Fri. Jan.

30th = The Culture of

Emigration: Who came from England to
the American colonies, and why? (early-
to mid-1600s)
The Culture of Emigration: Who came to the colonies, and why? (early- to mid-1600s)

1. Why emigrate from England? ... and why immigrate to America?

A. Overpopulation (late-1500s to early-1700s; due to the 1500s Columbian Exchange) encourages

many poor English to leave [see review of the 2006 film "The New World"
at http://hnn.us/articles/21263.html]

B. Chartered companies (business investors) look to areas north of Spanish colonies in North
America

i. Sir Walter Raleigh claims "Virginia Colony" for England (1584), and first settlement
established (1585)

ii. Roanoke fails (by 1589) due to lack of new supplies brought in on a regular basis (war with Spain,
1588)

iii. "Virginia Company" (1605-24) promises huge profits to investors

iv. Jamestown (1607+) eventually succeeds in the Chesapeake region [see link to interactive
version of Capt. John Smith's 1612 map of Virginia at:
http://www.mariner.org/chesapeakebay/colonial/col009.html]

v. English expect Native American "Indians" to cooperate in helping find gold

vi. The irony of propaganda: Virginia promoted as a paradise but colonists barely survive the
"starving winter" (1609-10)

vii. How to sustain a colony?

a. Farmers needed: Virginia Company offers "headrights" (1610+) = grants of land to those settlers
who bring over workers (who get no land)

b. Farm workers (cheap labor) needed: "indenture" system started with "freedom dues" as reward
(1614+)

c. Edmund Sandys promotes factories and English-Indian communities

d. Grant some self-rule: America's 1st legislative assembly convened in Jamestown, 1619
C. Decline of privately run colony

i. Lure of land and tobacco leads colonists to abandon Sandys' vision

ii. Indians pushed off land, fight back, and are demonized and marginalized after the 1622 "Virginia
Massacre"

iii. No gold ever found, and Virginia Company investors pull out, leading to bankruptcy (1624)

iv. English king takes over and runs Virginia as a "Crown Colony" (1625-1775)

2. Political and religious tensions (1620s-50s) bring 2nd & smaller wave of immigrants

A. 100 "Pilgrims" (1620) flee to Virginia escaping arrest for condemning the King's role as Protector
of the Church -- mythologized as "seeking religious freedom"

B. 10,000+ "Puritans" (1630s) in "New England" seek to create a utopia to embarras England; their
elected, "covenant" self-government is a precursor to American democracy [see mock debate
"Jamestown vs. Plymouth" at:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/04/plymouth_jamestown_where_was_america_b
orn/]

REVIEW OF AMST THEMES:

* land as a source of real economic power and the basis for political power

* America seen (by English) as place of "freedom" (economic, political & religious)