Life in the English Colonies

1. Life in the English Colonies Section

2. Chronology (Copy Down) • 1619-Viriginas First Assembly (House of Burgesses) • 1651-1696The First Navigation Acts • 1730-Great Awakening • 1733-Molasses Act • 1754-1763 French-Indian War • 1763-The Proclamation Act

3. If you were there… Your family migrated to America in the 1700s and started a small farm in western Pennsylvania. Now, more and more people are moving in. You would like to move farther west, into the Ohio River valley. But a new law says you cannot move west of the mountains because it is too dangerous. Still, you are restless and want more land and more freedom. Why might you decide to break the law and move west?

4. Colonial Governments • The English Colonies had their own governments. • Each government was given power by a charter. • The monarch had all the authority, while a Privy Council set policies.

6. Colonial Governors and Legislatures • Each colony had a governor to lead the government. • Then an advisory council to assist the governor. • In royal colonies: the King appoints the governor • In proprietary colonies: the proprietors choose the officials • Some charter colonies, like Connecticut, the people elect their governor.

7. “Charter Colony” • “Charter Colonies” are those which were granted a “charter” (or the right) to establish a colony. • All decisions required British approval. • Rhode Island, Connecticut

8. “Proprietary Colony” • “Proprietary Colonies” were governed by their owners (individuals or groups who received permission from Britain). • They had complete control over the colony. • Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland

9. “Royal Colony” • “Royal Colonies” were those governed directly by the British government. • Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia

10. Colonial Governors and Legislatures • Some colonies, the people elect representatives to help make laws. These were called colonial assemblies. • Laws had to approved by the advisory council and signed by the governor. • Established in 1619, Virginia’s assembly was the first in North America. It was called the House of Burgesses.

11. Colonial Governors and Legislatures • In New England, the center of politics was the town meeting. • In town meetings, people talked about and decided on issues of local interest, such as paying for schools. • In southern colonies, many decisions were made at a county level • The middle colonies used both county and town meetings to make laws.

12. Political Changes in England • In 1685, King James II tried to have more control over the English government and the colonies. • James believed that the colonies were to independent and in 1686 he united the northern colonies into the Dominion of New England. • The colonists disliked the Dominion and its governor Sir Edmund Andros, because it limited town meetings.

13. English Bill of Rights • Parliament replaced Kings James II with Queen Mary, called the Glorious Revolution. • It also passed the English Bill of Rights in 1689. • The English Bill of Rights reduced the powers of the English Monarch and the Parliament gained more power. • Following these changes, the colonies in the Dominion quickly formed new assemblies and charters.

14. Colonial Courts • Colonists used courts to control local affairs, and reflected the beliefs of their local communities. • For example in Massachusetts, many laws enforced the Puritan’s religious beliefs and set the Bible as the standard. • Courts established individual freedoms, for example the Zenger case established the idea of the freedom of press.

15. English Trade Laws • One of the main reasons that England found colonies was to earn money from trade. • England practiced mercantilism, a system of creating and maintaining wealth through controlled trade. • A country gained the wealth if it had fewer imports than exports sold to other countries.

16. English Trade Laws • Between 1650-1696, England passed the Navigation Acts limiting colonial trade. • For example: The Acts forbade trading items (cotton and sugar) with any country other then England. • Colonists had to use English ships to transport goods • All trade goods had to go through English ports, with taxes added to them.

17. English Trade Laws • The colonies had a steady market in England for their goods, however, colonists wanted the freedom to buy or sell goods wherever they could get the best price. • Local demand for colonial goods was small compared to foreign demand. • Some traders turned to smuggling, such as sugar, molasses, and rum. • Parliament passed the Molasses Act in 1733, to place duties (taxes) on the items. Officials rarely enforced it.

18. English Trade Laws • By 1700s, English merchants were trading around the world. • Most American merchants traded directly with England and the West Indies, and became wealthy by trading sugar and tobacco.

19. Triangular Trade • Trade was not direct between the colonies and England. It took the form of the triangular trade. • The Triangular Trade-a system in which goods and slaves were traded among the Americas, Britain, and Africa. • Colonial merchants traveled great distances to find the best markets.

20. “The Great Awakening”

21. Great Awakening • In the late 1730’s Christian revivals began to grow and spread Christianity across the colonies. • Many colonists experienced “a great awakening” • This Great Awakening- a Christian revival moment that swept through the colonies in the 1730s and the 1740s. It affected political and social changes. • New England population: 300,000 estimated 25,000 to 50,000 joined churches.

22. Close Look: Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) • A Presbyterian minister of Massachusetts • College at age 13, and had a Master’s degree at 19. • Sermons taught that man was sinful, and that only God can provide grace to save man. And that the gospel can save. • Edwards descendents: 300 clergymen, 120 college professors, 110 lawyers, 60 doctors and authors, 30 judges, 14 university presidents, 3 mayors, governors, US Senators, and a Vice President.

