Colonial Society on the
Eve of Revolution
1700-1775
Fact
 Britain
ruled 32 colonies in North America
(1775) –not 13!!
 Why
 Part
did only 13 rebel??
of the Answer- the distinctive Social,
Political, & Economic systems that
developed OVER TIME in the 13 colonies
made them different!!!
Demographics of the British
North American Colonies
Population Boom (1700-1775)
Exploding population through natural increase.
1700= 300,000 people
 1775= 2.5 million people in the 13 colonies (Half million of
whom were black).
Doubling in population every 20 years!
** In 1700 (there were 20 English citizens to each American
colonist—by 1775, the English population advantage was
only 3 to 1)= MAJOR POLITICAL SHIFT
Youth- avg. age= 16 yrs. Old
Most American colonists lived (95%) settled east of the
Allegheny Mountains.
90% were farmers of some sort in rural areas
A Mingling of the Races
A Melting Pot from the Start
Colonial America was mostly English in make up.
Germans (came in early 1700’s escaping religious persecution, wars, etc.)
Settled mostly in Pennsylvania
1775- 6% of population (150,000)
Mostly Protestant (Lutheran)
Misnamed “Pennsylvania Dutch”
Scots-Irish (Scots-lowlanders…not Irish)- came in early 1700’s
1775- 7% of Population (with Scots Highlanders= 12%)
Became squatters- trickled down to Maryland, Carolinas, & Georgia
12 future presidents Scots-Irish
**no love or particular loyalty to Britain!!!
The Paxton Boys Revolt (1764)- in Penn. Protesting Quaker friendly policies
toward the Indians.
The Regulator Movement (NC) an uprising against the Esatern NC colonial
elites.
Multicultural population (other Europeans)
 5% of population (Jews, Irish, Swedes etc.
**African- 20% of the population (largest non-white population)
* Most diverse population (multicultural tradition)- hard to classify!!
Racial Makeup of each Region in 1775
 The
South—held 90% of the slaves (blackwhite racial composition)
 New England—showed the least diversity.
 The Middle Colonies—esp. Penn. Received
most of the white immigrants.
** Outside of New England—1/2 of the population
by 1775 is non-English (traditional loyalty???)
** Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of
Independence (1776)…18 were non-English &
8 had not been born in America.
The Structure of Colonial Society
** Compared to Europe, America in the 1700’s had
more equality & opportunity…except for the
existence of slavery.
No titled nobility in America
No major threat from the underclass
Social Class in America (1600’s)
Most
whites & some free blacks were modest farmers
worked by their own work.
In towns or cities, a small class of skilled artisans
(craftsmen), shop keepers, trades people & unskilled
day laborers.
The most ambitious colonist or former indentured
servant could move up in society.
The Structure of Colonial Society in
1775 (Change over time!)
On the Eve of the American Revolution in 1775,
American colonial society was showing signs of social
stratification & barriers to upward mobility.
Was
America becoming like Europe (no upward mobility)?
17th & 18th Century Wars Provided Wealth for Some
Wars
in the 1690’s & 1700’s enabled some NE merchants & citizens of the
Middle colonies to form huge wealth & power.
Lived elegant lifestyles, imported goods.
Seated in churches & schools based on social rank
By 1750’s, the wealthiest 10% of Bostonians & Philadelphians owned 2/3 of
the wealth of their cities.
•Wars created orphans & widows who depended on charity (alms houses) for
survival.
•* Still…Small number of poor in America compared to 1/3 impoverished in
England in 1775.
The Structure of American Society 17001775
American Social Structure showed change during the
mid to late 1700’s”.
New England—descendants of the original settlers
faced limited opportunities.
Supply
of unclaimed land decreased as their families grew.
Size of existing farms shrank (due to being subdivided).
Younger sons & daughters were forced to be “hired out” as wage laborers
or forced to settle the frontiers.
1750-Boston
had a large number of homeless poor needing
public charity wearing letter “P”.
The South-- the power & wealth of the great planter
class grew due to their disproportionate ownership of
slaves; gap between rich & poor grew.
The Structure of Colonial Society 1700-1775
In all of the American colonies:
The number of the lower class grew due to streams of
indentured servants—some became wealthy.
Paupers & convicts shipped to America from England
(50,000 “jayle birds”) against their will.
These convicts shared no love for the English King
Least fortunate of all…slaves. Had no equality with
whites…fear of black rebellion plagued the colonies.
**1760-South Carolina attempted to restrict or halt slave
importation but England vetoed the effort.
“Professional”Classes in British North
America, 1700-1775
Clergy
 most honored professions early on
 In 1775, clergy held less influence in Massachusetts
but were still highly regarded.
Physicians
 not well trained or highly esteemed
 “bleeding”
 Plagues were prevalent (1721- crude inoculation was
introduced)- criticized by clergy
 Barbers- filled in for doctors
Lawyers
 Commonly disliked
 1750- seen as more useful (John Adams)
 Great at public speaking
Colonial Trade & Work
A.Agriculture
90%
of American colonists farmed (leading industry).
The Chesapeake: Tobacco continued to be the staple cash
crop however; wheat was beginning to be grown on land depleted
by tobacco.
The Middle Colonies (‘Bread Colonies”): produced large
quantities of grain (1759-NY alone exported 80,000 barrels/year).
B. Fishing & whaling
Ranked
below farming…but pursued in all of the colonies.
Major industry in New England (exported Cod to Catholic countries of Europe)
Provisioned West Indies with food products, carried items to London also
* Led to the development of the ship building in New England.
Trained sailors later for navy & merchant marine.
The Colonial Economy
Britain’s role in transatlantic trade enriched them but,
also created high standard of living for North American
colonists.
This
two-way relationship reinforced the colonial American
feelings of commonality with Britain.
In the 17th & 18th century, improvements in manufacturing,
transportation, & availability of credit gave colonist’s the
opportunity to buy consumer goods instead of making their own.
As prices for these items rose (luxury goods) and fell (they
became consumer goods).
The average person’s ability to buy consumer goods became
a sign of respectability= THE CONSUMER REVOLUTION.
The Colonial Economy
Mercantilism: Economic theory in which the mother country
relies on colonies to provide raw materials while the mother
country provides manufactured goods.
This defined the economic relationship between Britain and her
colonies.
Colonial Currency
In order to deal with lack of money, colonial legislatures resorted
to “commodity money” which varied from colony to colony
(Virginia—made tobacco a form of money there).
1690-Massachusetts 1st colony in Western world to issue paper
money (bills of credit).
Notes gave colonies a medium of exchange but varied in value
from one colony to another.
1751 & 1763- English Board of Trade passed the Currency Acts
The Colonial Economy
The Increased Use of Credit
Used
on both sides of the Atlantic to encourage trade.
Allowed families of modest means to participate in consumer
economy.
Americans increasingly found themselves in debt to local
merchants & English merchants= increased sense of
dependence.
**The Triangle Trade
A trade network which developed between the British North American
colonies, Britain, Africa, and the Caribbean.
Example: New England skipper leaves port with cargo of rum & sailed to Gold
Coast of Africa where he bartered the rum for slaves. He would take the
slaves to West Indies where he exchanged slaves for molasses which he
carried back to New England.
The Triangle Trade
•Furniture
•Clothing
•Colonials had
no factories.
From
England &
Africa to
Colonies
British Mercantilism & The Navigation Acts

