The Colonies 1492-1750

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Title: The Colonies 1492-1750

Author: Reuben Gold Thwaites

Release Date: May 12, 2013 [EBook #42701]

Language: English

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EPOCH MAP I

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BASED UPON GOVERNMENT MAPS

Dark buff represents 2,000 ft. and over.

Epochs of American History

THE COLONIES

1492-1750

BY

REUBEN GOLD THWAITES, LL.D.

EDITOR OF JESUIT RELATIONS, EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS,

ORIGINAL JOURNALS OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITIONS,

ETC. AUTHOR OF FRANCE IN AMERICA, "FATHER

MARQUETTE, DANIEL BOONE, ROCKY

MOUNTAIN EXPLORATION, HISTORIC

WATERWAYS, WISCONSIN," ETC.

WITH FOUR MAPS AND

NUMEROUS BIBLIOGRAPHIES

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK

LONDON, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA

Copyright, 1890,

By Charles J. Mills

.

Copyright, 1897,

By Longmans, Green, and Co.

Copyright, 1910,

By Longmans, Green, and Co.

All rights reserved.

First Edition, December, 1890.

Reprinted, September, 1891, February, 1892, (Revised), January and August, 1893, December, 1893, (Revised), August, 1894, October, 1895, July, 1896, August, 1897, (Revised), November, 1897, July, 1898, July, 1899, April, 1900, January, 1901, October, 1901, August, 1902, November, 1902, October, 1904, September, 1906, May, 1908, June, 1910, (Revised), October, 1911.

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

In

offering to the public a new

History of the United States

,—for such the three volumes of the

Epochs of American History

, taken together, are designed to form,—the aim is not to assemble all the important facts, or to discuss all the important questions that have arisen. There seems to be a place for a series of brief works which shall show the main causes for the foundation of the colonies, for the formation of the Union, and for the triumph of that Union over disintegrating tendencies. To make clear the development of ideas and institutions from epoch to epoch,—this is the aim of the authors and the editor.

Detail has therefore been sacrificed to a more thorough treatment of the broad outlines: events are considered as evidences of tendencies and principles. Recognizing the fact that many readers will wish to go more carefully into narrative and social history, each chapter throughout the Series will be provided with a bibliography, intended to lead, first to the more common and easily accessible books, afterward, through the lists of bibliographies by other hands, to special works and monographs. The reader or teacher will find a select list of books in the Suggestions a few pages below.

The historical geography of the United States has been a much-neglected subject. In this Series, therefore, both physical and political geography will receive special attention. I have prepared four maps for the first volume, and a like number will appear in each subsequent volume. Colonial grants were confused and uncertain; the principle adopted has been to accept the later interpretation of the grants by the English government as settling earlier questions.

To my colleague, Professor Edward Channing, I beg to offer especial thanks for many generous suggestions, both as to the scope of the work and as to details.

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART.

Cambridge

, December 1, 1890.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

Upon

no epoch of American history has so much been written, from every point of view, as upon the Thirteen Colonies. There has, nevertheless, been lacking a book devoted especially to it, compact in form, yet sufficiently comprehensive in scope at once to serve as a text-book for class use and for general reading and reference. The present work is intended to meet that want.

In this book American colonization is considered in the light of general colonization as a phase of history. Englishmen in planting colonies in America brought with them the institutions with which they had been familiar at home: it is shown what these institutions were, and how, in adapting themselves to new conditions of growth, they differed from English models. As prominent among the changed conditions, the physical geography of America and its aboriginal inhabitants receive somewhat extended treatment; and it is sought to explain the important effect these had upon the character of the settlers and the development of the country. The social and economic condition of the people is described, and attention is paid to the political characteristics of the several colonies both in the conduct of their local affairs and in their relations with each other and the mother-country. It is shown that the causes of the Revolution were deep-seated in colonial history. Attention is also called to the fact, generally overlooked, that the thirteen mainland colonies which revolted in 1776 were not all of the English colonial establishments in America.

