America and the British Empire, 1650-1754

Three Distinct Regions New England NH, MA, RI, CN Middle Colonies NJ, NY, PN, DE Southern Colonies NC, SC, GA, VA, MD

Geography

Non-Indian Pop. of Chesapeake

Chesapeake Region Pop.

Early Efforts at Colonizing North America (Jamestown, Plymouth) Little success, much death No real profits being returned home to England and shareholders Indian disputes, disease, lack of women make community-building nearly impossible

Housing

Maryland and the Calverts Retreat for English Catholics and spectacular real estate investment Protestants outnumber Catholics Free worship for Christians Given freedom by the crown Had to pay an annual fee Complete oversight of activities

Bacon’s Rebellion Western landholders unhappy with rule from the east, strike out against natives against orders Turns into revolt against the entire gov’t of VA Results Shows settlers breaking treaties with natives Power of the masses against the established gov’t

Other English Colonies Caribbean Sugar and rum Slave pop. outnumbers English 7 major slave revolts

Refining Sugar

Leaving Massachusetts Behind Williams founds RI Complete separation of church and state Jews allowed religious freedom Hutchinson leads movement to NH She dies before establishment Followed RI principles of religion

Rhode Island

New England Colonies Commerce, alongside agriculture, dominate economy Cold weather, rocky terrain limited farming Boston and Newport develop

New England

New England Pop

Middle Colonies More suitable soil than in NE, led to wheat as a staple crop Philadelphia and NYC develop as major cities

Southern Colonies Climate lends itself to large-scale agriculture Dependence on slave labor, SC pop. over 50% slave Charlestown develops

Mercantilism Sought to maximize the wealth of the mother country Used colonies as a source of raw materials Mother country processes materials and can sell finished goods (back to the colonies in particular

Triangular (Rum) Trade Europeans use slave labor to produce in New World, sell goods in Europe, trade goods for slaves in Africa, and repeat

Slavery in America Native pop. dies off Cultivation of tobacco (and sugar in the Caribbean) requires intense labor Importation of Africans into the sugar islands begins Slaves sold to English colonies on the mainland

Slaves Imported to America

Slaves as % of Population