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Colonial America WORLD HISTORY TEXT REVIEW

Columbian Exchange and Global Trade The Columbian Exchange: The global movement of foods, plants, and animals during the colonization of

the Americas is known as the Columbian Exchange. These included such plants as tomatoes, squash,

pineapples, tobacco, and cacao beans (for chocolate) and animals such as the turkey. Perhaps the most

important were corn and potatoes. Both were cheap to grow, had higher calories and provide some

nutrients. These foods led to longer lives and to increased population.

Europeans introduced livestock animals into the Americas. These included horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs.

Foods from Africa and Asia moved west with Europeans. They included bananas, black-eyed peas, and

yams. Grains new to the Americas included wheat, rice, barley, and oats. Disease was also a part of the

Columbian Exchange. The diseases Europeans brought led to the deaths of millions of Native Americans

such as small pox and measles.

The Rise of Capitalism: A new part of the European economic revolution was the growth of capitalism.

Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership and investment for individual profit.

Merchants became rich and continued to invest in trade and exploration. Profits from these investments

helped them make more money. The increase in economic success led to an increase in a nation’s money

supply. This brought on inflation. Inflation happens when people have more money to spend, so the value

of money goes down. People want more goods, so there is a rise in prices. Because the supply of goods is

less than the demand, the goods become more valuable. Prices then rise even more.

Joint-Stock Companies: A type of business that developed during this time was known as the joint-stock

company. The joint-stock company worked with investors buying shares of stock in a company. A number

of people put their money together to pay for a new company’s needs. Later they would share the profits.

In Europe many wished to make money off of American colonization. It took large amounts of money, and

the hope was large profits. Because joint-stock companies had many investors, the individuals paid only a

part of the total cost. If the colony failed, investors lost only their small share.

The Growth of Mercantilism: The nations of Europe also had an economic policy known as

mercantilism. The theory of mercantilism said that a country’s power depended on its wealth. Wealth

allowed nations to build strong navies and purchase goods. The goal of every nation was to get as much

wealth as possible.

Balance of Trade: According to the theory of mercantilism, a nation could increase its wealth and power

in two ways. First, it could get as much gold and silver as possible. Second, it could establish a favorable

balance of trade, in which it sold (exports) more goods than it bought (imports). A nation’s ultimate goal

was to become self-sufficient and not depend on other countries for goods.

Mercantilism went with colonization. Colonies provided silver and gold, and raw materials that could not

be found in the home country, such as wood or furs. Colonies also provided a place for the home country to

sell its finished goods.

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The Columbian Biological Exchange

Forms of Biological Life Going From:

Old World to New World:

New World to Old World:

Diseases: Smallpox

Measles

Chicken Pox

Malaria

Yellow Fever

Influenza

The Common Cold

?

Once thought Syphilis, but today

there is a great deal of dispute….

Animals: Horses

Cattle

Pigs

Sheep

Goats

Chickens

Turkeys

Llamas

Alpacas

Guinea Pigs

Plants: Rice

Wheat

Barley

Oats

Coffee

Sugarcane

Bananas

Melons

Olives

Dandelions

Daisies

Clover

Ragweed

Kentucky Bluegrass

Corn (Maize)

Potatoes (White & Sweet Varieties)

Beans (Snap, Kidney, & Lima

Varieties)

Tobacco

Peanuts

Squash

Peppers

Tomatoes

Pumpkins

Pineapples

Cacao (Source of Chocolate)

Chicle (Source of Chewing Gum)

Papayas

Manioc (Tapioca)

Guavas

Avocados

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An English Settlement at Jamestown

THE BUSINESS OF COLONIZATION: English colonies were originally funded and run by joint-stock

companies. These companies had investors put their money together to start a colony to make a profit. In

1606, King James I of England granted a charter to the Virginia Company. The company hoped to found a

colony in land explored earlier by Sir Walter Raleigh. He had named the territory Virginia after Elizabeth I,

“the virgin queen.” Stockholders were to receive 4/5th

of all gold and silver found by the colonists. The

king would receive 1/5th

. Three ships with nearly 150 people reached Virginia in April of 1607. They

named the settlement Jamestown and the river the James, in honor of their king.

A DISASTROUS START: Disease hit first. Hunger soon followed. The colonists were not used to doing

physical work and refused to clear fields, plant crops, or gather shellfish. With only 38 colonists still alive,

John Smith took control. He saved the colony by forcing them to farm. He also got the natives, Powhatan,

to give food. After being badly burned, Smith went back to England.

