the american yap chapter 2 colliding cultures section 1 introduction the colombian exchange transformed both sides of the atlantic but with dramatically disparate outcomes new diseases wiped out entire civilizations in the americas while newly imported nutrient-rich foodstuffs enabled a european population boom spain benefited most immediately as the wealth of the aztec and incan empires strengthened the spanish monarchy spain used its new riches to gain an advantage over other european nations but this advantage was soon contested portugal france the netherlands and england all raced to the new world eager to match the gains of the spanish native peoples greeted the new visitors with responses ranging from welcoming cooperation to aggressive violence but the ravages of disease and the possibility of new trading relationships enabled europeans to create settlements all along the western rim of the atlantic world new empires would emerge from these tenuous beginnings and by the end of the 17th century spain would lose its privileged position to its rivals an age of colonization had begun and with it a great collision of cultures commenced section 2 spanish america spain extended its reach in the americas after reaping the benefits of its colonies in mexico the caribbean and south america expeditions slowly began combing the continent and bringing europeans into the modern day united states in the hope of establishing religious and economic dominance in a new territory juan ponce de leon arrived in the area named la florida in 1513. he found between 150 000 and 300 000 native americans but then two and a half centuries of contact with european and african peoples whether through war slave raids or most dramatically foreign disease decimated florida's indigenous population european explorers meanwhile had hoped to find great wealth in florida but reality never aligned with their imaginations in the first half of the 16th century spanish colonizers fought frequently with florida's native peoples as well as with other europeans in the 1560s spain expelled french protestants called huguenots from the area near modern-day jacksonville in northeast florida in 1586 english privateer sir francis drake burned the wooden settlement of saint augustine at the dawn of the 17th century spain's reach in florida extended from the mouth of the saint johns river south to the environs of saint augustine an area of roughly a thousand square miles the spaniards attempted to duplicate methods for establishing control used privately in mexico the caribbean and the andes the crown granted missionaries the right to live among timucua and gwali villagers in the late 1500s and early 1600s and encouraged settlement through the ncomienda system grants of native labor in the 1630s the mission system extended into the appalachia district in the florida panhandle the appalachian one of the most powerful tribes in florida at the time of contact claimed the territory from the modern florida-georgia border to the gulf of mexico appalachia farmers grew an abundance of corn and other crops native american traders carried surplus products along east the camino real the royal road that connected the western anchor of the mission system with st augustine spanish settlers drove cattle eastward across the st johns river and established ranches as far west as appalachia still spain held florida tenuously further west in 1598 juan de oniate led 400 settlers soldiers and missionaries from mexico into new mexico the spanish southwest had brutal beginnings when onyate sacked the pueblo city of akoma the sky city the spaniards slaughtered nearly half of its roughly 1500 inhabitants including women and children onate ordered one foot cut off every surviving male over the age of 15 and he enslaved the remaining women and children santa fe the first permanent european settlement in the southwest was established in 1610. few spaniards were located to the southwest because of the distance from mexico city and the dry and hostile environment thus the spanish never achieved a commanding presence in the region by 1680 only about three thousand colonists called spanish new mexico home there they traded with and exploited the local puebloan peoples the region's pueblo pueblan population had plummeted from as many as 60 000 in 1600 to about 17 000 in 1680. spain shifted strategies after the military expeditions wove their way through the southern and western half of north america missions became the engine of colonization in north america missionaries most of whom were the members of the franciscan religious order provided spain with an advance guard in north america catholicism had always justified spanish conquest and colonization always carried religious imperatives by the 17th century spanish friars had established dozens of missions along the rio grande and in california section 3 spain's rivals emerge while spain plundered the new world unrest plagued europe the reformation through england and france the two european powers capable of contesting spain into turmoil long and expensive conflicts strained time resources and lives millions died from religious violence in france alone as the violence diminished in europe however religious and political rivalries continued in the new world the spanish exploitation of new spain's riches inspired european monarchs to invest in exploration and conquest reports of spanish atrocities spread throughout europe and provided a humanitarian justification for european colonization an english reprint of the writings of bartolome de las casas bore the sensational title potpourri truly displayed in its bloody colors or a faithful narrative of the horrid and unexampled massacres butcheries and all manners of cruelties that hell and malice could invent committed by the spanish pope an english writer explained that native americans were simple and plain