5th Grade SS Unit 2- Chapter 5 Notes
The Lost Colony of Roanoke
England wanted colonies in the Americas and wanted to find gold and other natural resources.
*Queen Elizabeth I sent Walter Raleigh.
*Roanoke Island was England’s 1st colony in 1585.
*had trouble finding food
*difficult winter
*Returned home to England in 1586
*1587 John White and 100 others went back to Roanoke
*struggled again
*supplies ran out
*White went back to England for help
*England was at war with Spain
*could not spare ships and supplies to the colony
*White went back to Roanoke in August 1590
*Everyone had disappeared! Only clue “CROATOAN” was carved into a tree.
*Croatoan was an American Indian Group that lived near.
No One knows what happened to the Roanoke settlement called “The Lost Colony.”
*Spain and England were fighting.
*English raided Spanish ships and stole gold & silver.
*Spain wanted North America for themselves.
The Battle of the Spanish Armada
Francis Drake -English sea captain
*voyage around the world
*when he returned his ship was loaded with gold & silver from the
Spanish ships.
*”Hero” to the English/ “Master Thief” to the Spanish
King Philip -king of Spain
*decided to attack England
*assembled the Spanish Armada (Huge fleet of war ships)
*130 Ships
*30,000 soldiers and sailors
English navy had advantages
*smaller ships
*could move faster in the water
*more powerful guns
Spanish ships were sunk by English cannon balls or smashed into rocks.
Only 60 ships returned to Spain.
VICTORY FOR ENGLAND!
The Jamestown Colony
*Merchants formed the Virginia Company of London in 1606
*wanted a charter to set up colony in Virginia
*raised money by selling stock
*3 ships & 120 colonist reached Virginia in 1607
*Named colony Jamestown in honor of King James
*land was low and swampy
*full of disease carrying mosquitoes
*river water not healthy to drink
*people got sick
*many settlers died
John Smith and the “Starving Time”
Colonist expected to find gold in Virginia
*didn’t plant crops or build houses
*began dying of starvation and disease
*only 38 settlers alive at the end of the first year
John Smith was elected leader of Jamestown
*colonist built houses and dug wells
*planted crops and fished the river
*traded with Chief Powhatan
*corn kept colonist alive
*peaceful relationship between English & Powhatan
after Pocahontas saved his life
*Smith returned to England in 1609
*Colony suffered
*many died of hunger “starving time”
Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
American Native plants:
Corn
Tomatoes
Tobacco
Tobacco became very popular in England and other European nations
John Rolfe raised tobacco as a cash crop (for profit) in Virginia.
King James did not like tobacco and called smoking “hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs.”
Tobacco farms grew and needed more workers. Indentured servants began working.
Indentured servants wanted to buy land of their own when they gained their freedom.
Many died from disease, overwork, and mistreatment by their masters.
John Rolfe married Pocahontas and help with peace between the English and the Powhatan people.
Self-Government in Virginia
Virginia Company of London wanted to attract more people to their colony so decided they needed a government.
House of Burgesses was the first law making assembly in the English colony.
All members were male landowners
John Smith 1580-1631
*soldier
*traveled through France, Holland, and Scotland
*made a home in the woods and took books, weapons and his horse
*learned to survive on his own
*built a shelter out of branches
*slept in his clothes
*hunted for food
*sent to Jamestown, Virginia to build a settlement
He was to make sure each colonist did his share of the work
Lesson 2 ~NEW EUROPEAN COLONIES
French and Dutch Settlements
Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer who was part of an expedition that explored the St. Lawrence River and Canada.
They were looking for the Northwest Passage (a waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
*would make it easier for trading ships to sail from Europe to Asia.
*no one ever found this route because it does not exist.
Champlain founded the French colony of Quebec on the St. Lawrence River in 1608.
*Good location for a colony because
*millions of beavers
*beaver fur was sold for huge profits in Europe
*developed into a trading center
*Started other colonies (New France)
*Montreal
Dutch leaders sent Henry Hudson to explore the coast
*sail up another wide river looking for the Northwest passage in 1609.
*river was too shallow
*claimed land for the Dutch
*river was named Hudson River
Dutch colonies became known as New Netherlands - founded in 1624
Netherlands is another name for Holland (the Dutch country)
Dutch settlers began building New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island
Dutch could control trade on Hudson River
Biggest and most important Dutch settlement in North America
New Amsterdam Grows
Dutch encouraged people from many countries to settle in New Netherlands Settlers arrived from:
Belgium France
Germany Finland
Norway many other countries
*became a thriving town with diverse population
*18 different languages*Today is largest city in the USA (New York City)
Lesson 3 ~The First Colonies
The Pilgrims
Pilgrims came to America in search of religious freedom
England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created a new church called the Church of England. Everyone in England had to belong to this church.
Separatists wanted to separate from the Church of England.
faced persecution (unfair treatment because of their beliefs)
William Bradford was leader of the Separatists
*decided to leave England and start settlement of their own
*asked the Virginia Company for permission to begin a new settlement in Virginia.
*would live by themselves under the general government of Virginia.