In the spring of 1609, about 600 new colonists arrived. The Powhatan had become worried about the

growing number of settlers. They began to destroy the settler’s livestock and farms. By that winter,

Jamestown faced the “starving time”. Of 600 new colonists, only 60 survived.

JAMESTOWN BEGINS TO FLOURISH: The surviving colonists decided to leave. However, as they

sailed down the James River, they met an English ship and the passengers convinced them to turn around.

New leaders were strict and harshly punished or hung people who did not work, Jamestown stabilized and

the colony began to grow. The colony had found success in a single crop: tobacco.

“BROWN GOLD” AND INDENTURED SERVANTS: Europeans learned about tobacco after Columbus’s first voyage. In 1612, John Rolfe created a new tobacco by cross breeding plants from Brazil

with a weed that natives had grown for years. This resulted in a high-quality tobacco that became popular

in England. By the late 1620s, colonists exported more than 1.5 million pounds of “brown gold” each year.

In order to grow tobacco, the Virginia Company needed workers. To get more settlers, they created the

Head-right system in 1618. Under this system, anyone who paid for their own or another’s trip to Virginia

got 50 acres of land. Immigration to the colony grew. Many land owners used indentured servants. In this

deal, a person was given a trip to North America, food and shelter when they arrived, and the indentured

servant agreed to a work for a period of time, usually 4 to 7 years.

THE FIRST AFRICAN LABORERS: Around 20 Africans first arrived in Virginia on a Dutch merchant

ship in 1619. Records suggested that the colonists treated them as indentured servants. After a few years,

most of them received land and freedom. Later the English colonists turned to the use of Africans as slaves.

One reason they did not use them sooner was they were too costly. In Virginia, tobacco served as money.

An indentured servant could be purchased for 1,000 pounds of tobacco, while a slave might cost 3 times

that amount. However, a drop in the number of indentured servants available plus an increase in wealth

created a demand for the importing of slaves.

THE ENGLISH PATTERN OF CONQUEST: England’s Laws of Conquest banned equal treatment and

marriages between the English and those conquered.

THE SETTLERS BATTLE NATIVE AMERICANS: As the English settlers recovered from the starving

time, they never forgot the Powhatan’s part in their struggle. The leaders of Jamestown demanded payment

of corn and labor as tribute. Soldiers harassed Powhatan by setting their villages on fire and kidnapping,

especially children. One of the children, Chief Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas, eventually married John

Rolfe in 1614. This lay the groundwork for peace. However, the peace did not last. By 1622, English

settlers had angered the Powhatan Chief. They attacked colonial villages, killing more than 340 colonists.

The Virginia Company sent troops and supplies, which drained it financially. In 1624, James I recalled the

company’s charter and made Virginia a royal colony. This put it under direct control of the king. England

sent more troops and settlers to strengthen the colony and to beat the Powhatan. By 1644, nearly 10,000

English men and women lived in Virginia.

Economic Differences Split Virginia: By the 1670’s, many of the free white men in Virginia were

once indentured servants. Because they did not own land, they could not vote and had almost no rights.

They lived mainly on the western frontier of Virginia, where they constantly fought with Native Americans

for land.

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HOSTILITIES DEVELOP: During the 1660’s and 1670’s, Virginia’s poor settlers felt angered by the

colony’s governor, Sir William Berkeley. Berkeley increased taxes, which were paid mostly by the poorer

settlers who received no support. The money collected was used for the personal profit of the wealthy

plantation farmers. Many of these planters had jobs in the government that they used to become richer.

Problems developed between the poor settlers and the natives. The settlers demanded some of the tax

money be used for their protection. In 1675 fighting began between the frontier settlers and natives. The

colonists asked Governor Berkeley for help, but the governor refused to use money to support the poor

frontier settlers.

BACON’S REBELLION: Berkeley’s refusal angered a planter named Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon hated

Native Americans. In 1676, Bacon raised an army to fight Native Americans on the Virginia frontier.

Governor Berkeley quickly declared Bacon’s army illegal. Bacon marched on Jamestown to confront

colonial leaders about complaints, including the frontier colonists’ lack of representation in the House of

Burgesses— Virginia’s colonial legislature. The frontier settlers resented being taxed and governed

without their consent. The march turned violent. The rebels set fire to the town as Berkeley and many

planters fled by ship. Bacon died of illness a month after storming Jamestown. Berkeley returned to

Jamestown and ended the revolt. Bacon’s Rebellion got King Charles’s attention. Charles’s recalled

Berkeley to England. Bacon’s Rebellion showed the growing power of the colony’s poor.

