Chapters 4 and 5:
American Life in the
th
17 c
EQ: How was life in the Southern
Colonies similar to and different
from the Northern Colonies?
Life in the Southern
Colonies
The Atlantic Slave Trade
Triangle Trade
•
New England ships brought Rum to Africa to trade for slaves
•
New England ships brought slaves to Caribbean and sold for sugar
–
Were able to sell slaves for 500% profit in Americas
–
Influenced entire English economy
•
New England ships brought sugar to New England to be made into rum
3
2
1
Goods Traded with Africa
The “Middle Passage”
Colonial Slavery
As the number of slaves increased, white
colonists reacted to put down perceived
racial threat.
 Slavery transformed from economic to
economic and racial institution.
 Early 1600s  differences between slave and
servant were unclear.
By the mid-1680s, black slaves outnumbered
white indentured servants.
Bacon’s Rebellion added to the desire for
slaves in hopes they wouldn’t revolt
Colonial 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.
Slaves Fight Back
• NY Slave Revolt (1712) uprising 2 dozen
slaves, results in death of 9 whites and
execution of 21 blacks
• South Carolina Slave Revolt (Stono
River 1739) roughly 50 slaves attempt
to reach Spanish Florida, killing whites
along the way, stopped by local militia
• Spanish gov’t had offered freedom and
refuge to colonial slaves
Southern Society
• Social Classes
– Great Planters: dominate politics such as
the House of Burgesses; at first
hardworking and businesslike
– Small Yeoman Farmers: largest social group;
might have a slave (1-2)
– Landless Whites: most former indentured
servants
– Indentured Servants
– Black Slaves
Way of Life
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rural, few cities
professional class slow to emerge
waterways main transportation
family burial plots in South
Good soil, easy to grow crops
Education sparse, schools expensive;
wealthy tutors were used by planters
– William and Mary College 1693
Patriarchal Society
• Father ruled the house (though often
died early leaving the mother behind to
tend to business along with eldest sons)
– Widowarchy
• Military tradition –
• Aligned themselves with English gentry
– thought themselves more English than
American
Life in the Northern
Colonies
Characteristics of New
England Settlements
Low mortality  average life expectancy
was 70 years of age.
Many extended families.
Average 6 children per family.
Average age at marriage:
 Women – 22 years old
 Men – 27 years old.
Way of Life
Authoritarian male father figures controlled each
household.
Wife abusers would be punished
Most farmers
Family center of life; children learn obedience
Divorce and premarital pregnancy rare
(abandonment and adultery)
Layout towns; over 50 families required Elem.
Edu.
Harvard est. 1636
Church most important!!!!
Religion /Government in
New England
• Congregational church -- democracy in
church and government (majority rule)
• Town meetings – adult males voted /
elected school masters, officials, and
creating laws
• Jefferson quote “ greatest school of
political liberty the world ever saw”
Religion in New England
(continued)
• Jeremiad sermons – “hell fire and
brimstone” – successful?? Why? Why
not?
• Decline in conversions
• Establishment of the HALF-WAY
COVENANT – basically partial membership
in the Puritan Church non exclusivity
• Increases church membership – women
included
•
•
•
•
•
The GREAT AWAKENING
Religion became less fervent during the 1700’s in the colonies
Churchgoers complain about the lack of excitement in the pulpit (dead dogs)
Ministers worried about the “softness” of their parishioners / Liberal ideas entered society / some people
began to question the concept of “predestination” in New England
ARMINIANISM – individual free will (ALL humans who believe) could accept God’s grace (radically different
than the concept of the “ELECT” of Calvinism and Puritanism)
THE GREAT AWAKENING started in Northampton, MA by JONATHAN EDWARDS ----–
–
Declared good works a folly / salvation depended on dependence on God’s Grace
SERMON – “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” –
• GEORGE WHITEFIELD – message of human helplessness and divine power of God – GREAT SPEAKER
• Old Lights vs. New Lights
•
The
Great
Awakening
Effects of the Great Awakening –
–
–
–
–
•
New Light schools – Princeton / Dartmouth / Brown / Rutgers
1st spontaneous mass movement of American people
No sectional or denominational lines
United Americans under a common history and shared experiences
EDUCATION
Culture in the Colonies
•
EDUCATION
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–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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English idea – education for the few (Leaders, etc)
Puritan New England pushed education for all (Congregationalist Church) –name given for the Puritan church
Flourished in New England –
In the South – wealthy families used tutors
Middle colonies – some adequate elementary schools -- both places had tax-supported education
FOCUS was on – doctrine and dogma / NOT experiment and reason – (TODAY???)
Discipline was severe / switches / etc.
