african life in america
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African Life in America. Slave labor & commercialized agriculture created distinctive social structure Pyramid broad base was composed of slaves ascending face comprised freeholders apex was crowned by a small planter elite. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
African Life in America Slave labor & commercialized agriculture
created distinctive social structure Pyramid
broad base was composed of slaves ascending face comprised freeholders apex was crowned by a small planter elite.
Rhetorically at leased white southerners constituted a unified communion
During 18th C small elite increasingly monopolized wealth and power.
White society developed a protective shield of symbols and institutions
The great house The courthouse The church Created apparent unity of the
white community and thereby helped to secure its well-being
The plantation of the average wealthy tidewater planter consisted of some three thousand acres of land that generally were broken up into small tracts called a quarters.
As part of the deterrent
process the southern colonies also created elaborate surveillance systems.
Separate judicial process for slaves created in reaction to the growing assertiveness of the South’s swelling slave populations
Late colonial period saw steady increase in
convictions and sentences of execution.
Church, courthouse and plantation house provided overlapping networks of relationships control
These institutions both: reinforced patterns of white domination and
control. made it possible for slaves to begin to
develop their own Separate culture in the quarters.
i.e. A black cultural world was developing within
the contours of the institution of slavery.
AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVE CULTURE
Stuff Trip to Ghana
”Africa's Calling: Culture in Ghana” (IS 370) under core-curriculum for humanities credit
(three credits) Prof. Barry Bilderbeck [email protected]
VA Historical Archaeology Historic Jamestowne
Jefferson’s Montecello Jefferson’s Poplar Forest
Websites
Constant surveillance caused much African heritage to be lost
But not all Covert ceremonies and
actions continued Passed down from through
the generations
group and culture-building process began in slavery
African-American slaves were, as one scholar has put it,
"functionally members of the same caste”
Social survival involved more than adaptation to the dominant plural pattern
Management styles mattered
Low-country rice slaves little contact with whites prior to the Revolution
Black majority of rice coast counties developed a culture strongly influenced by African cultural patterns.
Example 1 Building materials similar to those
found in Africa leaves of the palmetto tree used in the construction of slave huts in the low
country. steeply pitched roofs and the circular
form that dispersed the suns rays evenly to keep buildings cool
All had their antecedents in coastal areas of West Africa.
Example 2 In parts of Africa a special language
was created that was distinct from that spoken by the master class
Low-country slaves created their own form of communication.
Known as Gullah in South Carolina Geechee in the Georgia Sea Islands
Resulted from a fission of African and English words
Example 3 Entertainment leads to
cultural formation and expression
Culture (music, tales, language, magic, religion)
‘The Old Plantation’ Anon
‘Preparations for the enjoyment of a fine Sunday’
Family life The traditional African domestic
organization was severely disrupted by conditions under slavery
But because of the growth of the size of quarters after 1740 the increase in the proportion of slaves in the
populations the decrease in the adult sex ratio
Slaves were in a position to begin re-forming families by the mid eighteenth century
Eve of Revolution variety of different kinds of households had emerged.
Slave marriages complex Slave marriages differed from
African prototypes But shared more similarity
with them than with the Euro-American family type
“Negroes marry after their own way.”
John Brickell, In he 1731 described a
common ceremony in North Carolina:
Their Marriages are generally performed amongst themselves . . . very little ceremony . . . the Man makes the Woman a Present such as a Brass Ring or some other Toy, which if she accepts of becomes his Wife
Mother-headed households and polygyny functionally useful under conditions of slavery Both survived until the end of slavery
Naming of children for parents, siblings, and blood relatives Suggests strength of family and kinship
ties Slave practice of passing on economic
skills, often the slaves' most valuable possession to sons and daughters.
Work
Most slaves involved in field work,
Tobacco (Virginia), Rice and Indigo (South
Carolina), After invention of cotton gin
(1793) cotton becomes most important slave-grown crop
Work began before dawn and ended after dusk
Initially multiple tasks for every slave
“Ploughing, planting, picking cotton, gathering corn, and pulling and burning stalks, occupies the whole four seasons of the year.
