History 2010 - Toye (NeSCC): Exam #1

The article focuses on the seventeenth-century colonial history of the United States and other American colonies of Great Britain. It discusses the fact that privately held corporations such as the Massachusetts Bay Company, the Virginia Company, and the Royal African Company were largely responsible for organizing and paying for colonial settlements, expecting returns on investment once the colony was established and had commercial interests. Other topics considered include religious motivations for the settlements of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts; comparative European colonialism; and British colonial trade regulations.

Information about various areas interspersed throughout the article.

The article focuses on the colonial history of the United States, especially in regards to the Dutch colonial possession of the area between the Connecticut River and Delaware Bay. The author argues that if the Dutch had not been replaced by the British colonial administration, the outcome of the American Revolution could have been different. The author considers the historiography of colonial history, especially in regards to the motivations behind the discoveries of English explorer Henry Hudson on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, the northeast passage, the character of King Charles II of Great Britain during the Restoration, and the European politics during the age of discovery.