Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for

Empire

Chapter 4

Slavery & Empire

• Slavery was vital component of world commerce

• Asiento – an agreement whereby Spain subcontracted to a foreign government the right to provide slaves to Spanish America

• Britain won the asiento from Dutch following war

• Triangular Trade – Caribbean biggest market for American colonial commodities

Africa and the Slave Trade

• Most African rulers took part in the slave trade – few Europeans ventured inland from the coast

• Africans traded for guns and used guns to gain power over neighbors

• Middle Passage – transport of slaves to New World; disease claimed 1 in 5 slaves but also high death rates for white crews

• Less than 5% of slaves came to American colonies

• Rise of slave population mainly due to natural increase

Slavery in the Colonies

• Three distinct slave systems in American colonies

Tobacco-based plantation slavery in Chesapeake (VA, MD)

Rice-based plantation slavery in South Carolina and Georgia

Non-Plantation slavery in New England and Middle Colonies

Chesapeake Slavery

• Largest and oldest slave system was tobacco-based plantations

• As Virginia expanded – so did slavery

• Elite wealth became more concentrated – society more hierarchical

Large planters Lesser planters / landowning yeomen Indentures, tenant farmers (>half of

white population by 1770), convicts Slaves

Chesapeake Slavery

• Whites increasingly considered free blacks to be dangerous• Free blacks lost right to employ white servants, own guns,

and subjected to a special tax• Free blacks could not strike a white for any reason• 1723 Voting rights revoked• Freed slaves required to leave colony – free blacks a tiny part

of population

Slavery in Carolina

• Slavery based on rice and indigo plantations – increase in cultivation = more slaves

• By 1730s 2/3 population was black• Initially slave trade of Indians

conducted by the Creeks – later stopped as Indians feared white encroachment

• Due to experience of slaves w/rice cultivation and malaria slaves often left to themselves to work under the “task” system

Georgia

• Georgia the last and poorest of colonies

• Founded by philanthropists under James Oglethorpe as social experiment

• Georgia to be haven of poor – only poor could emigrate there

• Forbade liquor, slavery, and the passing of farms through inheritance

• Settlers revolted – colony surrendered to the crown in 1751

• Became much like South Carolina

Slavery in the North

• Small farms predominated in North - few slaves

• Most worked as artisans, stevedores, or personal servants

• Few slaves = fewer laws• Severe beatings outlawed, slaves

could bring suit in courts, and own and pass on property to their children

Slavery in the North

• Slave populations higher in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia

• Slave numbers dwindled as wage labor began to make more sense due to economic variances

• Slaves an expensive long-term investment

Slave Culture

• During the 1700’s most slaves had been born in Africa• As time progressed slaves lost tribal identity – identities

became synthesis of music, art, folklore, language, etc.• Some slaves came to colonies as Christian or Muslim but

most practiced traditional African religions• Christianity often blended with African elements such as

voodoo

Slave Culture

• Smaller farms of Chesapeake exposed slaves to more white culture – many learned English

• Rice plantations of South Carolina & Georgia harsh – low birthrates meant continued importation of slaves

• Less contact w/whites created a more African-based culture (Gullah)

• House servants assimilated more quickly into European culture

• Sexual liaisons between slave and master created new class of free mulattos

Resistance to Slavery

• Runaway slaves – many fled to Spanish territory in Florida, uninhabited swamps, or passed for free in cities

• Slave Uprisings First in New York 1712 – burned

houses and killed 9 whites Other rebellions during Indian

wars Some runaway slaves caught and

enslaved by Indians

Resistance to Slavery

• The Stono Rebellion 1739 War of Jenkins’ Ear between England

and Spain Group of South Carolina slaves (new

from Kongo) seized weapons Marched south to Florida burning

houses & barns, killing whites After hard battle, group dispersed by

colonial militia More than 24 whites & 200 slaves killed Remnants fled made it to Florida where

they were armed by Spanish and helped beat back attack by Georgian militia

Democracy in America

• There was more democracy in America than in Britain

• In both places voting rights were given only to landholders – but more common people owned land in America than in Britain: between 50-80% of adult white men in America / <5% in Britain

• In only a few colonies could propertied widowed women vote

• Depending on the colony Jews, Catholics, Protestant dissenters like Baptists, and Quakers could not vote

Democracy in America

• Propertied free blacks could vote in the Southern colonies but later lost that right

• In the North, free blacks could vote but local custom often barred them

• Generally, Indians could not vote• The people only existed on

election day, representatives generally ruled without regard to their constituents

Democracy in America

• The real power lay with the appointed officials such as the governors of the 9 royal colonies appointed by the king and the proprietors of Maryland and Pennsylvania

• Only governors in Rhode Island and Connecticut were elected by the people

• In New England most town officers were elected – in other colonies they were appointed by the governor

Democracy in America

• In South Carolina, men had to own 500 acres of land and ten slaves to sit in the assembly

