APUSH Chapter 3: Settling the Northern Colonies

Chapter Summary
Plymouth, MA was founded with the initial goal of allowing Pilgrims, and later Puritans, to worship independent of the Church of England. Their society, ironically, was very intolerant itself and any dissenters were pushed out of the colony. Other New England colonies sprouted up, due to religious dissent from Plymouth and Massachusetts as with Rhode Island, the constant search for more farmland as in Connecticut, and just due to natural growth as in Maine. The Middle Colonies emerged as the literal crossroads of the north and south. They held the stereotypical qualities of both regions: agricultural and industrial. And they were unique in that New York was born of Dutch heritage rather than English, and Pennsylvania thrived more than any other colony due to its freedoms and tolerance.

Chater Outline

 * In 1517, Martin Luther ignited the Protestant Reformation
 * John Calvin preached Calvinism which stressed predestination
 * The impact of Calvinism on Americans has been called the "Protestant Work Ethic"
 * In the 1530s, King Henry VIII broke his ties with the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and Puritans were influenced to reform the Church of England
 * They believed that only visible saints should be allowed in church, which angered Separationists (aka Pilgrims)
 * King James I harrassed the Separationists out of England in fear of defiance
 * They went to Holland, but they became concerned with getting too Dutchified, so they negotiated with the Virginia Company to sail on the Mayflower until they reached Plymouth
 * Captain Myles Standish proved to be a great Indian fighter and negotiater
 * The Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, a set of rules to obey
 * It set the standard for later constitutions and set the first step towards self-rule in the North
 * William Bradford (governor) was a great leader and helped Plymouth's survival and trade
 * In 1691, Plymouth merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony
 * In 1629, some Puritans got a royal charter to settle in America
 * They sailed to Massachusetts
 * John Winthrop (governor) helped Massachusetts prosper
 * The right to vote was given to all freemen (adult males belonging to Puritan congregations)
 * Governor Winthrop feared and distrusted common people, so he viewed democracy unfavorably
 * John Cotton immigrated to Massachusetts to avoid persecution for his criticism of the Church of England
 * Puritans imagined Hell to be very serious, frightening, and real
 * Anne Hutchinson believed that a holy life was no sure sign of salvation and that the truly saved need not bother to obey the laws of God or man (antinomianism)
 * She was banished, so she made her way to Rhode Island
 * Roger Williams was a radical idealist that wanted to break from the Church of England
 * He denied that civil government should be able to govern religious behavior, was banished in 1635, and led the way for the Rhode Island colony
 * What Rhode Islanders had in common was that they were unwanted everywhere else and they were against special privilege
 * In 1635, Reverend Thomas Hooker led Puritans into Hartford, Connecticut
 * In 1639, these settlers drafted Fundamental Orders (modern constitution)
 * In 1638, New Haven was founded and merged into Connecticut
 * In 1623, Maine was temporarily absorbed by Massachusetts
 * In 1641, New Hampshire was absorbed into Massachusetts, but in 1679, the king separated the two and made New Hampshire a royal colony
 * Before the Puritans arrived in 1620, an epidemic had swept through the Indians, killing over three quarters of them
 * At first Indians tried to befriend the Whites, and Squanto was able to keep peace with them
 * In 1637, mounting tensions eroded, and English settlers fought the Pequot tribe in the Pequot War
 * The English set fire to a Pequot village on Mystic River, annihilating the Indians and bringing 40 years of peace
 * In 1675, Metacom (King Philip) united neighboring Indians in a final attack, but failed
 * King Philip's War slowed the colonial western march
 * In 1643, four colonies banded together to form the New England Confederation
 * Although it was weak, it was a noteable milestone toward American unity
 * After Charles II was restored to the throne, he was shocked to find how much his orders were ignored in Massachusetts
 * As punishment, a charter was given to Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Massachusetts' charter was revoked
 * In 1686, the Dominion of New England was created to bolster the colonial defense against Indians
 * Colonies were tied closer to Britain by enforcing the hated Navigation Acts, which forbade American trade with countries other than Britain, and therefore resulted in smuggling
 * Head of the Dominion was Sir Edmond Andros, whom was despised by Americans
 * He responded to opposition strictly, and taxed people without their consent
 * As a result of the Glorious Revolution, the Dominion of New England collapsed
 * Massachusetts got a new charter in 1691, allowing all landowners to vote
 * In the 17th Century, the Netherlands revolted against Spain, and with the help of Britain, gained their independence
 * The Dutch East India Company was established
 * The Dutch West India Company often raided rather than traded
 * In 1609, Henry Hudson claimed Delaware and New York Bay for Netherlands
 * The Dutch West India Company bought Manhattan Island and gave patroonships to promoters who agreed to settle 50+ people on them
 * New Amsterdam attracted people from all types of races
 * Indians attacked the Dutch for their cruelties
 * New England was hostile against Dutch growth
 * The Swedes trespassed Ditch reserves from 1636-1655 and planted New Sweden on the Deleware river
 * The Dutch erected a wall in New Amsterdam (Wall Street)
 * In 1655, Peter Stuyvesant successfully besieged the main Swedish fort, ending Swedish colonial rule
 * In 1664, Charles II granted the area of New York to the Duke of York, and British troops were landed in the area to defeat and remove the Dutch
 * The Quakers were offensive to religious and civil rule
 * William Penn, a Quaker, secured an immense grant of land from the king in 1681
 * It was called Pennsylvania, and was the best advertised of all the colonies
 * Penn bought land from Indians and treated them gently; however, as more non-Quakers came to Pennsylvania, the Indians were mistreated more and more
 * Freedom of worship was available to all Christians, the death penalty was restricted to major crimes, immigration was unrestricted, naturalization was easy, slavery was disliked, and many different races/classes/religions were attracted
 * Penn was not well liked because he was friendly towards James II, the desposed Catholic king
 * The middle colonies had many similarities, and were more ethnically mixed than other colonies