Lecture Notes on Plymouth and Jamestown

Lecture Notes on Plymouth and Jamestown

Motivations for Colonization

Jamestown

-economic prosperity

-single men hoped to make fortunes in Virginia and return to England

-previous explorers brought home tales of vast amounts of gold and other valuable resources

-English patriotism

-adventurers wanted to stake English claim to prevent Spanish from taking over all of North America

Plymouth

-religious freedom

-Puritans persecuted for rebelling against the Church of England

-felt Church had not completed the work of the Reformation-was too close to Roman Catholicism

Founding of Colony

Jamestown 1607

-funded by London Company, a private enterprise

-granted charter by King James, but no funding

-company recruited people by promising that gold could be found by anyone who made the trip

-king predetermined government of colony

-upon arrival colonists opened sealed box with assignments to governing council

Plymouth 1620

-received funding from London Company

-treasurer of London Co. was friends with one of the settlers

-Separatists granted land in Virginia, but chose instead to settle in Plymouth

-signed Mayflower Compact to appease non-Separatists on board who were rumored to be uneasy about settling somewhere other than specified land grant

Initial Difficulties

Jamestown

-laziness of colonists

-did not expect to do manual labor

-depended on natives for food

-disease and starvation killed 80% of the colonists in the first year

-failed attempts to befriend Indians led to multiple skirmishes

Plymouth

-Mayflower land on December 21, many Pilgrims died in harsh first winter

-attempts at agriculture initially failed

Factors Contributing to Success

Jamestown

-Captain John Smith took control of government

-instituted "no work, no eat" policy

-firm leadership helped colony survive first few difficult years

-ability to grow tobacco made land valuable

-population grew as a result

Plymouth

-strength of Mayflower Compact

-able leaders like William Bradford and Miles Standish

-English-speaking Squanto, a survivor from previous explorations, taught Pilgrims to grow corn

-this cooperation led to the first Thanksgiving symbolized friendly relations between Pilgrims and Indians