men and lived without great labor but in their lust for gold the spaniards forced the people that were not used to labor to stand all the day in the hot sun gathering gold in the sand of the rivers by this means a great number of them not used to such pains died and a great number of them seeing themselves brought from so quiet a life to such misery and slavery of desperation killed themselves and many would not marry because they would not have their children slaves to the spaniards the spanish accused their critics of fostering a black legend the black legend drew on religious differences and political rivalries spain had successful conquests in france italy germany and the netherlands and left many in those nations yearning to break free from spanish influence english writers argued that spanish barbarities were foiling a tremendous opportunity for the expansion of christianity across the globe and that a benevolent conquest of the new world by non-spanish monarchies offered the surest salvation of the new world's pagan masses with these religious justifications and with obvious economic motives spain's rivals arrived in the new world the french the french crown subsidized exploration in the early 16th century early french explorers saw a fabled northwest passage a mythical waterway passing through the north american continent to asia despite the wealth of the new world asia's riches still beckoned to europeans canada's saint lawrence river appeared to be such a passage stretching deep into the continent and into the great lakes french colonial possessions centered on these bodies of water and later down the mississippi river to the port of new orleans french colonization developed through investment from private trading companies traders established port royal in acadia nova scotia in 1603 and launched trading expeditions that stretched down the atlantic coast as far as cape cod the needs of the fur trade set the pattern of french colonization founded in 1608 under the leadership of samuel de champlain quebec provided the foothold for what would become new france french fur traders placed a higher value on cooperating with indigenous people than on establishing a successful french colonial footprint asserting dominance in the region could have been to their own detriment as it might have compromised their access to skilled native american trappers and therefore wealth few frenchmen traveled to the new world to settle permanently in fact few travel at all many persecuted french protestants huguenots sought to emigrate after france criminalized protestantism in eight 1685 but all non-catholics were forbidden in new france the french preference for trade over permanent settlement fostered more cooperative and mutually beneficial relationships with native americans than was typical among the spanish and english perhaps eager to debunk the anti-catholic elements of the black legend the french worked to cultivate cooperation with native americans jesuit missionaries for instance adopted different conversation conversion strategies than the spanish franciscans spanish missionaries brought natives into enclosed missions whereas jesuits often lived with or alongside indigenous people many french fur traders married native american women the offspring of native american women and french men were so common in new france that the french developed a word for these children metis the huron people developed a particularly close relationship with the french and many converted to christianity and engaged in the fur trade but close relationships with the french would come at a high cost the huron were decimated by the ravages of european disease and entanglements in french and dutch conflicts proved disastrous despite this some native peoples maintain alliances with the french pressure from the powerful iroquois in the east pushed many algonquin-speaking peoples toward french territory in the mid-17th century and together they crafted what historians have called a middle ground a kind of cross-cultural space that allowed for native and european interaction negotiation and accommodation french traders adopted sometimes clumsily the gift-giving and mediation strategies expected of native leaders natives similarly engaged in the impersonal european market and adapted often haphazardly to european laws the great lakes middle ground experienced tumultuous success throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries until english colonial officials and american settlers swarmed the region the pressures of european expansion strained even the closest bonds the dutch the netherlands a small maritime nation with great wealth achieved considerable colonial success in 1581 the netherlands had officially broken away from the habsburgs and won a reputation as the freest of the new european nations dutch women maintained separate legal identities from their husbands and could therefore hold property and inherit full estates ravaged by the turmoil of the reformation the dutch embraced greater religious tolerance and freedom of the press than other european nations radical protestants catholics and jews flocked to the netherlands the english pilgrims for instance fled first to the netherlands before sailing to the new world years later the netherlands built its colonial empire through the work of experienced merchants and skilled sailors the dutch were the most advanced capitalists in the modern world and marshaled extensive financial resources by creating innovation innovative financial organizations such as the amsterdam stock exchange and the east india company although the dutch offered liberties they offer very little democracy power remained in the hands of only a few and dutch liberties certainly had their limits the dutch advanced the slave trade and brought enslaved africans with them to the new world slavery was an essential part of dutch