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First English Settlement In The 18th Century

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During the early exploration through the colonial period in the New World, colonies and settlements supported by France and England created markets for, provided resources for, and extended the royal authority of their respective mother country, bringing social and political ideals of Europe, such as representative government and feudal hierarchies, to the developing American societies as well.
In 1497, the first English claim, Newfoundland, was established in the New World by John Cabot, a Genoese sailor. Jacques Cartier, the first French explorer in the Americas set sail in 1533, exploring the St. Lawrence River, the Hudson River and upper Mississippi River. England was relatively slow at building any permanent settlements, due to the lack …show more content…

Elizabeth I leadership reinvigorated interest in the New World during the 1550s. The sense of English nationalism was stronger, population was on the rise, Spanish rivalry was present, the Anglican church was looking for converts, and the idea of mercantilism fueled investors’ hopes. The failed settlements of Roanoke, often called “the Lost Colony” were the first English attempts at colonizing North America. In 1607, the first permanent English settlement in the New World was founded by the London Company and was dubbed Jamestown in honor of the current monarch. Jamestown went through a starving period during the winter of 1609-1610 in which the population of the small settlement fell drastically due to disease and starvation, eventually leading to some cases of cannibalism. Jamestown later thrived and produced a cash crop, tobacco, drawing investors’ and prospective colonists’ interests to North America and creating an economic boost in the region for years to come. Jamestown became a royal colony in 1624. As people continued to arrive to the Virginia area for economic reasons, other persons were leaving England to pursue areas of “religious freedom”. Those wishing to purify the Anglican Church, known as Puritans, came to the Massachusetts area in 1620, establishing the colony of Plymouth. Most New England colonies were strictly Puritan, thus behaving differently than the southern royal colonies yet claiming the Rights of Englishmen. The French were active in North America around the same time Jamestown was being established. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain led a group up the St. Lawrence river to found Quebec. As New France continued to meet demands, it was official made a royal colony in 1662 by Louis XIV. Through the work of Jacques Marquette in 1673 and Robert de la Salle in 1681, the French extended their royal claims and the King’s royal authority down to the Gulf of Mexico

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