Rejects & Revolutionaries (American History Podcast): Recent Episodes
Sarah Tanksalvala
An audio-only version of my presentation at the 2022 Intelligent Speech Conference. For video, click here!
In this presentation, I took a step back to explore the process of settling a new colony, a big-picture discussion of the colonies we've discussed through the lens of 20th Century research on settlement requirements and dynamics. It should surprise no one that a huge factor in success vs. failure deals with psychology and settler mental health, but it is an angle that's been oft overlooked in those early histories.
The story of Carolina's second settlement attempt was the type of failure we've frequently discussed, but it was also a failure for a new era. English proprietors got distracted, severe supply shortages emerged, and conflict with indigenous tribes ultimately caused the colony to collapse. But, colonists knew what to do, they forcefully made their feelings known, and they were led by people sympathetic to their plight. This meant that a story which, 20 years before, would have left the colonists either dead or destitute, ended with most able to move on with their lives.
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Carolina was a colony for a new era. The Jacobean settlements of Virginia, Bermuda and Plymouth had been tiny, struggling outposts in a very New World. The colonies formed under Charles I (the rest of New England, Barbados, Maryland and others) had been defined by the political and religious turbulence of his reign. Now, a revolution had come and gone, an empire had been born, and it was time for the next era of English colonial expansion. Because of all of this, settling Carolina would look dramatically different than colonial history that had come before. As we start discussing Carolina, we take a quick look at what some of those differences were.
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Henry Morgan's privateering exploits had turned to full on piracy by the time he attacked Maracaibo and, especially, Panama City. Still, he enjoyed the support of the island's population and leadership, and the money he brought to the colony facilitated its transformation into one of England's wealthiest colonies.
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After the Willoughby brothers, the king imposed governors in Barbados who he expected to be loyal to him instead of the colony. The first two backfired in dramatically different ways, one siding with the colonists, and the other descending into embarrasing levels of tyranny and corruption.
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Neither the king nor Barbados was willing to budge over the financial issues surrounding the Second Anglo-Dutch War, and what ensued was the biggest showdown between king and colony in American history.
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Henry Morgan's piratical exploits during the Second Anglo-Dutch War took him into combat not with England's allies, but rather against the Spanish of Cuba and Panama.
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Barbados would never really recover from the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Compared to islands like St. Kitts, it had gotten through the conflict without too much damage, but it had still funded and fought a full theater of war almost alone, and when the war was over, the demands and impositions (not least, the Navigation Acts finally being fully enforced) just kept coming.
This pushed the colony to the point of irreconcilable hostility to England, its king, and its governor. Colonists united and demanded self rule and free trade.
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The First Anglo-Dutch War hit Barbados hard. After a 10 hour battle expended all their ammunition, colonists and king bickered over who should be responsible for buying more. Ultimately, the compromise was to put off the issue by loaning the king the money, and for two years, Barbados defended England's Caribbean holdings, spending 100,000 pounds, recruiting thousands of soldiers, facing severe food shortages, and ultimately losing its governor in a hurricane. It would never recover. Find transcripts and more at my website Support me on Patreon!
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If you enjoy this show, would you please rate/review on whatever podcast app you use? Thank you! As Jamaica limped along after the Western Design, escaped slaves maintained their own colony in the island's central mountains, and pirates controlled Port Royal. From 1661-64, Jamaica had a series of governors, one of whom lasted only 10 weeks in the role. Modiford's defeat in Barbados, though, sent him to Jamaica and in Jamaica he began to make his mark. He quashed all democratic governance in the colony, helped organize the privateers and established valuable crops on the island.
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When the Restoration happened, Barbados requested to be made a crown colony, thinking its rights would be better protected. In return for giving up his proprietary rights, Willoughby was made Barbados's first royal governor. Suddenly, Barbadians were faced with the first real imposition to their self-government in well over a decade, and the conflict frustrated both Willoughby and the colonists. Meanwhile, an illegal slave deal with the Spanish ultimately gives Barbados the right to sell slaves to other countries.