capitalist triumphs sharing the european hunger for access to asia in 1609 the dutch commissioned the englishman henry hudson to discover the fabled northwest passage through north america he failed of course but nevertheless found the hudson river and claimed modern day new york for the dutch there they established new netherland an essential part of the dutch new world empire the netherlands chartered the dutch west india company in 1621 and established colonies in africa the caribbean and north america the island of manhattan provided a launching pad to support its caribbean colonies and attack spanish trade spiteful of the spanish and mindful of the black legend the dutch were determined not to repeat spanish atrocities they fashioned guidelines for new netherland that confirmed to the ideas of hugo groceus a legal philosopher who believed that native peoples possessed the same natural rights as europeans colony leaders insisted that land be purchased in 1626 peter minuet therefore bought manhattan from the muncie people despite the seemingly honorable intentions it is likely the dutch paid the wrong people for the land either intentionally or unintentionally or that the muncie and the dutch understood the transaction in very different terms transactions like these illustrated both the dutch attempt to find a more peaceful process of colonization and the inconsistency between european and native american understandings of property like the french the dutch sought to profit not to conquer trade with native peoples became new netherlands central economic activity dutch traders carried wampum along native american trade routes and exchanged it for beaver pelts wampum consisted of shell beads fashioned by algonquins on the southern new england coast and was valued as a ceremonial and diplomatic commodity among the iroquois wampum became a currency that could buy anything from a loaf of bread to a plot of land in addition to developing these trading networks the dutch also established farms settlements and labor camps the west india company directors implemented the patroon system to encourage colonization the patroon system granted large estates to wealthy landlords who subsequently paid passage for the tenants to work their land expanding dutch settlements correlated with deteriorating relations with local native americans in the interior of the continent the dutch retained valuable alliances with the iroquois to maintain beverwick modern-day albany as a hub for the fur trade in the places where the dutch built permanent settlements the ideals of peaceful colonization succumbed to the settlers increasing demand for land armed conflicts erupted as colonial settlements encroached on native villages and hunting lands profit and peace it seemed could not coexist labor shortages meanwhile crippled dutch colonization the patroon system failed to bring enough tenants and the colony could not attract a sufficient number of indentured servants to satisfy the colony's backers in response the colony imported 11 enslaved people owned by the company in 1626 the same year that menud purchased manhattan enslaved laborers were tasked with building new amsterdam modern day new york city including a defensive wall along the northern edge of the colony the site of modern day wall street they created its roads and maintained its all-important port fears of racial mixing led the dutch to import enslaved women enabling the formation of african dutch families the colony's first african marriage occurred in 1641 and by 1650 there were at least 500 enslaved africans in the colony by 1660 new amsterdam had the largest urban enslaved population on the continent as was typical of the practice of african slavery in much of the early 17th century dutch slavery in new amsterdam was less comprehensively exploitative than later systems of american slavery some enslaved africans for instance successfully sued for back wages when several enslaved people owned by the company fought for the colony against the muncie they petitioned for their freedom and won a kind of half freedom that allowed them to work their own land in return for paying a large tithe or tax to their enslavers the children of these half-free laborers remained held in bondage by the west india company however the dutch who so proudly touted their liberties grappled with reality of african slavery and some new netherlanders protested the enslavement of christianized africans the economic goals of the colony soon crowded out these cultural and religious objections and the much boasted liberties of the dutch came to exist alongside increasingly brutal systems of slavery the portuguese the portuguese had been leaders in atlantic navigation well ahead of columbus's voyage but the incredible wealth flowing from new spain peaked the rivalry between the two iberian countries and accelerated portuguese colonization efforts this rivalry created a crisis within the catholic world as spain and portugal squared off in a battle for colonial supremacy the pope intervened and divided the new world with the treaty of tordecia in 1494. the land east of tortosia meridian an imaginary line dividing south america would be given to portugal whereas land west of the line was reserved for spanish conquest in return for the license to conquer both portugal and spain were instructed to treat the natives with christian compassion and to bring them under the protection of the church lucrative colonies in africa and india initially preoccupied portugal but by 1530 the portuguese turned their attention to the land that would become brazil driving out french traders and establishing permanent settlements gold and silver mines dotted the interior of the country or the colony rather but two industries powered early colonial brazil sugar and the slave trade in fact over the entire history of the atlantic slave trade more africans