PUTTING DOWN ROOTS: FAMILIES IN AN ATLANTIC EMPIRE America: Past and Present Chapter 3

Sources of Stability: New England Colonies of the Seventeenth Century New Englanders replicated traditional English social order Contrasted with experience in other English colonies Explanation lies in development of Puritan families 2

Immigrant Families and New Social Order Puritans believed God ordained the family Reproduce patriarchal English family structure in New England Greater longevity in New England results in “invention” of grandparents Multigenerational families strengthen social stability 3

A Commonwealth of Families Most New Englanders married neighbors of whom parents approved New England towns collections of interrelated households Church membership associated with certain families Education provided by the family 4

Women’s Lives in Puritan New England Women not legally equal with men Marriages based on mutual love Most Women contributed to society as wives and mothers church members small-scale farmers Women accommodated themselves to roles they believed God ordained 5

Rank and Status in New England Society Absence of very rich necessitates creation of new social order New England social order becomes local gentry of prominent, pious families large population of independent yeomen landowners loyal to local community small population of landless laborers, servants, poor 6

The Planters’ World imbalanced sex ratio among immigrants high death rate scattered population 7

Family Life in a Perilous Environment Normal family life impossible in Virginia Mostly young male indentured servants Most immigrants soon died In marriages, one spouse often died within a decade Serial marriages, extended families common Orphaned children raised by strangers 8

Women in Chesapeake Society Scarcity gives some women bargaining power in marriage market Women without family protection vulnerable to sexual exploitation Childbearing extremely dangerous Chesapeake women died 20 years earlier than women in New England 9

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: The Gentry Tobacco the basis of Chesapeake wealth Great planters few but dominant Arrive with capital to invest in workers Amass huge tracts of land Gentry see servants as possessions Early gentry become stable ruling elite by 1700 10

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: The Freemen The largest class in Chesapeake society Most freed at the end of indenture Live on the edge of poverty

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: Indentured Servants Servitude a temporary status Conditions harsh Servants regard their bondage as slavery Planters fear rebellion

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: Post-1680s Stability Gentry ranks open to people with capital before 1680 Demographic shift after 1680 creates creole elite Ownership of slaves consolidates planter wealth and position Freemen find advancement more difficult

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: A Dispersed Population Large-scale tobacco cultivation requires great landholdings ready access to water-borne commerce Result: population dispersed along great tidal rivers Virginia a rural society devoid of towns 11

Race and Freedom in British America Indians decimated by disease European indentured servant-pool wanes after 1660 Enslaved Africans fill demand for labor 12

Roots of Slavery First Africans to Virginia in 1619 Status of Africans in Virginia unclear for 50 years Rising black population in Virginia after 1672 prompts stricter slave laws Africans defined as slaves for life Slave status passed on to children White masters possess total control of slave life and labor Mixing of races not tolerated 13

Constructing African American Identities: Geography’s Influence Slave experience differed from place to place Majority of S. Carolina population black Nearly half Virginia population black Blacks much less numerous in New England and the Middle Colonies 14

Constructing African-American Identities: African Initiatives Older black population tended to look down on recent arrivals from Africa All Africans participated in creating an African-American culture Required an imaginative reshaping of African and European customs. By 1720 African population, culture self-sustaining 15

African-American Identities: Slave Resistance Widespread resentment of debased status Armed resistance such as S. Carolina’s Stono Rebellion of 1739 a threat Runaways common in colonial America Black mariners, other travelers link African-American communities 16

Commercial Blueprint for Empire English leaders ignore colonies until 1650s Restored monarchy of Charles II recognized value of colonial trade Navigation Acts passed to regulate, protect, glean revenue from commerce 17

Response to Economic Competition “Mercantilism” a misleading term for English commercial regulation Regulations emerge as ad hoc responses to particular problems Varieties of motivation Crown wants money English merchants want to exclude Dutch Parliament wants stronger Navy—encourage domestic shipbuilding industry Everyone wants better balance of trade

An Empire of Trade: The Navigation Act of 1660 Ships engage in English colonial trade Must be made in England (or America) Must carry a crew at least 75% English Enumerated goods only to English ports 1660 list included tobacco, sugar, cotton, indigo, dyes, ginger 1704-05 molasses, rice, naval stores also 18

An Empire of Trade: The Navigation Act of 1663 Goods shipped to English colonies must pass through England Increased price paid by colonial consumers 19

An Empire of Trade: Implementing the Acts Navigation Acts spark Anglo-Dutch trade wars New England merchants skirt laws English revisions tighten loopholes 1696--Board of Trade created Navigation Acts eventually benefit colonial merchants 20

Colonial Gentry in Revolt: 1676-1691 English colonies experience unrest at the end of the seventeenth century Unrest not social revolution but contest between gentry “ins” and “outs” Winners gain legitimacy for their rule 21

Civil War in Virginia: Bacon's Rebellion Nathaniel Bacon leads rebellion, 1676 Rebellion allows small farmers, blacks and women to join, demand reforms Governor William Berkeley regains control Rebellion collapses after Bacon’s death Gentry recovers positions, unite over next decades to oppose royal governors 22

The Glorious Revolution in the Bay Colony: King Philip’s War 1675--Metacomet leads Wampanoag-Narragansett alliance against colonists Colonists struggle to unite, defeat Indians Deaths total 1,000+ Indians and colonists 23

Glorious Revolution: The Dominion of New England 1684--King James II establishes “Dominion of New England” Colonial charters annulled Colonies from Maine to New Jersey united Edmund Andros appointed governor 1689--news of James II’s overthrow sparks rebellion in Massachusetts 24

The Glorious Revolution in the Bay Colony: Outcomes Andros deposed William III and Mary II give Massachusetts a new charter Incorporates Plymouth Transfers franchise from "saints" to those with property 25

Contagion of Witchcraft Charges of witchcraft common Accused witches thought to have made a compact with the devil Salem panic of 1691 much larger in scope than previous accusations 20 victims dead before trials halted in late summer of 1692 Causes include factionalism, economics 26

The Glorious Revolution in New York 1689--News of James II’s overthrow prompts crisis of authority in New York Jacob Leisler seizes control Maintains position through 1690 March 1691--Governor Henry Sloughter arrests, executes Leisler 27

The Glorious Revolution in Maryland 1689--news prompts John Coode to lead revolt against Catholic governor Coode's rebellion approved by King William Maryland taken from Calvert control 1715--proprietorship restored to the Protestant fourth Lord Baltimore 28

COMMON EXPERIENCES, SEPARATE CULTURES 29