During the Eighty Years War, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was not the only nation that was able to take advantage of the precarious position that Spain was in. Many other nations had begun to look to the New World with salacious appetites, as each country wanted to outdo the other. Among those who grew increasingly enchanted by the opportunities afforded by the New World, many were also enticed by the rumors of a Northwest Passage to be found. Each king believed that if he could find the northern route to Asia that he would achieve a great deal of wealth. As a result, England, France, Denmark and Sweden each began funding expeditions to chart the North American continent and search for a route to the Far East.
English ships increasingly began to sail along the North American coastline in the 1590s and early 1600s, yet they never managed to discover the fabled route that was their main objective. Instead, they spent much of their time giving place names to the regions that they observed: New England, New Caledonia (1), New Hibernia (2) and Queensland (3). By 1602, the Queensland Company had been formed in London with the intentions of setting up a colony to search for gold. Having sent additional expeditions to further scout out Queensland, the first ships set sail for the New World with settlers in 1605. Upon reaching their destination, the ships sailed up the James River and erected Fort St. James (4).
Initial relations with the Native Americans were lukewarm as the colonists searched for gold. However, by 1610, relations had deteriorated significantly as additional Englishmen arrived each year. Due to the inability to find gold, the settlers had soon turned to agricultural cultivation, promulgated by the arrival of a few English Puritan families who had been farmers in England. Additionally, another English settler, John Rolfe, arrived bringing with him tobacco seeds from the Caribbean, ultimately leading to the spread of tobacco cultivation among the Queensland colonists and Rolfe’s knighting and eventual ennoblement as an earl by King James. Among his other achievements, managed to temporarily prevent hostilities between the natives of the Powhatan Confederacy and the Queensland colonists by agreeing to trade European goods to them in exchange for corn. It was through this that he met Pocahontas, the daughter of the head chief of the Confederacy and soon wed her, having three sons with her, Thomas, Henry and John, before she died.
As tobacco cultivation spread dramatically among the Queensland settlers, the English began to use more and more land, eventually causing conflict to arise between the English and the Powhatan. While Rolfe and his sons attempted to alleviate the conflict, the tension had been building up for too long and armed hostilities broke out between the Native Americans and the English. Even though the Natives outnumbered the English, diseases had begun to run through the local Powhatan settlements, weeding out many of them and drastically reducing their ability to push the English out. As a result, the English prevailed in the conflict and the Powhatan responded to their defeat by retreating away from the English settlements in an effort to regroup.
The English prevailed in other areas, too. In similar respects to the Dutch, English ships began seizing islands in the Caribbean and bringing settlers to cultivate sugarcane. Among those initially brought into the English fold were Bermuda, Barbados, and St. Lucia. However, as a direct result of the Eighty-Years War, Jamaica eventually fell to English forces, giving King James an opportunity to heavily invest England in the sugar trade.
New England’s settlement began as a direct result of English Calvinists wishing to escape the reaches of the Anglican Church and its Papist tendencies. Building upon the movement started by the Dutch Calvinists, English Calvinists began building up their resources in 1611 after several years of listening to sermon after sermon toting the New World as a place to find salvation and closeness to God. Initially choosing to settle in Queensland, the Puritans found the pursuit of wealth in the colony to be too much for them and, instead, moved on to New England, just beyond New Holland. Through trade with the Dutch Calvinists, the Puritans were able to scrounge up enough resources to survive the first few hard years, eventually accustoming to the region and their new lives.
Unlike the Dutch settlements, the New English settlements attracted settlers at a far larger rate due to the large degree of persecution that the Puritans found themselves facing in England proper. As a result, the colony of New England grew rapidly in comparison to that of New Holland, eventually leading to the Dutch settlers to begin fearing that they might be overcome by their English brothers in the faith farther down the line.
(1) Carolinas
(2) Newfoundland
(3) Virginia
(4) Williamsburg, Virginia.
English ships increasingly began to sail along the North American coastline in the 1590s and early 1600s, yet they never managed to discover the fabled route that was their main objective. Instead, they spent much of their time giving place names to the regions that they observed: New England, New Caledonia (1), New Hibernia (2) and Queensland (3). By 1602, the Queensland Company had been formed in London with the intentions of setting up a colony to search for gold. Having sent additional expeditions to further scout out Queensland, the first ships set sail for the New World with settlers in 1605. Upon reaching their destination, the ships sailed up the James River and erected Fort St. James (4).
Initial relations with the Native Americans were lukewarm as the colonists searched for gold. However, by 1610, relations had deteriorated significantly as additional Englishmen arrived each year. Due to the inability to find gold, the settlers had soon turned to agricultural cultivation, promulgated by the arrival of a few English Puritan families who had been farmers in England. Additionally, another English settler, John Rolfe, arrived bringing with him tobacco seeds from the Caribbean, ultimately leading to the spread of tobacco cultivation among the Queensland colonists and Rolfe’s knighting and eventual ennoblement as an earl by King James. Among his other achievements, managed to temporarily prevent hostilities between the natives of the Powhatan Confederacy and the Queensland colonists by agreeing to trade European goods to them in exchange for corn. It was through this that he met Pocahontas, the daughter of the head chief of the Confederacy and soon wed her, having three sons with her, Thomas, Henry and John, before she died.
As tobacco cultivation spread dramatically among the Queensland settlers, the English began to use more and more land, eventually causing conflict to arise between the English and the Powhatan. While Rolfe and his sons attempted to alleviate the conflict, the tension had been building up for too long and armed hostilities broke out between the Native Americans and the English. Even though the Natives outnumbered the English, diseases had begun to run through the local Powhatan settlements, weeding out many of them and drastically reducing their ability to push the English out. As a result, the English prevailed in the conflict and the Powhatan responded to their defeat by retreating away from the English settlements in an effort to regroup.
The English prevailed in other areas, too. In similar respects to the Dutch, English ships began seizing islands in the Caribbean and bringing settlers to cultivate sugarcane. Among those initially brought into the English fold were Bermuda, Barbados, and St. Lucia. However, as a direct result of the Eighty-Years War, Jamaica eventually fell to English forces, giving King James an opportunity to heavily invest England in the sugar trade.
New England’s settlement began as a direct result of English Calvinists wishing to escape the reaches of the Anglican Church and its Papist tendencies. Building upon the movement started by the Dutch Calvinists, English Calvinists began building up their resources in 1611 after several years of listening to sermon after sermon toting the New World as a place to find salvation and closeness to God. Initially choosing to settle in Queensland, the Puritans found the pursuit of wealth in the colony to be too much for them and, instead, moved on to New England, just beyond New Holland. Through trade with the Dutch Calvinists, the Puritans were able to scrounge up enough resources to survive the first few hard years, eventually accustoming to the region and their new lives.
Unlike the Dutch settlements, the New English settlements attracted settlers at a far larger rate due to the large degree of persecution that the Puritans found themselves facing in England proper. As a result, the colony of New England grew rapidly in comparison to that of New Holland, eventually leading to the Dutch settlers to begin fearing that they might be overcome by their English brothers in the faith farther down the line.
(1) Carolinas
(2) Newfoundland
(3) Virginia
(4) Williamsburg, Virginia.
