USA. STORY. THE ERA OF THE FIRST POPULATIONS
England claimed its rights to the territory in North America as early as 1497, but it was not until a century later that it accumulated enough material and human resources to establish permanent settlements in the New World. During the 16th century. the population of England and Wales almost doubled, so that colonization came to be seen as a panacea for "overpopulation" and a means of ridding the country of "hordes of annoying beggars." But the champions of colonization also had a more effective incentive - the myriad of gold and silver mined by Spain as a result of the brutal exploitation of Indians in Mexico and Peru. Finally, the growing economic power of England and the growing mass of investment capital provided the financial basis for colonization. The first settlement in Virginia was subsidized by a group of London merchants. Colonization was blessed by the Anglican Church.
English colonies. Despite the hardships of life in Virginia, hundreds of colonists sent there by London merchants managed to survive. Their colony, Jamestown, became the first permanent English settlement in America. Subsequent attempts at colonization were undertaken for both religious and commercial purposes. A small detachment of "pilgrims" - Puritan separatists who left England due to religious persecution, after a short stay in the Netherlands arrived in 1620 in Plymouth (New England). In the area adjacent to the coast of the Gulf of Massachusetts, 47 kilometers north of Plymouth, a larger detachment of Puritans, led by John Winthrop, settled in 1630. Both settlements merged in 1691 to form the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the 1620s, new settlements also emerged in New Hampshire and Maine (the latter became part of Massachusetts in 1677 and is not usually named among the first 13 colonies). Another colony that emerged as a religious community was Maryland, where in 1634 the settlement of St. Mary appeared on land donated to the family of the English Catholic George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. Many Catholics settled in the colony, and it was famous for its religious tolerance until 1692, when it was proclaimed a royal possession under the auspices of the Church of England. Rhode Island and Connecticut became the scions of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1635 and 1636, Massachusetts settlers founded the cities of Wethersfield, Winsor, and Hartford in the Connecticut Valley. Some were attracted by rumors about unusually fertile lands, others, led by Thomas Hooker, left Massachusetts due to disagreements with the leaders of the colony. All three cities united in 1637, and two years later adopted the charter of the Basic Laws of Connecticut, establishing their own system of government. Charles II granted Connecticut a charter of self-determination in 1662, simultaneously annexing the settlements founded in New Haven in 1638 by John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton to the three cities on the Connecticut River. When dissident pastor Roger Williams and his followers were expelled from Massachusetts, they founded the settlement of Providence in 1636. Soon the villages of Portsmouth, Newport and Warwick arose, and in 1644 Roger Williams achieved a charter according to which all four settlements were united into a single colony of Rhode Island. Other colonies were bestowed by the king (directly or indirectly) either to a sole owner or to a group of owners. Thus, Charles II, as a token of gratitude for his support during the Civil War in England, bestowed in 1663 to eight of his friends the vast territory of Carolina, subsequently divided into North and South Carolina. The following year, he presented his brother, the Duke of York, with the territory that included the New Netherlands colony, which the Dutch began to settle in 1624. The Duke of York, after whom the colony was renamed, took these lands from the Dutch. In the same year, he gave part of the land to George Carteret and Johnny Berkeley, who became the owners of the New Jersey colony. In 1681 Charles II ceded a large area west of the Delaware River to the English Quaker William Penn. In honor of the admiral, Penn's father, the colony was named Pennsylvania. Settlers from Germany and Holland, as well as from the British Isles, eagerly arrived in Pennsylvania, which was characterized by wide religious tolerance. Delaware, where Wilmington was founded by the Swedes in 1638, before the territory became part of the New Netherlands, and in 1682 it ceded to William Penn. Delaware subsequently became a separate colony with its own assembly, although it continued to be Penn's property and ruled by the Governor of Pennsylvania. The last of the 13 colonies, Georgia, received a charter in 1732 - it was destined to become a military outpost against the Spaniards in Florida, as well as a haven for the poor and fugitive debtors. The following year, James Oglethorpe brought the first group of settlers to Georgia and laid the foundation for the city of Savannah.
Plantation economy. The economic system that emerged in Virginia after the threat of Native American raids and famine was largely resolved was fundamentally different from that which the founders of this colony intended to create. There was no gold or a sedentary Indian population that could be used as labor, and the colonists were forced to engage in the cultivation of the land and the export of tobacco. Soon, private plantations emerged along the banks of the numerous rivers of the Chesapeake region. Rivers were used to transport goods, but the sparseness of settlements in the area held back the construction of cities, schools and churches. At first, the plantations were cultivated by the planters themselves and their white "contract" servants - young men and women who paid for the move to America by pledging to work for their benefactors for a number of years. Beginning in 1619, African slaves were brought into Virginia. At first, their position was no different from the white "contract soldiers". The 1640s saw a fundamental change: some Africans were deprived of the privileges enjoyed by white workers, while others were forced to labor for life on plantations. Racial discrimination was legalized in the 1660s, and by the end of the century, black men and women and all their descendants were relegated to the level of slaves. Unlike the medieval English serf, who was attached to the land and had some traditional rights, the black slave was the personal property of his master and was deprived of any rights.
Puritan community. There was greater equality in the early settlements of New England. The pilgrims, led by William Bradford, landed at Plymouth and drew up a set of rules known as the Mayflower Agreement, which stated: "To form together a civil political organization ... for the common good of the colony, to which we promise due obedience and obedience." These pilgrims were the first of 20,000 Puritans to flee to New England from hunger, weaving crisis and religious oppression. After arriving in Boston, they settled over a vast territory, forming small isolated settlements around churches. There they were mainly engaged in consumer agriculture. All power in such settlements was in the hands of priests and community leaders, who were elected for long terms. All disagreements within the communities were usually resolved by expelling the disaffected. This was the case with Thomas Hooker, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, who, along with their followers, were expelled from the Massachusetts colony for heresy. However, the second generation of settlers did not inherit the devout religiosity of their fathers, and children from 1662 were admitted to the parent church under an "incomplete agreement", which only gave the right to belong to the bosom of the church, but refused to take communion to those who could not prove the fact of personal conversion. In addition, an influential stratum of merchants took shape, which was partly the reaction of the Puritan community to diligently following the "earthly vocation." Ambitious entrepreneurs, raised in an atmosphere of puritanical morality, wanted to overcome the religious ban on the pursuit of wealth and achieve a high position in the hierarchy of power.
Relationship with the metropolis. The third threat to the Puritan community came from extensive imperial reform. Before the civil war that engulfed England in the 1640s, life in the American colonies was governed by orders that came from time to time from the mother country. The situation changed dramatically after the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the outbreak of war at sea with Holland in 1652. When Maryland and Virginia announced their break with the Republic of Oliver Cromwell, the new government sent emissaries to America. Maryland was temporarily removed from its owner's authority. In addition, in order to restore colonial trade, which during the war came under the control of the Dutch, the British Parliament in 1651 prohibited foreign ships from making trade voyages to the colonies in North America. After the restoration of Stuart power in 1660, control over trade with the colonies was further strengthened. A shipping law passed the same year restricted the delivery of certain goods, in particular tobacco and sugar, to British ports. Under the 1663 trade law, the direct import of European manufactured goods into the American colonies was prohibited. Ten years later, another law introduced trade duties on many types of goods, requiring the establishment of a colonial customs service. Simultaneously with pursuing a trade policy aimed at creating a centralized and economically self-sufficient empire, Charles II took a number of actions that had the opposite effect. By making a group of their aristocratic supporters absolute and sovereign owners vast territory in Carolina, transferring New York and New Jersey to his brother and heir to the throne, returning the Maryland colony to the Calvert family and donating large land holdings to William Penn, the king thereby shattered the unified system of colonial government. Local administrations, headed by royal governors, were created only in Virginia and the West Indies, from where colonial goods were mainly supplied. Charles II bestowed royal charter on Rhode Island and Connecticut, granting them almost complete autonomy as self-governing communities. He also allowed rebellious Massachusetts to retain its liberal charter, granted by Charles I in 1629. The liberal system of imperial control ended with the establishment in 1675 of the House of Lords Council of Commerce, which soon saw the need for direct royal rule. Concerned about news of illegal trade in Massachusetts, the trade council rejected the claims of this colony to New Hampshire, establishing direct royal rule there in 1679. Two years later, a special provision was added to the land ownership patent granted to William Penn, requiring the approval of the Privy Council to legislate in Pennsylvania. In 1684 the Trade Council, having won a lawsuit in the court of the Lord Chancellor, annulled the Massachusetts charter. In 1685, after the accession to the throne of James II, the Trade Council achieved the abolition of other charters in the American colonies and annexed them to Massachusetts and the king's own possessions in New York, proclaiming them the dominion of New England. Edmund Andros, the first royal governor of the huge new colony, was sent to Boston, and all assemblies there were abolished.
The political system of the colonies. In 1619, the House of Citizens first met in Virginia, but only 20 years later Charles I recognized the legality of this body. In Massachusetts, a general council was created as early as 1634, but its activities provoked strong opposition from the governor and officials. New York received permission to hold its own assembly in 1683, but it was dissolved two years later. Even in those colonies where assemblies continued to function, real power was vested in the governor or a college of advisers appointed by him. Like many other aspects of colonial life, this oligarchic political system was subjected to severe tests of strength among the feeling of strength of the second generation of Americans, as well as a new wave of immigrants who arrived after 1660. Population growth and expansion of colonial borders led to conflicts with Indian tribes. In 1675, a bloody war broke out in New England, the so-called. the war of King Philip, and similar armed clashes on the border of Virginia the following year and the inability of the colonial authorities to resist the Indians led to an uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon, one of the many colonists dissatisfied with the policies of the ruling elite and the authoritarian nature of the political system. When the Governor of Virginia, William Berkeley, refused to support the expansionist land policy and take revenge on the Indians, Bacon organized a military campaign against them on his own initiative. He then chaired a new assembly (elected in the first election in 15 years) that extended the franchise to all free settlers and more evenly distributed the burden of taxes across the population. When armed clashes broke out between the rival groups, the governor was forced to flee Jamestown. After Bacon's death, the rebellion quickly faded, but the example of Virginia was taken up by Maryland, where dissidents-Protestants launched an attack on the authoritarian system of the owner of the colony, Lord Baltimore.
