Colonial Society (Up at 1750)

Themes

• Family and community life in New England and Chesapeake Bay

• Colonial economy and politics • History of ideas:

- Enlightenment and Great Awakening

New England Colonies

• Northern Colonies • States included: Connecticut, Rhode Island,

Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine

New England

• Thomas Smith • Captain who mixed his

work ethic with his pious Puritan beliefs

• New England society

New England Society(Education)

• Heavy emphasis on education • Towns were required to appoint teachers• Harvard College was founded in 1636 to train

ministers

New England Society (Education and Literacy)

• About 90% of adult white men and 40% of adult white women could sign their names

• Other colonies: It was no more than 50%• In England: Up to 33% could read and write

New England Society: Community Life

• The Meeting House was the center • Homes were close to one another in town; plots

allotted for farming were not necessarily next to homes • High population density:

-Many families within one mile of each other- Created atmosphere of “watchfulness;” fit goal became a “city upon a hill” with dissent

This could be linked to Salem Witch Trails of the 1690s- Easy to help each other and work together

Convicted Criminal Exposed to Public Ridicule

Land Divisions in Sudbury, Massachusetts (1639 – 1656)

New England Society: Family Life

• Family – Backbone of community • Family Organization:

- Father: Head of family - Mother: Often became “deputy husbands”- Children: Provided labor force

• Stability- 80% of children reach adulthood; worked at servants- Long life expectancy; generally healthy. Men age of 65

Chesapeake Bay

• Consisted of states: Virginia and Maryland

Chesapeake Society

• Tobacco cultivation dominated the region

• Large profits could be made, but prices fluctuated

• Indentured servants and slaves were common on plantations

Chesapeake Society: Community Life

• Homes were spread-out and far from one another; usually placed along rivers and streams

• Communities were placed next to the James River or connecting rivers as to transport tobacco

• Low population density- 6 people per sq. mile

• Large plantation homes were the “center” of social life• High risk of death; living near swamps and lakes meant

diseases and infections

Pattern of Settlement in Surry County, Virginia (1620 – 1660)

Chesapeake Society: Family Life • Chaotic!• High infant mortality rates • Life expectancy in 1600s

- Men: 48- Women: 44

• Complex households developed with numerous stepchildren and stepparents

• Labor Force: Servants and slaves; children did not live very long to be used as laborers

Indentured Servants • Headright System:

- 50 acres was granted, by the Virginia Company, to those who paid a servant’s travel costs- Many servants traveled for economic opportunity; not religious freedom

• Between 1630 – 1700 110,000 migrated from England to the Chesapeake Bay

• Up to 90% were indentured servants - Most servants were male and starting families proved difficult

• Up to 40% died within six years and up to 70% died by the time they reached the age of 49

** Why take the risk**

Decline in Real Wages in England (1500 – 1700)

• More free opportunity ($$$) in Chesapeake Bay

Life for Indentured Servants

• Owners paid passage across the Atlantic • In return servants worked 4 -7 years to pay off

debt• They often faced VERY poor treatment • At end of service they received supplies and land;

ex. Some owners gave servants food, clothing, and seeds for one full year of harvest

• The servants who made it past the 7 years faced hard times due to settling on undesirable land

Bacon’s Rebellion (Background)

• Tension developed between large landowners and former indentured servants

• Growing gap between elite rich plantation owners and poor

• The price of tobacco plummeted • Increased concern with conflict over Native

Americans

Tobacco Prices (1618 – 1710)

Conflict with Native Americans (1670s)

• Settlers (often former servants) in outlying areas encroached on land reserved for Indians

• Indians retaliated • William Berkeley, Virginia’s Governor, did not

respond with force; settlers acted on their own

• Led by recent arrival Nathanial Bacon

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

• Nathaniel Bacon led a militia of about 300

• Fought to exterminate Indians on Virginia’s frontier

• Clashed with Governor Berkeley and burned Jamestown

• Bacon later died suddenly of dysentery

• Rebellion came to a halt

Bacon’s Rebellion (Aftermath)

• Many elites in the Chesapeake were shocked by the events

• Before the Rebellion, but particularly afterward, planters increased importation of African slaves and relied less on the labor of indentured servants.

