Monday, September 23, 2013

Thirteen British Colonies: The End Of An Era & The Beginning Of A New One

So France, England and Spain are all competing, albeit in different regions for the most part, for ownership of North & South America.  As you know, England began to lay claim on the Atlantic Coast of North America starting in 1607.  By 1733 all thirteen of her colonies had been established.  Many myths and misinformation are often spread about why these colonies were founded and what life was like for the Europeans who traveled across the ocean to live in them.

For this week's blog, watch this video.  In the comments section, discuss some of the things you thought were true about the original thirteen colonies that maybe you were wrong about after seeing the video?  What did the video teach you that you never knew before watching it?

14 comments:

  1. I learned how obsessed the colonists were with their land. I mean, it was the dividing factor of higher and lower classes. If there was too little land, then the son was sent to find his own land thus adding to his parent’s land in a way which meant more land a subsequently more food and tobacco which meant more money. How much land you had meant how much you food you planted (so, how much you ate and how prepared you were for winter) and how much money you had (more land= more space to plant tobacco to sell to England which equals $). So I can see very clearly why they loved land so much.
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  2. The first thing I learned and thought was quite funny was that New York (which at the time was New Amsterdam) was sold for such a small amount of money! We don't know for sure if it was exactly $24 but it was definately nowhere near as much as it's worth now. Another thing was that the whole religious thing in New England was an epic fail because a bunch of people got in trouble for practicing witch craft. Not exactly what they meant by religious.... The last thing is that he said they don't usually teach the sad or gory stuff in the books. And I can see where they wouldn't want to but, come on. The people need to know these things! I thought about our history book and the things we've learned about vs. the things Mr. Haston has told us and this is so truuuuuuu!!! (141)

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  3. The people of the first thirteen colonies were very land obsessed. I think it is very interesting how New Amsterdam ( New York in later years) was sold for about roughly $24 dollars. Which is also my favorite number. Religious problems were happening during this period of time. Witch craft was a problem during this time because they didn't realize religion was needed. Our history book has had some of the same things covered rather than this video. I think the video helped become more specific. Mr. Haston covers the same inks also. I like this topic. (106)

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  4. I thought that women could own land because when I was little my teachers didn’t really talk a lot about how men were the only ones that could own land. I think this is really mean because what if a man only had a daughter and he died what would happen. Women should have been able to own land they were the ones that worked most of the time. Girls were just as good to own land then guys are but no they had to be mean back then. I am surprised that girls didn’t start a revolution to own land.

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  5. I learned from this blog is that the sold New Amsterdam (New York) was maybe traded for twenty-four dollars. They were very obsessed with their land. If the land was to small the sons had to try to get bigger land. They started shipping Africans over. The sea to work in their land. The women had lots of stuff to do at home. With their kids and works around the house. I really didn't know a lot until this video. I think this was my favorite blog so far. He was really fun to listen to they threw in some games. The best by far. I think it would have been better if he was shocked.(106)

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  6. BEFORE THERE WAS JAMESTOWN AND MASS. THERE WAS NEW AMSTERDAM. NEW AMSTERDAM HAD A COLORFUL AND UNIQUE HISTORY.
    NEW AMSTERDAM BECAME NEW YORK LATER DUE TO THE BRITISH TAKEOVER.
    LATER PENN. BECAME KNOW AS “THE BEST POORMAN’S COUNTRY”. PENN. WAS LARGELY QUAKER WHO WERE AGAINST SLAVERY AND FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
    IN 1737 THERE WAS A MAJOR FRAUD AGAINST THE INDIANS. THE INDIANS AGREED TO LET PENN. HAVE LAND COVERED BY A MAN WALKING FOR 36 HOURS. THE INDIANS WERE FOOLED BY THE QUAKERS HAVING A “RUNNER” RUN FOR 36 HOURS WHICH RESULTED IN 70 MILES OR 1,200,000 ARCES. THIS WAS A CRIME THAT HURT THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE INDIANS.

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  7. I learned a lot from this video that New York cost the colonists twenty four bucks. I found out that the king tried to make some of the colonies in the Northeast one colony called the Domination of England. The English Tolerant Act of 1690 was very important for the protestants, but they were still persecuted. The Salem Witch trials were also very interesting in that fourteen people were killed, but there were one hundred fifty accused. Most of the people in the colonies were small farmers unlike the what I thought. I heard that the colonists had huge plantations, but they didn't. The population of colonists in America was growing so large that they ran out of land. As the population grew the number of artisans increased. Many of America's most remembered people were artisans like Paul Revere who was a silversmith. George Washington's father and grandfather were justices making him an elite person. Many of the people in America were poor debtors escaping from England. In that day women didn't own land. The men would give their land to their sons and personal items to their daughters. Women would mainly stay at home and work and be a mother.
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  8. First, New York or, New Amsterdam, was practically free. Even though it was not sold for exactly 24 dollars, I think the point was that it was really cheap. I never knew that because when I think of New York, I think of the opposite of cheap. Second, I did not know how much an affect Bacon’s rebellion had on how the colonies were formed. In our book, it just had a little bit about the rebellion. In the video he gave two big results from it. How the rebellion affected slavery is big because they didn’t have servants anymore, they had slaves. Last, religion was a huge deal for most of the colonies. Actually a lot of them were formed because of religion. I never knew about the witch craft though. If they were accused of witch craft then they were killed. (144)

