The history of the usa (early settlements, the English Colonies)

The First Explorer

Leif Ericson is regarded as the very first European to have landed in North America in AD 1000. He was the son of Erik Thorvaldsson who most people know as Erik the Red. Leif Ericson came to North America five hundred years before Christopher Columbus.

Leif was initially going for Greenland but wound up landing in what is now North America. He was following the trail blazed by his father Erik the Red to bring Christianity to the people they encounter during their voyages.

Colonial Years – Old World meets the New World 15th-16th Century

The existence of the New World, the Americas remained a mystery to most of Europe until the 15th century. Many European countries were in search for a northwest passage to reach East Asia instead of the long silk route or Silk Road.

Christopher Columbus, originally from Italy, in 1485 attempted to raise the funds required for his expedition to King John II of Portugal. He was rejected. It was not until he had a face to face with the monarchs of Spain, and through the help of Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II did Columbus receive the funds to prepare for the voyage.

In 1492, Columbus went on the 1st of four voyages to the new world, all of them supported by the Spanish crown. He departed commanding three galleons, the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria. He had reached what is now the United States during his second voyage arriving in Puerto Rico in 1493. John Cabot, a fellow Italian, received his financing for his voyages from the British monarchy in 1497 explored portions of the east Coast of North America.

French, Spanish and Dutch Colonization

These were followed by expeditions by other European countries hoping to colonize other parts of the New World. Spain sent expeditions beginning in the Appalachian Mountains all the way west to the Grand Canyon. Hernando De Soto and Francisco Vazquez de Coronado explored the rest of the land in 1540. Coronado recruited native Mexican Americans to help in the exploration of the new world reaching the Arizona-Mexican border. St. Augustine in Florida had the first permanent settlement on the continent. Other Spanish settlements spread throughout the new frontier, these included places like present day Albuquerque, Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Diego, Santa Fe, San Francisco, and even Tucson in Arizona.

Entering the 17th century, the Dutch claimed the territory that was found along the Hudson River Valley. France colonized much of North America between 1534 through 1763. Most of the French settlers made Quebec their home early on. Their main means of commerce was fur trading with Indian tribes who in turn became their allies against the British. France’s territories were divided into five colonies, Acadia (part of present day Quebec), Canada, Hudson Bay, Louisiana, and Newfoundland.

English migrants came to America for two main reasons. The first reason was tied to the English Reformation. King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in the 1530s.

The second reason for English colonization was that land in England had become scarce. The population of England doubled from 1530 to 1680. In the same years, many of England’s largest landholders evicted tenants from their lands, fenced the lands, and raised sheep for the expanding wool trade. The result was a growing number of young, poor, underemployed, and often desperate English men and women. It was from their ranks that colonizers recruited most of the English population of the mainland colonies.

The first permanent settlement in North America was the English colony at Jamestown, in 1607, in what is now Virginia. John Smith and company had come to stay. The Pilgrims followed, in 1620, and set up a colony at Plymouth, in what is now Massachusetts.

Other English colonies sprang up all along the Atlantic coast, from Maine in the north to Georgia in the south. Swedish and Dutch colonies took shape in and around what is now New York.

As more and more people arrived in the New World, more and more disputes arose over territory. Many wars were fought in the 1600s and 1700s. Soon, the two countries with the largest presence were England and France.

The two nations fought for control of North America in what Americans call the French and Indian War (1754-1763). England won the war and got control of Canada, as well as keeping control of all the English colonies.

By this time, the English colonies numbered 13. They were Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The New England Colonies were largely farming and fishing communities. The people made their own clothes and shoes. They grew much of their own food. Crops like corn and wheat grew in large numbers, and much was shipped to England. Foods that didn't grow in America were shipped from England. Boston was the major New England port.

The Middle Colonies were part agriculture, part industrial. Wheat and other grains grew on farms in Pennsylvania and New York. Factories in Maryland produced iron, and factories in Pennsylvania produced paper and textiles. Trade with England was plentiful in these colonies as well.

The Southern Colonies were almost entirely agricultural. The main feature was the plantation, a large plot of land that contained a great many acres of farmland and buildings in which lived the people who owned the land and the people who worked the land. (A large part of the workforce was African slaves, who first arrived in 1619.)

Southern plantations grew tobacco, rice, and indigo, which they sold to buyers in England and elsewhere in America.

As more and more Americans voiced their concerns over higher and higher taxes, a conflict began to build. The English response was to isolate the colonies from each other, in hopes that the American people would not pull together as a whole. An example of this is the Intolerable Acts, which singled out Massachusetts in general and Boston in particular. One provision of these Acts was to close the port of Boston entirely. This was serious business. Boston was one of the largest ports in America. Closing it meant that Americans couldn't get food and other essentials from England or anywhere else, unless they paid extra for it to be transported from other ports, like New York.

Colonization by Britain

A little known fact about colonial America is that half of European immigrants, who came, arrived as what was called “indentured servants.” What this means is that a person is contracted to work over a period of time determined by the employer, often in an unskilled capacity. The “servant” in turn receives food, lodging, clothing, and if necessary, transportation during their period of service. No wages are paid to them. These often are men and women under 21 years of age.

In the year 1607, Jamestown, Virginia is where the English first established a colony, mainly a colony composed of businessmen and their families. Perhaps the most famous story ever told about the colonization of America is that of the pilgrims and the mayflower. The pilgrims were composed of dissenters and separatists from England, all one hundred and two passengers reached Plymouth harbor in 1620. Their original destination of the mayflower, the ship they were riding on, was the Hudson River; at that time was part of the Virginia colony.

Landmark events during British Colonization

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1628 – English settlement established on the North American east coast in what is today Boston and Salem. The colony was financed by the Massachusetts Bay Company.

King Philip’s War, 1675-1676 – Conflict using weapons between Native American Indians and the English colonists and their allies. The opposing side was led by Metacomet, to whom the English gave the name King Philip.

Yamasee War, 1715-1717 – Attempt by Native American tribes to destroy the English settlers in South Carolina. The tribes included Apalachee, Apalachicola, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and the Yamasee, just to name a few.

The Great Awakening, 1730s through 1740s – A religious revival that spanned across the Atlantic ocean that touched British America and protestant Europe. Preacher Jonathan Edwards gave the message to listeners their need for salvation through Jesus Christ. The Great Awakening allowed the people to personalize their faith, not through ceremony and rituals.

French and Indian War, 1754-1763 – also known as the Seven Years War. This was a conflict in North America between France and Great Britain.

Boston Massacre, March 1770 – An event caused by the death of five colonial civilians by the firing of the muskets by British soldiers. It has also been referred to as the Boston Riot, and believed to have been a precursor to the American Revolutionary War.

Boston Tea Party, 1773 – Action taken against the East India Company and the British government by colonists in Massachusetts. Three ships in the Boston harbor were boarded by colonists to dump the tea the ships were transporting into the harbor.