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Charles II kept a stronger Parliament within England than his father could have imagined, and he expanded the Navigation Acts, kept the policy of transportation, and pushed the slave trade. When news of the new king's planned policies reached Virginia, Berkeley rushed to ask that they be revoked or modified to avoid crushing his colony.
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A political fight in Maryland highlights the colony's new state of affairs - Lord Baltimore may own the colony, but he has virtually no power there. Find transcripts and more on the website
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After the Restoration prompted a bloody revolt by Thomas Venner's Fifth Monarchist group in London, Charles II cast a wary eye on New England. Meanwhile, regicides Whalley and Goffe had escaped punishment in England to make their home in Massachusetts. The fallout would lead to the end of New Haven as a colony.
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A quick recap of everything that's changed in America during the period of the English Civil Wars and Interregnum/Commonwealth, as well as problems colonists are facing going into the reign of King Charles II. By the way, I've got a patreon (for ongoing support) and Buy Me a Coffee (easier for one-time donations) now, so if you're interested in helping support the show, the links are below!
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In the final episode of our English Civil War series, we discuss the Restoration. After Cromwell died, there was chaos that could have erupted in yet another round of war. Instead, though, the return of Charles II to the throne of England occurred without bloodshed, which only intensified the excitement over his return.
With the exception of most New England colonies, to, colonists were overjoyed to see the return of the king. With the Restoration, they could hope to reverse the hated Navigation Act, reclaim some of their autonomy, and once again enjoy the benefits of free trade.
While New England's comfort generally increased in the Cromwell years, Rhode Island suffered from a lagging economy, political divisions and even issues with religious dissidents who worked to destabilize the already unstable colony. Plymouth's prosperity also waned as trade came to dominate the New England economy.
And in the United Colonies, the issue of infant baptism continued to create problems. In response to the limits of Church-membership exclusivity (including but not limited to infant baptism), younger people were either losing interest in religion or turning to more radical Puritan sects, like the Baptists. Baptists, who advocated for no infant baptism at all, rather than simply limited infant baptism, grew more numerous and popular throughout New England. Their ideology evened the social/political playing field as well as providing a simple solution to religious questions.
In response to these trends in New England religious life, United Colony Churches (with some exceptions) adopted the Half-Way Covenant.
Cromwell decides in favor of Baltimore's proprietorship in Maryland, Virginia works to subvert English puritan leadership and reinstall a royalist government, Bermuda has its first slave revolt, and Barbados foreshadows Revolutionary War sentiments by opposing taxation without representation.
The Western Design was supposed to be England's plan to conquer Spanish America, starting with Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Cartagena (Colombia). Instead, after a disastrous expedition, England had ended up with Jamaica. For a while, owning Jamaica was disastrous in and of itself. Tens of thousands of people died, a huge percent of them Irish victims of transportation.
Former Anne Hutchinson disciple Mary Dyer was the third of four Quakers to be executed in New England. Persecution of Quakers was rampant across the English speaking world, ranging from imprisonment in Suriname to whipping in the Chesapeake to executions in New England. In England, itself, by 1655, they were dubbed the greatest threat left to England's future.
But why?
(This episode is a little bit more inappropriate than most. I wouldn't say it's explicit, exactly, but various instances of public nudity are discussed).
America's history of witch executions started 40 years before the Salem Witch Trials. Its first victim was Connecticut's Alse Young in 1647. Soon, Massachusetts had joined in the practice, as had Bermuda. Devastated Bermuda and legally-dubious Connecticut saw the largest numbers of witch trials in these years, and we examine how that came to be.
Featuring a random elk that bugled outside my window as I was recording.
America's history of witch executions started 40 years before the Salem Witch Trials. Its first victim was Connecticut's Alse Young in 1647. Soon, Massachusetts had joined in the practice, as had Bermuda. Devastated Bermuda and legally-dubious Connecticut saw the largest numbers of witch trials in these years, and we examine how that came to be.
