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The English Colonies: 3 Models of Colonization. I. The Chesapeake: Tobacco and “Un-freedom” New England: The Family Model The Caribbean: Plantations and Slavery Joining the Models Together.
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The English Colonies: 3 Models of Colonization I. The Chesapeake: Tobacco and “Un-freedom” • New England: The Family Model • The Caribbean: Plantations and Slavery • Joining the Models Together Different colonial structures to fit local environments, international economy and different types of trans-Atlantic connections
The Chesapeake • Virginia Joint-Stock Company • “Dying Time” • Head right – 50 acres/person • Tobacco: 1st crop in 1611, caught on by 1616. • 1638 – Virginia is world’s #1 supplier of tobacco • Get rich and go home mentality • Founding of Maryland
The Chesapeake, Labor • Indentured Servitude • 1676, Bacon’s Rebellion • Race vs. class • Tobacco plantations in tidewater region; small farmers in back country; closely tied to English economy b/c of tobacco, labor.
New England • The Family Model • Connected to England through politics, religion, culture • Modern Day: Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Plymouth (not N.Y. or Penn)
Push Factor in Europe: Religion The Protestant Reformation Martin Luther, 1517: 95 Theses, splits W. Christianity Splinter groups, allied by belief, regional All splinter groups referred to as Protestants 2 Main Protestant Reform Branches in England Puritans (non-separatists) Pilgrims (separatists)
Salvation: Catholic – social order/control. Salvation through belief and being a good person, as shown by good works. Belief in purgatory. Protestant criticism – “selling salvation” Easier for right to do good works, be saved. Abuses at local level. Luther – issue of sin, believed most people sinned most of the time. Idea of no deathbed salvation bothered him
Salvation: Catholic – Salvation by works Protestant – M. Luther – Salvation by faith, belief will change behavior Calvin – Salvation by grace (God’s all-powerful nature)
The problem of Evil? Catholic – free will Calvin – free will and God’s all-powerful nature clash. Human choice is a big lie. God is the only one with the power to choose. Takes away good works doctrine. More interested in “the saved” than social control.
IF saved, good will flow from it • Calvinists and personal introspection • Diaries, journals • Good works FROM salvation • No purgatory, salvation only for “the elect,” most people going to hell. • Church leaders: “the saved,” “the elect” • Never 100% sure if saved • Signs? Very individualized • Church Members: communion only for those who seemed to be saved
Political Consequences Henry VIII Church of England (Anglican) England becomes a haven for Protestants Pilgrims – want to separate from Church of England Puritans – want to reform or “purify” the Church of England
Pilgrims (separatists) 1608 – Holland 1620 – Plymouth (separate colony until 1691) Mayflower, 102 people Rule by the church “Male saints” (Fathers) Ministers couldn’t hold office
Early Problems • Tried to hold land in common • Couldn’t get people to work, esp. across gender lines • Result: “Dying time” • Completely dependant on local American Indians for first year. (Why would they help?) • English trade goods, low population density (major epidemic 2 yrs prior)
Re-organization Organized society based on social distinctions (classes) Family ownership of property, not distributed equally Only married male family members got land Solved production problems Single men had to live with a family
Early New England • Family economy • Self-sustaining farming • Little trading and fishing • Minimal integration w/ local or English economies • By 1630 @1,500 people: proved Family model worked, without dependence on American Indians, ties to English economy or plantation crops • Inspired other Puritan migrations, spread throughout New England (plus new round of religious persecution in England)
Puritans 1629 – Massachusetts Bay Company mostly from rising middle class, some “gentlemen” farmers, some Puritans, more merchants (leads to early transition to manufacturing/craftsmen) 1630 – 700 people on 11 ships arrive in Mass. Bay, just as civil war erupts in England. 1649-1660: Parliament ruled England, no monarchy 1660 – Monarchy invited back, religious tolerance declared, ending great wave of Puritan migration.