Indentured Servitude: The Case of the Indentured Servants Workers were hard to find in both England and North America. Finding workers was even more difficult in the

colonies. The indentured servant market came about to solve the problem and give the poor a chance to find the best

deal in exchange for their hard work.

Immigrants to the North American colonies were often people who could not afford the trip. Many came as

indentured servants. They signed contracts that paid for the trip if they promised to work for an employer in North

America for an agreed upon period of time. It was usually 4 to 7 years.

The risks and danger were great. Conditions on the trip were often difficult. Sickness and death were common.

Sometimes, people had little information about what life was really like in North America.

CASE STUDIES

Patrick McHugh believed there was little for him to do in Ormskirk, England. He had lost his farm. The

only work he could find was part time farm work lasting a few weeks at a time. He had no money. His

parents were old and poor. He heard men talking about work in a tobacco-growing colony. The work

would be difficult mostly clearing land. The indenture would last for four years.

Tom Holyfield was a thief. He grew up on a farm outside Blackpool, England. As the youngest male in the

family, Tom had no chance to inherit the farm. He worked at age 13 for a cooper – a maker of barrels. He

worked for room and board on the promise that he would be trained as a cooper. But Tom grew restless

and fell in with a gang of thieves. He and his friends were caught and found guilty of a felony. Tom could

choose either to be hanged – or he could accept a contract to work in the tobacco-growing colonies for

many years.

In 1750, Christian Mueller was a teacher by trade. He had read pamphlets about America. Pennsylvania was

described as a land of opportunity: “He who goes there as a servant, becomes a lord; as a maid becomes a

gracious lady; as a peasant, a nobleman; as a commoner, as a craftsman, a baron.” Christian left his wife

and child, traveled down the Rhine River, and signed on board a ship headed for America. The agent

agreed to pay for his passage and promised that his skills would be welcomed in North America. After his

four-year indentured, Christian planned to send for his family to join him.

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Tobacco prices 1618 to 1710

Puritan New England

Puritans were part of a church that wanted to reform the Church of England. They wanted to create a

“holy” community in New England.

Puritans Create a “New England”: The Puritans came to create a model new society—what John

Winthrop, their first governor, called a “City upon a Hill.” PURITANS AND PILGRIMS: Puritanism had its origins in the English Reformation. Long after King

Henry VIII (1491–1547) broke with Roman Catholicism in the 1530’s, his daughter, Elizabeth I (1533–

1603) formed the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church was a compromise between Catholics and

Protestants, but some members felt that it had kept too many of the Catholic practices. They were called

Puritans or Non-Separatists because they wanted to purify the church from Catholicism. Puritans felt that

every worshipper should experience God directly through faith, prayer, and study of the Bible. Puritans

saw ministers as a source of religious and moral instruction. Some wish to do more than change the church;

they wanted to leave it. Separatists, or Pilgrims, ran from England to escape persecution. They first went

to Holland and later to America. In 1620, this small group founded the Plymouth Colony, the second

permanent English colony in North America.

THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COMPANY: Other Puritans like the Separatists felt the increasing

persecution and poor economic conditions. In 1629, John Winthrop got a royal charter for a joint-stock

company, the Massachusetts Bay Company. Winthrop moved the company’s headquarters to New

England. This meant that they could have an independent government. Boston became their capital. In the

first year of the colony’s settlement, 17 ships arrived with about 1,000 English men, women, and

children—Puritan and non-Puritan. Eventually, Plymouth Colony was made part of the Massachusetts Bay

Colony. The Massachusetts Bay Company gave the right to vote to stockholders and to all adult males

who belonged to the Puritan church, roughly 40 percent of the colony’s men. These “freemen,” as they

were called, voted yearly for members of a lawmaking body called the General Court, which in turn chose

the governor.

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CHURCH AND STATE: The officials were members of the Puritan church who believed that they were

God’s “elect,” or chosen, and had a duty to carry out God’s will. Puritans outlawed such sins as

drunkenness, swearing, theft, and idleness.

IMPORTANCE OF THE FAMILY: Puritans watched husbands, wives, and children, and they stepped in

when necessary. If parents failed to discipline enough, they might place the child in more “God-fearing”

homes. If a husband and wife quarreled too much, a court ordered counseling, or the stocks or the pillory.