From Dr. Frederick J. Turner, of the University of Wisconsin, I have had much advice and assistance throughout the prosecution of the work; Dr. Edward Channing, of Harvard College, has kindly revised the proof-sheets and made many valuable suggestions; while Dr. Samuel A. Green, librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society, has generously done similar service on the chapters referring to New England. To all of these gentlemen, each professionally expert in certain branches of the subject, I tender most cordial thanks.

REUBEN GOLD THWAITES.

Madison, Wis.

, December 1, 1890.

PREFACE TO TWENTY-SECOND EDITION.

From

time to time there have been several revisions of the text, so that it has been kept fairly abreast of current investigation. The bibliographies, however, have remained untouched since the tenth edition (August, 1897). The principal change in the present, therefore, consists in the introduction of new and carefully prepared references, which will render the book of greater service to the student than it has been at any time within the past ten years. In this revision, I have had the valuable assistance of Miss Annie A. Nunns.

R. G. THWAITES.

Madison, Wis.

, June 1, 1910.

SUGGESTIONS.

While

this volume is intended to be complete in itself, compression has been necessary in order to make it conform to the series in which it appears. It really is but an outline of the subject, a centre from which to start upon a study of the American colonies. The reader, especially the teacher, who would acquire a fairly complete knowledge of this interesting period of our history, will need to examine many other volumes; from them gaining not only further information, but the point of view of other authors than the present—only in this manner may an historical perspective be obtained. The classified bibliographies, given by the author at the head of each chapter, have been prepared with much care. While perhaps few will desire to follow the topics to the lengths there suggested, it is urged that as many of the other volumes as possible be consulted, particularly those containing source material.

Following is a list of books which, even for a brief study, would be desirable for reference and comparison, or for the preparation of topics:

1-5.

John Andrew Doyle

: English Colonies in America. 5 vols. New York: H. Holt & Co., 1882-1907.—An analytical study, in much detail, by an English author.

6-13.

John Fiske

: Beginnings of New England; The Discovery of America, 2 vols.; Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America, 2 vols.; New France and New England; Old Virginia and her Neighbours, 2 vols. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1897-1902.—The best popular accounts; but while eminently readable and inspiring, not sufficiently thorough at all points, to serve as authoritative studies.

14.

Henry Cabot Lodge

: Short History of the English Colonies in America. New York: Harper Brothers Co., 1881.—Concise and readable.

15-17.

Herbert Levi Osgood

: American Colonies in the 17th Century. 3 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1904-1907.—The most elaborate treatment of this period, from the American point of view.

If a detailed study is intended, the following volumes should be added to the foregoing:

A. Bibliography.

1.

Edward Channing

and

Albert Bushnell Hart

: A Guide to the Study of American History. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1896.—A well-arranged manual for both students and general readers.

2.

Josephus Nelson Larned

: Literature of American History. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1902.—More detailed than the foregoing. Contains critical estimates of many of the works cited, by experts in the several subjects.

B. General.

3-5.

Elroy Mckendree Avery

: A History of the United States and its People from their Earliest Records to the Present Time. 15 vols. Cleveland: Burrows Brothers Co., 1904+.—Volumes I.-III. cover the colonial period. Especially notable for its illustrations—for the most part, reproductions of contemporary views, maps, portraits, and articles of historical interest. The bibliographies are quite full.

6, 7.

Edward Channing

: A History of the United States. 8 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1905+.—A calm, philosophical treatise, written with care and erudition.

8-13. Albert Bushnell Hart, Editor: The American Nation. New York: Harper Brothers Co., 1904-1907.—The latest co-operative history of the United States. Each volume is by an author who specializes in the topic treated. vols. II.-VII. are concerned with the colonial period. The bibliographical chapters are very useful.

14, 15.

Woodrow Wilson

: A History of the American People. 5 vols. New York: Harper Brothers Co., 1902.—Popular and readable, often brilliant. Only vols. I. and II. cover the colonial period.