Featuring a random elk that bugled outside my window as I was recording.
A brief history of the Province of Maine, culminating in its takeover by Massachusetts Bay in 1652/3.
A brief history of the Province of Maine, culminating in its takeover by Massachusetts Bay in 1652/3.
England's participation in the Western African trade started very slowly, and the slave trade was explicitly rejected by early English traders to Africa. Still, within 40 years, English participation in the slave trade became common, and England's most valuable colony (Barbados) had shifted to slavery as a labor source.
This episode looks at the history of that trade, as well as nuances of the history of the adoption of slavery in Virginia.
England's participation in the Western African trade started very slowly, and the slave trade was explicitly rejected by early English traders to Africa. Still, within 40 years, English participation in the slave trade became common, and England's most valuable colony (Barbados) had shifted to slavery as a labor source.
This episode looks at the history of that trade, as well as nuances of the history of the adoption of slavery in Virginia.
Bennett and Claiborne had control of Virginia, and two weeks later they went to Maryland to demand it renounce its loyalty to Lord Baltimore. When Marylanders refused, they took over the colony's government. Baltimore ordered his governor to fight to maintain the colony's government (and therefore, its stance of toleration toward Catholics), and this fight culminated in a bloody fight involving nearly 400 colonists. This came to be known as the Battle of the Severn.
England moves to suppress the colonies which declared allegiance to King Charles II over the Commonwealth. The battle reaches its climax in Barbados, with a three month siege and potential battle between armies of thousands.
After suppression, though, it passes the Navigation Act of 1651, declaring that all English colonies must trade only with English ships. With this, the foundations of the British Empire were laid.
The execution of Charles I led to one last wave of war in England and Scotland, dubbed the Third English Civil War, and the English Invasion of Scotland. England's victory left them in control of Scotland, with a military government led by George Monck.
It also led to thousands of POWs being transported to England's American (and African) colonies as unwilling indentured servants. These people would never return to Scotland, but instead form the original group of Scottish settlers in America.
In part one of a two part episode on the British Civil Wars in Scotland, we discuss the early events of the war. The unlikely Royalist conquest of Scotland under James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, and Alasdair MacColla has made Montrose one of the most romanticized figures of Scottish history.
After the surrender of the king, Hamilton (not that one) led the creation of the Engagement Party to ally with the King against Cromwell's Independents, but the movement ended in catastrophe - the Whiggamore Raid kicked them out of power in Scotland, while defeat in England led to POWs being sent to America, as well as the execution of Hamilton and the King.
An overview of the situation in Scotland leading into 1643, with a brief history of the origins of the Ulster Plantation and Scots Irish.
The United Colonies of New England enjoy unprecedented peace and prosperity in the years following Cromwell's rise to power, and Cotton encourages ordinary people that the regicide was part of God's plan to bring about the millennium.
Pardon the roughness of this episode. Still re-getting my sea legs, while adjusting to a new computer and recording space.
And thank you for being patient!
In response to the execution of King Charles I, the colonies of Bermuda, Virginia, Maryland, Newfoundland, Antigua and Barbados declared their allegiance to his uncrowned and exiled heir. In doing so, they declared their separation from the English government. Some even went so far as to arm and defend themselves to defend this separation.
Back in England, the King had surrendered to the Scots at Newcastle, but the victorious Parliamentarians were divided. Presbyterians versus Independents, Parliament versus the Army. Discontent in the countryside turned into unrest, and the failure of either side to successfully negotiate with the King led to round two of war. At the end of this war, Parliament was ready to finalize negotiations, but the Army had other ideas. Pride's Purge settled the question of whether Parliament or the Army would control England's future, and it sealed the King's fate - regicide. Charles I's execution and the establishment of the English Commonwealth would become one of the most pivotal moments in American history.
