Among the European Atlantic states, England was notably slower than Spain, Portugal, or France to become interested in the New World. The early Tudor monarchs did very little to encourage exploration. And when English adventurers during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) finally began to reconnoiter the North American coast and to plunder Spanish shipping in the Caribbean, they operated as private entrepreneurs, with minimal support or supervision from the Crown.
Queen Elizabeth mobilized large armies at great expense to conquer Ireland, but she made no equivalent investment in America. Instead, she granted Sir Walter Raleigh the authority to colonize at his own expense--and he failed at Roanoke in 1584-1587.
Under James I (1603-1625) and Charles I (1625-1649), the English established a dozen permanent colonies in America, but the home government paid little heed to any of these ventures. The settlement of Virginia was undertaken in 1607 by a privately financed joint stock company. Although the Crown took direct control of the colony in 1624, it provided no real supervision.
Under James I (1603-1625) and Charles I (1625-1649), the English established a dozen permanent colonies in America, but the home government paid little heed to any of these ventures. The settlement of Virginia was undertaken in 1607 by a privately financed joint stock company. Although the Crown took direct control of the colony in 1624, it provided no real supervision.
A number of other colonies--such as Barbados and Maryland--were started by individual proprietors who managed their settlements as semifeudal principalities. And the Puritans who founded the New England colonies openly challenged the Crown. They had come to America in order to get away from Charles I's rule, and they set up religious and political institutions in repudiation of the establishment at home.
Thus each English plantation in the early seventeenth century was essentially autonomous. And because the pioneer settlers were free to do as they pleased, the Caribbean, Chesapeake, and New England colonies developed distinctive regional characteristics, many of which are still observable today.
In the 1640s, with king and Parliament absorbed in civil war at home, the English colonists in America achieved maximum independence. In New England, the four chief colonies formed a military confederation and conducted their own foreign policy. In the West Indies, the Barbados planters entered into a lucrative partnership with the Netherlands, selling their sugar to Dutch traders in exchange for thousands of African slaves.
In the 1640s, with king and Parliament absorbed in civil war at home, the English colonists in America achieved maximum independence. In New England, the four chief colonies formed a military confederation and conducted their own foreign policy. In the West Indies, the Barbados planters entered into a lucrative partnership with the Netherlands, selling their sugar to Dutch traders in exchange for thousands of African slaves.
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