HIST 105 1 21 14 Collisions of Empires Tsenacommacah and Virginia The New World untrue term I The Old World of England a England was not the powerhouse of the time Spain and China ahead of them England actually arguably least powerful at the time b English government lacked resources to lead ventures to Americas so private enterprises were responsible for colonization c Crisis factors 1 Time of immense population growth in England because of increased food supply from America but not enough land available to sustain 2 Period of immense inflation growth labor force grew so wages decreased 3 Lots of poverty and starvation 4 Enclosure Movement walls fences and hedgerows began to appear throughout 1500 s Aristocratic landlords used them to privatize lands previously held in common by peasant tenants hundreds of thousands were evicted causing disarray disorder and mass poverty 5 All landlords flood sheep market aren t making money because it becomes landlords problem 6 Strolling Poor and Sturdy Beggars 7 Crime rate sky rocketed II Turning Back the Clock Utopian Schemes on the North American Scene a Modernization transition from a subsistence based agricultural economy to market capitalism b Utopia book by Sir Thomas More set in New World as a solution to crisis use of fiction to mask criticism of both modernization and England s powerful aristocrats religious critique 1 Wealth centered in very few people is very un Christian if you are focused on wealth you are not performing your Christian duties 2 Divest yourself of what you own give to the needy 3 More is not necessarily advocating the creation of a Utopia because utopias are not achievable 4 Humor used to avoid being convicted of treason you cannot openly advocate for political change c Religious communalism Go and sell what thou hast and give the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven d Sturdy Beggars sent to America drain England want to use America to recapture an older hierarchal feudal system that was failing in England but not forward thinking III The Protestant Reformation 1 Violence of the Protestant Reformation Protestants complain that Catholic Church was a corrupt institution and protested the huge gap between the Divine and ordinary believers Catholics accuse Protestants of heresy and rebellion against the Pope s divine authority Christian War 2 Martin Luther one of the first outspoken critics of the Catholic Church many many followed 3 King Henry VIII England initiated England s Protestant Reformation by demanding a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon Spain and issuing the Act of Supremacy which dissolved Catholic authority in England 4 Act of Supremacy voice of the Catholic Church is not important in England in place Anglican Church of which the King is the head of the king confiscated all Catholic Church s land in England and gave to his loyal nobles 5 Thomas More devoted Catholic executed for crime of treason and not accepting Anglican Church 6 Spanish attempts to invade England and re establish Catholic authority English defeat the Spanish Armada 1588 7 English Protestant to be English was to be Protestant saw themselves as in perpetual war against Catholicism war takes place in grander Atlantic context as these forces began to colonize New World IV I also am a king and this is my land 1 Spain claimed the entire Western Hemisphere 2 England snuck in with small English Outposts stumble upon Virginia after many attempts a Get rich quick scheme not a permanent plan originally plunder Catholic ships b Establish Jamestown on James River in Virginia called virgin land but even John Smith recognized dozens of Native Tribes already there c English call Virginia as fresh pure uninhabited d Natives call it Tsenacommacah as lots of people e Chief Powhatan prior to English arrival had been constructing a confederacy that controlled much of Eastern Virginia and acquired allegiance from surrounding areas including English colony Jamestown as simply one town among many dominated saw Jamestown as opportunity for a particularly valuable dependent village in his network so didn t fight English off f English find themselves quickly overwhelmed and dominated by the people they expected to dominate governor of Jamestown arranges for coronation of Powhatan as servant to King James I so Powhatan would submit to foreign authority g Pocahontas saves John Smith s life because of love English saw it as theatre to signify that English owe their life to Powhatan and are part of the Confederacy 1 23 14 Plantation Economy and the Transformation of Virginia I A Sinke to Drayen England of her Filth and Scum 1 Jamestown origin as joint stock company designed to extract resources from Virginia English subjects given opportunity to invest in company that will later turn a profit 2 English who picked the location chose terribly swampland disease dysentery no food Powhatan attacks colonists used technology to force assistance and demand food from Powhatan who pretended to trade and then drew weapons and massacred 1622 3 First generation did not succeed cannibalism by settlers no evidence of natives engaging eating rats and boiled leather many died 20 of 1 st 10 000 arrivals survived first year 4 Arrivals were unaccustomed to labor who came to Virginia to get rich quick including Gentlemen of Adventure 2nd born of English Noblemen and Strolling Poor who had no option President of Virginia Company even acknowledged the disastrous effect of the enterprise 5 John Smith arrives and tries to get the colony in shape through government and work but is very quickly booted out II Tobacco the Evil Weed 1 17th century indenture designed to import laborers under head right system granted land to planters who brought laborers as well as those indentures who survived servitude 2 Head right System offered any individual who moved to Virginia 50 acres of private property and 50 acres per each servant brought with them took land from the Natives 3 Indentured servant agreed to labor for a master for 4 years and then given freedom due of 50 acres of land and tools 4 Incentivized production of tobacco which for the first time put the colony in the profit zone some successfully made rich but most were very very poor indentured servants who were overworked before they died of Indian attacks malnourishment and disease 5 There was a war being fought in England over the pros and cons of tobacco at the time but there was too much profit from tobacco to outlaw it 6