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Colonial Life

Colonial Life. Creation of an “American Identity” in the Era of Benign Neglect. I. Restoration Colonies. A. Middle Colonies. 1. Middle colonies NY, NJ, PENN, DEL, MD 2. Multicultural, tolerant Dutch influence. B. Southern (Proprietary). Carolinas 1670s race ratio Georgia 1732

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Colonial Life

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  1. Colonial Life Creation of an “American Identity” in the Era of Benign Neglect

  2. I. Restoration Colonies

  3. A. Middle Colonies 1. Middle colonies NY, NJ, PENN, DEL, MD 2. Multicultural, tolerant Dutch influence

  4. B. Southern (Proprietary) • Carolinas 1670srace ratio • Georgia1732 social experimentbuffer zone Oglethorpe

  5. II. Communities of Trade

  6. A. Lower South • World contact1730s - rice & indigo production • Absentee landlords Caribbean influenceSea Islands

  7. B. Chesapeake • Market agriculture tobacco imports

  8. C. New England • Least dependent on Britain 2. Net exporter timber, fish to West Indies Slave trade

  9. D. Middle Colonies • Breadbasket • Cosmopolitan centersNY, Philadelphia • “Best poor man’s country”

  10. III. Community & Work

  11. A. Planter Society • Early 1700s: white labor drying up Pressure to move west 2. Growth of slavery1700: 13%1776: 40%

  12. 3. American patriarchy paterfamilias

  13. 4. Few population centers 5. Lack of skilled (free) labor Labor Ideology

  14. B. Slave Culture • Seasoning / isolation

  15. 2. CommunitylanguagesGullah “Mus tek cyear a de root fa heal de tree.” - religion participatory equality before God

  16. 3. Culture as resistance Culture of resistance Stono Rebellion, 1739

  17. 4. The Price of Slavery militant culture gender gap limited economic development limited democratization

  18. C. Northern/Middle colonies • New opportunitieseconomic status

  19. 2. Population explosion 1688: 225K 1775: 2.5M 500K (black) • Why?- cheap land, tolerance, skilled labor • Ethnic diversity Scots-Irish, Welsh, Germans, French

  20. Colonial experience, American identity Interdependence ties together colonies Social patterns erode European traditions Opportunities add to sense of entitlement

  21. The Enlightenment in America

  22. I. 1700s: Age of Reason “Enlightenment” The search for rational basis of law, government, education, philosophy, nature.

  23. A. 1500s-1600s: Religion • Waroppressionextremism Divine Right of Kings

  24. B. Rational self-interest • Intellectuals repulsed by Salem • “Self-made” mensouthern planters, northern merchants, free farmers

  25. C. Rational appeal • Rationalism/skepticism 2. Optimism 3. Natural Law

  26. D. The English Connection 1. Isaac Newton 1687 – Principia Mathematica Natural Law Religious authority

  27. 2. John Locke Glorious Revolution 1689 – Essay Concerning Human Understanding “tabula rasa”

  28. 1690 – Two Treatises on Government Contract Theory “Natural Rights” Life, Liberty, Property English Liberalism

  29. II. Empire of Reason

  30. A. Intelligentsia 1. Urban dwellers/planters

  31. B. Churches • Deism Harvard theologians - “liberal” ProtestantismInnate evil? Innate authority?

  32. C. American perspective • Tradition v. usefulnesspragmatism Benjamin Franklin • active, confident, improving • Voluntary Associations • Self-education • Social improvement

  33. The First Great Awakening

  34. A. Revivals 1734-1775 1. Anglicans = George Whitfield Methodists = John Wesley Presbyterians = Gilbert Tennant

  35. 2. Jonathan EdwardsSinners in the Hands of an Angry God, 1741 - revive Calvinism God-centered universe predestination America cannot shirk its destiny - detested “money-grubbers” moral relativism

  36. B. Causes • Economic frustration / competition“River Gods” • Women

  37. C. Revivalism • American-style Protestantismalways looking for converts 2. Blends religion & politics 1760s Connecticut: Old Lights v. New Lights

  38. 3. Denominationalism: religious pluralism- end of state-supported churches - revivals split churches - breaks political power of churches

  39. D. Cultural basis of Revolution • Required no education: egalitarian • Gave poorer, rural colonists commonexperience • Experience was anti-authoritarian

  40. 4. Gave colonists common enemySatan “Millennialism” King of France (Catholic) King of England

  41. The Seven Years War,1756-63 War for Empire and the Rise of American Nationalism

  42. I. Background Britain & France Colonial / mercantile competition

  43. A. Distinctive colonization • British have numbers • French have more Indian allies • British colonists imbued w/ Millennialism

  44. B. An “American” conflict • 1754 – Albany Plan of Unionbased on Iroquois Confederacy • Unification fails Britain’s responsibility

  45. 3. 1757 – Pitt the Elder“at His Majesty’s Expense” 30,000 British troops20,000 colonial (militias) 4. Appeal crossed class boundaries

  46. II. Course of the War

  47. A. British losses • 1758 – negotiations w/ Eastern Tribes

  48. B. British successes 1. 1759, Quebec 1760, Montreal

  49. 2. Treaty of Paris, 1763

  50. C. Angry colonists • Pontiac’s Rebellion, 1762-64 2. Proclamation Line of 1763

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