In the aftermath of the Remonstrance of 1646, two things happen. One, Massachusetts deputies and magistrates stay united long enough to implement watered down versions of some of the reforms the deputies had been pushing for all along.
Second, though, New England set about to declare to the world what the Congregational way to govern a Church was (and by this, I do mean the United Colonies, everyone except Rhode Island). By rejecting both Presbyterianism (which was too hierarchical, and accepted the inclusion of almost anyone as an individual) and the Independents (a movement comprised of a wide variety of denominations, some of which were quite radical, and others quite heretical), New England found itself growing unpopular in England. The possibility existed that Parliament would intervene in the future, so they had to write a document which would show exactly how their ideas worked, and the merits of those ideas. That document became the Cambridge Platform, and it became one of the most important religious documents in American history, and one of the most important documents in American Colonial history.
Also, Massachusetts executes its first woman for witchcraft.
Following the Plundering Time, Maryland needed to re-evaluate its trajectory and the extent to which maintaining its original vision was feasible in the aftermath of the First English Civil War. While the colony worked to stabilize itself internally, Baltimore prepared a rebranding and reset of his colony, replacing Catholic leadership with Puritan, but also implementing a series of measures to ensure continued toleration of religious minorities. The most famous of these was the Toleration Act, which required toleration in the colony on both the personal and governmental levels. Unlike anywhere else in the English speaking world, this toleration would extend to every single Christian who reached Maryland's shores.
In 1645, Parliament abolished the English Book of Common Prayer, and in response, Virginia strengthened its laws requiring ministers to use it. By 1648, tension surrounding the Prayer Book caused two more puritan leaders to be kicked out of Virginia, and this left the rest of the colony's puritans wondering whether they should stay.
In this episode, we look at what happens at the end of the First English War in Bermuda and Barbados. A new colony emerges, and Barbados's neutral days are numbered as the end of war brings threats to the status quo from both sides.
A quick episode back in England, discussing the polarizing experience of war, which drove thousands of new immigrants to the colonies, and also created a seriously different mindset between new colonists and old ones.
The biggest threat yet to Massachusetts Bay autonomy also provoked some of its most ruthless political suppression. But, the colony wins, the deputies and magistrates unite, a new synod of New England Churches is planned, and if anything, the region's status quo is strengthened. Plus, Plymouth's Edward Winslow goes back to England to advocate on Massachusetts's behalf, and becomes increasingly involved in Parliamentary governance.
When Parliament allows Samuel Gorton to appeal decisions made by the Massachusetts General Court, a small group of disgruntled New Englanders gets together to push for reform in Massachusetts, in a way which threatens the autonomy the colony has always valued so much.
Bermuda Presbyterians beg for an anti-Congregationalist governor, and when they get him, retaliation pushes Congregationalists to England, where they become a focal point of the debate between Presbyterians and Independents.
Barbados maintains its neutrality, despite repeated attempts by Parliament to push it to declare its allegiance.
Berkeley returns from England to find the Powhatan War mismanaged. Calvert returns from Virginia to reinstate Maryland's Proprietary government. But ... the last remaining Royalist port, Bristol, falls, an event which spells trouble for all American colonies, not just Royalist ones. Also, Opechancanough is murdered.
Richard Ingle returns to Maryland to lead a revolt which topples Maryland's Catholic leadership, and steals everything they own. Fathers White and Copley return to England as prisoners, and Calvert escapes to Virginia.
Congregationalists seize control of Bermuda's government and Church, imposing an era of oppression of the colony's Royalists/Anglicans and Presbyterians. The Third Anglo-Powhatan War begins, and William Claiborne and Richard Ingle join forces for an attack on Maryland. Plus, we briefly discuss the life of Thomas Rolfe, son of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.
Deputies clash with magistrates and Presbyterians with Congregationalists, resulting in Massachusetts's most heated political battle since 1636, and leading John Winthrop to give his famous "Little Speech on Liberty."
ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm planning to change the name of this podcast, either to "American Origins" or "Rejects & Revolutionaries."
Richard Ingle is arrested for treason in Maryland, Virginia starts kicking out Puritans, Barbados takes a unique approach to avoiding factional conflict, and Barbados colonist James Drax asks the Dutch for help cultivating sugar.
In 1643, the debate between the deputies and the magistrates intensified in Massachusetts, and puritans in both old and New England debated the merits of Presbyterianism and Congregationalism. The fundamental issue underlying both controversies was how far the revolution should go. Should England retain an aristocratic hierarchy, or move toward democracy?
A brief overview of the events leading to civil war in England, plus Americans' initial responses to developments in their home country.
This episode is identical to the last episode, but because I'd uploaded a truncated file the last time, and the file change itself can cause some technical glitches, I'm just re-uploading this as a whole new episode. This one will expire at the end of the month.
An overview of what English America looked like before war started in 1642, including a brief introduction to the foundation of the earliest successful Caribbean colonies.
The final collapse of the Providence Island project, plus reflections on the end of this era of American history, and how Providence Island contributed to the outbreak of the English Civil War.
The civilians drive Butler from Providence Island, but he leaves the abusive Andrew Carter in his place. Parliament is called in England, and the colony faces its second Spanish attack.
In 1637, investor hopes were at an all time high. By 1639, they were slipping further into debt despite their privateers having 300,000 pounds worth of goods from the Spanish. And, the colony was becoming less orderly, despite the concessions they were making to the colonists, and despite sending the best governor yet to the colony. Add in a couple slave revolts, and the Island was for all intents and purposes past the point of no return.
The company rearranged to accommodate colonists and reap the rewards from privateering, but just when they thought things were going great, Providence Island civilians issued an ultimatum. They would leave if the company didn't meet their demands.
Providence Island revived the Elizabethan dream of colonization - chipping away at the Spanish Empire and protecting Protestantism through bold confrontation. After a Spanish attack in 1635, the struggling colony was allowed to engage in privateering, something investors justifiably hoped would save the venture.
It's easy to write off the past as a time of backward thinking and oppressive religious beliefs, but in this episode, we explore the ideological divisions of the Puritan movement a little bit, and see that things aren't quite as simple as that.
Plus, the worsening of problems on Providence Island, faction fighting, needing a reliable commodity, increased fear of the Spanish, and worsening of company debt.
The first years of Providence Island's experience were defined by two familiar problems: factionalism, and economic stagnation. Though they were all puritans who would soon be parliamentarians, colonists in the 1630s were at each other's throats. And, the company wanted economic returns without providing the plan or tools (especially labor) to achieve that. But, they had two new solutions to those problems. For factionalism, they would keep all power concentrated in London. For labor, they would import slaves.
Long story short, my computer broke. I have absolutely no idea what's going on with it, and I'm trying to get it into someone who can repair it. And, when it broke, I lost my Providence Island notes. So, I need to put the series back together, and that's going to take a week or two. I'm sorry!
After going into debt to fund the Seaflower venture, investors decide to outfit a second ship, the Charity. When the Seaflower returns, though, it brings news of a mutiny on the island, led by the colony's minister.
Providence Island was a Caribbean colony founded by the Earl of Warwick, John Pym, Lord Saye-and-Sele, Lord Brooke, and other future Parliamentary leaders. If it's remembered at all in history, it's remembered because the Earl of Clarendon identified it as the place where rebellion against the king was organized (and he wasn't wrong, really).
Plus, it was the first English colony to really embrace slavery. A number of its settlers would go on to become Americans.
And it was a spectacular failure. And, discussing why it failed while places like Saybrook and Virginia succeeded gives us insight into "who Americans are and why," perhaps more than anything we've discussed so far.
