American Life in the 17th Century
1607-1692
The American Pageant
Chapter 4
Unhealthy Chesapeake
 Life expectancy 10 yrs less in early VA, MD – malaria, dysentery, typhoid.
 Half of children did not live to 20.
 1650: Men outnumbered women 6:1.
Unhealthy Chesapeake (2)
 Few families; those that existed didn’t last due to death.
 However, native-born eventually acquired immunity.
 More women toward end of cent. allowed more families.
Unhealthy Chesapeake (3)
 End of 17th cent: Population of Chesapeake was growing by own birthrate, rather than
only by new immigration
 Men only outnumbered women 3:2.
The Tobacco Economy
 Chesapeake bad for people, great for tobacco.
 1630s: 1.5 million lbs./year, 1700: almost 40 million lbs./year
 Needed more land due to used soil, depressed prices – conflict with Indians.
The Tobacco Economy (2)
 Labor: slaves too expensive – indentured servants.
 “Headright” system: 50 acres of land for paying way of servant.
 100,000 indentured servants by 1700 – led to huge estates.
The Tobacco Economy (3)
 Indentured servants were 3/4 of all European immigrants to VA & MD in 17th cent.
 End of cent: as land became more scarce, servants had less opportunities, worse
conditions.
Bacon’s Rebellion
 Freemen frustrated by lack of opportunity to acquire land.
 1670: Landless disenfranchised by VA assembly
 Landless pushed out to frontier – conflict with Indians.
Bacon’s Rebellion (2)
 VA Governor Berkeley pursued friendly policies toward Indians b/c he was getting
rich on fur trade with them.
 1676: About 1,000 Virginians, led by Nathaniel Bacon rebelled.
Bacon’s Rebellion (3)
 1676 Rebellion: murdered Indians, chased Berkeley from Jamestown, burned capital,
etc.
 Bacon died of disease, Berkeley crushed rebellion, hung 20.
 Planters looked for less troublesome labor
Colonial Slavery
 Of 10 million slaves to New World, only 400,000 came to North America.
 1680s: rising wages in England resulted in fewer ind. servants.
 Planters fearful of mutinous former servants.
Colonial Slavery (2)
 Mid 1680s: more black slaves than white servants were coming to plantation colonies.
 1750: Blacks were 1/2 pop. of VA, in SC they outnumbered whites 2:1.
Colonial Slavery (3)
 Most slaves came from W. Africa, captured and sold by African coastal tribes.
 “Middle Passage”: packed into ships to cross Atlantic – some death rates as high as
20%.
 “Slave codes”: difference
Colonial Slavery (4)
between slaves & white servants – black slaves and their
children were property (“chattels”) for life.
 Could not teach them to read/ write
Africans in America
 In deeper south (Carolinas), unhealthy climate and hard labor on rice & indigo
plantations resulted in high death rates for slaves.
 Only new imports could sustain population.
Africans in America (2)
 Chesapeake better for slaves: labor less demanding, planta-tions closer allowing more
contact with friends, relatives
 1720: # of female slaves allowed pop. growth through birth.
Africans in America (3)
 Stable/distinctive slave culture developed. Contributions: religious dance that led to
jazz, banjo, bongo drum, words (goober, gumbo, voodoo).
Africans in America (4)
 A few slave rebellions: 1712 in NYC, 1739 in SC, but none to scale of Bacon’s
Rebellion.
 Blacks proved a much more manageable labor force
Southern Society
 Social pyramid: At the top the great planters, esp. “FFVs.”
 2nd: small farmers – largest
 3rd: landless whites (former indentured servants)
 4th: black slaves
Southern Society (2)
 Few cities, so no urban/ professional class.
 Southern life revolved around great plantations.
 Waterways were primary means of transportation.
New England Family
 Clean water and cold weather added 10 yrs of life expectancy.
 New Englanders migrated as families - almost immediate natural increase in pop.
 Early marriage, continual childbirth (avg. 10 preg., 8 kids)
New England Family (2)
 Family stability resulted in low premarital preg. rates (unlike Chesapeake), strong
social structure.
 Few property rights for women, laws sought to defend marriage (Scarlet Letter).
New England Town Life
 Society centered around small villages/farms & Puritan unity of purpose.
 Planned growth: new towns legally chartered, land distributed (contrast with
Chesapeake).
New England Town Life (2)
 Education: town of 50 families must provide elementary education, Harvard est. 1636.
 Congregational church led naturally to democratic town meeting (Jefferson: “best
school of political liberty…”).
1/2-Way Cov./Witch Trials
 1st generation’s Puritan zeal diluted over time.
 Mid 1600s: “Jeremiad” – popular sermon of warning
 Problem of declining church membership.
1/2-Way Cov./Witch Trials (2)
 1662: Half-Way Covenant – partial membership to those not yet converted (usually
children/ grandchildren of members).
 Eventually all welcomed to church, erased distinction of “elect.”
1/2-Way Cov./Witch Trials (3)
 1692: group of adolescent girls in Salem, Mass. claimed bewitching by certain older
women.
 Trials conducted, 20 people executed (+ 2 dogs).
1/2-Way Cov./Witch Trials (4)
 1693: Witch hysteria ended with accusation of governor’s wife.
Trials ended, pardons
given.
 Accused were merchant elite, accusers were poorer farmers.
Evidence suggest “witch
hunt” based on social resentments.
New England Way of Life
 Rocky soil: emphasis on hard work & frugality; less ethnically mixed b/c immigrants
not attracted to soil.
 Soil & climate encouraged diversified agriculture & industry.
New England Way of Life (2)
 Unlike Indians, English felt duty to “improve” land by clearing forests for farming/
pasture, building roads, etc.
 Due to soil, they became experts in shipbuilding, commerce & codfish.
New England Way of Life (3)
 Calvinism, soil, climate produced energy, purposeful-ness, self-reliance, resourcefulness, (“Yankee ingenuity”).
 “New England conscience” from Puritans inspired later reformers (abolitionists).
Early Settlers’ Ways
 Women: wove, cooked, cleaned, children; Men: cleared land, fenced, planted,
cropped, firewood, butchered livestock.
 Compared to 17th cent. Europeans, Americans were fairly affluent.
Early Settlers’ Ways (2)
 B/c “Dukes don’t emigrate” and very poor can’t afford it, most immigrants were in
between. Class distinctions less, esp. in New England & middle col.
 Efforts to reproduce stratified society mostly failed.