1. The American Colonies

2. Major Reasons for Emigrating from England to America
There was a growing population in England and all of Europe
The enclosure system in England kicked peasant families off of subsistence farming land
Wool Depression in the 1500’s caused more working class people to suffer
Those who had some money invested in a new idea: capitalism and the Joint Stock Company
Sponsored groups to come to America to make money to send back to the Joint Stock Company…
Later the success of cash crops in the America would draw those looking to make their fortune
Tensions between religious minorities (Quakers, Puritans, Catholics) and Anglican controlled England led some to leave for a new land farther away from the Church of England
What types of people did each of these reasons bring to America?

3. Map of the 13 Colonies
By the mid 1700’s there were 13 American colonies.
The first British settlement was in Jamestown in 1607

4. Four Colonial Regions There are four regions in Colonial America:
New England
Middle Colonies
Chesapeake
Lower South
Each region has their own economy and society
I know…This map has North Carolina in the Lower South when it SHOULD BE IN THE CHESAPEAKE!

5. New England
Primarily settled by Puritans looking for somewhere to get away from the not pure Anglicans. Not very diverse
Small towns, often along rivers. Political power focused in town meetings. Larger cities on the coast.
Economy: fur and fish trade, lumber, and shipbuilding

6. Middle Colonies Most diverse colonies settled for diverse reasons
New York was originally settled as a trading port by the Dutch and was then taken by the British
PA and NJ were settled by Quakers
Known as the “Bread Basket” colonies because grains grew well here
Moderate amount of political representation in colonial assemblies
Economy based on trade and agricultural products

7. The Chesapeake
Virginia was the first British colony – Jamestown was settled by a Joint Stock Co. in 1607
While there was no gold, the economy of this region would soon be based on the cash crops of tobacco and rice
Plantations were spread out and while originally based on indentured servitude and Native American slavery they would switch to African slavery by the end of the 1600’s
Colonial assemblies were strong in the Chesapeake, but only wealthy land owning white men were part of them

8. Lower South
Similar to the Chesapeake in that they were based on large plantations growing cash crops (rice and indigo at this time). Also traded food stuffs with the West Indies.
The Carolinas were a political experiment by friends of the king and they had John Locke create the Constitution – one of his first works
Freedom of religion
Secret ballot for voting
Titles of nobility
Slavery / serfdom
Georgia was an experiment by Oglethorpe to create a humanitarian debtors colony. Originally had no slavery
Very Anglican and many would be loyalists in the Revolution

9. American Colonial Society in the 1700’s

10. Growing Population More by birth rate then immigration
1700: 300,000 people (20,000 black slaves)
1775: 2.5 million people (400,000 white immigrants, 500,000 black slaves)
Average age in 1775 was 16

11. Urban vs. Rural Few major cities
Philadelphia (34,000), NYC, Boston, and Charleston
90% of population lived in rural areas
Didn’t reach much past the Appalachians
Philadelphia in 1800

12. Diversity Mainly English but more diverse than anywhere else German 6%
Scots Irish 7%
Others 5%
Africans 20%
Americans became a new ethnicity

13. American Social Ladder
More stratified in the 1700’s than the 1600’s
Top few were very wealthy (planters and merchants)
Mostly middle
Artisans
Shopkeepers
Farmers
Workers (Labor or servants)
Some destitute women and children
Land became scarcer
Convicts from England
Slaves
Less stratified than Europe + ability to progress up the social ladder

14. Jobs of the 1700’s Agriculture - 90% of the people Clergy Physicians
Lawyers
Shipbuilding and fishing
Manufacturing

15. Transportation in the Colonies
Terrible roads - these were improving in the 1700’s though
Waterways
Caused the slow dissemination of news
Taverns found along travel routes
Became the place to get news and share ideas
Mail existed, but not confidential or quick

16. Religion in the 1700’s
Congregationalists (This is the new word for Puritans) and Presbyterians made up half of all church members in 1775
Anglicans were 1/4
Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, and Rebellion became a “Holy Trinity”

17. Education Public education was not a priority in England
New England soon wanted public education so that they could have educated, Bible reading citizens
Massachusetts School Law (and soon other New England colonies) required a school teacher for every town with more than 50 families
Not much schooling in the south because of distance between homes – relied more on tutors
Colleges at the time were to train ministers and learn old, dogmatic education
What does it mean to have an educated citizenship – how will this affect the Revolution?

