John Murrin, et al
Liberty, Equality, Power
A History of the American People
Chapter 3
American Life in the Seventeenth Century
I.
(Un)Healthy Living
A. Chesapeake Bay Colonies
1. Disease
2. Life expectancy < Europe
3. Gender gap
B.
New England
1. Life expectancy
a. New England = Europe + 10 years
b. Equaled modern America at approx. 70+ years
2. Climate differences
3. Family units v. single males
4. Extended families
II.
The Chesapeake Bay Colonies
A. Tobacco – soil exhaustion – conflict with Indians
B. Headright System & Indentured Servitude
1. VA & MD colonists received 50 acres of land for each paid passage
2. Birth of plantation system
‘Eastern Shore’ of MD
C.
Bacon’s Rebellion VA – 1676)
1. Western settlers (former indentured servants) were dissatisfied
with the government in Jamestown
a. Promise of land
b. Indian policy
c. Economic inequality & disenfranchisement
2.
Rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon –
burned Jamestown
3.
Effect – planters looked for less
troublesome labor source – African slaves
Gov. Berkeley
Riot or Rebellion? How can this incident be ‘spun’ in either direction?
III.
Colonial Slavery
A.
Distribution of slaves
1. 400,000 of 10 million in NA
2. Most to West Indies and South America
B.
Rise of slavery in America
1. Slavery too risky/expensive in pre-Bacon colonies
2. Rising wages in England = less indentured servants
3. Bacon’s Rebellion
4. Royal African Company loses British monopoly of slave trade
A Ghanaian holding fort
The Goree Warehouses, Liverpool
The Slave Chain
C.
The Experience of Slavery
1. The Middle Passage
Africans were often treated like cattle during the crossing.
On the slave ships, people were stuffed between decks in
spaces too low for standing. The heat was often unbearable,
and the air nearly unbreathable. Women were often used
sexually. Men were often chained in pairs, shackled wrist to
wrist or ankle to ankle. People were crowded together,
usually forced to lie on their backs with their heads between
the legs of others. This meant they often had to lie in each
other's feces, urine, and, in the case of dysentery, even blood.
In such cramped quarters, diseases such as smallpox and
yellow fever spread like wildfire. The diseased were
sometimes thrown overboard to prevent wholesale
epidemics. Because a small crew had to control so many,
cruel measures such as iron muzzles and whippings were
used to control slaves.
Heading for Jamaica in 1781, the ship Zong was nearing the end of
its voyage. It had been twelve weeks since it had sailed from the
west African coast with its cargo of 417 slaves. Water was running
out. Then, compounding the problem, there was an outbreak of
disease. The ship's captain, reasoning that the slaves were going to
die anyway, made a decision. In order to reduce the owner's losses
he would throw overboard the slaves thought to be too sick to
recover. The voyage was insured, but the insurance would not pay
for sick slaves or even those killed by illness. However, it would
cover slaves lost through drowning.
The captain gave the order; 54 Africans were chained together,
then thrown overboard. Another 78 were drowned over the next
two days. By the time the ship had reached the Caribbean,132
persons had been murdered.
When the ship returned to England the owners made their claim -- they
wished to be compensated the full value for each slave lost. The claim
might have been honored had if it had not been for former slave
Equiano, then living in England, who learned of the tragedy and alerted
an abolitionist friend of his. The case went to court. At first the jury
ruled in favor of the ship's owners. Since it was permissible to kill
animals for the safety of the ship, they decided, it was permissible to kill
slaves for the same reason. The insurance company appealed, and the
case was retried. This time the court decided that the Africans on board
the ship were people. It was a landmark decision.
On another voyage, on another ship, a similar incident occurred. On La
Rodeur in 1812, there was an outbreak of ophthalmia, a disease that
causes temporary blindness. Both slaves and crew were afflicted. The
captain, fearing that the blindness was permanent and knowing that blind
slaves would be difficult if not impossible to sell, sent 39 slaves over the
rails to their watery death. As with the captain of the Zong, he hoped that
the insurance would cover the loss.
2.
Slave Markets
3.
Slave Codes
A. Servant v. Slave
B. Slavery based on race, heredity, and chattel
The English / Americans invented a new chapter in slavery in human history.
Race had never been a defining factor in bondage – rather it was an economic or
political institution.
“Slave market in Rome” by Jean-Leon Gerome
4.
Slave Life
a. Deep South – rice and indigo farming w/ harsh conditions
b. Upper South – tobacco farming
c. Culture - Language (Gullah), music, religion, and weaving all show
blending of Africa and America
5.
Slave Revolts
a. New York City (1712)
b. Stono Rebellion, SC (1739)
c. None equaled the size of Bacon’s rebellion, so African slaves
were seen as a ‘safer’ investment
IV.
Colonial Southern society
A. Slavery exacerbated the gap between rich and poor
B. Hierarchy
1. Merchant Planters & FFVs (First Families of Virginia)
2. Small Farmers – largest social/economic class
3. Landless whites and indentured servants
4. Slaves & Indians
C. Plantation economy prevented growth of –
1. Cities and a transportation network
2. Merchant and professional classes
3. Schools and Churches
V.
Colonial New England
A. Health (previous slide)
B. Family Life
1. Migrants came as family units
2. Strong family structure + early marriage = population growth
women average 10 pregnancies w/ 8 surviving children
3. Women
a. Confined to domestic sphere
b. Could not inherit or own land unlike Southern women
C.
Town Life in Colonial New England
1. Homogeneous population (background, language, religion)
2. Town-based
a. Towns chartered by colonial authorities
b. Meeting House – Thomas Jefferson will call these the
‘Classroom of democracy’
c. Both the Congregational Church and Town Meetings fostered
democratic traditions
3.
Education
a. MA law declared that town of 50+ families must provide public
education for children
b. Purpose of education – encourage the reading of the Bible
c. Harvard College established in 1636 = train ministers
4.
Disruptions in New England Life
a. Declining church membership
i. “Jeremiad” sermons
ii. Half-Way Covenant
b. Salem witch trials – 20 executed
i. Economic and religious undertones
ii. Moldy wheat?
5.
Environment and Economy
a. Rocky and infertile soil – encouraged thrift
b. Rivers short and rapid – not suitable for commerce
c. Fishing and Shipbuilding
VI.
Generalizations about colonial America
A. Higher standard of living than Europe
B. Close relationship with environment Disease, agriculture, weather
C. Class distinctions grew with economic growth