were enslaved in brazil than in any other colony in the atlantic world gold mines emerged in greater numbers throughout the 18th century but still never rivaled the profitability of sugar or slave trading jesuit missionaries brought christianity to brazil but strong elements of african and native spirituality mixed with orthodox catholicism to create a unique religious culture this culture resulted from the demographics of brazilian slavery high mortality rates on sugar plantations required a steady influx of new enslaved laborers thus perpetuating the cultural connection between brazil and africa the reliance on new imports of enslaved laborers increased the likelihood of resistance however and those who escaped slavery managed to create several free settlements called gilombos these settlements drew from both enslaved africans and natives and despite frequent attacks several endured throughout the long history of brazilian slavery despite the arrival of these new europeans spain continued to continue to dominate the new world the wealth flowing from the exploitation of the aztec and incan empires greatly eclipsed the profits of other european nations but this dominance would not last long by the end of the 16th century the powerful spanish armada would be destroyed and the english would begin to rule the waves section 4 english colonization spain had a 100 year head start on new world colonization and a jealous england eyed the enormous wealth that spain gleaned the protestant reformation had shaken england but elizabeth the first assumed the english crown in 1558 elizabeth oversaw england's so-called golden age which included both the expansion of trade and exploration and the literary achievements of shakespeare and marlow english mercantilism a state-assisted manufacturing and trading system created and maintained markets the markets provided a steady supply of consumers and laborers stimulated economic expansion and increased english wealth however wrenching social and economic changes unsettled the english population the island's population increased from fewer than 3 million in 1500 to over 5 million by the middle of the 17th century the skyrocketing cost of land coincided with plummeting farming income rents and prices rose but wages stagnated moreover movements to enclose public land sparked by the transition of english land holders from agriculture to livestock raising evicted tenants from the land and created hordes of landless jobless peasants that haunted the cities and countryside one quarter to one half of the population lived in extreme poverty new world colonization won support in england amid a time of rising english fortunes among the wealthy a tense spanish rivalry and mounting internal social unrest but supporters of english colonization always touted more than economic gains and mere national self-interest they claimed to be doing god's work many claimed that colonization would glorify god england and protestantism by christianizing the new world's pagan peoples advocates such as rick richard hacklite the younger and john d for instance drew upon the history of the kings of britain written by the 12th century monk jeffrey of monmouth and its mythical account of king arthur's conquest and christianization of pagan lands to justify american conquest moreover promoters promised that the conversion of new world native americans would satisfy god and glorify england's virgin queen elizabeth the first who was seen as nearly divine by some in england the english and other european protestant colonizers imagined themselves superior to the spanish who still bore the black legend of inhumane cruelty english colonization supporters argued would prove that superiority in his 1584 discourse on a western planting richard hacklight amassed the supposed religious moral and exceptional economic benefits of colonization he repeated the black legend of spanish new world terrorism and attacked the sins of catholic spain he promised that english colonization could strike a blow against spanish heresy and bring protestant religion to the new world english interference hacklite suggested might provide the only salvation from catholic rule in the new world the new world 2 he said offered obvious economic advantages trade and resource extraction would enrich the english treasury england for instance could find plentiful materials to outflow a world-class navy moreover he said the new world could provide an escape for england's vast armies of landless vagabonds expanded trade he argued would not only bring profit but also provide work for england's jobless poor a christian enterprise a blow against spain an economic stimulus and a social safety valve all back into the english toward a commitment to colonization this noble rhetoric veiled the coarse economic motives that brought england to the new world new economic structures and a new merchant class paved the way for colonization england's merchants lacked estates but they had new plans to build wealth by collaborating with new government-sponsored trading monopolies and employing financial innovations such as joint stock companies england's merchants sought to improve on the dutch economic system spain was extracting enormous material wealth from the new world why shouldn't england joint stock companies the ancestors of modern corporations became the initial instruments of colonization with government monopolies shared profits managed risks these money-making ventures could attract and manage the vast capital needed for colonization in 1606 james the first approved the formation of the virginia company named after elizabeth the virgin queen rather than formal colonization however the most successful early english ventures in the new world were a form of state-sponsored piracy known as privateering queen elizabeth sponsored sailors or sea dogs such as john hawkins and francis