Drawing and cutting wood, pressing cotton, fattening and killing hogs,
are but incidental labours”Solomon Northup – former slave
Growth of skills among slaves
Some slaves moved either indoors and became house slaves
Also moved into specialized work such as blacksmiths and carpentry
Industrial type work, especially in ports
Domestic Slavery
Free Time
Notion of free time Informal economic
activity, pros and cons
Religion Equal, if not more,
important than family for the maintenance and reconstruction of culture was religion
Religious community of necessity paid obeisance to white Christian beliefs and practices
But black Christians proceeded both consciously and unconsciously to reinstate certain traditional values and beliefs
African-American Christianity retained an immutable individual essence.
Three elements crucial in the creation of a common religious culture:
1) the particular complex of values that were common to traditional religion
2) the relative isolation of black communities from competing values
3) committed efforts of the handful of white planters and missionaries who brought the faith to blacks' together with the work of a larger number of black converts who were the principal carriers of the faith.
What emerged in the end was a religious system that stood alongside the white system rather than within lt.
Protestant Christianity forms a critical chapter in the history of the emerging black community and indeed in the history of slavery.
Punishment Master has right of life or death Important to control large
numbers of slaves - deterrent Ingenuity of methods, need to
keep slaves docile and working while punished
Threat of sale, rape, violence.
Resistance Violent rebellions rare
New York 1712 & 1741 South Carolina 17391800 Virginia
Personal resistance vs masters and overseers more common - could be violent or passive
Effectiveness of running away (groups most likely to flee,outcomes)
Virginia Gazette June 21, 1770
AFTER THE SEVEN YEARS WAR
RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Internal Change
John Adams “What do we mean
by the revolution? The war? That was
no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760 to 1775”
For Wood the problem of American politics was not
Imperial Constitutional But social By looking at the
“transformations in the relationship that bound people together”
We see the true radical nature of the revolution
Example: Rhode Island
The location with the weakest level of royal control in the Americas
Yet it was also one of the most faction-ridden locations in the Americas
A location where, as in the rest of the colonies, the social structure of colonial society was beginning to buckle
SITES OF WEAKNESS
Land ownershipIn the 1760s ¾ of all farmland
in England was owned by gentry and noble landlords
400 families owned one fifth of all land in England
Out of a population of 7-8 million
In contrast most American farmers by now owned their own land
One aspect of American society which challenged the hierarchical structure of dependency and paternalism
Georgia plantation owner William Knox
who son Henry fought at Bunker hill
Wrote that freehold tenure
“excluded all ideas of subordination and dependence”
Population Growth Population boom in the
late colonial period Challenged relations with
Native Americans But also challenged
colonial social structure
New England “warning out laws” During the colonial period,
at a time, when everyone had a fixed place
A vagrant who arrived and stayed in a town for a fixed period of time 3 months in New
Hampshire 1 year in Massachusetts
They were considered to be part of the town
“warning out laws” in place to push people back to their original place
Increase in population and the ownership of land
Movement became a major factor in White American life
Farms now thought of less as patrimoniessomething to hand down and use as a tool of control
But more as a commoditySomething to be bought and sold
“They acquire no attachment to Place: but wandering about Seems engrafted in their nature”
A British officialLed to the gradual collapse of the “warning out laws”
People could no longer be tied to a physical place
Another sign of the collapsing societal structure
Economic boom (and later bust) 1740s and 1750s saw a massive increase in
exports and imports
This led to increased wealth But more important was the effect on
social structure Increase wealth led to desire for a rise in
individual standard of living
Emulation Luxury goods
Latest fashionsTea and tea setsSilk handkerchiefsFeather mattressesA new carriageGlass windows
Items like this had traditionally been for those at the top of the hierarchy
Late colonial period these boundaries were collapsing
In America “Every tradesman is a
Merchant, every Merchant is a gentleman, and every Gentleman is one of the Noblese”
In addition to increase in imported goods
also see an increase in Domestic tradehad two long term effects
1) improvement of transportation and communicationled to new and better roadsBetter communication
2) a shift in producersWe see wide-spread “proto-industrialization”
Increase in trade goods came not from top
But from farmers becoming part-time manufactures and entrepreneursSpinning cloth Weaving hatsMaking hoops and barrelsDistilling rum
Economic development spread across society