System of trade existed to enrich Great Britain. To
ensure that profits ended up in Britain, the
Navigation Acts were passed.
The Navigation Acts
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Trade laws enacted by Britain in the 1600’s & 1700’s to
restrict colonial trade with only Great Britain and to tax trade.
Before 1763—hard to enforce, cost more to enforce than they
created in revenue, colonists smuggled, customs officials
bribed.
American colonists often traded with French, Dutch, & West
Indies illegally.
Ideas were also exchanged between Europe & the 13 Colonies via
Triangle Trade= Market Place of Ideas
** Africans and Native Americans were traded through the Triangle Trade
also.

Advantages of mercantilism for the Colonies:
• VA/MD tobacco farmers guaranteed monopoly on English
market.
• Rights of Englishmen, but some self-government, no taxes
to support army/navy to protect them
• Until 1763, Navigation Laws were
not a burden because laxly enforced (salutary neglect)
• Merchants disregarded or evaded restrictions, some got
rich by smuggling (e.g. John Hancock)
• Average American better off economically than average
English
The Anglicization of the Colonies
18th Century colonists were becoming more similar to
Britons in some ways:
Colonies were an important market place for British
manufacturing exports.
The desire to purchase British goods meshed with
desire for British liberties.
“Established” Churches emphasized loyalty
Manufacturing in the Colonies
 Manufacturing—of
secondary importance in
1770’s.
 Rum distilled in Mass. & RI
 Forging Iron—”Valley Forge” Penn.
 “Household manufacturing”—spinning,
weaving.
 Craftsmen: skilled workers like carpenters,
silversmiths, etc.
 Lumbering- single most important
manufacturing (trees cut into planks for ships)
*The Molasses Act (1733)
Britain placed a 6 pence per gallon tax on imports of
molasses from non-English colonies.
A large colonial molasses trade had grown between
New England and the French, Dutch, & Spanish.
•British
West Indies molasses was priced too high for rum making
in the American colonies.
•British West Indies—more important trade partner for England
than American colonies in the early 18th century.
This
law would have crippled the American economy!!
American colonists smuggled & bribed to avoid the law
which nullified the law.
1764- the Sugar Act is passed which halved the tax
rate on molasses but more seriously enforced.
Transportation in the Colonies
Roads– 1700’s road began to connect towns
 Dirt roads, dusty in summer-muddy in winter & spring
 Dangerous- wills & prayers were common before trips
 Towns – sprang up around rivers or oceans
Taverns
 “cradle of democracy
 Place for gossip, news, & politics
 All social classes mixed here
Postal System
 Set up mid 1700’s
 Not private, not consistent early on
Dominant Denominations
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1.
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By 1775, two tax supported (“ESTABLISHED”)
churches; recognized as the official government
church.
The Anglican Church (Church of England) & the
Congregational (rooted in Puritan New England)
The Anglican Church: official faith in Georgia, North
& South Carolina, Chesapeake, & NY.
Supporter of royal authority
Less strict & more secular than Puritanical New
England.
William & Mary (1693) est. to train better clergy.
No resident Bishops (rumor of an American bishopric)
The Congregational Church

