Jamestown was first settled in 1607 by the English. However, at first, disease, a lack or organization and an insufficient supply of food decimated the population. Thanks to John Smith's leadership, the population started to get on the right foot a couple of years later. This image depicts the appearance of the settlement in 1614.
The Puritans were led by John Winthrop. Before departing to the New World, Winthrop gave an arousing speech to the colonists. While on the ship the Arbella, Winthrop was quoted as famously saying that he hopes their community is a "city upon a hill." This directly means that if the journey is successful, it would prove to not only other puritans, but also any other religious peoples that they can go to the New World to freely practice their religion.
Not everything was so smooth with Massachusetts Bay Colony. They had constant feuds with Native American groups. Almost three quarters of Native American tribes were killed. In 1675, King Phillips War began. The Wampanoags, led by King Phillip, fought against the colonists. After the war, the indigenous Native American population fell from 140,000 people to 10,000 people while the English population grew by 50,000 people.
Slavery was an integral part in colonial America. Colonists discovered many industries that they could benefit from financially. Both the tobacco and rice industries were incredibly profitable. Colonists needed workers in order to work their crop more efficiently. Initially, the colonists looked to the Headright System as a means of obtaining cheaper workers. The Headright System was a system in which if English land owners paid for the journey of their English workers, then they would work for free from anywhere from 4-7 years. After the 4-7 years was completed, the land owners would have to give the workers some money, a gun, and land. However, the Headright System was a failure because the land that the plantation owners would give the workers after their term was completed was not very fertile and because of the proximity to Native American territory, the worker's were more prone to attacks.
Due to the failing Headright System as well as a crippling Indian population from war and diseases, Africans were a logically reasoning to the colonists as cheap labor. In three centuries after Columbus' "discovery" of America, more than 7 million African slaves were chained and transported to the New World. Slave life was incredibly severe. The climate was terribly severe in the south where the tobacco fields were and the workers were worked to death.
The French and Indian War, or as the British called it , the Seven Years War, occurred from 1754-1763. The French had two colonies: one in New France and another in New Orleans, Louisiana. If the French were able to take the Ohio Valley River Basin, this would connect their two colonies. In addition, it would cut off the colonists desire to move westward which contained very fertile land. The French started setting up forts along the Ohio River, notably Fort Duquesne. However, both the French and the English had Native American allies. The French sided with the Hurons, led by their leader Pontiac and the English sided with the Iroquois.
Early in the war, led by bullheaded Edward Braddock, the English struggled. Braddock set out to Virginia in 1755 to capture Fort Duquesne. General Braddock was experienced in European warfare, and established a behind-the-trees method of fighting the Indians. While dragging heavy artillery, the English came within a few miles from Fort Duquesne. They approached a small French and Indian army and immediately came onto fire. Braddock himself was killed and other higher ranking officials, such as George Washington, was pierced by bullets and had two of his horses shot from under him. This was an embarrassing defeat for the British. After Braddock's death, the British put in charge William Pitt, a superlative leader.
In 1757, William Pitt, also known as, "Great Commoner", became head of the English parliament. In 1758, he first dispatched a successful expedition against Louisbourgh where the French fell due to a blistering English siege. After Louisbourgh, Pitt focused all of the war efforts in the Quebec-Montreal region in which the French controlled.
The Battle of Quebec was a vital part in the English's overall victory in the French and Indian War. Pitt chose James Wolf to lead the attack. Early in the morning, the British climbed the cliff and pulled themselves over the bushes and the two armies faced each other on the plains of Abraham on the outskirts of Quebec. Both the English leader, Wolf, as well as the French leader, Marquis de Montcalm, died. However, the English defeated the French. The French defeat in the Battle of Quebec marked the last time a French flag would ever fly in Canada and in 1763, the Peace Settlement in Paris would completely throw off any French territories in the New World.