Colonial Ways of Life

Ch 3

New England Society Puritan exercises dominated daily life in New

England

Town meetings grew into local town government, where laws were passed and officials were elected to govern

The men who were chosen to manage town affairs were called selectmen

Puritans were successful in part because they were driven by their religious belief 6 day work week Loyalty and Trust

Since agriculture was limited in the New England colonies, trade and business developed

Artisan – were skilled workers who manufactured certain goods

Trade and industry gave rise to large cities.

As cities grew very large very fast problems arose in the form of pollution, crime, and over crowding.

New England Economy

New England’s soil was not suitable for large farming

So the economy was based on Fishing Whaling Lumbering Ship building

Middle Colonies Agriculture was much more of

a success in the middle colonies than the New England

Wheat was the main cash crop

In the early 1700s there was a wheat boom that brought many new immigrant workers and capitalist to the middle colonies

Capitalist – people who have money to invest into new business

Trade was also a major network in the Middle Colonies

3 Rivers helped to make trade a success Hudson Delaware Susquehanna

Southern Economy Tobacco was the South’s first cash crop

Tobacco and other cash crop’s success led to the growth of plantations and the need for more labor

Indentured Servants were tenant farmers who sold their labor for the chance to own their own land

Rice and Indigo also became important cash crops

Tobacco Indigo

Southern Society Southern levels of society included

Gentry – wealthy land owners Yeoman Farmers – small subsistence farmers who

grew just enough for their own families Landless Tenant Farmers Servants/Enslaved Africans

Bacon’s Rebellion Sir William Berkeley – Governor of Virginia in

1660

Backcountry farmers were angry They wanted to expand their land Native Americans didn’t Rich land owners didn’t want to anger the Indians

Bacon’s Rebellion Farmers raised an army under the leadership of

Nathaniel Bacon and attacked the Indians and the Governor

Bacon was a wealthy land owner who had just purchased a track of land near the frontier

The war lasted until Oct of 1676 until Bacon, hiding in a swamp, became sick and died

Slavery in the Colonies

From 1450 to 1870 there were 10 – 12 million Africans forcibly taken to America on a journey that became known as the Middle Passage, over

2 million died at sea.

Later it became the

Triangle Trade

Olaudah Equiano An African Prince who was

kidnapped from his West African home by other Africans in the 1760’s

He later won his freedom and wrote his memoirs about his journey

` Maryland was the first colony to

recognize slavery Virginia was the first to have a slave

code

Journal Entry Thur. Sept. 3 If you were to give effort and energy in your life to

try to change something you think is wrong in your society what would it be, what is it that you feel needs changed about it, and how would you change it?

Ch 3 Section 3 Leading to Revolution Mercantilism – a set of ideas about the world

economy and how it works Mercantilist believed that to become wealthy and

powerful, a country had to accumulate gold and silver A country would do this by selling more goods to other

countries then it bought

Navigation Acts Several laws were passed in England known as

the Navigation Acts that regulated trade in the colonies and raised tax money for the British.

This greatly angered the colonist

Glorious Revolution Many people in England too opposed King James

II and Parliament was afraid there might be another civil war

Parliament then asked James’ daughter Mary and her husband William to take the throne

This bloodless revolution became known as the Glorious Revolution

English Bill of Rights Parliament also established the English Bill of

Rights which limited the power of the king and listed the rights that Parliament and English citizens were guaranteed.

The English Bill of Rights set the precedent for what would later be the U.S. Bill of Rights.

John Locke John Locke – a political philosopher who wrote the

book “Two Treatises of Government”

He said “all people are born with natural rights, including the right to life, liberty, and property”

Enlightenment and Great Awakening

Enlightenment – challenged the authority of the church in science and philosophy while elevating the power of human reason

Great Awakening – a religious revival in the colonies in the 1730’s that pushed an individuals ability to understand and grow toward God

Enlightenment Jean Jacques Rousseau – Social Contract

Theory

Baron Montesquieu – first to teach a 3 branch government

Social Contract Theory People created government to protect their rights In return, people agreed to obey government’s laws If the government violated people’s rights they were

justified in changing the government

Jonathan Edwards –preached sermons about people on the verge of damnation. Ex. “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”

George Whitefield – influential leader of the Great Awakening

Essay Question Compare and contrast the society, economics,

and government of the three regions of the original 13 colonies.