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Colonial Society

Colonial Society. Social expectations spread from Europe: men superior to women, wealthy superior to the poor.

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Colonial Society

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  1. Colonial Society • Social expectations spread from Europe: men superior to women, wealthy superior to the poor. • Gentry – men & women wealthy enough to hire others to work for them. Wore wigs (unmistakable sign of status), silk stockings, fashionable hats. Also known as “gentle folk” or “gentlemen”. • Devoted most of their time “displaying” their status – strolling the streets, building mansions, supervised labor.

  2. Skilled Class • Artisans – silversmiths, pottery makers, glassware makers • Printers – gathered and circulated news • Farmers/Fishermen – reputation for being tough, thrifty, conservative. • Women – Under English law, a woman was under her husband’s control (or father’s). Her class depended on his. Many worked hard cooking, gardening, weaving, and rearing children.

  3. Benjamin Franklin • Printed annual additions of Poor Richard’s Almanac from 1732 to 1757. Weather predictions, calendars, advice, etc. • Retired from printing in his 40s and spent his life studying science and politics. In 1752, he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove the electrical nature of lightening. • Also invented bifocal glasses.

  4. Colonial Education • Attendance at school not required. Protestants pushed children to read the Bible. • In 1647, Massachusetts passed a law requiring every town w/ 50 families to hire a schoolmaster to teach reading & writing. Towns with 100 or more families offered a grammar school w/ Greek & Latin. • Many boys became apprentices for skilled crafts. • Colleges– typically for the wealthy: • Harvard (Boston, MA) – 1636, • William & Mary (Williamsburg, VA) – 1693, • Yale (Connecticut) - 1701

  5. Changing South • Between 1690 and 1760, South shifted from a frontier society w/ a surplus of males to a region bustling w/ native-born families and newly developed plantations. • Population quadrupled. Virginia remained the largest colony with 340,000 • Families began to stretch south and Georgia was founded in 1732 as a debtor’s haven and buffer to Spanish Florida.

  6. Slavery in the North Slaves & indentured servants made up much of income people after 1713. Slaves made up <10% of population in northern colonies, 4% in most. Usually labored alone, under less repressive condition than southern slaves. Most commonly found in wealthy port cities. Over 40% of NYC households owned slaves by 1700.

  7. Slavery in the South From 1700 to 1775, more than 350,000 African slaves entered the colonies. By 1760, slaves made up 1/5 of Southern population. With high populations on plantations, many worked to keep native beliefs, form kinships. Many spoke Gullah – a “pidgin” mixing of English and African languages.

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