Chapter 5: Colonial Society on the Eve of
Revolution, 1700-1775

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1. How did the population growth in the eventually rebellious colonies compare with England’s?
1700 = Less than 300,000 colonists
 About 20,000 of them black
 20 English citizens per colonist
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1775 = 2.5 million colonists
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500,000 of them black
3 English citizens per colonist  Political ramifications?
Average age = 16
400,000 whites & 400,000 blacks  immigrated
Doubling every 25 years
90% lived in rural areas
Four most populous colonies: (in order)
○ 1. Virginia 2. Massachusetts 3. Pennsylvania 4. North Carolina
 Four most populous cities: (only cities that existed)
○ 1. Philadelphia 2. New York 3. Boston 4. Charleston
 Phila. = 34, 000 citizens, including suburbs

2. What ethnicities contributed to the mosaic of the thirteen colonies?
 Non-Anglican whites made up 15% of populations
 Two biggest = Germans & Scots-Irish
 French Huguenots, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Jews, Irish,
Swiss, Scots Highlanders

Made up rest
 20% of overall populations = Africans
 South  Mixture of black & white cultures
 New England  Least ethnic diversity
 Middle colonies  Mixture of European, white cultures
 Paxton Boys & Regulators

 Scots-Irish = 7% of population
 Moved from Scottish lowlands to Northern Ireland
○ To escape British control
 Concentrated on PA’s western frontier  Why?
○ Quakers & Germans already had most of eastern PA
 Experience as colonizers = great frontiersmen
○ Engaged in violence with Indians
 Resistant to most forms of government, especially
British
 Germans = 6% of population
 Fled war, economic oppression, & religious persecution
 Mostly Protestant
 Concentrated in PA wilderness
 No loyalty to British crown  Clung to German customs

3. 1600s social hierarchy vs 1700s vs Old World
th
th
Relatively no social class, except slaves
Profits from war, created stratification;
Upper class culture developed
Very hierarchical
Lived simple life;
Wore simple clothes; No elaborate decorations
Merchants, lawyers, large planters rose to top
Difficult to climb social ladder
Easy to climb social ladder; ragsto-riches story abound
Indentured servants, poor white farmers, & slaves grew in numbers
Most land inhabited or inherited by eldest sons

4. What was the leading industry in eighteenth-century
America? What other industries were important?
 Agriculture was leading industry
 90% of colonists farmed
○ Probably highest standard of living in the world at that time
 Fishing & whaling
 Huge throughout all colonies
○ Cod fishing  Big in New England
 Stimulated ship building industry
 Manufacturing slowly developed  Why?
 Commercial ventures through triangular trade
Leave New
England w/
Rum
Trade rum for slaves in
Africa
Trade slaves for molasses in West Indies
Molasses distilled for more rum in
New England

 Atlantic sea-board colonies became very valuable to English empire
 Population growth & agricultural exports
 Caused economic, political, & cultural shift in relationship
 Colonies increased profits by selling to France &
West Indies, as well as, England
 Dependency on English culture faded
 Heading for a conflict
 Schools & colleges emerged

5. How did the Great Awakening influence religion in
America?
 Anglican & Congregational churches losing support
 Great Awakening influences
 New styles of preaching invigorated congregations
○ Jonathan Edwards = Scare tactics
○ George Whitefield = Human weakness vs. omnipotence of
God
 Old light vs. “new light” controversy
○ Sparked new denomination & even schools
 1 st American mass movement
○ Broke through sectional & denominational lines

Americans of both genders and all races and regions were spellbound by Whitefield’s emotive oratory.

6. Who are some of America’ noteworthy artists and writers from the eighteenth century?
 Famous painters
 John Trumbull
 Charles Willson Peale
 Benjamin West
 John Singleton Copley
 Writers & poets
 Phyllis Wheatley – Poet – Slave girl educated in
England
 Benjamin Franklin – Poor Richard’s Almanack
 Freedom of speech doctrine supported by New
York judges in famous Zenger case
 Winning lawyer = Alexander Hamilton

The Magnetic
Dispensary,” ca. 1790
This British painting made sport of the era’s faddish preoccupations with electricity. Following
Franklin’s experiments, static electricity, generated here by the machine on the right, was employed for “medicinal” purposes as well as for tingling entertainments

7. How were the colonial governments similar and different, and how influential was England in colonial governance?
 Each colony had a governor
 8 colonies had royal governor appointed by king
 MD, PA, & DE = governor chosen by proprietors
 CT & RI = Elected own governor
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Some governors capable; Other appointed as favors
Colonies could exert power over gov’s by voting not to pay them until they agreed to colonial wishes
 Most colonies had two-body legislation
 Upper house = Appointed by king, proprietors, or voters
 Lower house = Elected by property-owning men
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Backcountry communities severely underrepresented
Direct representatives  Self-taxation

 Local level government differed by section
 South = County government ruled
 New England = town meeting with open discussion & voting
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 Middle = Modification of both systems
Voting restricted by religious & property req.’s
 Stricter restriction to hold office
 Upper class attempted to control right to vote
 Colonies more democratic than all Europe through:
 Tolerance
 Educational advantages
 Economic opportunity
 Freedom of speech, press, & assembly
 Representative government