COLONIAL SOCIETY IN
THE 18TH CENTURY
CREATING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT
LIFE IN THE CHESAPEAKE
POPULATION
• Life expectancy was 10 years less than
home in England due to disease; 50%
not living past 20 years old.
• Most immigrants were young, single
men; women were extremely scarce
• Region stabilized with the increase in
female settlers and increased
immunities to diseases.
HEADRIGHT SYSTEM
• Headright System: Each
Virginian got 50 acres for
each person whose
passage they paid.
• Indentured servants agreed
to years of servitude in
exchange for transatlantic
passage (5-7 years)
• Promised “freedom dues”
[land, money]
• 1610-1614: only 1 in 10
outlived their indentured
contracts!
BACON’S REBELLION
• VA HoB disenfranchised most
landless men in 1670
• Small Virginia settlers began
moving westward where land
was more plentiful.
• Colonists attacked the local
Susquehannock tribe for their
lands, who later retaliated.
• 1626 – Nathaniel Bacon led a
violent campaign against all
Indians, even those that were
at peace with the colony.
BACON’S REBELLION
• Governor William Berkeley ordered
Bacon and his men to stop, they turned
on him instead.
• Rebels resented Berkeley’s close relations with
Indians.
• Governor Berkeley driven from
Jamestown. Rebels burned the capital;
went on a rampage of plundering.
• Bacon suddenly died of fever.
• Berkeley brutally crushed the rebellion
and hanged 23 rebels.
• The Powhatans lost their remaining lands
6
EFFECTS OF THE REBELLION
• It exposed resentments
between inland
frontiersmen and
landless former servants
against gentry on
coastal plantations.
• Socio-economic class
differences/clashes
between rural and
urban communities
would continue
throughout American
history.
• Upper class planters
searched for laborers
less likely to rebel 
BLACK SLAVES!!
THE TRIANGULAR TRADE, PART 1
8
THE “MIDDLE PASSAGE”
ROOTS OF SLAVERY
• First Africans arrived in Jamestown
in 1619.
• Their status was not clear  perhaps
slaves, perhaps indentured servants.
• Slavery not that important until the end
of the 17c.
• As the number of slaves increased,
white colonists reacted to put
down perceived racial threat.
• Slavery transformed from economic to
racial institution.
• By the mid-1680s, black slaves
outnumbered white indentured
servants.
Olaudah Equiano
ROOTS OF SLAVERY
• Beginning in 1662 
“Slave Codes”
• Made blacks [and their
children] property, or
chattel for life of white
masters.
• In some colonies, it was a
crime to teach a slave to
read or write.
• Conversion to Christianity
did not qualify the slave for
freedom.
STONO REBELLION (AKA:
CATO'S CONSPIRACY ), 1739
• Largest slave revolt in colonial
American history
• Jemmy (AKA: Cato), a literate
slave led 20 other enslaved
Kongolese in an armed march
to freedom in Spanish Florida.
• Killed 22–25 whites before being
intercepted by a South Carolina
militia. In that battle, 20 whites
and 44 slaves were killed, and
the rebellion was suppressed.
• In response, the South Carolina
legislature passed the Negro
Act of 1740 restricting slave
assembly, education and
movement.
LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND
THE HALF-WAY COVENANT, 1662
• Puritan leaders were worried their religious passion
was dying down
• “jeremiads” (stern, old-fashioned scolding) used to corral
“wandering souls”
• Half-way Covenant: Eased qualifications for joining
the church
• Full membership in the Puritan church required an account of
a conversion experience, and only persons in full membership
could have their own children baptized.
• The Half-Way Covenant provided a partial church
membership for the children and grandchildren of church
members, allowing participation in the Lord's supper, and the
children of holders of the covenant could be baptized in the
church.
• In 1692, a few girls claimed to have been
bewitched by a Caribbean woman practicing
voodoo.