16-20.

Justin Winsor

: Narrative and Critical History of America. 8 vols. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1889.—A co-operative enterprise, the chapters being by different hands, for the most part specialists. There is a wealth of illustrations, notes, and bibliographical references. But much of the work has been superseded by later publications. vols. I.-V. cover the colonial period.

C. Special Histories.

21, 22.

Philip Alexander Bruce

: Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century. 2 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.—A careful, detailed study.

23.

Philip Alexander Bruce

: Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century. Richmond: Whittet & Shepperson, 1907.—Thorough and clear.

24, 25.

Sydney George Fisher

: Men, Women, and Manners in Colonial Times. 2 vols. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1898.—A readable and useful survey.

26.

Frederick Webb Hodge

: Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1907.—The author, a member of the Ethnological Bureau, is an authority on this subject.

27-38.

Francis Parkman

: France and England in North America. 12 vols. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1851-1892. The titles of volumes comprising this series are: Pioneers of France in the New World; The Jesuits in North America; La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West; The Old Régime in Canada; Count Frontenac and New France; A Half-Century of Conflict, 2 vols.; Montcalm and Wolfe, 2 vols.; The Conspiracy of Pontiac, 2 vols.—In spite of its age, this work remains the principal authority for the thrilling story of New France. A first-hand study, written in fascinating style.

39.

Ellen Churchill Semple

: American History and its Geographic Conditions. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1903.—Of first importance in understanding the causes and effects of the movements of population.

40.

Cyrus Thomas

: The Indians of North America in Historic Times. Philadelphia: G. Barrie & Sons, 1903.—The latest compendious treatment; somewhat repellent in style, but useful for reference. The author is a well-known authority.

41, 42.

William Babcock Weeden

: Economic and Social History of New England, 1620-1789. 2 vols. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1890.—An admirably executed work.

D. Sources.

43, 44.

Albert Bushnell Hart

, Editor: American History Told by Contemporaries. 4 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1897, 1898.—Very useful for purposes of illustration. vols. I., II., are devoted to colonial material.

45-64.

John Franklin Jameson

, Editor: Original Narratives of Early American History. 20 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1906+.—Carefully edited, and indispensable for first-hand study.

65.

William MacDonald

, Editor: Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1898. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1908.—Useful reprints of material otherwise difficult to obtain.

In addition to the above, the publications of colonial and town record commissions and state and local historical and antiquarian societies contain material of the utmost value in the study of our colonial history. Among them may especially be mentioned the volumes issued by the Prince Society, Gorges Society, American Antiquarian Society, and the state historical societies of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia; also the colonial records of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina.

CONTENTS.

EPOCHS OF AMERICAN HISTORY

THE COLONIES.

1492-1750.

CHAPTER I.

THE LAND AND THE NATIVE RACES.

1. References.

Bibliographies.—L. Farrand, Basis of American History, ch. xviii.; J. Larned, Literature of American History, 21-50; J. Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, I., II.; Channing and Hart, Guide, §§ 21, 77-80; C. Lummis, Reading List on Indians.

Historical Maps.—No. 1, this volume (Epoch Maps, No. 1); T. MacCoun, Historical Geography of United States; school histories of Channing, Elson, Gordy, James and Sanford, Mace, McLaughlin, McMaster, and Montgomery.