"Glorious Revolution". The instability of the political system in the colonies was visibly manifested after the overthrow of Jacob II from the throne during the "glorious revolution" of 1688-1689. When news reached America that William and Mary had ascended the throne at the request of Parliament, unrest broke out in the three colonies. In Maryland, Protestants celebrated the return of the Protestant dynasty to the throne by overthrowing a Catholic landowner and seizing power. During the riots in New York and Boston, senior officials of the New England dominion were overthrown. The new king legitimized the outcome of these spontaneous protests and restored Rhode Island and Connecticut to their former privileges. Royal governors were sent to New York and Massachusetts, but assemblies were also called there. Over the next seven decades, due to concerns of the parliament, which did not want to increase the power of the king, interference in the affairs of the colonies was limited to the sphere of trade and industry. The Commerce Department, established in 1696 by Wilhelm, failed to convince parliament to introduce direct royal rule in the colonies.
Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .
The beginning of the state ... what was it like? Who were first settlers USAwho were first colonists? Why was the backbone of a great country in the future founded by immigrants from foreign countries, and not by the indigenous population of such a large continent? As you know, Indians have lived in America for a long time. The hypothesis is that they were descendants of settlers from the territories now called Siberia, which happened about 10,000 years ago. Vryatli at that time there was navigation, and most likely people were able to move on water only on small boats. But do not forget that the continents formed by layers crust, are in continuous movement, and, perhaps, in those distant times, there was land on the site of the Bering Strait, which allowed those tribes and communities to immigrate. This is how the indigenous population of America appeared. And at a time when in Europe one century was replaced by another, bringing the world new discoveries and knowledge, gunpowder was invented, crafts were improved and international trade developed, scattered tribes of Indians lived in America, each of which had its own language. These tribes, like all communities of the primitive system, lived at the expense of hunting, animal husbandry and plant breeding.
So who were first settlers of the USAthat disturbed the usual order of the indigenous population? It is generally accepted that the first Europeanwho visited the bergs America, was Christopher Columbus. And it was in 1492. In world history, it is he who is credited with the discovery of America. But much earlier, around 1000, other Europeans, the glorious Icelandic Vikings, visited America. The fact is that in 1960 on the island of Newfoundland, archaeological confirmation of this fact was discovered - namely, the remains of Viking settlements. Also, this fact is described in the Icelandic folk chronicles - sagas, in which the fact of the discovery of new lands was mentioned. Curiously, as in the case of Christopher Columbus, the Vikings simply lost their way while sailing to the shores of Greenland (Columbus was heading for Japan when he discovered America). The Vikings had several settlements, but due to clashes with the indigenous population, none of them lasted more than two years. It turns out that the Vikings were the first colonists of America from the outside, although not very successful. Nevertheless, it was thanks to Christopher Columbus that Europeans learned about America, therefore he is rightfully considered the man who discovered this continent. Interestingly, during his first expedition, Columbus discovered South America (Mexico), and only on the fourth did he reach the central part of America (now the territory of the United States). The first colony of America, after the Vikings, was in its southern part - it was the Spanish colony founded by Christopher Columbus during his second expedition. But that is South America. What about the part that will become the United States in the future? The first colonists of Central America there were Spaniards again. In 1565, the first European settlement was built - the city of St. Augustine, which still exists today. After the success of Christopher Columbus, the Spaniards explored most of the east coast of America, after which they began to move inland. Such famous citieslike Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara were founded by the Spaniards. Only 20 years after the founding of the first Spanish colony, the British appeared on the east coast. In 1585, subjects of the English crown founded the guarded colony of Roanoke, which quickly sank into oblivion. Then there was the more successful English Jamestown (now Virginia), Plymouth and Spanish Santa Fe. But these are completely different stories ...
So the conclusions are: the first settlers from the outside, moreover, european settlers there were Icelandic Vikings. This was at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries AD. AND the first successful settlers of the future USA became the Spaniards, more than 500 years after the appearance of the Vikings in these parts. In general, colonies in America were founded by many different nationalities, in addition to the British and Spaniards, they were Germans, Dutch, Swedes and French. Curiously, the city was founded by the Dutch in 1626 as the capital of the Dutch possessions in North America. It was called then New Amsterdam.
A Brief History of America
Colonial Period
Never before heaven and earth
were not in greater agreement,
creating a place for human habitation.
John Smith,
founder of the colony of Virginia (1607)
In the early years of the 17th century. the great migration of Europeans to North America began. A weak trickle of several hundred English colonists in a little over three centuries turned into a full-flowing stream of millions of immigrants. Due to various circumstances, they left to create a new civilization on a sparsely populated continent.
The first English immigrants to settle in what is now the United States crossed the Atlantic much later than the flourishing Spanish colonies in Mexico, the West Indies and South America. Like everyone else who then moved to the New World, they arrived in small, overcrowded ships. The journey took 6 to 12 weeks, food was scarce, and many of the settlers died of disease. Ships were frequently hit by storms and storms, and people died at sea. Most European immigrants left their homeland in order to obtain greater economic opportunities, and this was often complemented by a desire for religious freedom or a determination to get rid of political oppression. In the years 1620-1635. economic shocks swept the whole of England. Many people lost their jobs, even skilled artisans could barely make ends meet. These troubles were aggravated by crop failures. In addition, the cloth-making that developed in England required an increase in the supply of wool, and so that the looms did not stop, the sheep began to graze on communal lands taken from the peasants.
On the new land, the colonists met primarily dense forests. Indian tribes lived there, many of which, for obvious reasons, were at enmity with the white newcomers. However, the latter would hardly have been able to survive if it had not been for the friendly Indians, from whom they learned to grow local varieties of vegetables - pumpkin, squash, beans and corn. Pristine forests stretching nearly 2,100 km along the east coast of the North American continent provided them with an abundance of game and fuel. They also provided material for the construction of houses, ships, making household utensils, as well as valuable raw materials for export.
The first permanent English settlement in America was the fort and village of Jamestown, Virginia, founded in 1607. The area soon became prosperous thanks to the cultivation of tobacco, which the colonists sold in London. By 1620, when there were women in England who decided to get married and start families in Virginia, large plantations were already located along the James River, and the number of inhabitants increased to 1,000 people.
POPULATION OF LAND
Although the new continent possessed immense natural resources, trade with Europe was vital, since the colonists could not yet produce many goods themselves. The coastline was convenient - along its entire length there were bays and harbors. Only on the shores of North Carolina and southern New Jersey were there no entry points for ocean-going ships.
Majestic rivers - Kennebec, Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Potomac and many others connected the lands adjacent to the coast with colonial ports. But only the St. Lawrence River, owned by the French inhabiting Canada, led into the interior of the American continent. The dense forests and ridge of the Appalachian Mountains made it difficult to further advance west. Only hunters and fur traders penetrated this wilderness, and for a whole century the bulk of the colonists continued to settle along the coast.
The colonies were self-sustaining societies with their own outlets to the sea. Each of them has become a separate, independent organism. But, despite this, the problems of trade, navigation, industrial production and finance went beyond individual colonies and demanded a joint settlement, which subsequently led to the federal structure of the American state. Settlement of colonies in the 17th century required careful planning and management, and was also very costly and risky. The settlers had to be transported by sea over a distance of almost 5 thousand km, provided with household items, clothing, seeds, tools, construction materials, livestock, weapons and ammunition. Unlike the policy of colonization that was pursued by other states and in other times, emigration from England was not in charge of the government, but private individuals, whose main motive was to make a profit.
Two colonies - Virginia and Massachusetts - founded privileged companies. Their funds, created by the contributors, were used to supply and transport the colonists. The wealthy immigrants who arrived in the colony of New Haven (later - part of Connecticut) paid their own travel expenses, supported their families and servants. New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland, North and South Carolina, New Jersey and Pennsylvania originally belonged to the owners of the English nobility (gentry), who settled the lands granted to them by the king with tenants and servants.
Thus, Charles I granted Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, and his heirs about 2.8 million hectares of land, which later became known as Maryland. On the lands distributed by Charles II, both the Carolina and Pennsylvania were formed. In fact, both the owners of the colonies and the privileged companies only used the lands of the crown, making a symbolic payment for them. So, Lord Baltimore annually sent the king two tips from Indian arrows.
The thirteen colonies that became the United States were from north to south: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia. The individual colonies had different origins. Some were created by immigrants from other settlements: for example, Rhode Island and Connecticut were established by the inhabitants of Massachusetts - the ancestral home of all New England. Georgia was founded by a group of individuals led by James Edward Oglethorpe. They decided to send debtors from English prisons to America to create a border colony that would block the way for the Spaniards in the south of the continent. Colony New Netherlands, founded in 1621 by the Dutch, in 1664 ceded to England and was renamed New York.
IN SEARCH OF RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL FREEDOM
During religious movements of the 16th-17th centuries. those who called themselves Puritans tried to reform the official English church. They demanded to replace Catholic principles with Protestant ones, to simplify doctrine, rituals and church services. Their reformatory ideas, which undermined the unity of the church, threatened to split the whole society and weaken the royal power.
During the reign of James I, a small group of separatists - radical sectarians who broke with the official church - departed for the Dutch city of Leiden, where they were allowed to perform their rituals. Subsequently, part of the members of this Leiden congregation - the "pilgrims" - decided to emigrate to the New World, where they founded the colony of Plymouth (in Massachusetts) in 1620.
Soon after the accession to the throne of Charles I (1625), the leaders of the Puritans in England, as they themselves regarded it, began to be subjected to increasing persecution and persecution. Several priests, who had been denied the right to serve in churches by the authorities, joined the American pilgrims along with their flock, and this second group of Puritan immigrants included many rich and noble people. In 1630, they founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and by the end of the next decade there were six Puritan colonies in America.
It was not only the Puritans who became colonists for religious reasons. Dissatisfaction with his fate in England prompted William Penn and his fellow Quakers (1) to establish the colony of Pennsylvania, where religious tolerance existed. Fear for the fate of the English Catholics led to the founding of Maryland by Lord Baltimore. In North Carolina, many colonists, religious dissidents of German and Irish descent, sought both religious freedom and economic opportunity.