drake to plunder spanish ships and towns in the americas privateers earned a substantial profit both for themselves and for the english crown england practiced piracy on a scale one historian wrote that transforms crime into politics francis drake harried spanish ships throughout the western hemisphere and raided spanish caravans as far away as the east coast of peru on the pacific ocean in 1580 elizabeth rewarded her skilled pirate with knighthood but elizabeth walked a fine line with protestant catholic tensions already running high english privateering provoked spain tensions worsened after the execution of mary queen of scots a catholic in 1588 king philip ii of spain unleashed the fabled armada with a hundred thirty ships eight 000 sailors and 18 000 soldiers spain launched the largest invasion in history to destroy the british navy and depose elizabeth an island nation england depended on a robust navy for trade and territorial expansion england had fewer ships than spain but they were smaller and swifter they successfully harassed the armada forcing it to retreat to the netherlands for reinforcements but then a fluke storm celebrated in england as the divine wind annihilated the remainder of the fleet the destruction of the armada changed the course of world history it not only saved england and secured english protestantism but it also opened the seas to english expansion and paved the way for england's colonial future by 1600 england stood ready to embark on its dominance over north america english colonization would look very different from spanish or french colonization england had long been trying to conquer catholic ireland rather than integrating with the irish and trying to convert them to protestantism england more often simply seized land through violence and pushed out the former inhabitants leaving them to move elsewhere or to die these same tactics would later be deployed in north american invasions english colonization however began haltingly sir humphrey gilbert labored throughout the late 16th century to establish a colony in newfoundland but failed in 1587 with a predominantly male cohort of 150 english colonizers john white re-established an abandoned settlement on north carolina's roanoke island supply shortage shortages prompted white to return to england for additional support but the spanish armada and the mobilization of british naval efforts stranded him in britain for several years when he finally returned to roanoke he found the colony abandoned what befell the failed colony white found the word croatan carved into a tree or a post in the abandoned colony historians presumed the colonists short of food may have fled for a nearby island of that name and encountered its settled native population others offer violence as an explanation regardless the english colonists were never heard from again when queen elizabeth died in 1603 no englishman had yet established a permanent north american colony after james made peace with spain in 1604 privateering no longer held out the promise of cheap wealth colonization assumed a new urgency the virginia company established in 1606 drew inspiration from cortez and the spanish conquests it hoped to find gold and silver as well as other valuable trading commodities in the new world glass iron furs pitch tar and anything else the country could supply the company planned to identify a navigable river with a deep harbor away from the eyes of the spanish there they would find a native american trading network and extract a fortune from the new world section 5 jamestown in april 1607 englishmen aboard three ships the susan constant the godspeed and the discovery sailed 40 miles up the james river named for the english king in present-day virginia named for elizabeth the first the virgin queen and settled on just such a place the uninhabited peninsula they selected was upriver and out of sight of spanish patrols it offered easy defense against ground assaults and was both uninhabited and located close to many native american villages and their potentially lucrative trade networks but the location was a disaster indigenous people had ignored the peninsula for two reasons terrible soil hampered agriculture and brackish tidal water led to debilitating disease despite these setbacks the english built jamestown the first permanent english colony in the present day united states the english had not entered a wilderness but had arrived amid a people they called the palhatin confederacy palhattan or wahunskotawa as he called himself led nearly 10 000 algonquin speaking people in the chesapeake they burned vast acreage to clear brush and create sprawling artificial park-like grasslands so they could easily hunt deer elk and bison the powhatan raised corn beans squash and possibly sunflowers rotating acreage throughout the chesapeake without plows manure or draft animals the powhatan produced a remarkable number of calories cheaply and efficiently jamestown was a profit-seeking venture backed by investors the colonists were mostly gentlemen and proved entirely unprepared for the challenges ahead they hoped for easy riches but found none as john smith later complained they would rather starve than work and so they did disease and starvation ravaged the colonists thanks in part to the peninsula's unhealthy location and the fact that supplies from england arrived sporadically or spoiled fewer than half of the original colonists survived the first nine months john smith a yemen's son and capable leader took command of the crippled colony and promised he that will not work shall not eat he navigated native american diplomacy claiming that he was captured and sentenced to death but powhatan's daughter pocahontas intervened to save his life she would later marry another colonist john rolfe and die in england powhatan kept the english alive that first winter the powhatan had welcomed the