General Accounts.—Historical significance of geography of the United States: H. Mill, International Geography, ch. xxxix.; F. Ratzel, Vereinigte Staaten, I. ch. ii.; B. Hinsdale, How to Study and Teach History, ch. xiv.; E. Bogart, Economic History of United States, introduction; E. Semple, American History and its Geographic Conditions; A. Brigham, Geographic Influences in American History; W. Scaife, America: its Geographical History.—Topographical descriptions of the country: J. Whitney, United States, I. pt. i.; N. Shaler, United States, I., and Nature and Man in America; Mill, as above; E. Reclus, North America, III.; Hinsdale, as above, ch. xv.—Prehistoric Man in America: L. Morgan, Ancient Society; J. Nadaillac, Prehistoric America; J. Foster, Prehistoric Races; Winsor, as above, I. ch. vi.; E. Avery, United States and its People, I. chs. i., ii.; Farrand, as above, ch. v.—The Indians (or Amerinds): D. Brinton, American Race; C. Thomas, Indians in Historic Times; F. Hodge, Handbook of American Indians; Farrand, as above, chs. vi.-xviii.; Avery, as above, I. ch. xxii.; F. Dellenbaugh, North Americans of Yesterday; S. Drake, Aboriginal Races of America; G. Ellis, Red Man and White Man in North America; G. Grinnell, Story of the Indian. The introduction to F. Parkman, Jesuits in North America, and his Conspiracy of Pontiac, I. ch. i., are admirable general surveys. Briefer, also excellent, is J. Fiske's Discovery of America, I. ch. i. The mound-builders have now been identified as Indians. L. Carr, Mounds of the Mississippi Valley Historically Considered is the best exposition of this subject. C. Thomas, Catalogue of Prehistoric Works East of the Rocky Mountains is useful.

Special Histories.—Larned, History for Ready Reference, I. 83-115, gives brief account and bibliographies of tribes; Farrand, as above, 279-286, does the same by geographical groups. Especially notable are L. Morgan, League of the Iroquois, and C. Colden, Five Indian Nations. For detailed treatment of the aborigines of that section, consult H. Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific Coast, II., and Mexico, I.; J. Palfrey, New England, I. chs. i., ii., describes the Indians in that region; T. Roosevelt, Winning of the West, I. chs. iii., iv., the Southern tribes; and Parkman, Pontiac, the old Northwest tribes. There are numerous biographies of chiefs, and a considerable literature on border warfare.

2. Physical Characteristics of North America.

Origin of the native races,

Whence

came the native races of America? Doubtless the chain of Aleutian islands served as stepping-stones for straggling bands of Asiatics to cross over into continental Alaska many centuries ago; others may have traversed the ice-bridge of Bering's Strait; possibly prehistoric vessels from China, Japan, or the Malay peninsula were blown upon our shores by westerly hurricanes, or drifted hither upon the ocean currents of the Pacific. There are striking similarities between the flora on each shore of the North Pacific; and the Eskimos of North America, like the West-Slope Indians of South America, have been thought to exhibit physical resemblances to the Mongols and Malays. | a mere matter of conjecture. | On the other hand, some archæologists hold that men as far advanced as the present Eskimos followed the retreating ice-cap of the last glacial epoch. In the absence of positive historical evidence, the origin of the native peoples of America is a mere matter of conjecture.

Difficulties of colonization from the west.

North America could not, in a primitive stage of the mechanic arts, have been developed by colonization on any considerable scale from the west, except in the face of difficulties almost insuperable. The Pacific coast of the country is dangerous to approach; steep precipices frequently come down to the shore, and the land everywhere rises rapidly from the sea, until not far inland the broad and mighty wall of the Cordilleran mountain system extends from north to south. That formidable barrier was not scaled by civilized men until modern times, when European settlement had already reached the Mississippi from the east, and science had stepped in to assist the explorers. At San Diego and San Francisco are the only natural harbors, although Puget Sound can be entered from the extreme north, and skilful improvements have in our day made a good harbor at the mouth of Columbia River. The rivers of the Pacific Slope for the most part come noisily tumbling down to the sea over great cliffs and through deep chasms, and cannot be utilized for progress far into the interior.

The Atlantic seaboard the natural approach to North America.

