EXPERIENCE OF EMPIRE: EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA

1. EXPERIENCE OF EMPIRE: EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA America: Past and Present Chapter 4

2. A New Kind of Society • British culture influenced colonial life • But… • New living conditions • New climate • So… • Adapted old ways to NEW WORLD • American identity was born

3. Social Mobility America Britain Titled Aristocracy Owners of Large Plantations, Merchants Elite Lawyers, Merchants, Doctors, Clergy, Tradespeople, Craftspeople Lawyers, Merchants, Doctors, Clergy, Tradespeople, Craftspeople, Free Workers, Poor Farmers Middle Servants, Laborers, the Poor White Servants Low Slaves

4. Social Mobility • American colonies • Had no titled aristocracy • A large middle class • A huge underclass of slaves • Greater opportunities in America allowed poor colonists to rise into the middle ranks

5. Colonial Life

6. Life of the Young American families were large New England- 6 to 8 children More children = more farm workers Age 13- boys became apprentices Would receive education, food, clothing, lodging in exchange for work 4-7 years for free then could work for wages or start own business Girls learned to sew and other household skills Age 13- girls sent away to learn special skills Weaving Cheese making

7. Education and Literacy American Colonies had a higher rate of literacy than England New England- 80% of white men were literate England- 60% of white men were literate Middle Colonies- 65% Southern- 50% Most thought it was more important for men to be educated ½ as many women were literate in each region Illegal to teach enslaved Africans to read Children were taught to read so that they could understand the Bible New England had free public schools

8. Growth and Diversity • 1700-1750--colonial population rises from 250,000 to over two million • Much growth through natural increase • Large influx of non-English Europeans

9. Distribution of European and African Immigrants

10. Ethnic Cultures of the Backcountry • 800 miles along Appalachian Range from western Pennsylvania to western Georgia • Already populated by Native Americans and African Americans • Large influx of European immigrants in the eighteenth century

11. Scotch-Irish Flee English Oppression • Many from Northern Ireland • Concentrate on the Pennsylvania frontier and Shenandoah Valley • Often regarded as a disruptive element

12. What were the Scots-Irish like? Most settlers in backcountry had been forced west Troubled region/history Hostile environment gave SI survival skills that were useful in the Backcountry Suffered drought, rent increases, and persecution by Church Clans banded together and were extremely protective

13. Germans Search for a Better Life • Fled from warfare in Germany • Admired as peaceful, hard-working farmers • Tried to preserve German language, customs • Aroused the prejudice of English neighbors

14. Convict Settlers • Transportation Act of 1718 allows judges to send convicted felons to American colonies • 50,000 convicts to America 1718-1775 • some felons were dangerous criminals • most committed minor crimes against property • life difficult for transported convicts • British praise system, colonists deplore it

15. Native Americans Stake Out a Middle Ground • Many eastern Indians moved into trans-Appalachian region • a "middle ground" where no colonial power was yet established • Remnants of different Indian peoples regrouped, formed new nations

16. Spanish Borderlands of the Eighteenth Century • Spain occupied a large part of America north of Mexico since sixteenth century • Range from Florida Peninsula to California • Indian resistance, lack of interest limited Spanish presence • Never a secure political or military hold on borderlands

17. Peoples of the Spanish Borderlands • Slow growth of Spanish population in borderlands • Spanish influence architecture, language • Spanish influence over Native Americans • Spanish exploit native labor • Indians live in proximity to Spanish as despised lower class • Indians resist conversion to Catholicism

18. The Spanish Borderlands, ca. 1770

19. The Impact of European Ideas on American Culture • Change in eighteenth-century colonies • Growth of urban cosmopolitan culture • Aggressive participation in consumption

20. Provincial Cities • Urban areas included Boston, Newport, New York, Philadelphia, and Charles Town • Economies were geared to commerce • Cities attract colonists seeking opportunity

21. Economic Transformation • Rising demand for English, West Indian goods • Colonists paid for imports by • exporting tobacco, wheat, and rice • purchasing on credit • Dependence on commerce led to colonial resentment of English regulations • England restricted colonial manufacture or trade of timber, sugar, hats, and iron.

22. American Enlightenment • An intellectual movement stressing reasoned investigation of beliefs and institutions • optimistic view of human nature • view cosmos as orderly result of natural laws • belief in perfectibility of the world • search for practical ways of improving life • Mixed reception in America

23. The Enlightenment Enlightenment emphasized human reason and science as the path to knowledge Benjamin Franklin was an important figure Challenged social practices Valued equality and justice Began in Europe but soon influenced American colonists

24. The Enlightenment John Locke Challenged the belief that kings had God-given powers Citizens had the right to change their government if it does not protect their natural rights Natural Rights Life Liberty Property Belief in Progress Citizens can improve society and the world Optimistic hope for future Sparked political debate in colonies Began to see British government as a threat to their rights and freedoms

25. Religious Revivals in Provincial Societies • The Great Awakening was a series of revivals • revival: a phenomenon among Protestant Christians characterized by large meetings where large numbers experience religious conversion in response to gifted preaching • People began to rethink basic assumptions about church and state, institutions and society