english and placed a high value on metal axe heads kettles tools and guns and eagerly traded furs and other abundant goods with them with 10 000 confederated natives and with food in abundance indigenous people had little to fear and much to gain from the isolated outpost of sick and dying englishmen despite reinforcements the english continued to die 400 settlers arrived in 1609 but the overwhelmed colony entered a desperate starving time in the winter of 1609-1610 supplies were lost at sea relations with native americans were deteriorated and the colonists fought a kind of slow-burning guerrilla war with the powhatan disaster loomed for the colony the settlers ate everything they could roaming the woods for nuts and berries they boiled leather they dug up graves to eat the corpses of their former neighbors one man was executed for killing and eating his wife some years later george percy recalled the colonists desperation during those years when he served as the colony's president having fed upon our horses and other beasts as long as they lasted we were glad to make shift with the vermin as dogs cats rats and mice as to eat boots shoes or any other leather and now famine beginning to look ghastly and pale in every face that nothing was spared to maintain life and to do these things which seem incredible as to dig up dead corpses out of graves and to eat them archaeological excavations in 2012 exhumed the bones of a 14 year old girl that exhibited signs of cannibalism all but 60 settlers would die by the summer of 1610 little improved over the next several years by 1616 80 of all english immigrants who had arrived in jamestown had perished england's first american colony was a catastrophe the colony was reorganized and in 1614 the marriage of pocahontas to john roth eased relations with the powhatan though the colony still limped along as a starving commercially disastrous tragedy the colonists were unable to find any profitable commodities and remained dependent on native americans and sporadic shipments from england for food but then tobacco saved jamestown by the time king james the first described tobacco as a noctuous weed loathsome to the eye hateful to the nose harmful to the brain and dangerous to the lungs it had already taken europe by storm in 1616 john rolfe crossed tobacco strains from trinidad and guiana and planted virginia's first tobacco crop in 1617 the colony sent its first cargo of tobacco back to england the noxious weed a native of the new world fetched a high price in europe and a tobacco boon began in virginia and then later spread to maryland within 15 years american colonists were exporting over 500 000 pounds of tobacco per year within 40 years they were exporting 15 million tobacco changed everything it saved virginia from ruin incentivized further colonization and laid the groundwork for what would become the united states with a new market open virginia drew not only merchants and traders but also settlers colonists came in droves they were mostly young mostly male and mostly indentured servants who signed contracts called indentures that bonded them to employers for a period of years in return for passage across the ocean but even the rough terms of servitude were no match for the promise of land and potential profits that beckoned english farmers but still there were not enough of them tobacco was a labor-intensive crop and ambitious planters with seemingly limitless land before them lacked only laborers to escalate their wealth and status the colony's great labor vacuum inspired the creation of the head right policy in 1618 any person who migrated to virginia would automatically receive 50 acres of land and any immigrant whose passage they paid would entitle them to 50 acres more in 1619 the virginia company established the house of burgesses a limited representative body composed of white landowners that first met in jamestown that same year a dutch slave ship sold 20 africans to the virginia colonists southern slavery was born soon the tobacco-growing colonists expanded beyond the bounds of jamestown's deadly peninsula when it became clear that the english were not merely intent on maintaining a small trading post but saw a permanent ever expanding colony conflict with the powhatan confederacy became almost inevitable patton died in 1622 and was succeeded by his brother oppachan kanal who promised to drive the land-hungry colonists back into the sea he launched a surprise attack and in a single day march 22 1622 killed over 350 colonists or one-third of the colonists in virginia the colonists retaliated and revisited the massacres on indigenous settlements many times over the massacre freed the colonists to drive native americans off their land the governor of virginia declared it colonial policy to achieve the expulsion of the savages to gain the free reigns of the country war and disease tilted the balance of power decisively toward the english colonizers english colonists brought to the new world particular visions of racial cultural and religious supremacy despite starving in the shadow of the powhatan confederacy english colonists nevertheless judged themselves physically spiritually and technologically superior to the native peoples in north america christianity metallurgy intensive agriculture transatlantic navigation and even wheat all magnified the english sense of superiority this sense of superiority when coupled with outbreaks of violence left the english feeling entitled to indigenous lands and resources spanish conquerors established the framework for the atlantic slave trade over a century before the first chained africans arrived at jamestown even bartolome de las casas celebrated for his pleas to save native americans from colonial butchery for a time recommended that indigenous labor be replaced by importing africans early english settlers from the caribbean and atlantic