5.1 colonial america

EducationMassachusetts School Laws 1642, 1647 (Old Deluder Satan Law)

- Beginning of Public Education

Colonial America

Mercantilism – economic system , in which a nation attempts to gain wealth and establish a: Favorable Balance of Trade – the nation selling more goods (exports) than they buy (imports)

Role of colonies in Mercantilism- provide raw materials to the home country- buy manufactured goods from the home country

The American colonies were supposed to be profitable for England

Trade in the Colonies

Navigation Acts (beginning 1651) – English laws- attempted to control colonial trade- required certain goods to be sold in England (enumerated goods)- required the use of English or colonial ships and crews- poorly enforced and widely ignored

Board of Trade (1696)- another inefficient effort to regulate colonial trade

Effect- Colonial habit of ignoring British Laws- smuggling, avoiding import (duties) taxes became a way of life - increased distrust between colonists and the English

New England economy- shipping trade, rum, fishing, whaling, and:

Timber - influenced by environment & geography- Large nearby wilderness- Fall Line: a drop in elevation = waterfalls = sawmills - logging , barrel-making & ship building being a large part of the economy

Shipping Trade

Triangular Trade – trade among the areas around the Atlantic

Bills of Exchange – beginnings of a colonial currency paper representing hard currency

Salutary Neglect - English allowed the colonists, through the colonial assemblies, govern themselves as long as they remained loyal politically and profitable economically.

Colonial Governments Royal Governors – were paid by the colonial assemblies Colonial Assemblies – governed the colonies from the 1690’s until the 1760’s with little real interference from the British

Population Growth

Immigration - Scots-Irish - German (Pennsylvania Dutch)

Very high birthrates

Longer Life expectancy- Healthier Diet

Medical advances- Smallpox vaccination - Cotton Mather

SlaveryMiddle Passage - transportation of slaves from West Africa to the AmericasSlave Population Growth

1690 = 13,000 , 1750 = 200,000

Stono Rebellion (1739) - South Carolina slave rebellion led to stricter laws

New York Slave ‘Conspiracy’ of 1741 - exaggerated charges of conspiracy lead to the deaths of several black slaves