Harvey is reinstated as governor, but has a largely failed second term. Wyatt is named as his replacement, but doesn't last long either. Finally, William Berkeley arrives -- and he'll be far from a failure.
One of the most revolutionary acts in 17th Century Virginia history was the ousting of Governor Harvey by the Mathews-Claiborne faction of the Council. Harvey had some successes as governor, and some difficult situations to navigate, but made some decisions which doomed him to ultimate failure.
John Harvey assumes office as governor of Virginia, but finds himself ill-equipped to negotiate the colony's political situation. In England, members of the Virginia Company ask for it to be reconstituted.
Virginia became a crown colony in 1625, just months before Charles I took the throne. This episode discusses the transition, the new issues which would define Virginia history under royal control, and outlines the history of the colony up until John Harvey arrived as governor.
Concluding the story of Maryland's founding, an overview of the known events of 1639-42. Claiborne's agitation, Susquehannoc hostility, Baltimore feuds with the Jesuits and Protestants start to seize political control within the colony.
Maryland finalizes its legal system, ending up with a document which looked remarkably similar to a Bill of Rights. A huge amount of debate preceeded that, though. This episode examines existing primary sources to try to investigate that debate, a huge amount of which revolved around the issue of church rights.
Claiborne and Marylanders battle over Kent Island, Governor Harvey is deposed, and the fight for Kent Island goes to the courts of England. George Evelin helps Calvert take over Kent Island, and the Second General Assembly raises questions of governance.
Maryland settlers establish St. Mary's, meet the local Indians, grow enough corn to trade with New England, and hold their first legislative assembly. They also conflict with William Claiborne, part of a Puritan faction in Virginia dedicated to pushing the conservative, Catholic Marylanders out.
Lord Baltimore gets a charter, but Virginia opposes this, seeing it as an encroachment on their territory. Baltimore stays in London to deal with legal disputes, but the rest of the colonists sail for Maryland. After a long, eventful voyage the colonists arrived at the Chesapeake.
Maryland was founded as a colonial refuge for English Catholics, named after the Catholic Queen of England, Henrietta Maria. So, our discussion of Maryland begins with a discussion of what life was like for 17th Century English Catholics, and how King Charles's wife affected it.
Samuel Gorton was an anarchist who even Roger Williams couldn't tolerate. He threatened to destabilize New England, and the battle over his fate would ultimately lead to Miantonomo's execution.
The magistrates and deputies clash on the institutions of the Standing Council and the negative voice, and a lawsuit by Robert Keayne over Goody Sherman's sow plays a key role in this. The deputies represent democracy, and the magistrates aristocracy.
Nathaniel Wards Body of Liberties is finally adopted, and Massachusetts sends the Welde-Peters mission to England to advocate for the colony, and agitate for Parliament.
The king demands the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter, and colonists refuse to send it. Then, the trial of wealthy merchant Robert Keayne helps set the colony's political and economic path.
The Tripartite Treaty, or Treaty of Hartford, ended the Pequot War, but established a post-war order which caused conflict between Massachusetts, Connecticut, the Mohegans and the Narragansetts.
After the Block Island Raid, the Pequots laid siege to Saybrook, and both sides prepared for war. After the Pequots attacked Wethersfield, Connecticut, the English declared war. A small force snuck into the heart of Pequot territory for a surprise attack on the largest Pequot fort, Mystic. They burned it, killed all its inhabitants, and won the war in a single hour.
At the same time as the Antinomian Controversy raged, war broke out with the Pequots. In 1637, the Pequots were a tribe on the decline, but thanks to misinformation, still terrifying to the English. After the murder of John Oldham, Massachusetts sent John Endicott on a retaliatory raid. This raid led to war.
Four days after clergy held a synod to determine theological truths, the Court decided to eliminate the heresy by any means necessary. Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson were convicted of sedition and banished after long, heated trials, and their supporters were given the choice between recanting and banishment. Under increasing scrutiny, and faced with a complete lack of control of the movement, Cotton finally turned against it.
