1. Colonial Growing Pains Rebellions And Societal Problems

2. Indentured Servitude Head-right system (right to acquire 50 acres for the passage of each laborer purchased) was used to encourage the importation of servant workers. By 1700, Chesapeake planters had brought 100,000 indentured servants to the area.

3. Fate of the Indentured Servant As the colonial population grew & “masters” acquired more land, they grew reluctant to give up land as part of the “freedom dues”. Servants that misbehaved often had time added onto their original service contract. After formal freedom servants may only have the choice to work for very low wages for the person who “freed” them.

4. Moving to the Interior With the prime land being owned by planters, freemen moved west to the interior. Mostly single young men –Frustrated by their broken hopes of acquiring land –Gnawing failure to find single women to marry

5. Bacon’s Rebellion (1675-1676) Read the handout on Bacon’s Rebellion What was the result when Bacon & Gov. Berkeley offered freedom to both black & white servants if they joined their cause? Why is Bacon’s Rebellion referred to as a “civil war”?

6. New York Slave Revolt (1712) Condemned to a life “under the lash”, slaves naturally longed for freedom. The first slave revolt occurred in New York. –9 whites were killed –Execution of 21 blacks –Some were burned at the stake over a slow fire.

7. Stono Rebellion (1739) Read the Stono Rebellion handout. Why do you think Spain, with its history of slavery & maltreatment of indigenous people, would offer slaves of South Carolina freedom if they came to Florida?

8. Growth in New England Puritans were gradually dispersed to outlying farms, far from the control of church & neighbors. Passage of time dampened the 1st generation’s flaming religious zeal. –Decline in conversions & testimonials by people that had received God’s grace Half-Way Covenant- agreement between the church & its adherents to admit to baptism the children of baptized but not yet converted existing members.

9. Witches in Salem A group of adolescent girls claimed to have been “bewitched” by an older woman. Led to a hysterical “witch hunt” which resulted in the trials & guilty verdicts of 20 individuals. –19 hanged, 1 pressed to death, & 2 dogs were hanged

10. The Accused Generally propertied women Most came from families associated with Salem’s burgeoning market economy –Accusers were from subsistence farming families –Reflected the widening social stratification of New England Ended in 1693 when the governor’s wife was accused. –Pardoned those already accused –20 years later, MA legislature annulled the “convictions” & made reparations to their heirs.

11. Leisler’s Rebellion (1689-1691) Animosity between “lordly landholders” and aspiring merchants in New York City. –Ill-starred & bloody –Resulted with the merchants gaining nothing

12. Laws Against the Poorer Folks Massachusetts 1651, law prohibited poor people from “wearing gold or silver lace” 18th century Virginia tailor was fined & jailed for arranging to race his horse –A sport only for gentlemen In the early American wilderness, equality & democracy found fertile soil –For white people only

13. Appointment 1 Question Given the conditions and the sense of isolation in a colony like Virginia, was there a real concern around this emerging class of white and black workers who begin to become a threat? Do you feel that that has anything to do with why it begins to start shifting towards an enslaved class?

14. Appointment 2 Question Given that there is a situation of black and white indentured servants, how did they begin to interact or deal with one another? Is there any sense of commonality that crosses over differences of race or ethnicity?

15. Appointment 3 Question How was the denial of Christianity used to justify slavery? What are some of the issues that begin to start changing the colony towards an enslaved labor force, versus the indentured labor force?

16. Appointment 4 Question What was the impact of that rebellion at that time, and how did it transform ideas about slavery for South Carolina and the nation?