THE FOUNDING OF PROVIDENCE: Roger Williams had two controversial views. First, he declared

that the English settlers had no claim to land unless they purchased it from Native Americans. He called the

royal charter that granted the lands a “National Sin” and demanded it be changed. Second, he felt that

officials had no right to punish settlers for their religious beliefs. He felt every person should be free to

worship. The General Court ordered Williams to be arrested and returned to England. He fled in January

1636, and headed south to Narragansett Bay. He bargained with the Narragansett tribe to set up a new

colony, which he called Providence. In Providence, later the capital of Rhode Island, Williams guaranteed

separation of church and state and religious freedom.

ANNE HUTCHINSON BANISHED: Puritan leaders also banished Anne Hutchinson. She taught that

worshippers did not need the church or its ministers to interpret the Bible. The leaders banished her in

1638. She and followers went to Rhode Island. In 1642, she moved to the colony of New Netherlands (now

New York), where the Dutch allowed religious toleration. In 1643, she died in a war between the Dutch

and Natives.

DISPUTES OVER LAND: For every acre a colonial farmer needed to support life, a Native needed

twenty for hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Native Americans felt no one owned the land—it was there for

everyone to use. They saw land treaties with Europeans as agreements in which they received gifts

(blankets, guns…), in return they would share the land for a limited time. Europeans, however, saw the

treaties as a one-time deal in which they permanently sold their land to new owners.

THE PEQUOT WAR: In Connecticut in 1637, the Pequot nation decided to take a stand against the

colonists. The colonists formed an alliance with the Narragansett, old enemies of the Pequot. The Pequot

War end came in May 1637, when about 90 English colonists and hundreds of their allies surrounded a

Pequot fort on the Mystic River. After setting the fort on fire, the colonists shot Pequot men, women, and

children as they tried to escape or surrender. The massacre was so awful that the Narragansett pleaded for

their mercy. The colonists killed all but a few out of about 500–600 people in the fort had died.

KING PHILIP’S WAR: With no land, many Natives had to work for the English to earn a living. They

had to obey Puritan laws such as no hunting or fishing on Sunday. Wampanoag chief Metacom, whom the

English called King Philip, disliked these laws. In a last-ditch effort to wipe out the invaders, he organized

his tribe and several others into an alliance. King Philip’s War, in the spring of 1675, shocked the

Puritans. Using hit-and-run tactics, Native Americans attacked and burned outlying settlements throughout

New England. For over a year, the two sides waged a war of equal brutality and destruction. Finally, food

shortages, disease, and heavy casualties wore down the Native Americans’ resistance, and they gradually

surrendered or fled. Wampanoag casualties included Metacom, the victim of a bullet fired by a Native

American ally of the English. The Puritans exhibited Metacom’s head at Plymouth for 20 years. With his

defeat, Native

American power in southeastern New England was gone forever. Still, the English paid a high price for

their victory. About 1/10 of the colonial men of military age in New England were killed in King Philip’s

War.

Puritans: Half-way Covenant The Half-Way Covenant was an attempt by New England Puritans to face a serious religious crisis of faith.

Puritans came to the New World to create a “pure community” of like-minded Christians, called a "City on a Hill."

All members of a Puritan community were expected to attend church. Church membership came with the right to

vote in church matters and to take communion. It was seen as a strong sign that they would receive salvation. People

had to prove that they were special to gain membership by speaking in front of other church members. They

explained how God had "sanctified" (blessed) them by describing the experience. At first, most Puritans participated.

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But as time passed, fewer of the younger people qualified in this way for church membership. Therefore, church

membership became smaller.

To build church membership and participation, the leaders of the church created a way to bring in younger members.

They debated many questions: Who is qualified for baptism? Should the children of the saved be granted church

membership as well?

In 1662 a Massachusetts they agreed that a "half-way" membership would be added. Adults who had been baptized

as children but who had not yet had the conversion necessary for full membership could have their children baptized.

The parents in agreed to behave by the church's standards of moral conduct. Until conversion, however, these parents

and their children were not allowed to vote in church business or take communion.