Had grown out of the Puritan Church; est. in all
New England colonies (not R.I.)
 PRESBYTERIANISM – associated with
Congregational churches-not official.
 More political & anti-royal authority
 “Presbyterianism, Congregationalism, &
Rebellion”
 Roman Catholics were still discriminated
against– but fewer existed in American colonies
at the time.
The Market Place of Ideas in
Colonial America
In the 1740’s two seemingly conflicting bodies of thought, the
Enlightenment and the Great Awakening began to cause the
American colonies to challenge older ideas about authority.
The Enlightenment
John Locke (Concerning Human Understanding, 1689): the
mind is a blank slate (tabula rasa) & individuals are formed mostly
by their environment (i.e. the wealthy or aristocracy are successful
because they had access to wealth, education, patronage
(deference by lower social classes).
(Thoughts Concerning Education, 1693): advocated the
importance of education which produces rational humans capable
of free thought and questioning authority.
* Idea commoners can develop the same kind of character as aristocrats.
* These ideas spread through the colonies in the early 1700’s.
The Great Awakening
A religious Protestant revival which swept through
Europe and the British North American colonies (New
England) 1730’s to 1743.
Contributing Causes:
18th century- religion was less intense
Reaction against the Enlightenment “rationalism”
 elaborate theological doctrines & liberalization of membership
rules in Puritan Churches
Doctrine of predestination watered down by “good works
doctrine”
Arminianism (Jacobus Arminius, 1560-1609) – Dutch
theologian who taught that people could save themselves
through free will (Anti-Calvinism)—influenced many Great
Awakening Preachers.
Early
*The Great Awakening
(1730’s – 1740’s)

Jonathan Edwards (regarded as greatest
American theologian of the time)

Jonathan Edwards
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1732- “Public Lecture”—his first public
attack of Arminianism in Boston, Mass.
1733- a Protestant Revival began & spread
to other colonies over several years.
1741- He preached his most famous
sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God” (hell is a real place, it is the
will of God that keeps wicked men from
hell).
Crowds cried out and moaned with emotion
in the services.
The Great Awakening
George Whitefield 1714-1770
•English Anglican preacher who traveled
to America to preach during the Great
Awakening.
•Preached a series of revivals which
ignited the Great Awakening (drew 1000’s
of people to his sermons).
•Preached Calvinist theology –God’s sole
power of salvation…not works.
•The Anglican Church did not assign him
a pulpit…so he preached in open fields to
people who did not normally attend
church.
Effects of the Great Awakening
1.
Challenging Authority & Tradition

Some Great Awakening preachers taught that church
hierarchies populated by the “unconverted” ministers stood as
a barrier between the individual & God.
Sermons welcomed an emotional response from the listeners
(different from most churches).
Sermons emphasized taking personal responsibility for one’s
unmediated relationship with God.
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2. A Schism Split Many Churches in the American Colonies.
 “Old Lights”- Orthodox clergymen skeptical of the
emotionalism of Great Awakening.
 “New Lights”- ministers who defended the Great Awakening.
Effects of the Great Awakening
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Split the Congregational & Presbyterian
churches
Increased the size of religious sects like the
Baptists
Undermined the authority of older clergy
Increased competition among American
churches (missionary work among Indians &
Blacks)
Founding of New Light colleges (Dartmouth,
Princeton, Brown, Rutgers)
Broke sectional differences –sense of unity?
***1st spontaneous movement of the American
people.
Education & Colleges

