Expansion and Diversity
advertisement
Expansion and Diversity The Rise of Colonial America, 1625-1700 I can explain why New Englanders abandoned Winthrop’s vision of a “city upon a hill.” I can describe why indentured servitude gave way to racial slavery in England’s plantation colonies. I can differentiate the Southern, Middle, and New England Colonies as it pertains to social, economic and political development England and the Atlantic World When Elizabeth I became Queen she stepped up exploration With a militant anti-Catholic foreign policy, Drake sets out around the world Colonists settle in Virginia: Roanoke ◦ But the colonists refuse to grow their own food and the Spanish-English conflict prevented supplies ◦ 1590 - CROATOAN The realities of settlement in America ◦ Even a well-financed colonizing effort could fail ◦ Colonists didn’t bring enough for the first winter and disdained growing their own food ◦ Future attempts would have to be self-financed ◦ International conflict made it tough Beginnings of English Colonization Spain began to view the English as less danger, and gave up claims in Virginia Joint-stock companies form ◦ Large sums of money with limited risk to each investor Two companies ◦ Virginia Co. of Plymouth ◦ Virginia Co. of London: successful at Jamestown (38 of 105 by 1608) Very difficult success ◦ Required military rule ◦ Local officials were corrupt ◦ High death rate due to malnutrition ◦ Poor relations with the local Indians New England Begins Religious dissent meant treason 1620 – patent to some London merchants for a settlement 24 families (102 people) in the Mayflower They were Separatists who first settled in the Netherlands ½ died within 4 months Puritan values of thrift, diligence, and delayed gratification Middle class The Great Migration ◦ Push factor – economic depression, crime, taxes, disliked ◦ Pull factor – “every man his own master”; played will with middleclass values Turned from communal farming to individually owned plots; farm surpluses developed; they traded the surplus corn for furs, etc. This established better relations with the Indians Lasting importance ◦ An outpost for dissenting Puritans ◦ A self-governing society could function ◦ Blueprint for Indian relations By 1700 more than 250,000 people of European birth or parentage (mostly English) About 1 million Native Americans had died due to contact with Europeans by 1700 The New England Way Beginning in 1635 with Charles I there was a systematic campaign to eliminate Puritan influence ◦ Must read the Common Book of Prayer Charter secured to colonize Mass. Bay ◦ 1630, a self-governing colony ◦ Non-separatists; 11 ships with 700 passengers John Winthrop’s City Upon a Hill By Fall six towns had cropped up nearby; 30% had died and 10% went home However, by 1642, 15,000 colonists in New England: it attracted families of modest means The Pequot War, 1637 One epidemic had wiped up 90% of New England’s coastal Indians, dwindling from 20,000 in 1600 to only a few survivors by the mid1630s Puritans had already created “praying towns” – reservations for those who gave in ◦ They were not to practice their ways ◦ An attempt to Christianize When settlement moved into the Connecticut River Valley, the Pequots protested Mass. And Conn. Coordinated military action in 1637 with the support of the Mohegan and Narragansett Ruthless (pg. 56) The Pequots land was awarded to the colonists of Connecticut Dissent and Orthodoxy The New England Way ◦ Education Every town of 50 or more households to appoint a teacher Every town of 100 to maintain a Grammar school But not compulsory Harvard College in 1636 (from 1642-1671 it produced 201 graduates, including 111 ministers) ◦ Attendance at church All adults, and they must pay set rates to support them Roger Williams ◦ He argued that the civil and the religious should be separated ◦ Opposed any type of compulsory church ◦ Thought Indians should be properly compensated ◦ He was banished in 1635 and moved to Providence (R.I.) Or Rogues Island as stated by those who disliked him Anne Hutchinson ◦ Issue of “good works” as “signs” ◦ She charged that only two of the colony’s ministers had been saved ◦ Her followers were known as Antinomians- those opposed to the rule of law ◦ They included Boston merchants, young men, and the women Anne Hutchinson ◦ While on trial for heresy, she could out knowledge the General Court on Scripture ◦ Her undoing was claiming a personal revelation ◦ She and many of her followers were banished The biggest threat to the “City Upon a Hill” was the pursuit of selfinterest. Government leaders tried to regulate prices so that consumers would not suffer from the chronic shortage of manufactured goods ◦ 1635- no good was to be priced more than 5 % above its cost ◦ Those who violated this were fined and shamed Power of the Saints They did consider themselves