Settlement of the Middle Colonies The Dutch Found New Netherlands: In 1609, Englishman Henry Hudson sailed for the Dutch up a

river named for him River. In 1621, the Dutch granted the Dutch West India Company permission to

colonize New Netherlands and expand the fur trade. New Amsterdam (now New York City), founded in

1625, became the capital of the colony. In 1655, the Dutch extended their claims by taking over New Sweden, a colony of Swedish and Finnish settlers that also had a fur trade along the Delaware River. A DIVERSE COLONY: New Netherlands was slow to bring Dutch colonists. To encourage settlers, the

colony opened its doors to a variety of people. Gradually, more Dutch as well as Germans, French,

Scandinavians, and other Europeans came to settle. The colony also included many Africans, free as well

as slaves. By the 1660’s, 1/5th

of the population was of African. These settlers had better relations with

Native Americans than the English colonists in New England and Virginia. The Dutch were less interested

in conquering the Natives than in trading with them for furs. The first Dutch traders did not anger the

powerful and well organized Iroquois, who controlled territory between Dutch to the south and French to

the north. Later the Dutch did fight with some groups over land claims and trade.

ENGLISH TAKEOVER: In 1664, King Charles II granted his brother James, the duke of York (who later

became King James II), permission to drive out the Dutch. Outnumbered, Peter Stuyvesant, the unpopular

Dutch governor, surrendered to the English without anyone firing a shot. The duke of York renamed it

New York. He later gave a portion of this land to friends who named their territory New Jersey.

The Quakers Settle Pennsylvania: William Penn in 1667 joined the Society of Friends, or Quakers.

King Charles II had owed Penn’s father money, and Penn asked to be repaid with American land. Charles

gave Penn a charter for Pennsylvania in 1681. Penn wanted a government run on Quaker principles of

equality, cooperation, and religious toleration. Penn did not reveal the true nature of his plans before

receiving the charter. PENN’S “HOLY EXPERIMENT”: The Quakers believed that God’s “inner light” burned inside everyone.

They held services without formal ministers, allowing any person to speak. They dressed plainly, refused

to recognize rank, and opposed war, refusing to serve in the military and refused to fight. They were

harassed by Anglicans and Puritans alike. Penn saw his colony as a “holy experiment” in living in a place

without aristocracy. He guaranteed every adult male settler 50 acres of land and the right to vote. Penn’s

plan for government called for a representative assembly and freedom of religion. As a symbol of Quaker

beliefs, he helped plan a capital he called the “City of Brotherly Love,” or Philadelphia. NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS: Penn believed that people approached in friendship would respond

in friendship—sooner or later. Before coming to America, Penn had a letter read to the Delaware (the tribe

that lived his settlement). Penn wanted them to understand that his colonists would treat them fairly. Penn

ran trade with them and provided a court for both colonists and natives to settle differences. The Native

Americans respected Penn, and for more than 50 years the Pennsylvania colony had no major conflicts

with Native Americans.

A THRIVING COLONY: Penn faced the same challenge as the Dutch; he needed to bring in settlers—

farmers, builders, and traders—to create a profitable colony. After opening the colony to Quakers, he

invited immigrants from around Western Europe. Advertisements for the colony were printed in German,

Dutch, and French. In time, settlers came including thousands of Germans who brought craft skills and

farming techniques that helped the colony to succeed. Penn spent only about four years in Pennsylvania.

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He never made money as the owner and died poor in 1718. His own Quakers were a minority in the colony.

Slavery was later allowed despite Penn’s beliefs; many Quakers in Pennsylvania owned slaves.

THIRTEEN COLONIES: Throughout the 1600’s and 1700’s, other British colonies in North America

were founded for very different reasons. In 1632, King Charles I granted a charter for land north of

Chesapeake Bay to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore. Calvert’s son Cecil, the second Lord

Baltimore, named the colony Maryland, after Queen Henrietta Maria, Charles’s queen. Lord Baltimore, a

Roman Catholic, won a religious toleration law from Maryland’s colonial assembly, and the colony

became famous for its religious freedom.

In 1663, King Charles II awarded a group of key supporters the land between Virginia and Spanish Florida,

a territory that soon became North and South Carolina.

In 1732, an English philanthropist (one who does charity for others) named James Oglethorpe, and others

received a charter for a colony they hoped could give a new life for those jailed for debt. Oglethorpe named

the colony Georgia, after King George II. Few debtors actually came to Georgia, and Oglethorpe’s policies,

which outlawed both slavery and the drinking of rum, were allowed when the British crown took direct

control of the colony in 1752. By that time, there were thirteen British colonies in North America, but a

growing desire for independence would soon put a strain on their relationship with England.

