England’s first foray into Caribbean colonization ended in disaster, and pushed the country toward Civil War.
Listen on: iTunesSubscribe on Android, Stitcher and more Transcript Welcome back! Last week, we saw the second Spanish attack on Providence Island, and the final reorganization of the venture into a potentially successful enterprise. It was the colony’s last hope. They adopted vital reforms, sold most of their slaves, and removed colony’s most belligerent citizens, and a Read more about Providence Island 9: End of an era[…]
Listen on: iTunesSubscribe on Android, Stitcher and more Transcript Welcome back, last episode, we discussed the final descent of the Providence Island project into irrecoverable failure, and this week, we’ll discuss the last couple years of the colony’s existence. I’d intended to finish this in just one episode, but there’s just so much that happens that I Read more about Providence Island 8: The second Spanish attack[…]
Listen on: iTunesSubscribe on Android, Stitcher and more Transcript Welcome back! Last week, we saw the fulfillment of hopes and dreams for Providence Island as a privateering base. Company members were preparing to relocate to the colony, they reduced civilian rents and increased their liberties, and things should have been better than ever. But, the focus on Read more about Providence Island 7: Descent into chaos[…]
Listen on: iTunesSubscribe on Android, Stitcher and more Transcript Welcome back! Last episode, we saw our company earn the right to privateer in the Caribbean, reinvigorating the colony with hopes of plunder, and fulfilling the Elizabethan dream. Privateering, they thought, could help them recruit new settlers, pay their debts, and protect Protestantism from the Spanish menace. This Read more about Providence Island 6: Dreams Fulfilled[…]
Listen on: iTunesSubscribe on Android, Stitcher and more The return of privateering In 1635, there were still people who dreamed of reviving the Elizabethan legacy. There’s a lot of good to be said about the Stuarts – they were less oppressive, less violent, more easygoing than their Tudor predecessors, but to many 17th Century Englishmen, there was Read more about Providence Island 5: the last Elizabethan colony[…]
Listen on: iTunesSubscribe on Android, Stitcher and more First things first, Happy New Year! Last episode, we discussed the economic failures of 1632-33. Too little agricultural knowledge, too many orders from England, too little support, too few laborers, and too poor a government meant that nothing of value was produced in the fledgling colony. Resentment festered, Read more about Providence Island 4: Differing Puritan visions[…]
Listen on: iTunesSubscribe on Android, Stitcher and more Privateering and slavery Faction fighting crippled Providence Island, but the company insisted on maintaining control from London. The company also sent fewer servants than promised, while insisting colonists experiment with a huge variety of commodities. But, Governor Bell had an idea. Slaves could be a cheap way to make Read more about Providence Island 3: Old problems and new solutions[…]
Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more England’s second most important failed colony Providence Island failed in ways that illuminate American character, but it was also an extremely important colony. It was the first colony to introduce widespread slavery. It was one of England’s first Caribbean colonies. It traded with New England, and some of Read more about Providence Island 1: Anatomy of a failure[…]