Colonial Expansion: The South

 

Broadcast: April 17, 2003
By Nancy Steinbach

VOICE ONE:
This is Rich Kleinfeldt.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Sarah Long with the MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.
Today, we finish the story about the first thirteen American colonies¹. We tell about how the southern colonies developed.
VOICE ONE:
The most northern of the southern colonies was Maryland. The King of England, Charles the First, gave the land between Virginia and Pennsylvania to George Calvert in Sixteen-Thirty-Two. George Calvert was also called Lord² Baltimore. He was a Roman Catholic³.
George Calvert wanted to start a colony⁴ because of religious problems in England. Catholics1 could not openly observe their religion. They also had to pay money to the government because they did not belong to the Anglican Church which was the Church of England.
George Calvert never saw the colony that was called Maryland. He died soon after he received the documents. His son Cecil Calvert became the next Lord Baltimore, and received all the land. He had the power to collect taxes, fight wars, make laws and create courts in Maryland. Cecil Calvert named his brother Leonard as the colony's first governor⁵.
Cecil Calvert believed that English Catholics could live in peace in Maryland with people who believed in Protestant religions. So he urged Catholics to leave England. To get more settlers, he permitted them to own their farms and gave them some power in local politics. Some Catholics did go to Maryland, but not as many as expected. Protestants were in the majority. In Sixteen-Forty-Nine, Lord Baltimore accepted a Toleration Act passed by the local government. It guaranteed freedom of religion ... but only for Christians⁶.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
King Charles the Second of England gave away more land in America in Sixteen-Sixty-Three. This time, he gave to eight English lords⁷ the land known as Carolina. It extended⁸ south from Virginia into an area known as Florida. Spain controlled Florida. Spain also claimed the southern part of Carolina.
Spanish, French and English settlers had tried to live in that area earlier. But they were not successful. But the eight new owners promised forty hectares of land to anyone who would go to Carolina to live. They also promised religious freedom. The first successful Carolina settlers left England in Sixteen-Seventy. They built a town in an area where two rivers met. They called it Charles Town, for King Charles. Spanish ships attacked the port city many times, but the settlers kept them away.
The settlers planted all kinds of crops to see what would grow best. They found rice was just right for the hot wet land. Their pigs and cattle did so well that settlers in Carolina started selling meat to the West Indies. Many of Charles Town's settlers came from Barbados, a port used in the West Indies slave trade. The settlers began buying black slaves to help grow the rice. By Seventeen-Eight, more blacks than whites lived in southern Carolina. The work of slaves made possible a successful economy.
VOICE ONE:
Northern Carolina grew much more slowly than the southern part of the colony. Many settlers to this area were from nearby Virginia. People who did not agree with the Anglican Church were not welcome in Virginia. Some of them moved south to the northern part of Carolina. History experts say that the area that became North Carolina may have been the most democratic⁹ of all the colonies. The people generally did not get involved in each others lives. They permitted each other to live in peace. They faced danger together from pirates2 who made the North Carolina coast their headquarters¹¹.
Experts say the people in northern Carolina were independent thinkers. In Sixteen-Seventy-Seven, some of them rebelled¹² against England. They did not like England's Navigation¹³ Acts. These laws forced people in Carolina to pay taxes to England on goods sold to other colonies. Some northern Carolina settlers refused to pay this tax. They even set up their own government and tried to break free of England. But the English soldiers in the colonies stopped the rebellion¹⁴ by arresting its leader.
The differences between the people of northern Carolina and southern Carolina became too great. The owners of the colony divided Carolina into two parts in Seventeen-Twelve.
VOICE TWO:
The last English colony founded in the New World was Georgia. It was established in Seventeen-Thirty-Two, under King George the Second. Georgia was the idea of a man named James Oglethorpe. He wanted to solve the debtor¹⁵ problem in England. Debtors¹⁶ are people who cannot re-pay money they owe. At that time, debtors were placed in prison. This made it impossible for them to earn the money needed to pay their debts.
Oglethorpe wanted to create a colony where debtors could go instead of going to prison. He wanted it to be a place where people could have good lives. But not many debtors wanted to go to Georgia. The people who settled there were much like the people in the other colonies. They did not agree with all of Oglethorpe's ideas. They wanted to do things he did not believe were right -- like drinking alcohol3 and owning slaves. The settlers won in the end. They did not accept Oglethorpe's ideas about how they should live.
Life was not easy in Georgia. Spaniards and pirates¹⁰ captured4 ships of all nations along the coast. Spain controlled Florida and also claimed Georgia and the Carolinas. Border fights were common. Oglethorpe lost all his money trying to establish Georgia. King George took control of the colony in Seventeen-Fifty-Two.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
As all these new colonies were being established nearby, the colony of Virginia was growing. A way of life was developing there that was very different from that found in the north. Most people in Virginia at this time were members of the Church of England. Religion was not as important a part of their lives as it was to the people in the north. In the New England colonies, the clergy¹⁷ were considered the most important people in town. In the southern colonies, rich land owners were more important.
People in Virginia did not live in towns, as people did in Massachusetts. They lived along rivers on small farms or on large farms called plantations¹⁸. Living on a river made it easy to send goods to other nations by ship. Virginians were sending large amounts of tobacco to England on those ships. It was the crop that earned them the most money.
VOICE TWO:
Growing tobacco destroys the elements in the soil that support plant life. After a few years, nothing grows well on land that has been planted with tobacco. A farmer has to stop planting anything on the land every few years. That means he needs a lot of land. He also needs many workers. So tobacco farmers in Virginia began to buy land and workers.
At first, they bought the services of poor people who had no money or jobs. These people were called indentured¹⁹ servants. They made an agreement to work for a farmer for a period of four to seven years. Then they were freed to work for themselves.
In Sixteen-Nineteen, a Dutch ship brought some Africans to Jamestown. They had been kidnapped from their homes by African traders and sold to the ship's captain. He sold them to the Virginia settlers. Those first blacks may have been treated like indentured servants. Later, however, colonists²⁰ decided²¹ to keep them as slaves so they would not have to continue paying for workers. Indians did not make good slaves because they could run away. Blacks could not. They had no place to go. Slowly, laws were approved in Virginia that made it legal to keep black people as slaves. By Seventeen-Fifty, there were more Africans in Virginia than any other group.
VOICE ONE:
History experts continue to debate if slavery caused prejudice in America or prejudice caused slavery. No one knows the answer. Most Europeans of the seventeenth century felt they were better than African people. The reasons for this included the Africans' different customs, religion and the black color of their skin. Europeans believed the color black represented danger and death.
Slavery in the American south affected²² the history of the United States for many years. It divided the people and led to a great civil war. But slavery did not start in America. That will be our story next week.
VOICE TWO:
This MAKING OF A NATION program was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Sarah Long.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Rich Kleinfeldt. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

