■Essential Question: –In what ways were the “Southern” and “Northern” British colonies different from each other? ■Warm-Up Question: –What impact did Britain’s policies of salutary neglect & mercantilism have on the colonies?
Regional Differences Among the British Colonies
The Economies of the Colonies ■The British colonies produced a variety of profitable materials & were populated by a variety of diverse peoples ■By the 1700s, the differences among the “Southern” & “Northern” colonies led to long-term differences among these societies
“Southern” Colonies “Northern” Colonies
Slavery in the “Southern” Colonies ■Slavery in the Southern colonies was far more common than in the Northern colonies: –Cash-crop agriculture, like tobacco & rice, required workers –By 1660, fewer indentured servants were coming to America –80-90% of Southern slaves were field workers, most on plantations
Slavery in the “Southern” Colonies ■Slave culture in the South: –Slaves came from a variety of places in West Africa & had a variety of languages & cultures –Music & dance were used to maintain their African culture –Families were common, but marriage was not recognized –Slave religion often blended African rituals with Christianity
The Slave Population ■Slavery led to resistance: –Runaway slaves were common –Sabotaging of field tools & intentionally slowing down the work were common techniques of slave resistance Stono Rebellion –In 1739, in South Carolina 150 slaves led the Stono Rebellion against white plantation owners
Social Mobility ■Northern colonies offered greater social mobility than the South: –Social status was less dependent upon ownership of land –Numerous professional & trade professions in cities –Benjamin Franklin represented opportunities in colonial society; He used scientific innovation & political writing to gain world fame
The Great Awakening
Decline in Religious Devotion ■By the 1700s, American colonists saw a decline in religious devotion: –Church sermons were seen by many as “cold” & impersonal ■In the 1730s & 1740s, the Great Awakening was a series of revivals in which of people experienced religious conversion in response to gifted preaching
The Great Awakening ■Preachers like Jonathan Edwards & George Whitefield were the most popular evangelists: –Used “fire & passion” to encourage people to examine their eternal destiny (“New Light”) –Preached sermons to 1,000s in large “camp revivals” –Encouraged questioning of established churches
The Great Awakening ■The Great Awakening impacted all the colonists & led to: –New universities were formed to educate “New Light” preachers –Contact among scattered colonists in different regions (1 st “national” American event) –Decline in Puritan & Anglican faiths & rise of Methodists, Baptists, & other denominations Brown, Rutgers, & Princeton