[The Colonial Population]
- late 17th century: more whites and Africans than natives along the coast
· most population = indentured servants
(Indentured Servitude)
· young ppl from England bound themselves to their masters for 4-5 yr in exchange for passage fee to American, food, and shelter
· after set free, became farmers, tradesmen, artisans, etc.
o those who couldn’t find a job were “floating” -> caused social problem
· 1670s: low birth rate & improved economic condition in England -> decline in indentured servitude -> servants avoided southern Colonies
o as a result, landowners began to rely on African slaves
(Birth and Death)
· increased birth rate in the colony & high life expectancy in New England (now immune to local diseases) -> population growth
· more women came -> reproduced colony’s population
(Medicine in the Colonies)
· unhygienic condition caused bacteria, causing deaths for women as giving births
· midwives grew popular then doctors
· used ancient medical methods based on assumptions only
(Women and Families in the Colonies)
· women usually married in early 20s (much younger than their husbands)
· (Chesapeake) high infant mortality rate & causing deaths of parturient woman
· (New England) low infant mortality rate -> parents guided children’s marriages
o strict parental rules
o Puritan ideas stressed for absolute man domination in family
(The Beginning of Slavery in English America)
· Southern region: always demanded for labor force
· demand for slaves -> expanded transatlantic slave trade
· “middle passage” – long journey to the Americas from African continent
· 1697: rival traders broke the Royal African Company’s monopoly -> increased slave trades and price fell
· by 1760: African slaves replaced Indentured servants
o white supremacy & economic advantages made Whites to treat Slaves harshly
o “permanent servitude” became legal in early 18th century
o no distinction of mixed race: if you are black, then you are a slave
(Changing Sources of European Immigration)
· to escape religious persecution (French Calvinists)
· to escape invasions (Palatinate Germans; first to England then to America)
· most numerous: Scotch-Irish from Ireland
· to avoid high rents and unemployment (Scottish Highlanders to North Carolina)
[The Colonial Economies]
· 17th - 18th century: farming
(The Southern Economy)
- suitable farming land, dependent on cash crops, did not develop industrial economy
· Chesapeake (Maryland and Virginia): tobacco plantation
o 1640: burst of tobacco farming, as supply exceeds demands
· South Carolina and Georgia: rice production
o mostly done by African slaves
(Northern Economic and Technological Life)
· little farming and industrial economy
o cobbler, blacksmith, rifle maker, cabinetmaker, silversmith, printer, running mill to process crops
· 1640s: Massachusetts – ironwork industry (technological success, financial failure; closed in 1668)
o metal industry grew
§ obstacles: England’s Iron Act of 1750 (restricting metal processing in the colonies), lack of labor supply, small domestic market, inadequate transportation facilities and energy supplies
§ exploited natural resources
§ created commercial class
(The Extent and Limits of Technology)
· lacked equipment, basic technological capacities
· typically produced their own supplies, such as clothes, food, cart, etc.
(The Rise of Colonial Commerce)
· barely had any gold or silver, and colonies’ paper currency was not accepted -> relied on bartering
· didn’t know market trend (supply and demand)
· “triangular trade” rum(New England)->slaves(Africa)->sugar(West Indies)
(The Rise of Consumerism)
· growing consumption on material goods
o results of industrial revolution, luxurious display
§ wanted to be “lady” or “gentleman” like aristocrats
· ads & promotion agents increased
[Patterns of Society]
· aristocrats relied on landownership <- less powerful
· more opportunities for social mobility
(Masters and Slaves on the Plantation)
· generally small plantation which had frequent price bumps
· landowner lived in a cabin or hut, while workers slept in nearby barn or house
· slaves themselves developed their own culture
· slaves often resisted their masters
o 1739: Stono Rebellion, 100 blacks killing several whites with weapons, attempting to escape south to Florida <- crushed, participants executed
· most slaves worked in farm; some slaves worked as skilled men
(The Puritan Community)
· town with nearly farmers living together
· organized “town meeting” to choose a group of “selectmen” to run town’s affairs
· no Primogeniture (first-born son gets all properties)
· population growth -> moving away from the center of the town, away from church
· 1692: Salem witch trial
o low class widowed women who were abrasive to neighbors’ eyes
o envy toward women with wealth who challenged the society’s trend
o reflection of highly religious character of New England
(Cities)
· 1770: Philadelphia and New York = largest population
· colonial cities:
o trading centers for farmers as market
o leaders = generally wealthy merchants
o industry
o advanced schools, imported goods, cultural activities
o intellectual activities
§ publications (ex: newspaper, books, etc.)