COLLEGE EDUCATION – used to prepare MALES for ministry
Wealthy Southerners sent their boys abroad for education (real) – “refined and philosophical
•
Culture in the Colonies
Artists –
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–
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•
Architecture
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•
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John Trumbull - eventually traveled to London to pursue his interests
Charles Wilson Peale – known for portraits of Washington
Benjamin West – England to become successful (people could pay for sittings there)
John Singleton Copley – Loyalist during the Revolutionary War
Imported from the Old World / Sweden / Georgian style /
Literature
–
–
Phillis Wheatley – poet / former slave girl
Benjamin Franklin – POOR RICHARD’S ALMANACK, unique sayings that emphasized virtues like thrift, industry, morality, and
common sense
–
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“Plow deep while sluggards sleep”, “Fish and visitors stink after 3 days”
His witty advice helped shape the American character
Press –
–
–
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John Peter Zenger – local newspaper printer in NY – charged with SEDITION because his paper attacked the local royal governor –
Was declared not guilty
Landmark decision for FREEDOM of the PRESS in the Colonies and later the U.S.
Salem, Massachusetts
1692
Why Salem Still Haunts Us
• Fascination with Witches
• A Stain on American History
• How Could an Entire Community Engage in
Such Horrific Acts?
Witches and Europe
• Many people in early European society relied
on the local wise people to give an
explanation for good and bad fortune.
• It was believed that some people possessed
special powers that could cause good or harm.
In Times of Hardship
•
In times of hardship, in tight knit communities, people began to look for
people to blame for their problems.
Hardships Blamed on Witches:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Failed crops
The death of livestock
People becoming ill
Sudden accidental death
•
People believed that witches had a secret pact with the devil. Most
often the people accused of being witches were widows and single
women.
Puritan Life
Society centered around the church. The younger generation did
not share the same strict religious views.
Salem—the Village History
• 1630: John Winthrop is elected the first
governor.
• 1641: English law makes witchcraft a capital
crime.
• November, 1689: Samuel Parris is named the
new minister of Salem, and Salem Village
Church is formed.
Winter of 1692
• Several girls began to meet at Rev. Parris’
home to pass along the cold days of winter.
• The girls became entertained by the stories
told by Tituba, a slave from Barbados.
• Soon after the girls began behaving in a
strange manner.
Strange Behavior
• In January of 1692, a group of girls in Salem Village, MA
began to exhibit strange behavior, such as blasphemous
screaming, convulsive seizures, trance-like states and
mysterious spells.
• Physicians concluded that only the influence of Satan could
be responsible for the girls’ afflictions.
• Pressured to identify the source of their affliction, the girls
named three women as witches: Tituba (the pastor’s
Caribbean-Indian slave), Sarah Good & Sarah Osborne.
Causes for the Girls’ Actions
•
•
•
•
•
•
Witchcraft
Jealousy
Repression
Hysteria
Guilt
Boredom
The Accused
• Tituba is a foreigner, given to storytelling, confessed,
perhaps because of fear for her life and the
enjoyment of being the center of attention.
• Sarah Good was homeless, a social misfit who would
mumble incoherently when someone failed to be
charitable, and the death of livestock was attributed
to her curses.
• Sarah Osborne was an elderly woman who hadn’t
been to church in year and may have been
considered rather crotchety.
Preliminary Arrests
• February 29, 1692: Arrest warrants are issued for Tituba,
Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.
Map of Salem
Can any
deductions
be made
from this
map?
The Examination of a Witch
T.H. Matteson 1853
Indictments:
Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey
At the trial of Rebecca Nurse jury first acquits, then told to
reconsider.
Characteristics of “Witch” Trials
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Pressure of Social Forces
Stigmatization of the Accused
Climate of Fear
Resemblance to a Fair Trial
Non-falsifiable Evidence
Non-Openness
Use of Loaded Questions
Dorcas Good- a juvenile case
March 23, 1692:
• Marshal Deputy Samuel Bradbrook arrests 4year-old Dorcas Good because of physical
impairments.
• The arrest questioned the imprisonment of
the mentally and physically disabled.
• Many of those accused of witchery awaited
their fates inside small prison cells,
approximately 6 by 4 feet.
The sentences are carried out.
• August 19: George Burroughs, John Proctor,
John Willard, George Jacobs, and Martha
Carrier are hanged. Elizabeth Proctor is
spared because she is pregnant.
• September 9: Six more tried and sentenced to
death, including Martha Corey.
Giles and Martha Corey
• Giles Corey was a prosperous,
uneducated, eighty-yearold farmer and full member
of the church. He and his wife
Martha lived on a farm in the
southwest corner of Salem
village.
• In March of 1692, Martha
Corey made the mistake of
publicly questioning the
sincerity of the accusations of
the afflicted girls.
Giles Corey Refused to Confess
 Giles Corey refused to give
testimony at the 1692 Witch
Trials.
 He would neither confess nor
deny the charges brought
upon him.
Giles Corey is Pressed
So, in order to obtain a statement, he was taken outside, a board placed
across his body, and heavy stones piled on top.
It is said that
his only words before he was crushed to death were: "More weight!"
