COLONIAL
EXPANSION
Intro:
The colonies established during
the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In 16th century all over Europe , adventurous men, inspired by
the Renaissance, set out across the wide oceans in search of wealth or liberty.
Cause
for colonization.
At
the end of the 16th century many people left England and settled in
America and other foreign lands. After the reformation, people dissatisfied
with the life in England. Some others, who possessed no land England ,left the
country with the idea of getting land in the new land. After the wars of Roses
wealth increased which temped to take over sea enterprises.
Virginia:
It was first colony to be found in America by Sir
Walter Raleigh. Only in 1607, the settlement was made by a group of men under
the leadership of John smith and they called it Jamestown in honor of James I, the ruler of England.
Smith and his men worked hard and produced Tobacco
& Potato.
New Plymouth
In
1620, a group of puritans called the Pilgrim Fathers set out in a ship called Mary
flower, and landed in Cape Cod.
Massachusetts:
The
colony of Massachusetts was set up by a group of wealthy puritans who received
a charter from the King Charles I in 1629.their chief town was Boston and
Massachusetts was the chief colony of New England.
Rhode
Island & Connecticut:
In
1636, Roger Williams, a religious leader with his men settled in a place called
Providence from where came the Rhode Island, the smallest of the Colonies.
Thomas
Hooker another religious leader settled at New Haven and called the colony as Connecticut.
So also the colony of New Hampshire was later formed.
Mary
land:
The
first Roman Catholic settlement in America was made by Lord Baltimore, a Roman
Catholic in 1634. In honor of Mary, the mother of Christ, the colony was named
Maryland. Though it was a Catholic settlement, the colony was open for men of
every faith and religious toleration was the chief principle of this colony.
New
Amsterdam:
The Dutch had settled
in the colony of New Amsterdam. This Dutch colony was assigned to the Duke of
York. After the Dutch war in 1664, this settlement passed into the hands of
English and was named New York in honor of Duke of York.
Pennsylvania:
Pennsylvania,
which means Penn’s Woods was the settlement made by William Penn, a Quaker in
1681. The city of Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by Penn. He also found two
other called the colony of Delaware and New Jersey.
Carolina:
Eight
noblemen called proprietors were given the territory south of Virginia in 1663
by King Charles II. This settlement was
called Carolina. Later it was divided into two as North and South Carolina.
Georgia:
The
youngest of the thirteen colonies was founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe, the
humanitarian. He got the lands between Carolina and Florida to settle the poor
debtors who were in the prisons in England.
Other
colonies:
In 1670, prince Rupert
got a large province in Canada. Apart from this, colonies were made in West
Indian Islands, Barbados and the Island of St.Kith and Nevis. In 1655 the
Island of Jamaica was made a British colony by Admiral Penn.
Trade
with Africa & India:
Through
the trade with Africa, England established her power in south Africa. Gold and
slaves of West Africa attracted England and through the Royal African Company,
England brought home ivory, gold and dyeing materials. They also shared in this
slave trade with America.
By the
Royal charter given to the East India company by Queen Elizabeth in 1600,trade
with India was started in 1609 and factories were set up in Madras, Surat and
Calcutta.
Other
territories:
The
Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 made England the possessor of territories in all
parts of the world. They got possessor of Gibraltar, Minorca, India, Island of
St.Helena and many of the West Indian Islands.
Conclusion:
Thus
during the Stuart age, by the hard work of the English adventurers, colonies
were made in America, West Indian Islands and trade centers were established in
south Africa and India.
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