England and Its Colonies

England and Its Colonies Prosper Real purpose of the colonial system was to enrich Britain.

MERCANTILISM The British built colonies due to the theory of mercantilism. The idea was that a

country’s goal was self-sufficiency (no need of any other country). All countries were in a competition to

get the most gold and silver. Nations wanted a “favorable” balance of trade— more goods exported and

less imported. A favorable balance meant more gold was coming in than going out.

Britain saw the American colonies as a market for British goods, a source of raw materials to be sold to

other nations.

THE NAVIGATION ACTS By the mid-1600s, the American colonies exported large amounts of raw

materials: lumber, furs, fish, and tobacco. The colonists bought manufactured English goods such as

furniture, utensils, books, and china. However, not all the products the colonists ended up in England.

Some of the colonists’ lumber and tobacco made its way into Spain, France, and Holland. Colonial

merchants could not resist a chance to increase their wealth. England viewed the colonists’ money from

foreign markets as a threat.

Beginning in 1651, England’s Parliament, the country’s legislative body, passed the Navigation Acts,

laws restricting colonial trade. Passing all foreign goods through England gave jobs to English

dockworkers and import taxes went to the English treasury. Also, by restricting trade to English or colonial

ships, the acts created a boom in the colonial shipbuilding industry.

Tensions Emerge Colonial merchants resented the trade restrictions, and many continued to smuggle

(trade illegally) goods to and from other countries. For years England did little to stop these violations.

CRACKDOWN IN MASSACHUSETTS The Puritan leaders of Massachusetts resented royal authority

and even suggested that their corporate charter did not require them to obey Parliament. In 1684, King

Charles II began punishing colonists believed to be breaking the law such as leaders and merchants of

Massachusetts. It was made a royal colony, under strict control of the king.

THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND When King James II succeeded his brother in 1685, he wanted

the more loyal colonial governments. He put the Northern colonies under one new ruler to represent him in

Boston. Land from southern Maine to New Jersey was united into one colony, the Dominion of New

England. To rule James picked Sir Edmund Andros, a military officer from a rich English family.

Andros made his attitude toward the colonists clear: “You have no more privileges ….” Andros made

thousands of enemies. He angered Puritans by suggesting their religion was illegal. He demanded respect

for Navigation Acts and smugglers arrested. He restricted local assemblies and charged taxes without input

from local leaders. In 1688, the colonists of Massachusetts sent their minister, Increase Mather, to London

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to try to get their old charter back and Andros kicked out. However, the Glorious Revolution in England

changed the political picture.

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION King James II, a Roman Catholic showed no respect for Parliament

and was kicked out without fighting. Parliament invited William of Orange, the husband of James’s

Protestant daughter Mary, to England. William and his army sailed from Holland as James fled the country.

In 1689 Parliament voted to offer the throne to William and Mary. Parliament then passed laws to limit the

power of the monarch. When the colonists heard of events in England, they arrested Andros and his royal

councilors. Parliament restored Massachusetts’s charter, however, the English government made changes.

The new charter, granted in 1691, called for the king to choose the governor of Massachusetts, required

more religious toleration, and non-Puritan representation in the colonial assembly. The Puritans would not

be able to control other groups as easily: such as the Anglicans, members of the Church of England, and

the Quakers. They then revoked the colony’s corporate charter.

England Loosens the Reins After 1688, England turned its attention away from the colonies and focused on France. France was

competing with England for control of Europe. At this time Parliament saw little reason to use large

amounts of money or soldiers to enforce its colonial laws.

SALUTARY NEGLECT In the years immediately after the Glorious Revolution, Parliament strengthened

the Navigation Acts in two ways. First, it moved smuggling trials from colonial courts to courts run

directly by English judges. The juries of colonists often found colonial smugglers innocent. Second, it

created the Board of Trade, an advisory board with powers to monitor colonial trade. While England

appeared to tighten its grip, in reality it loosened its control. English officials only lightly enforced the new

policies. That lack of enforcing laws became known as salutary neglect. Salutary—beneficial, good—

neglect meant that England relaxed its enforcement of most regulations. England had other bigger

concerns, and they wanted continued economic loyalty of the colonies. As long as raw materials continued

flowing into England and the colonists continued to buy English made goods, Parliament did not supervise

the colonies closely.

