets on
July 30, 1619 – it imitated House of Commons. It Restores rights of
Englishmen, repeals Dale's Laws. It was the first legislative assembly in the
Americas – other later colonial assemblies would argue that they had the
same rights and privileges as Parliament.

THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
1619
 (2) LABOR PROBLEM: With so much land available, it was difficult to hire
for wages so Indentured servants were used. Most Indentured Servants were
European and they served for limited periods of time and were then freed from
their Labor Contracts. However, in *1619 a Dutch Man of War arrived with a
load of Africans who technically (at this point were not sold as slaves), but
contracts of Indenture (Labor Contracts) were drawn up for them and sold…
(Explain development of SLAVERY) While white European Servants were
always released after a term of service, within a generation, Africans were
recognized as INDENTURED for life - then their children were included and by
1650, this de facto slavery was formally legalized (no slavery had previously
existed in English Common Law) and by 1650 Virginia had only 300 slaves but
it is not until the 18th century that slavery becomes an important economic
institution – still, there were fewer than 25,000 slaves in British America in
1700, but by 1760 there were 400,000 (3/4ths in the South). The growth of
slavery was in direct proportion to the growth of the Southern plantation
economy - this in turn led to planter aristocrats forcing some small farmers off
their land and helped to create a new class of poor whites later referred to as
"Poor White Trash".
THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
1619
 (3) HEAD-RIGHT SYSTEM: Sandys permits private ownership of
land. All settlers in Virginia were given 100 acres of land plus an
additional 50 acres for every adult in the household. Likewise, settlers
received 50 acres of land for every adult they brought over from
England and the new arrivals also received 50 acres of land for their
own use. * As a result of the Head-right System Virginia becomes a land
of small, independent farmers; Average farm was 100 to 500 acres of
land. (Plantations develop later) Virginia became a middle class society,
with no impoverished and degraded peasantry, and this in turn led to
rapid population growth - by 1640 there are 8,000 people in Virginia.
1619
 (4) SHORTAGE OF WOMEN: - 90 young women arrived and their
tickets to Jamestown were then sold to likely young husbands for the
cost of their transportation (average cost was 125 lbs. of tobacco)
 CLEARING THE LAND AND BUILDING HOMES
The first English settlers in America were often men and women who had been
evicted by English landholders and who sought their own land in the American
wilderness.
THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 Tobacco Contract and End of Company Rule.
 In 1621, the English PRIVY COUNCIL - which governed the colonies in the name of the
King, adopted the TOBACCO CONTRACT which
 (1) forbade cultivation of tobacco in England
 (2) required Virginia to send its entire crop to England
 (3) levied a 20% import duty
 (4) Spanish tobacco wasn't allowed to be sold throughout the British Empire which gave
Virginia tobacco a monopoly, but it also made the Virginia economy a 1 crop economy
and resulted in over-production which depressed prices - caused many small farmers to
go out of business.
 *1622 Indian massacre wipes out 1/2 of the population and destroyed much of the
livestock and destroyed houses and other property - the London Company is brought
near bankruptcy.
 *1624 King James I who disliked Sandys anyway, ordered a royal takeover -
Virginia becomes a ROYAL COLONY.
 Royal Governor – The governor is now appointed by the King and tended to be
loyal to the king and not as sympathetic to the colonists – He was assisted by a
Governor's Council selected by king and governor - could make appointments – however,
the election of judges, etc. House of Burgesses continues.
THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 VIRGINIA DURING THE PURITAN
REVOLUTION:
 During the 1640’s there is political upheaval in England due to
the English Civil War.- 1624 SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY had been
Virginia’s governor. A staunch royalist, he supports CHARLES I - 1649
when Charles I is executed, Berkeley denounces the regicide and
pledged Virginian's support to Charles II – this angered the Puritans
and they send a fleet and 4 commissioners to Virginia. The House of
Burgesses accepts the Puritan government and Berkeley is forced into
retirement. However, CHARLES II is restored in 1660 – and he in turn
restores Berkeley as governor in Virginia. After 1660 Berkeley becomes
increasingly arbitrary by restricting suffrage and imposing taxes
without representation – or with the consent of Burgesses and seemed
unsympathetic to farmers of frontier this leads to -(BACON'S
REBELLION) (read details in text)