members of the Church of England, but self-governing; ignoring the bishops authority Control of the congregation was in the hands of the male “saints” ◦ By majority vote these saints chose their ministers, elected a board of elders and decided who else deserved recognition as saints These saints did not just have to profess the Calvinist faith, repent their sins, and live free of scandal (this was the English way) In America they had to stand before the congregation and provide a convincing “relation” or account of their conversion experience However, political participation was more liberal in New England ◦ Voters or officeholders did not have to own property; you just had to be a male saint ◦ By 1641, 55% of the colony’s 2300 men could vote (by contrast only 30% in England) ◦ 1644- the General Court was bicameral (town’s deputies and appointed Governor’s Council) New England legislatures established a town by awarding a grant of land to several dozen landowner-saints ◦ Established a church ◦ Distributed the land amongst themselves ◦ Established a town meeting ◦ Each town determined its own qualifications for voting and holding office (although most all male taxpayers, including nonsaints, to participate Women’s roles ◦ Sharply curtailed after Anne Hutchinson ◦ “Community of Women” to enforce morals and protect the poor and vulnerable ◦ Matrimony was a contract rather than a religious sacrament ◦ Divorce, though uncommon, was allowed (it was a civil institution that the courts oversaw) ◦ Only 27 from 1639-1692 Women’s roles ◦ Had no property rights unless called for in the will or the husband had no other heirs ◦ A widow could usually only claim no more than 1/3 of and estate ◦ In charge of the work in the house, barn, garden New Englanders lived longer and had larger families than the rest of the colonists New England did not suffer the same prospects of disease as Virginia ◦ Minimal travel between towns ◦ Winters ◦ East access to land provided an adequate diet Half-Way Covenant, 1662 By 1650 fewer than half the adults in the Boston congregation were saints Why? Public subjection to grilling The second generation’s unwillingness to provide a conversion relation meant they were not saints, and Puritan ministers only baptized the children of saints Most third generation children were unbaptized The compromise was the HalfWay Covenant ◦ Permitted children of baptized adults, including nonsaints, to receive baptism ◦ Allowed the second generation to transmit potential church membership to their grandchildren, leaving their adult children “halfway” members who could not vote or take communion Expansion and Native Americans, 1650-1676 The fur trade became a liability by midcentury King Phillip’s War Social and economic also undermined the New England Way ◦ “outlivers” vs. townspeople ◦ Distribution of wealth becoming uneven ◦ These issues were evident in Salem (2nd largest port) Witches 1691- what starts out as a few girls asking a slave woman to tell them their fortune, ends up in a colony-wide panic that got to the root of growing problems ◦ A large number of the 342 accused witches were women who had inherited, or stood to inherit, more than the usual 1/3. They were assertive women. The widespread fear led judges to ignore the law’s ban on spectral evidence The jails filled up The village’s troubled section accused the wealthier from the eastern division of town ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ 2/3 of the accusers were 11-20 More than half had lost one or both parents Most worked as servants for others They accused middle-age wives and widows By early 1693 the Governor pardoned all those convicted or accused (his wife was one of the accused) ◦ 55 women confessed (they were isolated, saved, but reinforced the belief in witches) ◦ A few were successful at fleeing ◦ 19 try to bet the accusation and are hanged ◦ One 71 yr.old man was pressed to death ◦ Five (?) die in jail ◦ Over 200 accused Chesapeake Society Very different from the New England Way of family farms and agricultural/economic subsistence They were not the wealthiest stock, but they were touchy about their standing (not as educated or refined as they thought they were) However, they became a few wealthy planters with a majority of indentured servants and a growing number of slaves The State and Church in Virginia Not set up to be a representative govt. Made so by Charles I in exchange for a tax on tobacco exports and a transferring the cost of the colony’s government to Virginia’s planters After 1630 the burgesses met regularly (taxation) ◦ Eventually split into two chambers ◦ House of Burgesses and Gov. Council (life) 1634 – Virginia adopts the county court system Justices and sheriffs (adm. During the court’s recess) appointed by Gov. Most everywhere south of New England was run by the unelected county courts until 