Chapter 4 Part 1 Notes
American Life in the 17th Century (1607 -1692)
Intro:
Permanent settlements with distinctive ways of life develop. Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans all adapt
to the change. All of the colonies are tied to the growing Atlantic Economy and England, however, regional
differences continue to widen…especially due to the increasing importance of slave labor to the South.
The Unhealthy Chesapeake
-Half of the people born in early Virginia and Maryland do not live to 20, migrants from England lost on average 10
years from their lifespan…Of the remaining settlers, and most die before the age of 50.
-Males outnumbered Females 6:1 in 1650 and still 3:2 by 1700. Families were few and fragile, as time went on
eventually the native born developed immunity to the killer diseases, more women allowed more families to form,
and by 1700 the white population of the Chesapeake was growing…By 1700 Virginia was the most populous colony
with 59K and Maryland the 3rd after Massachusetts.
The Tobacco Economy
Tobacco was the economic savior of the Chesapeake colonies, however, because it exhausted the soil…this led to
an insatiable demand for virgin land and this prompted a conflict with the interior Indian tribes.
-1.5 mill lbs. are sold in the 1630’s…by 1700 it had grown to 40 mill. Lbs. a year ! Prices fell (supply-demand), but
farmers just planted more and more… Due to this increase in production…demand for land and labor increases as
well… Indentured Servants were the answer to the rising labor needs… initially (1660’s) on fulfillment of their
contracted period of service IS were given “FREEDOM DUES” ( corn, clothes, and LAND [initially])
- The HEADRIGHT SYSTEM, whoever paid the passage of a laborer received the right to acquire 50 acres of
land…MASTERS REAPED THE BENEFITS into vast plantations….and thus became LORDS and came to dominate the
agriculture, commerce, and politics of the South for Centuries… over 100,00 IS were imported to the Chesapeake
by 1700, MORE THAN 75% OF ALL EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS TO THE REGION.
Frustrated Freemen and Bacon’s Rebellion*****huge****
As early as the 1660’s the economy of Britain was improving and indentured servants were harder to acquire…
Freedom Dues also ceased to include land due to the scarcity of available land…. Also, African servants were not
classified as “chattel” (permanently slave) yet… this leaves a LARGE ACCUMULATING MASS OF IMPOVERISHED
PEOPLE IN THESE COLONIES… discontented about their condition (little available land, disenfranchised, and NO
WOMEN) and forced in many cases into the backcountry where they come into contact with the interior Native
Tribes as both attempt to survive…
****Bacon’s Rebellion – in 1676, the Governor of Virginia, William Berkeley, had to face a revolt from the above
mentioned impoverished masses. Nathanial Bacon, 29, led a mixed race group of frontiersmen who resented their
plight (discussed above) and the Gov’s friendly policies towards the Indians (the Gov was making a fortune due to
his monopoly of the fur trade with the Indians). Bacon and his group attacked the Indians, chased the Gov from
Jamestown, and burned Jamestown while plundering its stores… Bacon dies of disease and his followers are
scattered and those captured are put to death (20) This conflict has many significances… it foreshadows other
rebellions by backcountry residents in other colonies against a snobbish wealthy elite that live along the coasts
(Paxton boys in Penn. , the Regulators in NC, and Leisler’s Rebellion in NY), EQUALLY SIGNIFICANT… This becomes
the motivation for the Lordly Planters to divide the poorer masses by RACE… beginning to codify (Make Laws) the
permanence of Africans as slaves (chattel slavery begins at birth) from this time forward in a series of laws
beginning in Va. and repeated throughout the southern colonies (before BR Africans could be freed by being
Baptized and becoming Christian for example)… this also elevates the poorest whites and allows the planter class
to create the “herrenvolk” democracy (a democracy limited to the core white nation only and elevating the
yeomen( “plain folk”) farmer to the position of active participants with all whites in the political culture of the
state… white yeomen being personally independent not necessarily voting)
Colonial Slavery*** HUGE***
10 million or more Africans were taken to the New World in chains. (see chart p. 70 & map p. 71) About 400,000
are brought to North America, most after 1700. As late as 1670 Africans were about 7% of the population in the
Southern Colonies. White indentured servants (IS) cost less. Why does this change? The economy in England
improves which makes it difficult to recruit new (IS)…the Planter Aristocracy of the South begins to fear the (IS)
(Bacon’s Rebellion) … By the mid 1680’s Laws were changed in the South to permanently enslave the Africans…and
by the mid 1680’s Black Slaves outnumber White Servants among NEW ARRIVALS. After 1698, another increase is
due to the Royal African Company losing its monopoly of carrying slaves to the colonies… thus begins the African
part of the TRIANGLE TRADE. According to the Chart p.70 10,000 Africans were brought to the new world in the
1600’s and 390,000 in the 1700’s, obviously a huge increase. In Virginia by 1750 Blacks were 50% of the population
and 2:1 in South Carolina.
