Coming to America: Portrait of Colonial Life: Introduction of Slavery in Colonial America
For most of the 17th century, the number of slaves in the American colonies is quite small. Indentured servants and the settlers themselves handle most of the colonies' labor needs. The transition to slave labor in the Chesapeake is the result of ec...
Coming to America: Portrait of Colonial Life: Upsurge in Immigration
In addition to the large influx of African slaves in the early 18th century, there is an upsurge in the number of German and Scotch Irish Protestants who immigrate. Their economic potential is restricted in their home countries, in part because of t...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: England Revises Approach to Colonization and Establishes Royal Colony of Virginia
England and its Virginia Company surrogate take steps to revise their approach to colonization yet again. They increase incentives for families willing to migrate, attempt to attract merchants rather than aristocrats, and develop agricultural produc...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: Roanoke, the First English Colony
The English use the "black legend of Spanish conquest" as the moral justification for their incursions into the Western Hemisphere. Sir Walter Raleigh, supported by Queen Elizabeth, selects Roanoke as his base of operations. It is a location that is...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: France and the Netherlands Attempt to Establish Presence in North America
In the 16th century a pirate base established by the French on the Florida coast irritates the powerful Spanish. They quickly dispatch an expedition to seize control of the region and establish a fort at St. Augustine. The French then turn their att...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: Indentured Servitude
The majority of colonists who immigrate to the Chesapeake in the 17th century pay for their passage by working as indentured servants for a specified number of years. Initially men outnumber women six to one, so willing are they to take the gamble t...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: Lost Colony of Roanoke, The
Over 100 men, women, and children leave for Roanoke in 1587 to establish the family-centered colony Raleigh envisions. The commander of the expedition John White returns to England for more supplies and families. He plans to return in a few months b...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: Social and Economic Status of England in the 16th Century, The
England in the 16th century is a country caught in a web of social and economic upheaval. Battles with its European neighbors, religious clashes at home, and the dual curse of unemployment and unbridled population growth persuade the country's leade...
From Days Before Time: Early Europeans Look Westward
In the early 15th century, Europe is a patchwork of small kingdoms and principalities in competition with powerful Moslem nations. Enterprising mariners seeking to establish trade with Asia look for routes that will avoid potential conflict with the...
From Days Before Time: Impact of Spanish Colonization on Native Populations
Two centuries of conflict leave its mark on both Native American and Spanish cultures. The Indian population is ravaged not only by warfare and enslavement, but also by diseases introduced with the arrival of Europeans. Europeans also introduce the ...