To facilitate growth New structure of credit and debt Traditional loans
way of tying together different rungs of the hierarchical ladder
Intra-American trade shifted loans to more impersonal business transactions
Again weakened social structure
Expanding trade challenged the traditional method of exchange Bartering
Goods shipped over greater distances
between people who did not know each other
paper money became more important
Allowed people to participate independently and impersonally in the economy
Chesapeake Tobacco:An example of changing
economic system Traditionally Consignment system Small planter would
sell their crops through the elite planters
Elite planters could translate their access to English Merchants to prestige and social patronage
1730 onwards Scottish merchants set
up stores all over the Chesapeake
These merchants purchased tobacco directly of small farmers
This cut out the elite planters and created greater independence and equality
Cultural life Changing relationship with God
Traditionally church controlled by elite who defined the
process of worship Great Awakening
1730s – 1740s Jonathan Edwards
emphasized the importance and power of immediate, personal religious experience
Family Model for society, was also changing Sons and daughters leaving home straining if not breaking traditional
bonds Those who remained more likely to
marry someone of their own choosing from outside the local region, a different
nationally, or a different religion
“revolution against patriarchy”Fathers quarreled with sons
American youngsters had a reputation for being unruly
AlsoWives quarreled with husbandsServants with mastersSlaves with masters
By 175O most of the colonies had virtually all the requisites of self-governing states.
Effective local elite that dominated political and social life.
Autonomous local center of administration and political authority.
Particularly important were the popularly elected lower houses of assembly in each colony.
In the century before the Revolution colonial Americans participated in the political process much more extensively than did the British
Additionally the colonies played a critical part in English trade
Accounted for 36 % of the total volume of English imports
37 % of the total volume of English exports.
Far from the colonies being weak and dependent subsidiaries
The British economy was fast becoming dependent on the colonies.
After Seven Years war English officials saw
1) rapid growth and development of colonial economic and political institutions
2) importance of colonies for the prosperity and power of England.
Fearful of consequences of a loss of control over colonies
British government sought to maintain, and intensify, authority
BRITAIN ACTS
In order to finance the Seven Years' War, the government had borrowed money from the Dutch Merchant bankers The Bank of England (established in
1694)Private companies and individuals,
All at high rates of interest. George Grenville, installed as PM, on 16
April 1763,Had problem of what to do and how to
pay off the debt.
Grenville Left the land tax at 4
shillings in the pound, which was not popular. Under peacetime
conditions, was usually 3 shillings
Cut expenditure in army and navy after peace concluded. Seen as weakness
on the part of the government
Grenville believed Britain defending the Empirecolonies should help meet costs.
British most heavily taxed country in Europe
Colonies 2-4 shillings per person 1.5% of per capita income
Britain 12 -18 shillings per person7.5% of per capita income
But there were differences Britain Efficient State
apparatus Solid system of
public finance able to impose
taxes without creating great political instability
ColoniesPower of state
weakened distance traditions of lax
GovernmentBenign NeglectPeople used to low
taxesColonial assemblies
demanded the right to consent to their taxation
SUGAR ACT
1764 new ‘Act of Trade’ Known as “Sugar Act” Affected import of molasses from West IndiesAmended Molasses act of 1733
Massachusetts Rum
West Indies Molasses
Africa Slaves
Before 1764 Sugar ActDuty on foreign- produced molasses was 6d per gallon
After the Act3d per gallon
Therefore costs lower than before act
Problem not specifically about the tax
What made this moment different was implementation
Smuggling had always occurred in the colonies
After war Grenville decided rather than stop the smugglers he would reorganize the system and
gain income
July 1763 Ordered all Custom
collectors to report to their posts
Most living in Britain, collecting big salaries their assistants were in the colonies collecting bribes from smugglers
Collectors who remained were dedicated
To the surprise of the colonialsThey were not open to bribes
In the past British imposed laws had been either ignored or circumvented Not so now
In addition they were often people without local ties, setting them outside of the communities i.e. unresponsive to public/personal
pressure
Form of prosecutions changed
In the past prosecutions had taken place in the colonial courtsFamily and friends of the accused in the jury
Custom Collectors now had option of trying the crime in Vice-Admiralty courts
Vice-Admiralty courts 1763 eleven in operation in
British America. Did not use a jury system Judge heard all evidence and
testimony and handed down a ruling.