The Atlantic seaboard, upon the other hand, is broad and inviting. The Appalachian range lies for the most part nearly a hundred miles inland. The gently sloping coast abounds in indentations,—safe harbors and generous land-locked bays, into which flow numerous rivers of considerable breadth and depth, by means of which the land can be explored for long distances from tide-water. By ascending the St. Lawrence and the chain of the Great Lakes, the interior of the continent is readily reached. Dragging his craft over any one of a half-dozen easy portages in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio, the canoe traveller can emerge into the Mississippi basin, by means of whose far-stretching waters he is enabled to explore the heart of the New World, from the Alleghanies to the Rockies, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. | The river system. | A carrying trail, at the headwaters of the Missouri, will lead him over to tributaries of the Columbia, whereby he gains access to the Pacific slope; while by another portage of a few miles in length, from Pigeon River to Rainy River, he is given command of the vast basin of Hudson Bay,—a labyrinth of waterways extending northward to the Arctic Ocean, and connected by still other portages with the Pacific. The Hudson River and Lakes George and Champlain form a natural highway from the St. Lawrence southward to the ocean. By the Mohawk and a short carrying-place, the Hudson was from early times connected with the Great Lakes. The Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Roanoke, and other Southern rivers can be traced northwestward to their sources in the mountains; and hard by are the headwaters of west-flowing feeders of the Mississippi. | The Appalachian valley system. | The Appalachian mountains run for the most part in parallel ridges northeast and southwest; and their valley system, opening out through the Cumberland Gap upon the Kentucky prairies and the valleys of the Ohio basin, also affords a comparatively easy highway from the Atlantic sea-coast to the interior.

Thus with the entrance of North America facing the east, and with Europe lying but little more than one half the distance from Boston that Asia lies from San Francisco, it was in the order of things that from the east should have come the people who were to settle and civilize the New World. Colonists could on this side of the continent found new commonwealths, yet at the same time easily maintain their connection with the fatherland. | An inviting field for Aryan colonization. | The march of Aryan emigration has ever been on lines little diverging from due east or west. It is fortunate that the geographical conditions of North America were such as to make her an inviting field for the further migration of the race.

Geographical characteristics of New England;

The Atlantic border may be considered as the threshold of the continent. It was among its dense, gloomy forests of hard wood and pine that European nations planted their colonies; here those colonies grew into States, which were the nucleus of the American Union. The Appalachians are not high enough seriously to affect the climate or landscape of the region. Their flanks slope gradually down to the sea, furrowed by rivers which from the first gave character to the colonies.In New England, where there is an abundance of good harbors, the coast is narrow and the streams are short and rapid, with stretches of navigable water between the waterfalls which turn the wheels of industry for a busy, ingenious, and thrifty people. | and of the South. | The long, broad rivers of the South, flowing lazily through a wide base-plain, the coast of which furnishes but little safe anchorage, served as avenues of traffic for the large, isolated colonial estates strung along their banks; the autocratic planters taking pleasure in having ports of entry at their doors. | Three grand natural divisions of the Atlantic slope. | The Hudson and the Potomac lead far inland,—paths to the water ways of the interior,—and divide the Atlantic slope into three grand natural divisions, the New England, the Middle, and the Southern, in which grew up distinct groups of colonies, having quite a different origin, and for a time but few interests in common. | Extractive industries. | The Appalachian mountains and their foot-hills abound in many places in iron and coal; works for the smelting of the former were erected near Jamestown, Virginia, as early as 1620, and early in the eighteenth century the industry began to be of considerable importance in parts of New England, New York, and New Jersey; but the mining of anthracite coal was not commenced until 1820. | Soil. | The soil of the Atlantic border varies greatly, being much less fertile in the North than in the South; but nearly everywhere it yields good returns for a proper expenditure of labor. | Climate. | The climate is subject to frequent and extreme changes. At about 30° latitude the mean temperature is similar to that on the opposite side of the Atlantic; but farther north the American climate, owing to the divergence of the Gulf Stream and the influence of the great continent to the west, is much colder than at corresponding points in Europe. The rainfall along the coast is everywhere sufficient.

The Mississippi basin.

Beyond the Appalachian mountain wall, the once heavily forested land dips gently to