Colonial Society on the Eve of
Revolution
• 1775, the thirteen American colonies east of
the Appalachians
– population of two million whites and half a million
blacks
– (1700- fewer than 300,000 people of whom
20,000 were black)
-diverse ethnic groups, including Germans and the
Scots-Irish
-Was this a melting pot?
• The colonists were doubling their numbers
every twenty-five years.
• 1775: The average age was about sixteen.
• 1700: There were twenty English subjects for
each American colonist.
• 1775: The English advantage had fallen to
three to one.
• The balance of power was shifting.
• The most populous colonies in 1775 were
Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North
Carolina, and Maryland—in that order.
• Only four cities were of any size: Philadelphia
with 34,000, trailed by New York, Boston, and
Charleston.
• About 90% of colonists lived in rural areas.
Demographics
• -In 1790: 49% English; 19% African; 7%
Scottish; 7% German; 5% Scotts-Irish; 3% Irish;
3% Dutch; 9% other European
– (Why 1790?)
• “The population, although basically English in
stock and language, was picturesquely
mottled with numerous foreign groups.”
(Pageant)
• These immigrants laid the foundations for a
new multicultural American national identity
as different groups intermingled.
• Likewise, the African American community
was quite variegated in its cultural origins.
• In New England “praying towns” and in Great
Lakes villages, different groups of displaced
Native Americans intermingled.
Figure 5.1 p80
Map 5.1 p79
Map: Immigration and British Colonial Expansion, to 1755
Immigration and British Colonial Expansion, to 1755
Black majorities emerged in much of the Chesapeake tidewater and the Carolina-Georgia low country. Immigrants from
Germany, Ireland, and Scotland predominated among the settlers in the piedmont. A significant Jewish population emerged
in the seaports.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Map: European Settlements and Indians, 1754
European Settlements and Indians, 1754
By 1754, Europeans had expanded the limits of the English colonies to the eastern slopes of the Appalachian Mountains.
Few independent Indian nations still existed in the East, but beyond the mountains they controlled the countryside. Only a
few widely scattered English and French forts maintained the Europeans' presence there.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
• Compared with Europe, America was a land of
equality and opportunity
• Relative to the seventeenth-century colonies,
there was a rising economic hierarchy and
increasing social complexity
– Why? What accounts for this?
• Ninety percent of Americans remained
involved in agriculture
• A growing class of wealthy planters and
merchants appeared at the top of the social
pyramid
• Some merchants in New England and the
middle colonies became rich off of wars
• A visible lower class was forming
Map 5.2 p86
• In New England, with open land less available,
descendants faced limited prospects:
– Farms got smaller.
– Younger children were hired out as wage laborers.
– Boston’s homeless poor increased.
• In the South, large plantations continued their
disproportionate ownership of slaves:
– The largest slaveowners increased their wealth.
– Poor whites increasingly became tenant farmers.
Religion
• Two “established” (tax-supported) churches– Anglican (Church of England) and Congregational
• Anglican (Church of England)- NY, MD, VA, NC,
SC, GA
• Congregational- Mass., CT, NH
Table 5.1 p89
Table 5.2 p89
Religion
• By the early eighteenth century, the
established New England Congregational
Church was losing religious fervor. The Great
Awakening, sparked by fiery preachers such as
Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield,
spread a new style of emotional worship that
revived religious zeal.
Great Awakening
• Periods of religious revival (renewed
enthusiasm)
• Ideas (Pietism- stressed the individual’s
personal relationship with God) came from
Europe and spread in the colonies
• Undermined legally established churches
• Led to formation of new churches
• 1730s- Jonathan Edwards encouraged a
religious revival in New England
– Sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”:
• Warned that relying on “good works” was a folly
• Said Christians must depend solely on God’s grace
• Provided lurid detail on hell
• George Whitefield- English minister
– Attracted huge crowds from Georgia to
Massachusetts
– New Lights were those who followed his message
that they must seek salvation
5.6 p91
• Orthodox clergymen (old lights) were
skeptical of the emotionalism and theatrical
antics used by revivalists.
• New lights defended the Awakening for
revitalizing American religion.
