LIFESTYLES OF THE
CENTURY
Cultural and Societal Trends Found in the Colonies
TH
17
NEW ENGLAND/MIDDLE
COLONIES – SOCIETAL STRUCTURE
• New England society was structured around the meetinghouse
(served as a place of worship and as a town hall)
• Larger towns required elementary education
• Heavy emphasis on religion– wanted to remain closely tied to
Puritan roots
• As people moved further from the towns, keeping them tied
to religion became more important
• Ministers implemented the Half-Way Covenant in 1662
• Church began admitting the children of members IF they
had been baptized (but not taken full communion)
NEW ENGLAND/MIDDLE
COLONIES – FAMILY STRUCTURE
• Better air quality: colonists live longer!
• Migrated as families, lived as families
• Women did not have the right to vote– Puritan
lawmakers feared it would undercut the
marriage
• Children grew up in homes of obedience
• Population grew as fertility increased
NEW ENGLAND – ETHNIC
DIVERSITY
• Very little– most were Protestant and English
• Very few slaves
• Diversity instead based on RELIGION/BELIEFS,
rather than country of origin.
MIDDLE COLONIES– ETHNIC
DIVERSITY
• Very diverse- immigrants from various
European countries who were not welcomed
in New England came to the middle colonies
for refuge
• Germans, Scots-Irish, Swiss and the Dutch all
carved out settlements
• Many languages, many religions
SOUTHERN COLONIES- SOCIETAL
STRUCTURE
• Defined hierarchy
• Large plantation owners
• Small farmers (largest group)– one to five slaves
• Landless whites
• Indentured servants
• Black slaves
• Differentiated between slaves and servants on the basis of
race.
• Large plantations= very few large cities; people were too spread
out!
SOUTHERN COLONIES- FAMILY
STRUCTURE
• Southern women experiences greater rights
than northern women
• Men tended to die earlier, leaving the women
with vast properties
• Life revolved around the plantation–
education was not seen as very important
SOUTHERN COLONIES- ETHNIC
DIVERSITY
• Mostly English, though the occasional grouping of
immigrants, such as the Scots Highlanders in SE North
Carolina
• LARGE African slave population led to an ‘AfricanAmerican’ culture
• Blending of African and American speech, religion and
folkways–> Gullah
• Ringshout: contributed to the development of jazz
COLONIAL SLAVERY
• Major change in agriculture during the 1680s= greater
importation of slaves. Why was this happening?
• Rising wages in England meant that there was a
DECREASE in the number of poor Englishmen coming to
the colonies.
• Rising fear of free indentured servants
• Slaves were imported from West Africa, and placed on ship
MIDDLE PASSAGE
• Importation of slaves was part of
the ‘Middle Passage’: the ‘middle’
portion of the Triangular Trade
Route
• Slaves were forced to march
to the African coast,
branded and bound and
loaded onto ships
• Lived in tight, unsanitary
conditions on ships
• Death rates ~20%
BACON’S REBELLION- THE
BACKSTORY
• Not all Englishmen were happy with their situation. Some
Englishmen were forced into indentured servitude upon
arrival in America.
• Upon finishing their time as indentured servants, they were
set free, and SUPPOSED to be given land.
• But, all the good land was already taken…
• Other grievances:
• Colonial policies ‘too friendly’ towards Native Americans
• No women to marry!
BACON’S REBELLION
• In 1676, a group of ~1,000 Virginians, led by Nathanial Bacon, took
matters into their own hands. This was known as Bacon’s Rebellion.
• They murdered the Native Americans in the area (both friendly and
hostile);
• They chased the governor, William Berkeley from Jamestown
• Burned the capital
• Rebellion died with Bacon, as Berkeley soon gained enough support
to combat the rebellious frontiersmen.
• Importance? It sets the stage for the revolution that will occur in the
next century.
COMPARING THE COLONIES AND
EUROPE
Europe (Old World)
• Government: monarchy (kings and
queens)
• Freedoms: property holders could
vote (males only!)
• Religious diversity: varied by
country- not much diversity in a
single country
• Ethnic diversity: varied by countrynot much diversity in a single
country
Colonies (New World)
• Government: beginnings of
democracy– representation!!!
• Freedoms: freedom of speech,
religion, press and assembly
• Religious diversity: denominations
included: Congregationalists,
Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans,
Quakers and Catholics
• Ethnic diversity: settlers from all of
Europe established colonies
CLOSING QUESTION
•How did exploration and colonization
impact the New World? Think
economically, physically and
culturally.
CHANGES IN THE COLONIES
• Increased population
• More settlers coming from Europe
• Increased fertility of the colonists themselves
• Religious revival, known as the Great Awakening.
• Preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and George
Whitefield feared colonists were getting too far away
from religion and employed an evangelical style of
preaching to draw back colonists to the church.