Colonial Times
Chapter 4 and 5
Vocabulary
Colonial Times
economy
apprentice
Indentured servant
goods
slave
slavery
slave trade
assembly
services
delegate
merchant
petition

A written request
given to an official
economy

A system for
producing and
delivering goods
that people need
and want.
indentured servant

A person who had
their trip to the
colony paid for,
and in return they
would work for
that person for a
certain period of
time (after this
time the person
was free)
indentured servant

A person who had to work to pay off
the cost of their trip to the colonies.
slave

A person who is
owned by another
person and is
forced to work for
that person, often
times being
mistreated. A
slave is not free.
slavery

The practice of
using slaves as a
workforce
slave trade

the buying and
selling of enslaved
people
service

a job that helps
people
merchant

buys and sells
goods to make
money
goods

food, clothing,
other supplies
assembly

a group of people
who make
decisions
delegate

A person chosen to
represent people
in the assembly
apprentice

works with a more
skilled person to
learn the skill
manor

A manor was a
large piece of land
owned by one land
owner. Other
people rented land
from the
landowner and
paid rent in the
form of crops.
New York becomes an
English Colony
England had colonies all along the
Atlantic coast in what are now:
 Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Virginia, and Maryland

England’s colonies in North
America were in these
present day states
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Maryland
Rhode
Island
Virginia
England claims the colony
Charles II, felt that England had a
claim to New Netherland because of
John Cabot’s voyages
 He “gave” New Netherland to his
brother, James, The Duke of York.
 The Duke of York, James, sent war
ships to New Amsterdam and
demanded that the Dutch surrender

Stuyvesant takes a stand
At first Peter Stuyvesant didn’t want
to surrender
 People of the colony were not willing
to fight the powerful English Navy,
they knew they didn’t stand a
chance!
 The signed a petition asking
Stuyvesant to surrender

New Netherland becomes
New York





On September 8 Stuyvesant handed over
control of the colony to the English
Almost 40 years of Dutch control came to
an end
English divided the colony into two parts,
the smaller part was name New Jersey
The larger part was name New York
New Amsterdam was renamed New York
City
Dutch colonists treated
fairly




Dutch colonists were allowed to keep
their jobs, ownership of their land, and to
speak Dutch – their native language
As long as the swore loyalty to the King
of England they were allowed to carry on
with their lives
Offered free passage back to the
Netherlands if they didn’t want to stay
(no one took the offer)
Dutch and the English got along well,
even shared a church
People settled in New York
from all over the world.
They came for a variety of
reasons.
New York’s economy grows





Albany and New York City were major trading
centers
New Yorkers traded goods like lumber and grain
with England and England’s other colonies
Ship building also became an important part of
the economy. Ship building also resulted in a
need for rope makers, linen weavers, and sail
makers.
Fur trade became less important
Whaling – capturing and killing whales for their
blubber became a big business.
New Yorkers use natural
resources




New Yorkers used the natural resources in
New York to meet their needs and wants
Some goods they made from natural
resources were beef, wood, and wheat
New Yorkers had more of these goods
than they needed so they sold them to
merchants
Merchants would sell, or trade these
goods for money or other goods
England’s 13 colonies
By 1733 England had 13 colonies
along the eastern shore
 As the number of colonists grew
they took over more and more of
the Native American lands
 This led to more disagreements
between the colonists and Native
Americans

Reasons people came to the
colonies
hoping to find land
 hoping to find work
 for religious freedom

People came to New York
from:
Great Britain (England, Scotland,
&Wales)
 France
 Germany
 Africa (mostly as slaves)

From many places with
many cultures

People brought their cultures and
traditions with them to the colonies
Examples of cultural
contributions

Dutch – ice skating

Huguenots – built
stone houses

English - tennis
Slavery in New York
When England first took over the
colonies there were about 700
Africans living in the colony
 Some were free, some owned land,
some were slaves
 Over the next 100 years that
number jumped to 20,000 mostly
due to the slave trade

Slave - work
Slaves did many of the same types
of jobs other colonists did. However
they were not free, and did not get
paid for their work.
 Worked on farms
 In homes
 As artisans (carpenter, shoemakers,
blacksmiths ect.)

Escaping




One way slaves could gain freedom was
to escape from their owners.
Some slaves used the Underground
Railroad
Some slaves escaped to Native American
lands. May Native Americans welcomed
and helped slaves who were trying to
escape
Escaping was risky and dangerous many
were punished harshly if caught.
City Life
Colonial New York had two major
cities New York City and Albany
 People had different types of jobs in
cities.
 Artisans (blacksmiths, carpenters,
printers, shoe makers ect.)
 Some merchants opened stores or
inns

Colonial Government
People from the colonies elected
colonists to an assembly
 Only white men could vote
 Voters could not choose the
governor
 Governors were selected by the
leaders of Britain

Peter Zenger – freedom of
press



It was against the law to speak out
against the government especially if it
was printed in a paper
Peter Zenger printed true statements
about the governor and was arrested
when he wouldn’t tell who wrote the
articles
Zenger and his lawyer felt as long as
what was printed was true you should be
allowed to speak about the government
freely even if it is against the government
Colonial Schools



In New Amsterdam children went to
school year round this changed when the
colony was taken over by the English
In the English colony children went to
school only for about 3 months a year.
Very few boys went to school for more
than three years and girls went even less.
Colonial Schools





Classes that had once been taught in Dutch were
changed to English
Schools were not free public schools, each family
had to pay the teacher
An example of the cost would be six pennies a
week for reading, math and writing would be
more.
Pennies were worth more than they are today
but still this was not a lot of money. Teachers
usually had to find other jobs.
If families couldn’t afford to send their children
to school they might have gone to a school run
by their church.
Other education



Apprentice
Many children became apprentices,
learning a skill or trade
At about age 12 children would move in
with an artisan or craftsman he/she
would be taught the trade or skill, be
given clothing, food and a place to live.
In exchange he/she worked for the
artisan
Colonial life different from
life today…and the same?