America's History 

Chapter 2: American Experiments (1521-1700)

• Chattel slavery- the ownership of human beings as property. 
• “All children borne in this country shalbe held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother.” -Virginia Statute, 1662.
• The Encomienda System was based on Native American slavery. They aimed to convert natives, as well. 
• The Native American population decreased rapidly.
• Neo-Europes was the replication of European economies and social structures made up by colonists.

Spain's Tribute Colonies

A New American World

• Encomiendas were claims of tribute in labor and goods for conquistadors from Indian communities and organized by the crown. 
  
• The Columbian Exchange involved a transfer of goods, disease, ideas, people, and animals between Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Potato, maize, rice, horses, and cattle were some of the many exchanges. 
• Horse was brought from the old world to the new world.

The Protestant Challenge to Spain

• Spain had to control the Caribbean basin in order to ship across the transatlantic.
• The Lesser Antilles allowed pirates and privateers to have many safe harbors. 
• Hans Staden was a German solider who landed himself into a shipwreck in Brazil in 1552.
• Mercantilism is a system of manufacturing and trade that's assisted by the state.

Plantation Colonies

Brazil's Sugar Plantations

• Brazil became a sugar plantation zone with its own milling operation. The operation was processed on site because sugarcane is heavy and rots quickly.
  
• Smallpox quickly led the Native population to decrease. The loss of Natives made the encomienda system suffer. 
• African slavery got introduced as Native American slavery, and Native Americans in general, died out.

England's Tobacco Colonies

The Jamestown Settlement 

• The Joint Stock Company consisted of investors who shared in profits and losses of colony. 
• Tobacco was a major cash crop that drained the Native American land. 
• The House of Burgesses was established in 1619 and was the first representative government in the U.S. 

The Indian War of 1622

• Indians killed much of the Jamestown colony (about 1/3 of the population). 
• The paramount chief, Opechancanough, aimed to kill all Englishman. 
• In 1622, Opechancanough organized an attack on the colonists, killing 347 English settlers. 
• Virginia became a royal colony in 1624 after James I revoked the Virginia Company's charter. 
• Colonists had to start paying taxes to support the Church of England. 

Lord Baltimore Settles Catholics in Maryland 

• The Maryland Acts of Toleration in 1649 allowed religious freedom for only christians, and mostly catholics.
  
• Maryland and Virginia relied on tobacco as their main cash crop. 
• King Charles I organized a tobacco-growing colony in Maryland, contributing to its success and high demand. 

The Caribbean Islands 

• Colonists used tobacco, indigo, cotton, cacao, and ginger as some of their main cash crops. 
• Barbados, Jamaica, Nevis, and Martinique were responsible for much of the sugar cultivation.
• Sir Thomas Warner founded a settlement on St. Christopher, St. Kitts. English and French colonists quickly forced native Caribbeans out of their island. 

Plantation Life 

• Freeholds were farms of 30 to 50 acres owned and farmed by families. 
• The Head right System distributed 50 acres of land to anyone who paid for an immigrant's passage. This system benefitted the rich and helped expand plantations.

Indentured Servitude

• Indentured servitude kept predominantly men, and select women, working under a master for 4-5 years. After the years were up they could marry and work themselves; they'd be free. 
• Most servants (about half) died before they could be free. 

African Laborers

• African slavery was heavily used in the Caribbeans at first for sugar cultivation.
  
• Laws were enforced to enhance and promote racism, restricting the rights and behaviors of African Americans.

Neo-European Colonies

New France

• New France expanded into Canada and Quebec was made into a fur trading post. 
• French fur traders were called coureurs de bois. 
• The French gained access to mink, otter, and beaver. 
• Many French priests, typically Jesuits, sought out to Native communities and some attempted to convert them. Often, they learned Indian languages and respected their values. 

New Netherlands

• The Dutch controlled most of the world's commerce and owned more ships than the rest of the colonies.
  
• Manhattan, a small colony in New Netherland, had a lot of commerce.
• The Dutch also engaged in fur trade. 
• Albany was built in 1614, originally known as Fort Orange, to trade fur with Munsee and Iroquois Indians. 

The Rise of the Iroquois 

• The smallpox virus in 1633 killed most of the Iroquois population which led to further wars against the Hurons, Neutrals, Eries, and Susquehannocks.
  
• Traded with the Dutch and French. 
• Iroquois resided in Central and Western NY, remaining a big part of NY's population. 

New England 

The Pilgrims 

• Pilgrims were religious separatists who had left the English church. 
• William Bradford brought 67 migrants from England aboard the Mayflower. They established the Mayflower Compact that allowed the Puritans to self-govern and form their own political structure. 
• The cold-climate killed off many migrants but Plymouth prospered, nonetheless. A smallpox epidemic killed off the threat, the local Wampanoags. 

John Winthrop and Massachusetts Bay

• John Winthrop, governor of Massachusetts Bay colony, hoped to establish a "City Upon a Hill."
• The Joint-Stock corporation was a commercial agreement that allowed investors to pool their resources. 
• Predestination was the idea that God only saved a few chosen people. 

Roger Williams and Rhode Island

• Roger advocated for the separation of Church and state, and religious toleration, and friendly relations with Native Americans.
  
• Roger Williams was banished to Rhode Island by John Winthrop. No legally established church existed in Rhode Island. 

Anne Hutchinson

• Anne Hutchinson was seen as a threat to the Puritans because she challenged gender roles in Church. She believed in a covenant of grace.
  
• She was banished to Rhode Island with Roger Williams. 

Puritanism and Witchcraft

• The Salem Witch Trials caused chaos throughout Massachusetts. Women were accused of witchcraft, typically wealthy, middle-aged, young, or widowed women.
  
• After the trials, there began an Enlightenment, which sparked a religious awakening.

Instability, War, and Rebellion

New England's Indian Wars

Puritan-Pequot War

• Over 500 women, men, and children were killed by Native Americans in the war. The English were angry and retaliated, gaining them more land. 
• John Winthrop believed that the decrease of Native Americans, due to disease, was all of "God's work."

Metacom's War (1675-1676)

• King Philip (Metacom) was the chief of the Wampanoags. His people and him adopted a few English ways, such as raising hogs and selling pork. 
• Metacom called for an expulsion of the English colonists, which broke out the Metacom war. Narragansets and Nipmucks attacked white settlers around New England. 
• Mohegan and Mohwak warriors were hired by the Massachusetts Bay government to execute Metacom and they succeeded. 

Bacon's Rebellion

• The Bacon's Rebellion was inspired by an uprising against Governor William Berkley, who wouldn't allow settlements past a certain line. 
• Tobacco prices dropped until the 1670's. 
• Berkley bought his way into being favored by the House of Burgesses. He bought off legislators with land grants and appointing people as tax collectors or sheriffs. 

Frontier War

• From 1607 to 1675, the Native population dropped from 30,000 to 3,500 due to English intrusion. 38,000 Europeans now occupied the land and 2,500 African Americans.
  
• Native Americans resided mostly on treaty-guaranteed territory but poor freeholders and landless former servants wanted the natives expelled. Berkley ignored their requests, as he used Occaneechee Indians for tradings beaver pelts and deerskins.
• In 1675, a group of Virginian vigilante militiamen murdered 30 natives. 

Challenging the Government

• Nathanial Bacon, an Englishman in the governor's council, led a group of rebels to attack any and all Native Americans.
  
• The rebellion ended when Berkley expelled and arrested Bacon. After Bacon's sudden death in 1676, Berkley hung 23 rebels.