Colonial Society on the
Eve of Revolution
1700 - 1775
Colonial Population by 1775
 2.5 million people
(including .5 million
blacks)
 Population doubled
every 25 yrs.
 Average age: 16
 90% lived in rural
areas
A Mingling of the Races
(melting pot p. 83)
 Most non-English
groups moved to the
frontier
 Single largest nonEnglish group:
Africans (20% in the South)
 New England: least
ethnically diverse
 Middle colonies:
most diverse
population
 Intermarrying laid
foundations for new
multicultural America
Scots-Irish
 Great frontiersmen / anti-British government
 1764 – Paxton Boys // Philadelphia

Protested Quaker’s lenient policy towards Native
Americans
 Regulator Movement / North Carolina (a few years later)

Small, nasty insurrection against eastern domination of
colony’s affairs
Professionals
 Most honored profession: Christian ministry
 Held in low esteem: Physicians

Lawyers (until 1750)
Colonial Society
 More stratified with
 Landholdings were
barriers to mobility (18th
being subdivided/
century)
Average size of farms
shrank
 Colonies had more
equality/opportunity than  South – wealth
Europe
concreted in the hands of
a few
 Class of widows &
orphans
 Paupers & convicts
dumped by London in
colonies
Colonial Economy
 Colonial economy based on agriculture (90%)
except in New England where shipbuilding &
commerce were important – p. 89
 Most important manufacturing activity: lumber
 1730s – fast-breeding Americans demanded more &
more English products. However, English population
early reached saturation point for absorbing imports.

Solution: foreign (non-English) markets
Foreign Markets
 Triangular trade very profitable: map p. 91
 West Indies especially the French islands,
major trade partners with colonies
 Molasses Act (1773): inhibited colonial trade
with French West Indies

Smuggling began
Transportation Problems
 Roads were poor – rivers most efficient means
of travel
 Taverns along main routes:


another cradle of democracy
“hotbeds of agitation as the Revolutionary movement
gathered momentum.”
 Intercolonial postal system established by mid
1700’s
Colonial Religions
 2 tax-supported churches: Anglican &
Congregational






Anglican (Church of England) – less fierce, more
worldly/ supported by the king
Congregational – grew out of Puritan Church
Anglican -dominant in the South
Congregational -dominant in New England
Presbyterians were predominant on the frontier
Catholics were discriminated against
The Great Awakening
1730s – 1740s
 Several religious problems in the early 18th
century

Belief in good works & individual free will
 lead to this arousing revival
 Characterized by emotional sermons
 Increased the number of church goers &
missionary work with Indians & black slaves
increased
 Lead to establishment of several colleges
Jonathan Edwards -1734
 Preached folly of
believing in salvation
through good works
 Affirmed need for
God’s grace
 Preached on hell
 “Sinners in the Hands
of an Angry God”
George Whitefield - 1738
 Former alehouse
attendant
 Great orator
 Preached on human
helplessness & divine
omnipotence
Schools & Colleges
 Education was most important in New England


Important for Bible reading
Primary & secondary schools
 Some schools in Middle & Southern colonies
 Emphasis was placed on religion/classical languages

Independent thinking discouraged
 Early colonial colleges: p. 96
Colonial Culture
 Materialistic atmosphere was not favorable to artistic
endeavor

Art was an invention of the Devil
 Portrait artists had to go to England
 Architecture was imported from Europe
 Colonial literature was undistinguished except for:


Poetry of Phillis Wheatley (slave girl)
Benjamin Franklin – Poor Richard’s Almanack 1732-1758

Scientist – electricity,bifocals, stove
Colonial Presses
 50 public libraries by 1776 – supported by subscriptions
 40 newspapers by 1776: aired colonial grievances &
rallying opposition to British control
 Peter Zenger libel case in New York (1734-35)



Newspaper was sued for libel by Gov.
Newspaper found not guilty / true statements about public
officials could not be prosecuted as libel
Led to freedom of the press
Political Situation in 1775
 8 colonies had royal governors - appointed by the king
 3 colonies had proprietors who chose governors
Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware
 2 colonies elected their own governor – Connecticut &
Rhode Island
 Colonies controlled legislatures – taxes & governors’
salaries
Political Situation conti.
 Every colony had a 2 house legislature – bicameral


Upper house – chosen by king, proprietor, or voters
Lower house – elected by people
 All colonies required religious or property
qualifications for voting & holding office –
many didn’t vote
 Far more democratic than England and Europe
Colonial Folkways





Everyday life was difficult – tedious
Food was plentiful
Amusement/sports p.101
Most popular holiday: Thanksgiving
By 1775 – colonists were basically English in
language & customs, Protestant in religion, some
degree of ethnic & religious toleration