Colonial Society Contrasts: The English Colonies in the 17th Century

1. Essential Question: • How did differences in values affect distinct American subcultures in the Chesapeake, Southern, New England, & Middle colonies?

2. Life in 17th CenturyEnglish Colonies The Economic, Social, & Political Culture of the English Colonies

3. What did the English colonies look like in 1650?

4. What did the English colonies look like by 1700?

5. Colonial Society in the 17th Century: New England

6. Families in New England Possibly the 1st society in history to reasonably expect to live long enough to see their grandchildren • New England society was much more stable than other colonies: • New England Puritans migrated to America as families • Marriage was easy as most people shared common values • Colonists lived longer due to more a dispersed population, purer water, & a cooler climate New England “invented” grandparents Towns became networks of intermarried families

7. 17th Century Life Expectancy

8. Education in New England • NE towns regarded education as fundamental family responsibility; towns began to create elementary schools funded with local taxes: • NE had, by far, the highest literacy rate in America • In 1638, Harvard became America’s first college

9. Women in New England • Was the colonial era the “golden age” for women? • Women contributed to society as wives & mothers, devout church members, & ran small-scale farms • But were not equals with men: • Women could not legally own or sell property; divorce was difficult • Women did what “God ordained”

10. Social Hierarchy in New England NE churches focused on its members; outsiders were not welcomed & often moved away Local gentry of religiously devout families guided town meetings Large population of yeomen farmers loyal to the local community Small population of landless laborers, servants, & poor

11. Colonial Society in the 17th Century: The Chesapeake

12. Families in the Chesapeake • “Normal, English” family life was impossible in Virginia: • 70-85% of immigrants were young male indentured servants • High death rate (average age was 10-20 years lower than NE) • One married spouse often died within a decade • Children often never knew their parents (let alone grandparents)

13. Women in Chesapeake Society • Scarcity gave some women bargaining power in the marriage market; allowed some women to improve their social status • But women were vulnerable: • sexual exploitation • Childbearing was dangerous • Chesapeake women died 20 years earlier than women in NE

14. Social Hierarchy in the Chesapeake The plantation gentry dominated society & the House of Burgesses Tobacco was the basis of wealth & cause of social inequalities Yeoman farmers were the largest class; Came as indentured servants; most lived on edge of poverty Indentured servants were often mistreated & cheated out of land African slaves

15. Chesapeake Culture • By 1680, social mobility in the Chesapeake was limited: • An American-born elite class had emerged (this social aristocracy was absent earlier) • The plantation economy & ownership of slaves allowed the gentry to produce more tobacco • High death rates halted the development of schools & towns

16. Colonial Society in the 17th Century: African Slaves

17. The Roots of Slavery • The importation of African slaves was based on a “need” for labor: • Native Americans made poor slaves because they were decimated by European disease • Indentured servant-pool waned after 1660 • An estimated 11 million slaves (mostly males) were brought to the English American colonies

18. The Roots of Slavery • Slaves were originally treated as indentured servants but the growing black population in VA by 1672 prompted stricter slave laws: • Africans were defined as slaves for life; permanent slave status was passed on to slave children • By 1700, slavery was based exclusively on skin color

19. Origins & Destinations of African Slaves, 1619-1760

20. The Slave Population Free & enslaved blacks were much less numerous in NE & Middle colonies 40% in VA 60% in SC • In the Chesapeake & Southern colonies with large black populations, slaves found it easier to maintain their African culture • By 1720, the African population became self-sustaining: • Fertility rates exceeded immigration rates for the 1st time • Did not occur in the Caribbean or in South America

21. The Slave Population 150 blacks rose up & seized munitions hold killed & killed several white planters • Widespread resentment of their slave status led to resistance in the 18th Century: • Armed resistance such as the Stono Rebellion of 1739 (SC) • In 1741, 106 slaves were hung or deported due to a rumor that slaves planned to burn NYC • Runaway slaves were common

22. The Colonial Economy in the 17th Century: Commercial Empire

23. Economic Diversity of the English Colonies

25. Rise of a Commercial Empire • English gov’t largely ignored the colonies until the 1650s (salutary neglect); The colonies were not state-funded nor state protected • But…Charles II initiated colonial intervention in 1660 to maximize exports, decrease imports, & generate more gov’t revenue

26. Response to Economic Competition “Enumerated goods” (tobacco, sugar, cotton, rice, rosin, tar) could only be sent to English ports • “Mercantilism” became the blueprint for England’s empire: • Wanted more money & a favorable balance of trade • Wanted to eliminate Dutch rivals • Wanted a stronger navy • Began to restrict colonial trade: • Navigation Act of 1660 • Navigation Act of 1663 No ship could trade in colonies unless it was made in England Goods shipped to English colonies must pass through England (Increased the price paid by colonial consumers)

27. Implementing the Acts • NE merchants found loopholes to avoid paying taxes so the English made more restrictions: • In 1696, created a Board of Trade to oversee colonial trade • Created maritime courts to mediate disputes • The Navigation Acts eventually benefited the colonial merchants & smuggling virtually ended

28. Colonial Factions Spark Political Revolt, 1676-1691

29. Colonial Factions Spark Revolt • The English colonies began to experience unrest at the end of the 17th Century: • This unrest was not a social revolution (or a forecast of the American Rev) but a contest between colonial “ins” & “outs” • Bacons’ Rebellion, King Philip’s War & witchcraft panic

30. Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia • Former indentured servants living in the VA frontier suffered due to: • Poor tobacco prices in 1660s • Indian attacks in 1675 • These farmers blamed VA’s royal governor Berkeley who did little to help; Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion in 1676 against Berkeley & was joined by small farmers, blacks, & women

31. Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia • The rebellion ended after Bacon’s death (dysentery) but the rebellion convinced VA gentry that: • Indentured servants were destined to become rebellious • African slaves were a better solution than rebellious whites because slaves had no ambitions for political power

32. Bacon’s Rebellion

33. King Philip’s War • In 1675, Metacomet (“King Philip”) led the Wampanoag Indians against NE colonists: • 1,000+ Indians & colonists died • Large war debt led James II to annul the Mass Bay charter & create the “Dominion of New England” by combining Mass, Conn, RI, Plymouth, NY, NJ, & NH under a new royal charter

34. King Philip’s War

36. Dominion of New England • Edmund Andros was hated by Puritans, moderates, & merchants • In 1689, Andros was deposed when William & Mary began reign • Massachusetts was given a new charter that incorporated Plymouth but shifted power from the “elect" to those with property

37. Witchcraft in New England • Charges of witchcraft were common in New England • But the “Salem panic” of 1691 led to 20 public executions before the trials were halted in 1692 • Possible causes: • argument over church ministers • poor farmers accusing rich farmers to gain land • reactions to independent women

38. Salem Witch Trials

39. Conclusions • By 1700: • England’s attitude toward the colonies had changed dramatically • Sectional differences within the colonies were profound • All the colonies were all part of Great Britain but had little to do with each other

40. Discussion Question: • How unified were the English colonies? • Are these colonies one society or four? • Explain with evidence • Consider political, economic, & social characteristics