Many migrated to America for political reasons. In the 1630s, the despotic reign of Charles I gave impetus to migration to the New World. Then the revolution in England and the victory of the opponents of Charles I, led by Oliver Cromwell in the 40s, forced many cavaliers - "the king's people" - to try their luck in Virginia. The despotism of small German princes, especially in matters of faith, and the numerous wars that went on in their possessions, contributed to the strengthening of German immigration to America in the late 17th and 18th centuries.
COLONISTS, SLAVES AND SERVENTS
Men and women, not even too interested in a new life on American soil, often succumbed to the persuasion of recruiters. William Penn spread the word about the opportunities and benefits for those wishing to move to Pennsylvania. Judges and jailers were encouraged to give prisoners a chance to move to America instead of being sentenced. Few colonists could travel overseas with their families at their own expense to start there new life... Ship captains received large rewards for selling contracts to hire poor people to work in America. To take on board more passengers, they did not hesitate to do anything - from the most extraordinary promises and promises to the kidnapping of children. In other cases, colonization agencies such as the London Company in Virginia and the Massachusetts Bay Company incurred the costs of transporting and supporting the settlers. In turn, those who signed a contract with the company undertook to work for it as a laborer or contracted servant (servent) for a certain period - usually from four to seven years. After the expiration of the term, the servants were supposed to receive "what is due to a free man", sometimes even a small piece of land. Many of those who arrived in the New World on such conditions soon found that, while remaining servants or tenants, they did not live better than in their homeland.
Historians estimate that approximately half of the colonists south of New England arrived in America in this way. Although most honestly fulfilled their obligations, some fled from their owners. Many fugitive servants nevertheless managed to get land and get a farm - in the colony where they settled, or in the neighboring ones. Bonded service was not considered shameful, and families who began their lives in America from this half-slavery position did not tarnish their reputation in any way. Even among the leaders of the colonies there were people who were servants in the past.
There was, however, a very important exception to this rule - the African slave trade. The first blacks were brought to Virginia in 1619, 7 years after the founding of Jamestown. In the beginning, many black settlers were considered contracted servants who could "earn" their freedom. However, by the 60s of the 17th century, when the need for workers' hands on plantations increased, the institution of slavery began to strengthen. Blacks began to be brought from Africa in shackles - already as lifelong slaves.
MIXING OF CROPS
Most of the colonists in the 17th century. were the British, but a small number of Dutch, Swedes and Germans lived in the mid-Atlantic colonies. In South Carolina and other colonies, there were French Huguenots, as well as Spanish, Italians, and Portuguese. After 1680 England ceased to be the main source of immigration. Thousands of people fled from war-torn Europe. Many left their homeland to get rid of poverty generated by the oppression of the authorities and large landlords who owned estates in which they themselves did not live. By 1690 the American population had reached a quarter of a million. Since then, it has doubled every 25 years until it surpassed 2.5 million in 1775. Before the first English settlement in Virginia was founded in 1607, Portuguese and Spanish immigrants established flourishing farms and cities in Central and South America. Their settlements extended in the north to the present states of Florida and New Mexico. They printed books, opened colleges and churches. By the end of the XVI century. more than 150 thousand immigrants from Spain lived in the New World. Spanish influence remained an important and permanent element of North American culture and architecture. Developing over several centuries, it, in turn, absorbed the elements of the culture of the Indian tribes. Colonists of non-English descent for the most part managed to adapt to the culture of the first settlers, but this did not mean that they all turned into English. The colonists adopted the English language, laws and customs, but in a modified, Americanized form. The result was a unique culture - a fusion of English and continental European, born of the very environment of the New World.
Although colonists and their families might have felt much the same when they moved from Massachusetts to Virginia or South Carolina to Pennsylvania, the individual colonies were markedly different from each other. The differences between the regional groups were even more pronounced.
American settlements were grouped into geographic "sections" based on natural conditions. In the south, with its warm climate and fertile soil, a largely agrarian society developed. In the mid-Atlantic colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York, nature was more diverse - forests, valleys suitable for agriculture, bays, where such large port cities as Philadelphia and New York grew up. New England in the northeast was an agriculturally secondary area: lean, rocky soil, mountainous, uneven terrain, short summers and long winters. Therefore, its inhabitants solved other problems - they used the power of water and built mills and sawmills. The presence of timber contributed to the development of shipbuilding, convenient bays favored trade, and the sea served as a source of enrichment. In Massachusetts, the cod fishery alone was immediately profitable.
NEW ENGLAND
The Massachusetts Bay settlement played an important role in the religious development of all New England. The 25 colonists who founded it, led by Governor John Winthrop, had a royal charter and were determined to succeed. During the first ten years of the colony's existence, 65 Puritan priests arrived there, and the religious beliefs of the colonial leaders and with their support strengthened the power of the church. Formally, the clergy did not have secular power, but in fact they led the colony. In a short time, a system of government took shape, theocratic and authoritarian at the same time. At the meetings, the colonists could discuss public affairs, and the population acquired some skills of self-government. Although the villages grew on the basis of church communities, the peculiarities of life in the border zone forced all free residents to engage in civil affairs. But the clergy and conservatively-minded parishioners tried to constantly maintain religious conformism in society, and watched over the inviolability of church dogmas.
However, they failed to stupefy all citizens. The rebellious priest Roger Williams questioned the right to seize the lands of the Indians and the feasibility of uniting the church with the civil government. General meeting (2) expelled him from the colony for spreading "new and dangerous views directed against all representatives of the government." He found shelter in the neighborhood, with friendly Indians, where he established the settlement of Rhode Island based on the principles of religious tolerance and separation of church from state.
It wasn't just "heretics" like Williams who left Massachusetts. Orthodox Puritans also sought better lands and greater opportunities. Farmers struggling with poor land were drawn to the fertile Connecticut River Valley. Many who wanted to settle on the fat, flat land were not afraid even of the danger of an attack by the Indians. It is noteworthy that, when establishing elected bodies of power, the settlers did not restrict the right to vote by belonging to a particular church community. Some of the inhabitants of Massachusetts went north, and soon those who were looking for freedom and land founded the colony of New Hampshire and settlements in Maine.
Building towns and cities near sea bays, New England residents adapted to city life. Many were engaged in trade or other lucrative business. Having acquired small suburban farms, the New England people shared forests and pastures. The proximity of the settlements to each other allowed them to open schools and churches, to have houses for meetings of community members. Overcoming the same difficulties, cultivating the same stony soil, trades with a simple craft, the people of New England acquired the qualities of an independent, independent people.
As the Massachusetts Bay Colony expanded its influence in New England, it developed rapidly and its trade grew. From the middle of the 17th century. Boston has become one of the largest American ports. Forests provided oak for the construction of ships, pine for masts, tar and pitch for pitching ships. By building and sailing ships around the world, Massachusetts shipowners laid the foundation for maritime trade, which has grown in importance. By the end of the colonial period, a third of all British-flagged ships were built in America. Surplus food, building materials and wood products were exported. New England sailors soon discovered that rum and slaves were also profitable commodities.
MIDDLE ATLANTIC COLONIES
In the second major geographic section, the Mid-Atlantic colonies, society was far more diverse, cosmopolitan, and tolerant than New England. Pennsylvania and Delaware owe their successes to William Penn, a Quaker who set out to attract settlers of many faiths and nationalities. Deciding that his colony should set an example of fair and honest dealing with the Indians, Penn entered into a treaty with them that was strictly observed and ensured peaceful relations with them. Pennsylvania lived a quiet life and grew rapidly. Within a year after Penn's arrival there, 3,000 new citizens joined the colony. Its capital, Philadelphia, is a city with wide shady streets, houses of stone and brick, with docks in which work was in full swing. By the end of the colonial period, there were 30 thousand people who spoke different languageswho had different professions and religions. One of the religious sects was the Quakers, who stood for the separation of church from state, opposed to waging wars and taking the oath. Thanks to their hard work and enterprise, this city became one of the thriving centers of colonial America.
Quakers predominated in Philadelphia, and other sects were present in other parts of the colony. The immigrants from Germany proved to be the most skilled farmers, they also knew weaving, shoemaking, carpentry and other crafts. The bulk of Scottish and Irish immigrants arrived in the New World via Pennsylvania. Strong, energetic and at the same time religious people, they could live on the very border of the settlements and advocated representative democracy and public education. The Scots and Irish became the vanguard of the new civilization, advancing inland.
The population of the New York colony was just as mixed, which perfectly demonstrates America's multilingualism. By 1646 the Dutch, French, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, British, Scots, Irish, Germans, Poles, immigrants from Bohemia, Portugal, Italy settled along the Hudson River. But these are only the predecessors of millions of future immigrants.
The Dutch owned New Netherlands, later the colony of New York, for about 40 years. But they were a sedentary people, not inclined to migration, and even resettlement in the colonies did not give them any political or religious advantages. In addition, the Dutch West India Company experienced difficulties in managing the New Netherlands: it lacked experienced: officials. In 1664, as the interest of the British in the colonies grew, the Dutch settlement was captured by them. However, the social and economic influence of the Dutch remained there for a long time. Their steep gable-roofed houses became an integral part of the local landscape, and the presence of their merchants and traders gave the port city a lively appearance (3).
Thanks to the Dutch, a different lifestyle was established in New York than in the puritanical Boston - the holidays were celebrated with amusements and weddings. Preserved Dutch customs of visiting neighbors under New Year I celebrate the arrival of St. Nicholas for Christmas.
The new British administrator, Richard Nichols, gradually and so intelligently restructured the administration of the colony that he earned the respect of both Dutch and English settlers. The city magistrates enjoyed the same autonomy here as in New England, and after a few years in New York, local Dutch laws and customs began to get along with English practice. By 1696, about 30 thousand people lived in the province of New York. In the fertile valleys of the Hudson, Mohawk and other rivers flourished large land holding... There were tenants and small independent farms there. On the grassy hilly plains, sheep, horses and pigs were grazed, flax and tobacco were grown, and huge harvests were gathered, especially apples. Economic development was facilitated by the fur trade: it was convenient to deliver them from Albany, located north of New York City, along the Hudson River - the entire route took 232 km.