1． catholic [5kAW[lIk] n. 天主教徒
2． pirate [5praI[rIt] n. 海盗，盗版者
3． alcohol [5Alk[hCl] n. 酒精，酒
4． capture [5kAptF[] vt. 俘获，捕获

1 colonies   

n.殖民地( colony的名词复数 )；（侨民等）聚居区；（动植物的）群体；（来自同一地方，职业或兴趣相同的）聚居人群

参考例句：

• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But throughout the colonies, people relied primarily on small farms and self-sufficiency. 但就整个殖民地来说，人们主要依靠小型农场，过着自给自足的生活。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 lord   

n.上帝，主；主人，长官；君主，贵族

参考例句：

• I know the Lord will look after him.我知道上帝会眷顾他的。
• How good of the Lord not to level it beyond repair!上帝多么仁慈啊，竟没有让这所房子损毁得不可收拾！

3 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

4 colony   

n.殖民地；(同类人的)聚居地

参考例句：

• There lived a colony of bees on the tree.树上生活着一群蜜蜂。
• They live in an artists'colony.他们住在艺术家聚居区。

5 governor   

n.统治者，地方长官(如省长，州长，总督等)

参考例句：

• The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters.这位州长是搪塞新闻记者的能手。
• He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。

6 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

7 lords   

n.主( lord的名词复数 )；领主；上帝；（英国用以称呼法官、主教或某些男性贵族成员，表示尊敬）大人

参考例句：

• The powerful lords were guilty of grinding the villagers under their heels. 那些大领主的罪过是以权势欺压村民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The President elevated him to the House of Lords. 总统提拔他为上院议员。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 extended   

adj.延伸的；伸展的；延长的；扩大的v.延伸(extend的过去式和过去分词)；伸展；延长

参考例句：

• an extended lunch hour 延长了的午餐时间
• France has greatly extended its influence in world affairs. 在世界事务中，法国的影响已大大地扩大了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 democratic   

adj.民主的；民主主义的，有民主精神的

参考例句：

• Their country has democratic government.他们国家实行民主政体。
• He has a democratic work-style.他作风民主。

10 pirates   

n.海盗( pirate的名词复数 )；剽窃者；侵犯版权者；非法播音的人（或组织）

参考例句：

• Children dressed (themselves) up as pirates. 孩子们假扮成海盗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The pirates treated their captives with barbarity. 海盗们残暴地对待他们的俘虏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 headquarters   

n.司令部，指挥部；总部，总店

参考例句：

• Several great guns from the headquarters are coming to see us today.总部的几个大人物今天要来看我们。
• The bank has its headquarters in Pairs.这家银行的总行在巴黎。

12 rebelled   

v.反抗政府( rebel的过去式和过去分词 )；反抗权威

参考例句：

• When the nobles rebelled, the king battled them. 当贵族谋反时，国王便出兵攻打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tribes rebelled against the government. 各部落反叛政府。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 navigation   

n.航行；航海；航空

参考例句：

• The compass is an instrument of navigation.罗盘是导航仪器。
• Navigation is difficult on this river because of hidden rocks.由于多暗礁，在这条河上航行很困难。

14 rebellion   

n.造反，叛乱，反抗

参考例句：

• The next year they rose up in rebellion.第二年他们就揭竿起义了。
• The new government quickly suppressed the rebellion.新政府迅速把叛乱镇压下去。

15 debtor   

n.借方，债务人

参考例句：

• He crowded the debtor for payment.他催逼负债人还债。
• The court granted me a lien on my debtor's property.法庭授予我对我债务人财产的留置权。

16 debtors   

n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never in a debtors' prison? 从没有因债务坐过牢么？ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

17 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

18 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

19 indentured   

v.以契约束缚（学徒）( indenture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Africans became indentured servants, trading labor for shelter and eventual freedom. 非洲人成为契约上的仆人，以劳力交换庇护及最终的自由。 来自互联网
• They are descendants of indentured importees. 他们是契约外来工的后代。 来自互联网

20 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

22 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。