Hanging of George Burroughs – Minister –
he owed money to members of
congregation
Accused because he could lift a musket with only a finger in the barrel, George
Burroughs recites Lord's Prayer perfectly at hanging – a feat thought to be impossible
for witches
Cotton Mather
Mather, a minister of Boston's North Church,
was a prolific publisher of pamphlets and a firm
believer in witchcraft.
Results of the Hysteria
 140 people had been accused of practicing witchcraft in
Salem, including a 4 year old girl and a man in his 80s.
 Twenty accused witches were executed, fifteen women and
five men.
 Nineteen were hung following conviction.
 One was pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea.
 At least 4 and as many as 13 prisoners may have died in jail.
Why the hysteria ended
 1. Doubts grow when respected citizens are convicted and
executed.
 2. Accusations of witchcraft include the powerful and wellconnected.
 3. The educated elite of Boston pressure Gov. Phips to exclude
spectral
 Increase Mather points out the Devil could take the shape of an
innocent person: "It were better that 10 suspected witches should
escape than one innocent person should be condemned."
Salem Witch Trials Memorial
Salem Witch Museum
• In Salem, Massachusetts, the witchon-a-broomstick image is
everywhere—it even appears on the
badges of the town's police officers.
• Indeed, this site of colonial-era witch
hysteria is a modern-day magnet for
all things Halloween, all year long.
• Psychics and tarot card readers flock
to the town, and there are
numerous ghost tours and haunted
houses.
Witch Trial Jeopardy
• http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftr
ials/salem/scopesjeopardy%5B1%5D.htm
What would you do?
Choose One Option
1.Flee Salem
2.Accuse someone else.
3.Quick! Get pregnant!
4.Confess, even though you are innocent.
5.Plead innocent and stand for trial.
6.Refuse to stand trial and face the
consequences.
Flee Salem
• Good idea, if you can swing it. Several accused
witches did escape from jail and survive the 1692
hysteria. They included Philip and Mary English,
John Alden, Hezekiah Usher, and Mrs. Nathaniel
Cary. However, all these accused persons had
either money or influence that made their escape
possible. You don't have either. Try your next
option.
Accuse Someone Else
• The theory here is that if you're afflicted by witchcraft, you
can't be a witch yourself. This theory even convinced some
daughters to testify against their own mothers. It's not a
bad idea (if you have no conscience), but--sorry--it's too late
now. You should have thought of this idea a few days
ago. Now, your accusation will look like an obvious attempt
to distract attention from your own guilt. The accusation of
witchcraft has been made against you and you're still going
to have to deal with it. Pick another option.
Quick Get Pregnant
• This isn't as silly an idea as it sounds. Pregnant women,
even if convicted of witchcraft, would not be executed so
long as they remained pregnant. The theory is that even if
you deserve death, the baby inside you does not--so the
officials will put off your execution. This was called
"reprieve for the belly."
• Of course, you still might be executed eventually, but the
hope is that the hysteria won't last another nine months.
• One slight problem, however. Who will you find in jail to
impregnate you? Sorry, this option is not available: Try
another!
Confess Even Though Your Are Innocent.
• This route, pioneered by accused witches Tituba and
Deliverance Hobbs, turned out to be a life saver. Confessing
witches weren't executed. Instead, they were kept apart
from other prisoners, to be called upon in trials when their
testimony might be helpful to the prosecution. The Puritans
believed that once a person made a full confession, his or
her fate should be left in God's hands, not man's. Fifty-five
persons in the Salem area confessed to witchcraft in 1692,
adding substantial credibility to the initial charges of
witchcraft made by the afflicted girls.
• Do you really want to admit to being a witch? Is this
something you want on your resume? If not, try another
option..
Plead Innocent and Stand Trial
• This is the approach that led to nineteen innocent persons being carted
off to Gallows Hill during the summer of 1692. If you plead innocent,
you'll have to face trial without a lawyer and without the ability to call
witnesses on your own behalf, answer unanswerable questions ("If
you're not a witch, how do explain the fact that these afflicted girls fall
into fits the minute you enter the room?")--all before a court that
unanimously believes in witchcraft and believes that you're guilty. (Even
in the one case that the jury came back with an acquittal, the trial of
Rebecca Nurse, the court sent the jury back to reconsider the
verdict. The second time around, the jury found Nurse guilty.) You'll face
spectral evidence--and how do you propose to convince the court that
your apparition was not doing all this work on the part of the Devil? Just
exactly what was your apparition doing on the night of April 23 anyway?
• This approach looks hopeless. You better try another option.
Refuse to Stand Trial
• Octogenarian Giles Corey gave this option a try. Knowing
the fate that awaited him if he stood for trial, Giles refused
to answer the ritual question, "Will you be tried by your God
and your country (that is, a jury)?" The penalty for refusing
to answer was peine forte et dure, an especially unpleasant
way of going that involves piling heavy stones on your body
until you either agree to stand trial or are crushed to death.
• I don't think you want to go through with this. Better try
another option.