The Colonial Period

The Colonial Period — page 3 — 8 THE COLONIAL PERIOD controlled New Hampshire from 1641 to 1679 and in 1691 Plymouth was joined with Massachusetts Some colonists from Massachusetts settled in Connecticut in the 1630s It became an ofﬁcial colony in 1662 Another group from Massachusetts founded Rhode Island in 1636 That group was led by the min ister Roger Williams who disagreed with the religious rules of Massachusetts A group of Roman Catholics founded Maryland in 1634 Settlers from other countries founded colonies as well The Dutch founded New Netherland in 1624 The Swedish settled in Delaware part of New Sweden in 1638 The Dutch and the Swedish also moved into what is now New Jersey In the 1650s the Dutch took over the Swedish lands but in 1664 the English took over all of the Dutch territory From that time until they gained inde pendence all the colonies were ruled by the kings and queens of England New Netherland was renamed New York by the British and that colony governed New Jersey until 1738 In 1681 an English Quaker leader William Penn set up the colony of Pennsylvania Delaware became part of Pennsylvania the next year Delaware formed its own government but remained under Pennsylvania’s control until independence The Carolina region had become an English colony in 1663 In 1729 Carolina was split into North and South Carolina Georgia the last of the original 13 colonies was settled in 1733

The Colonial Period — page 4 — INTRODUCTION 9 For most of the time that the colonies were under British rule the monarchy allowed them a great deal of freedom Most of the colonies set up forms of self government The colonists also developed their own society and economy Relations between Britain and the American colonies grew worse after the French and Indian War 1754 63 The British wanted the colonists to pay taxes to help pay for the war but the colonists did not want to pay taxes without being represented in the British Parliament These disagreements led to the American Revolution and eventual independence for the 13 colonies

The Colonial Period — page 5 — CHAPTER ONE 1010 FOUNDING OF THE 13 COLONIES European exploration of the New World began in the late 15th century with the goal of ﬁnding a water passage to Asia The ﬁrst expeditions to North America explored the continent’s coastlines and those that followed embarked on expeditions deeper into the interior Eventually explorers were sent to the New World to establish colonies The ﬁrst English attempts to establish a colony in the New World failed In July 1587 a party under John White landed at Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina The following month White sailed back to England When he returned three years later the entire settlement had disappeared No one knows what hap pened to the colonists The ﬁrst permanent English settlement in North America was organized by the London Company later called the Virginia Company On May 14 1607 a group of 105 colonists landed in Virginia and established

The Colonial Period — page 6 — FOUNDING OF THE 13 COLONIES 11 Jamestown Here they built huts for homes a store house a church and a fort The strong leadership of Captain John Smith protected the colony from starva tion and unfriendly Indians One of Virginia’s chief sources of wealth was the growing of tobacco By 1619 Virginia was secure enough to organize the ﬁrst representative assembly in America This was the House of Burgesses or citizens Its 22 members passed local laws To further strengthen the colony a shipload of young women arrived in 1619 The settlers then selected wives from among these newcomers Located in Virginia Jamestown was England’s ﬁrst permanent settlement in the New World It was a fort in the shape of a triangle with wooden walls protecting a storehouse a church and houses Captain John Smith proved an able leader

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