Highlanders History: Unit 2 - AP US History (1607-1754)

Introduction

• Review of Unit 2: European colonization in the Americas (1607-1754).
• Video is part of an ultimate review packet for AP US history.

European Colonization: Motives and Methods

Spain

• Goals: Extract wealth (cash crops, gold, silver).
• Methods: Subjected native population, mixed success in converting natives to Christianity, introduced caste system based on racial ancestry.

France

• Goals: Trade (fish, fur).
• Methods: Few settlers, trading settlements (e.g., Quebec), alliances with Native Americans (e.g., Ojibwe) through intermarriage, mutual cultural exchange.

Dutch

• Goals: Economic (fur trading).
• Methods: Established New Amsterdam (1624), trade hub, little interest in converting natives, Protestant.

Britain

• Goals: Economic opportunities, religious freedom, improved living conditions.
• Context: Economic hardship in Britain (inflation, enclosure movement).
• Methods: Joint-stock companies, profit-seeking ventures, varied colonial settlements.

British Colonial Settlements

Chesapeake Region

• Jamestown (1607): First permanent British colony, financed by joint-stock company.
• Challenges: Disease, famine, high mortality rate, cannibalism.
• Economic Success: Tobacco cultivation by John Rolfe (1612), indentured servitude as major labor system, later shift to African slavery (Bacon's Rebellion).

New England

• Plymouth (1620): Settled by pilgrims for societal/religious reasons, family units, family economies (agriculture, commerce).
• Challenges: Disease, fevers, high mortality initially.

British West Indies and Southern Atlantic Coast

• Caribbean Colonies (1620s): Tobacco and later sugarcane cultivation, high demand for African slaves, stringent slave laws.
• Carolina Colonies: Influenced by Caribbean system, similar economy and labor system.

Middle Colonies

• New York & New Jersey: Diverse populations, export economy (cereal crops), growing class inequality.
• Pennsylvania: Founded by William Penn, recognized religious freedom, obtained land through negotiation with natives, unusually democratic governance.

Colonial Governance

• Mayflower Compact: Self-governing church model (Pilgrims).
• House of Burgesses (Virginia): Representative assembly, levied taxes, passed laws.
• General Trend: Self-governing structures, elite-dominated assemblies.

Atlantic Trade System

• Triangular Trade: New England (rum) → West Africa (slaves) → West Indies (sugar cane) → New England (rum production).
• Economic System: Mercantilism – fixed wealth, favorable balance of trade, colonies as raw material sources.
• Navigation Acts: Trade laws to benefit British economy, taxed goods passing through British ports.

Slavery in the British Colonies

• Scale: 3 million enslaved Africans transported (1700-1808).
• Labor: High demand in Chesapeake and Southern colonies, slave codes defining enslaved as property.
• Resistance: Covert (cultural customs, sabotage) and overt (e.g., Stono Rebellion, 1739).

Relations with Native Americans

• Metacom's War (1675): Wampanoag chief Metacom (King Philip) vs. British encroachment, allied Indian groups, British military response.

Colonial Society

Religion

• Enlightenment: Rational thinking over tradition, spread through transatlantic print culture, ideas of natural rights, social contract.
• New Light Clergy: Response to Enlightenment, preached democratic principles of Bible, led to the Great Awakening.
• Great Awakening: Religious revival, leaders like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, created shared American identity.

Anglicization and Resistance

• Anglicanization: Colonies becoming more English-like, autonomous political communities.
• Growing Mistrust: Colonial resistance to British practices (e.g., impressment for royal navy).
• Awareness of Natural Rights: Increasing refusal to accept violations of natural rights by Britain.

Conclusion

• Overview of economic, social, and political changes in colonies (1607-1754).
• Prelude to growing colonial resistance and eventual independence movements.