New England and Puritan Rule By 1642, 20,000 people moved from England to New England. Concept of “A City on A Hill”
Puritan New England • Self-supporting until @ 1660, then start exporting grain • No “Dying time” • Emphasis on family/early marriage=natural population increase New England 1600-1700: from 30,000 to 91, 000 Virginia 1600-1700: from 120,000 to 85,000
New England and American Indians No real place in New England society, No great efforts at conversion, “Praying” Indians King Phillip’s War (Metacom), Wampanoag leader. Pan-Indian movement. Trade issues, discrimination, land hunger, pressure to convert, sale of alcohol, pressure to submit to colonial gov’ts. 5,000 American Indians killed (@40% of pop) 2,500 English killed (@5% of pop) Praying Indians put on Deer Island New assertions of identity based on racial lines Captives absorbed into households as servants/slaves, sold off, or absorbed into society as INDIVIDUALS b/c of skills. No community, seen as “just in the way.”
The Caribbean Will EVENTUALLY become the most profitable English colonies, resulting in a stark hierarchy. 1686 London imported £674,000 worth of goods from the Caribbean, and only £207,000 from all the rest of its colonies. Central to building an international Atlantic Economy The English are “late to the game”
1627-Barbados 1628-Nevis 1632-Montserrat and Antigua 1654- St. Christopher
Barbados as example • 1620s/30s – economy based on pig killing • Series of very small plantations, worked by owners w/white servants • Experiments with tobacco, livestock, subsistence farming. Tried sugar but didn’t have the technical knowledge. • Labor: Indentured servants. Tobacco market glutted by 1630s, servitude gets harsher, rebellion in 1647, brutally put down
1640s – move toward sugar. Expensive to start up: equipment, precision timing, strenuous/dangerous, technical knowledge. Cut down all the trees for barrels Sugar -Bought knowledge, equipment and slaves from the Dutch, on credit. -Completely dependant on slaves -Population density
Sugar and Barbados Short window of opportunity 1st generation did well, by selling out as land got more expensive Increase in plantation size=society becomes more stratified. By 1680, 175 major sugar plantations Total sugar economy
Sugar and Barbados 175 plantation owners=wealthiest people in whole English Atlantic. Lavish lifestyle, luxury imports, families in England, some absentee owners. Contrast: Poor whites. 2/3rd of white population were impoverished Labor strife leads to movement toward slavery as sole means of labor.
Sugar and Slavery Slaves imported in large number=dense population. By 1660, 53,000 people on 166 sq. miles (@200 people/sq.mile) By 1700, population doubled, (@400 people/sq. mile)
Sugar and Slavery Slavery increased as the cost of slaves fell. 1635 – young male= £34 After 1645, falls to £20. Further encourages slavery. 1664 – 800 slaves in Barbados 1670 – 27,000 slaves & 26,000 whites Very oppressive slave regime (b/c whites are outnumbered) Island not good for revolts, no where to run.
Slavery and Sugar Very high death rate. 1640-1700, 130,000 Africans imported, by only 50,000 survived. Very low quality of life. High infant mortality rate, pop. can’t reproduce itself. Work schedule: 6 day work week, Market days on Sundays. 11 hour days.
Slavery 1661 – first slave codes. Chattel Slavery – slaves defined as property. Included avenues for slaves to buy their way out. Any punishment by masters is okay, including the horrific. Restricted movement, no weapons, no drums, no missionaries. 1622 –slavery follows status of mother. 1672 Royal Africa Company 1698 RAC loses monopoly. Competition=lower prices
Barbados and New England Total devotion to sugar. Had to import food, lumber, supplies, basically anything besides sugar. Leads to internationalization of the economy Supplies from New England. By 1700, Boston had 15 shipyards, young men becoming sailors.
Triangle Trade Develops New England being tied into larger economy Transition from family based to international economy Disrupts “City on a Hill” ideal Rum produced in New England, Rhode Island. Massive increase in government sponsored slave trade. Est. 1 million Africans by 1770.
Growth of International Economy Fuels growth of more colonies Barbados (sort of) has its own colony The Carolinas: By 1670s all the land in Barbados was in sugar. 1st son gets land, other sons get $ and slaves. Move to Carolinas, produce for Barbados economy.
The Carolinas Initial period – free range cattle Relied on Africans from Sahel region, first “cowboys” 1695 – rice from Africa. 1700 – major plantation crop, export 400,000 lbs. 1740 – export 43 million pounds. Second wealthiest planter elite, very labor intensive. 1739 – Stono Rebellion in Carolinas.
Africa Local affiliations No concept of “being African” yet Initially controlled trade w/Europe Strong economy, produced for export Quality goods. Strong governments, state-level, sophisticated, organized labor, massive public works. Excellent military Initially, