American History—Chapter 3
Mercantilism
• Countries ultimate goal was to establish
self-sufficiency—trying to get as much gold
and silver as possible.
• Colonies—favorable balance of trade
• England wanted raw materials from the
colonies (not always the case…people were
selling good to other countries)
Navigation Acts
• Laws that restricted the colonists trading
abilities. (English Parliament)
• Results: England benefited more from
being more involved in the trading process,
colonists did not. (Illegal Trading)
Anger
• People didn’t follow the Navigation Acts
and traded with whomever they wanted
(especially Massachusetts)
• King Charles got mad at Mass., he took
away their charter (happened a lot)
• Eventually King James picked one guy to
rule all of New England
Taste of Independence
• England started to focus more on France (war)
• Salutary Neglect—England would loosen some
of its Navigation Act policies if the colonies
would promise to trade with England only.
• Each colony appointed its own governor
• Governors were loyal to the colonist (salaries)
• Colonies began to practice self government (liked it a lot)
Glorious Revolution
• GB got rid of King
James (Catholic)
• Replaced him with
William and Mary
• Results in America
• Puritans got rid of their
governor (James’ pick)
• Compromise: New
governor for area if the
Pilgrims would be more
tolerant.
The Agricultural South
• Cash Crop—single
crop that is grown for
sale; not personal use.
• Tobacco, Rice, Indigo,
Cotton
• South relied heavily
on Cash Crops
Southern Lifestyle
• Many different groups settled in the South,
Germans, Scots, Irish.
• Few wealthy people owned most of the land
and made the decisions
• Women in the South/North were looked
upon as inferior (chores, lack of education)
Southern Plantations
• Big farms located on
waterways developed
instead of small towns
like in the North.
• Major cities were
located on the coast.
• Charlestown, etc
Slaves
• People that were property of others
• Slaves in America usually came originally from
Africa (not enough indentured servants, Indians
ran away)
• Europeans saw Africans as being “inferior”
because of their dark skin.
• Africans were also better suited to meet the
demands of slavery (climate, work load)
• By 1750, over 200,000 Africans worked in the
Southern Colonies
Slave Trade
• Triangular Trade—
Trade between Africa,
West Indies and
America.
• Way in which goods
and people were
shipped throughout the
world.
Middle Passage
• Trips that African’s
took from Africa to
the West Indies and/or
America.
• More than 20% of
Africans died on the
trip.
Slavery in the South
• Most slaves worked in the fields—most
difficult. (80-90 %)
• Other 10-20 % slaves worked in the house
as servants. Not as difficult of work.
• Most slaves worked from 12 to death.
Often subjected to terrible beatings/harsh
treatments.
Africans Coping in the New World
• Africans came to America from a variety of
different cultures (different areas/languages)
• Africans tended to bond together by doing things
that they had in common (making things, pottery,
etc)
• Slavery was difficult on families, especially when
slaves were sold.
• Music and dance were ways in which Africans
could communicate while keeping old African
customs alive.
Revolts
• Not all Africans accepted the conditions of
slavery…some would do such things as fake illness,
break tools and slow down working.
• Stono Rebellion—Sept. of 1739, 20 slaves gathered
guns/other things killed plantation owners. Rebellion
was put down and tighter restrictions were placed.
• Many slaves escaped North on the Underground
Railroad…popular route to take to the North
The Commercial North
• Northern economy was driven by trade
while the Southern economy was driven by
agriculture.
• Differences led to a complete opposite way
of life.
• Farms in the North:
• Small, produce a variety of crops
• Livestock
The Commercial North
• Industry: Lumber, fishing, ship building
• Expansion of trade caused many cities to grow
• New York, Boston, Philadelphia
• Philadelphia became one of the leading cities
city in the world…extremely modern for the
time. (police, parks, street lights)
Northern Society is Diverse
• Germans, Irish, Mennonites, Quakers, Dutch,
Scandinavians and Jews all lived within the North.
• People moved to the North because of job
opportunities in cities.
• Slavery did exist in the North, but it was on a
much smaller scale than the South (household
servants).
• The further South, the more slavery was
NEEDED!
Women’s Rights
• Women had few rights in the North, religion
and law kept women inferior to men.