1710 The Church of England ◦ Required to pay fixed rates to the Anglican Church ◦ In each parish were six vestrymen (chosen amongst the wealthy) who handled church finances, etc. ◦ Hard to get ministers (10 served 45 parishes) Maryland 1632 – Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert) Proprietary colony – control given to him ◦ Power to appoint all sheriffs and judges ◦ Secured freedom from taxation ◦ The crown controlled war and trade as well as the requirement that an elected assembly approve all laws A refuge for Catholics ◦ 2% of the pop. ◦ Couldn’t worship in public ◦ Had to pay tithes to the Anglican Church ◦ Barred from holding office Adopted Virginia’s headright system ◦ Wealthy settlers bring others at their own cost ◦ What they got was a 2000 acre manor for 5 adults (moved to 20 by 1640) Settlement did not go as planned ◦ Most were Protestant ◦ They bought their own land to avoid being tenants Act of Religious Toleration in 1649 ◦ Maryland was second to Rhode Island in granting religious toleration But was mostly successful symbolically Punishment for blasphemy; banned Catholics form voting; did not protect non-Christians; In 1654 the Protestant majority banned Catholics from voting and repealed the Toleration Act ◦ They ousted the pro-toleration Governor ◦ He raised an army, was defeated, imprisoned and 3 Catholics were hanged Death, Gender, Kinship Tobacco lured population to the Chesapeake (110,000 from 1630 to 1700) ◦ 90% indentured servants ◦ 80% male (only 1/3 could find a bride) ◦ Female ind.servants faired better; often hooking up with wealthy planters who bought their years Greatest diseases ◦ Typhoid, dysentery, salt poisoning, malaria after 1650 Life expectancy for males was 48; females 44 (New England was 70) Servants usually died within 6 years of arrival ½ of those married became widows within 7 years Women had more property rights here Death created very complex family patterns (pg. 70) High death rates and male immigration retarded growth Tobacco Shapes a Region, 1630-1670 Population was dispersed (6 per sq.mi) Most did not travel far from home In the isolated world tobacco was king, even when it lost 97% of its former value Grown on fertile river bank soil ◦ transportation Indentured servants faced a bleak future ◦ Entered the world impoverished ◦ Some states obliged masters to provide clothes, corn, ax, hoe, even land (Maryland 50 acres) However, by the 1660s and 1670s the tobacco prices plummeted England had a law that all of their tobacco was to be shipped exclusively to England in English ships (to drive Dutch merchants out) The Dutch retaliated by burning farms Even the Governor was commenting on the colonies addiction to the “vicious, ruinous plant.” Bacon’s Rebellion Anger over poor lot was taken out on the Indians Though many Indians had agreed to stay on specific lands, continued white encroachment and being outnumbered the Indians and whites were in constant conflict The govt. didn’t care to do anything about it – protecting their fur trading Gov. Berkeley (page 147) His cronies got the best land, paid little taxes and June 1675 – Virginia and Maryland militia pursue the wrong tribe, murdering 14 Frontier folk wanted the least costly solution – war of extermination They chose Nathaniel Bacon He is give free reign at first but then Gov. Berkeley recanted ◦ Bacon and his force march on Jamestown and burn it; the rebels offered freedom to those who supported them ◦ Bacon dies of dysentery and the Governor hangs 23 Slavery in the Chesapeake ◦ 1689- more open competition ◦ Declining white migration ◦ Began passing laws restricting slave behavior (30 lashes for threatening remarks) ◦ No white could free a slave without paying for their way out of the colony ◦ Free blacks would not bear arms, hold office, vote or employ white servants Lasting impact ◦ Economic opportunism (frontiersmen) ◦ Racism – increased attacks on Natives ◦ Briefly a more stringent royal control fell upon Virginia ◦ Reinstituting the headright system ◦ Increased slavery ◦ Rise of the Great Planter (landed gentry) ◦ Seeds of the American Revolution Sugar and Slaves: The West Indies The Dutch suggested to the French and English to raise and then process sugar cane (they would market it) It took 3x as many workers per acre Slaves did cost 2-4x more than servants, but they were a long-term investment Increasing demand for slaves (from 40,000 to 130,000 in 1713) diverted white migration to North America 1650 – more white colonists lived in the West Indies than Chesapeake and New England combined ◦ 44,000 to 12,000 + 23,000 Barbados was the key. It housed 30,000 English (only 166 sq. mi.) Slaves ◦ Each laborer had to dig at least 60 hole by hand a day ◦ Between 1645-55 the English govt. shipped captives from rebellions (Scots, Irish Catholics) But they could pass a freemen if they escaped ◦ Switched to the distinctively colored slave ◦ Barbados becomes the first English colony with a black enslaved majority 27,000 to 26,000 in 1660 (and by 1680 17:1 ratio of slaves to indentured servants Slave Code ◦ Definition – Heathenish, brutish, uncertain, and dangerous ◦ Property with no legal or political rights ◦ Owners required to provide pants, cap, (females a petticoat). Nothing about shoes, shirts, diet, or working conditions ◦ No penalty for whipping ◦ Govt. compensated owners for executed slaves Slave code ◦ Mandated strict policy of surveillance ◦ No slave could leave the plantation without written approval ◦ Slaves could not beat drums, blow horns, or use loud instruments ◦ To encourage black cooperation, those who turned in fugitives got fancy new clothes The English refused any attempt to convert slaves However, those that survived in the West Indies did preserve much more of their native languages and customs Barbadian planters goal was personal wealth; they developed a siege mentality and walled themselves Due to the growing elite on Barbados and the massive slave population, common whites move to Jamaica ◦ The Gov. encouraged it with generous quantities of land: 30 acres to each planter, plus 30 more for each family member, servant, and slave ◦ Problem with the Spanish solved by Capt. Henry Morgan ◦ By 1680 Port Royal was the 3rd largest town in English America behind Bridgetown and Boston Jamaican maroons ◦ Runaway slaves that could escape to the densely vegetated mountains and other secluded areas and live autonomously ◦ They developed formidable bush fighting techniques Rice and Slaves: Carolina Carolina becomes a Restoration Colony (King Charles II in 1663) Located boldly close to Spanish America, it needing settlement – 50 acres for every family member, indentured servant or slave Govt. – set up a 3-tiered nobility system that would control 2/5 of the land (not really followed), religious toleration, political representation and English Common Law Colonists in the Northern part exported tobacco, lumber, pitch (it became North Carolina in 1691 due to stubborn independence) Colonists in the Southern part raised livestock and traded Indian slaves and then Rice ◦ Rice earned annual profits of 25% ◦ Required 65 slaves per 130 acres Africans because (1) they new rice and (2) immunities to yellow fever and malaria The colonists agreement with the Indians over returned slaves equaled a gun and three blankets for each ◦ There was a fear amongst Carolinians that the slaves and the Indians would conspire against them In 1702 “South Carolina” quickly stifled the policy of religious toleration and barred non-Anglicans from holding office and established the state-sponsored Anglican church In 1719 (in a coup) they staged their own little revolution to rest control from the proprietors in a attempt to become a royal colony. It worked. Carolinians were very good at the gun trade ◦ It brought lucrative animal hides and human slaves ◦ Depleted the Natives by requiring them to over hunt ◦ Pitted tribe against tribe ◦ Made them dependent on whites for ammunition Georgia Set up in honor of King George II, it appealed to a group of wealthy philanthropists and social reformers (1732) “to alleviate English urban poverty by shipping miserable wretches and drones to a new southern colony, where hard work on their own farms would cure indolence” and so they could defend the empire on a colonial frontier It was the first colony funded by the taxpayers of Britain Headed by James Oglethorpe How? ◦ Restricted amount of property (>50 acres) ◦ No slaves ◦ Grow compact, high value crops ◦ No alcohol ◦ No lawyers ◦ No elected assembly They actually rallied behind the slogan “Liberty and Property without restrictions” 1751 – permitted slaves and surrendered Georgia to the crown Middle Colonies New Netherland ◦ The Dutch buy to sell again, take in to send out ◦ It was a liberal government that adopted policies of intellectual freedom and religious toleration ◦ 1625: New Amsterdam was settled, and America’s first multiethnic colony of New Netherland was formed Barely ½ its colonists were Dutch Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims (but religion counted for little) 18 languages 1/5 of the colonists were dissident Puritans (Anne Hutchinson) Favored slaves were granted “half-freedom” Women got half her husband’s property after his death ◦ Its privatization led to an influx of guns, which went to Iroquois allies ◦ Upriver Dutch – trade with the Indians ◦ Downriver Dutch – get the Indians out (missions were an unnecessary expense) They used these in the “beaver wars” against the French and their allies However, relations with coastal Indians weren’t to good. A massacre set off Kieft’s War (1600 to 700) (Anne Hutchinson died during this) New Sweden ◦ Actually originally settled by disgruntled