• In New York, most of the assembly were family members of the great landed Dutch patroons

• People normally deferred public office to the educated wealthy elites

• Elections often won by those who served the most food and liquor

Assignment

• Students will individually or in pairs research the political relationship between the British Crown and the colonies

• A diagram will be created showing this relationship• The diagram will include powers and responsibilities of all the levels

of government• Ensure that exceptions/difference between colonies are noted

Governor

Colonial Legislature

Privy Council

Board of Trade

The Great Awakening

• Concerns that westward expansion, individualism, and growing commerce was undermining religion

• Revival of religious fundamentalism (international phenomenon)

• George Whitefield – passionate minister; sermons praised God as merciful; salvation was possible through repentance and surrender to God

• Jonathan Edwards – emotional style of preaching; Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Jonathan Edwards

The Great Awakening

• Religious revivals first shared “American” event

• Churches split into “Old Lights” (traditionalists) and “New Lights” (revivalists)

• Harvard and Yale – established to produce American ministers

The Spanish Empire

• Spanish settlement clustered mainly around small urban areas such as St. Augustine and Santa Fe

• Attempts to colonize Texas resulted in mission at San Antonio and other smaller missions

• Populations remained sparse• Russian claims on California sparked

renewed mission San Diego, Los Angeles, Monterrey, San Francisco

• But population remained sparse: LA in 1800 had only 300 people

Spanish Mission at Los Angeles

The French Empire

• Population and economy of French Canada slowly expanded

• Farms sprouted along St. Lawrence River

• Exploration led to settlement at New Orleans

• French settlement dwarfed by English• New World seen as punishment by

French – not opportunity• French trade penetrated deep into

Midwest and alliances w/Indians caused tensions w/English settlers

The French & Indian War

• The Ohio Valley became a middle ground between the French, British, and competing Indian tribes

• Indians had learned direct warfare w/Europeans was suicide so they attempted to play one empire off against the other

• By 1750, white settlers were eyeing the rich Ohio lands

• Ohio lands were awarded to the Ohio Company, owned by Virginia elites, by the Virginian government

The French & Indian War

• This grant threatened the Indians living in the area and also Pennsylvanian land speculators who also claimed the area

• In response, the French increased their presence there

• 1753 – George Washington was sent by VA governor to determine intent of French in the Ohio

• 1754 – Washington returned to set up fort at Three Rivers with 2 companies of soldiers

George Washington

The French & Indian War

• Washington found that the French already constructed Fort Duquesne

• He & Indian allies attacked a small French party killing its commander

• French claimed this was a peace party sent out to negotiate w/British and Washington was an assassin

• Washington retreated to an open meadow and hastily constructed Fort Necessity

Fort Necessity

The French & Indian War

• Fort Necessity was attacked by French & Indians – Washington forced to surrender

• This sparked a global conflict: The Seven Years War

• British sent a large force under General Braddock to take the French fort – Washington volunteered as an aide

• Braddock was ambushed – 2/3 of his 3,000 men killed or wounded

• First two years war went badly for British and colonies – forts and settlements destroyed by Indians

The death of General Braddock

The French & Indian War

• Britain expelled French (Acadians) from Nova Scotia – remnants settled in Louisiana

• Turning came with new Prime Minister William Pitt

• Britain dedicated more troops and ships to war

• Several French strongholds captured including Quebec and Montreal

• Most French islands in Caribbean also seized

The French & Indian War

• The Peace of Paris 1763 – France ceded all of Canada to Britain, Spain ceded Florida to Britain, and Spain was given France’s vast Louisiana Territory

• Britain entered the war already in debt from previous wars with the Dutch and French

• The Seven Years War increased the debt and added costs of maintaining expanded territories

• Debt from war also helped cause severe economic problems in France as well

Pontiac’s Rebellion

• The removal of France from North America eliminated the Indians’ balance of power diplomacy

• 1763 – Indians of the Ohio and Great Lakes formed an alliance Under Chief Pontiac and holy men to revolt against British Rule

• Indians besieged Detroit and destroyed numerous British posts killing hundreds of whites

Pontiac’s Rebellion

• British counterattack slowly erode Indian will and tribes surrendered one-by-one

• To stop any further Indian wars, Britain issued Proclamation of 1763

Prohibited white settlements west of proclamation line

Forbade Indians from selling land to whites

The Paxton Boys

• Settlers and land speculators outraged – wanted new lands open for expansion

• Indian attacks on Pennsylvanian settlements broke peace Quakers had kept w/Indians

• Settlers complained colonial government not helping against raids

• Settlers massacred several Indians and marched on Philadelphia to kill more

• Intercepted by Benjamin Franklin – brought news of government support

Colonial Identity

• Collective threat posed by war had instilled in some a broader identity

• Albany Plan of 1754 drawn up by Franklin to form colonies into a loose union was rejected

• After war, colonists were a little closer

• War had also tightened bonds between colonies and Britain