The Colonies Come of Age
SECTION 1
England and Its Colonies
SECTION 2
The Agricultural South
SECTION 3
The Commercial North
SECTION 4
The French and Indian War
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Section 1
England and Its Colonies
England and its largely self-governing
colonies prosper under a mutually beneficial
trade relationship.
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SECTION
1
England and Its Colonies
England and Its Colonies Prosper
Mercantilism
• English settlers export raw materials; import
manufactured goods
• Mercantilism—countries must get gold, silver to
be self-sufficient
--Encouraged colonialization
• Favorable balance of trade means more gold
coming in than going out
The Navigation Acts
• Parliament—England’s legislative body
• England sees colonial sales to other countries as
economic threat
• 1651 Parliament passes Navigation Acts: laws
restrict colonial trade
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SECTION
1
England and Its Colonies
England and Its Colonies Prosper
The Navigation Acts
Navigation Act (1651):
All crews to be 1/2 English in nationality
Most goods must be carried on English ships.
Navigation Act (1660):
Required all colonial trade to be on English ships
Master and 3/4 of crew must be English
List of "enumerated goods" developed that could only
be shipped to England or an English colony
Navigation Act (1663):
Required goods bound for the colonies from Africa,
Asia, or Europe to first be landed in England
before shipping to America.
Navigation Act (1696):
Created system of admiralty courts to enforce trade
regulations and punish smugglers
Customs officials given power to issue writs of
assistance to board ships and search for smuggled
goods
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1
Tensions Emerge
Crackdown in Massachusetts
• Some colonists resent Navigation Acts; still smuggle
goods abroad
• In 1684 King Charles revokes corporate charter; creates
royal colony; “Puritan utopia” is over
The Dominion of New England
• In 1685, King James creates Dominion of New England
- land from southern ME to NJ united into one colony; to
make colony more obedient, Dominion placed under
single ruler
- The King wanted to assert more control over the
independent assemblies and enforce economic
restrictions.
• Governor Sir Edmund Andros antagonizes Puritans,
merchants
- Harshly enforces Navigation Acts
- Questions lawfulness of Puritan religion
- Outlaws local assemblies; levies taxes without consent
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Excerpts from the Commission of Sir
Edmund Andros for the Dominion of New
England
• “…Wee do hereby give and grant unto you full power and
authority, by and with the advise and consent of our said
Council … to make constitute and ordain laws statutes and
ordinances … …”
• … to impose assess and raise and levy rates and taxes as you
shall find necessary for the support of the government …
• “…to be a constant and settled Court of Record for ye
administration of justice”
• “…levy arms muster command … also to execute martial law
in time of invasion insurrection or war…”
SECTION
1
continued Tensions
Emerge
The Glorious Revolution
• King James unpopular in England: is Catholic,
disrespects Parliament
• Glorious Revolution—Parliament asserts its
power over monarch, 1689
• Parliament crowns Mary (James’s daughter) and
William of Orange
• Massachusetts colonists arrest Governor Andros,
royal councilors
• NY governor Francis Nicholson deposed and
executed by a militia led by Jacob Leisler (Leisler’s
Rebellion)
• Parliament restores separate colonial charters;
reasserts religious toleration
• However, the king appoints royal governors, and
makes sure Puritans are no longer dominant in
society
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Demand for Surrender of Sir
Edmund Andros
SECTION
1
England Loosens the Reins
Salutary Neglect
• English turn attention to rivalry with France
• As long as raw materials and goods are shipped to
England, no reason to aggressively enforce colonial
laws
• England’s salutary neglect—The colonists were
allowed to govern themselves with minimal royal and
parliamentary interference.
--In turn, they fulfilled their role in the mercantilist
system as the suppliers of raw materials for
manufacture in England and as markets for those
finished goods.
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SECTION
1
England Loosens the Reins
The Seeds of Self-Government
• Governor’s great powers: assembly, courts, trade
• Colonial assembly influences governor because they pay
his salary
• Colonists begin to develop taste for self-government that
will eventually lead to rebellion
--However, still loyal to Britain
• Colonies have little in common (North and South distinct
economies)---Not going to unite against Eng.
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Section 2
The Agricultural South
In the Southern colonies, a predominately
agricultural society develops.
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SECTION
2
The Agricultural South
A Plantation Economy Arises
The Rural Southern Economy
• Fertile soil leads to growth of agriculture
• Cash crops: tobacco (VA, NC); rice (SC, GA)
• Long, deep rivers allow planters to ship goods
directly to markets in the North
• Plantations develop instead of towns; stands in
opposition to the North
• Few cities grow: warehouses, shops not needed
--Only cities are Charlestown (SC), Savannah
(GA), and Richmond (VA)…but not nearly as
expansive as Northern cities (Philly, NY, Boston,
etc.)
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Southern Plantations
This painting shows an aristocratic Southern plantation. The painting
shows the hierarchy on a plantation, with the big mansion at the top
center, the smaller houses that supported the plantation. Out of frame
would be the slave quarters, which were mere shacks. The illustration
suggests that agriculture and shipping were of primary importance to the
plantation.
