Chapter 4 18th century America

English Population growth

• The English colonies had a remarkable annual population growth of 3 percent between 1700 and 1770

• Voluntary new comers to the country moved to the backcountry where living conditions were demanding and violent.

• The back country stretched 800 miles from western Pennsylvania to Georgia.

• They attempted to follow British customs.

Diverse new comers • Scotts Irish: Arrived throughout the 18th century most who

were looking to improve material lives than political freedom.

• German’s Second largest group the came for religious tolerance, which would shift to material gains. They mostly settled in the middle colonies mostly Pennsylvania.

• The English were suspicious of both groups. • Convicts where another large group of immigrants they

were normally shipped from Britain and were indentured servants.

Spanish Borders

• From the time the Spanish established settlements in North America until the early nineteenth century. They would struggle to hold onto their northern colonies as interest waned.

• Originally it was gold and internationally rivalries brought Spanish settlers in. By the turn of the 18th century enthusiasm waned.

• Spanish outposts grew slowly. Spanish colonists would enslave Native Americans and their settlements, but they would be unable to sustain growth.

The impact of European ideas on the New world

• A more urban cosmopolitan setting began to grow in the Atlantic colonies.

• Urban populations remained small in colonial America but they were starting to grow.

• Most of these major cities were trading posts.• Because of this people in these port cities

were able to get the latest in European ideas and styles.

American Enlightenment

• 18th century is usually known as the age of reason. Radical ideas swept through salons and universities.

• This intellectual revolution was known as the Enlightenment.

• Eventually the writings of Newton, Locke, Voltaire, and Hume would reach the colonies.

John Locke

• Widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers.

• He is known for developing the idea of the Social Contract

• The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments.

• The Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept corresponding duties to protect themselves and one another from violence and other kinds of harm.

American enlightenment Continued

• Compared to Europe the American enlightenment was quite tame.

• The interest was the search for useful knowledge that can improve life.

• The result is an increase in scientific tinkerers.

Ben Franklin

• Franklin is one individual immersed in the culture of the city.

• He sees himself as a person of reason and science.

• Franklin would satirize Boston’s political leaders in his paper the New England Courant

• Franklin would move to Philadelphia and continue to tinker

Economic Transformation

• Despite the growth of the population living standards kept pace and actually improved.

• We see people buying goods on credit, which allows them to but cheap manufactured goods.(E.g. Dishes, and other household items)

• We see trade increasing in the west indies but, we see that the most important trade partners to the colonies is England

American Debt

• American debt increases quickly after 1690 as Americans import far more commodities.

• The imports help to “Anglicize” American Culture

• During this time we see increase in intercoastal trade between England and the middle colonies.(These items included rice and tobacco for meat and wheat produced in Britain)

The Great Awakening

• The Great Awakening had a profound impact on colonial America and caused colonists to rethink their basic assumptions about church and state institutions.

Awakening Continued

• The main complaint especially in New England was that religion had lost it’s vitality.

• The people felt that their hearts were not touched in church like they had in Winthrop’s generation.

Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield

• Both these preachers vividly depicted hell and captivated audiences.

• It was part of an effort to restore religious vitality.• Itinerant preachers used Edwards and Whitefield's

examples to bring the population closer together and give them awareness of the larger religious community.

• The result is we see important centers of higher learning form.

• There was also a shared optimism for the future of America or the colonies

Political Clashes

• Political theorists in the colonies often revered the British form of government.

• The English constitution’s proposed make up: – Divided political power among the monarch and

his council of advisors, the two chamber parliament ,and various local governments. Each group provided a check on the ambitions of others.

The Reality of British Politics

• A system vulnerable to corruption and idleness.

• Some protesters such as the commonwealth men observed that many of England’s rulers were corrupt.

Government in America

• Colonial leaders attempted in many ways to recreate British-style institutions.

• Legislative assemblies which helped offset the ineptitude of royal governors appointed by the board of trade in England to oversee colonial affairs.

• Colonial assemblies were often aggressive in asserting power as they fought to protect the rights of American colonists.