1. Essential Question:
How did differences in values affect distinct American subcultures in the Chesapeake, Southern, New England, & Middle colonies?

2. Life in 17th Century English Colonies
The Economic, Social, & Political Culture of the English Colonies

3. What did the English colonies look like in 1650?

4. What did the English colonies look like by 1700?

5. Colonial Society in the 17th Century:
New England

6. Families in New England
Possibly the 1st society in history to reasonably expect to live long enough to see their grandchildren
New England society was much more stable than other colonies:
New England Puritans migrated to America as families
Marriage was easy as most people shared common values
Colonists lived longer due to more a dispersed population, purer water, & a cooler climate
New England “invented” grandparents
Towns became networks of intermarried families 3

7. 17th Century Life Expectancy

8. Education in New England
NE towns regarded education as fundamental family responsibility; towns began to create elementary schools funded with local taxes:
NE had, by far, the highest literacy rate in America
In 1638, Harvard became America’s first college 4

9. Women in New England Was the colonial era the “golden age” for women?
Women contributed to society as wives & mothers, devout church members, & ran small-scale farms
But were not equals with men:
Women could not legally own or sell property; divorce was difficult
Women did what “God ordained” 5

10. Social Hierarchy in New England
NE churches focused on its members; outsiders were not welcomed & often moved away
Local gentry of religiously devout families guided town meetings
Large population of yeomen farmers loyal to the local community
Servants were common in NE but not like indentured servitude in Chesapeake. Servants were typically children of families forced to work for neighbors by their parents to begin an “apprenticeship” for life. Thus, this servitude was not exploited like Chesapeake indentured servants were.
Small population of landless laborers, servants, & poor

11. Colonial Society in the 17th Century:
The Chesapeake

12. Women in Chesapeake Society
Scarcity in #’s gave some women bargaining power in the marriage market; allowed some women to improve their social status
But women were vulnerable:
sexual exploitation
Childbearing was dangerous
Chesapeake women died 20 years earlier than women in NE 9

13. Families in the Chesapeake
“Normal, English” family life was impossible in Virginia:
70-85% of immigrants were young male indentured servants
High death rate (average age was years lower than NE)
One married spouse often died within a decade
Children often never knew their parents (let alone grandparents) 8

14. Social Hierarchy in the Chesapeake
The plantation gentry dominated society & the House of Burgesses
Yeoman farmers were the largest class; Came as indentured servants; most lived on edge of poverty
Tobacco was the basis of wealth & cause of social inequalities
Indentured servants were often mistreated & cheated out of land
African slaves

15. Chesapeake Culture
By 1680, social mobility in the Chesapeake was limited:
An American-born elite class had emerged (this social aristocracy was absent earlier)
The plantation economy & ownership of slaves allowed the gentry to produce more tobacco
High death rates halted the development of schools & towns

16. Colonial Society in the 17th Century:
African Slaves

17. The Roots of Slavery
The importation of African slaves was based on a “need” for labor:
Native Americans made poor slaves because they were decimated by European disease
Indentured servant-pool waned after 1660
An estimated 11 million slaves (mostly males) were brought to the English American colonies 13

18. The Roots of Slavery
Slaves were originally treated as indentured servants but the growing black population in VA by 1672 prompted stricter slave laws:
Africans were defined as slaves for life; permanent slave status was passed on to slave children
By 1700, slavery was based exclusively on skin color
Could even be used as collateral for loans.
Some slaves upon their “indentured” release went on to become successful plantation owners—although this was extremely rare; Slavery was justified because colonists were Christianizing Africans 13

19. Origins & Destinations of African Slaves, 1619-1760

20. Free & enslaved blacks were much less numerous in NE & Middle colonies
The Slave Population
Free & enslaved blacks were much less numerous in NE & Middle colonies
40% in VA
60% in SC
In the Chesapeake & Southern colonies with large black populations, slaves found it easier to maintain their African culture
By 1720, the African population became self-sustaining:
Fertility rates exceeded immigration rates for the 1st time
Did not occur in the Caribbean or in South America 14