SECTION
2
Life in Southern Society
A Diverse and Prosperous People
• In 1700s, many German, Scots, and Irish immigrants
settle in South; increased diversity, but much less than
the North
• Southern population mostly small farmers
• Planters are minority but control economy
• By mid-1700s, growth in export trade makes colonies
prosperous
The Role of Women
• Women have few legal or social rights, little formal
schooling; submit to husbands’ will
• Most women cook, clean, garden, do farm chores; their
only education was in domestic chores or etiquette.
Indenture Servants
• Mostly young men trade life of poverty or prison for a
term of servitude.
• Harsh life on plantations or the frontier; few rights
• #’s decline as African slavery increases
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SECTION
2
Slavery Becomes Entrenched
The European Slave Trade
• 1690: 13,000 slaves in the South
1750: 200,000
• Most white colonists think Africans’ dark skin justifies
slavery
• 3-way triangular trade network ties colonies,
Africa, West Indies:
- New England exports rum and other goods to
England, Africa; South exports cash crops to
England
- England exports manufactured goods to West
Indies and colonies; Africa exports slaves to West
Indies and colonies
- West Indies export sugar, molasses to
Continued . . .
New England to be made into rum
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SECTION
2
continued Slavery
Becomes Entrenched
The Middle Passage
• Middle passage—middle leg of transatlantic
trade, transports slaves
• Whippings, beatings, blood, sweat, excrement,
vomit
• 20% or more of Africans on ship die from disease,
abuse, suicide
Slavery in the South
• 80–90% of slaves work in fields; 10–20% work in
house or as artisans
• Slaves work full-time from age 12 until death
• Owners beat, whip slaves considered
disobedient, disrespectful
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SECTION
2
Africans Cope in Their New World
Culture and Family
• Slaves preserve cultural heritage despite whites’
efforts to eradicate it: crafts, music, stories, dance
Resistance and Revolt
• Slaves resist subservient position,
--Escape to the North, Canada, into Native
American communities, or into Spanish territory
--Everything from feigning illness, ignorance,
sabotage, etc.
• 1739 Stono Rebellion—planter families killed near
Charleston, march South inviting slaves to join
along the way; militia defeats slaves who were then
executed
• As a result of rebellions, colonists tighten slave
laws
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The Stono Rebellion
When the slave owners caught up with the rebels from the Stono River in
1739, they engaged the 60 to 100 slaves in a battle. More than 20 white
Carolinians, and nearly twice as many black Carolinians, were killed.
Stono's rebellion was only one among the 250 rebellions documented in
the Colonies and later in the southern United States.
Section 3
The Commercial North
The Northern colonies develop a predominately
urban society based on commerce and trade.
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SECTION
3
The Commercial North
Commerce Grows in the North
A Diversified Economy
• Colonies’ economy growing 2 times faster than Britain
(1650-1750); mostly in NE and Middle cols.
• Diverse commercial economy: wheat, corn, fish, timber,
artisans, industry
• Sell surplus food to the W. Indies…tri. trade
• Merchants most powerful group in North
Urban Life
• Growth in trade leads to large port cities like New York,
Boston, Philly
• Philadelphia 2nd largest city in British empire; streets
planned in a grid (1st major city to do so since ancient
Rome)
• Sophisticated city (culture, parks, police, paved streets),
but lack of social services plague the masses
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Philadelphia - 18th century panorama
Harbor, port, Street grid, Battery , State House
SECTION
3
Northern Society Is Diverse
Influx of Immigrants
• 1700s, large influx of immigrants: Germans,
Scots-Irish, Dutch, Jews, Scandinavians,
• Immigrants encounter prejudice
• Despite tensions, a multitude of nationalities thrive in
the new northern urban centers
Slavery in the North
• Less slavery in North than in South; but extensive in
the middle colonies in the early colonial era
• Slaves have some legal rights (slaves can sue in
NE), but highly restricted and no laws to protect from
the cruelty of Americans
Continued . . .
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SECTION
3
continued
Northern Society Is Diverse
Women in Northern Society
• Women have few legal rights (can’t vote, own
property)
• Only single women, widows can own businesses
• Wives must submit to husbands
Witchcraft Trials in Salem
• In 1692, false accusations of witchcraft lead to trials,
hysteria
• Many accusers poor, brought charges against rich
• Several victims were women considered too
independent
• Causes
--Troubled times: smallpox, decline in Puritanism and
traditional values, Indians (Satanists!),
--Class resentments
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SECTION
3
New Ideas Influence the Colonists
The Enlightenment
• Enlightenment—movement in 1700s emphasizing
reason, observation, fixed mathematical laws
• Enlightenment ideas spread quickly through books,
pamphlets; literacy high in NE (Puritans embrace
public) education
• Benjamin Franklin embraces Enlightenment ideas
(significance of his kite experiment?)
• Other colonial leaders also adopt Enlightenment
views (Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams)
Abigail in 1776: “By the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose
it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies
and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put
such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men
would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the
ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves
bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation” Illustrates her
“enlightened” ideology
Continued . . .