Political maneuvering and outright hostility turned a Bostonian theological movement into the basis of a colony-wide controversy.
Also known as the Free Grace Controversy, this dispute pitted John Winthrop and most non-Boston leadership against Anne Hutchinson, Henry Vane and John Wheelwright (supported by John Cotton). It was a battle for the theological and political heart of the colony.
As the king prepared to fully take over Massachusetts, the colonists first dabbled with the idea of independence. Meanwhile, a new group of settlers arrived with a patent to colonize an area of Connecticut. A second group left Massachusetts for Connecticut after clashes with John Cotton, and Roger Williams was exiled, and spent the winter with the Narragansetts before founding Providence, Rhode Island. The beginnings of trade were also emerging.
When Archbishop Laud investigated Massachusetts's activities, he learned that the charter had been taken to America, and prepared to take over the colony. With the looming threat, the colony worked hard to keep its citizens from provoking a confrontation with the king. It was in this atmosphere that John Endicott cut the St. George Cross from Salem's royal standard. In addition, as French, Dutch, Plymouth and Massachusetts settlers competed for land, a series of territorial disputes took place.
1633 was the year that the problems which would plague the Bay Colony emerged. Theological and governmental debate, threats from rival colonial powers, and an Indian attack all preoccupied colonists' minds - while from England, the colony's opponents attacked its charter.
1631-32 was a time of relative calm and optimism for Puritans in England, so emigration to the New World slowed down. Colonists were able to spend the two years building an autonomous commonwealth, making peace with the Indians, and solidifying their claims against people with rival colonial ambitions.
In 1630, 1500 English colonists flooded Massachusetts Bay. For the most part, they came as affluent, middle class families with urban backgrounds. They brought tons of provisions, and set about building multiple towns, and setting up a self-governing colony.
Just a quick heads up that I won't be releasing an episode this week, in case you missed the facebook/twitter announcement. Next week, though, will be a big episode!
Before Massachusetts Bay Company plans were finalized, John Endicott sailed to Naumkeag to relieve a group of colonists already there, and pave the way for the mass migration being planned. A year later, he'd gotten some reinforcements, established a church and made progress building and planting. Two years after Endicott landed, the company's charter had been finalized, granting Massachusetts Bay unprecedented legal rights and autonomy.
An overview of the political climate which led to the Great Migration, and which would ultimately lead to the English Civil War.
As Plymouth started to stabilize, the Merchant Adventurers in London sent a radical Puritan minister to take spiritual control of the colony. It became the biggest fight the Pilgrims had yet faced, damaging their finances and resulting in the exile of the minister and his closest ally. The last episode of the Plymouth series.
The Pilgrims had no sooner repaired relations with Massasoit that problems arose with the Massachusetts. Weston's men had settled at a place called Wessagusset, and had no food for the winter. They were starving, and the Massachusetts were opposed to English presence in the region. They were planning to wipe out both Wessagusset and Plymouth.
The year after the first Thanksgiving brought an unraveling of everything the Pilgrims had been working to build. Plenty was replaced by poverty, relations with the Poconoquet started to break down, and strangers threatened the religious mission of the colony.
In the months after meeting Massasoit, growing corn and building relations with the Indians were the two highest priorities. And, a year after their departure from England, they seemed to have done both with a great degree of success.
The Pilgrims look for a settlement location, the first baby is born in New England, and after a long, hard winter, they meet a Native American person who tells them more about the region of Patuxet.
Getting to America was no easy task, and by the time they set sail they were already in a precarious situation. They'd gone through or been forced to sell nearly half their food, lost a lot of their money, and were being financed by investors who themselves had virtually nothing. They left, though, and 66 days later reached the shores of New England. Outside their patent, they signed the Mayflower Compact, elected a new governor, started a New England tradition and began to explore Cape Cod.