Dutch (former New Netherland’s governor Peter Minuit on behalf of the Swedish ◦ The trading post lost money and the Dutch settlers sold it to the Swedish Crown ◦ Then most of the settlers came from Finland (they did leave the log cabin) ◦ 1655 – New Netherland’s Gov. Peter Stuyvesant appeared with 7 warships and 300 men to take it over However the New Netherland colony failed ◦ Smaller pool of emigrants ◦ Less incentive for those to emigrate ◦ Indian wars ◦ Navigation Acts In an effort to curtail Dutch colonial trade Began in 1651, and then strengthened in 1660 and 1663 Navigation Acts 1. Only English ships could carry trade with any English colony ◦ An English ship was one built within the empire, owned and captained by an English subject and sailed by a crew at least ¾ English 2. a few “enumerated commodities” produced in the colonies could be shipped only to the mother country ◦ Those that yielded the greatest profit to merchants and the highest revenues to the customs: tobacco and sugar 3. all European goods carried to the colonies had to pass through an English port, where they paid customs duties This was a mercantilist political economy: policies aimed at guaranteeing prosperity by making a nation as economically selfsufficient as possible ◦ Eliminate dependence ◦ Damage foreign competitors ◦ Increase stock of gold and silver Impact on the British colonies ◦ Laid the foundation for Britain being the foremost shipping nation in Europe and America’s shipbuilding industry ◦ Encouraged economic diversification ◦ Colonies were a protected market for low-priced consumer goods from Britain Back to New Netherland The English wanted to capture the fur trade and intimidate New England, as well as the fact that King Charles wanted to give his younger brother James (the Duke of York) a proprietary colony 3 warships later, the Dutch surrender Quaker Pennsylvania ◦ The noblest attempt at carrying out European concepts of justice and equality ◦ William Penn- received this because his dad was owed a huge debt by Charles II ◦ Penn’s goals Launch a holy experiment base on the teachings of George Fox A little something for himself Quakers ◦ Often came from the bottom rung of society ◦ Ridiculed for their practices: did not tip their hats to social betters; wore them in court and would not swear oaths; used “thee” and not “you”, would not bear arms ◦ Believed in the Inner Light that could inspire anyone ◦ No need for clergy Penn gave Pennsylvania a strong executive branch and granted the lower legislature only limited powers He carefully oversaw land sales and planned Philadelphia on a grid plan, laying out the streets at right angles and reserving small areas for parks Bought land from the Indians The population grew because they immigrated as families; relations with Indians were better than other colonies (+they had been depleted) However, after Penn returned to England in 1699, the colony struggled ◦ Religious challenge by George Keith ◦ Delaware was formed from some southern counties ◦ the population of immigrants dwindled after 1710 Rebellion and War, 1660-1713 Before 1660, England made little effort to reign in the colonies and consolidate them into a coherent empire Royal Centralization ◦ First evidence was in New York Charles appointed former army officers to about 90% of all gubernatorial positions By 1680 “governors generals” ruled 60% of all American colonists ◦ New England ignored the Navigation Acts and continued to welcome Dutch traders 1679- Charles carved out New Hampshire (royal colony) 1684- declared Massachusetts a royal colony and revoked its charter 1686- consolidated MA, NH, CT, and RI into the Dominion of New England Added NY and Jersey in 1688 The appointed Gov., Sir Edmund Andros, forced toleration of Anglicans and the Navigations Acts Colonists feared that they would by betrayed by the Catholic officials to France The Glorious Revolution ◦ William and Mary take back England and create a limited monarchy and the English Bill of Rights are established ◦ Andros is arrested trying to skip town in women’s clothing The Dominion of New England is dismantled, restoration of elected governors to Connecticut and Rhode Island, but they retain authority in Massachusetts ◦ Mass. Got Plymouth and Maine, but not NH ◦ New charter allowed the crown to appoint governor ◦ Property ownership, not church membership ◦ Toleration of Protestants Overall, William and Mary dismantled the previous consolidation and handed authority back over to the colonial elites; it reestablished legislative government and ensured religious freedom for Protestants A foundation was laid for an empire based on voluntary allegiance rather than submission to raw power imposed from afar A Generation for War, 1689-1713 ◦ King William’s War 1st war to embroil colonists and Native Americans in European rivalries New Yorkers and