§ taverns and coffeehouses: discussion/debate forums
[Awakenings and Enlightenments]
- struggle to control their own lives away from church and religious principle
(The Pattern of Religions)
· no single unity of religions
· general trend for blending of religions (except Virginia, Maryland)
· Anti-Catholicism: relationship to French in Canada
· Anti-Semitism: 2,000 at that time, open worship is only allowed in Rhode Island
· declension to religious piety
(The Great Awakening)
- break away from the old and start the fresh new relationship with God
· 1730s – 1740s
· mostly to women and younger generation with uncertain future
· John and Charles Wesley (Methodist) visited Georgia and other colonies in 1730s
· George Whitefield from England
· Jonathan Edwards from Massachusetts (great preacher)
· founded schools for minister training
(The Enlightenment)
- encouraged people to look to themselves and their own intellect, not just to God
· created growing interest in education
· heightened growing concern with politics and government
influenced by: Francis Bacon, John Locke, Baruch Spinoza, Rene Descarte
led to: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison
(Literacy and Technology)
- central to colonial life
· almanacs: medical advices, navigational and agricultural information, practical wisdom, humor, predictions about the future, weather patterns for the coming years, and more
o Poor Richard’s Almanac: published by Franklin in Philadelphia
· printing technology -> wide spread of reading materials
· rising literacy -> demand for reading materials
· Publick Occurrences – first newspaper, Boston, 1690
· Stamp Act of 1765: impose tax on printed materials
(Education)
- generally to wealthy white men
· 1647: Massachusetts, law required that every town support a school
· Quakers and other sects: church school
· “dame schools” to educated widows or unmarried women
· schools for skilled workers
· Africans and other groups were not formally taught in education system
o missionaries taught Indians English
· Harvard, Yale, Princeton founded: religious basis with other subjects
· King’s College, College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania): devoted to spread secular ideas
(The Spread of Science)
· Franklin: study of electricity
· inoculation against smallpox
(Concepts of Law and Politics)
· based on English system
· self-government: local communities grew accustomed to running their own affairs
o colonial assemblies = parliament
o provincial governor’s influence is limited
· 1763: English gov. tried to tighten its control over the colonies -> conflict arises
- late 17th century: more whites and Africans than natives along the coast
· most population = indentured servants
(Indentured Servitude)
· young ppl from England bound themselves to their masters for 4-5 yr in exchange for passage fee to American, food, and shelter
· after set free, became farmers, tradesmen, artisans, etc.
o those who couldn’t find a job were “floating” -> caused social problem
· 1670s: low birth rate & improved economic condition in England -> decline in indentured servitude -> servants avoided southern Colonies
o as a result, landowners began to rely on African slaves
(Birth and Death)
· increased birth rate in the colony & high life expectancy in New England (now immune to local diseases) -> population growth
· more women came -> reproduced colony’s population
(Medicine in the Colonies)
· unhygienic condition caused bacteria, causing deaths for women as giving births
· midwives grew popular then doctors
· used ancient medical methods based on assumptions only
(Women and Families in the Colonies)
· women usually married in early 20s (much younger than their husbands)
· (Chesapeake) high infant mortality rate & causing deaths of parturient woman
· (New England) low infant mortality rate -> parents guided children’s marriages
o strict parental rules
o Puritan ideas stressed for absolute man domination in family
(The Beginning of Slavery in English America)
· Southern region: always demanded for labor force
· demand for slaves -> expanded transatlantic slave trade
· “middle passage” – long journey to the Americas from African continent
· 1697: rival traders broke the Royal African Company’s monopoly -> increased slave trades and price fell
· by 1760: African slaves replaced Indentured servants
o white supremacy & economic advantages made Whites to treat Slaves harshly
o “permanent servitude” became legal in early 18th century
o no distinction of mixed race: if you are black, then you are a slave
(Changing Sources of European Immigration)
· to escape religious persecution (French Calvinists)
· to escape invasions (Palatinate Germans; first to England then to America)
· most numerous: Scotch-Irish from Ireland
· to avoid high rents and unemployment (Scottish Highlanders to North Carolina)
[The Colonial Economies]
· 17th - 18th century: farming
(The Southern Economy)
- suitable farming land, dependent on cash crops, did not develop industrial economy
· Chesapeake (Maryland and Virginia): tobacco plantation
o 1640: burst of tobacco farming, as supply exceeds demands
· South Carolina and Georgia: rice production
o mostly done by African slaves
(Northern Economic and Technological Life)
· little farming and industrial economy
o cobbler, blacksmith, rifle maker, cabinetmaker, silversmith, printer, running mill to process crops
· 1640s: Massachusetts – ironwork industry (technological success, financial failure; closed in 1668)
o metal industry grew
§ obstacles: England’s Iron Act of 1750 (restricting metal processing in the colonies), lack of labor supply, small domestic market, inadequate transportation facilities and energy supplies
§ exploited natural resources
§ created commercial class
(The Extent and Limits of Technology)
· lacked equipment, basic technological capacities
· typically produced their own supplies, such as clothes, food, cart, etc.
