UNIT #11: JOINING COLONIES - 13 Colonies (W11:D1)

As you may have guessed, the 13 colonies all started at different times, to later become the states of the United States. They also didn’t start off as the 13 British colonies, for they were all owned by different countries, including Spain, France, England, Dutch, and Puritans. As James I, King of England, took power of England, and joined England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, to become Great Britain, he, like his predecessor Queen Elizabeth, and all his successor’s afterwards, desired to expand their control by discovering new land in the New World. In 1606, James I gave patents to both the Plymouth Company and London Company to establish settlements in the Americas. The London Company established the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, starting with the establishment of Jamestown. When the Puritans left for the New World and found Plymouth, they tried to leave the crown behind, but were unsuccessful, due to the debt they owed the Plymouth Company for their travel expenses. The company also established other colonies; some that were short lived, and those, like Plymouth, that would become successful. The Dutch, Swedish, and French established settlements in North America, but most succumbed to the British just before the final colony, Georgia, was established in 1732, to finalize the British control over the east coast of North America. From 1660 to the end of the American Revolution, the British controlled the colonies through a single department, called the Southern Department, and a single committee, called the Board of Trade and Plantations. Here are the 13 colonies and who established them: Massachusetts (British charter-1691) Puritans (GB) New Hampshire (1629) John Wheelwright (GB) Connecticut (1662) Thomas Hooker (GB) Rhode Island (1663) Roger Williams (GB) Delaware (1664) Peter Minuit (Swedish) New York (1686) Duke of York (Dutch) New Jersey (1702) Lord Berkeley (Netherlands) Pennsylvania (1681) William Penn (GB) Virginia (1624) London Company (GB) Maryland (1632) Lord Baltimore (GB) North Carolina (1729) Virginians (GB) South Carolina (1729) Royal Charter of Charles II (GB) Georgia (1732) James Oglethorpe (GB) *GB = Great Britain Everything south was owned by Spain… Activity: Can you name all the Thirteen Colonies: Wrte down on a separate piece of paper those that you remember.

Finding of New York Colony (1624) (W11:D2) The colony of New York was inhabited by two competing tribes of indigenous people: the Iroquois and the Algonquin. These two opposing tribes were divided into smaller groups, known as nations, which would normally have their own language. The Iroquois was a confederacy of 5 tribal nations, self-named Haudenosaunee (“People of the Longhouse”). Now, a confederacy of nations was an agreement between tribes, to work, trade, and fight together against other nations that may attack one, or a few, of the collective tribes. The Iroquois Confederacy was made up of these main tribes: Mohawk (“People of the Flint”); Oneida (“People of Standing Stone”); Onondaga (“People of the Hills”); Cayuga (“People of the Great Swamp”); and Seneca (“Great Hill People”). Though they were mostly peaceful among each other, if a common enemy came against one of them, the nations would respond together. Their nations lived more inland, to the west, and made up mostly around the Great Lakes area - both in the United States and Canada. Their enemies to the east were the Algonquin people. The Algonquin language was made up of 17 different dialects of the common language, spoken by 24 nation tribes who lived closer to the coast, stretching up the northern east coast of North America. They, like the Iroquois, had an oral agreement between their nations, but contention would stir up, at times, and they would settle it amongst themselves. They would also ban together, though, to take on their enemy - the Iroquois. These two groups were always fighting and taking each other as slaves, and stealing from one another. In early American native culture, when a tribe came in and attacked your village, the automatic response, after the battle, was not to seek revenge, but instead, to pick up and move. This is why their boundaries were very fluid and changed constantly, though they were not always fighting each other. Most of the time, they would spend their days harvesting very distinct crops, including hunting and fishing. Their cultures were specific to each nation. This allowed each to govern their families and livelihood as they saw fit, generally having a Chief over a tribe (who would govern their own distinct group, with many of these groups in each nation). So, when the Europeans showed up, there were different responses to the new visitors: both contentious and cooperative. Now, even though John Cabot’s son, Sebastian, was the first European to sail and explore this area in 1508 - under contract from the English - and Giovanni Verrazzano explored it for the French, in 1524, it was Henry Hudson, years later (in 1609) to float the ship Halve Maen (Half Moon) up the Hudson River, exploring more of this area, and claiming it for the Netherlands. Though he was English, he