american life in the 17 th century 1607 - 1692. chesapeake colonies: virginia, maryland, delaware...
TRANSCRIPT
American Life in the 17th Century
1607 - 1692
Chesapeake Colonies:Virginia, Maryland, Delaware
Lots of disease shorter life expectancyFamilies were few and fragile
Men outnumbered women
By 1700, Virginia was most populous colony
Tobacco EconomyAs prices dropped, production increased which created demand for more labor
1630’s – exported 1.5 million pounds1700 – exported 40 million pounds
Tobacco Labor Indentured servants = “white slaves”• 100,000 by 1700
“Headright” system: merchant – planter class• Whoever paid the passage of a laborer received
the right to acquire 50 acres
Conditions worsened over the course of the 17th century• Freed indentured servants didn’t
receive promised land• Hard to find single women to start families
Problems Arise 1670 – Impoverished freemen of Virginia were disfranchised
Governor William Berkeley of Virginia – believed poor people should be excluded
Bacon’s Rebellion 1676Rebellion of frontiersmen against Gov. Berkeley Led by Nathaniel Bacon
forced into backcountry to find landAngry with Berkeley: friendly with Indians who attacked the frontiersmen & monopolized fur tradeBacon retaliates/ chases Berkeley out of Jamestown, burns the capital
ResultsIgnited the smoldering unhappiness of landless former servants against the gentry
Bacon died of disease, Berkeley hung 20+
Planters looked for less troublesome source of labor - slaves
Colonial SlaveryDecrease in indentured servitude after 1680’s
Better economy in England
Need for slavery increases after 1680’sRhode Island rushes to cash in on slave trade
Most of the slaves came from the West Coast of Africa
Coastal tribes captured inland tribes in Africa & sold them into slavery
Middle Passage – 20% death rateTriangular slave trade
Slave Ship
Conditions for SlavesSlave codes
Made Africans & their children property/ chattels for lifeLaws about reading, writing, & religion
Conditions were most harsh on South Carolina’s rice & indigo plantations
lonely, harder work, separated from familyChesapeake – easier on slaves
Slave RevoltsNew York City –1712South Carolina – 1739No slave uprising in American history matched the scale of Bacon’s Rebellion
Slavery started off for economic reasons, end of 17th century, racial discrimination played a role
Southern Society Planter Aristocracy:FFV’s (First Families of Virginia)
Owned gangs of slaves & vast domains of landsMonopolized political power
Yeomen farmers: landowning small farmersLandless white: former indentured servantsWhite indentured servants
Black slaves
New England Family Life
Healthier environment – longer life spanFamily was the center of life – stability
Migrated as families
Early marriage – booming birthrate
New England Family “invented” grandparentsLow premarital pregnancy rateWomen gave up property rights
Southern women allowed to retain separate titles & inherit their husband’s estates
Divorce – rareWomen had limited rights – husband’s power was not absolute
Life in New England TownsTightly knit society – small villages & farmsMeetinghouse (worship & town hall)Education
Town with 50+ families - required to have elementary schoolColleges
• 1636 – Harvard college established • (1693 – William & Mary established in Virginia)
Town meeting “The best school of political liberty the world ever saw.” Thomas Jefferson
Religious Problems in New EnglandSermons scolded parishioners for their waning piety - “Jeremiads”
Decline in conversions
1662 – “Half-Way Covenant” led to widening church membership
Partial membership rights to people not yet convertedShows difficultly of maintaining religious devotion of founding generation
Women made up the majority of Puritan churches
Salem Witch Trials 1692Salem, Massachusetts
Adolescent girls claimed to be bewitched by older women
Witch hunt led to lynching of 20 persons (+2 dogs!)
Accused witches – Salem’s prosperous merchant classAccusers – poorer families in Salem’s agricultural class
Hysteria ended in 1693 when governor’s wife was accused
Weakened the prestige of the Puritan clergy
The New England Way of Life
Premium placed on industry & frugalityLess ethnically mixedExtremes of weatherDiversified agriculture & industry
Natural harborsExperts in shipbuilding & commerceExploited the fish industry – “Gold mines of New England”
New England Legacy Calvinism, soil & climate Prided themselves on being God’s chosen people & boasted that Boston was the “Hub of the Universe”
New England pioneers re-created New England towns from Ohio to Oregon
Early Settler LifeSchedules set by the seasons & sun
Spring – plant/ summer – tend crops/ fall-harvest/ winter- prepare to begin planting
Compared to most Europeans, Americans lived in affluent abundanceLand was relatively cheap
Increased Social UnrestResentment against upper-class
1676 – Bacon’s Rebellion (Virginia)1689-91- Leisler’s Rebellion
• Animosity between lordly landholders & merchants• Bloody insurgency that rocked New York City
End of the 17th century – Protestant uprising (Maryland)