English- education reserved for privileged; for
leadership not, citizenship- for males.
New England
 more interested education- religious reasons; later
for secular reasons
 Mainly for boys
 Established primary & secondary schools
The South & Middle Colonies
 adequate elementary schools- some tax supported
 Wealthy families used private tutors
Education

Emphasis on religion & classical languages
(Greek & Latin)
 Doctrine & Dogma over experience & reason
 Severe discipline – “birching”
Colleges
 New England- prepare men for ministry at first
 Wealthy southerners sent son over seas
 9 local colleges established in colonial era
(theology & dead languages)
* University of Pennsylvania- (Ben Franklin) 1st
non-denominational college in America.
Culture
 In
art & culture, Americans relied heavily
on Europe.
Painters

John Trumbull (1756-1843)
Charles Wilson Peale (1741-1827)
Portraits of George Washington
 Benjamin West
 John Singleton Copley - Official court painter;
loyalist during American revolution; close friend
to George III.

PealeCopleyPaul Revere
West- “Death of General Wolfe”
Trumbull- “Declaration of Independence”
Architecture
 Influenced
by & imported from Europe
 Modified to meet demands of New World
 Log cabins – Sweden
 Georgian-style (1720) –Williamsburg Va.
Governor’s
Mansion- Williamsburg
Literature
 Undistinguished
with a few exceptions.
 Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)- slave girl
never formally educated; published a book
of poem in England at age 20.
Franklin- “Poor Richard’s
Almanac”- contained pithy sayings &
wisdom from the past (well known in
Europe & America)
 “Fish and visitors stink in three days”
 ‘Plough deep while sluggards sleep”
 Benjamin
Science
Franklin- only 1st rank scientist
produced by the American colonies.
 Kite flying experiment- lightening is a form
of electricity.
 Bi-focals, Franklin Stove, lightening rod.
 Benjamin
The Press
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Americans too poor to buy books & too busy to read
Clergy held a few private libraries
Benjamin Franklin est. 1st public lending library in
Philadelphia
 1776- 50 public libraries existed
Printing Press
 Pamphlets, leaflets, journals
 40 colonial newspapers in eve of revolution
 Newspapers held essays written by anonymous
authors
 News lagged behind many weeks
 **Peter Zinger Case 1734-1735- set precedent for
freedom of press & public discourse
Political Structure in Colonial America
The American colonies fell under One OF three main
categories of Royal Administration:
1.Provincial-
Most highly controlled by the English crown; the British King
appointed all provincial Governors.
Provincial Governors could veto any decision made by colonial legislative
assemblies.
New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, NC, SC, & Georgia.
2. Proprietary- similar to provincial except, Governors were appointed by a
“Lord Protector” (someone who purchased or received rights to the colony
from the British King).
Usually had more liberties than other colonies.
Pennsylvania, Delaware, NJ, Maryland
3. Charter- most complex system of government; formed by political
corporations or interest groups who drew up a charter that gave specific
powers to executive, judicial, & legislative branches.
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut
Governors elected by the property owning males in the colony
Colonial Political Structure
After Governor, colonial government was broken down
into two divisions:
1.The Council: The Governor’s cabinet (advisors);
composed of prominent people within the colony.
Council appointed by the Governor with approval of
Parliament.
2. The Assembly: composed of elected, property
owning men whose main role was to make sure
colonial law conformed to English law.
Assemblies
approved new taxes & colonial budgets, & keep
the Governor in check.
Men elected to the assembly came from local districts & were
held accountable for promises made.
Politics

13 colonial governments took various forms: 8 had
royal governors, 3 had governors picked by
proprietors, 2 had governors elected by citizens &
were self-governing (RI & Conn)
Almost all colonies had:
 2 house legislature (upper house appointed by crown
& proprietors & lower house chosen by citizens)
*
Backcountry settlers were under-represented in some
assemblies & hatred colonial elites even more than
king.
Politics
 Royal
Governors- appointed by the King;
sometimes incompetent & corrupt
 Legislatures wielded “power of the
purse” to control the Governors (one NC
governor died with his salary 11 years in
arrears)
Local Government
 County government- popular in south;
town meetings popular in New England.
Politics
Voting: no means a birthright
 Religious or property requirements existed
in all colonies in 1775.
 About half adult white males could vote
 Ease of land acquisition= voting not out of
reach for many.
 Office holders met stricter rules
Folkways
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Life drab & tedious
Labor was heavy & constant
Food plentiful but, bland
Churches not heated, drafty homes, no running
water, no plumbing
Lit homes with candles or whale-oil lamps
Amusement- house raisings, quilting bees
South- card playing, horse-racing, cock fighting,
& fox hunting; stage plays
North- winter sports
Lotteries- approved & used by church & colleges
Holidays- Christmas, Thanksgiving