Colonial Ways of Life Chapter 3

Shape of Early America Population Growth Married earlier  Higher birth rates Healthier  Lower death rates Women Viewed as inferior: Obey, serve husbands, nurture children Could not vote, preach, hold office, attend college/public school, make contracts, own property “Women’s work”  Activities in house, garden and yard Tavern hostesses and shopkeepers Prostitutes

Economies of the Three Regions SOUTH Long growing seasons Tidewater  plantations Cash Crops (tobacco, rice, indigo) Cavaliers – headright system  indentured servants/slaves Backcountry  subsistence farmers/artisans MIDDLE Diversity Better crops than in New England (longer growing season) Rivers = Access to backcountry Seaports & Commercial Centers: Philadelphia & New York Middle Class (artisans) NEW ENGLAND Short growing season  No profitable crops Subsistence Farmers Sea for livelihood (cod, halibut) Abundant Forests Fisheries Shipbuilding (1/3 British ships made in colonies) Mercantilism  The colonies served as an important market for goods from the mother country and a source of raw materials and cash crops.

The Atlantic Slave Trade/ Middle Passage

Colonial Slavery New York Slave Revolt (1712) First African slaves arrived at Jamestown aboard a Dutch ship in 1619. “Slave Codes” (1622) Made blacks [and their children] property, or chattel for life of white masters. New York Slave Revolt (1712) Nine whites died, 21 blacks were executed Led to series of ordinances  A black code  Strictly regulated slave behavior Stono Rebellion (1739) Spanish Florida promised freedom to any slaves who escaped from Carolina and were willing to accept Catholicism  led to rebellion 20 slaves attacked at store at Stono, SC and then killed 25 more settlers. Largest mainland slave uprising prior to the Revolution Resulted in harsher treatment of slaves in many parts of the South.

Completely Useless Information Penguins have an organ above their eyes that converts salt water to fresh water. The metal band that connects the pencil eraser to the end of the pencil is called a Ferrule. Scooby Doo's first name is Scoobert.

Dominant Denominations Anglican/Church of England Official in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New York Served as a vessel of King Much less strict College of William & Mary Congregationalism in all New England colonies except Rhode Island Taxed people A place for early grumblings of Revolution Quakers in Pennsylvania, but there was no single colony-supported church Catholics were discriminated against, but not many of them, people worshipped how they wanted

New England Religion Growing population dispersed people to outlying farms  Far from control of church  Decreased religious fever Jeremiad: Preachers scolded people for losing faith Conversions decreased (testimonies that had received God’s grace) Half-way Covenant (1662): The rules for becoming a member easier  just baptism Applied to children of church members who hadn’t received grade themselves  allowed them to participate in some church affairs (couldn’t vote or take Communion) Weakened distinction between ‘elect’ and others – eventually doors open fully to everyone Strict religious purity was sacrificed to the cause of wider religious participation Salem Witch Trials (1692): 20 individuals died (19 hanged, 1 pressed) Reflected the fear that the Puritan heritage was being lost

The Great Awakening Arminianism All humans could be saved if they freely accepted God’s grace All people could be saved Religious revival of 1730s & 40s Jonathan Edwards: Started Great Awakening in Northampton, Massachusetts Affirmed the need for complete dependence on God’s grace “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Argued that God was angry because of human sinfulness Believed that hell was “paved with the skulls of unbaptized children” Said that anyone could be saved, but those who were not faced eternal damnation.

The Great Awakening George Whitefield: Created a new style of preaching with great oratory skills Argued that individuals did not need preachers to understand the Bible – Ordinary people possessing faith could understand the gospel Emotional reactions across colonies Preached to crowds as big as 10,000 housed in tents, barns, and fields Old Lights Rejected the emotionalism and theatrics of the Great Awakening New Lights  Defended the Awakening for its role in revitalizing American religion

… God “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…he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire…” - Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” “It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher.” – George Whitefield “And now let me address all of you, high and low, rich and poor, one with another, to accept of mercy and grace while it is offered to you; Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation; and will you not accept it, now it is offered unto you?” – George Whitefield

The Great Awakening Impact: Made the church experience more personal and emotional. Churches competed for followers with rise of more sects (ex. - Baptists and Methodists). Promoted increased literacy as more people bought Bibles for the home and led more people to attend college. Church leaders lost power as more people studied the Bible at home or in new churches. Great Awakening Colleges: 1746: College of New Jersey (Princeton) – Presbyterian 1754: King’s College (Columbia) – Anglican 1756: Rhode Island College (Brown) – Baptist 1766: Queen’s College (Rutgers) – Dutch Reformed 1769: Dartmouth - Congregationalist If people can make their own religious decisions, why can’t they make their own political decisions? – Tie to American Revolution.

Pioneer Press Zenger Trial (1734-35) John Peter Zenger, newspaper printer in New York Zenger’s newspaper (New York Weekly Journal) published articles criticizing the royal governor of New York Jailed and charged with seditious libel (written lies) against the royal governor Defended by Andrew Hamilton (former indentured servant) Hamilton argued he had printed the truth Colonial jurors found him not guilty First steps towards freedom of the press