COLONIAL SOCIETY ON THE EVE
OF REVOLUTION
POPULATION BOOM
In 1700 there were 250,000
people in the 13 colonies
 by 1775 they had a combined
population of 2.5 million
 This increased population
growth was due in part to the
“forced immigration” of
blacks and immigrants, but
largely because of the natural
fertility of the colonists

TIPPING THE BALANCE
In 1700 there was a ration of 20 to 1 English men
to American colonists
 By 1775 the ratio had been reduced to 3:1
 This helped to set the stage for a shift in the
balance of power between Britain and the
Colonies

IMMIGRATION: GERMANS
Germans made up about 6% of the colonial
population by 1775
 Settled mainly in Pennsylvania beginning in the
early 1700’s as they fled religious persecution,
economic oppression, and war
 Falsely referred to as the “Pennsylvania Dutch”
 Most were Lutherans

IMMIGRATION: SCOTS-IRISH
By 1775 made up 7% of population
 Not actually Irish, they are Scottish but fled from
Ireland early in the 1700’s to escape persecution
of their Scottish Presbyterianism from the strict
Irish Catholics
 Upon settlement in America, pushed out on to
frontier and became frontiersmen

ETHNIC DIVISIONS IN 1775
IMMIGRATION: AFRICANS
“Forced Immigration”
 Brought over as slaves
 By 1775 made up 20% of
population (largest nonEnglish group)
 Largest concentration in the
south as the south held 90% of
the slaves

MINGLING OF THE RACES
By 1775, French Huguenots, Welsh, Dutch,
Swedes, Jews, Irish, and Swiss were all on the
list of immigrants
 Americans were of all races and mixed bloods, so
other countries had a hard time classifying them.
 The South is typically associated with being the
least ethically diverse of the colonies while the
Middle colonies are associated with being the
most ethically diverse

COLONIAL SOCIETY
 In
comparison to the
class structure in
Europe, America
appeared as a land of
equality
 Slavery was the only
exception
COLONIAL SOCIETY ON THE EVE OF
REVOLUTION (NORTH)
 Beginning
to show signs of class
barriers
 “Gods of War” became increasingly
wealthy as military suppliers
 Widows and Orphans resulted from
the war and developed need for
charities and almshouses
 The number of poor people rose
furthering the divide between the
classes
COLONIAL SOCIETY ON THE EVE OR
REVOLUTION (SOUTH)
 The
large planters and farmers
became wealthy thanks to their
slave labor
 Lower classes were enlarged as
indentured servants and convicts
were sent to America
 Slaves were still the lowest of all the
classes
PROFESSIONS
 Christian
ministry
was the most
honored profession
 Lawyers and
Physicians were
usually less esteemed
 bleeding was a
common practice by
doctors and not very
successful
PLAGUES
Smallpox (afflicting 1 of 5 persons)
was rampant
a crude form of inoculation for it was
introduced
in 1721.
Some of the clergy and doctors didn’t
like the inoculation though, preferring
not to tamper with the will of God.

AGRICULTURE
Agriculture was the leading industry
 Farmers could seemed to have the ability to grow
anything.

Tobacco was the staple crop
in many of the middle and
southern colonies
 Southern colonies also grew
indigo and rice since many of
the African slaves knew how
to grow these crops

TRADE

also a prevalent industry, as commerce occurred
all around the colonies.
The triangular trade was common:
 New England sent rum and other manufactured
goods to
 West Coast of Africa and traded it for African slaves
which were sent to
 West Indies in exchange for molasses (for rum) and
other raw materials like naval stores

TRIANGULAR TRADE
MANUFACTURING
Not as important as
other industries
 Laborers and skilled
craftspeople were
scarce
 Lumbering was most
important manufacturing activity
 In addition to lumber, the northern colonies exported
other naval stores to Britain for ship building

MOLASSES ACT
1733, Parliament passed the Molasses
Act
 Designed to hinder American
international trade by prohibiting it’s
trade with French West Indies
 Colonies were angered and responded
by going around the with smuggling

HORSEPOWER AND SAILPOWER
Roads in 1700s America were very poor, and they
only connected the large cites.
 Roads were so bad that they were dangerous.