For 200 years, Plymouth was referred to as the Brownist Emigration. Brownism was both a form of severe political agitation, and escape from troubled surroundings. It was both enthusiastic, and bitter. But, when the king wanted to put a halt to separatist thought, a group of Puritan Separatists decided to go to Leiden, and from there, to North America.
After the death of Cecil and Prince Henry, three factions emerged in the Virginia Company. Smythe's businessmen, Sandys's Rebel MPs and Warwick's War Party vied for control of England's New World colonies. When Sandys won, Virginia became deeply linked to the fight between King and Parliament.
In 1606, Bartholomew Gosnold and Gabriel Archer led a big new attempt to set up an English New World Colony. Robert Cecil immediately began to interfere and sabotage the company. The Spanish watched, trying to decide whether or not to attack. Finally, a document by John Smith popularized the idea, and led the way for a massive new expedition, whose flagship was the Sea Venture.
On March 22, 1622, Powhatan warriors killed 25% of Virginia's population and forced the survivors to flee to one of six remaining settlement sites. They starved, and war resumed. This time, though, the Powhatan were vanquished, and Virginia was made a royal colony. The final episode of the Jamestown series, ends with discussion of everyday life in 17th century Virginia.
The kidnapping of Pocahontas ended 5 years of Powhatan-English attrition and cemented the defeat of Wahunsenaca. Then, with Dale replaced as governor, Jamestown was able to thrive with the end of martial law and the creation of a new legislative assembly. In the penultimate episode of the Jamestown series, Virginia had finally begun to thrive. It was the first American boomtown.
Jamestown couldn't survive forever as an underfunded outpost full of people fighting over control of a wooden fort. When Lord Delaware came, he turned Jamestown into a military camp, with martial law. Thomas Dale expanded on his reforms, and soon Jamestown was struggling again - this time under the weight of tyranny and Powhatan war.
The Sea Venture crashed in Bermuda, and over the course of 10 months its passengers built homemade ships big enough to get them to Jamestown. When they reached Virginia, they found most of the people dead of starvation, and the survivors having resorted to cannibalism to survive. When they saw they only had 13 days of food left, they had a decision to make.
Caught between hostile Powhatan and divided settlers, John Smith fought to keep Jamestown from falling apart. Then, seven ships came with dozens of settlers, no supplies and ambiguous instructions from London. Smith saw himself as the only person who could keep Virginia together, but he became the first casualty of its impending collapse.
Newport arrived just in time to prevent Smith from being hanged, but the two clashed strongly over how to run the colony. Over the course of a year, irreparable damage was done to Jamestown, and though Smith was elected president, and the London Company followed his recommendations, it was too late to prevent disaster.
When Newport left, Jamestown fell into chaos. One man was executed, and another's connections to the Gunpowder Plot revealed. John Smith took control, first getting food, then exploring, then meeting Pocahontas as a prisoner of the Powhatan.
When the first settlers arrived in Virginia, it seemed like paradise. They met the local peoples, explored the lush forests, and selected a settlement location. Unfortunately, they'd spent too long at sea and used their provisions, and some of the settlers clearly weren't who they said they were.
Roanoke was a key moment in England's colonization of the New World, the first real attempt at establishing a settlement. It's a perfect insight into what made settlements fail - bad communication, bad timing, expense. Of course, it's also known for its mystery, so I've selected what I think are the top three pieces of evidence of what happened to the colonists.
Henry VIII had created extraordinary social upheaval, and it was up to his successors to manage the situation as peacefully as possible. Elizabeth I and James I/VII both managed to do that. Still, some people didn't fit into England's new "normal," either being pushed out economically, or holding values that clashed with their solutions.
The early years of Tudor reign saw unprecedented changes in English society. The aftermath of Henry VIII's reforms would ultimately drive people to America, and the social fragmentation he encouraged would lead to American regional differences, even much later.
Hopefully we'll be spending a fair amount of time together, so here's a quick introduction to me and what you can expect from the podcast.