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Reading: America’s History - Ch. 2, p. 46-72, Ch.3, Ch. 4, p. 120-135 Chapter 2: pg. 46-72: Plantation Colonies Introduction: Colonization efforts and impact on Spain's dominance As Spain expanded its American empire and faced rivals such as Portugal, England, France, and the Netherlands These countries created successful plantation settlements in Brazil, Jamestown, Maryland, and the Caribbean islands The growth of these new colonies was fueled by worldwide demand for sugar and tobacco The influx of colonists diminished Spain's dominance in the New World Impact on native populations The establishment of these colonies imposed dramatic new pressures on native populations Native populations had to scramble to survive in the present and find paths to the future Brazil’s Sugar Plantations Transformation of Brazil into a sugar plantation zone Portuguese colonists turned the coastal lowlands of Brazil into sugar plantations They used their experience from creating similar plantations on Madeira, the Azores, the Cape Verdes, and São Tomé By 1590, over a thousand sugar mills had been established in Pernambuco and Bahia Characteristics of sugar plantations Each large plantation had its own milling operation Sugarcane had to be processed on site due to its weight and rapid rotting The plantation combined agricultural labor with milling, extracting, and refining processes This made the sugar plantations resemble factories of the Industrial Revolution era Labor on sugar plantations Initially, Portuguese planters hoped to use indigenous peoples for labor However, diseases, including smallpox, greatly reduced the coastal Indian population As a result, planters began relying on African slaves instead By 1620, the switch to African slaves was complete Development of Brazil compared to Spanish colonies Brazil's occupation and development happened more gradually Unlike the quick development of Spanish colonies in Mexico and Peru after conquest Building a successful colony in Brazil required trial and error and hard work England’s Tobacco Colonies: (Introduction) England's early attempts at colonization England was slow to embrace the idea of planting colonies in the Americas In the 1580s, there were unsuccessful attempts in Newfoundland and Maine Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions to North Carolina ended in disaster with the disappearance of the Roanoke Island settlers The fate of the Roanoke colony remains a mystery The Jamestown Settlement The role of merchants (took charge) in English expansion In 1606, King James I granted the Virginia Company of London lands from present-day North Carolina to southern New York The region was named Virginia in honor of Queen Elizabeth I The Virginia Company sent an all-male group to Virginia in 1607 to extract tribute from the Native American population and search for valuable commodities The settlers were mainly young gentlemen with personal ties to the company's shareholders, seeking quick profits (a bunch of “unruly Sparks, packed off by their Friends to escape worse Destinies at home.” Others hoped to make a quick profit. All they wanted, one of them said, was to “dig gold, refine gold, load gold.”) Arrival in Jamestown The settlers arrived in Virginia after a four-month voyage They settled in a swampy peninsula named Jamestown to honor the king They lacked access to fresh water and refused to plant crops Only 38 out of the 120 men were alive nine months later Challenges faced High death rates due to diseases, famine, and warfare The settlers expected tribute from the local Indian population, but Powhatan, the powerful chief, also expected tribute from the English Attempts at forming alliances and marriages failed to improve relations The discovery of tobacco Tobacco, a cash crop, was discovered and became a profitable venture for the English settlers John Rolfe found a strain of tobacco that could flourish in Virginia soil Tobacco became highly desired in England Development of Jamestown The Virginia Company allowed settlers to own land The House of Burgesses, a representative government, was established in 1619 Land ownership, self-government, and a judicial system attracted more settlers Recruitment of women to encourage settlement The Indian War of 1622 Background An influx of migrants led to conflict with neighboring Indians The conflict began with an assault by Opechancanough, Powhatan's younger brother and successor Opechancanough had previously attacked English invaders in 1607 and resisted treaties Indian uprising and English response In 1622, Opechancanough coordinated a surprise attack that killed 347 English settlers The English fought back by seizing fields and food, declaring a "perpetual war without peace or truce" Captured warriors were sold into slavery, and the English took control of Indian cultivated places Changes in governance James I revoked the Virginia Company's charter and made Virginia a royal colony in 1624 The king and his ministers appointed the governor and advisory council, but retained the locally elected House of Burgesses The king's Privy Council had to ratify all legislation The legal establishment of the Church of England was decreed, requiring residents to pay taxes to support its clergy Impact on colonial governance The appointed governor, elected assembly, formal legal system, and established Anglican Church became the model for royal colonies in English America Lord Baltimore Settles Catholics in Maryland Background A second tobacco-growing colony was developed in neighboring Maryland In 1632, King Charles I granted lands to Catholic aristocrat Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore Maryland became a refuge for Catholics who were persecuted in England St. Mary's City was established in 1634 by both Catholics and Protestants Growth and Conflict in Maryland Maryland grew quickly due to the importation of artisans and offering of ample lands Political conflict arose as settlers disputed Baltimore's powers Settlers elected a representative assembly and insisted on the right to initiate legislation Religious Tensions and Toleration Anti-Catholic agitation by Protestants threatened Baltimore's religious goals Baltimore persuaded the assembly to enact the Toleration Act in 1649 The Toleration Act granted all Christians the right to follow their beliefs and hold church services Social and Economic Similarities with Virginia Tobacco quickly became the main crop in Maryland, similar to Virginia Despite religious differences, the two colonies had similar economic and social systems The Caribbean Islands Big Chuck of text with no subtitles Virginia's cash crop experiment and Caribbean colonization Virginia and the Caribbean both had land-intensive plantation societies Virginia focused on cultivating cash crops In 1624, a small English group settled on St. Kitts in the Caribbean French and Dutch sailors also sought permanent settlements in the Caribbean More colonies were established in the Lesser Antilles - Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Bart's, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla, Tortola, Barbados, and St. Eustatius An English fleet captured Jamaica in 1655, opening it for settlement Displacement of native populations Native populations on the islands were displaced or wiped out within a decade Only on the largest islands did native populations survive longer Shift to sugar cultivation Colonists experimented with various cash crops including tobacco, indigo, cotton, cacao, and ginger Starting in the 1640s, planters shifted to sugar cultivation, inspired by the example of Brazil Barbados, Jamaica, Nevis, and Martinique became major producers of sugar These colonies had valuable real estate due to their substantial sugar crops Plantation Life Intro Plantation Agriculture Initially small freeholds owned by families or male partners Logic of plantation agriculture led to consolidation Large planters engrossed as much land as possible Experimented with new forms of labor discipline Headright System in Virginia Guaranteed 50 acres of land to anyone who paid for a new immigrant's passage Largest planters bought additional indentured servants and slaves to amass more land European Demand for Tobacco Tobacco was the main source of wealth in the Chesapeake region Exports increased from 3 million pounds to 10 million pounds between 1640 and 1660 Wealthy migrants established large estates along coastal rivers Adopted hierarchical system similar to southern England, with indentured servants and enslaved Africans Switch to Sugar Production in Barbados Caused land prices to quadruple, driving out small landowners Life in Plantation Colonies Harsh conditions for both rich and poor settlers Scarcity of towns and communities Limited number of women, leading to few families and high mortality rates for mothers and children Malaria spread by mosquitoes was a significant danger Orphaned children and unmarried young men were common Death was pervasive, with epidemics and disease outbreaks Indentured Servitude Indentured servitude in the Chesapeake and West Indies By 1700, over 100,000 English migrants came to Virginia and Maryland, and over 200,000 migrated to the West Indies