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Chapter 5 : The 13 English Colonies |
The English founded their first permanent colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. The early settlers suffered many hardships. The colony began to flourish, however, after John Rolfe introduced tobacco growing in 1612. In 1619 the first Africans came to Virginia, arriving as indentured servants. That same year the colonists created the House of Burgesses and elected their own representatives to this lawmaking body.
In 1620 Separatists fleeing religious persecution in England founded the colony of Plymouth, in what today is Massachusetts. The Separatists, also known as Pilgrims, signed the Mayflower Compact. This document outlined a system of self-government for the colony. Plymouth Colony grew slowly at first. After the king formally granted a charter to the Massachusetts Bay Company, however, more settlers began arriving. Expanding population and religious intolerance in Massachusetts led to the founding of Rhode Island and Connecticut.
By 1733, thirteen English colonies lined the Atlantic coast, forming three regions-New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. Individual proprietors from England founded the Middle and Southern colonies under land grants from the king. The Southern Colonies included Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia. The Middle Colonies took in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York.
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