1. Colonial Society in the 17th Century

2. Southern Families - 1600’s u Men outnumbered women. u Most immigrants died young.

3. u Family structure was weak. u Native born slowly acquired immunities and more women arrived.

4. Population Growth u By the 1700’s Virginia was the largest colony with 59,000 people. u Maryland was third after Massachusetts.

5. The Tobacco Economy u Chesapeake land was excellent for growing tobacco. u Tobacco exports brought wealth to planters. u Prices decreased - so planters increased acreage of tobacco.

6. Indentured Servants u the Indians were an unreliable work force - they died in such large numbers. u African slaves cost too much money.

7. u families grew too slowly to provide a natural population increase.

8. Headright System u person paying passage of servant got 50 acres - large plantations grew. u 3/4 of immigrants to VA and MD were indentured servants.

9. u Conditions got worse for servants over time. u Fewer had the opportunities fo the earlier immigrants.

10. Bacon’s Rebellion u Impoverished former servants wandered without land or work.

11. u 1670 - Laws took away their franchise.

12. u 1676 - Nathaniel Bacon leads an uprising against Governor Berkeley and the planters.

13. Reasons for rebellion u Landless men pushed westward into the frontier. u Westward migration caused problems with the Indians.

14. u Governor Berkeley refused to intervene for the settlers.

15. WHY? u Because Governor Berkeley controlled the monopoly on the fur trade with the Indians.

16. The Outcome u Berkeley is chased from Jamestown and the town burned.

17. u Bacon dies of smallpox - 20 rebels are hung. u Rebellion ends.

18. Consequences. u Ignites conflict between frontiersmen and the Tidewater Aristocracy.

19. u Led to an increase in reliance on African slaves who could be more easily controlled.

20. Colonial Slavery u 1619 - first slaves brought to Virginia by the Dutch.

21. u 1670 - only 7% of the southern population was black.

22. u Most colonists could not afford slaves.

23. 1670’s and `80s. u 1676 - Bacon’s Rebellion. u 1680’s - wages increased in England. u Planters feared the poor whites.

24. u Blacks outnumbered whites as servants by the late 1680s. u 1698 - The Royal African Company lost its monopoly on the slave trade.

25. u Newport, Rhode Island and Charleston, South Carolina became major slave ports. u The trade in African slaves increased dramatically by the 1700’s.

26. The Slave Trade u 10 million or more Africans were captured by Slave Traders. u About 400,000 black slaves were sold in North America.

27. The Middle Passage u Most African-Americans were brought to this country from the west coast of Africa.

28. u They were branded and herded into the foul cargo holds of slave ships and in many cases one out every five died enroute.

29. u The survivors were forced to give up their names, their families, their tribes, their language and their religion.

30. u By 1750, African slaves made up nearly half of Virginia’s population. u A few slaves eventually gained their freedom and made their way into white society.

31. Slave Codes u Laws made slaves chattel for life. u Slave marriages were not recognized.

32. u Many states outlawed teaching slaves to read and write.

33. African influence in American Culture u words, dances, styles of rhythm. u Bongo drums, banjos.

34. Slave Revolts u The few that occurred were brutally put down.

35. The Southern Social Structure u Concentration of property and wealth saw the creation of a “hierarchy of wealth” over time.

36. Social Structure u The Great Planters = American “gentlemen” - for example the FFV’s of Virginia.

37. u Small Farmers = “middlin’ “ or “yeomen” farmers with few acres and few slaves. It was the largest social group.

38. u Landless whites = most of them former indentured servants. u Indentured servants. u Black slaves.

39. South was predominantly rural. u few cities developed in the south.

40. u Large plantations were separated by distance and connected by waterways.

41. u Small farms had few acres and little access to major streams.

42. u The hinterland and mountain valleys were slowly occupied by log cabins surrounded by stumps and threatened by Indian raids.

43. u The Appalachian mountains became the geographic goal of the adventurous poor.

44. u Many Scots-Irish migrated to the frontier.

46. New England Society u better climate made for longer life spans. u New Englanders tended to migrate as family units.

47. u New England population began to grow by natural increase. u people married early and had lots of children.

48. u Many women died in childbirth but most survived as many as 10 pregnancies and had as many as eight surviving children.

49. u Large families, longer life spans and extended family groups made for a very strong and stable social structure.

50. New England Towns u New England life centered around small towns and villages.

51. u Towns laid out around a central “commons” with a meeting hall and church.

52. u communities tended to be very tight (tightly controlled?) and the leaders exhibited a high degree of moral concern.

53. u New towns were chartered by Colonial authorities and land was distributed by the town fathers - “proprietors.”

54. Importance of Education. u Towns of more than 50 people had to provide elementary education. u 1636 - Harvard University was founded.

55. u Virginia, on the other hand, did not establish William and Mary College until 1693.

56. The Roots of Democracy. u New England town meetings became a “school of political liberty.”

57. u The decreasing control of the Puritan churches over everyday life increased the level of democracy.

58. More Trouble in Paradise u Fears that the Puritans were losing the initial religious zeal led to the preaching of “Jeremiad” sermons warning the congregations about the loss of piety.

59. The Halfway Covenant u Church leaders became concerned about the lack of new conversions.

60. u They announced the “Halfway Covenant” in 1662.

61. u Congregationalists now allowed non-elect to be members of the church, thereby increasing the level of participation.

62. u Women now made up a larger proportion of Puritan congregations.

63. u The resulting social upheavals led to a weakening of the clergy.

64. The Salem Witch Trials. u Adolescent girls claimed to have been bewitched by older women.

65. u 1692 - a witch hunt began in Salem - 20 people (and 2 dogs) were put to death.

66. u Leading clergy, like Cotton Mather, defended the hysteria and subsequent punishments.

67. u after the passions had subsided, comments and actions by the clergy led to a weakening of their power and influence.

68. u Witch trials, such as Salem’s, were common in Europe and happened in other parts of the colonies.

69. u But the Salem trials are significant as an indicator of the troubles in New England society and for the subsequent weakening of the clergy.

70. New England Life u Farming was the leading occupation of most colonists but was very difficult in New England.

71. u Soils were thin and rocky, the climate was cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and the growing season was short.

72. u New England remained the least ethnically diverse of the colonies and would later be a source of westward migration.

73. The New England Economy u besides farming, other leading economic activities included trading, timber extraction, ship building, shipping and fishing.

74. The Yankee u personal characteristics of the Puritans and New Englanders helped shape the “American Ideal.”

75. u Yankee ingenuity. u Tough, hard-working, thrifty. u The Puritan Ethic.

76. Everyday Life in the Colonies u Farming dominated all of the colonies u people worked from “no light to no light”

77. u Foreign observers always remarked about the sound of the ax - as land clearing was a constant occupation.

78. Gender Division of Labor u Women’s work included -- cooking and preserving, spinning, weaving and sewing, child rearing and often working in the fields.

79. u Men’s jobs included -- hunting, farming, building and clearing land.

80. Life styles u Americans typically lived much better and often longer lives than their European counterparts.

81. Rise of the Middle Class u richest and poorest of Europe did not come to America. u Nor, typically, did the weak, sick or cowardly.

82. u The New England and Middle Colonies developed less class distinctions.

83. u social differences did still exist, however, and gave rise to class conflicts, such as

84. u Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia u The Protestant minority’s uprising against the Catholic proprietors of Maryland.

85. u Leisler’s Rebellion in New York City.