• Names were named, rumors spread, and innocent
people were accused of being witches. Hysteria
took hold and twenty people were executed.
• By 1693, the Salem residents saw the recklessness for
what it was and called it off.
• Notably, this type of witch-hunting had been done
on a much larger scale back in Europe.
THE PEQUOT WARS: 1636-1637
• Pequots  very powerful tribe in CT river valley.
• Pequot War (1637)
• Whites, with Narragansett Indian allies, attacked Pequot
village on Mystic River.
• Whites set fire to homes & shot fleeing survivors!
• Pequot tribe virtually annihilated an uneasy peace lasted for
40 years.
KING PHILIP’S WAR: 1675-1676
• Metacom (known as King Philip
by English) tried to unite local
tribes to protect themselves
against attacks
• Attacked English settlements
on the frontier – lasted two
years
• Eventually defeated; was
drawn and quartered and his
head displayed on a pike in
Plymouth for years
SEEDS OF COLONIAL UNITY
New England Confederation
• Consisted of 4 Puritan colonies (MA Bay, Plymouth,
New Haven, Connecticut) for the purpose of defense
Dominion of New England
• Created in response to the NE
Confederation as an arm of the
king
• Sir Edmund Andros was put in charge,
but despised by colonists
• Strengthen colonial defense against
Indians
• Regain English control over the colonies
by enforcing the Navigation Acts
(limited American trade to within the
British Empire exclusively)
THE COLONIES BEFORE WAR
CHARACTERISTICS OF 18TH CENTURY
COLONIAL AMERICA
• Enormous population
growth
• Higher fertility rate, increase in
immigrants
• Largest colonies: VA, MA, PN,
NC, MD
• South held 90% of slaves
• The American melting
pot (1790)
• 66% English
• 20% African
• Remaining: Scots Irish,
German, Dutch, Irish, French,
Welsh, Jews, Scots-Highlanders
• Structure of colonial
society (stratification
emerged by 1750)
• Small upper class (plantation
owners in the South;
merchants, lawyers,
clergymen in the North)
• Most were yeoman farmers
(owned land)
• Small merchants, laborers (did
not own land)
• Indentured servants and
jailbirds
• Slaves
COLONIAL TOWNS
• Colonial cities were
organized better than in
England
• NE towns had a town square
(“common” or “village
green”) surrounded by
homes, businesses, and the
church
• Structured road patterns
(e.g. Manhattan), though
roads were poor
• Taverns served as inns,
restaurants, and places to
hear news from other towns
• More space led to longer
lifespans
COLONIAL LIFESTYLE
• Farmers
• Most yeoman farmers (~80%), FFV’s dominate
the South
• Roles of the Family
• Women wove, cooked, cleaned, and cared
for children
• Men cleared land -- fenced, planted, and
cropped it; cut firewood, and butchered
livestock
• Children helped with adult tasks as well as
being schooled when possible.
• Highest standard of living
• Generally lower mortality rates than Europe
• Land was cheap, although less available in
southern plantation system
• Wages were about three times that of Europe
CLASS STRUGGLE
• Frontiers
• Few class distinctions existed on the frontier
• Those with upper-class pretensions were resented;
egalitarian society was desired
• Upper Class
• Attempt to recreate European stratification failed
• Common people too numerous to be subjugated
• Emerging middle class became increasingly influential
• Democratic traditions in many colonies provided a
hedge against complete upper class control.
• Rebellions
• Bacon’s Rebellion
• Paxton Boys
COLONIAL OCCUPATIONS
• Clergy most respected
occupation
• Physicians and lawyers
were looked upon with
scorn – charlatans and
scoundrels
• Agriculture was the
dominant industry
• Politics was growing as an
occupational option (local
legislatures, appointed
governorship)
COLONIAL ECONOMY
• Land Speculation – Made many investors
wealthy (buy cheap land, sell high)
• Farming – 90% of Americans by 1775
• Manufacturing
• Small industries
• Lumbering most important: shipbuilding
• Cottage industry
• Trade
• Growth of American population created
increased demand for British goods
• Once British demand for American products
peaked Americans sought other markets
• Transportation
• Inland transportation poor by road
• Waterways most important: Population
located near rivers
The Triangular Trade that emerged in
the mid-eighteenth century was not
designed with the same purpose as
the century before. This new triangle
was used by colonists to circumvent
the Navigation Acts passed by Great
Britain in the 1680s.