As a result, towns seemed to cluster around slow,
navigable water sources, like gentle rivers, or by the
ocean.
Taverns sprang up to serve travelers and were
great places of gossip and news.
 An inter-colonial mail system was set up in the
mid-1700s, but, since there was
nothing else to do, mailmen often passed time by
reading private letters,

DOMINANT DENOMINATIONS

Two established churches (tax-supported) by
1775: Anglican and the Congregational.
The Church of England (the Anglican Church) was
official in Georgia, both Carolinas, Virginia,
Maryland, and a part of New York.
 The Congregational church had grown from the
Puritan church, and it was established in all the New
England colonies except for Rhode Island.

THE GREAT AWAKENING
A religious revival which sought to revitalize
religion through the emphasis of emotion in
 Jonathan Edwards & George Whitefield were
fiery, passionate preachers and leaders of the
Great Awakening
 More traditional orthodox clergy men, the “old
lights,” were very skeptical of the new style of
preaching which the “new lights” advocated

JONATHAN EDWARDS
was a fiery preacher
who described the
treacherous conditions
of eternal damnation.
 began preaching in
1734,
 his methods sparked
debate among his
peers
 “Sinners in the Hands
of an Angry God,”

GEORGE WHITFIELD
Began 4 years after
Edwards, but was
even more successful
in moving his
audience
 A very talented orator
who could be
extremely persuasive
 Imitators copied his
emotional shaking
sermons and his
heaping of blame on
sinners.

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
Because of plantation farming, the South was
spread out and featured very few schools;
however, the North, which focused on the
community, emphasized education and the
construction of schools
 Education was most prevalent in New England,
where schools were originally used to train young
future clergymen.



The were some primary and secondary schools in
other areas, but only children of wealthy families
could afford to attend
Most of the emphasis was placed on religion,
classical languages, doctrine and orthodoxy.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Painters (usually looked down upon)
John Trumbull
 Charles Willson Peale, best know for his portraits
of George Washington
 Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley had to go to
England to complete their ambitious careers.


Architecture was imported from the Old World
and modified to meet American needs.
The log cabin was borrowed from Sweden.
 The classical, red-bricked Georgian style of
architecture was introduced about 1720.

LITERATURE
Phillis Wheatley, who had never
been formally educated
published a book of verse other
polished poems that revealed
the influence of Alexander Pope.
 Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s
Almanack
was very influential, containing
many common sayings and
phrases, and was widely read in
America and Europe

THE PRESS
There were many hand-operated
presses that could cranked out
leaflets, pamphlets, and journals
 Allowed for an increased spread
of information and exposure of
world issues
 John Peter Zenger was a New
York newspaper printer who was
taken to court and charged with
seditious libel

THE ZENGER CASE
Peter Zenger was sued for
seditious libel
 The judge urged the jury to
consider whether or not
publishing was a crime, no
matter whether the content
was derogatory or not.
 Zenger won thanks to
lawyer Andrew Hamilton
and because he was able to
provide evidence supporting
his claims
 The importance—freedom of
the press

POLITICS
By 1775, 8 of the colonies had royal governors.
appointed by the king, while 3 had governors
chosen by proprietors.
 Practically every colony utilized a two-house
legislative body.
 Self-taxation with representation came to be a
cherished privilege
 Some governors were extremely corrupt.
 Voting was limited to white male landowners


However, the ease of acquiring land helped to make
voting more easily attaianable
EARLY COLONIAL AMUSEMENT
In the South, card playing, horse racing,
cockfighting, and fox hunting were fun as well as
stage plays
 Lotteries were universally approved, even by the
clergy because they helped raise money for
churches and colleges.
 Holidays were celebrated, though New England
typically didn’t participate
 1775 America was described like a quilt, each
individual in its own way, but all coming together
to form one single, unified piece.