SOUTH COLONIES
Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Georgia were very different from New England and the Mid-Atlantic colonies in their predominantly rural character. The first surviving English settlement in the New World was Jamestown, Virginia. At the end of December 1606, about a hundred people, with the assistance of the London Company, started a grandiose undertaking that promised great profits. Among the colonists, Captain John Smith stood out. Despite all the conflicts and quarrels between the colonists, their hungry life and the attacks of the Indians, he successfully led the small colony in the early years of its existence.
In the beginning, the colonists made every effort to harvest timber and other materials for export to London for sale. After several incredibly difficult years in the economy of Virginia, there was a real revolution. In 1612, a method of processing Virginian tobacco was found, which made it suitable for Europeans. The first shipment was shipped to London in 1614, and ten years later tobacco became Virginia's main income.
However, the tobacco culture after several harvests depleted the soil, and the planters plowed up more and more land. Therefore, they dispersed, moving up and down the numerous rivers and not building cities. Even in the capital, Jamestown, there were very few houses. Although most of the settlers who wanted to get rich headed to Virginia, favorable religious and economic conditions attracted people to the neighboring colony of Maryland. Intending to turn it into a haven for Catholics, Lord Baltimore and members of his family - the Calvert - were simultaneously interested in profitable estates. For this, and also in order not to aggravate relations with the government, they also encouraged Protestant immigration to their domains. The Calverts were going to transform Maryland into a traditional aristocratic "estate" and run it like kings. But in this borderline society, the spirit of resistance to the authorities did not die out. As in other colonies, it was impossible in Maryland to curb the persistent desire of the settlers for personal freedom established by English custom, and to deprive citizens of their natural right to participate in government through the election of their representatives to the legislative assembly.
By the end of the XVII - the beginning of the XVIII century. Maryland's economy and social structure were similar to those of the Virgin: both were agrarian, with large slave-owning planters dominating the coast. They concentrated in their hands the bulk of political power and the best lands, built magnificent mansions, led an aristocratic lifestyle, and used the achievements of European culture. The second place in the socio-economic hierarchy was occupied by farmers, who also sat in assemblies and received positions. Their undisguised love of freedom was a constant warning to the plantation oligarchy not to allow excessive encroachments on the rights of free citizens. The least prosperous group consisted of small-scale farmers who fought to survive in competition with planters. Neither Maryland nor Virginia developed a significant class of traders, as the planters sent their own goods to the London market. The main port and commercial center of the South was Charleston, South Carolina. In this colony, trade became the main source of wealth, and its inhabitants quickly learned to combine agriculture with commerce. Forests also provided income - wood, var and resin from the local pine species proved to be the world's best materials for building ships. Unlike the Virginians, the people of North and South Carolina harvested more than one crop a year. They grew and exported rice and indigo, a vegetable dye for blue fabrics. By 1750, more than 100 thousand people lived in both colonies.
For the southern and all other colonies, the expansion of the inner territory was of particular importance. The inhabitants of the first settlements rushed there for the sake of greater freedom. Those who could not obtain fertile land near the seashore, or whose land was depleted, considered the hilly terrain to the west of the coast to be most favorable for colonization, and in a short time there were many flourishing farms there.
Living next to the territory inhabited by the Indians, turning the huts into fortifications and relying on their sharp eyes and a trusty musket, the inhabitants of the border settlements became out of necessity a staunch and courageous people who did not need anyone's help. They cleared the forest for arable land, burned out bushes and sowed corn and wheat among the stumps.
SOCIETY, EDUCATION AND CULTURE
In the colonial period, the border between the first settlements and the hinterland distant from the coast was quite clearly visible. Residents of the latter actively participated in political debates, challenging everything inert and traditional. Local authorities could not prevent progressive changes, since each colonist had the opportunity to move to new, border lands. In order to prevent a mass exodus of the population, the colonial elite from time to time had to pursue a liberal policy, including in religious matters, to provide the colonists with land on favorable terms. Self-complacency and passivity were not typical of a society of strong and energetic people, which took shape in the course of the expansion of the inhabited territory. The advance westward - from the coastal plain to the foothills - was a colossal contribution to America's future.
The development of education and culture, which began in the colonial period, was no less important for the future of the country. In 1636 Harvard College was founded in Massachusetts, in Virginia at the end of the 17th century. - College of William and Mary, and a few years later, a university school appeared in Connecticut, later Yale College. But a much more remarkable fact was state system school education... In 1647, compulsory elementary education was introduced in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and this example was soon followed by the rest of the colonies, with the exception of Rhode Island. The first New England immigrants brought books with them and continued to subscribe from London. Already in the 80s of the XVII century. Boston booksellers made a lot of money selling works of ancient classics, works on history, politics, philosophy, science, theology, and fiction. In the mid-Atlantic colonies, the situation was ambiguous. Too busy enriching themselves to pay attention to education, New Yorkers lagged far behind in this area. The schools there were poor, and the royal authorities did little to provide them. Only by the middle of the XVIII century. New Jersey Colony College in Princeton, Kings College (now Columbia University) in New York City, and Queens College (future Rutgers University) in New Brunswick, New Jersey opened. The colony of Pennsylvania was the most active in the development of education. The first school, opened there in 1683, taught to read, write and count. Soon, every Quaker community developed a tradition of giving children elementary education... A deeper knowledge - of classical languages, history and literature - could be gained at the Society of Friends Quaker School, which still exists in Philadelphia under the name William Penn Preferred School. Children of the poor were also accepted there, but wealthy parents had to pay for education.
Philadelphia's numerous private schools outside of the church taught foreign languages, mathematics, science, and evening schools for adults. Attention was also paid to the education of women: private teachers taught the daughters of wealthy townspeople French, music, dance, drawing, singing, grammar, and sometimes even accounting. Pennsylvania owes much of its intellectual and cultural development to two energetic people - James Logan and Benjamin Franklin. Logan served as Secretary of the Colony, and it was in his wonderful library that young Franklin found the latest scientific works... In 1745 Logan built a special building for the library and donated both to the city. Franklin did even more to develop the scientific life of Philadelphia. He created a club called the junta, which became the embryo of the American Philosophical Society. Through Franklin's efforts, the academy was founded, which was later transformed into the University of Pennsylvania. He also initiated the creation of a public library, collected by subscription, on the basis of donations, which he called the foremother of all public libraries in North America (4).
In the South, farms and plantations were so far apart from each other that it was impossible to open schools there, modeled on New England, where the population lived compactly. Planters and their closest neighbors either hired home teachers or sent their children to English schools. As a result, the works of Greek and Latin authors, scientific treatises, books on jurisprudence passed from hand to hand, from one plantation to another. In Charleston, South Carolina, where a fascination with theater, music and painting spread, a library was opened even before 1700.
The craving for knowledge manifested itself not only in established and well-equipped centers, but also on the border of settlements. Scottish and Irish immigrants huddled in primitive huts, but nevertheless were staunch supporters of the enlightenment and tried to get educated priests into their community. Book production was produced mainly in New England. The most widespread was church literature, especially the texts of sermons. The famous Puritan priest Cotton Mather published about 400 works. His main work, The Great Acts of Christ in America, is a vividly written history of New England. But the most popular was the lengthy poem of the Reverend Michael Wigglesworth "The Second Coming", which amazed the reader with terrible pictures of the Last Judgment.
The people of Cambridge, a village on the outskirts of Boston, prided themselves on their printing press, and in 1704 the first colonial newspaper was published in the capital of Massachusetts. Several more newspapers soon appeared, including those outside New England. Freedom of the press was first put to the test in the trial of New York publisher Johann Peter Zenger, whose New York Weekly Journal, founded in 1733, became the mouthpiece of opposition to local authorities. She went out for two years, after which the governor, unable to withstand Zenger's satirical attacks, imprisoned him on charges of libel. But even while in prison, Zenger continued to run the newspaper. The trial dragged on for nine months and aroused tremendous interest in all colonies. Zenger was defended by the famous lawyer Andrew Hamilton, who was able to prove that his exposing articles were true, that is, they were not slander. The jury acquitted Zenger and he was released. This landmark event marked the beginning of the American tradition of press freedom.
FORMATION OF AUTHORITIES
A striking feature of all stages of colonial history was the absence of strict control by the British authorities. While the colonies were forming, they were actually on their own. The British government was not directly involved in their founding (with the exception of Georgia), and it began to take over the political leadership of the colonies gradually and not immediately. The fact that the king transferred his direct authority over the settlements in the New World to joint-stock companies and the owners of the colonies did not free the colonists from outside control. According to the royal charters issued to the London Company and the Massachusetts Bay Company, they received full power, but it was provided that they would be in England. Thus, the rights of the inhabitants of America were limited - as if they were ruled by the king.
The exclusive right to rule the colonies from the outside had to eventually be abolished, and the London Company itself took the first step towards this, allowing the Virginians to have their representatives in local government. In 1618, the company instructed the governor appointed by it to allow the free population to elect commissioners who, together with him and the members of its council, would pass laws for the good of the colony.
The consequences were felt throughout the entire colonial period - the rights of settlers to participate in the administration of other colonies were recognized. By making land grants, the king in most cases began to give the Freemen (5) the right to vote in the development of local legislation. Thus, in the charters given to Lord Baltimore in Maryland, William Penn in Pennsylvania, the owners of North and South Carolina and New Jersey, it was said that legislation should be implemented there "with the consent of the Freemen."
The clause on self-government was absent only in two cases: when the colony of New York was awarded to Charles II's brother the Duke of York (later - King James II) and when Georgia was transferred into the possession of the group " proxies“However, there, too, the supremacy of the owners was short-lived, for the colonists so vigorously sought the right to representation that the British administration made concessions.
At first, this right did not matter much. But it was a step towards the establishment of the actual sovereignty of the colonists themselves - thanks to the fact that the assemblies they elected took control of finances. Without the consent of the assemblies, taxes cannot be collected or the budget spent - not even on the salary of the governor or other appointed officials. If the latter did not obey the assembly, it did not allocate money for vital purposes. There have been cases when rebellious governors received nothing or a symbolic salary of one penny was established for them. With this in mind, the colonial administration tried to please the will of the colonists.