The diaspora of Africans to the New World was a gruesome one… captive on huge ships where death rates ran as
high as 20%...(we will see this in the movie “Amistad” later) …as they came to North America they were then sold
in places like Newport, Rhode Island or Charleston, SC in giant slave markets. As the #’s of African increase in the
American South the Colonies begin to make it a crime to inter-marry and teach them to read or write. Without
question the “Herrenvolk Democracy” was firmly in place by the early 18th century… Hitler’s idea of a “Master
Race” was certainly not the first time this idea was put into practice.
Africans in America
In comparison, I personally think disingenuous, Slave life was more difficult in the deepest South where conditions
of their work was much more difficult…South Carolina v. Virginia/Maryland… especially, historians say as the
Tobacco crops get somewhat smaller due to the soils depletion and a growing reliance on wheat... One the most
startling statistics is the fact that the American slave population grows due to its birthrate… One of the few slave
populations in World History to grow based on its own natural reproduction (from 500,000 by 1808, the year it
became illegal to import slaves to America to 4,000,000 in 1860)…this has led to many inferences to determine
the cause. (we will discuss***)
Africans contributions to the growth and stability of our nation are many, not just their labor. Their speech,
religion, and folkways have become part of our story…E Pluribus Unum. Their story of building family while
enduring hell is THE American story, their continuous struggle is one which requires an understanding to truly
understand the American Identity. Revolt to their condition happens often and continuously from enslavement to
Modern Times. Slave rebellions happened in places like NY, the largest there in 1712, and in South Carolina (Stono
Rebellion), in 1739 and will continuously combust throughout our history. For Extra Credit visit “Africans in
America” at the PBS website… there are a number of great resources to examine…
Makers of America – From African to African-American
A distinct and durable African-American culture develops despite the HELL that they lived, remarkable. This
Achievement sustains Africans in America through their battles for 400 years and is one the most amazing
American stories…A myriad of different African cultures are combined; a plethora of languages, traditions, skills,
trades, music, and cuisines. The first Africans were mostly male and lived on isolated farms…Some were able to
purchase their freedom (indentured) or become baptized Christians to earn their freedom. (research Anthony
Johnson of Northampton County, Virginia for extra credit). By the 1740’s more African women had arrived and
their population began to grow… the importation of slaves began to slow due to the increasing hostility to Great
Britain (a way to hurt GB’s economy). Obviously, chattel slavery was a living hell on these plantations; whether
from work or from sexual exploitation. Yet a vibrant culture emerges to nourish and give hope. Most slaves
become Christians (maters often used this as a way to influence their slaves to accept their fate, slaves found hope
in Exodus and fused their own beliefs with Christianity) A rich cultural heritage was created and maintained that
gave strength to marriages (albeit illegal) and maintained family ties through the worst psychological horror of allthe splitting of the families by sale.
Southern Society
As the 17th century closes Southern society begins to be defined. This Hierarchy has at its top a small but powerful
group of Great Planters with large landholdings and numerous slaves. This group dominates the region’s economy
and politics for at least 3 centuries. Virginia’s FFV’s (first families of Virginia) is one example… These families make
up 70% of the House of Burgesses at the beginning of the Rev. War, 1775. The next group in the hierarchy is the
largest but much less powerful, the Small Farmers (YEOMEN- “PLAIN FOLK”), next is the landless whites including
the remaining white indentured servants, and at the bottom the BLACK SLAVES.
The South had few cities of size, Charleston its largest and most impt. Seaport, thus a middle class was very slow to
emerge…with a very small urban professional class of lawyers and businessmen not really a factor until early in the
20th century. Life revolved around the Great Plantations isolated from one another…Waterways are the principal
means of transportation until the 1830’s.