Unit 2 - Colonial Society (1607-1754)

• Competition for resources between European rivals and American Indians led to increased industry and trade, as well as conflicts over land and resources. This competition also had a major impact on the development of the colonies, as European nations sought to gain control of key resources and strategic locations. 
• The Spanish focused on the extraction of precious metals and other resources from Central and South America.
• the French focused on fur trading and the development of settlements along the Mississippi and St. Lawrence Rivers.
• The British established colonies along the Atlantic coast, with a focus on the development of tobacco and other cash crops.
• the Spanish encomienda system, which forced indigenous peoples to work for Spanish colonizers, led to significant exploitation and conflict, while the French tended to have a more cooperative relationship with native tribes
• While the colonies were heavily influenced by British political, social, and cultural norms, they also developed their own distinct identities and cultural practices. This led to tension between the colonies' desire for stronger bonds with Britain and their resistance to British control.
• The British colonies in North America participated in a complex and dynamic relationship with Great Britain throughout the colonial period.
• The commercial, religious, philosophical, and political exchanges that took place between the colonies and Britain, as well as between the colonies themselves, led to a growing sense of interconnectedness among the colonists.
• The growing sense of interconnectedness between colonists (different colonies) led to the development of a unique American identity over time, as well as a growing sense of dissatisfaction with British rule.
• The use of enslaved labor was more prevalent in the southern colonies, where the climate and soil were more conducive to the cultivation of cash crops. 
• the Spanish treatment of the native populations was often brutal, as seen in their interactions with the Pueblo people of the Southwest.
• In 1609, the Spanish established the colony of New Mexico in Santa Fe and set up Catholic missions, imposing Christianity on the Pueblo people.
• The Pueblo people would eventually resist this forced conversion and colonization in the form of Popé's Rebellion in 1680. They killed Spanish priests and hundreds of settlers, successfully driving the Spanish out for the next 50 years.
• The French and British would engage in numerous battles for control of the Ohio River Valley, as the French sought to maintain their grip on the region and the British sought to expand their own empire.
• The Virginia Company of London was chartered with the goal of establishing a profitable settlement in the New World and promoting the colonization and Christianization of the region.
• Some misfortunes of Jamestown:

  • Hostile relations with Indigenous people: The colonists at Jamestown faced hostility and conflict with the Indigenous people of the region. 
  • Poor leadership and internal strife: The leadership of Jamestown was often ineffective and corrupt, and the colonists were divided and prone to infighting.
• More misfortunes of Jamestown:

  • Lack of planning and preparation: The Virginia Company of London did not provide the colonists with enough food, supplies, or skilled labor
  • Death and disease: Jamestown colonists suffered from starvation. The contaminated water around the settlement was dirty and salty, leading to poor farming and drinking water. 
• The Massachusetts Bay Colony was chartered in 1629 and settled by about eleven thousand Puritans under the guidance of Governor John Winthrop.  Winthrop declared that “we shall be as a city upon a hill,” in which the Puritans of the Bay Colony would build a model religious community based on Puritan beliefs and values
• Roger Williams founded Rhode Island after he was banned from the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of his religious views.
• The Quakers were a peaceful religious group of dissenters from England. They believed in taking no oaths, refused military service, and were accepting of the Native Americans.
• Tensions between Catholics and Protestants in this tobacco colony caused the passage of the Act of Toleration in 1649, which promised toleration to all Christians but not other religions.
• Georgia emerged as the last colony of the original thirteen colonies. England wanted it to serve as a defensive buffer against Spanish Florida and French Louisiana.
• Mercantilists believed that wealth (gold and silver) equated to power and that accumulating the most gold granted the most power. 
• Any hope that the colonists had for economic independence was crushed by the British policy of forbidding colonial trade with other countries under the Navigation Laws started in 1650. However, some colonists continued to smuggle products
• most colonists despised mercantilism based on principle because it did not allow them economic freedom to produce what they wanted and to sell it to other countries.
• In Triangular Trade, the Americas would send raw materials to Europe and Africa, Europe supplied Africa and America with finished goods, and Africa captured and transported slaves to the Americas.
• Initially, Europeans and Native Americans established friendly relations and exchanged products while sharing the same land. But by the early 1600’s, conflicts would erupt over land, resources, and cultural beliefs.
• Trade was an important part of the exchanges between Europeans and Native Americans. Native beaver furs in the North would be exchanged for European guns, metal tools, glass beads, and textiles.
• The loss of large numbers of people to disease had a destabilizing effect on Native American communities, leading to social and political changes that had far-reaching consequences.
• English expansion and their settlements led King Philip to forge an Indian alliance to counter this white encroachment upon native lands. King Philip’s War (1675-1677) would devastate both the New England frontier and Indian-European relations.
• King Philip's War was sparked by a number of issues, including English expansion into Native American lands and the English refusal to respect Native American sovereignty.
• King Philip was beheaded while his wife and son were sold as slaves. This was the last Indian threat to New England colonists.
• In Pennsylvania, Native American and European relations were much friendlier, thanks to founder William Penn. Penn was a Quaker and believed in treating Native Americans with respect and fairness. 
• Black slaves did resist the institution of slavery by murdering their owners, destroying machinery and other property, escaping, and committing suicide.
• The result of most revolts were the mass executions of black slaves. These types of overt resistance were often met with harsh punishment, but they were also a way for enslaved people to assert their dignity and to resist their oppression.
• Slavery resistance

  This could include acts of sabotage, such as slowing down work or damaging equipment, or using their skills and knowledge to their advantage, such as using medicinal plants to heal themselves and others.
• The Barbados Code was a major law passed in 1661 in Barbados which meant that black slaves were chattel (property) and had no basic rights that they would have been entitled to under normal English common law.
• As a result of Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, where many poor white farmers staged a violent uprising against the government and wealthy tobacco planters of Virginia. The fear of a large, poor, resentful white population led the wealthy Virginia planters to look for a new labor force in Africa.
• The Great Awakening movement of the 1700s rekindled the religious spirit of an America that was growing tired of the strict codes of Calvinist Puritans and becoming less interested in church.
• Colonists could only trade with England and only English ships could be used to transport goods. As part of these Navigation Acts, ships bound for the colonies had to go through English ports