was, at that point, employed by the Dutch East India Company. When Hudson returned to England, the Dutch Ambassador took possession of his sailing logs, though the English were not happy with it and demanded the paperwork. They wanted to claim the land, but Sebastian and Verrazzano simply explored the coast, never claiming it for England or France. In 1611-1612, the Admiralty of Amsterdam sent two expeditions to survey and map the land, distinguishing that land officially for the Dutch. Then, they sent their first fur trading mission, led by Adriaen Block - with the help of Juan Rodriguez (son of an African mother and Portuguese sailor), who was to serve as a translator between the natives and the Dutch. Block set out to trap in this new world, but when a dispute formed between him and a few other traders about their boundaries, Rodriguez broke away to live on his own among the people on Manhattan Island. The natives very much liked trading for his ironware, and they came from throughout the Algonquin lands to trade. The traders returned to the Netherlands, while Rodriguez continued to trade, being considered the first merchant the indigenous people trusted. When more traders arrived, Rodriguez became their middleman, with the Natives. The fur traders returned to the Netherlands to report about the conditions, which sparked great interest. In 1614, the Dutch began sending expeditions to explore this land, establishing fur trading posts further inland, near current day Albany, called Fort Nassau. The Dutch companies were very competitive with each other, and wanted the most land and return on their investment, as quickly as possible. This competition led to the Dutch government’s Republic of the Seven United Netherlands to create regulations within the new colony. Many of these companies created an alliance and, with Block’s map, pushed the government to give them the sole patent for the area, but was only a three years contract. The Dutch West India Company, who was given patents for West Africa, decided that they wanted to expand their mission and lead expeditions to settle parts of the New World. In 1620, they appealed to the Seven United Netherlands for a patent to set up smaller settlements throughout North America, which would have a military presence, to expand the fur trade along the east coast. The assembly agreed and began small posts throughout the northern east coast. Colonization began to pick up, with the Dutch being forced out of Brazil by the Portuguese. The Portuguese took the rich sugar plantations of South America and moved in to colonize most of Brazil (which is why Brazilians speak Portuguese, instead of Dutch, English, or Spanish). The Mohawk tribe controlled a near monopoly on trading with the Dutch, because their territory span included most of current-day New York, from Albany to the coast. Now, for every settlement that was established, a Dutch law was made that it had to be purchased from the tribe that occupied the land or that controlled the territory. It could not be taken, or claimed. Something of high value needed to be traded for them to buy the land. The Dutch would trade manufactured goods for land, fur, and other merchandise they wanted from the tribes. The conflict came because Europeans and Algonquin saw ownership of land very differently. The settlers believed that ownership meant that they had full rights to fish, farm, hunt, and settle the lands for which they traded. The natives would simply pick up and travel, as they were nomadic people, but would return seasonally, even living among the Dutch settlers. The natives did not intend to give up access to the land and the settlers disputed where they could operate and settle the purchased land. This miscommunication would lead to conflict, and even violence in some areas; in other areas, they lived as a multicultural society. The name New Netherlanders was given to those living in the colony, but it was not only made up of those from the Netherlands, or Dutch, but of English, French, German, Africans, Indians, and natives who lived among them. This was truly a multicultural society, with Dutch as the common language. That’s right - the tribes learned their language, and the Dutch learn their tribal dialects. Now the relationships with the native population were essential for Dutch fur trades, and they worked with both the Algonquin and the Iroquois to trade and gain access to those hunting grounds, trading manufactured goods to gain access to their land. The Dutch were not the only nation to be working with the Iroquois on these trade routes, though. The French were coming in from the north and securing cooperation with the natives, as well. The European companies, who ran the fur trade, were just as competitive as the tribes, leading to conflicts, allegiances, and lucrative arrangements. In 1624, New Netherland was established as a province of colonized settlements throughout the New York area, from British-claimed Cape Code, south, to the Delaware area. By doing this, their land came close to the English, and this began to stir up tension. Two years later, they moved the capital to the secure island of Manhattan, buying the land from the local native tribes, the Lenape