(The Rise of Colonial Commerce)
· barely had any gold or silver, and colonies’ paper currency was not accepted -> relied on bartering
· didn’t know market trend (supply and demand)
· “triangular trade” rum(New England)->slaves(Africa)->sugar(West Indies)
(The Rise of Consumerism)
· growing consumption on material goods
o results of industrial revolution, luxurious display
§ wanted to be “lady” or “gentleman” like aristocrats
· ads & promotion agents increased
[Patterns of Society]
· aristocrats relied on landownership <- less powerful
· more opportunities for social mobility
(Masters and Slaves on the Plantation)
· generally small plantation which had frequent price bumps
· landowner lived in a cabin or hut, while workers slept in nearby barn or house
· slaves themselves developed their own culture
· slaves often resisted their masters
o 1739: Stono Rebellion, 100 blacks killing several whites with weapons, attempting to escape south to Florida <- crushed, participants executed
· most slaves worked in farm; some slaves worked as skilled men
(The Puritan Community)
· town with nearly farmers living together
· organized “town meeting” to choose a group of “selectmen” to run town’s affairs
· no Primogeniture (first-born son gets all properties)
· population growth -> moving away from the center of the town, away from church
· 1692: Salem witch trial
o low class widowed women who were abrasive to neighbors’ eyes
o envy toward women with wealth who challenged the society’s trend
o reflection of highly religious character of New England
(Cities)
· 1770: Philadelphia and New York = largest population
· colonial cities:
o trading centers for farmers as market
o leaders = generally wealthy merchants
o industry
o advanced schools, imported goods, cultural activities
o intellectual activities
§ publications (ex: newspaper, books, etc.)
§ taverns and coffeehouses: discussion/debate forums
[Awakenings and Enlightenments]
- struggle to control their own lives away from church and religious principle
(The Pattern of Religions)
· no single unity of religions
· general trend for blending of religions (except Virginia, Maryland)
· Anti-Catholicism: relationship to French in Canada
· Anti-Semitism: 2,000 at that time, open worship is only allowed in Rhode Island
· declension to religious piety
(The Great Awakening)
- break away from the old and start the fresh new relationship with God
· 1730s – 1740s
· mostly to women and younger generation with uncertain future
· John and Charles Wesley (Methodist) visited Georgia and other colonies in 1730s
· George Whitefield from England
· Jonathan Edwards from Massachusetts (great preacher)
· founded schools for minister training
(The Enlightenment)
- encouraged people to look to themselves and their own intellect, not just to God
· created growing interest in education
· heightened growing concern with politics and government
influenced by: Francis Bacon, John Locke, Baruch Spinoza, Rene Descarte
led to: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison
(Literacy and Technology)
- central to colonial life
· almanacs: medical advices, navigational and agricultural information, practical wisdom, humor, predictions about the future, weather patterns for the coming years, and more
o Poor Richard’s Almanac: published by Franklin in Philadelphia
· printing technology -> wide spread of reading materials
· rising literacy -> demand for reading materials
· Publick Occurrences – first newspaper, Boston, 1690
· Stamp Act of 1765: impose tax on printed materials
(Education)
- generally to wealthy white men
· 1647: Massachusetts, law required that every town support a school
· Quakers and other sects: church school
· “dame schools” to educated widows or unmarried women
· schools for skilled workers
· Africans and other groups were not formally taught in education system
o missionaries taught Indians English
· Harvard, Yale, Princeton founded: religious basis with other subjects
· King’s College, College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania): devoted to spread secular ideas
(The Spread of Science)
· Franklin: study of electricity
· inoculation against smallpox
(Concepts of Law and Politics)
· based on English system
· self-government: local communities grew accustomed to running their own affairs
o colonial assemblies = parliament
o provincial governor’s influence is limited
· 1763: English gov. tried to tighten its control over the colonies -> conflict arises