*knew there would be hardships
The Mayflower
* In September 1620, about 100 pilgrims went onto the Mayflower
*Ship was pushed off course
*arrived on Cape Cod not Virginia
*named new land New England
*settled in Plymouth
*wrote a plan of government called the Mayflower Compact
*just and equal laws
*all men signed the Mayflower Compact
*women were not allowed to sign
*was not a good time of year to start a colony
*winters were sharp and violent
*faced freezing weather, hunger and disease
*half of the settlers died
Samoset (a friendly Native American (Wampanoag) who knew English)
The Thanksgiving Celebration
Samoset told of Squanto who had been sold into slavery in Spain, escaped to England.
Squanto helped the pilgrims make a peace treaty with Massasoit the leader of the Wampanoag.
Squanto showed the Pilgrims where the best hunting and fishing areas were and how to grow corn in the rocky soil.
In the fall the pilgrims gathered their first harvest in Plymouth so decided to have a thanksgiving. They invited the Wampanoag.
Feasted for 3 days on deer, wild duck, lobster, fish, cornbread, pumpkin, squash, berries and wild plums.
Three day celebration included parades, games and races.
The Puritans Arrive
Puritans sailed from England in 1630. They wanted to “purify” or reform the Church of England.
Led by John Winthrop, the Puritans believed they should build their own colony, worship as they pleased and set an example of how other people should live.
In 1628 a small group sailed to get the colony started. They built farms and buildings.
In 1630, 1,000 colonist and 15 ships came loaded with food, tools, horses and cows.
They did not face the hardships because of this good plan.
They named their colony Massachusetts Bay Colony. They built the main settlement and called it Boston.
Massachusetts Bay Colony grew fast. Thrived on fishing, fur trading and ship building.
By 1634, 1,000 people had come to Boston. This would be the largest of the English colonies for over 100 years.
The Puritan Way of Life
Puritan town were carefully planned.
Each family had it’s own land, house and farm.
Center of town had Meeting house for religious services and town meetings
Built the first public schools because they believed children should read for themselves so they could read the Bible and understand the laws of the community.
The 13 English Colonies
Located in Eastern region between Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Mountains
3 Regions
New England Colonies
Middle Colonies
Southern Colonies
New England Colonies had thin and rocky soil
difficult to farm
thick woods good for timber for homes and ships
coastal waters good for fish and whales
In Puritan settlements, leaders made strict laws
*All citizens must attend church
*not everyone agreed
Roger Williams -outspoken young minister who believed government should not punish citizens for what they believe
*Known as a desenter a person whose views are different that most people in the community
Puritan leaders forced Williams to leave Massachusetts
He traveled south, founded Providence (Rhode Island)
First English colony in North America to have total religious freedom to its settlers.
Anne Hutchinson (another desenter) believed a persons faith was more important that the church’s rules and regulations
was forced to leave - moved to Rhode Island
Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts and founded the colony of Connecticut with 100 followers.
wanted greater religious and political freedom.
Wanted to farm along Connecticut River
English settlers were also moving into New Hampshire -small fishing villages
Middle Colonies
warmer and more fertile soil
better for farming - wheat
Know as the breadbasket of the colonies
long wide rivers good for travel and transporting goods
By 1600’s there were about 5,000 European settlers in the Dutch Colony of New Netherlands
People were attracted by
Religious freedom
rich farmland
fur trade
King Charles II wanted to take over New Netherlands.
Sent brother, James (Duke of York) to capture the colony
English captured New Netherlands (from Dutch Leader Peter Stuyvesant ) without firing a shot.
Renamed New Netherlands - New York
Renamed New Amsterdam- New York City
Gave Part of New York to friends: George Carteret and John Berkeley -this became
New Jersey
King Charles II gave land to William Penn (because he owed his father money)
Penn built a colony based on religious beliefs (Quaker)
Quakers are against war and wanted to worship God without going to church or following religious leaders
new colony named Pennsylvania (Penn’s Woods)
wanted people of all religions and nations to live in Peace
promised to pay fair price to Native Americans for land
wanted to live as friends and neighbors with the Lennii Lenape Indians
named main settlement named Philadelphia “city of brotherly love”
a section of Pennsylvania became Delaware
Main Settlement: Philadelphia (city of brotherly love)
Southern Colonies
warmest of climate and longest growing season
rich soil good for tobacco and rice
many rivers connected inland farms with the coast
Catholics wanted a colony of their own
King Charles II gave land to Lord Baltimore and named the colony Maryland
refuge or safe place for Catholics and Protestants
Maryland was was a proprietary colony (land was controlled by an individual or a group of proprietors (owners)
Carolina was formed when King Charles II gave 8 proprietors a section between Virginia and Florida.
fertile land
good harbors
1729 Carolina was divided (North Carolina and South Carolina)
James Oglethorpe founded last of the English colonies in North America
Jails were crowed with debtors (people who owed money)
Wanted to start a new colony to help debtors
would start new lives on their own land
King George II gave Oglethorpe land south of the Carolinas
Named new colony: Georgia
new settlement :Savannah
helped the other colonies from attacks from the Spanish
wanted peaceful relations with the Native Americans
met with Tomochichi (chief of the Yamacraw tribe)
Growing Colonies
English colonies grew quickly
1650 population was 50,000 In 1700 population was over 250,000
By 1750 over 1 million
Boston, Philadelphia and New York (3 largest cities)
People moved away from cities and towns - cleared forests and built farms