People of the Colonies

By: Quinn, Will, Jacob, Ryan

Each of the 13 colonies had an upper class

The upper class was made up of merchants, ship-owners, and the clergy

In the south, land owners imitated the English upper class

Early laws allowed only upper class men and women to wear silver buttons and silk

Colonial Social Classes

Upper class American merchant

Indentured servants and slaves were at the bottom of the social class

Indentured servants came to the colonies on contract

Slaves were first brought over in 1619 by the Dutch

Once the contract expired, it was possible for indentured servants to move up in society

Slaves were meant to work for life and therefore could not move up in society

The Bottom of the Colonial Social Classes

Indentured Contract

Woman were expected to be married early and birth

multiple children

Due to their social position, Women were denied higher education

It was also socially acceptable to for women to work on farms making cloth, candles, soap and other items

When their husbands went overseas, women would act as merchants and storekeepers on their behalf

In the south, women helped to direct the workforce

The Role and Social Class of Women

18th century woman

Slaves were considered the lowest class of all the people in

the colonies There were two main types of servants/slaves : indentured

servants and enslaved African Americans Main differences between these two were that indentured

servants had some protection by the law and enslaved African Americans did not

Slave labour was mostly adopted for plantation work in the south

This way the work could be easily overseen Profits gained by slavery made it necessary for prosperity

Introduction to Slaves

Slavery was a very common thing in the south because of the abundance of plantations In the south, it was illegal for enslaved people to become married If they had children, they could be sold away from their mothers They were not able to own property of any kind It was also illegal for enslaved Africans to be taught how to

read for fear that it may spoil their physical labour abilities Most southern colonies made laws that declared that Africans

shall be enslaved for life This made it nearly impossible for slaves to become free

Slavery in the South

In the north slavery was less profitable therefore making it

less common Some colonies not only allowed but required slaves to marry They were allowed to own property and testify in court Slaves in the north were allowed to be punished but if they

were killed, their owner could be charged with murder A lot of people in the north agreed that slavery was morally

wrong therefore making the number of free African Americans much higher Although a lot were free, they still did not have equality and could not vote or hold office

Slavery in the North

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The first meeting between the English settlers and

Native Americans gave little evidence of the overall destruction of the Native Americans’ ways of life

The two cultures were so different, each others language, customs and lifestyles were so different that neither knew what to expect of the other

The meetings between them were sometimes hostile

English colonists and Native Americans

The expansion of colonial farms became the cause of

numerous conflicts along with the misunderstanding each culture had of the other’s value

Colonists justified wars in numerous ways: Some puritan ministers claimed the Native Americans were children of the devil, so they could be killed in good conscience

Who Owns the Land?

Individually, a colonist may not have been a math for a Native

American, but because of sheer numbers and weapons the colonists were destined to win

The colonists also had allies who carried diseases such as smallpox which the Europeans obtained

The European diseases sometimes wiped out whole Native American communities

An estimated 120,000 Native Americans who had lived in the area, only 20,000 survived

The Iroquois Confederacy was the only group of Native Americans that had the ability to protect its members from destruction

Weapons of Conquest

Many people came to America to worship

freely, however, many never got the privilege.

Many of the churches were Roman Catholic or English

The great awakening in the 1740s caused an abundance of new churches, creating more tolerance for different religions

Religious views in North America

The highest standard for education was held by New England Schools only had a few books, and ran classes 2-3 months a

year Most girls received little education Some of the earliest universities were Harvard, William and

Mary, and Yale

Education

By 1700, schools began

teaching science as well as religion and language

These trends started in England and was brought over to America

These studies taught the settlers that humans should have certain natural rights.

Influence of Enlightenment

Newspapers were the primary way of

getting information from person to person

Prints were on tough rag paper, and passed around from person to person

The Zinger case in the press was an important turning point in free press

The Press

Most trade ships left ports from New England Common economic activity included slave

trading and whale hunting Manufactured goods came from Britain To pay for goods, the colonies traded gold

and silver, or any other commodities Europeans needed

Many of the colonies had their own government, which had elected their own legislatere. Most were white males

The British had no control over these governments

Economy and Independence