COLONIAL RELIGION
• Religious Groups
•
•
•
•
•
Anglican Church: Official faith in several colonies
Congregational Church
Presbyterian Church
Quakers
Jews
• Mainly located in RI, NY, PA, MD, and SC.
• Toleration
• Toleration came about in large part due to nonchurch members.
• Eventually, campaign for full religious rights led to
separation of church and state after the Revolution
(except for New England)
THE GREAT AWAKENING
• The Great Awakening was a
spiritual revival that swept
the colonies in the 1730s
and 1740s.
• It was led by powerful
“New Light” preachers
who made Christianity
intensely personal to
the average person by
appealing to their
emotions, and by
encouraging
introspection and a
commitment to a new
standard of personal
morality.
• Jonathan Edwards “Sinners In the Hands
of an Angry God”
THE GREAT
AWAKENING
• The Great Awakening
• First mass social movement in
American History
• Mainly in Middle/Southern
colonies
• Reaction against the
elaborate theological
doctrines, emotional
stagnation, & liberal
doctrines of established
churches
• Enthusiasts saw themselves
as beneficiaries of a direct
inspiration from God
• New vs. Old Light
• Old Lights: Orthodox clergymen
deeply skeptical of emotionalism
and theatrical antics of the
revivalists.
• New Lights: Supported the
Awakening for revitalizing
American religion and used
emotionalism to move followers.
THE GREAT AWAKENING
• Jonathan Edwards
• Credited with starting the Great Awakening (c.
1734) in Northampton in 1734 ; most influential
theological writer and thinker of the movement.
• Blasted the idea of salvation through good works;
dependence on God's grace is paramount
• Emphasized eternal damnation (“fire and
brimstone” sermons)
• Style was learned and reasoned; not emotional
like other "new lights"
• George Whitefield (1714-1770)
• Brilliant English orator; his basic appeal was to
the Bible
• Founded Methodism in GA and SC
• Results
• Created schisms in other denominations which
increased competitiveness of American
churches (e.g. Baptist, Methodist,
Congregationalist, etc.)
• Brought religion to many who had lost touch
with it
• Undermined the older clergy
• Encouraged a new wave of missionary work
among the Indians and slaves
EDUCATION
• New England
• Strongest
• Bible Reading
• Primary and secondary schools established early
• Middle
• Some Public
• Also had primary and secondary education
•
•
Some tax-supported, some privately owned
Diffusion of population made establishment of effective school systems difficult
• Many well-to-do families sent their sons to colleges in England
• South
• Privileged; hired tutors to teach their children
• Plantation living made cities, schools, and churches spread out
• College
• Primary focus on the training of new clergy, not academics
• Improvement in higher education occurred with what became Univ. of Pennsylvania
•
•
Benjamin Franklin helped establish it ;)
First American college free from denominational control ; more modern curriculum: "live" languages,
experimentation, reason
• Nine important colleges emerged during the colonial period: Harvard, William & Mary,
Yale, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth
THE FRENCH AND
1756-1763
INDIAN WAR
THE FRENCH IN THE NEW WORLD
• France was late
coming to the New
World
• French population
grew slowly
• Were the most
successful in trading
with Amerindians
• Jesuits played a vital
role as explorers and
geographers
CLASH OF EMPIRES: ENGLAND,
FRANCE, AND SPAIN
• Four world wars between 1688 and 1763
• Wars originated in Europe and spilled over to the
New World
• Treaty of Utrecht ended colonial wars for nearly 3
decades.
THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR
T H E F R E N C H A N D I N D I A N WA R B E G I N S
1754 – CLASH IN THE OHIO VALLEY
 British were pushing west
into the Ohio Valley; wary of
French influence in North
America.
 French needed to retain it
to link Canada with the
lower Mississippi valley &
Caribbean.
British
Fort Necessity
Duquesne
* George Washington
Indians
French
Fort
* Delaware & Shawnee
ALBANY PLAN OF UNION
 Benjamin Franklin created plan for colonial home rule:
dealt with defense and Indian affairs. Adopted by
delegates. Individual colonies rejected it: not enough
independence. British rejected it: too much
independence
 Albany
Congress  failed Iroquois broke
off relations with Britain & threatened to
trade with the French.

The cartoon appeared along with
Franklin's editorial about the "disunited
state" of the colonies, and helped make
his point about the importance of colonial
unity. During that era, there was a
superstition that a snake which had been
cut into pieces would come back to life if
the pieces were put together before
sunset.
WILLIAM PITT “THE GREAT
COMMONER” BECOMES FOREIGN
MINISTER
 Very popular among the
British people, his
successes in the war led to
Ft. Duquesne being
renamed Pittsburgh
 Focused on defeating
France in North America in
order to win the war
 Offered colonists a deal
 For colonial loyalty &
military cooperation, Britain
would reimburse colonial
assemblies for their costs.
TREATY OF PARIS
France
 Lost her
Canadian
possessions,
most of her
empire in
India, and
claims to lands
east of the
Mississippi
River.
Spain
Got all French  Got all French
lands in
lands west of
Canada,
the
exclusive rights
Mississippi
to Caribbean
River, New
slave trade, and
Orleans, but
commercial
lost Florida to
dominance in
England.
India.
EFFECTS OF THE WAR




Britain
It increased her colonial
empire in the Americas
It greatly enlarged
England’s debt
Britain’s contempt for the
ungrateful colonials created
bitter feelings
England felt that a major
reorganization of her
American Empire was
necessary!
Colonies
 United them under a
common enemy for the
first time
 It created a socializing
experience for all who
were involved
 It created bitter feelings
towards the pompous
British that would only
intensify
 Amerindians in Ohio Valley region angered at
British treatment during the last years of the French
and Indian War.
 Chief Pontiac, Ottowa chief, refused to surrender
his lands to the British although France (their ally in
the war) had lost and were now gone.
 Chief Pontiac led an Indian alliance against whites
in the Ohio Valley & Great Lakes region in 1763
 British retaliated with germ warfare: blankets
infected with smallpox distributed among the
Amerindians (sound familiar?)
 Rebellion subdued in October, 1763
BRITISH
BACKLASH!


In response to Pontiac’s
Rebellion, King George III
signed an Edict creating royal
colonies in all newly acquired
lands in the Treaty of Paris.
Proclamation of 1763



Prohibited colonials to move
west of the Appalachians; only
intended to be temporary
British aim: Settle land disputes
with Indians fairly to prevent
more uprisings like Pontiac’s
and organize eventual
settlement and defense
Colonials infuriated: viewed
edict as being permanent.



Many veterans had fought in
the war and felt betrayed
Land speculators argued that
the land was a birthright of
British citizens.
Colonials generally ignored
the Proclamation
 The frontier of Eastern Pennsylvania was populated
by many rough-and-tumble Scots-Irish immigrants
who had grown weary of the colonial assembly’s
inattention to their vulnerability to Indian attack.
Requests for soldiers — or guns, powder and lead at
the very least — were ignored by the legislators,
many of whom were Quakers with strong pacifist
convictions.
 A group of Paxton men took matters into their own
hands in December 1763 and raided a small
settlement of peaceful Conestoga Indians, killing 20.