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  9. The Quakers tricked the Natives a lot. One reason they tricked Natives was because they were Pacifists. I also didn't realize just how crazy the settlers were about land. They tricked each other and they tricked Natives just to get more land. Sometimes they would even tell one group of people they would pay them for their land, but when they came, they would take it from that group through force and keep the money. One example was that England told the Dutch that they would pay them $24 for their land, but when they arrived, they kept the money and took the land. (104)

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  10. It makes since and is obvious in our book, but I guess I just never put all of the pieces together. I never realized that New Amsterdam became New York! There were pros and cons to this. For example the population doubled, but that meant less economic freedom for women under the English rule. Also, African americans lost the jobs they previously had under the rule of the Dutch. I also did not know that Pennsylvania was known as the best poor mans country. Quakers were greatly opposed to slavery. That is why when William Penn founded Pennsylvania, he wanted it to be just Quakers. They were also very kind toward all of the natives. Yet again making them different from almost all of the other colonies. (129)

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  11. Ok, first of all, New York was pretty stinkin cheap! Nowadays, New York is a big, very populated, expensive state. Pennsylvania, was the best poor man’s state. What I found really interesting about Pennsylvania was the walking purchase. Indians let them have land as far as the distance a man could walk within 36 hours, but the governor, James Logan, hired fast runners to mark out the territory for him, resulting in, more land. And that’s how Pennsylvania got more land that it should’ve, but cheating the Indians. That did not go well with the Indians. Also, Nathaniel Bacon just loved killing Indians didn’t he. He lead a rebellion against governor Berkley. He was mad because Berkley wouldn’t allow him to kill more natives and take their land for himself. Bacon burned Jamestown. He took over, but shortly after he did, he died.
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  12. One major thing I learned was that I originally thought that the colonists just came to America for freedom, but I never really thought about how much they were obsessed with their land! Especially if they had sons to give it to! Another thing I learned was how much of a burden that poor women had in the colonies! Not only did they have to be a mother and raise a family, they also had lot's of work to do because of their social status. Also, I learned about how much we focus on Jamestown, but not as much as the other colonies. Yes, Jamestown was the first successful colony in America, but it wasn't the only one! I never knew that New York used to be New Amsterdam! I guess you learn something new every day! Another interesting thing I learned was that the colonists in Pennsylvania actually had respect for the Indians at first, but later had problems like any other colony, (shocker). But overall, the colonial times of American history were some of our most important years because we learned basically how to start a country and be successful.(189)

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  13. I had no idea that the Dutch bought New Amsterdam for only $24 from the Indians; I wish it was still that much to buy land. After the English took over New Amsterdam the population quickly doubled! Women had a say if she was going to choose to get married or not. Pennsylvania was know as the 'Best poor man's country'. William Penn respected the Indians in many ways. Nathanael Bacon burned down Jamestown and ruled over Virginia. King James II made Connecticut, Plymouth, Rhode Island, East and West Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire all into one colony call the Dominion of New England.
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  14. The video points out lesser known facts about the original 13 colonies. To begin with, New York (originally Dutch New Amsterdam) was started as a commercial venture for Dutch traders. They allowed all men except Jews and Quakers to make a profit. Of course, native Americans were never included. In 1664 when England took over New York, women had less freedom. They could not even own property. In 1681, the land that now is now Pennsylvania, Deleware and New Jersey was known to be the "best for a poor man". I wasn't just for the elite because the poorer people could also own property, even the Quakers. The early Quakers were a loose lot compared to todays people. They were rowdy, had loose morals and used fowl language. In 1777, William Penn leader of the Quakers, established the "Walking Purpose" which allowed a man to own as much land as he could walk in 36 hours. Some cheated by using runners like James Logan.

    In 1663 , the are to become South Carolina was used as a buffer between Florida and the Northern colonies. They tried to enslave Indians and sell them to Barbados. In 1673 Nathaniel Brown lead a group of "lower class" farmers who burned Jamestown. The revolution in 1690 allowed all Protestants, except Jews, to worship freely. They established a General Court. Property owners could vote but the Governor bad to be from England.
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