• Indentured servants required owners to free them after their debt was paid and could rebel if treated unfairly

Toward Slavery in Chesapeake

• In 1619: First documented slaves arrived in Jamestown

• In 1660: Fewer than 1,000 slaves in Virginia and Maryland. No more than 5% of population

• In 1700: At least 20,000 slaves in Virginia and Maryland (22% of population)

Slavery Outside the Chesapeake

• By early 1700s slave labor was used extensively in South Carolina

• Slavery existed in ALL of England’s North American colonies- Slaves made up 20% of New York City’s population in mid-1770s

Economics

• Trade tied the colonies and England to one another

• England purchased more Americans goods and provided more imports than any other nations

• This was partly due to mercantilism

Mercantilism

• Very popular among European nations• A nation’s power was determined by its

wealth (in gold and silver)• Key: Nations must export more goods than are

imported. Nations must produce everything they needed so as to not depend on others

• Development of colonies was influenced by this system overall

Mercantilism (England and its colonies)

• Colonies provided raw materials: tobacco, rice, sugar, lumber, furs, etc

• Colonists purchased finished products manufactured in England

• Triangular Trade

Atlantic Trade Routes(Triangular Trade)

Navigation Acts (1651 – 1673)

• All trade goods sent to the colonists had to be transported on English ships

• Enumerated goods, such as wool, sugar, tobacco, and indigo, had to be shipped to England

• All foreign goods had to travel through England before reaching the colonies

*Benefited the economy of England and port cities in colonies*

Populations of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, 1690 – 1776

• New York - 1700: 5k, 1720: 7k, 1740: 9k, 1760: 15k, 1776:

24k• Boston- 1700: 6k, 1720: 11k, 1740: 16k, 1760: 15k, 1776:

16k• Philadelphia - 1700: 2k, 1720: 5k, 1740: 8k, 1760: 16k, 1776: 21k

Economic and Politics

• The Crown and Parliament established regulations for the colonies; each colony, however, did have its own local government

Colonial Governments

• Governor: Appointed by the King or Proprietor in most cases

• Council: Chosen by Governor and served as advisors

• Assembly: Elected by voters; had the power to pass laws, levy taxes and control budgets

Colonial Governments (Voting and Holding Office)

• Women and non-whites were not eligible voters

• However, most adult white males over 40 had the right to vote- In England, only about 33% of men could vote

• Wealthy elites tended to dominate Assemblies

Influential European Movements

• Renaissance • The Enlightenment

Renaissance (1300s – 1600s)

• Rebirth of classical learning - Aristotle, Socrates

• Humanists – the first to look outside the bible for knowledge - ask questions; always asking why??- why does the Pope have so much power?

The Enlightenment

• An intellectual movement associated with Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries

• Individuals applied rational/scientific though to the world in which they lived

• What is the scientific method?

The Enlightenment (Science)

• Isaac Newton• A mathematician and physicist • “Discovered” the law of gravity • Explained how the universe was organized by

a series of rational laws

Enlightenment (Role of Government)

• John Locke’s Compact Theory • All have natural rights of life, liberty, and property • To protect rights, people establish a government

with limited powers• The people have the right to revolt if the

government oversteps its powers*Government is naturally evil; people are needed

to control government*


• Impact of Locke’s writings: - Provided a philosophical justification for

colonists during the American Revolution


• Thomas Hobbs (Puritan)• Humans fell from grace in the Book of Genesis • They sinned against God’s natural law• Man is evil • Government is needed to control human

nature


• Impact of Hobbe’s writings: - Influenced Alexander Hamilton who will later have much influence in the making of the U.S. Constitution


• Montesquieu (French philosopher) • Spirit of the laws• Government must be based on the system of

checks & balances


• Impact of Montesquieu writings:• Directly influenced James Madison who is the

Father of the U.S. Constitution and creates our 3 branch system of government

Enlightenment (In the Colonies)

• Ben Franklin – influenced by Enlightenment • Born in Boston; moved to Philadelphia • Founding American Philosophical Society in

1743

Enlightenment (In the Colonies)

• Thomas Jefferson – Enlightened by thinker• He and others were influenced by deism• Believed in a Supreme Being who created the

universe• Universe then operated without divine

interference• Supported religious freedom

Religious Debate

• Aren’t are founding fathers Christian?• Christian: Be born again by receiving the Holy

Spirit and being baptized• In order for a nation to become a Christian

nation, it must be run by God and his prophets• His word would be law • The founding fathers do not fit the criteria

Famous Masons

• John Adams, Samuel Adams, Ethan Allen, Edmund Burke, John Claypoole, William Daws, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones, Robert Livingston, James Madison, Paul Revere, George Washington, Daniel Webster

Great Awakening

• A religious fervor spread across British North America in 1730s

• Puritanism was failing • Jonathan Edwards, a New England minister,

was an example - “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

Great Awakening

• George Whitefield • Arrived in 1739• Impact = increased church membership - Connecticut: from 630 church members to

3,200 following his visit

Great Awakening (Legacy)

• Presbyterian and Baptist churches gained members at the expense of Anglicans and Congregationalists

• Slave owners were encouraged to convert their slaves to Christianity and improve their treatment

Review

• Life in the Chesapeake colonies compared to New England

• Indentured servants and growth of slavery • Mercantilism and politics • Enlightenment and Great Awakening

Colonial Society (Up at 1750)

Documents

Transcript of Colonial Society (Up at 1750)