THE SEEDS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT This policy of salutary neglect had an important effect on

colonial politics as well as economics. In nearly every colony, a governor appointed by the king served as

the highest authority. The governor held a several powers. He had the power to call or end the assembly,

appoint and fire judges, and supervise all colonial trade. However, the colonist, not the king, paid the

governor’s salary. So the colonists influenced the governor’s decisions. The colonies got used to running

their own government. However, men and women of the colonies still considered themselves loyal British

subjects.

New Colonies Become “American”

The Agricultural South A Plantation Economy Arises Southern colonies ran from the Chesapeake region to Georgia. Many raised cash crops, one grown mainly

for sale. Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, farmers grew tobacco. South Carolina and Georgia grew

rice and later indigo. Plantations developed instead of towns. Plantation owners made most of what they

needed and had little need of cities. There were few cities in the South.

A DIVERSE AND PROSPEROUS PEOPLE During the 1700s, many European immigrants came.

Germans settled in Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina. They raised grain, livestock, and tobacco. Scots

and Scots-Irish settled in the hills of western North Carolina. Small farmers formed most of the Southern

population.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN Women in the South were second-class citizens.

Women had few legal or social rights. The average Southern woman worked inside and had outdoor

duties. Women of the planter class had an easier life. INDENTURED SERVANTS At the bottom of

Southern society were indentured servants. Many were young men and had few rights. Those finished the

years of labor (many did not) improved their life little. Indentured servants made up a huge part of the

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colonial population in the 1600s: between 1/2 and 2/3 of all white immigrants after 1630. Their numbers

later fell by 1700.

THE EVOLUTION OF SLAVERY The English had tried to force Native Americans to work. English

colonists turned to Africans as a better investment.

THE EUROPEAN SLAVE Africans had been slaves in the West Indies. Africans were part of a

transatlantic trading network described as the triangular trade.

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE The trip that took Africans to the West Indies and to North America was

known as the middle passage. European traders branded Africans with red-hot irons and packed them into

holds of large slave ships. They suffered whippings and beatings. Many caught diseases. Whether they died

from disease, cruel treatment, or suicide, up to 20 to 30% died during the trip. SLAVERY IN THE SOUTH Most—80 to 90%—worked in the fields. The other 10 to 20% worked in the

house of their owner or as craftsmen. Owners often rented slaves out to work on other plantations. Slave

owners beat slaves they thought were disobedient or disrespectful. Often courts did not hold owners guilty

of murder for killing their slaves during punishment.

RESISTANCE AND REVOLT Enslaved Africans sometimes resisted. Planters often reported slaves

faking illness, breaking tools, and staging work slowdowns.

Some slaves staged revolts. The Stono Rebellion, began on a September Sunday in 1739. About 20 slaves

gathered at the Stono River southwest of Charles Town, South Carolina. With guns and other weapons,

they killed several planter families and marched south to Spanish Florida. A white militia stopped them.

Those captured were executed. Despite the rebellion’s failure, it scared many Southern colonists. That led

to tightening of slave laws already in place.

The Commercial North

Commerce Grows in the North From 1650 to 1750, the colonies’ economy grew twice as fast as Great Britain’s.

A DIVERSIFIED ECONOMY New England and middle colonies usually grew several crops instead of a

single one. Cold winters and rocky soil made New England more difficult to farm. In some Middle

colonies farmers raised a many types of crops and livestock, including wheat, corn, cattle, and hogs. They

sold their extra food to the West Indies.

A commercial economy also developed in the New England and Middle colonies. Grinding wheat,

harvesting fish, and sawing lumber became important industries. Colonists made ships and iron. By 1760,

the colonists built 1/3 of all British ships and were making more iron than England.

URBAN LIFE The growth of trade caused ports to grow. Only one major port, Charles Town, existed in

the South. In the North there were many ports: Boston,

New York City, and Philadelphia. Philadelphia eventually became the second largest city (after London) in

the British Empire.

INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS Northern colonies attracted a variety of immigrants. The Germans and the Scots-Irish were the largest non-

English immigrant groups. Germans began arriving in Pennsylvania in the 1680s. Most were looking for

better economics. Some, such as the Mennonites, came to Pennsylvania because of William Penn’s policy

of religious freedom and because they shared the Quakers’ anti-war feelings. The Scots-Irish—descendants

of Scottish Protestants—entered mostly through Philadelphia. Many established farms in frontier areas

such as western Pennsylvania, where they often fought with Native Americans. Other ethnic groups

included the Dutch in New York, Scandinavians in Delaware, and Jews in such cities as Newport and

Philadelphia. The different groups did not always mix.