and Wappinger, making certain the arrangement was clear. There, they built a settlement, near the southern tip, called New Amsterdam. To entice new settlers, they promised large plots of land, rights, and privileges for anyone who would travel to the New World. Years before the area was colonized, the Dutch Republic signed into law the Union of Utrecht, which gave everyone freedom of religion, that “everyone shall remain free in religion and that no one may be persecuted or investigated because of religion.” The Dutch West India Company. though, started an “official” church in the New World, called the Reformed Church. and made it the official institution of the colonies. There were many free black colonial members living among the settlers, but in 1625, the West India Company imported 11 African slaves. As was law at that time, they were given rights, such as testifying in court, signing legal documents, civil actions against whites in courts, and were permitted to live as family units. They were employed by the settlers to work as farmers, fur traders, and builders, and lived among the settlers, being married, and baptized in the same Dutch church. They were even given a set amount of time they could work for a single person, and they were allowed to work extra hours, for pay, from their employers or other settlers. Remember how the relationship with the indigenous people was very fragile? Well, when Willem Kieft became Director of New Netherland, in 1638, his first conflict was with the Tappan and Weckquaesgeek tribes, who were pushed out of their land by the English settlers, and so moved to Dutch territories. Kieft demanded tributes from the two tribes, which was ignored. When a settler was killed and the perpetrator hid amongst the tribes, Kieft decided to punish them, by ransacking their village; but like many politicians, he organized a committee called the Council of Twelve Men, and made them do his dirty work. They denied his request to punish the tribes and instead, this council began to gather grievances against the Dutch Company. Kieft quickly dismissed them, and attacked the two tribes, killing about 130 men, women, and children. This set off other local tribes and they began raids throughout the settlements, forcing the survivors to gather in Fort Amsterdam. For the next two years, the tribes raided and plundered the province, until finally, the Chief of the tribes and Kieft called for a truce. It was due to his actions that the settlers wrote to the States General of the Netherlands condemning Kieft, and the entire West India Company, for mismanagement, and demanded freedom and full rights in the territory. Just before 1647, the fur trade was deregulated, and land ownership was given to the “New Netherlanders,” instead of the Company. The people became very entrepreneurial and began trading with each other and the Dutch Company, but as individuals, instead of entities controlled by the Company or government. By the time the new director arrived, they were experiencing exponential growth. There was also great conflict among the New Netherlanders, the Dutch government, and the West India Company. The English were beginning to encroach on Dutch land from the north, and the Swedes from the south. Because of all this turmoil, the Dutch began to limit the powers of the West India Company and began giving the locals governance to themselves. In 1652, the Director was recalled. At the same time, the first Anglo-Dutch War broke out. In March of 1664, Charles II, King of England, Scotland, and now Ireland, demanded they take New Netherlands for church and state. He sent a fleet of frigates into New Amsterdam’s harbor and demanded their surrender. They met no resistance, and were able to walk in and capture the city. The locals did not struggle. While they had been asking for years for the Dutch to defend the colony, they were too busy with the Anglo-Dutch War that was taking place. The English renamed it New York. In the Articles of Surrender, the colonists were able to secure principles of religious tolerance; at the same time, many white Dutch men were taken as prisoners of war, and sold into slavery. The English also destroyed Mennonite villages and other settlements of those who would not accept English rule. In 1673, the Dutch retook New Netherlands with a fleet of 21 ships. In 1674, during the Third Anglo-Dutch war, the Dutch became bankrupt, fighting the English and French in two different wars. New Netherland ceded to English rule, once again. Activity: Dutch Indulgence - Time to make cookies: Ingredients 1 cup unsalted butter 1 egg - room temperature 1 cup sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt Instructions: 1. Before you begin, preheat the oven to 300°. 2. Mix the softened butter and sugar together in a small bowl. After liquifying, beat in the egg and vanilla. 3. Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. 4. Mix dry and wet ingredients. It will turn crumbly. 5. Pat down ingredients evenly into an 11x14 pan. 6. For decoration, draw lines or designs with a fork. 7. Bake for 30 minutes and they turn light golden. 8. Cut it into squares while still warm and let it cool. 9. Most importantly, enjoy your dessert.