Topic: How did American society change in the early 1700s?
Colonial Careers Top positions: Emergent groups: Commerce, Fur trade Clergy, public officials, large landowners Emergent groups: Doctors and Lawyers Commerce, Fur trade Most Americans in small agriculture Triangle Trade Little Manufacturing Smuggling w/ France
“Class” in the Colonies No “real” Aristocrats Southern Plantation owners Relatively few poor Indentured Servants High standard of living for most people
American Population Shifts 1600s: Fight to survive 1700s: Stability, relative safety Increased birthrate Doubling population every 25 years Continued immigration Who’s bigger: Britain or 13 colonies? Virginia the most populous colony
American: “the new man” A “melting pot”? Vast majority English (49%) Africans second 19% Pennsylvania: Germans (Dutch country) Scots-Irish- Paxton Boys Intermarriage of all groups de Crevecoeur: “mixing of blood” new man
America’s Ethnicity: 1700s
Conclusion 1) What conditions caused the American population to increase? How would this impact the colonies? 2) Was America a “classless” society in the 1700s? Explain.