mcgraw hill, chapter 2 summery

CHAPTER 2
Transplantations and Borderlands

CHAPTER SUMMARY
During the seventeenth century, many separate colonies were established in British North
America. Before 1660 most of these colonies were private ventures chartered by the crown.
These colonies were peopled largely by English Europeans, many of whom migrated across the
Atlantic Ocean in search of greater opportunity, be it economic, religious, or social. After 1660
what were called proprietary colonies became the norm. Charters granted by the crown indicated
a closer tie between the “owners” of the colony and the reigning monarch. By the 1680s England
had established an unbroken string of colonies stretching from Canada to the Savannah River and
extending into the West Indies. Colonial expansion intensified the contact and conflict with
natives. Despite a considerable and mutual exchange of information and goods, the colonists’
ceaseless desire for land led to a deterioration in relations with natives. Gradually, time and
distance influenced the attitudes of colonists, who began to perceive themselves as a hybrid
breed of both Old World English and New World Americans. As the colonies matured, the
inhabitants began to exhibit a desire to control their own local affairs and interests that eventually
would come to trouble the British Empire. It would also contribute to decisions by officials in
London to tighten control over their increasingly independent-minded, not to mention
increasingly valuable, possessions in the New World.

OBJECTIVES
A thorough study of Chapter 2 should enable the student to understand:

1. The characteristics and individual distinctions of English colonies, starting with Jamestown,
in terms of objectives, types of settlers, early problems, and reasons for success

2. How the lives of the European colonists and Native Americans were shaped and transformed
by the exchanges of technology and goods in battle and agriculture

3. The causes, consequences, and significance of Bacon’s Rebellion

4. The nature of the English colonies in the Caribbean and the differences between those
colonies and the English settlements in North America from the Chesapeake region
southward

5. The formation of the Massachusetts Bay colony and the ideas of its Puritan founders

6. The conditions in Puritan Massachusetts that spawned such dissenters as Roger Williams,
Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker

7. The expansion of the original coastal settlements and the influence of the New World frontier
on the colonists

8. The Dutch efforts to establish a colony and the reasons for their failure

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9. The reasons for the founding of each of the original thirteen colonies, and signs of
differences between northern and southern colonies

10. The nature of the English imperial reorganization at the end of the seventeenth century and
its consequences for colonial America

11. The effect of the “Glorious Revolution” on the development of the American colonies

MAIN THEMES
1. The origins and objectives of England’s first settlements in the New World

2. How and why the English colonies differed from one another in purpose and administration

3. Why colonial attitudes and technology led to their rapid exploitation of natives

4. The problems that arose as the English colonies matured and expanded, and how the
colonists attempted to solve them

5. The impact that events—and decisions—in England had on the development of the colonies
of British North America

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION
1. How did the Virginia colony evolve between 1607 and 1625? What was the impact of New
World conditions on English goals and expectations? How did the Virginia colonists adapt to
American circumstances, and what sort of society emerged as a result?

2. To what degree did early colonists owe their survival to natives? What farming techniques
did colonists adopt from natives? What was the value of corn to colonists? What advantages
did the Indian canoe have over English boats in hunting and fishing?

3. What do the causes of Bacon’s Rebellion suggest about life in colonial Virginia as of the
1670s? What type of Virginian saw Bacon as a hero? To whom was he considered a traitor?
What impact did the rebellion have on Virginia politics and slavery?

4. How did the goals of those who settled in Massachusetts Bay differ from those of the
Virginia colonists? How and why did these goals change during the first half-century of the
Massachusetts Bay colony? How did conditions in both Massachusetts and Virginia affect
their respective goals and ultimate social organizations? How did opponents of change in
Massachusetts deal with those changes that did occur?

5. In what ways did England apply the principles of mercantilism to its North American and
West Indian colonies? Were there any critical differences in execution and/or enforcement of
imperial policy? How did the various colonial interests respond to British mercantile
policies?

6. Why did England begin to view Massachusetts as a troublemaker (if not an outright enemy)
after about 1660? Why did the people of Massachusetts Bay hold similar opinions of
England? Explain the evolution of British imperial policy toward Puritan New England

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between 1660 and the end of the seventeenth century. How did the Puritans respond to the
various efforts to control them?

