Colonial America

17th Century Development

Unit 2/APUSH

Development of Colonial Ideals

• Dominion of New England – (1643) a path towards political union. Mass Bay/Plymouth colony joined with New Haven & Connecticut Valley settlements.– Created a Political confederation where each colony had two

votes.– They excluded Maine and R.I. because there were so many

heretics and undesirables there!– Importance of this event: England was involved in Civil War of

her own and neglected American colonies. • More like autonomous republics than colonies by 1660.

• Charles II (King) tried to restore order to Colonial settlements:– 1662 – legalized Connecticut settlements w/charter– 1663 – Rhode Island colony granted a legal charter– 1684 – Revoked charter of Mass. Bay Colony– 1686 – New England Confederation recognized by the King

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More Royal Actions• Navigation Acts –(1660/1696) Parliament attempted to

restrict Colonial Trade by outlawing trade with countries other than England!

• New England Leadership – Sir Edmund Andros.– Former military officer. He supported Church of England

which created problems w/Separatist colonists in area.– Took away freedoms from colonists, taxed w/o consent,

put smugglers in jail and oppressed the colonists!• Glorious Revolution (1688) – King of England (James II)

deposed and William and Mary are enthroned in England.– Result: People of New England riot and attack Andros

and he is forced to flee.– Captured as he tries to escape dressed like a woman!– They deported him back to England!

• Effects on Colonies: NY, MD and other colonies experienced unrest from 1689-1691 until new colonial governors were appointed by the crown!

Unit 2/APUSH

Religion in the American Colonies

• Great Awakening – 1730’s/1740’s – A religious revival that arose in the New England area in response to the teachings of Jonathan Edwards– Significant: Energized people to speak for themselves and think

independently!• New Churches – Baptist faith takes hold in New England area by 1740’s/1750’s.

Emotional ceremonies and celebration of ordinary people were the attraction for many!

• Methodists/Calvinists/Presbyterians will all emerge as powerful religious groups in the American colonies!

• Church of England – Members tend to be plantation owners/merchants and professionals (lawyers/doctors)

• Religious tensions will lead to acts of violence and dissent in some colonies.• Salem Witch Trials (1692) Several girls claim that the devil had taken control of

them. Accused 3 people of being witches!– 20 people were convicted of being witches and hung before it was stopped!

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1758

French capture Forts Oswego, George, and

Ticonderoga

1759

Tide turns for the English.

They capture three French Forts and then attack

Quebec

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French & Indian War(aka, Seven Years War)

• Treaty of Paris (1763) - ends French colonialism in America. Native Americans who had allied themselves with the French lost out on this. The French gave up all claims to land in Canada.

• Results of War:– American colonists realize they have many differences with their

British ancestors.– British levy heavy taxes against American colonists to pay for the

cost of the war.– Americans begin to look at the British as arrogant and the seeds of

the War for Independence are planted.

Unit 2/APUSH

Political Development in American Colonies

• Colonial Governor appointed by the King rules the Colony!• Many Colonies had Colonial Assemblies in place to legislate the laws of

the Individual colonies.• Colonial Assembly consists of:

– (1) Advisory Council –appointed by Parliament (9-12 men)

• All were White land owners. Set salaries, pass law for colonies, etc.,…

• Virginia house of Burgesses (1619) – first elected assembly in the American Colonies. First form of limited self government.

• Britain allowed its colonists a great deal of freedom because they already served the interests of Great Britain

• Salutary Neglect – Britain usually did not enforce laws such as the Navigation Acts or any other trade restrictions because it usually served to benefit England!

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Economic DevelopmentMercantilist system• Colonies exist as a market for home-country's goods and a supplier of

raw materials• All trade with other nations needs to go through the home-country.

Series of Navigation Acts began in 1651– All trade had to be on English or colonial ships– Enumerated products (tobacco, sugar, indigo, cotton, etc.) could

be shipped only to England or another English colony– Certain English-made goods (gunpowder, silk) were subsidized to

undercut European competitors• Colonies prospered with the Navigation Acts.

– Philadelphia, New York, and Boston grew– Some tobacco and rice planters complained

• Some Americans viewed the mercantilist laws as excessive and were sometimes ignored.

• James II responded by removing New England's charter in 1688 and establishing the Dominion of New England, a royal province that ignored previous land grants and outlawed town meetings.

Unit 2/APUSH

Economic Development in the American Colonies

• Tobacco -1.5 million pounds shipped out of the Chesapeake Bay by the 1630’s!

• 40 million pounds/year by 1700!

