The Colonies Mature: 1650-1750
Chapter 1 Sections 4 and 5
The South and Slavery
• From Servitude to Slavery in the South
– Warm climate=good for crops, not good for
people
– Low population=not a lot of workers
– Solution: early to mid 1600s=indentured servants
– Headright system-rich got richer, not a lot of land
for the poor
– Freed servants (freedmen) became disgruntled,
result was Bacon’s Rebellion 1676
The South and Slavery (cont.)
• Bacon’s Rebellion 1676
– Defeated by the colonial govt of Virginia
– Effects: wealthy planters turned away from servants to
slaves, why?
• How to treat slaves? As servants??
• 1670 South Carolina colonized, English brought
African slaves with them, plus their slave codes—
African slaves would be treated as property
(chattel) not as people
• By 1700 slaves had surpassed servants in the
South
Slave Society in the South
• Slaves taken from all over west coast of Africa
• Not monolithic
• New African American culture was the fusion of many
different African cultures plus European influences
• North America was not the focus of the slave trade
(Caribbean, S. America) about 5%
• Americans=poor couldn’t afford many slaves, had to
protect their “investment”
• Naturally reproducing slave population in America
Comparing/Contrasting the 3 Colonial
Regions: the South
• Economy: all about cash crops
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Tobacco (MD, VA, NC)
Rice and Indigo (GA, SC)
Dependent upon slavery (after 1676)
Large farms (plantations)
• Society
– Not a lot of big cities (each plantation was like a mini city)
– People isolated from one another—not a big sense of
community
– Because of plantations and slavery—big gap between rich
and poor (elitist, not egalitarian)
– Large numbers of African Americans but otherwise not
very ethnically diverse
The South (cont.)
• Religion
– Not very important in the South (more concerned
with material things)
– Mostly Anglican
– Religious toleration of some kind in all colonies
• Government
– Representative govts (House of Burgesses 1619)
– Dominated by the wealthy (elitists)
New England
• Economy
– Too cold/too rocky for farming cash crops
– Small farms due to climate also due to religious beliefs
– Turned to the sea: fishing, trading, ship building, ship
building industries (logging, etc)
• Society
– Dominated by Puritan beliefs, strong sense of community,
dominated by small towns and cities
– Big families (lots of kids+small farms=no need for more
labor=no servants/slaves)
– Only way to be fully accepted in New England society was
to be a member of the Puritan Church
– Lots of small equally sized farms=very egalitarian society
– Almost entirely English=not diverse
New England
• Religion
– Left England for religious freedom—freedom for
themselves not for anybody else
– Puritanism, no other religions tolerated*
• Government
– Very democratic (town hall meetings)
– Needed land to vote but almost everyone had land
– Problem: needed to be a part of the Puritan church to
vote and hold office* (undemocratic)
Middle Colonies
• Economy
– Bread colonies
– Grew wheat raised cattle to sell to New England
and the Caribbean
– Big families, medium to small sized farms=not a
real big need for servants or slaves
– More farming centered than NE, but more
industry than the South
– Big cities (NYC, Philadelphia)
Middle Colonies
• Society
– Egalitarian (like New England)
– Diverse ethnically
• Religion
– Religious toleration/separation of Church and State in
all colonies except NY
– Very diverse in terms of religion (most diverse region)
• Government
– No religious qualifications
– Land qualifications but land = easy to get
Colonial Government
• All colonies had representative government
• Colonial Governments consisted of 3 parts:
– 1) Assembly elected by the people—controlled taxes
made most laws
– 2) Governor—appointed by the king (or the owner of
the colony)—ran day to day affairs of colony
represented the King (or the owner) (assembly
controlled their salary)
– 3) Upper House/Council—appointed by the Governor
helped the Governor run the day-to-day affairs of the
colony, had to approve laws passed by the assembly
• So why is this important?
Colonies Mature: Growth of Trade
• Trade: centered in New England but involved
all of the 3 colonial regions
– Trade between colonies and England
– Trade between the colonies and other European
countries
– Trade between colonies and Africa/Caribbean
(triangle trade)
Efforts to Control Trade: Mercantilism
• Mercantilism:
– The amount of gold in the world is essentially fixed
– A nation increases its power by increasing its stockpiles of
gold
– Gold is increased by minimizing imports (buying) and
maximizing exports (selling)
– Colonies=way to supply raw materials without sending
gold to a foreign country & buy English products
• Mercantilist Policies—make sure that trade involving
America benefitted England not necessarily the
colonies (Navigation Acts)
• Why is this important?
Colonial Culture: Enlightenment
• Enlightenment occurring in Europe beginning in
the late 1600’s, active in the colonies as well
• Applied reason and logic to political world
(rationalism, logic))
• John Locke major political thinker
– contract theory of government, natural rights
• Reason and logic will be applied to almost every
aspect of society—including religion—led people
to become less religious
Great Awakening: 1730’s-1740’s
• Major religious revival
• Began in New England
– Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry
God”
– George Whitefield
• More emotional than previous religious
movements
• Reaction to the intellectualism of the
enlightenment
• Colony-wide movement—helped set the stage for
the Revolution?????
Colonial Culture: American Identity?
• By the mid 1700’s only about half of the colonists in British North
America were of British descent
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English-49%
African-19%
Scottish-7%
German-7%
Scots-Irish-5%
Irish-3%
Dutch-3%
Other European-9%
• How would this mixed ethnicity impact how the colonists viewed
themselves?
• How could this help lead to revolution?
• What type of events help to lead to a sense of national identity,
have you seen any in this lecture?
Ethnic Diversity in the Colonies