21. The Slave Population
150 blacks rose up & seized munitions hold killed & killed several white planters
Widespread resentment of their slave status led to resistance in the 18th Century:
Armed resistance such as the Stono Rebellion of 1739 (SC)
In 1741, 106 slaves were hung or deported due to a rumor that slaves planned to burn NYC
Runaway slaves were common 16

22. The Colonial Economy in the 17th Century:
Commercial Empire

23. Economic Diversity of the English Colonies

25. Rise of a Commercial Empire
English gov’t largely ignored the colonies until the 1650s (salutary neglect); The colonies were not state-funded nor state protected
But…Charles II initiated colonial intervention in 1660 to maximize exports, decrease imports, & generate more gov’t revenue 17

26. Response to Economic Competition
“Enumerated goods” (tobacco, sugar, cotton, rice, rosin, tar) could only be sent to English ports
“Mercantilism” became the blueprint for England’s empire:
Wanted more money & a favorable balance of trade
Wanted to eliminate Dutch rivals
Wanted a stronger navy
Began to restrict colonial trade:
Navigation Act of 1660
Navigation Act of 1663
No ship could trade in colonies unless it was made in England
Goods shipped to English colonies must pass through England (Increased the price paid by colonial consumers)
but gov’t regulations emerge as individual responses to particular problems rather than an integrated agenda

27. Implementing the Acts
NE merchants found loopholes to avoid paying taxes so the English made more restrictions (Am. Tradition!)
In 1696, created a Board of Trade to oversee colonial trade
Created maritime courts to mediate disputes
The Navigation Acts eventually benefited the colonial merchants & smuggling virtually ended (stay tuned!) 20

28. Colonial Factions Spark Political Revolt, 1676-1691

29. Colonial Factions Spark Revolt
The English colonies began to experience unrest at the end of the 17th Century:
This unrest was not a social revolution (or a forecast of the American Rev) but a contest between colonial “ins” & “outs”
Bacons’ Rebellion, King Philip’s War & witchcraft panic 21

30. Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia
Former indentured servants living in the VA frontier suffered due to:
Poor tobacco prices in 1660s
Indian attacks in 1675
These farmers blamed VA’s royal governor Berkeley who did little to help; Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion in 1676 against Berkeley & was joined by small farmers, blacks, & women 22

31. Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia
The rebellion ended after Bacon’s death (dysentery) but the rebellion convinced VA gentry that:
Indentured servants were destined to become rebellious
African slaves were a better solution than rebellious whites because slaves had no ambitions for political power
Big Picture: Showed the potential power of lower class masses

32. Bacon’s Rebellion

33. King Philip’s War
In 1675, Metacomet (“King Philip”) led the Wampanoag Indians against NE colonists:
1,000+ Indians & colonists died
Large war debt led James II to annul the Mass Bay charter & create the “Dominion of New England” by combining Mass, Conn, RI, Plymouth, NY, NJ, & NH under a new royal charter under Gov. Edmund Andros 23

34. King Philip’s War

36. Dominion of New England
Edmund Andros was hated by Puritans, moderates, & merchants
Andros vigorously enforced Navigation Acts; made town meetings illegal; collected unapproved taxes
In 1689, Andros was deposed when William & Mary began reign
Massachusetts was given a new charter that incorporated Plymouth but shifted power from the “elect" to those with property
Andros vigorously enforced Navigation Acts; made town meetings illegal; collected unapproved taxes 24

37. Witchcraft in New England
Charges of witchcraft were common in New England
But the “Salem panic” of 1691 led to 20 public executions before the trials were halted in 1692
Possible causes:
argument over church ministers
poor farmers accusing rich farmers to gain land
reactions to independent women 26

38. Salem Witch Trials

39. Conclusions
By 1700:
England’s attitude toward the colonies had changed dramatically
Sectional differences within the colonies were profound
All the colonies were all part of Great Britain but had little to do with each other

40. Discussion Question: How unified were the English colonies?
Are these colonies one society or four?
Explain with evidence
Consider political, economic, & social characteristics