– Effect on Colonial Economy: More Labor Required!– Indentured Servants: Mortgage the sweat of your body to gain

passage to America!– Headright System (VA/MD) – Whoever paid for the passage of the

laborer received 50 acres of land in the colony.– Result: Men who paid for passage became wealthy landowners in

the “New World”.• 100,000 indentured servants in MD/VA by 1700.• Once released from bondage, many were denied land as part

of their settlement and were forced to “hire” themselves out!– Social Impact: Servants who misbehaved (i.e., pregnancy,

drunkenness) were punished with an extension of their contract.

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Bacon’s Rebellion• Caused by: a lack of available land for freedmen.• 1670 – VA Assembly officially disenfranchised them.• Governor of VA: Did not want them to live there! Said so publicly!• 1676 – Nathaniel Bacon (29)led an uprising of frontiersman.• Events:

– Attacked Indian settlements along the frontier.– Bacon’s gang chased Governor from Jamestown (capital) and

torched it!– Chaos swept the colony! Bacon suddenly died. Rebellion over– Governor hanged 20 men for their role and restored order to colony!

• Bacon’s actions ignited a fire among colonists that eventually came down to an issue of class: landowners vs peasants.

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Slavery – Economic Impact

• 10 million slaves brought to New World – 400,000 in North America.

• 1619 – First slaves in Jamestown.• 1670 – 2,000/35,000 residents were

slaves.• 1672 – Royal African Co. chartered

– 1st Joint stock company to sell slaves in Jamestown.

– 1698 – Charter revoked!• 1700-1710 -10,000 slaves brought to

American colonies.• 1750 – ½ population of Virginia.• SC – blacks outnumber whites 2 to 1

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Colonial Social Development• A well defined hierarchy of wealth based on

land ownership developed in the South.• FFV’s – First families of Virginia

dominate the political and social landscape.Virginia Social Structure

– Plantation/Land owners– Farmers– Servants– Freedmen/Indentured Servants– Slaves

• Professional positions (Dr./Lawyer) develop slowly in the South.

• Roads are so poor that funerals cannot be held when it rains, thus…the practice of family burial plots begins in the South.

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Slavery in the Colonies• First African Slaves –1650 – Only 300 blacks live in Virginia

• After 1660 – white servants become harder to find• Result: Slaves are looked at as a long term investment.

– 1670 – VA House of Burgesses established law declaring “All servants not being Christian imported into this colony shall be slaves for their lives”

• 1700 – 25,000 Slaves in the American Colonies• 1750 – 100,000 Slaves in Virginia!• Southern Whites justified slavery based upon Race• Laws eventually passed that restrict slaves:

– Crime for a slave to insult any white!– Slave owners were allowed to punish, maim or kill slaves!

• Plantation culture creates a separate society for white and black in America!

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Plantation Culture

• Plantations were enormous – 40,000 acres. – 100’s of slaves

• Facts:– ¾ of all blacks live on

plantations of at least 10 or more!

– Over ½ live in communities of 50 slaves or more!

• Plantations change many things for African Culture in the American colonies!

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Slavery – Social Impact• Slavery was not considered to be a moral wrong!• Laws were established in most colonies that defined a

legal difference between slaves and their masters!• 1662 – (VA) 1st statutes appeared that defined slavery.

– So called “Slave codes” were eventually found in every colony.– Prohibit education, religion and racial mixing!

• SC – most brutal colony to live in as a slave.• VA – better life than others, but still a life of bondage.• Language – unique dialects develop in SC/VA.

– Goober = peanut gumbo = okra voodoo = witchcraft• Slavery widened the gaps in the South’s social structure and

development as opposed to life in the Northern colonies.

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Slave Lifestyle• Family Relationships –

– Marriage not encouraged, but reproduction is.– Family relationships/bonds were hard to maintain– Kinship network allows survival

• Language Develops– Gullah – combination of English/African Languages.

• Allowed conversation that whites could not understand!

• Work Patterns:– Most slaves were field hands.– Slaves society is segregated! (Darker people work in field,

lighter people in house)– Large Plantations – Slaves learn a trade.

• Plantations were economically efficient for the time period!• Socially, they achieved stability at the cost of human freedom and dignity!

Unit 2/APUSH

Colonial Social Development• A well defined hierarchy of wealth based on

land ownership developed in the South.• FFV’s – First families of Virginia

dominate the political and social landscape.Virginia Social Structure

– Plantation/Land owners– Farmers– Servants– Freedmen/Indentured Servants– Slaves

• Professional positions (Dr./Lawyer) develop slowly in the South.

• Roads are so poor that funerals cannot be held when it rains, thus…the practice of family burial plots begins in the South.

Unit 2/APUSH

• American colonists lived in affluent abundance when compared to their European counterparts.– Land was cheap, opportunity abounded for some and you

could make a living.– Some problems:

• Leisler’s Rebellion (1689-1691) in NY over landholders/merchants disagreements.

• Laws differed from colony to colony.

Summary