SLAVERY IN THE NORTH Raising wheat and corn did not require as much labor as tobacco or rice.

Northerners had less need for slavery than Southerners. Slavery was in New England and the Middle

colonies. Most slaves in New England had more legal rights than slaves in the South. They could sue and

be sued, and they had the right of appeal in court. However, they led harsh lives and were considered less

than human beings. They were forbidden to gather or to carry weapons, and there were no laws to protect

them from cruelty. Slaves sometimes rebelled. In 1712 in New York, a revolt happened that led to the

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execution of 21 people. In 1741, several fires and robberies led New Yorkers to make an example of

“ringleaders”, burning 13 and hanging 18.

WOMEN IN NORTHERN SOCIETY They had many work responsibilities but few legal rights. Most

people still lived on farms. A colonial wife had few legal rights. She could not vote. Most women could not

enter into contracts, buy or sell property, or keep their own wages if they worked outside the home. Only

single women and widows could run their own businesses. In New England, religion also kept women

under their husbands’ rule. Puritans insisted they submit to husbands.

WITCHCRAFT TRIALS IN SALEM In February 1692, several Salem girls accused a West Indian slave

woman, Tituba, of using witchcraft. The girls’ created a great deal of attention. When the girls accused

others of witchcraft, the situation grew out of control. Many tried to save themselves by naming other

“witches.” More and more people made false accusations. Many of the girls were poor and brought

charges against richer families. Many “witches” were women who might be considered too independent. It

continued until the girls charged important citizens like the governor’s wife. Finally they closed the court.

The Salem Witch Trials ended with 19 hanged and another killed by being crushed to death. Four or five

more “witches” died in jail, and about 150 were imprisoned.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT Many educated thinkers concluded that the world was governed by fixed

mathematical laws. These ideas about nature gained popularity in the 1700s in a movement called the

Enlightenment. Enlightenment ideas traveled from Europe to the colonies and spread quickly. Literacy

was high in New England, because Puritans supported education so everyone could read the Bible.

One outstanding Enlightenment figure was Benjamin Franklin. Franklin felt truth could be found through

experimentation and reasoning.

The Enlightenment also affected politics in the colonies. Colonial leaders like Thomas Jefferson used

reason to argue that individuals have natural rights, which governments must respect. Enlightenment led

many colonists to question the authority of the British monarchy.

THE GREAT AWAKENING By the early 1700s, the Puritan church had weakened its control on society,

and church membership was down. The new Massachusetts charter of 1691 forced Puritans to allow

freedom of worship and banned the practice of letting only Puritan church members vote.

Jonathan Edwards was a member of the clergy who wanted to revive the commitment to the Puritan

church. Edwards preached that going to church was not enough for salvation; people must admit their sin

and feel God’s love for them. Other preachers traveled from village to village, exciting followers. Traveling preachers attracted

thousands, making it necessary to hold meetings to be held outdoors. This religious revival was known as

the Great Awakening. It lasted throughout the 1730s and 1740s. The Great Awakening brought many

colonists, as well as Native Americans and African Americans, into organized Christian churches for the

first time. As the movement became more popular, it also challenged the authority of established churches.

Some colonists left their old Puritan or Anglican churches. Independent denominations, such as the

Baptists and Methodists, gained new members.

The Great Awakening also led to an increased interest in higher education. Several Protestants founded

colleges such as Princeton, Brown, Columbia, and Dartmouth to train ministers for their rapidly growing

churches.

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Economic Information

Ethnic Colonization

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American Colonies Economic Sources New England colonies Massachusetts: shipbuilding, shipping, fishing, lumber, rum, meat

products New Hampshire: ship masts, lumber, fishing, trade,

shipping, livestock, foodstuffs Connecticut : rum, iron foundries, shipbuilding Rhode Island: snuff, livestock

Middle colonies New York: furs, wheat, glass, shoes, livestock, shipping, shipbuilding,

rum, beer, snuff Delaware: trade, foodstuffs New Jersey: trade, foodstuffs, copper Pennsylvania: flax, shipbuilding

Southern colonies Virginia: tobacco, wheat, cattle, iron Maryland: tobacco, wheat, snuff North Carolina: naval supplies, tobacco, furs South Carolina: rice, indigo, silk Georgia: indigo, rice, naval supplies, lumber

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Economic Colonial Chart Summary