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SECTION
3
continued New
Ideas Influence the Colonists
The Great Awakening
• Puritanism declines; rise of other (Baptist,
Methodist) churches
• Jonathan Edwards preaches people are sinful,
must seek God’s mercy
• Great Awakening—religious revival of the 1730s
and 1740s
• Native Americans, African Americans, colonists
join new churches
• Interest in learning increases; secondary and
higher education begins soaring
--Today’s ivy league schools founded to train
people for the ministry
• Both movements question authority, stress
individual’s importance
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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; he is of purer eyes
than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so
abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in
ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn
rebel did his prince—and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you
from falling into the fire every moment. (1741-Connecticut)
Section 4
The French and
Indian War
British victory over the French in North America
enlarges the British empire but leads to new
conflicts with the colonists.
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SECTION
4
The French and Indian War
Rivals for an Empire
Britain and France Compete
• World War: “Seven Years’ War”: fought in America, Europe,
India
• In 1750s, Britain, France build empires; both want Ohio River
Valley
France’s North American Empire
• France claims St. Lawrence River region (Quebec), Mississippi
Valley (Louisiana)
• By 1754, French colony of New France has small population;
mostly fur traders, missionary priests
• French have good relations, military alliances
with natives
• Natives distrust, despise English for taking land and breaking
treaties
--Most Indian tribes (except for Iroquois Confederacy) ally with
French
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SECTION
4
Britain Defeats an Old Enemy
The War Begins
• French build Fort Duquesne (future
site of Pittsburg) in Ohio Valley, land
claimed by Virginia
• In 1754, George Washington is sent
to evict French; is defeated at Fort
Necessity
• The Albany Plan: Ben Franklin
proposes the colonies should unite;
fails—colonies don’t see themselves
as Americans yet
• French and Indian War (aka King
George’s War) begins—fourth war
between Britain and France
• 1755–1756, British lose repeated battles to
French, native allies
• Natives massacre colonists on the frontier;
lack of protection from English angers cols
Continued . . .
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Cartoon Urging Colonists to Unite during the
French and Indian War
Published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754, Benjamin
Franklin’s warning, “Join or Die”, urges Americans to unite against the
French and the Native Americans. The segments of the snake in the
image each represent a colony.
The Schenectady Massacre
On February 8th, 1690, Schenectady faced a devastating set back when 114
French troops and 96 Native Americans descended upon the unsuspecting
town. After a bloody attack, 60 men, women, and children lost their lives, 27
men and boys were taken captive, and the town was set ablaze.
British-American
Colonial Tensions
Colonials
British
Methods of
Fighting:
• Indian-style guerilla
tactics.
• March in formation or
bayonet charge.
Military
Organization:
• Col. militias served
under own captains.
• Br. officers wanted to
take charge of colonials.
Military
Discipline:
• No mil. deference or
protocols observed.
• Drills & tough
discipline.
Finances:
• Resistance to rising
taxes.
• Colonists should pay
for their own defense.
Demeanor:
• Casual,
non-professionals.
• Prima Donna Br.
officers with servants
& tea settings.
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4
continued Britain
Defeats an Old Enemy
Pitt and the Iroquois Turn the Tide
• Roger’s Rangers: American light infantry group begins to
copy Native-style attacks
• William Pitt helps British win battles; Iroquois join British
• In 1759, British capture of Quebec
--many French-speakers from Acadia (Nova Scotia)
expelled to Louisiana—descendants form the Cajun ethnic
group
--leads to victory in war
• Treaty of Paris ends war (1763); land divided between
Britain, Spain
Victory Brings New Problems
• Ottawa leader Pontiac fears loss of land; captures British
forts
• British use smallpox as weapon; Native Americans greatly
weakened
• Proclamation of 1763—colonists cannot settle west of
Appalachians; but unenforced
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France: lost her Canadian possessions, most of her empire in India, and
claims to lands east of the Mississippi River.
Spain : got all French lands west of the Mississippi River, New Orleans, but
lost Florida to England.
England : got all French lands in Canada, exclusive rights to Caribbean
slave trade, and commercial dominance in India.
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4
The Colonies and Britain Grow Apart
British Policies Anger Colonists
• Halt to western expansion upsets colonists
• Tensions in Massachusetts increase over
crackdown on smuggling
• Writs of assistance allow searches of ships,
businesses, homes
Problems Resulting from the War
• Colonists feel threatened by British troops
stationed in colonies
• Prime Minister George Grenville sets policies to
pay war debt
• Parliament passes Sugar Act (1764):
- new duties placed on imports
- smuggling cases go to vice-admiralty court,
rather than colonial courts
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SECTION
4
The Colonies and Britain Grow Apart
Why Was the War Important
• France loses its claims in North America
• Led to conflicts b/w colonists and English army
• War allowed the colonies to see themselves as a
common identity
• War allowed the colonies to see themselves as a
common identity
• War drives England into debt; leads to abuse of
the colonies and Revolution
• Led to Pan-Indianism: belief that Indians must
unite to fight against continued British
encroachment
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