1. Colonial Growth
Chapter 4

2. Life in the Colonies (pg 103)
Vocabulary:
Subsistence farming
Triangular trade
Middle Passage
Diversity
Cash crop
Tidewater
Backcountry
Overseer

3. Colonial Growth (103)
In the 1700s the population of rose dramatically. . .
Europeans:
1700 = 250,000
1775 = 2.5 million
Africans:
1700 = 28,000
1775 = 500,000

4. New England Colonies (103-104)
Most lived in well organized towns
Farming = main economic activity
New England farms smaller than southern colonies
subsistence farming:
Produced just enough to meet the needs of their family
Whole family worked on the farms: spinning yarn, preserving fruit, milking cows, fencing fields, sowing and harvesting crops, etc…

5. Commerce in New England (104)
Small businesses: lumber mills, blacksmiths, shoemakers, furniture makers, gunsmiths, metal smiths, and printers
Shipbuilding
Fishing

6. Triangular Trade (104-105) Colonies trade with West Indies:
Fish, grain, meat, lumber – sugar, molasses, and fruit
Colonist used molasses to make rum. . .
Ship rum and manufactures goods to West Africa in return for enslaved Africans
Enslaves Africans shipped back to the West Indies (and eventually the colonies) to work on plantations

7. The Middle Passage (105)
Middle Passage = shipping enslaved Africans to the West Indies
Equiano, an enslaved African, described the passage as such:
“I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such. . .[an odor] in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life. . .The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. . .The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror.”

8. Slave Ship

9. “Amazing Grace” 4feet by 18 inches Ch6 2.25 ish describe journey
Ch slave ship Ch

10. The Middle Colonies (106)
Had more fertile soil and a milder climate than New England
Cultivated larger plots of land and produced bigger harvests
Grew cash crops, like wheat, that could be sold in markets both in the colonies and abroad
New York and Philadelphia (both important port cities) became the largest cities in the colonies

11. Industries in the Middle Colonies (106)
New Jersey and Pennsylvania = big industry
Iron mills (later steel production)
Commercial industries such as lumbering, mining, manufacturing

12. German Immigration (107) Most of the 100,000 Germans who
came to colonial America settled
in Pennsylvania
Brought over European farming methods = successful
The German immigrants along with the Dutch, Swedes, and other non-English immigrants gave the Middle Colonies diversity ( or variety)not found in New England
With diversity comes tolerance!

13. The Southern Colonies (107)
Rich soil and warm climate = perfect for large cash crop farming
Because the Southern Colonies had a very successful agricultural industry they had no need to develop commerce and industry
(this separates them
economically from the
North)

14. Tobacco and Rice (107) Tobacco = cash crop of Maryland and Virginia
Required a great deal of labor
Originally used indentured servants but when they became scarce and expensive planters began using enslaved Africans
Large plantation owners become VERY wealthy
Rice = cash crop of South Carolina and Georgia
Because harvesting rice was so labor intensive planters relied on slave labor
Rice = more profitable than tobacco
South Carolina and Georgia had fastest growing economies in the colonies

15. Tidewater and Backcountry (107)
Most large Southern plantations were located in the Tidewater, or the region of flat low-lying plains along the sea coast
Plantations were often located along rivers for better shipping access
West of the Tidewater lay the backcountry, a region of hills and forest leading up to the Appalachian Mountains
Grew corn and tobacco on smaller farms
Relied little on slave labor
(this will be important when we study the Civil War!)

16. Plantation Owners vs. Backcountry
Backcountry farmers out number plantation owners.
But. . .
Plantation owners have more wealth and influence
Plantation owners control the political and economic spheres of Southern colonial life
(this is important!)

17. Slavery (108)
Most enslaved Africans worked on plantations either working in the house or in the fields
Hired overseers, or field bosses, to keep the slaves working hard
Often used fear and violence
All Southern Colonies had slave codes governing the behavior and punishment of slaves
Could not leave plantation without permission
Could not be taught to read and write
Whipped for minor offenses
Hung or burned for serious crimes
--Resulted in a race based society

18. African Traditions (109) Families torn apart by slavery
Found strength in their African traditions
Developed a unique culture based on the languages, customs, and religions of the West African homelands mixed with the English way of life
Some enslaved Africans were able to learn a trade and buy their freedom

19. Anti-Slavery Movements (109)
Not all colonists believed in slavery
Many Puritans and Quakers refused to own slaves
Began abolitionist movement
The debate over slavery would eventually be one of the main causes for a bloody civil war –North vs. South