England's Conquests in America (advanced concepts)

The British Empire, like the French, took longer to embark on colonisation and settlement in America. The British delay can be explained in the same way as that of the French: the English were far more motivated to circumnavigate the continent to find the route to the Pacific than to occupy and populate it.

The first surviving British settlements in America were established in 1608 at Jamestown in Virginia. A group of Anglicans set up a farm there. They quickly set up large plantations using slaves.

The first British immigrants in America settled in the settler colonies to escape their homeland. Certain religious groups were being persecuted in Europe. These people left their country to live their religion in complete freedom.

After the Anglicans in Virginia, it was the Puritans who settled on Cape Cod in 1620, and it was also Puritans who created Massachusetts. Until 1640, this region was home only to Puritans. While the Jamestown region was devoted to agriculture, the region led by the Puritans was more devoted to commerce.

Puritanism refers to a movement of Protestantism from the end of the 16^th century to the beginning of the 17^th century. Puritans were people who adhered to this movement.

English quickly became the dominant language. The British became the majority group. The area of New England is a confined space, but their dominance was powerful. Moreover, British immigrants quickly seized the territories previously owned by Holland.

Until 1642, the new colonies grew thanks to strong immigration. Soon there were marked differences between the colonies to the north and those to the south. The new colonies in the north were strongly influenced by religion: Puritans and Quakers. These colonies operated under an intolerant theocratic system. Spiritual life was rich. It was in the northern colonies that the first university opened its doors: in 1636, Harvard University was officially founded.

A Quaker was a member of a Protestant religious movement that was particularly widespread in the United States.

The colonies further south had a very different political, religious, economic and social structure. In fact, these colonies were essentially agricultural. Tobacco and sugar plantations quickly required an abundant workforce. From 1620, these colonies resorted to the triangular trade to obtain sufficient slaves. Very soon, these colonies formed a society based on slavery. All the profits went directly to the large agricultural landowners.

It is important to point out that around 523,000 black slaves were sent to the North American colonies, which represents around 4.6% of the 11 million slaves sent to all parts of America.

In 1664, New England took possession of the Dutch colonies. These new territories gave Irish and Scottish immigrants access to the New World. In fact, many Irish, Scottish and German immigrants arrived in New England. The new arrivals settled in the hinterland and cleared new land. After 1680, several sources of immigration continually increased the population of New England. The majority of these new arrivals were no longer English. 

The population of New England grew rapidly. In 1690, the population stood at 250,000. By 1760, the population had risen to around 1.6 million, and by 1775 it had already exceeded 2.5 million. 

From the very beginnings of New England, the colonies enjoyed considerable administrative autonomy from their mother country. The colonies quickly established a local government, a legislative assembly and Papal edict democracy. New Englanders were suspicious of administrators from the mother country from an early stage. 

Relations between the British colonists and the Aboriginals changed over time. From being peaceful at the beginning of New England's history, they have slowly deteriorated.

At first, contact was peaceful. The English allied themselves with the Aboriginals to adapt more easily to the climate and also to develop trade relations with them.

However, these relations changed radically. Shortly after the creation of New England, the British colonies began to see the Aboriginals as competitors for land. The English wanted to control this part of the American territory, and the presence of the Aboriginals represented a major obstacle to achieving this objective. Moreover, the majority of the Aboriginals were allies of the French. In the eyes of the English, the Aboriginals therefore constituted a double enemy.

The English, taking advantage of the war between the Iroquoians and the Algonquians, allied themselves with the Iroquoians. In this way, they harmed both the Aboriginal nations and the French. Yet the English continued to be in conflict with the other Aboriginal nations. As a result of the many conflicts, the other nations, which were smaller and weaker, slowly disappeared from the territory.

When the colonists took possession of a new region by massacring groups of Aboriginals, they propagated the idea that this colonization progress was being made for the glory of God. On the other hand, if the Aboriginals won a battle, the colonists accused them of mass murder.

According to the English, the natives were infernal creatures, shameless and godless. The new British arrivals had a sacramental mission: to conquer the territory of the evil one. According to them, this territory had been assigned to them by providence. There was no place for the Aboriginals. The massacres and diseases that plagued the Aboriginals were the main proof of this.

Slowly, the advance of the colonists into the forest regions created numerous conflicts with the Aboriginal nations living there. The colonists did not keep the promises they had made to the Aboriginals, and the weapons of the Aboriginals proved totally useless against the weapons of the Europeans.

The expansion of British territory led to a sharp drop in game in the hunting regions. The natives were forced to choose between war or starvation and war or exile to the virgin lands of the west. For the British, who realised that these peoples would submit neither to their presence nor to slavery and that they would be incapable of living in harmony with them, the preferred solution was extermination.

The Aboriginals practically lived through a genocide. The survivors were all integrated into Aboriginal reserves. From 1806 onwards, there were several systematic deportations: the Aboriginals on American soil were all expatriated westwards, so that by 1836 there were no Aboriginals left in the entire eastern United States.

A few years later, in 1862, the Americans offered farmland to non-Aboriginal families on land that had previously belonged to the Aboriginals. In 1871, the Americans still did not recognise Aboriginal nations. They recognised individuals, but not cultures and nations. The aim was to turn these natives into farmers so that they could better integrate into the new country.