• Congregationalists and Presbyterians split
over this issue, and many joined the Baptists
or Methodists.
• The Awakening left many lasting effects:
– The emphasis on direct, emotive spirituality
seriously undermined the old clergy.
– Many schisms increased the number and
competitiveness of American churches.
– It encouraged new waves of missionary work.
– It led to the founding of colleges.
– It was the first spontaneous mass movement.
– It contributed to a growing sense of Americanism.
p92
Culture
• Colonial education and culture were generally
undistinguished, although science and
journalism displayed some vigor
• Enlightenment ideas, though, took hold in
America
– Emphasized the power of human reason to
understand and shape the world
– Benjamin Franklin
– Added a secular dimension to colonial cultural life
• Zenger trial (1734–1735): John Peter Zenger
assailed the corrupt royal governor.
• The Zenger decision helped establish the
doctrine that true statements about public
officials could not be prosecuted as libel:
– It was a banner achievement for freedom of the
press and for the health of democracy.
– It pointed the way for the open discussion
required by the diverse society.
Politics
• Politics was everywhere an important activity,
as representative colonial assemblies battled
on equal terms with politically appointed
governors from England
• Colonial legislatures gradually took control of
taxation
• There were three kinds of colonial governors:
– By 1775, eight colonies had royal governors
appointed by the king.
– Three had governors selected by proprietors
(Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware)
– Connecticut and Rhode Island elected their own
governors under self-governing charters.
• Each colony had a two-house legislature:
– Upper house was appointed by the crown in 8
royal colonies and by the proprietor in 3
proprietary colonies. It was chosen by voters in 2
self-governing colonies.
– Lower house was the popular branch, elected by
the people (property-owners).
• In some colonies the backcountry areas were seriously
underrepresented and resented the colonial elite.
• Self-taxation through representation was a
privilege Americans cherished above most
others.
• London generally left colonial governors to the
mercies of the legislatures.
• Colonial assemblies asserted authority over
governors by withholding their salary.
• Administration at the local level varied:
– County governments remained the rule in the
South.
– Town meetings predominated in New England.
– The middle colonies used a mixture of the two
forms.
• Town meetings, with open discussion and
open voting, were a cradle of selfgovernment.
• The ballot was by no means a birthright:
– Upper classes, fearful of democratic excesses,
were unwilling to grant the ballot to everyone.
– 1775: Still religious and property qualifications.
– About half of adult white males disfranchised.
• But right to vote was not impossible to attain
because it was easy to acquire land.
• Yet, eligible voters often did not exercise this
privilege; instead they deferred to the elite.
• By 1775 America was not a true democracy
socially, economically, or politically.
• But colonies were far more democratic than
Europe.
• Democratic seeds were planted, later bringing
forth a lush harvest.
Map 5.3 p87
• Triangular trade was very profitable.
• Manufacturing was of secondary importance.
• Household manufacturing (spinning and
weaving by women) added impressive output.
• Skilled craftspeople few and highly prized.
• Lumbering was the most important
manufacturing activity.
• Colonial naval stores were also highly valued.
Molasses Act
• Despite various Navigation Acts (Woolen Act,
Hat Act, Iron Act, etc.) the American colonies
were growing economically strong
• American merchants continued to trade with
the French Caribbean despite the rivalry
between England and France
• 1733 Molasses Act imposed a high tariff on
French molasses. Colonists bribed officials
and violated the act
Common Characteristics by the mid18th century
P. 103
Map: Chesapeake Expansion, 1607-1700
Chesapeake Expansion, 1607-1700
The Chesapeake colonies expanded slowly before mid-century. By 1700 Anglo-Indian wars, a rising English population, and
an influx of enslaved Africans permitted settlers to spread throughout the tidewater.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Map: The European Empires in Eighteenth-Century America
The European Empires in Eighteenth-Century America
This map shows the colonization of the Americas and the Philippines by three rival powers. It is clear from the map why
British colonists felt vulnerable to attack by England's archenemies, France and Spain, until English victory in the Great War
for Empire in 1763.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Some additional themes
• Influx of immigrants from non-English
countries
p100