Traditionally these courts were occupied only with commercial matters.
With Sugar Act authority expanded to include enforcement of customs and criminal charges for smuggling.
Within the Vice-Admiralty courts Defendant was assumed guilty until he proved himself innocent.
Failure to appear as commanded resulted in an automatic guilty verdict
No friendly jury
Sugar Act could not have come at a worse time
End of the war had left not only Britain but also the colonies in financial difficulty i.e. without an army to feed, clothe, and
supply a huge part of the market was taken away
Beginning in 1760 a depression had begun to hit the colonies
By 1763 it was severe Act therefore easy target to blame for
financial woes
September 1, 1764Additional economic pressure
Parliament passed the Currency Act
British Government effectively assumed control of the colonial currency system.
Act prohibited issue of new bills and reissue of existing currency
Parliament favored a "hard currency" system based on pound sterling simply abolished colonial currency
colonies protested vehemently against thisgenerally ignored this act
Response to the Sugar Act Primarily came from merchants
main group who would have to pay the tax tended to be in the form of broadsides
and pamphlets denouncing the ActReasons Against the Renewal of the
Sugar Act (Boston 1764)An Essay on the Trade of the Northern
Colonies of Great Britain in North America (Rhode Island 1764)
9 of the 13 colonial legislatures complained
Popular protests were limited, they would wait for later British actions
Stamp Act
Duties in American Colonies Act 1765; 5 George III, c. 12
The Sugar Act did not affect general population
But, they did have reason to worry
For in the same speech that introduced the Sugar Act Grenville also said
“it may be proper to charge certain Stamp Duties in the said Colonies and Plantations”
Stamp Acts Originated in Holland in the
17th C First introduced in England in
1694 An act for granting to Their
Majesties several duties on Vellum, Parchment and Paper for 10 years, towards carrying on the war against France.
Between 1 penny to several shillings on a number of different legal documents including insurance policies documents used as evidence in courts
grants of probate Raised around £50,000 a year Adjusted and expanded over the
years
On August 1, 1712 the first stamp tax on British newspapers appeared
In a true history Geek moment I have a page from a August 1712 copy of the Spectator which bears a stamp
After Sugar Act Grenville asked the colonial representatives for ideas to help rise money
However, he wouldn’t accept any suggestions that challenged Parliaments rights to act
Like any good parliament man he found it intolerable to be told that Parliament lacked the right to do what it wanted to do
February 6, 1765 Grenville brings Stamp Act before parliament for the 1st of three readings
Anger against the colonials is so strong that it quickly passes through Parliament
There were a few people who attempted to prevent the Act
But most supported people like M.P. Charles Townshend who made the following statement
Charles Townshend
“And now will Americans, Children planted by our Care, nourished up by our Indulgence until they are grown to a Degree of Strength and Opulence, and Protected by our Arms, with they grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy burden of that weight which we lie under?”
The Act received approval on March 22, 1765
News of Stamp Act reached colonies during first two weeks of April 1765
Initially no one sure how to respond
Then on May 31 the house of Burgess approved a set of resolves proposed by Patrick Henry
Henry, a lawyer of 25, was new to the house having been elected only ten days earlier
However he had been involved in several high profile court cases
He had also chosen his timing with intent
The House of Burgess only needed 205 of its members present to constitute a quorum
It was the end of the session and on 39 out of 116 members were left in town