The English weren't the first to colonise America, as they were distracted by internal strife during the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. However, after a slow start, the English eventually took over the earlier settlements of France, Spain and the Netherlands, not to mention the land's original inhabitants. This entry is a brief introduction of the first colonies in America.

Spanish Colonies

The Spanish were the first European presence to establish a permanent settlement in North America; at St Augustine in Florida in 1565. Spain 'possessed' most of southern North America, all of Central America, and west South America, but North America was sparsely populated by Spanish settlers. Spanish missionaries converted the Native American 'heathens' and Spain relied heavily on native labour for gold and silver mining, especially in Central and South America.

Virginia

Roanoke Island

The first English colony was on Roanoke Island, founded by Walter Raleigh in 1585 with a royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I. The settlers of Roanoke searched for gold instead of planting crops, which was silly, as gold is inedible. They relied on the local population of Native Americans, the Powhatans¹, to provide them with food, and the native people obliged. However, the bad relations that are usually caused when invading peoples tend to kidnap and kill their hosts meant that the food supply was getting rather low, so the settlers abandoned the colony the next year, and returned to England. Raleigh sent a second expedition in 1587, but England lost contact with the settlers during the Spanish Armada, and when supply ships finally arrived in 1590, it was discovered that the colonists had all disappeared, leaving only two cryptic clues, one carved into a post: 'Croatoan', and the other into a tree: 'Cro', apparently referring to the nearby Croatoan Island.

Jamestown

In 1607, a colony was founded at Jamestown by the 'Virginia Company', a joint-stock company² granted a charter by James I. Virginia was named after Queen Elizabeth (the Virgin Queen) and fashioned after the English society of aristocratic rule. However, most of the original aristocrats died, and few more migrated. Most of the immigrants were young men who traveled as indentured servants - men whose transport was paid for by the rich, and was paid off over a period of about five years. Theoretically, the indentured servants would then receive payment and freedom, but in reality around 40 per cent died before they had the chance. Poor young men from England had a slightly larger chance of becoming property owners in America than in England, however, so there was no shortage of supply.

In Virginia³ men and women had shorter lives and less time (after servitude) to marry and have children, therefore, fewer children were born. Because there were three times more men than women, widowed women remarried and had greater social status. They could inherit property during this period, however things regressed to the status quo by 1700.

The settlers of Jamestown were friendly with Native Americans at first, but later started to take food by force, instead of planting their own. When the leader of the Algonquians, Chief Powhatan, withdrew his support of the settlers, many English starved during the 1609-1610 winter, and the survivors resorted to cannibalism. The settlers were reduced in numbers from 900 to 60 by spring. The first profitable crop was tobacco, introduced by John Rolfe in 1613, but like gold, tobacco wasn't edible. To increase the number of labourers in the colony the joint-stock company introduced the concept of 'headrights'. Fifty acres was given to anyone who would pay the transportation costs for a worker. These workers became indentured servants, who worked for between five and seven years to pay off the debt of their transportation.

In the New World there was an extremely high mortality rate. Between 1619 and 1622, 3000 settlers arrived, but by 1622, only 1200 survived. This encouraged the leaders of the colony to look for labour elsewhere.

Slavery

The first Africans were brought to Virginia in 1619. For four decades the status of slaves was unclear. Some saw them as slaves, others as indentured servants who were free after a certain period of time. However, by 1700 permanent slavery was accepted and widespread.

House of Burgesses

The first American government was an experiment in democracy. All male property owners over the age of 17 could vote. The House of Burgesses was formed in 1619. It was a legislative body comprised of the Governor (appointed by joint-stock officials), his advisors, and representatives from most major areas and plantations throughout Virginia. The House of Burgesses was established to consolidate the company (the settlers) as the Virginians expanded inland along the river, after their tobacco crops exhausted the soil.

Native Americans

The expansion of the colonists endangered the Native American way of life. In 1622 the Powhatans attacked the colony and killed 300 people. The colonists retaliated, burnt villages, slaughtered Natives, and destroyed crops. After the attack, the colonists numbered 1300 from 8500 originally shipped over, and the Virginia Company lost its charterand therefore funding. Virginia was made a royal colony, ruled by the appointed governor, his council and the House of Burgesses. Powhatan's successor (since his daughter Pocahontas died in England in 1614), Opechancanough agreed to withdraw from the English settlement. The colony's population grew to 10 000 by 1644, when Opechancanough attacked again. The Native Americans killed 500 colonists, and the colonists under Governor William Berkeley suppressed the uprising, and executed Opechancanough.

Bacon's Rebellion

The settlers of the expanding colony wanted to move further west, but the government would not fund an army. The plantation owner Nathaniel Bacon formed an army and rebelled. The rebels massacred Native Americans, occupied Jamestown and burned it, forcing the House of Burgesses to enact laws for tax reform and authorize attacks of the Susquehannock tribe⁴. The rebels were backed by indentured servants and slaves, but the rebellion collapsed when Bacon died of illness and 23 of his followers were hung. To prevent further revolts, the Governor William Berkley forced Native Americans off the land.

Maryland

In 1632 King James I gave Maryland (the North Chesapeake Bay area) to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. Therefore, Maryland was private property, unlike Virginia. To populate his new land Calvert introduced headrights in 1640. Calvert was a Catholic and intended Maryland to be a haven for Catholics, but most of the settlers were Protestant. Calvert protected the Catholic minority with the Toleration Act of 1649, which established religious liberty.