 Bacon's Rebellion
In 1676 settlers led by planter Nathaniel Bacon fought Virginia’s colonial government
for failing to protect them from raids by the Susquehannock people. During Bacon’s
Rebellion, settlers marched on Jamestown and burned the colonial capital. The
rebellion faded later that year after Bacon died from disease. This illustration shows
settlers defending their property from Native Americans during the rebellion.
THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES

 MARYLAND:
 June 1632 CECIL CALVERT (LORD BALTIMORE) received a charter to settle
the land between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays - Area of Maryland - Given title to
the soil and supreme political authority - could appoint colonial officials, grant titles of
nobility, coin money, make war, peace, establish courts and manners, and enact any
legislation. However laws had to be consistent with laws and rights of Englishmen.
 Maryland is the first Proprietary colony founded in America > Calvert literally
owned Maryland. He intended the colony as a refuge for ENGLISH CATHOLICS.
However Protestants from the beginning outnumbered the Catholics. (explain)
 St. Mary's established 1634 - first attempted Feudalism - 1,000 and 5,000 acre
tracts granted 60 failed - offered 100 acre freeholds - rent of 2 shillings per year - plus
100 acres for every adult member of family. > Within 20 years Maryland had population
of 8,000. Economy similar to Virginia.
 Calvert supported Charles I and 1644-49 open civil war - in order to restore order,
Calvert appoints a Protestant governor (ability to roll with the punches) 1649 proclaims
TOLERATION ACT - Calvert appeals to Cromwell and is restored as proprietor in 1657
- 1660 under Charles II he is fully restored.
 THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 THE CAROLINAS:


 In 1663 Charles II issues a charter to 8 of his friends > authorized them to settle and
develop the Carolinas. John Locke drew up a government blueprint - once again - a
feudal society was envisioned and failed - last quarter of 1600s sparsely settled.
 North Carolina became regarded as the DUMPING GROUND for Virginia – it
was hilly, not suited to plantation economy – one major product was naval stores - like
Virginia, North Carolina would also have a rebellion 1677 called CULPEPPER'S
REBELLION (after JOHN CULPEPPER). It was also a result of arbitrary
government -opposed stringent enforcement of mercantilist laws - resembled Bacon's
Rebellion. North Carolina becomes a Royal Colony in 1729.
 South Carolina - has an economy much like Virginia’s plantation economy,
however it is based on rice. (explain effects on slavery) CHARLES TOWN founded
1670 – It had religious toleration in order to promote immigration therefore had a JEWS
and FRENCH HUGUENOTS – Its early economy included: fur trade, cattle, rice, and
indigo. Many of the rice planters came from Barbados and were therefore already using
slavery. In 1719 South Carolina becomes a Royal Colony.
COLONIAL GEORGIA
THE ENGLISH SOUTHERN COLONIES
 GEORGIA:
 Last English colony on North American mainland. Chartered in 1732
and was designed as a BUFFER COLONY to protect the Carolinas from
attack by the Spanish, it was also intended as an asylum for English debtors,
petty criminals and religious minorities.
 JAMES OGLETHORPE, was the most important of the 20 trustees who
governed the colony for 21 years. All who were accepted as settlers were
given free passage, 50 acres of land as well as tools and seeds and were
supported until the first harvest. Growth was slow, many of the settlers were
German Pietists. Not until 1751 was it allowed to elect a legislature. At that
time, the Colony had only 9,000 people (6,000 white and 3,000 black).
 By 1690 the Southern Colonies were well established. 85,000 in all
the South - Virginia and Maryland two largest 60,000 and 20,000
respectively.