New Englanders launch an attack on New France in 1690 Five Nations Iroquois Confederacy suffered the most – by 1696 French armies had destroyed the villages of most Iroquois nations (pop. Decline of 20%) Grand Settlement – Five Nations made peace with France: this allowed them to rebuild their population and gain recognition as a key to the balance of power in the NE Queen Anne’s War ◦ Also called the War of Spanish Succession ◦ This war reinforced the Anglo-American awareness of their military weakness In the north, French and Indian raiders destroyed several towns in Maine and Mass. In the south, the Spanish invade Carolina and almost take Charles Town Treaty of Utrecht (1713) – France gives up claims to Hudson Bay, but not North America’s interior (Mississippi River system) The most important impact of these conflicts was political, and not military ◦ Anglo-Americans reinforced their identity as Protestant and adherents of political liberty ◦ This also meant acknowledging their dependence upon the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain During the post 1713 peace Britain could get back to its economic growth As mercantilism buttressed the growing wealth and diversity of the colonies colonists began to emulate the British. This is where the wealth in the new world went. Commerce was key. Cheap imported goods created a growing middle-class lifestyle (key to democratic development) ◦ “Staffordshire pottery might be seen as the Coca-Cola of the eighteenth century.” The colonists love to sit and have tea. The French and the Spanish systems never quite matched this. Their wealth went straight to the mother country and never fully developed their North American colonies During the 1st half of the eighteenth century all three colonial populations quadruped in size to 1.17 mil. For the British; 60,000 for the French; and 19,000 for the Spanish They limited immigration to Catholics Spain just wanted a buffer against both the English and the French – presidios and mission work to rally Indians The French are discouraged by cold of Canada and the Louisiana reputation - the French sent criminals and paupers there; as well as encouraging large scale slave imports ◦ By 1732 2/3 of lower Louisiana was black and enslaved White women in the British colonies had eight children and forty-two grandchildren Natural increase was the key to the British growth and stability in the American Colonies 40% of the newcomers were enslaved, and the owners deliberately mixed them to avoid rebellion (less cohesion) Slavery was a southern institution, but 15% lived north of Maryland, mostly in New York and New Jersey (NY 1/7) By 1750 the rate of natural increase for slaves was almost equal to whites Creole (American-born) slaves grew ◦ Sharp differences between them and the African-born slaves Differences ◦ Autonomy ◦ Worked in services ◦ Learned to speak Immigration to the American Colonies changed as well ◦ A greater percentage of Irish and Germans came in the first half of the 1700s Scots-Irish came as complete families Irish were 90% unmarried males Germans from the Rhine Valley Pattern was that they were poor Pg. 99 pie charts Rising number of immigrants to the Piedmont, many first settling in Charles Town By 1750 1/3 of colonists had moved into the Piedmont; page 100 map Many were convicts Franklin complained of German influx into Pennsylvania Due to the number of children, rural white men could give to their heirs little more than 1/6 or 1/7 of their estate Often young men turned to the frontier, the port cities, or the high seas Rural families depended heavily on women Colonial Farmers ◦ Impact of rapid deforestation Drove away game Removed protection from winds Hastened run-off of spring waters (heavier flooding) Impediments like mills and floating timbers Rapid reduction in fish Exhaustion of soil without crop rotation Urban Paradox ◦ A key to the colonist rising prosperity, yet held only 4% of the population ◦ Philadelphia, Boston, and New York ◦ ½ of the children died by 21 ◦ Adults lived 10 yrs. Less ◦ After 1700 the problem of the urban poor and how to pay for them By 1772 4% of NY required public assistance; Philadelphia had 11% listed as poor Wealth was remaining in the hands of a few Richest 10% owned about 45% of the property Urban women often worked as servants, helping urban wives with household items Slavery’s Wages ◦ Black slaves consumed 50 lbs. of meat a year (whites 200) ◦ Slaves were provided with eight quarts of corn and a pound of pork each week, but were expected to grow their own vegetables, forage for wild fruits, and perhaps raise poultry. ◦ Slaves began part-time labor at 7; full time at 11-14 In South Carolina and Georgia under tasking allowed slaves to farm a quarter acre, and even keep and sell their own hogs and sell surplus vegetables ◦ One slave even bought his own slave