Colonial Life in the
th
th
17 and 18 Centuries
I. Southern Society

As slavery spread, gaps in the South’s social
structure widened:
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A hierarchy of wealth and status became defined.
At the top were powerful great planter families: the
Fitzhughs, the Lees, and the Washingtons.
By the Revolutionary War, 70% of the leaders of the
Virginia legislature came from families established in
Virginia before 1690.
Southern Society
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Planter elite at top.
Far beneath the planters were the small, yeoman
farmers, the largest social group.
Still lower were the landless whites.
Beneath them were those whites serving out their
indenture.
Increasingly black slaves occupied the bottom rung
of southern society.
Southern Society

Few cities sprouted in the colonial South.
 Urban
professional class (lawyers and financiers) was
slow to emerge.


Southern life revolved around the isolated great
plantations.
Waterways were the principal means of transport.
 Roads
were terrible.
II. The New England Family

Contrasts in New England life:
New England settlers of 1600s added 10 years to
their life span.
– First generations of Puritans averaged 70 years.
– They tended to migrate not as single persons but as
families, and the family remained the center of New
England life
 New England’s population grew from natural
reproduction.
–
The New England Family

Married life in New England:
 Early
marriage encouraged a booming birthrate.
 Women generally married in their early twenties.
 They produced babies every two years.
A
married woman could experience up to ten pregnancies
and raise as many as eight children.
 Longevity
contributed to family stability.
The New England Family

Gender Roles
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The fragility of southern families advanced the economic
security of southern women.
Because men often died young, southern colonies allowed
married women to retain separate title to property and
inherit their husband’s estates.
New England women, however, gave up property rights
when they married.
A rudimentary concept of women’s rights as individuals was
beginning to appear in the 1600s.
Women could not vote, but authorities could intervene to restrain
abusive husbands.
III. Life in the New England Towns

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New Englanders evolved a tightly knit society
based on small villages and farms.
Puritanism instilled unity and a concern for the moral
health of the whole community.
Society grew in an orderly fashion, unlike in the
southern colonies.
After securing a grant of land from a colonial
legislature, proprietors laid out their towns.
Towns of over 50 families were required to provide
elementary education
Life in the New England Towns
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1636: Harvard was founded.
Puritans ran their own churches.
Democracy in the Congregational Church led to the
same in government.
Town meetings were examples of democracy:
 Elected
officials
 Appointed schoolmasters
 Discussed mundane matters such as road repairs
p75
IV. Population Growth

A distinguishing characteristic shared by the colonies
was population growth:
 1700:
There were fewer than 300,000 people, about
20,000 of whom were black.
 1775: 2.5 million inhabited the thirteen colonies, of
whom half a million were black.
 White immigrants were nearly 400,000; black “forced
immigrants” were about the same.

The colonists were doubling their numbers every
twenty-five years.
V. The Structure of Colonial Society


America seemed a shining land of equality and
opportunity, except for slavery.
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.
The Structure of Colonial Society

Colonial professions:
Most honored was the Christian ministry, but by 1775
ministers had less influence than earlier.
 Most physicians were poorly trained.
 First medical school was established in 1765.
 Aspiring young doctors served as apprentices.
 At first, lawyers were not favorably regarded.
–
The Structure of Colonial Society

Agriculture was the leading occupation, employing
90% of people
 Tobacco
the main crop of Maryland and Virginia.
 Middle (“bread”) colonies produced much grain.
 Overall, Americans enjoyed a higher standard of living
than the masses of any country.
 Fishing ranked far below agriculture, yet was rewarding,
with a bustling commerce.
 Commercial ventures were another path to wealth.
Map 5.2 p86
The Structure of Colonial Society
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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.
Map 5.3 p87
VI. The Great Awakening
Table 5.2 p89
Jonathan Edwards
The God that holds you over the pit
of hell, much as one holds a spider or
some loathsome insect over the fire,
abhors you and is dreadfully
provoked. His wrath toward you
burns like fire; he looks upon you as
worthy of nothing else but to be cast
into the fire. (1734)
Reasons for Great Awakening


Ministers feared “rational Christianity” that
Enlightenment popularized
1730s, religious revivals began among
Congregationalists and Presbyterians in Middle
Colonies and New England
 Focused
on traditional Protestant Christianity
 Evangelical – focused on rebirth through religious conversion
Popular Ministers

Jonathon Edwards
 Local
Congregationalist Pastor, Northampton, MA
 Juxtaposed talk of God’s grace with portrayals of eternal
damnation
 Individuals must express remorse and penance

George Whitefield
 From
England, traveled throughout colonies hosting revivals
 Led dramatic performances to thousands (B.F.)
 Message was similar to Edwards’, but delivery was better
5.6 p91
Impact of Great Awakening

The Awakening left many lasting effects:
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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.
VII. Schools and Colleges

Education was first reserved for the aristocratic few:
Education should be for leadership, not citizenship, and primarily for
males.
 Puritans were more zealous in education.
 The primary goal of the clergy was to make good Christians rather
than good citizens.
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Educational trends:
Education for boys flourished.
 New England established schools, but the quality and length of
instruction varied widely.
 The South, because of geography, was severely hampered in
establishing effective school systems.

p92
Schools and Colleges

Nine colleges were established during the colonial
era
 Student
enrollments were small, about 200.
 Instruction was poor, with curriculum heavily loaded with
theology and “dead languages.”
 By 1750, there was a distinct trend toward “live”
languages and modern subjects.
 Ben Franklin helped launch the University of
Pennsylvania, first college free from any church.
Table 5.3 p93
VIII. A Provincial Culture
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Art and culture still had European tastes, especially
British.
Colonial contributions:
 John
Trumbull (1756–1843) was a painter.
 Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827), known for his
portrait of George Washington, ran a museum.
 Benjamin West (1738–1820) and John Singleton
Copley (1738–1815) were famous painters.
p93
A Provincial Culture

Other colonial contributions:
 Architecture
was largely imported and modified to
meet peculiar conditions of the New World.
 The log cabin was borrowed from Sweden.
 1720: Red-bricked Georgian style introduced.
 Noteworthy literature was the poetry of enslaved
Phillis Wheatley (ca. 1753–1784).
 Benjamin Franklin wrote Poor Richard’s Almanack.

Science was slowly making progress:
 Benjamin
Franklin was considered the only first-rank
scientist produced in the American colonies.
IX. Colonial Folkways

Everyday life was drab and tedious:
 Food
was plentiful, but the diet was coarse and
monotonous.
 Basic comforts were lacking.
 Amusement was eagerly pursued where time and
custom permitted.
Colonial Folkways

By 1775, British North America looked like a
patchwork quilt:
 Each
colony was slightly different, but all were stitched
together by common origins, common ways of life, and
common beliefs in toleration, economic development,
and self-rule.
 All were physically separated from the seat of imperial
authority.
 These facts set the stage for the struggle to unite.