23. Close Look: George Whitefield (1714-1770) • Educated at Oxford 1732-1736 • Believed that salvation was given by God and not by religious works. He became a Christian at age 21. • 34 years of ministry: preached over 30,000 sermons, 80% of colonists heard him speak (including Benjamin Franklin), preached to 10 million people, crossed the Atlantic Ocean 13 times (spend 3 years of his life on a ship), 8 years would be in America, the first to preach in the open field. • Sometimes had stones, dirt, rotten eggs, and even a dead cat thrown at him.

24. Great Awakening • The movement drew people of different regions, classes, and races. • Ministers shared sermons and had theological discussions with one another. • Sermons that spoke of Christian equality led colonists to demand political equality. Churches and revivals became popular places to talk about political and social issues.

25. Enlightenment • Scientists began to better understand the basic laws that govern nature. • Their new ideas led to the Scientific Revolution, which changed how people though of the world. • Sir Isaac Newton developed his three laws of motion, the basic principles of modern physics. • Another movement called the Enlightenment, took place during the 1700s, spread the idea that reason and logic could improve society.

26. Enlightenment • Enlightenment thinkers also formed ideas about how government should work. • Some thinkers believed that there was a social contract between government and citizens. • John Locke thought that people had natural rights such as equality and liberty. These ideas influenced colonial leaders.

27. King Philips War • By the 1675 war broke out between New England colonists and Wampanoag under King Philip (Metacomet) over territorial encroachment by settlers. • The colonial militia (civilians serving as soldiers) fought American Indian warriors. Both sides attacked other settlements. • The war ended in 1676, with 600 colonists killed and 3000 Indians killed (included Metacomet)

28. Native American Allies • Some Native Americans allied themselves with the colonists to fight Metacomet. They traded weapons and tools for fur, as a result each side depended on the other. • French allied with Algonquian and Huron tribes, and the English allied with the Iroquois League. • More Native Americans allied with the French because their settlements were smaller and less threatening than the rapidly growing English colonies. • No matter who their allies were, many Indian leaders took care to protect their people’s independence.

29. England & France Collide

30. Ohio River Valley

31. French and Indian War • France and England struggled for control of territory in North America, especially in the Ohio River Valley. • English wanted to settle area to control the valuable fur trade, while the French wanted to maintain control of the trade. • A standoff developed as the French built forts in the area. • War breaks out when the English attack the forts in 1753.

32. George Washington • A 21 year old George Washington leads a small force of 120 men to force the French out of the Ohio River Valley.

33. “Fort Necessity” • He attacks a small force and builds Fort Necessity to defend the area. • 600 French and Indians overwhelm his force and George Washington surrenders. The French-Indian War has begun in May 1754.

34. “Fort Necessity”

35. Surrender of Washington

36. Elite Versus Elite British Light Infantry Native American Warrior • Was formed after the war started, had little experience • Had same weapons as Native Americans, but also an advanced carbine • Highly disciplined, resourceful, motivated • Heavily experienced in light infantry tactics • Poor armament, most carried tomahawks and muskets • Poor discipline and only motivated to fight for glory or spoils.

37. War Erupts • In 1755, the English arrived to push the French out of Fort Dusquene (led by Gen. Edward Braddock)

38. War Erupts • Using European tactics (against Washington’s advice), Gen. Edward Braddock and his 1,500 soldiers are easy targets for the French & Native American ambushes (Braddock is killed along with over 1,000 British soldiers)

39. War Erupts • Colonial leaders met in Albany and formed a plan to form uniting the colonies called the Albany Plan. • War reached Europe in 1756, called the Seven Years War (The French and Indian War in North America).

40. The Course of War • In the beginning, France and Indians created havoc for the Americans and British (raided all along the colonial border).

41. The Course of War • The new British leader, William Pitt, was determined to defeat France in not only America, but Canada as well (spared no expense to fight the war, racking up a huge debt) • In 1758, British forces under Gen. Jeffrey Amherst helped defeat French settlements and forts in Canada.

42. The Course of War • By 1759, the British began to have many successes in Canada (Gen. Wolfe had captured the key French settlement of Quebec and Gen. Amherst had captured Montreal) • After the fall of Quebec and Montreal, France was forced to surrender to Britain.

43. Treaty of Paris • The war came to an end in 1763, with the Treaty of Paris. • The treaty gave Canada , land east of the Mississippi River , and Florida to England. The Treaty changed the balanced of power in North America. Soon settlers began to move into the new land.

44. America After the War

45. Western Frontier • Most of the original settlements were located along the coast. • Pioneers began to settle into the back country and Ohio River Valley. • Chief Pontiac opposed British settlement of this new land. He rebelled in May 1763 when his forces attacked British forts.

46. Western Frontier • British leaders feared that more fighting would take place on the frontier if colonists kept moving onto American Indians land. • King George III passed the Proclamation of 1763, which banned all settlement west of Appalachian Mountains and ordered settlers to leave the upper Ohio River Valley.

47. “Proclamation of 1763”

48. Questions (pages 90-97) • What served as the center of politic in New England? • In what year did Virginia established the first legislature. • What is mercantilism? • Describe the Great Awakening? • Why did some Native Americans trust the French more than the English? • Why did fighting break out in the Ohio River Valley between British colonists and the French