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American Life in the Seventeenth Century
1607 – 1692 By: Mr. Michael R. Kahoe Del Valle High School
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The Unhealthy Chesapeake
Life was difficult for the early settlers Suffered from malaria, dysentery & typhoid fever Half died before their twentieth birthday Most did not live past 40
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The Unhealthy Chesapeake
Settlements grew slowly Most immigrants were single men Usually died upon arrival Women were scarce Families were few and fragile Eventually immunities were developed and by 1700 the colonies were growing Virginia pop. 59,000 Maryland pop. 30,000 Oh Boys!! Come and get me.
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The Tobacco Economy Tobacco grew well in the Chesapeake
Often planted before food Was bad for the soil Led to constantly seeking new land The colonists flooded the market with tobacco causing a deflation Yet they kept planting!
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The Headright System Constant need for tobacco laborers
Colonists were dying Indians were dying Africans cost too much Indentured servants – who worked in exchange for passage to the new world Freedom dues: bit of corn, clothes & small parcel of land Headright System – masters acquired 50 acres by paying for the passage of indentured servants
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Frustrated Freeman By late 1600s there were many frustrated young men in Virginia Landless Single Disfranchised – weren’t allowed to vote
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Governor William Berkeley
Bacon’s Rebellion Nathanial Bacon – a 29 yr old planter, led 1,000 Virginian frontiersmen against Gov. Berkeley Resented Berkeley’s close relations with the Natives Monopolized the fur trade No retaliation for Indian attacks against frontier settlements Nathaniel Bacon Governor William Berkeley They are “a rabble of the basest sort of people”
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Bacon’s Rebellion: 1676
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Results of Bacon’s Rebellion
Bacon’s rebels went on a rampage Attacked Indians whether friendly or not Berkeley driven from Jamestown Burned and plundered the capitol Bacon dies of fever Berkeley later crushes the rebellion 20 men are hanged
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Colonial Slavery
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Triangular Trade Route
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Life Aboard A Slave Ship
Conditions on the slave ships were appalling Crammed full of human beings Many slaves died from disease Rotten food Foul air Rats Some slaves took their lives
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Colonial Slavery 10 mil Africans were enslaved in the Americas
400,000 to the colonies Most arrived after 1700 Less people were arriving from Europe Slaves better than angry freemen Royal African Company lost is monopoly on slave trade in 1698 By 1750 slaves were numerous in some of the southern colonies
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Colonial Slavery “Slave Codes”
Made Blacks and their children property, or chattels, of their masters for life Refrained from teaching slaves to read or write Conversion to Christianity did not grant a slave freedom
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Africans in America Life was extremely difficult in the rice and indigo plantations of the deep South Many died from the labor Life was somewhat easier in the Chesapeake region Tobacco was less physically demanding Plantations were closer together Families were possible Began reproducing
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Slave Culture There was a distinctive mixture of African and American elements Speech: added words to the English lexicon Goober (peanut), gumbo (okra), voodoo (witchcraft) Ringshout: religious dance, led to jazz Banjo & bongo drum
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Southern Society Slavery caused the gaps in the South’s social structure to widen Plantation Owners Small Farmers Landless Whites Indentured Servants Slaves
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Southern Society Society centered around the great plantations
Few cities sprouted in the South Not many urban professionals Waterways main form of transportation
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The New England Family Standard of living was much higher in New England Average life span was about 70 years New Englanders migrated as families Family Structure Children were very well nurtured Parents and grandparents participated in child rearing Divorce frowned upon “a sip of New England’s air is better than a whole draft of old England’s ale”
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The New England Family New England Women
Women married in their twenties Baby every two years Many women died in child birth Child rearing became a full time job Premarital pregnancies uncommon, unlike the Chesapeake Gave up their property rights to their husbands Widows could own property Southern women had more rights Could not vote Considered morally weaker
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Life in New England Towns
Small villages and farms were basis of New England society Very orderly and well planned Contrast with Virginia: where expansion was haphazard Towns Led by “proprietors” Meetinghouse democracy Village Green Houses Woodlot, farm land, pasture Elementary education Harvard founded in 1636
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The Half-Way Covenant By mid 17th century, religious zeal was declining “Jeremiads” Less conversions to elect status 1662, Half-way covenant established Allowed unconverted to become baptized members of the church No full communion Diluted church membership
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Salem Witch Trials Salem, Mass. – 1692, Adolescent girls accuse some older women of bewitching them Leads to a “witch hunt” & mass hysteria 19 are hanged, 1 pressed Stemmed from a widening divide between the well to do and poor
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New England Way of Life
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Early Settlers’ Days & Ways
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