Chapter 5

“Colonial Society on the Eve of the Revolution”

Population of Colonies

By 1775, the population numbered 2.5 million people.

About 90% of the people lived in rural areas.

The average age was 16 years.

1790 Census City Population Figures

1 New York City, NY *......................33,131

2 Philadelphia, PA *……................. 28,522

3 Boston, MA *………......................18,320

4 Charleston, SC……..................... 16,359

5 Baltimore, MD……........................13,503

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

1790 Census State Population Figures

1. VIRGINIA…………………747,550

2. PENNSYLVANIA………...433,611

3. NORTH CAROLINA……..395,005

4. MASSACHUSETTS……..378,556

5. MARYLAND………………319,728

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

Immigration

1. African-Americans – 20%2. Scots – Irish – 7%3. Germans – 6%4. About 5% of the multicolored

population consisted of other European group, like French Huguenots, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Jews, Irish, Swiss, and Scots Highlanders.

60% of all settlers were English

56 signers of the Declaration of Independence – 18 were non-English and 8 were not born in the colonies

Scots-Irish

Originally migrated from native Scottish Lowland to Northern Ireland because British treated them harshly

Scotland to Ireland to America

Moved to the frontier to get away from hated English subjects

Social Structure in Colonies

1. Aristocrats – Lawyers, planters, merchants and clergymen

2. Lesser professional men

3. Yeoman farmers – made up the majority of colonists

4. Industrial tradesmen – manual laborers

5. Indentured servants

6. Slaves

Clerics, Physicians, and Jurists

Most honored profession in colonies was the cloth. (Christian ministry)

Most physicians were poorly trained and not highly esteemed.

Plagues were a constant nightmare Smallpox afflicted one out of five persons Diphtheria was also a deadly killer

At first lawyers were looked down upon. By 1750, lawyers were recognized as useful, and

many defended high-profile cases, were great orators and played important roles in the history of America.

Colonial Occupations

Farming All colonies engaged in some type of farming.

Lumber All colonies were heavily forested

Fishing All colonies situated along coast

Trade

Occupations of New England Colonies

Fishing and Whaling Trade Lumber Subsistence farms Industry

Triangular Trade

1. American ship left Northwest with Rum

2. Traveled to Africa and traded rum for captured slaves

3. Traveled to the West Indies and traded slaves for molasses, sugar and gold

4. Traveled back to Northwest with products where they would make rum

Triangular Trade Routes

Occupations of Middle Colonies

Farming Lumber Trade Fishing Industry

Occupations of Southern Colonies

Farming Trade Lumber Fishing

Trade

America provided raw materials and England provided manufactured goods.

American colonies needed more and more manufactured goods but England could not make them fast enough Americans looked elsewhere which was a

direct violation of the English navigation laws Molasses Act – 1733 act passed by

Parliament aimed at squelching North American trade with the French West Indies

Estimated Religious Census, 1775

1. Congregationalist…..575,000 (New England)

2. Anglican……………..500,000 (N.Y., South)

3. Presbyterian………..410,000 (Frontier)

4. German Churches….200,000 (Pennsylvania)

5. Dutch Reform……….75,000 (N.Y., N.J.)

6. Quaker……………….40,000 (Pa, N.J., Del)

7. Baptist………………..25,000 (R.I., P.A., N.J.)

8. Roman Catholic……..25,000 (Md., Pa.)

9. Methodist…………….5,000 (Scattered)

10. Jews………………….2,000 (N.Y., R.I.)

Tax Supported Dominant Denominations Congregational Church

Had grown out of the Puritan Church Anglican Church (Church of England)

Found mainly in the South Served in America as a major prop of kingly

authority Faith was less fierce and more worldly than

the religion of Puritanical New England

The Great Awakening

Liberal ideas began to challenge old-time religion Colonial churches were less fervid then before The idea of predestination was waning. It was now

taught that good works will get you into heaven. Arminius Doctrine – individual free will , not divine

decree determined a person’s eternal fate Conservatives thought this was sapping the spiritual

vitality from many denomination

Stage Set for Revival

Jonathan Edwards A fiery preacher who

moved many listeners to tears while talking of the eternal damnation that nonbelievers would face after death

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” – Famous Edwards sermon in which he stated “hell was paved with the skulls of unbaptized children.”

Edwards Sermon

George Whitefield

Captivating speaker from Massachusetts

Roaring revivals Put emotion in religion

George Whitefield George Whitefield used this collapsible

field pulpit for open-air preaching because the doors of many churches were closed to him. The first recorded use of the pulpit was at Moorsfield, England, April 9, 1742, where Whitefield preached to a crowd estimated at "twenty or thirty thousand people." Members of the audience who had come to the park for more frivolous pursuits showered the evangelist with "stones, rotten eggs and pieces of dead cat" Nothing daunted, and he won many converts. It is estimated that Whitefield preached two thousand sermons from his field pulpit.

Portable field pulpitOak, c. 1742-1770American Tract Society,Garland, Texas (63)

Effects of the Great Awakening

1. First spontaneous mass movement of American people. It broke down sectional boundaries as well as denominational lines creating unity in the colonies that eventually led to the Revolution

2. Creation of “New Light” centers of learning.• Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, and Dartmouth

Princeton CollegeNew Jersey

Brown UniversityRhode Island

Rutgers CollegeNew Jersey

Dartmouth CollegeNew Hampshire

Schools and Colleges

Puritan New England was more zealously interested in education because of religious reasons

Colonial schools put most of the emphasis on religion and on the classical languages, as well as doctrine and orthodoxy.

Discipline was severe. Benjamin Franklin played a major role in launching

the University of Pennsylvania, the first American college free from denominational control.

John Trumbull Paintings

Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown

Declaration of Independence

Battle of Bunker Hill

Charles Willson Peale Paintings

John Singleton Copley

John Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark was inspired by an event that took place in Havana, Cuba, in 1749. Fourteen-year-old Brook Watson, an orphan serving as a crew member on a trading ship, was attacked by a shark while swimming alone in the harbor. His shipmates, who had been waiting on board to escort their captain ashore, launched a valiant rescue effort. John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, 1778. National Gallery of Art, Ferdinand Lammot Belin Fund 1963.6.1

Benjamin Franklin

“Father of Civilized America”

Poor Richard’s Almanac Contained many pithy

sayings culled from the thinkers of the ages

A wealth of information

Franklin’s Contributions

Proved that lightning was a form of electricity

Bifocal spectacles Franklin stove First public library

Benjamin Franklin's experiment with the kite "..when the string was thoroughly wet, abundance of electricity was procured..." In: "The Thunder-storm" by Charles Thomlinson, F.R.S., 1877, p. 30.

John Peter Zenger

A newspaper printer who was put on trial for criticizing the corrupt royal governor.

Charged with seditious libel

Jury returned a verdict of not guilty

Became a banner achievement for freedom of the press.

Andrew Hamilton Defending John Peter ZengerLibrary of Congress

The Great Game of Politics

By 1775, eight of the colonies had royal governors who were appointed by the king.

Three had governors chosen by proprietors Almost every colony utilized a two-house legislative

body. Self-taxation with representation came to be a

cherished privilege that Americans came to cherish above most other rights.

Colonial assemblies found ways to exert their power

The right to vote was given to land owners only