COLONIAL LEGISLATURES (6) AND ROYAL GOVERNORS
New England established, and for a long time, even more complete self-government than in the rest of the colonies. On board the Mayflower that brought them to America (1620), the Pilgrims adopted a power device document known as the "Mayflower Accord." It said that they "are joining civil society for better order and self-preservation... .. will adopt, establish and formalize such fair and appropriate laws, constitutional provisions and positions ... which will be considered the most convenient, suitable and consistent with the common good of the colony ... "Although the pilgrims did not have a legal basis for self-government, no one disputed this action, and in keeping with this agreement, the Plymouth settlers did business for many years without outside interference.
When the Massachusetts Bay Company, having received a charter to govern the colony, set out with a group of immigrants to America, all power was in the hands of the colonists. The founders of the company (about 12 people) tried to introduce their own, aristocratic rule, but ordinary colonists soon demanded an equal right to participate in public affairs, threatening to leave the colony.
The company's management had to make concessions, and the power went to the elected representatives. The other New England colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island, have also instituted self-government, on the simple reason that they are out of the reach of any government and therefore must establish their own political system, similar to that already in Plymouth.
Self-government in these colonies did not go unnoticed by the British authorities. In court, they annulled the Massachusetts charter in 1684, after which the whole of New England was under direct royal authority in the person of the governor sent from London. The colonists resisted vigorously, and after the 1688 revolution in England, when James II was deposed, they expelled the royal governor. Rhode Island and Connecticut, which included the colony of New Haven, were able to regain de facto independence, but Massachusetts soon fell back under the rule of the king. The people, however, had already received a certain "share" of government, which gradually grew until it became dominant - thanks to the control of the elected assemblies over the budget.
Although London demanded that governors pursue policies in line with British interests, and the British Privy Council continued to exercise its right to revise colonial legislation, the colonists were able to bypass all these restrictions. Since 1651, the British government from time to time adopted decrees regulating some aspects of the economic life of the colonies, which in most cases was beneficial only to England, but the colonists simply ignored the laws that were detrimental to them. Sometimes the British administration tried to force their execution, but these attempts quickly failed.
The relative political independence of the colonies was largely due to their remoteness from England. They became more and more "American" rather than "English". This trend was amplified by the mixing of different nationalities and cultures - a process that has been going on all the time in America. How this happened, how the foundation of the new nation was laid, was very expressively written in 1782 by the French agronomist and traveler Hector Saint-John de Crewecker. “What is an American, what is this new man?” He asked in his book Letters from an American Farmer. “He is either a European or a descendant of a European, and hence such an unusual mixture of different bloods that you will not find in any country ... I can tell you about a family where the grandfather is English, the grandmother is Dutch, their son is married to a French woman, and their grandchildren are married to women of different nationalities. An American is someone who, having parted with all the old habits and ideas, acquires new ones thanks to a new the way of life that surrounds him, the new power to which he submits, the new social position that he occupies ... "
(1) Members of a religious Christian community founded in the middle of the 17th century. in England and called itself the "Society of Friends". They rejected the institution of priests and church sacraments, believing that a person can communicate directly with God. They preached peacemaking, did charity work, rejected violence.
(2) The Massachusetts Home Rule.
(3) Under Dutch rule, the city was called New Amsterdam, later renamed New York.
(4) Being self-taught, Franklin became famous in many areas of science and humanities. His experiments with atmospheric electricity and the invention of a lightning rod became world famous. He was elected an honorary doctor of major universities and a foreign member of a number of academies and scientific societies Europe. In November 1789 he was accepted as a foreign member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
(5) Free colonists.
(6) Legislature is an elected legislature.
last quarter of the 16th century in the waters of Newfoundland, up to 400 fishing vessels from different countries gathered annually. The few English ships were well-armed, and English captains assumed the right to act as judges in disputes and clashes between fishermen off Newfoundland. The island itself was of little interest to Europeans before the "great" discovery of Frobisher, but when he brought his "golden" cargo to England, Newfoundland received a double meaning in the eyes of the British: it guarded the shortest route to "Cathay" and beyond it lay Frobisher's "golden country".
Humphrey Gilbert, stepbrother of the Queen's favorite Walter Raleigh, received from Elizabeth a patent "for the discovery and management of Newfoundland." Gilbert, based on the right of Cabot's first discovery of the island, declared it an English possession, despite the protests of the French government. France challenged English rights to Newfoundland until 1713, when, according to the Utrecht Peace, she finally renounced her claims. He transported 250 people on five ships from England to the island and tried to found the first English overseas colony of Newfoundland on the southeast coast (August 5, 1583). The attempt was unsuccessful: the colonists lacked everything except fish and fuel; diseases began among them. Discontent threatened to turn into mutiny, and Gilbert ordered the ears of the discontented to be cut off, but in the end he yielded and took the colonists back to England. On the way back, he died during a storm. Another quarter of a century passed before English sailors founded the first permanent fishing village on the eastern edge of the island. From this village grew the largest port city of Newfoundland, its capital is St. John's.
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Virginia MapB.M. Dept. of Prints and Drawings |
Walter Raleigh (Raleigh) was a poor English nobleman who dreamed of a dizzying career. He had neither fortune nor nobility, but he firmly believed that the path to both lies for a handsome young man through the chambers of the "virgin" Queen Elizabeth. With intricate inventions he drew attention to himself and became one of her favorites. Raleigh dreamed of the untold riches of India, the treasures of Mexico or Peru, the country of El Dorado. His brother Gilbert was looking for the "golden land" at the Northwest Passage. Raleigh decided to look for her across the ocean, right in the west. He received a royal patent for the colonization of the territory of North America north of the Spanish possessions, that is, from Florida.
In 1584 Raleigh sent two small ships under the command of Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlow... They reached America at 35 ° N. sh., where there are almost no convenient harbors. The captains visited two islands located at Pamlico Lagoon and Albemarle Bay (at 36 ° N), and the neighboring mainland coast. Returning to their homeland, they described the Indians as people "wild and lazy, brave and hospitable, curious and trusting, very inclined to exchange the products of their country for English goods, especially metal products", and praised the beauty of the country, the softness of its climate, fertility of the soil. Then the avaricious queen became generous, and Raleigh was able to immediately equip a second expedition, already on five ships, under the command Richard Greenville for the colonization of a newly discovered country. The grateful favorite named the future English colony Virginia ("Virgin", from the Latin virgo - virgin), in honor of his patroness.
In 1585 Greenville founded on about. Roanoke, at the southern entrance to Albemarle Bay, the first English settlement off the North American mainland, and returned back. 180 people settled in this point, mostly squandering nobles who dreamed of immediate enrichment. And the "savages" immediately recognized which god the "civilized" English worshiped and, mocking them, passed on tales about the richest gold deposits in their country and pearl shallows near their shores. After several months of vain searches, the colonists became so angry that they began to attack the Indians with weapons in hand. They stopped delivering food in exchange for English goods. In the spring of 1586, the colonists went to extremes. Suddenly, Francis Drake's flotilla appeared at the coast, returning to England after another pirate raid on the Spanish colonies. Drake took the settlers and brought them to Europe. The pirates only brought a small load of tobacco with them, and Raleigh and other trendsetters began to spread smoking in England.
Soon after the colony was evacuated, Greenville arrived there on three ships. Not knowing what had happened, he left 15 people in the deserted colony to keep Raleigh's possession. All those left behind were killed by the Indians. In early 1587, Raleigh repeated his attempt at mass colonization of Virginia. A new batch of migrants arrived on three ships - more than 200 people. But when the Anglo-Spanish war broke out, the new colony was left to fend for themselves and all the settlers either starved to death or perished in a skirmish with the Indians. After that, Raleigh and his high patroness cooled to such an unprofitable project.
In the summer of 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold on one ship went directly west of England, trying as much as possible to keep at 50 ° N. ch., but the wind carried it to the south. He crossed the ocean without meeting a single island, and reached the mainland at 42 ° N. sh. A long and narrow crescent-shaped peninsula forms a bay here, open to the north. He saw large shoals of cod there and named the Cape Cod Peninsula (“Cape Cod”). Having skirted it from the south, Gosnold walked west along the coast for about 200 km and was fascinated by the nature of the new country. He landed on the mainland and on about. Martha's Vineyard, Gosnold named the island (about 200 km²) "Martha's Vineyard" because of the abundance of wild grapes there. separated from it by the narrow Vineyard Strait. The Indians warmly welcomed the first Europeans, fed them, pointing out the best hunting and fishing grounds. Therefore, Gosnold, returning to his homeland at the end of the same year, enthusiastically described the area of \u200b\u200bthe New World that he discovered. From him the British learned that across the ocean, in a few weeks' journey, there is a country with a mild climate and meek inhabitants, convenient for resettlement of the "surplus" population of Old England. And Gosnold's story did not rule out the possibility that a sea passage leading to the Pacific Ocean begins behind the new country.
In 1603, a ship was sent in search of this passage under the command of Martin Pringle, who reached America slightly north of Cape Cod and surveyed the coast of the Gulf of Maine for about 150 km. In 1605, the northern, islet-strewn coast of the Gulf of Maine explored George Weymouthpreviously in vain searched for the Northwest Passage at higher latitudes.
In 1606, two companies were organized to colonize North America, which suddenly "approached" England - London and Plymouth. According to the charters of King James I Stuart, these companies obtained the right to establish colonies in North America between 34 and 45 ° N. sh. - "from sea to sea". Later, the descendants of the English colonists based their rights to all the western lands of the mainland on this. The companies pledged to spread Christianity to the wild. In most of the royal charters, the following statement was repeated: "The colonists and their descendants remain English in all respects: they enjoy all the privileges within the American settlements just as if they had stayed at home." Referring to this thesis, Americans in the 17th and first half of the 18th century. opposed the arbitrariness of the metropolis, and in the second half of the XVIII century. based their claims of independence.