coast of north america mostly imitated european ideas of african inferiority race followed the expansion of slavery across the atlantic world skin color and race suddenly seemed fixed englishmen equated africans with categorical blackness and blackness with sin the handmaid and symbol of baseness an english essayist in 1695 wrote that a negro will always be a negro carry him to greenland feed him with chalk feed and manage him never so many ways more and more europeans embraced the notions that europeans and africans were of distinct races others now preached that the old testament god cursed ham the son of noah and doomed black people to perpetual enslavement and yet in the early years of american slavery ideas about race were not yet fixed and the practice of slavery was not yet codified the first generations of africans in english north america faced miserable conditions but in contrast to later american history their initial servitude was not necessarily permanent herediable or even particularly disgraceful africans were definitely set apart as fundamentally different from their white counterparts and faced longer terms of service and harsher punishments but like the indentured white servants whisked away from english slums these first africans in north america could also work for only a set number of years before becoming free landowners themselves the angolan anthony johnson for instance was sold into servitude but fulfilled his indenture and became a prosperous tobacco planter himself in 1622 at the dawn of the topaca boom jamestown had still seemed a failure but the rise of tobacco and the destruction of the powhatan turned the tide colonists escaped the deadly peninsula and immigrants poured into the colony to grow tobacco and turn a profit for the crown chapter 6 new england the english colonies in new england established from 1620 onward were founded with loftier goals than those in virginia although migrants to new england expected economic profit religious motives directed the rhetoric and much of the reality of these colonies not every english person who moved to new england during the 17th century was a puritan but puritans dominated the politics religion and culture of new england even after 1700 the region's puritan inheritance shaped many aspects of its history the term puritan began as an insult and its recipients usually refer to each other as the godly if they used a specific term at all puritans believed that the church of england did not distance itself far enough from the catholicism after henry viii broke with rome in the 1530s they largely agreed with european calvinists followers of theologian jean calvin on matters of religious doctrine calvinists and puritans believed that humankind was redeemed by god's grace alone and that the fate of an individual's immortal soul was predestined the happy minority that god had already chosen to save were known among english puritans as the elect calvinists also argued that the decoration of churches reliance on ornate ceremony and corrupt priesthood obscured god's message they believed that reading the bible was the best way to understand god puritans were stereotyped by their enemies as dour killjoys and the exaggeration has endured it is certainly true that the puritans disdain for excess and opposition to many holidays popular in europe including christmas which as puritans never typed tired of reminding everyone the bible never told anyone to celebrate lent themselves to caricature but puritans understood themselves as advocating a reasonable middle path in a corrupt world it would never occur to a puritan for example to abstain from alcohol or sex during the first century after the english reformation circa 1530-1630 puritans sought to purify the church of england of all practices that smacked of catholicism advocating a simpler worship service the abolition of ornate churches and other reforms they had some success in pushing the church of england in a more calvinist direction but with the coronation of king charles the first who ranged from 1625 to 1649 the puritans gained an implacable foe that cast english puritans as excessive and dangerous facing growing persecution the puritans began the great migration during which about 20 000 people traveled to new england between 1630 and 1640 the puritans unlike the small band of separatist pilgrims who founded plymouth colony in 1620 remained committed to reforming the church of england but temporarily decamped to north america to accomplish this task leaders like john winthrop insisted that they were not separating from or abandoning england but were rather forming a godly community in america that would be a city on a hill and an example for reformers back home the puritans did not seek to create a haven of religious toleration a notion that they along with nearly all european christians regarded as a ridiculous at best and dangerous at worst while the puritans did not succeed in building a godly utopia in new england a combination of puritan traits with several external factors created colonies wildly different from any other region settled by english people unlike those heading to virginia colonists in new england plymouth in 1620 massachusetts bay 1630 connecticut in 1636 and rhode island in 1636 generally ally arrived in family groups most new england immigrants were small land holders in england a class contemporary english called the middling sort when they arrived in new england they tended to replicate their home environments founding towns composed of independent land owners the new england climate and soil made large scale plantation agriculture impractical so the systems of large land holders using masses of enslaved laborers or indentured servants to grow labor-intensive crops never took hold there is no evidence that the new england puritans would have opposed such a system were it possible other