Download Jamestown in Founded (cont.)

England Takes Interest
in America
• In 1497 John Cabot sailed to the
American continent to find a western
route to Asia. 
• He landed in what is today Nova
Scotia and explored the region
southward. 
• However, at that point England did not
attempt to colonize North America.
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England Takes Interest
in America (cont.)
• Several changes in England in the 1500s
led to renewed interest in colonization. 
• One change was the Protestant
Reformation. 
• Martin Luther, a German monk,
published an attack on the practices of
the Catholic Church. 
• The Reformation spread across western
Europe.
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England Takes Interest
in America (cont.)
• In England the Reformation involved a
disagreement between King Henry VIII
and the pope, who refused to annul the
king’s marriage. 
• The king then broke with the Church
and declared himself the head of the
Anglican Church.
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England Takes Interest
in America (cont.)
• Some English people wanted to keep the
organization of the Catholic Church in the
Anglican Church. 
• Others, however, wanted to “purify” the
Anglican Church of all Catholic
elements. 
• These people became known as
Puritans.
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England Takes Interest
in America (cont.)
• King James I refused to implement the
changes to the Anglican Church that the
Puritans wanted. 
• This forced many Puritans to leave
England for America.
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England Takes Interest
in America (cont.)
• Economic changes in England also led to
colonization. 
• In the early 1500s, much of England’s
land was divided into large estates. 
• The landowners rented the land to
tenant farmers. 
• Then the demand for English wool
increased dramatically, leading English
landowners to convert their estates into
sheep farms by enclosing the land.
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England Takes Interest
in America (cont.)
• The evicted tenants were left unemployed
and poor. 
• Leaving England for America was a
possible economic opportunity.
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England Takes Interest
in America (cont.)
• The English merchants needed new
markets for their surplus wool. 
• Many organized joint-stock
companies, pooling the money of
many investors for large projects, such
as establishing colonies.
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England Takes Interest
in America (cont.)
What religious and economic changes led
to England’s interest in establishing
colonies in America?
The Reformation in England led Puritans
to want to leave England for America; the
change from tenant farming to sheep
raising left many poor and unemployed
people looking toward America for
economic opportunities.
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England Returns to America
• After England emerged as the leading
Protestant power and Spain the leading
Catholic power, the two countries became
enemies. 
• When the Spanish tried to check the
spread of Protestantism in the
Netherlands, which was part of the
Spanish Empire, the Dutch rebelled,
and England came to the aid of the
Dutch.
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England Returns to America (cont.)
• Queen Elizabeth allowed privateers to
attack Spanish ships. 
• Privateers are privately owned ships
licensed by the government to attack
ships of other countries.
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England Returns to America (cont.)
• To be able to more easily attack Spanish
ships in the Caribbean, England needed
to establish colonies nearby in order to
establish bases. 
• Walter Raleigh obtained a charter from
the queen to explore the American
coastline. 
• He sent two ships, which landed on
Roanoke Island near present-day
North Carolina, and he named the
land Virginia.
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England Returns to America (cont.)
Why did England come to the aid of the
Dutch in the mid-1500s?
The Dutch were Protestant and part of
the Spanish Empire, which was Catholic.
Spain was trying to check the spread of
Protestantism in the Netherlands.
The Dutch rebelled, and England came
to their aid against the Spanish.
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Jamestown in Founded
• In 1606 the king of England granted the
Virginia Company a charter to establish
colonies in Virginia. 
• The 144 men sent to Virginia founded
the settlement of Jamestown.
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Jamestown in Founded (cont.)
• Jamestown faced many problems. 
• Most of the colonists were townspeople
who knew nothing about living in the
woods. 
• Many were upper-class “gentlemen” who
refused to do manual labor. 
• Lawlessness, sickness, and food
shortages resulted. 
• The leadership of Captain John Smith
and assistance from the local Native
Americans led by Chief Powhatan
helped the colony survive.
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Jamestown in Founded (cont.)
• The Jamestown Company offered free
land to people who worked for the colony
for seven years. 
• New settlers arrived in 1609, but there
was not enough food for them. 
• To survive, the settlers stole food from
the Native Americans, who retaliated
by attacking them. 
• By 1610 only 60 settlers survived.
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Jamestown in Founded (cont.)
• John Rolfe, a Jamestown colonist,
developed a strain of tobacco that was
marketable in England. 
• The Jamestown settlers soon began
growing large quantities of tobacco for
profit.
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Jamestown in Founded (cont.)
• To attract more settlers to Jamestown,
the Virginia Company gave the colony the
right to elect its own general assembly. 
• The elected representatives were
called burgesses, and the legislative
body was called the House of
Burgesses.
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Jamestown in Founded (cont.)
• The Virginia Company also introduced
the system of headrights. 
• Under this system, new settlers who
bought a share in the company or paid
for their passage were granted 50
acres. 
• They received more land for each
family member or servant they brought
to Virginia.
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Jamestown in Founded (cont.)
• The Native Americans near Jamestown
grew alarmed at the increasing
population. 
• They attacked the settlement, killing
nearly 350 settlers. 
• King James blamed the Virginia
Company for the high death rate in
the colony, revoked the colony’s
charter, and declared it a royal colony.
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Jamestown in Founded (cont.)
Why was the settlement of Jamestown
in trouble from its beginning?
Most of the Jamestown settlers were
townspeople who knew nothing about
living in the woods or farming. Many
refused to do the necessary manual
labor. Sickness and food shortages
occurred, and many settlers died.
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Maryland is Founded
• Catholics were persecuted in England for
their beliefs. 
• Lord Baltimore, a Catholic member of
Parliament, decided to found a colony
in America where Catholics could
practice their religion without
persecution.
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Maryland is Founded (cont.)
• The king granted Baltimore an area of
land northeast of Virginia, which
Baltimore named Maryland. 
• Baltimore owned Maryland, making it
the first proprietary colony. 
• Although Maryland was founded as a
Catholic refuge, most of the colony’s
settlers were Protestant. 
• Maryland passed the Toleration Act in
1649, granting religious toleration to all
Christians in the colony.
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Maryland is Founded (cont.)
Why did Lord Baltimore establish the
colony of Maryland?
He wanted to establish a refuge for
Catholics, who were being persecuted
in England.
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