December 20, 1606 three small vessels (20-100 tons) of the London Company under general command Christopher Newport left England with 105 male colonists on board, and after a long voyage in a stormy sea entered the Chesapeake Bay and the river, which was named James in honor of King James (James); on the coast, they laid the first English settlement on the American mainland - Gemstown (May 14, 1607). Then Newport ascended the James River more than 200 km to the rapids, the first achievement by the British of the Waterfall Line. The new colony retained its former name - Virginia. Most of the Virginian settlers left England voluntarily. They belonged to the dominant state church - the Anglican (Episcopal). These were "gentlemen" - losers - "lazy and vicious people: their relatives sent them overseas to rid themselves of shame, in the hope that they would get rich or die in a few years." Such Virginians were similar in many ways to the Spanish hidalgo and Portuguese fidalgu, who threw themselves overseas after the discovery of America. The working element in the colony were temporary "white slaves" - the poor from the British Isles, temporarily (for 7-10 years) enslaved by the London company.
Among the first Virginians, sometimes there were people of a different type - energetic and not averse to work. Such was one of the founders of Virginia, a shareholder of the London company, John Smith. In his own words, not always, however, trustworthy, he had previously served as a soldier in the war against the Spaniards in the Netherlands and in the war against the Turks in South-Eastern Europe. There he remained on the battlefield - wounded among the dead; the Turks found him and sold him into slavery in the Crimea; he killed his master and went to the Don to the Russians. He then traveled for several years in Europe and North Africa, returned to his homeland, and from there went to the New World. This adventurer became not only the first ruler of the colony, but also the first Anglo-American "patriot". Smith said: "Let the settlers die again and again, and I will constantly bring more and more." He tried to teach the labor of lazy and idle noblemen: "Not only silver and gold, but the works of the earth and everything that is found gives the country a price." In 1607 - 1609 D. Smith explored the James Basin and adjacent areas, and discovered the river. York. It was the first to penetrate the Falls Line and probably reached the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1609, he left Virginia forever, but continued to be interested in the colony: he made its first map, wrote the "General History of Virginia" (1624).
The London company sought to find the shortest route to China; she needed high profits, gold and silver mining, and this Virginia could not give. Seven ships with 300 new settlers, among whom were many exiles and criminals, set off from England to Virginia. The London company in 1609 offered the Lord Thomas West Delaware to be the lifelong ruler of all her American dominions. The Lord went there, but after a few months he returned to his homeland. A bay to the northeast of the Chesapeake (39 ° N) and a small peninsula between these bays is named after him. Because of the mass of idlers and villainous immigrants, the colony immediately acquired such a bad reputation that some Englishmen agreed to go to the gallows rather than to Virginia: “A terrible shame fell on this most beautiful country; it was considered a suitable place of reference for the greatest scammers. "
For the new colony, it was most profitable to cultivate tobacco, since the fashion of smoking tobacco began to spread in Western and Central Europe. They were almost not engaged in arable farming in Virginia, and very little attention was paid to cattle breeding. The Indians were supposed to deliver food to the colonists. If they didn't, the colonists would loot their villages. Very soon the British introduced slavery in the interests of tobacco planters. In 1620, the Dutch brought the first Africans to the colony and sold them profitably in Jemstown. Strong, accustomed to the humid and hot climate of West Africa, they proved to be excellent workers and brought great profits to their masters. In the following years, slaves began to be imported in such large quantities that there were more of them in Virginia than free people. Economically, the colony, although slowly, still developed. More than a thousand new settlers arrived from England every year. Tobacco grew in value as smoking spread more and more in Europe.
The British, like the Dutch, in contrast to the Spaniards, Portuguese and French, tried not to mix with the indigenous people and maintained "the purity of their race." During the first years of colonization, peace between the British and the Indians was not disturbed. But the demands of the colonists became excessive. They brazenly seized the lands of the Indians, deceived and plundered them. In 1622, the Indians rebelled against their oppressors. At the same time, but on signal, they attacked the settlers scattered in small groups in the Gemstown area, and killed about 350 colonists, but many "whites" escaped in the village. The Virginians responded with a war of extermination against all Indians. Having dealt with the surrounding inhabitants, they also took on individual tribes, obliging them to provide hostages. Since that time, the colonialists began to pursue the "Indian policy", which is frankly expressed by the cynical phrase: "Only a dead Indian is good."
the Limmouth company, for an appropriate sum of money, allowed the Puritans, persecuted in their homeland, to settle in the vast territory of the New World allocated to it. They equipped the ship Mayflower (May Flower, 100 tons). The Puritans often called themselves pilgrims, because in this perishable world they considered themselves pilgrims who came from oblivion and aspired to the "heavenly homeland." But for the time of their earthly existence, they needed an earthly homeland. And so in September 1620, 120 pilgrims, including women and children, set out on the "May Flower" across the ocean to look for New England. More than two months passed before the pilgrims saw the American coast off Massachusetts Bay. In the rain and snow, the ship went along the coast until it reached an uninhabited island; in a day the pilgrims explored the harbor, which seemed to them excellent. In the surrounding area they found good water and Indian maize fields. This day is called in the United States "grandparent", in memory of the ancestors of the "one hundred percent" Americans-northerners (Yankees), who then took possession of their new homeland - New England. On December 25, 1620, the first houses were laid in "New Plymouth", on the northwestern shore of Cape Cod Bay. A few weeks later, the colonists organized themselves in a military fashion - they built a fortress on a hill near Plymouth and placed guns on its walls. The first winter in New England was harsh and claimed many lives. In the spring, the Puritans laid out gardens and began sowing bread. They reported the rich harvest as a joyous event to their European co-religionists in order to attract them to New England. Soon a second batch of colonists arrived there. For the first two years, the pilgrims worked the land together, and the food was divided among themselves. But already in the spring of 1623 they switched to the "individual farm".
These pious Puritans, persecuted in England, behaved towards the Indians no better than the followers of the mainstream Anglican Church in Virginia or than the "damned papists" (Catholics) in tropical America. As soon as the pilgrims received reinforcements from overseas, they, citing an alleged conspiracy, organized a mass slaughter of defenseless Algonquin Indians who lived off Massachusetts Bay. Hundreds of Indians were captured in their wigwams (dwellings) and killed. The unprovoked massacre so frightened the Algonquins that they left the country of their fathers and went west. The Christians hastened to inform their European friends about the victory over the "pagans", and one of them wrote to New England: "How wonderful it would be if, before you killed the Indians, you converted some to Christianity."
Pushing the Indians inland, the Puritans began to settle in small groups along the coast and took up fishing. By 1624, fishing villages stretched 50 km north of Plymouth, and the first English fishermen appeared in the vast bay, later called Boston. Farmers also joined them and founded larger settlements there. This is how the first English Puritan colony of Massachusetts appeared in America. Prudes and hypocrites ruled there, but, unlike the Virginians, these colonists were zealous owners and good workers. Striving for a lasting settlement in their new homeland, the Puritans bred all kinds of plants, except tobacco: it was allowed to be sown only in small quantities "as medicine." Puritans and other sectarians rushed in the 30s. XVII century in large numbers to New England in order to avoid persecution by the royal power of Old England and its servant - the Episcopal Church. Aliens settled in old settlements or founded new ones, among which Boston soon stood out.
Thus, on the eastern coast of North America, in two areas separated from each other at a distance of about 1000 km, two English colonies arose: the first - southern, slave-owning Virginia, inhabited by the scum of the classes that dominated England in the 17th century, adherents of the Episcopal Church and Africans -slaves; the second - the northern, cell of New England, Massachusetts, inhabited mainly by bourgeois elements, supporters of "free labor", religious sectarians, persecuted in their homeland. Those southerners soon came to be called Virginians; these northerners are Bostonians or Yankees. But, no matter how different they were in their characters, their former profession, and religious views, they began in the same way: they sprinkled the land of their new homeland with Indian blood. The English colonies were cut off from each other by a long coastline, where the New Netherlands appeared on the river. Hudson, at the mouth of which New Amsterdam arose, and New Sweden on the shores of the narrow Delaware Bay: Fort Christiania grew up there, inhabited by Swedish and Finnish peasants. Thus, the eastern coast of North America was colonized by representatives of many European peoples: in the north - the French, and with them the Bretons and Basques, then the British (Bostonians), Dutch, Swedes and Finns, again the British (Virginians) and in the south - the Spaniards.
The Swedish colony did not last long - less than 30 years - and was conquered by the Dutch (in 1655). After that, the New Netherlands became a very serious threat to British rule on the east coast of North America. The issue was settled in Europe by the second Anglo-Dutch war (1667). The Dutch were victorious at sea, their fleet penetrated the Thames and burned the suburbs of London. Charles II Stewart hastened to make peace. England lost her last possessions in the Moluccas; both sides retained their strongholds on the Gold Coast, which is very important for Christian "pagan" African traders. The Netherlands secured Suriname in South America, England ceded Suriname to Holland by a treaty dated July 31, 1667, and it became a colony called Netherlands Guiana. Suriname gained independence on November 25, 1975. but abandoned in favor of England their possessions in North America, which seemed less profitable. Charles II gave it to his brother, the Duke of York, three years before the transfer of New Amsterdam into English hands. After the conclusion of peace, the city was renamed New York; the whole new "mid-Atlantic" colony began to bear such a name.
al farther than all Europeans to the interior of North America, to the Great Plains (up to 41 ° N), at the end of the 16th century. penetrated by a spaniard Antonio Gutierrez de Umaña.Gutierrez seems to be the only conquistador who, in Spanish documents of the late 16th - early 17th centuries. directly called "robber and murderer", as he robbed and killed the Indians, without having official permission to open and conquer the country. From the headwaters of the river. Pecos his small detachment, which included several Indian porters, moved to the northeast. Probably, in search of gold and silver, they passed along the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, obtaining food by hunting for bison, crossed the upper Arkansas at 38 ° N. sh. and small rivers of the upper reaches of the river. Republican, a tributary of the Kansas. Here, in a quarrel, probably due to a disagreement about the further direction of the route, in late 1593 or early 1594, Gutierrez killed the second commander. Discipline in the detachment fell, and among the Indian porters, nervousness and gloomy mistrust of the leader increased sharply. However, the group continued to move to the northeast and, having passed about 1000 km along the Great Plains, reached the middle course of the river. Platte, a western tributary of the Missouri, at approximately 100 ° W. etc .; in other words, the Spaniards were the first to reach the geographical "heart" of the continent. A wide river blocked the path to the north, buffaloes became less and less common, and Gutierrez decided to return. One night, six Indians deserted from the detachment, intending to return home as soon as possible, but only one named Husepe, and even then after a year of wandering along the prairie as a slave of the Anachi Indians. ABOUT further destiny The group became known a few years later: shortly after the escape of six, the remaining Indians surrounded the Spaniards and killed everyone, including Gutierrez, but only Alonso Sanchez, who later became their leader, was spared. He told about this to a monk who happened to meet him in an Indian village. For Sanchez, troops were sent, but he was "lost" on the prairie.