18. Culture
Very little in America since people were working so hard to build a country
Ben Franklin was the first “civilized” American
The few scientists, like Franklin, were not approved of by clergy

19. Press Not many libraries or individual ownership of books
Franklin started the first public lending library in Philadelphia
By 1775, 40 colonial newspapers
News was slow
Zenger case, argued by Hamilton, allowed for more freedom of the press and therefore more discussion about life and politics

20. Politics in the Colonies
Most colonies in the first half of the 1700’s had:
Some political representation
Houses of legislature
Town meetings
The belief that they were granted the same rights as English citizens
Came with the charters
Depending on the moment, colonies often had some control over their governor because they controlled his pay
Not the case when the English monarch paid closer attention to the colonies and paid the governors from England…

21. So what happened?
European countries and their colonies were involved in a series of world wars over controlling territory in the New World. The final one before the Revolution was the French and Indian War.

22. Effects of the French and Indian War
1763 saw the end of The Seven Years War / French and Indian War. While England won against France and acquired new territory, they were now in terrible debt
Did not ask colonists to help with war debt
Instead – asked colonists to pay 1/3 of the cost of maintaining British troops in America
Colonists couldn’t move west because England could not protect them
Proclamation Line of 1763

23. America in 1750

24. America in 1763

25. And then it all begins
Revenue earning taxes like the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts caused many frustrated colonists to protest about taxation without representation
Groups that were particularly agitated against the British, like Sam Adams’ Sons of Liberty, began to circulate letters and organize boycott and protest groups
The British kept trying to tighten their grip which just made the Americans – who were used to decades of being left on their own – get even more frustrated.

26. The Second Continental Congress
All 13 colonies sent delegates to the CC2, which met after the British tried to capture leaders such as Sam Adams as well as taking American armories at Lexington and Concord. These fights would become the first battles of the Revolution
The Second Continental Congress would choose George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army

27. Revolution was Not the Original Intent
Many intermediary steps to work out a solution with Britain were presented by the Continental Congress
Declarations and Resolves
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
Olive Branch Petition
But King George III refused to recognize the Continental Congress or negotiate with the colonists

28. Pause for a Discussion of Hobbes and Locke!

29. Declaration of Independence
1776

30. Reasons for Shift of Loyalty:
Previously most Americans were proud British citizens
Shifted because:
British hired Hessian mercenaries
Burning of Falmouth & Norfolk by the British
Governor of Virginia promised freedom to slaves who would fight for Britain.
Persuaded many southern elite to join New England in the war effort.

31. Common Sense by Thomas Paine Published early 1776
Became an instant best-seller in the colonies; effective propaganda
Main ideas:
Britain's colonial policies were inconsistent; independence was the only course
Nowhere in the physical universe did a smaller heavenly body control a larger one. Why should tiny England control huge North America?
King was nothing more than the "Royal Brute of Great Britain.”
America had a sacred mission; moral obligation to the world to set up an independent, democratic republic, untainted by association with corrupt monarchical Britain.
Persuaded Congress to go all the way for independence
Could not hope for aid from France unless they declared independence
France not interested in colonial reconstruction under Britain

32. Philadelphia Congress
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee proposed independence
"These United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states..."
Motion was adopted on July 2, 1776
Yet, formal explanation was needed to rally resistance at home and invite foreign nations to aid the American cause, especially France…

33. Committee on Independence
Appointed to prepare an “appropriate statement”
Committee handed it over to TJ
There was discussion and debate on the final version
Especially the clause on slavery, which was removed
Not addressed to England – they didn’t expect a response from the king now
Declaration of Independence formally approved on July 4,

34. Follow Along While We Listen to the Declaration Being Read

35. 3 Main Parts of DOI Preamble (heavily influenced by John Locke)
Stated the rights of colonists to break away if natural rights were not protected: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (property)
Stated "all men are created equal"
List of 27 grievances of the colonies (seen by Congress as most important part)
Underwent the most changes from the original draft changes
Charged King with imposing taxes w/o colonials' consent, eliminating trial by jury, military dictatorship, maintaining standing armies in peacetime, cutting off trade, burning towns, hiring mercenaries, & inciting Indian violence.
Formal declaration of independence
Officially broke ties with England
"United States" officially an independent country