The American colonies

The establishment of the colony at Cape Cod by the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620 led to the formation of other English colonies in North America. At this period settlers from England came in the largest numbers. These people were Puritans who wanted to enjoy religious freedom on the new continent. In the spring of 1630 John Winthrop reached Salem with 11 ships carrying 9 hundred settlers.

The Massachusetts Bay colony grew quickly. Many colonists moved into Rhode Island and in 1636 Providence was founded as a place of perfect religious toleration. In that year, the 1^st migration to Connecticut began under the leadership of Thomas Hooker. Another important colony was founded in 1634, when the 1^st settlement was made in Maryland under the leadership of Cecilius Calvert, who was a Catholic from England. At that time most people were Protestants. Therefore religious toleration was very important, and Maryland became a home of religious freedom. Before long, settlers from Virginia were settling into what are now North and South Carolina.

Though the English settlers were the largest group of people who came from Europe at this period, there were also colonists from other countries, such as Holland, France, later Germany and Sweden. In `1609 the Dutch sent Henry Hudson, an English seaman, to explore the river which today bears his name. He carried out his mission successfully, and a Dutch colony called New Amsterdam was soon established on Manhattan Island.

However, the English were not pleased with such a situation. They considered that all the eastern coast of North America belonged to them. Soon Charles II, the King of England, granted the area to his brother, the Duke of York, who seized the Dutch colony in 1664. The town was renamed New York in honour of the Duke of York. Now the British controlled all the Atlantic coastline up to Florida.

By the 1680s, British, Dutch and Swedish had found their way into the area which later became Pennsylvania and Delaware. In 1681 William Penn, a Quaker from England, came into control of the territory which afterwards was named in his honour, because of his great role in the development of the colony. He directed the establishment of the city of Philadelphia, which by the 18^th century became the largest city in North America with 28,000 inhabitants.

The last colony to be founded in this period was Georgia. It was created in 1732 as a territory for debtors and other poor people.

The French seized Canada and also controlled the central region, calling it Louisiana in honour of the French King Louis XIV. The Spaniards controlled Florida. In 1619 the first African slaves were brought to Virginia. Soon the system of slavery became widespread in the southern colonies of Virginia, North and South Carolina. By 1733 English settlers occupied 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast.

As the British colonies grew stronger, they soon came into conflict with their neighbours (the French and the Spaniards). It led to war, which began in1756 and ended in1763. Britain won the war and took all of Canada from France. Spain lost Florida. Louisiana except New Orleans was taken over by the British.

The colonies began to grow rapidly. The growing strength of the colonies worried Britain. This led to the protest and then to the War of Independence which brought freedom to the colonies.

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1590