7. Compare and contrast the various “revolts” and protests that took place in many colonies
during the seventeenth century. What internal divisions within individual colonies helped
spark these outbursts? Were these outbursts more the result of internal tensions than of
external efforts to control these colonies?

8. How had the technology of war affected relations between English colonists and Native
Americans by the 1670s? What characteristics of the flintlock rifle led to its being used by
both colonists and natives? What other military technologies were adopted by one side or the
other?

9. Identify the “utopian” notions and/or schemes that seemed to motivate many colonists.
Compare and contrast those colonies that were founded by utopian dreamers. Also compare
the utopian colonies with those not founded on such a basis. Explain the reasons behind the
success and failure of various types of utopian colonies, as well as the success and failure of
utopian versus nonutopian colonies.

MAP EXERCISES
1. Identify the Chesapeake Bay colonies and their neighbors.

2. Locate the major settlements and the proprietary grants located in and near the Chesapeake
Bay colonies.

3. Locate the major rivers and other geographic features of the Chesapeake Bay–Albemarle
Sound region.

4. Identify the colonial grants to Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, Hartford, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, and Maine.

5. Locate the major settlements in these colonies and note the dates they were founded.

6. Identify the major geographic features of New England: the rivers, lakes, bays, capes, and
coastal islands.

7. Locate the Mason and Gorges grants and the grant to the Duke of York.

INTERPRETATIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON MAPS AND TEXT
1. Note the pattern of settlement in the Chesapeake region and in New England. What
geographic features contributed to the placement of these settlements? Why did these
geographic features make a difference to early settlers?

2. Become familiar with the terms “coastal plain,” “fall line,” and “piedmont.” Determine
which of the settlements were in the coastal plain, which were in the piedmont, and which
were along the fall line. How did the location of these settlements influence their economic
growth? How did this shape the kinds of societies that developed there?

3. Note the dates these settlements were established. What conclusions about the evolution of

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the settlements can you draw from these dates? (Consider political events as well as
geographic conditions.)

4. Many of the settlements on the Chesapeake map are forts. What geographic features helped
determine where forts were placed? Note the location of Jamestown and St. Mary’s. Judging
from the map, what geographic features helped determine their locations? How did these
locations differ, and which seemed to be the best for settlement?

5. Note the location of Boston, Providence, Hartford, and New Haven on the New England
map. What geographic features helped determine their locations? How did these features help
shape the local economy of these settlements?

6. Massachusetts Bay was, or at least attempted to be, the dominant force in New England. How
did that colony’s land claims and expansion contribute to this position? How did the location
of new colonies check the influence of Massachusetts Bay?

7. Virginia claimed land on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. Apart from additional territory,
what advantage was ownership of this land to Virginia? What disadvantage might this be to
Maryland and even to Pennsylvania?

LIBRARY EXERCISES
The following exercises will require students to consult a historical atlas and other sources found
in most college libraries. Using these library resources and the text, they should be able to
answer the following:

1. During the period being studied, the Chesapeake region developed no major towns, whereas
New England did. What geographic factors contributed to this difference? Where were the
major trading centers of the Chesapeake? What factors, geographic and otherwise, caused
them to develop?

2. One of the most striking features of the map of colonial Virginia in the text is the Fairfax
Proprietary—a grant of some 5 million acres held by Lord Thomas Fairfax. Note the absence
of settlements in this area. Research the origins of this grant and speculate on how a
proprietary government might have discouraged settlement, or at least have made settlement
outside the proprietary grant more appealing.

3. After the Stuart Restoration, Charles II issued charters for four new colonies, all of which
were proprietary. What impact did this have on the settlement pattern of British North
America? Note where these colonies were located and explain how their settlement made for
a more unified colonial system and one that might be more responsible to the king.

ESSAY QUESTIONS
These questions are based on the preceding map exercises. They are designed to test students’
knowledge of the geography of the area discussed in this chapter and of its historical
development. Careful reading of the text will help students answer these questions.

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