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The American Colonies in the 1700’s and Mercantilism
AP US -Hamer Unit 2 Mod5
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American Colonial Society in the 1700’s
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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
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90% of population lived in rural areas
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
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Mainly English but more diverse than anywhere else
Diversity Mainly English but more diverse than anywhere else German 6% Scots Irish 7% Others 5% Africans 20% Americans became a new ethnicity
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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
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Jobs of the 1700’s Clergy Physicians Lawyers Agriculture - 90% of the people Shipbuilding and fishing Manufacturing
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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
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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”
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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?
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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
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Not many libraries or individual ownership of books
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
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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…
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Colonial Folkways Hard life Some time for play Many similarities Dirty
Dancing and plays allowed in South (away from Puritans!) Many similarities Some democracy, ethnic and religious toleration, spoke English, mainly Protestant, used to independence
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Introduction to Mercantilism
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Mercantilism What is it? Economic system where the mother country is supposed to profit from her colonies. Colonies supply raw materials to only the mother country Colonies also provide markets for the manufactured goods from the mother country (and only the mother country) Wealth for the mother country is measured in bullion
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Early Mercantilism American colonies could not produce manufactured goods Woolen Act 1699 – No manufacturing of textiles Hat Act 1732 – No manufacturing of hats Iron Act 1750 – No manufacturing of iron products
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Mercantilism Raw Materials Manufactured Goods Colonies Mother Country
By the 1700’s, colonies bought more from the Mother Country than the Mother Country bought from the colonies – leading to a trade imbalance
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Growing Problems with Trade
Trade Imbalance Growing American population demanded more British goods Slow growing British population quickly got saturated with American goods America had no bullion left (it all went to England) American colonies shipped to other countries Also began to buy from other countries The internal American economy was often barter based
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Tightening the Mercantilist System
Molasses Act of 1733 Created by England to get the colonists to stop buying cheaper French Caribbean molasses to make rum Parliament would not end the act in spite of colonial please Colonists got around this with smuggling…this will lead the tone for future conflicts
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Thinking About Mercantilism
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Reading on Mercantilism
p in TAS v1
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Create a T-Chart on how Mercantilism Benefits or Hurts the Colonies
Mercantilism Hurts the Colonies Mercantilism Benefits the Colonies
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