SSUSH 2
Mercantilism
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Mercantilism
o economic theory that nation’s wealth is measured by amount of gold and silver –
o favorable balance of trade [selling more than buying from other countries] – Therefore need for colonies to be
source of raw materials
o To avoid buying from other countries – Mother Country should seek self sufficiency with colonies
o Cycle of Mercantilism
 Colonies – source of raw materials e.g. tobacco, indigo, rice, cotton, timber [only supplier]
 Mother Country – purchaser of raw materials [should be only customer of colonies]
 Mother Country – source of manufactured goods for colonies [only supplier for colonies]
 Colonies – purchaser of manufactured goods from Mother Country [only customer]
Navigation Acts
o 1607 to 1660 – England left colonies alone
o 1660 King Charles II – wanted to regulate colonial trade more directly
 All imported/exported goods to/from colonies on English ships only
 Raw materials can only be sold to England or other colonies
 1663 Staple Act – all European goods heading to colonies must stop by England first – increased costs of
goods for colonies
o Colonists ignore Navigation Acts
o England can’t enforce Navigation Acts
Mercantilism worked for Southern and Middle Colonies but not for New England colonies
o NE - Smuggling and Triangular Trade – only way to get gold/silver to buy Manufactured goods from England
Triangular trade between the colonies, England, Africa, and the Caribbean
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Triangular Trade Routes– NE to Caribbean To England To NE
o To get manufactured goods, NE colonists sold their products –fish, lumber, meat to Caribbean
o Caribbean would trade sugar to NE or provide Bills of Exchange [like credit cards]
o NE colonists would use Bills of Exchange to buy English manufactured goods
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Other Triangular Trade Routes
o NE used sugar from Caribbean to make RUM – Send RUM to England for Manufactured goods – England
sends RUM to Caribbean for Slaves that would then be sold to Southern colonies
Middle Passage journey
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Journey of a slave to America
o Tied to other slaves and forced march from interior of West Africa to a European fort on coast
o Branded and forced aboard ship
o 10 to 12 million from 1450 to 1870 total to America
 Over 3 million to Brazil, over 1 million to Spanish colonies
 4 million in Caribbean sugar plantations
o Olaudah Equiano’s story
Middle Passage
o Over month, crammed into hull of a ship, no room to sit/stand
o Bathroom and eating area one and the same
o Sick slaves thrown overboard
African American Culture
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African Population in America
o Over 500,000 to America before end of slave trade in 1800s
 Like indentured servants
 Children of slaves not automatically slaves
o Rationale for slavery – Africans not Christians
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Increase of slaves in Virginia and Maryland led to change in status of slaves
 Slave Codes – slaver now a hereditary system
 As fear of a slave revolt [great numbers of slaves] increases so did the increase in the harshness of
Slave Codes
 Enslaved Africans vital to economy of South
Southern African American Culture
o South Carolina – Gullah language/culture – Fear of slave revolt greatest due to numbers
o Fear of separation from family part of culture
o Passive Resistance by Slaves
 Working slow, breaking tools, buying own freedom, escape
o Stono Rebellion
 Spanish Florida promise of freedom for slaves
 1739 = 75 Africans kill overseers and head for Florida
 Local militia overtook and killed half
o Music and the Church
 Faith – mixture of African religious beliefs and practices with Christianity
 Singing to pass the time and ease the work - Spiritual
Benjamin Franklin
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“Rags to Riches” Story – son of a poor candlemaker, 10th of 17 children
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Only received one year of formal education; his love of reading made father apprentice him to his brother, James, a
printer
Had fallout with his brother, he runs away from Boston to Philadelphia – walked the trip
Self made man/symbol of individualism/merit US society – becomes one of the richest men in the colonies as a
printer/publisher
Scientist, Statesman, and Philanthropist
The Great Awakening
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Enlightenment
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Challenge authority of church in science and philosophy
Elevated power of human reason – sought natural laws
Rationalism – logic and reasoning needed to find natural laws
Famous authors and books that influenced American leaders
John Locke’s Essay on Human Understanding
Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract
Baron Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws
Enlightenment Ideas provided arguments against British rule
Great Awakening
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Response to Enlightenment thinking
European movement called pietism influences colonists
Revivals – large public meetings of preaching and prayer
Famous preachers of the Great Awakening that influenced Americans
 Jonathan Edwards – preached all over New England
 Terrifying sermons
 George Whitefield
 Sermons split congregations
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In South – many slaves converted to Christianity [Baptist]
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Great Awakening – Last major cultural development before American Revolution
 Supported individual responsibility toward God which led to a spirit of individualism in colonial society.
 Individualism supported America’s independence movement