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| | There were other colonies. Pennsylvania was founded over 50 years *after* Virginia and Massachusetts. Georgia was founded over 50 *years* after Pennsylvania, which means over 100 years after Virginia and Massachusetts. Philanthropist [[James Oglethorpe]] founded Savannah in Georgia in 1733 for poor debtors in jails of England. Also created a buffer colony between South Carolina and Spanish Florida. Oglethorpe was very religious and very strict. Too strict for the King, who took over the colony in 1751. The colony was not nearly as strong and developed as the other colonies, so the other colonies did not take it very seriously. | | There were other colonies. Pennsylvania was founded over 50 years *after* Virginia and Massachusetts. Georgia was founded over 50 *years* after Pennsylvania, which means over 100 years after Virginia and Massachusetts. Philanthropist [[James Oglethorpe]] founded Savannah in Georgia in 1733 for poor debtors in jails of England. Also created a buffer colony between South Carolina and Spanish Florida. Oglethorpe was very religious and very strict. Too strict for the King, who took over the colony in 1751. The colony was not nearly as strong and developed as the other colonies, so the other colonies did not take it very seriously. |
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| | == Economic System == | | == Economic System == |
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| − | <discuss capitalism, mercantilism, slavery, encomienda and how the colonies supplied their mother country>
| + | Ultimately, and this is the most difficult for students to understand, it is money ([[economics]]) that shapes much of history. If the colonies were profitable for their mother countries in Europe, then the mother countries would continue to support and defend the colonies. But of the colonies were a money-loser, as in costing more to defend then they make for the defending motherland, then they are going to be abandoned or at least no longer protected by the European sponsor. |
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| | + | Many of the colonies did make this work, and work well. An [[economic]] system called [[mercantilism]] began to develop in the 1600s and 1700s, which would lay the foundation for capitalism in the 1800s.<ref>http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/mercantilism.html</ref> |
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| | + | The basic concept of mercantilism is to limit imports from foreign countries (not including colonies), and maximize exports to everyone (including colonies), in order to maximize the "trade surplus" (the amount by which receipts exceeds expenses). Colonies played an important role in this system by supplying raw materials at low cost to the mother country (e.g., England or France), which could then use the materials to produce low-cost finished products that could be sold to the world.<ref>http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Mercantilism.html</ref> By selling more than the country buys, it could accumulate a surplus in money (gold) and become wealthier. |
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| | + | But there's no free lunch, and these European nations were all-too-happy to use slavery to do the back-breaking work of gathering the raw materials, such as crops and minerals. |
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| + | == Topics for Discussion == |
| − | Topics for discussion: | + | |
| | *Were the Puritans right to banish (expel) people for religious reasons? | | *Were the Puritans right to banish (expel) people for religious reasons? |
| | *Did the Vikings settle North America before Columbus did? | | *Did the Vikings settle North America before Columbus did? |