and then traded his slave for his freedom But as the black slave population became a majority, the system became harsher ◦ 1721 curfew ◦ 1735 law – dress code on slaves ◦ 1739 Stono Rebellion 20 blacks grew to 80 blacks; they killed 20 whites Result was that slaves came under constant surveillance Master’s were fined for not disciplining slaves and legislation was required for manumission By midcentury, slaves made up 20% of New York and a over 50% of Charles Town and Savannah Many slave owners rented out their slaves – slave artisans France and Native Americans 1718 – New Orleans is est. as the capital and port city of Louisiana (France’s principal focus) In Louisiana a mix of white, black and Indian (Choctow) traded, farmed, etc. Illinois was the most successful part of the colony: they grew wheat France attempts to capitalize on trade with Natives in Ohio Valley country ◦ This will weaken the English However, the French brutally suppressed the Natchez in 172030 and enslaved many Native Americans to labor for them in the West They traded guns to the Indians of the Plains ◦ These same Indians were acquiring horses from the remains of the Spanish in the west/southwest Native Americans and British Expansion Most importantly the Covenant Chain ◦ This was a series of treaties in which the Iroquois confederacy help the colonies subjugate Indians who were on land the English wanted Walking Purchase in Pennsylvania ◦ Fraudulent treaty with the Delaware that said the Delaware’s had sold their land as far west as a man could walk in a day and a half. PA got 1200 more sq. miles Spain’s Tenacity Attempting to repopulate the Southwest after the Pueblo Revolt, Spain awards grants of 26 sq. mi. when 10+ families found a town Population in New Mexico – 14,000 Raids from Apaches, Utes, Comanches Est. Texas with San Antonio in 1716 The Pueblo Revolt (1680) ◦ The Spanish sought to rule the SW by subordinating the Pueblo Indians Est. churches and limited their indigenous religious practices Set up encomiendas Drove a wedge between the Pueblo and the Apaches and Navajos by forcing the Pueblo to pay tribute in corn (that surplus they traded with the Apache) When skirmishes broke out amongst the tribes the Pueblos sought to return to native ways Franciscan missioners destroyed their sacred kivas (ceremonial centers) and the Gov. ordered soldiers to attack After a brief cooling off, in 1680, the Pueblo killed almost 70 Spanish colonists, then proceeded to Santa Fe and killed around 400 This act removed the Spanish from the SW for 12 yrs. until it was reconquered Then the Spanish eliminated the encomieda system and the missionaries were not to disrupt traditional religious practices Public Life in British American, 1689-1750 England’s new Bill of Rights was the foundation of government and politics in the colonies The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening are the two major events Significant because more colonists began to participate in ◦ Politics ◦ Intellectual discussions ◦ New religious movements Colonial politics ◦ Rise of the assemblies, the only political body subject to control by colonists rather than by English officials ◦ Steady assertion of authority by refusing outside meddling, taking control of taxes and budgets, and most importantly reigning in executive salaries Despite executive power to veto acts, dismiss assemblies, and call new elections, the Gov. was subject to financial pressure (they paid his income) There was a political vacuum ◦ There was a Board of Trade that had the authority to monitor American developments, but they rarely exercised authority Colonial assemblies were the wealthiest 2 percent Legal requirements barred 80% of white men from running for the assembly ◦ You must own at least 1000 acres ◦ Only given living expenses ◦ Most towns chose their legislators among 3-4 families Voters ◦ In 7 colonies voters had to own 4050 acres ◦ About 40% of free white men could not meet these requirements ◦ Rural participation was low Most governors called elections when he say fit so they had little knowledge of them You had to state your opinion openly Most elections were uncontested“gentleman’s duty” In the northern seaports a competitive environment ensued Journals got involved with mudslinging 1734 case of the Weekly Journal’s printer, John Zenger, seditiously libelling the Gov. of New York ◦ Encouraged a broadening political discussion and participation ◦ Seized on the growing colonial practice of allowing attorneys so speak directly to juries ◦ This empowered nonelites such as voters, readers, and jurors Then Enlightenment ◦ Literacy and education allowed colonists to participate in the transAtlantic world of ideas and beliefs ◦ Science and community ◦ Ben Franklin was influential in this movement in the colonies Reading discussion groups The American Philosophical Society