The last Spanish treasure hunter on the American prairie was Juan Onyate, who organized a colonization expedition on behalf of the authorities. In the spring of 1598 he spent her in the deserts and mountains of the upper Rio Grande basin, where many unsuccessfully tried to find precious metals, starting with Coronado. For three years Onyate "pacified" the Indians, settled the land and sought - with the same "success" - gold and silver. Having suffered a fiasco, he went east on the prairie, hoping to find something there; the expedition was guided by the Indian Hucene, a companion of Gutierrez. Onyate reached the river. Kaneidian descended 700 km along it, that is, followed almost the entire length, and then went to the middle course of the river. Arkansas, but of course did not even find signs of precious metals. He returned empty-handed and “won” the wrath of his superiors. But his journal contained important information - a description of the surveyed territory and its inhabitants. Onyato put an end to the legends about the countries of the "Seven Cities" and "Kivira". According to the ex-sailor, an unknown participant in the campaign, probably at the beginning of 1601 a drawing was drawn up - the first cartographic document about the central part of North America that has come down to us. The real result of the search for the fantastic "Seven Cities" and no less mythical treasures turned out to be grandiose: the annexation to the Spanish possessions - first formal, and then actual - a territory of about 1 million km². The center of this New Mexico was built in 1609 in the upper reaches of the river. Pecos Fortress of Santa Fe ("Holy Faith").
despite the sad fate of the first French colonies in Canada, the fur trade grew and brought large profits to the monopoly trading companies. Henry IV understood that the only way to secure the "land of furs" for France was through its systematic colonization. It was necessary, however, to make sure that agriculture and a settled life were possible there, and that the death of the first French colonies was due to accidental reasons. An expedition was organized to explore Canada in 1603, funds for which were donated by a trading company that received a monopoly on the purchase of furs; the merchants included an experienced sailor Samuel Champlainsailed on French and Spanish ships in the Atlantic Ocean and the American Mediterranean. He was also entrusted with the management of the topographic surveys of New France and the inventory of its shores. Champlain went there for reconnaissance. At the end of May, he entered the mouth of the river. St. Lawrence, on a pinassa climbed the Saguenay and on the main river on July 2 reached the place to which Cartier reached. The country seemed to him fit for colonization.
Champlain, leading an expedition1, explored Acadia (Nova Scotia). Having landed on about. Cape Breton, he bypassed the entire coast of Acadia and the opposite mainland coast of the Bay of Fundy.
From mid-May 1604 Champlain, leading the expedition, His expeditions over the years included Indians and French, Flemings and Basques, Catholics and Huguenots, nobles and trade agents, recruited "white slaves", fugitive criminals and monks. explored Acadia (Nova Scotia). Having landed on about. Cape Breton, he bypassed the entire coast of Acadia and the opposite mainland coast of the Bay of Fundy. In the southwest of Acadia, he rebuilt Port Royal (Annapolis). Leaving 80 people with him, he sent expedition ships to France. The wintering was very difficult: half of the settlers died of scurvy. In the summer of 1605, after the ships returned from France, Champlain continued the inventory of the eastern coast of the mainland to the southwest, up to Cape Cod, inclusive: he discovered the two best harbors in Massachusetts Bay - Boston and Plymouth, thus completing , the discovery of Jean Alphonse. Having then bypassed the long and narrow Cape Cod Peninsula, he finally established its outline, and the next year discovered Fr. Nantucket and the strait between it and the mainland (41 ° 30 "N).
April 13, 1608 Champlain was sent to the river. St. Lawrence and on July 3 founded Quebec, which in the language of the Iroquois means "constriction." He tried to maintain a good relationship with the local Wyandot Indians, similar in language to the Iroquois, but hostile to them (the French half-disdainfully called the Wyandot Hurons from hure - boar's head). Champlain studied their language, entered into an alliance with them and used their hostility to the Iroquois for his own purposes, guided by the simplest principle: lead me to new places, I will help you fight.
From 1609, Champlain was no longer dependent on temporary monopolists. With the help of the Huron guides, on July 3, he began exploring the interior regions of North America. He trusted his new allies more than the French colonists, among whom there were many "restless elements." At the very beginning of the campaign, he sent off all the French, except for two, the most reliable, and with a group of Hurons on a large boat climbed the river. St. Lawrence to the mouth of its southern tributary Richelieu, and along the latter - to a large flowing lake, which since that time has been known by his name (in the English pronunciation of Champlain). In doing so, he discovered the Adirondack Highlands, rising above the western shore of the lake, and the Green Mountains (Green Mountains), stretching a short distance from its eastern shore. Champlain compiled a map and description of the lake and its region.
Hunting grounds in the upper river. St. Lawrence belonged to the Hurons. More numerous Iroquois wandered to the south. When Champlain arrived in Canada, the Iroquois again began to move from south to north, displacing the Hurons and their Algonquin neighbors. The first French colonists, led by Champlain, took part in the internecine Indian wars on the side of the Algonquins and Hurons, among whom they first settled. Then the Iroquois became the mortal enemies of the French. According to a number of French historians, this led to the loss of all of Canada by France. It was at this time that the Dutch appeared off the coast of America. In 1610, they arranged on the river. Hudson trading post for the purchase of furs. The Iroquois became allies of the Dutch and the British who replaced them later in the struggle against the French. In addition, the British "were superior to the French in generosity: while the French king paid the Hurons 50 francs for the scalp of an Englishman, the English king paid twice as much for the scalp of a Frenchman" (E. Reclus).
1609 to 1615 Champlain almost annually sailed from France to the river. St. Lawrence, where he collected information about the interior regions of North America. Tales of the sea, somewhere in the northwest or west of Quebec, were corroborated by hundreds of Indians that Champlain encountered. (The French mixed reports of the Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes.) Three paths seemed to lead to this sea, beyond which Champlain dreamed of China and India. But one, northwestern path up the Saguenay through gloomy, uninhabited regions led to a maze of rivers and lakes, where the most reliable guides seemed to be useless. Another went up Ottawa, the third, southwest, - along the river. St. Lawrence to its origins.
In search of the West Sea, Champlain sent his "youths" (young colonists) together with the Indians. Among them stood out Etienne BruleA 16-year-old youth, without receiving any education, in 1608 he arrived in New France with Champlain. Since 1610, Brlée, buying up furs, lived in the forests among the Indians, hunted with them, passed from one tribe to another, and learned to speak fluently various local dialects of the Iroquois and Algonquian languages. This was the first typical North American forest tramp (coureur des bois), The bulk of the forest tramps were people who did not have the means to buy marketable goods and the necessary equipment. All this they took from the merchants, pledging to pay off the debt immediately upon their return. The trip of the forest tramps usually lasted two or three weeks along the rivers and lakes. They bypassed non-navigable areas, carrying boats with a load on their shoulders, sometimes over long distances, so they tried to take the load lighter, reducing its weight due to the stock of food, and, therefore, always starved. In the last quarter of the 17th century. the number of forest tramps exceeded 600. whose name has come down to us, a hunter and a buyer of furs, a tireless explorer and pathfinder, to use old Russian terms.
In the summer of 1615, Champlain and Brлеlée sailed with ten oarsmen-Hurons from Quebec to the mouth of Ottawa, climbed it and its tributary Mattava to Lake Nipissing, and from there along the French River (French River) went to a large bay (Georgian Bay ) - parts of Lake Huron. It is believed that in the summer of 1610, Brlée and another forest tramp reached him, and with them or in their footsteps - a monk Joseph Le Caron... From Huron, Champlain, separated from Brлеlée, turned southeast and, having opened Lake Simcoe in early September, reached Ontario and made sure that it was from its northeastern corner that the r. St. Lawrence. Then Champlain went south to Lake Oneida, where the rapids r. Osuigo, which flows into Ontario. After a skirmish with the Iroquois, he was forced to retreat and returned to Quebec, covering a total of about 1600 km.
Brлеlée reached Ontario before Champlain and sailed across the lake. South of Ontario, he learned of Champlain's skirmish with the Iroquois, gathered 500 Hurons and rushed to help, but arrived at the site after the retreat of Champlain. Then Brлеlée turned south and came to a river through a hilly forest area. Following its course downstream, in late autumn it reached a long and narrow sea bay with extremely indented shores, into which several large and many small rivers flowed. The rolling hills that Brлеlée crossed are the Appalachian Plateau and the Allegheny Mountains; the large river that he followed, the Susquehanna (about 1000 km); Bay - Chesapeake; the strip of land that separates the bay from the ocean - the Delaware Peninsula.
In the spring of 1617 Brлеlée's detachment went north to Quebec. On the way, the Iroquois attacked him; The Hurons fled, and Brлеlée managed to escape, but after several days of wandering through the woods, in order not to starve to death, he relied on the nobility of the Iroquois whom he met by chance, the rumors of whose “ferocity”, apparently, he himself did not really believe. The Iroquois not only fed the lonely Frenchman, but gave him a guide to the country of their enemies - the Hurons. Among them, Brлеlé lived for two years and only in 1619 returned to Quebec.
