Society and Culture in Provincial America

Colonial Population Regional Differences Common English heritage Indentured Servitude/African Slavery Demographics of colonists Mortality Rates Women's Rights/Authority Slave Trade – Middle Passage – Slave Codes Changing immigration patterns

Colonial Economies Agriculture – Cash Crops – Tobacco in Chesapeake – Rice and Indigo Home Industries and Craft Enterprises – Shipbuilding – Iron Works – Timber Commerce – Navigation and Iron Acts – Triangular Trade – Black Market

Patterns of Society Abundant land and a small population in colonies Substantial social mobility Southern Colonies – Few large plantations – Most modest with few/no slaves – Dispersed settlement – Effect of slavery on households – Plantation Gentry Slave Culture – Mix of African traditions and European customs – Extended kinship networks – Slave reactions to slavery – Stono Rebellion – Purchase of freedom/Learning craft or trade

Patterns of Society New England Colonies – The Town – Religious and Social covenant – Town Meeting – Compact Settlement – No Primogeniture Salem Witchcraft Trials – 1692 – Adolescent girls at heart of hysteria – The accused Colonial Cities – Markets – Inequality of wealth – Social ills vs. Intellectual centers

The Great Awakening Sought to stem decline in religion in 1730's and 1740's Evangelists John and Charles Wesley George Whitefield Jonathan Edwards New Lights vs. Old Lights

Enlightenment in Colonies The Enlightenment Education – Public schools – Literacy rates – Colleges Harvard William and Mary Benjamin Franklin – Poor Richard's Almanack – Scientist Cotton Mather Other Enlightenment Thinkers

Enlightenment and Government Legal System – Execution and imprisonment avoided – John Peter Zenger Freedom of Expression Self-Government – Colonial assemblies – Governor's power limited