• Salem Witch Trials (Salem, Massachusetts)
• Several girls accused a Native America of practicing
witchcraft…started to spread, more and more girls
began being accused of being witches (if they were
different than the norm)
• 19 girls were hanged, 150 others were jailed.
• Showed how uptight people were about any
differences in religion or customs
Enlightenment
• Enlightenment
• Scientist started to look beyond religion to answer the questions
of the world.
• Used Reason to explain what is going on in the world
• New ideas spread fast in the North because people could read
new thing coming from Europe.
• Ben Franklin—Scientist that used Enlightenment to
explain things (electricity)
• Colonists used Enlightenment to question the
authority of the British
Great Awakening
• As time went on, Puritans that were living in the
North became wealthy and began to turn away
from religion.
• John Edwards—Clergyman who decided that the
people of New England needed to be more active
in the Puritan Church.
• Great Awakening—when people like Edwards
went from town to town to try to create a spiritual
uprising (making religion number one again)
Great Awakening
• Results
• People became more interested in church (even
African Americans and Natives)
• It also caused people to examine exactly what the
church was saying….this led to numerous other
denominations appearing (Baptist, Methodists)
• Increased importance in Education..churches started
to establish colleges (Princeton, Brown)
Great Awakening and
Enlightenment
• Both caused people to focus on themselves
and in turn led them to question the
authority that England had on them.
• Caused further separation between the two!
France vs. England
• Both trying to build a world empire…one
are they both wanted to claim was the Ohio
River Valley in America.
• Colonists favored England
• Colonists wanted to move west, felt that if England
was in control it would be easier
New France
• French claimed most of Eastern Canada, the
Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River.
• Area in which the French had explored
• New France—the area that France controlled
• Major population difference between French areas and
English colonies.
• French were more concerned with trade than colonizing
• French had friendly relations with a wide variety of
Indian groups (Huron, Ottawa’s) b/c of trade.
Tensions start to increase
• Ft. Duquesne—French fort that was built in the
area that is now Pittsburgh
• Problem: England had already claimed the land
• Virginia sent the state militia (army) to see what
the French were doing.
• Leader of the Virginia militia was George
Washington
George Washington
• Leader of Virginia Militia
• Set up Ft. Necessity
(located close to Ft.
Duquesne) to watch the
French
• French attacked and forced
Washington to surrender.
• This was the start of the
French and Indian War
French and Indian War
• French/Indians vs. England/Colonies
• Early times did not go well for the GB/Colonist
• Washington and Braddock (English General) were
ambushed by French and Indian Troops
• British were not able to figure out how to handle the
guerilla style of fighting used by the French/Indians
• Washington and other colonist were surprised by how the
“tough” British army was easily defeated.
• Many began to questions how strong GB was.
GB/Colonists turn the tide
• William Pitt—became the new leader of the
British troops.
• Able to start to get the British to win some battles
• Also able to talk the Iroquois to turn against the French
• James Wolfe—British General
• Led a daring surprise attack on the French city of Quebec
• Short and bloody battle, British won and took control of the
war.
End of the War
• Treaty of Paris of
1763—ended the
French and Indian
War.
• Terms: GB would get
all of the lands east of
the Mississippi River,
including New
Orleans.
British Problems with Indians
• The Native Americans were upset that the
French lost because they did not want to
give up their land.
• The British got upset with the Native
Americans for resisting British attempts to
set up colonies in the new areas.
• British did nice things like send blankets
full of small pox virus to different tribes.
Strained Relationships between
the Colonist and GB
• Proclamation of 1763
• British govt. banned all colonist from moving west
of the Appalachian Mountains.
• Did this to prevent the colonists from having
problems with the Indians.
• British could not enforce this act.
• Colonists were upset because it appeared that the
British did not care about them
• GB was also getting mad at Massachusetts
Massachusetts Problems
• GB was mad because Massachusetts kept
illegally trading and smuggling goods
(against Navigation Acts)
• The people of Massachusetts became more
and more upset at GB
• British also left 10,000 troops in the
colonies to protect them from the Natives
More Problems
• Colonists were upset about the troops—felt
threatened by their presence. Colonists also had to
pay for the British troops to be there.
• Sugar Act—Laws that were passed by GB in
hopes of ending the smuggling of sugar that the
colonies were doing.
• GB took more and more control of the jurisdiction
of the Sugar Act.
• By the end of 1764, most colonists were really
mad at GB.