In 1621, Brлеlée and another forest tramp, Grenol, were sent by Champlain to explore the northern coast of Huron. They discovered the North Strait there, the Manitulin Islands chain separating it from the main lake basin, r. St. Mary's, flowing from the "Great Lake Superior" into the North Channel, and rapids on this river (Sault Ste. Marie). Apparently, the first in a few years - no later than 1628 - they passed along the eastern and northern shores of Lake Upper to 90 ° 30 "W: in this area (at 48 ° N) Lake Brule and the Brühle River, which flows into the western part of Lake Upper But illiterate forest tramps could not write a sufficiently sensible account of this great discovery “On the other side of the Freshwater Sea [Lake Huron] lies another very vast lake, which flows into that waterfall [Soute Sainte-Marie] The named lake and the Freshwater Sea stretch together ... four hundred leagues [about 1,800 km], in a row testifying. " Brлеlée gives a fairly accurate definition of the length of the northern coastline of the two Great Lakes, counting from the southeastern corner of Huron to the western corner of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater body of water on Earth. and to draw up an accurate map of his path, and the discovery of Lake Superior is often attributed to the Jesuits. About the further fate of Brule, it is only known that in 1633 he, being among the Hurons, somehow turned them against himself and in June was killed.
Between 1634 and 1638 Champlain's "youth" went in search of the salty Western Sea Jean Nicole, a seasoned sales agent. From the mouth of the St. Mary's he turned southwest and discovered the great Lake Michigan beyond the narrow Mackinac Sound. On an Indian canoe, he sailed along the northern coast of Michigan to a long and narrow bay (Green Bay), followed it southwestward to a river (Fox), which flows into the bay from the south, and ascended this river to its headwaters. From local Indians, Nicole learned that very close to him in the west is "Big Water": he thought it was about the sea.
According to a more reliable version, from the headwaters of the Fox, he moved to the west and almost imperceptibly crossed a low and short watershed to the river. Wisconsin, and this river brought him to the "Big Water", as the Indians called the river flowing to the south. Mississippi. Nicole did not investigate her. He got the impression, perhaps from the misunderstood accounts of local Indians, that the Mississippi is a relatively short river that flows into the South Sea. And, returning to Quebec, he said that he had discovered a navigable river, along which it was easy and quick to reach the Pacific Ocean. According to another version, dating back to the Jesuits, Nicole stopped at the upper Fox and did not go further.
after the founding of Quebec, hundreds of French hunters and buyers and dozens of Jesuit monks headed inland. The laymen got furs, the Jesuits "conquered" souls, spreading the Catholic faith among the Indians. Their successes in religious propaganda were not great, but in an effort to convert as many "lost pagans" as possible to the "true path", the Jesuits made major discoveries in the center of North America, though less than they attributed to themselves.
In 1628, the French government, at the insistence of the Jesuits, banned the evangelical worship in the colony. Because of this, Protestant Huguenots, the most enterprising and wealthy part of the French population, began to move to the English colonies. The persecution of Huguenots severely hindered the growth and economic development of Canada. French Catholic immigration to North America has always been negligible. While Canada had only 3,000 "whites," in New England, which began colonizing almost a quarter of a century later, in 1640 there were already 24,000 "whites."
First of all, the Jesuits carried out work among the lakeside Hurons. In 1634 three monks went to them, including Jean Brebef.In one Huron village in January 1636, he saw and was the first to describe in detail the storage of human bones and their use in everyday life; the bones belonged to slain Iroquois. Canadian forests are impassable in spring; The "fathers" were supposed to travel "in the Indian way", taking boats up the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers. Catholic writers very colorfully describe the travels of the Jesuits, surrounding them with an aura of martyrdom and even holiness. It must be said, however, that the conditions of their movement were the same as those of forest tramps, in whose lives it is very difficult to find signs of holiness: “How many times did they have to ... throw themselves into the water in order to prevent the fast current from carrying away their fragile boats; how many times have they had to haul their boats onto land and carry them on their backs through the coastal thickets to get around the rapids! With bloody legs, in rags, swollen from mosquito bites, exhausted by deprivation and fatigue, they finally reached the Huron camps ... Staying in dark, smoky wigwams, teeming with insects ... was a continuous torment ”(G. Bemer). However, the Hurons were not so scary, and the Jesuits gradually came to trust them. After six years of propaganda, the "black cassocks" gathered large numbers of Hurons into permanent settlements and established several mission stations near Lake Huron.
Jean Brebef is credited with discovering the fifth of the Great Lakes - Erie - in 1640. However, the first news of Niagara Falls - between Erie and Ontario - dates back to 1648. The Jesuit Paul Ragenaud was the first to report about the waterfall of "terrible height". In 1641-1642. Jesuit Isaac Zhog in a mission based on the rapids of Sault Ste. Marie, he collected valuable information about the Sioux Indians who lived west of Lake Superior, and about the ways to them through this lake and "up the river (Missouri) that crosses their country." In the 40s. the Iroquois war broke out against the Hurons and the French allied with them, which lasted a quarter of a century. Since 1648, the Iroquois, incited by the British and the Dutch, destroyed one by one all the Jesuit stations, killed all the French who fell into their hands, including Brebef and other "people in black cassocks" whom they especially hated, as well as their Protestant allies. Most of the Hurons were exterminated. Only a few hundred of them managed to escape to Quebec and settle in the area; the other part became part of the various tribes of the Iroquois union, their mortal enemies.
Attempts by the Jesuits to "convert" the Indians and create a special "state within a state" in Canada under supreme power the pope ended in complete failure. The colonial authorities (at the direction of the metropolis) forced the "fathers" to resettle the converted Indians closer to the French villages and tried to turn them into French as soon as possible. The authorities were friendly to marriages between "redskins" and "palefaces". This policy, vodka, smallpox and syphilis spread by the colonialists, as well as Dutch and English firearms in the hands of the Iroquois, led to the fact that most of the Indians in New France became extinct. But a new ethnic group of French and Indian mestizos emerged, giving rise to a number of prominent forest vagabonds, thanks to whom the French and British discovered and explored the gigantic interior regions of North America.
The Jesuits sought to get away from the French colonial authorities. With the help of Indian and mestizo guides, they completed the discovery of the Great Lakes and were the first Europeans to settle on their shores. Following in the footsteps of the French forest tramps, who, buying up furs, knew how to find the sites of the most remote Indian tribes, the Jesuits often became pioneering explorers of the interior regions of North America in the second half of the 17th century. infiltrated the Mississippi basin.
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The first colonies and their inhabitants.
The history of English colonial rule begins in 1607. Some of the first colonists were English Puritans who fled from persecution. Protestants from France and Holland left for the New World. They hoped to find refuge there and the opportunity to freely preach their views. Many peasants, the "restless" poor, also left, and criminals fit for work were sent there.
The first a permanent English settlement in North America was founded in 1607 on the territory of the future Virginia. The first years of the colony were extremely difficult, with many starving to death. The situation changed in 1612, when Virginia tobacco was grown. The colony acquired a source of reliable income and for many years tobacco became the mainstay of Virginia's economy and exports.
Second permanent settlement - the city of New Plymouth (1620, ship "Mayflower"), which laid the foundation for the colonies of New England. The day of disembarkation of settlers is celebrated in the United States as the holiday of the Day of the Pilgrim Fathers. Gradually, 13 colonies were formed on the Atlantic coast, with a population of about 2.5 million people.
As a result of colonization, the Indians (Iroquois and Algonquins) were mostly driven out of the colonies or exterminated, and their lands were captured.
Colonial society and economic life.
Small-scale farming became widespread in the colonies of New England. The first manufactories appeared (spinning, weaving, iron-making, etc.). In the southern colonies, landowners established extensive plantations where they grew cotton, tobacco, rice.
Colonial society consisted of various groups of the population: farmers, entrepreneurs, hired workers, planters-landowners, "contracted servants", black slaves. Free labor was scarce, and so it was imported into North America. Gradually, the labor of Negro slaves took root there (their import into the colonies began as early as 1619 from Africa). The working conditions of the blacks were unbearable, and for their escape they were severely punished and could take their lives.
Colony management.
In the XVIII century. the main figure in the colony was the governor. In eight colonies out of eleven, he was personally appointed by the English king. All judicial, executive and legislative powers were concentrated in the hands of the governors. However, the colonies also had local self-government - colonial assemblies. The assemblies consisted of two chambers: the upper chamber, the council, whose members were appointed by the governor from among aristocratic families, and the lower chamber, which was elected by the male population. The salaries of the governors and his administration were determined by the assembly, which forced the governors to reckon with them.
The beginning of the formation of the North American nation.
By the middle of the XVIII century. In the colonies, a single internal market began to form, and trade relations developed. Grain, fish, and industrial products were exported from the northern colonies to the south. The colonists came from a dozen countries, in the middle of the 18th century. many colonial residents already called themselves Americans.
The settlers lived in log cabins, which usually consisted of one room, and in large cities, merchants erected two- or three-story stone mansions. The planters built themselves luxurious estates.
Ideology of American Society.
The Puritans turned their rules of conduct - obligatory labor and prayer, censure of idleness - into rules of conduct for all inhabitants of the colonies. They believed that discipline begins with the family, where no one can challenge the father's authority. The American Puritans sincerely considered themselves to be a people chosen by God and wanted to save everyone, even if it required the use of violence.
In the XVII century. such a religious worldview gave birth to fanaticism. But from the middle of the XVIII century. serious changes are taking place in culture and social thought. Secular education, science, literature and art are developing. The number of colleges is increasing. Yale and Princeton were added to Harvard University. In 1765, 43 newspapers were published in the colonies, public libraries were opened, and the printing business developed rapidly. The largest cultural centers are Boston and Philadelphia.
Conflict with the metropolis. Boston tea party
The king, the landed aristocracy, merchants and entrepreneurs of England strove to multiply the profits that came from the possession of the colonies. Back in the 17th century. in England, a law was passed that deprived the colonies of the right to free trade. They were allowed to trade only with England, which collected taxes and duties there, exported valuable raw materials from there - furs, cotton and imported finished goods. The British Parliament introduced many bans in the colonies. These measures undermined the principle of free enterprise.
In 1765, the English parliament passed a law on stamp duty: when buying any product, including newspapers, a tax had to be paid (a special stamp on stamped paper). The law sparked a massive protest movement. The colonists rightly declared that they would pay taxes if their representatives had a vote in the English parliament. The Americans burned stamp papers, smashed the houses of tax collectors. In 1773, Boston residents attacked British ships in port and threw bales of tax-free tea overboard. This event was named Boston Tea Party.