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Chapter 4 AMERICAN LIFE IN THE 17 TH CENTURY
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American wilderness Brutal Disease Malaria, dysentery, typhoid Life expectancy declined Men outnumbered women 6 to 1 Men could not find mates CHESAPEAKE
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Planted tobacco to sell before planting corn to eat Exhausted soil Demand for new land Went further up rivers and pushed west More tobacco = More labor Indentured servants TOBACCO
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Head-right System Servant Workers Paid passage = 50 acres of land 100,000 Indentured servants = 1700 Virginia/ Maryland CONT.
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Freemen = looking for land / Women Governor Berkeley Friendly policies with Native Americans Nathaniel Bacon Looking for untamed land 1,000 broke out of control = 1676 Plundering and Pilfering Civil War in Virginia BACON’S REBELLION
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7 million slaves to New World COLONIAL SLAVERY
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1680’s Black slaves outnumbered whites in plantations colonies Royal African Company = Charter lost Rhode Islanders = Cash in on slave trade 1750 ½ population = Virginia Outnumbered 2 to 1 = S. Carolina CONT.
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Middle Passage Journey from Africa to the West Indies Passage was extremely difficult 20% of the slaves died on the trip COLONIAL SLAVERY
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Slave life severe in deep South Life draining Rice/Indigo Tobacco = less demanding Plantations closer together More contact with other slaves Culture Gullah (Language) Jazz AFRICANS IN AMERICA
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New York Slave Revolt – 1712 9 whites died 21 slaves executed = burned at the stake South Carolina Slave Revolt – 1739 50 slaves Stono River = Spanish Florida CONT.
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Plantation owners ran the South’s economy Monopolized political power Families = Fitzhughs, Lees, Washingtons Dominated House of Burgesses Hard working, businesslike, long hours Small Farmers Largest group Hand to Mouth 1-2 slaves Landless whites Former indentured servants SOUTHERN SOCIETY
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Southern families = economic security for women Men died young Women retain separate title to their property Widows right to inherit CONT.
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Few cities sprouted Life revolved around plantations Waterways = transportation CONT.
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Clean Water, Cool Temperatures Added 10 yrs to life Migrated as families Early marriages Birth Rate increased 10 pregnancies / 8 children Parents / Grandparents NEW ENGLAND
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Women gave up property when married Lawmakers = protect / defend marriages Divorce rare Midwifery Childbirth Female monopoly CONT.
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Tight knit society Puritans = unity of purpose Moral health Distribution of land in hands of proprietors Woodlot, tract (crops), pasture 50 plus = schools Massachusetts Harvard – 1636 Virginians William and Mary – 1693 Congregational Church Government NEW ENGLAND TOWNS
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Jeremiad Doom-saying Scolded parishioners Decline in conversions Half Way Covenant - 1662 Admit to baptism – not full communion Doors to Puritan church swung open CONT.
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Salem Witch Trials – 1692 Massachusetts Witch hunt 20 individuals Gossip Superstitions Property owning Widows Ended in 1693 CONT.
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Less ethically mixed Stony soil /Extreme weather Expert shipbuilders / commerce Codfish “fishy goldmines of New England” Huge impact on the rest of the nation NEW ENGLAND
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Most were farmers Sun up to sun down Women managed the home (plantation) Distinction amongst classes Leisler’s Rebellion – 1689 Lordly landowners against Merchants Gentlemen / dividing class Laws passed to keep them in their place EARLY SETTLERS
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