puritans made their fortunes on the caribbean sugar islands and new england merchants profited as suppliers of provisions and enslaved laborers to those colonies by accident of geography as much as by design new england society was much less stratified than any of britain's other 17th century colonies although new england colonies would boast wealthy land holding elites the disparity of wealth in the region remained narrow compared to the chesapeake carolina or the caribbean instead 17th century new england was characterized by a broadly shared modest prosperity based on a mixed economy dependent on small farms shops fishing lumber shipbuilding and trade with the atlantic world a combination of environmental factors and the puritan social ethos produced a region of remarkable health and stability during the 17th century new england immigrants avoided most of the deadly outbreaks of tropical disease that turned the chesapeake colonies into graveyards disease in fact only aided english settlement and relations to native americans in contrast to other european colonists who had to contend with powerful native american neighbors the puritans confronted the stunned survivors of a biological catastrophe a lethal pandemic of smallpox during the 1610s swept away as much as 90 percent of the region's native american population many survivors welcomed the english as potential allies against rival tribes who had escaped the catastrophe the relatively healthy environment coupled with political stability and the predominance of family groups among early immigrants allowed the new england population to grow to 91 000 people by 1700 from only 21 000 immigrants in contrast 120 000 english went to the chesapeake and only 85 000 colonists remained in 1700 the new england puritans set out to build their utopia by creating communities of the godly groups of men often from the same region in england applied to the colony's general court for land grants they generally divided part of the land for immediate use while keeping much of the rest as commons or undivided land for future generations the town's inhabitants collectively decided the size of each settler's home lot based on their current wealth and status besides oversight of property the town restricted membership and new arrivals needed to apply for admission those who gained admittance could participate in town governments that while not democratic by modern standards nevertheless had broad popular involvement all male property holders could vote in town meetings and choose the selectmen assessors constables and other officials from among themselves to conduct the daily affairs of government upon their founding towns wrote covenants reflecting the puritan belief in god's covenant with his people towns sought to arbitrate disputes and contain strife as did the church wayward or divergent individuals were persuaded corrected or coerced popular conceptions of puritans as hardened authoritarians are exaggerated but if persuasion and arbitration failed people who did not conform to community norms were punished or removed massachusetts banished anne hutchinson roger williams and other religious dissenters like the quakers although by many measures colonization in new england succeeded its puritan leaders failed in their own mission to create a utopian community that would inspire their fellows back in england they tended to focus their disappointment on the younger generation but alas increased mather lamented that so many of the younger generation have so early corrupted their founders doings the jeremiah a sermon lamenting the fallen state of new england due to its straying from its early virtuous path became a staple of late 17th century puritan literature yet the jeremiah could not stop the effects of prosperity the population spread and grew more diverse many if not most new englanders retained strong ties to their calvinist roots into the 18th century but the puritans who became congregationalists struggled against a riding tide of religious pluralism on december 25th 1727 judge samuel sewell noted in his diary that a new anglican minister keeps the day in his new church at braintree people flock thither previously forbidden holidays like christmas were celebrated publicly in church and privately in homes puritan divine cotton mather discovered on christmas 1711 that a number of young people of both sexes belonging many of them to my flock had a frolic a reveling feast and a ball which discovers their corruption despite the lamentations of mathers and other puritan leaders of their failure they left an enduring mark on new england culture and society that endured long after the region's residence ceased to be called puritan section 7 conclusion the fledgling settlements in virginia and massachusetts paled in importance when compared to the sugar colonies of the caribbean valued more as marginal investments and social safety valves where the poor could be released these colonies nonetheless created a foothold for britain on a vast north american continent and although the 17th century would be fraught for britain religious social and political upheavals would behead one king and force another to flee his throne settlers in massachusetts and virginia were nonetheless tied together by the emerging atlantic economy while commodities such as tobacco and sugar fueled new markets in europe the economy grew increasingly dependent on slave labor enslaved africans transported across the atlantic would further complicate the collision of cultures in the americas the creation and maintenance of a slave system would spark new understandings of human difference and new modes of social control the economic exchanges of the new atlantic economy would not only generate great wealth and exploitation they would also lead to new cultural systems and new identities for the inhabitants of at least four continents