26. The Great Awakening • Awakening occurred among many denominations in different places at different times • New England in the 1730s, Virginia in the 1750s and 1760s • Jonathan Edwards was a prominent minister during this time • His sermons encouraged people to examine their eternal destiny

27. The Voice of Popular Religion • George Whitefield symbolized the revivals • Whitefield preached outdoor sermons to thousands of people in nearly every colony • Itinerants disrupted established churches • Laypeople, including women and blacks, gain chance to shape their own religious institutions • The Awakening promoted a democratic, evangelical union of national extent

28. Religious Revival Both movements (Great Awakening and Enlightenment) offered people ways of changing themselves and their world The Great Awakening Inside emotions were more important than outward actions Jonathan Edwards promised that everyone could be saved- attracted many crowds Offered hope for every person Many argued about religious practices The established church grew weaker

29. Religion and Social Change In the South… The Great Awakening threatened the social system by focusing on equality African Americans were baptized Baptist congregations welcomed African Americans and Native Americans Allowed slaves to preach and women to speak in church Other ministers taught Christianity and reading to Native Americans and African Americans

30. The Great Awakening Helped to develop American identity by encouraging a belief in spiritual equality Inspired religious debate, which increased religious diversity Encouraged colonists to challenge authority and question religious practices It became easier to challenge and question other social and political traditions Laid the groundwork for the revolt against British power

31. Clash of Political Cultures • Colonists attempted to emulate British political institutions • Effort led to discovery of how different they were from the English people

32. The English Constitution • The British Constitution universally admired • not a written document, but a system of government based on statute and common law • Believed to balance monarchy, aristocracy and democracy • Balance believed to guarantee liberties

33. The Reality of British Politics • Less than 20% of English males could vote • Members of Parliament notorious for corruption and bribery • “Commonwealthmen” criticized corruption, urged return to truly balanced constitution

34. Land, Wealth, and Rights • Only 5% of population in England owned land • Owning land gave colonists- • Political rights • Prosperity • Many Americans had the right to vote

35. Governing the Colonies: The American Experience • Colonists attempt to model England’s balanced constitution • Royal governors • most incompetent • most bound by instructions from England • possessed little patronage for buying votes • little power to force their will • Governors’ councils steadily lose influence

36. Colonial Assemblies • Elected officials depended on popular sentiment • Assemblies more interested in pleasing constituents than in obeying the governor • Assemblies controlled all means of raising revenue • Assemblies jealously guarded their rights • Assemblies held more popular support than governor

37. Colonial Assemblies (2) • Commerce, communication, religion broaden colonists’ horizons by 1754 • Colonial law courts increasingly adopt English usage • Growing awareness of ideas, institutions, problems shared with England, each other

38. Century of Imperial War • British Americans increasingly drawn into European conflict during eighteenth century • Main opponents: France and Spain • British colonies militarily superior to New France but ineffective

39. North America, 1750

40. King William's and Queen Anne's Wars • King William’s War (1689-1697): French frontier raids on New York, New England • Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713): French frontier raids on North, Spanish South • Wars settled nothing • France subsequently extended its American empire from Canada into Louisiana

41. King George's War and Its Aftermath • Fought 1743-1748 • Embroiled colonists more extensively than earlier wars • 1745--New England troops captured Fort Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island • 1748--Louisbourg returned to France by Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle • 1750s--fresh conflict over Ohio Valley

42. Albany Congress and Braddock's Defeat • Albany Congress, 1754--Benjamin Franklin propose plan for a central government • Albany Plan disliked by English and Americans, fails • 1755--General Edward Braddock leads force to drive French from Ohio Valley • Braddock’s army ambushed, destroyed

44. Seven Years' War • 1756--England declares war on France • Prime Minister William Pitt leads English to concentrate on North America • 1759--Quebec captured • 1763--Peace of Paris cedes to Great Britain all North America east of Mississippi

45. Europeans in Native American Lands French and English had rival empires Competition often led to war French claimed Ohio River valley, Mississippi River Valley, and the Great Lakes Region- New France Many were fur traders

46. Native American Alliances English competed with French for furs Native American groups competed to supply the furs Fur trade created alliances The alliances dragged the partners into each others wars

47. War Begins and Spreads British colonists began moving west of the Appalachian Mountains into French territory Tensions grew French sent troops to remove the British Governor of Virginia sent 21 yr old George Washington to tell the French to leave

48. War in the Ohio River Valley Washington led a surprise attack French responded with an attack on Washington’s Fort Necessity War had begun Albany Plan of Union- Benjamin Franklin

49. Braddock’s Defeat Washington and General Braddock marched to French Fort Dusquesne with 2000 men 8 miles before the Fort, Native Americans and French troops surprise attacked the British Braddock was defeated and killed Americans were stunned by the losses and many others in the next 2 years

50. Quebec Falls Battle of Quebec A turning point in the war Fierce battle in which the British led a surprise attack against the French Britain and France battled Treaty of Paris was signed Ended nearly all French control in North America Expanded Britain’s colonial empire