Colonial period1607-1775

1

607-1860, Approximately 200 years

B

ased on subsistence agriculture Little mechanization Limited labor Goal was “get rich schemes”

Ex. Virginia Company that founded James Town Everyone was a farmer, regardless of previous profession or

trade as it was necessary for survival

Cottage industries: manufacturing goods (non-food) in the

household, primarily for personal use at this time

T

heocratic societies developed Pilgrims landed in Plymouth Harbor , MA Failed settlement by 1620 Created a homogeneous cultures with shared

dissents and values Protestant Work Ethic: value placed on hard work,

savings, and investment

Feudalism

Though this is not traditional feudalism there was a defined system of paying goods and revenue to higher royals

American Feudalism was based on: Quit Rents which were yearly rent payments to the king,

even if a person owned the land Primogeniture: total estates and privileges awarded to the

eldest son Entail: Permanently owned land, extending though the family

heirsP

opulation Doubled almost every 30 years in this period

Reaching 2.7 million in 1780

human labor was primarily used because of lack of efficient technology (other than hand tools) and lack of livestock

Three typical labor forms

1. Indentured servants: individuals contracted into service for passage fare to the new world.

Usually for 10 year contracts. Abuse of this system was common but did help get

many (eventually) free individuals over to popular colonies

2. Families: Families were large to make up for high incidents of death and for more hands for help.

Primogeniture was the flaw in this system, and with vast unclaimed land to the west, these children quickly left to find their own claim.

3. Slavery: This system was common in the southern colonies where plantations produced export cash crops with African slaves.

This labor system and crop varieties had been proven to work in the West Indies, a similar climate.

This institution was firmly establish by 1650

Crops that thrived in the colonies were foreign to colonists, and they struggled to survive until they mastered cultivation of these plants.

The food staples were:

Corn Squash Beans

Exhaustive agriculture was practical because Of low prices of expansive land.

Though crop rotations and other conservation practices were known, they were rarely utilized.

Livestock

Livestock agriculture was not practiced on a large scale. Animal husbandry was mostly ignored, resulting in poor stock

Hogs, which were the most common stock, wandered the forests and therefore grew rough and poorly

Markets

There was little trade within the colonies because of poor or no infrastructure

Profitable markets were abroad Great population and wealth were overseas, espcaily for

new American goods Sea transportation was the most efficient means of

travel, and transport and roads were almost nonexistent other than southern river travel.

Exports were as important in the colonies as the large markets (and money) was abroad.

The colonies were isolated from major wealthy populations

Each region had its specialty

Southern: Tobacco, rice, indigo, and short-staple cotton

Middle: was the bread basket: wheat, rye, and barley

New England: Furs, fish, and other resources

Tobacco became a craze in England

Colonies were required to market their product exclusively to England to meet this demand

Corn was used for everything

food export/processing for whiskey feed (in later times)

British restriction on trade limited the markets to the motherland

This is mercantilism, which was a British policy that demanded that the colonies exclusively supply Brittan with the raw materials and the colonies exclusively purchased Brittan's textiles This was implemented through the many

Navigation Acts…

Navigation Acts required

Ships and their crews to be British All imports to come from England (if not produced

there, it must first pass through its ports) Enumerated commodities could only be shipped

and sold to England

These acts were the key impetus for revolt and revolution

Trade patterns

Direct Trade: Commodities shipped directly to England mostly involved Southern commodities such as indigo and

tobacco

Triangular (Indirect) Trade: involved the processing of products before reaching England Most processing and shipping enterprises were based out of

the many bays and coves of New England and Middle colonies

Most important examples: the movement of Rum, Slaves, Molasses

Types of disposal

Political Land Grants: The King grants tracts of land to political allies or proprietors These proprietors often want to continue feudalistic

structures in the south. This failed as settlers refused to move into the same

exploitative system that existed in Brittan. So these proprietors would gift this land to friends and family

Headright System: A person was granted 50 acres of land in designated, unappropriated areas for himself and every additional person that he brought with him Common in Virginia and Maryland

New England Land Grant Method: Land distributed into strips including a common cultivation area by a utilitarian and fairly egalitarian method using a criteria of:

Amount of investment and Ability to use the land

Started by the Massachusetts Bay Company, and the practice continued to 1725.

Groups (usually religious) would petition local government for a grant of land.

This method is important in cultural development such as developing strong sense of community and greater equality and preventing land speculation by equal disposal .

Land Restrictions along the

Appalachian Mountains blocked western

development and trade

Beginning in 1763, the British government reserved all land from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River for Native Americans

Again this caused conflict because of the results of primogeniture.

Regional Differences began to develop and would set the stage for economic, cultural, and policy divergences and

conflicts.

Who:

Multi-national Religious dissenters Tradesmen

•Difficulties Poor, rocky soil Cold climate Indians and other ethic/national

colonies

• OpportunitiesExcellent use of natural resourcesUse knowledge of other settlers

New York & New Jersey

New Netherlands in 1624 fell to British in 1664

Many conflicts inhibited growth

Broad ethnicity

No major export market

Who:

Religious dissenters Families Indentured servants

Difficulties

Poor soil Dense forests for clearing Inexperience with native crops and growing cycles

Opportunities

Citizens were there for establishing sustainable communities

Pennsylvania

Grant to William Penn in

1681

Quickly growing Puritan colony supporting a liberal, fairly egalitarian society with a strong work ethic

Large export grain crops

such as wheat and rye

Who:

Nobility Slaves Gentlemen adventures

Difficulties

High rate of disease and death Isolated

Opportunities

Experience with viable cash crops from the Indies Little competition for land (because it was already all owned and

granted in) Navigable rivers

Maryland

Land Granted to George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) in 1632

Haven for Roman Catholics, as well as liberty for all Christians

Feudalistic practices failed so a headright system enveloped and prospered

High Religious freedom, high level of self governance, free land, and tobacco export helped the colony thrive

Carolinas

Proprietary grant in 1663

Settled by landed, wealthy owners who continued the feudalistic state through large estates and slavery with cash crops such as rice and indigo

The region remained isolated because of hazardous coasts and lack of land owning opportunity

Agriculture vs. Agri culture

Culture: Values

Beliefs

Lifestyle

Farming

•Culture of Food Production

Rural Communities

•Values

•Beliefs

•Lifestyle

Freedom to make own decisions

Opportunity for self-improvement

Way of life vs. business

Ability to work outdoors

Good place to raise a family

Independence--be own boss

Work with nature

Feelings of doing something worthwhile

A

B

C

1607 1800

1900Native

American Culture--hunting & gathering, hoe culture, tribal

Founding of Jamestown

Colonial Rule

Agrarian Culture

Modernization

Scientific

IndustrializationCommercialization

SURVIVAL

Subsistence

Life was fluid

Theocracy

Feudalism gets its roots

Integration of food production with daily living• everyone is a farmer--farming and agriculture are synonymous

Importance of religious values• Protestant work ethic

Navigation Acts

Abundant land

Labor scarcity

Export crops