New England

Puritans

Puritans wanted to purge the Protestant Church of England of all Catholic remnants, and were therefore seen as dissenters in England. They settled in New England as families to demonstrate the values of a 'godly' society. The Puritans believed that the Native Americans were once white and were sinners put in America by the devil, and that God killed them with diseases to make way for his 'chosen' people. They believed that people were sinners and deserved damnation, but a few chosen people were predestined for heaven before they were born, and perhaps from the beginning of all time. Puritans spent their lives preparing themselves for heaven, and showing outward signs of inward grace.

Separatists

Puritanism was influenced by the Geneva Protestant theologian John Calvin, and Puritans did not believe that the Church of England was beyond redemption. Those who did were known as Separatists. The Separatists, or Pilgrims, landed in Plymouth in 1620 on The Mayflower. They developed a government giving the minority (one-third) Separatists power. In the 1630s 20,000 more Puritans migrated to Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Government of New England originated as the joint-stock Massachusetts Bay Company. Only stock-holders, or 'freemen' could vote. This was later changed to citizens, but only church members were considered citizens. On the town level, all property-owning men could vote. In 1634 colony legislature ordered towns to elect delegates to a representative assembly, thereby becoming a democracy.

Puritan Families

To show the world how good godly people lived, the Puritans and Separatists built what they considered to be a 'city on a hill': a metaphoric beacon for the whole world to look up to and strive for. The colonists settled as families in townships around a church. Ministers distributed land to individual families. The Puritan family was seen as a microcosm of society. It was hierarchal, with men assuming the legal status of their wives⁵. Children were assumed to be born tainted with original sin, so discipline was strict and harsh. The abundant land led to early marriages, which led to large families and rapid population growth.

Dissent

Theologian Roger Williams demanded the complete separation of church and state in order to protect the church from corruption. Governor John Winthrop expelled him from the colony, whereupon he established a colony at Rhode Island dedicated to religious tolerance. Anne Hutchinson claimed God spoke to her, and held private religious meetings with other women in the colony. This was seen to be heretical, as women were meant to be beneath men. She was also expelled from the colony, and fled to Rhode Island. Quakers were also expelled, or in some cases, executed.

King Phillip's War

The Native American Metacomet of the Wampanoag tribe, known as King Phillip in the English colony, led a war against the colonists between 1675 and 1676. Colonists invaded Native lands, burnt villages, and destroyed crops, and the Wampanoags and other Algonquian tribes attacked English settlements, forcing them to abandon 25 towns, or half their colonies. To preserve trade the Native American federation of tribes known as the Iroquois Confederacy killed Metacomet and forced the Algonquian tribe to accept a harsh treaty; however 600 English settlers and 3,000 Algonquians had already been killed.

Carolina

After the English Civil War in the 1640s, King Charles II tightened control of colonies. He gave land (New York, the Carolinas, and Pennsylvania) to aristocrats and regulated trade between the colonies and Britain.

Carolina was given to eight lords in 1663, who proposed an English-like system of lords, peasants and slaves, but no one wanted to be a peasant. No one wanted to be a slave either, but they had less choice in the matter. Wealthy Barbados sugar planters settled in southern Carolina, forming Charles Town (later Charleston) in 1670, where some raised cattle and traded for deer skins with Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws. The colonists encouraged wars between the Native American tribes, and supplied arms in return for captives (slaves). Small farmers settled around Albemarle Sound in the northern part of Carolina, and formed North Carolina in 1712.

Pennsylvania

King Charles II granted a colony to William Penn (a Quaker) in 1681, and he founded Pennsylvania as a religious sanctuary. He formed a charter called the First Frame of Government in 1682, which established principles of religious freedom and representative government. Penn purchased the land given to him by the king from the Delaware inhabitants, earning appreciation and facilitating trade in furs. The religious freedom and liberal land ownership of Pennsylvania attracted diverse settlers from countries such as Germany and Scotland. By 1700 the population of Pennsylvania was 12,000.

New Amsterdam

The Dutch created the West India Company and established New Amsterdam (which was to become New York). New Amsterdam attracted a multi-ethnic population including Jews, Catholics, free and slave Africans and Europeans. King Charles II captured the Dutch colony (New Netherlands) and gave it to his brother, the Duke of York. In 1670 the Dutch recaptured New York, but returned it in a peace settlement, and the Dutch and the English lived peacefully together. New York attracted Quakers and settlers from New England, and by 1700 New York was a major metropolis.

New France

The French settlements were smaller in North America (Canada) because most French people did not want to migrate, except French Protestants (known as Huguenots) who faced persecution in France. The French traded and were allied with Native Americans, partly because they had fewer people. The French settlers were particularly allied with the Algonquians and Hurons (in the North East) and the Choctaws (in the lower Mississippi, which they traded down). French fur trappers (coureurs de bois) partnered with Natives to do business and married Native women. The French never had large settlements or agriculture as their population was never high. The French alliance with Algonquians and Hurons made them vulnerable to Iroquois attacks. The Iroquois hunted Hurons for slaves to replace clan members killed by disease, and this threatened French trade. The French helped the Huron, so the Iroquois attacked the French settlements. In 1650 the Mohawks (of the Iroquois confederation) destroyed the Huron people and made peace with the French. When the Mohawks violated the peace agreement, the French destroyed their villages and the Mohawks accepted peace.

The United Colonies of America

The formation of the country of America has a long and complicated history. Each of the colonies was founded with a different goal in mind, often by people of different nationalities and religions, but by the eighteenth century the eastern colonies had formed the Thirteen States of America, rebelled against British rule, and formed what is today the most powerful nation in the world.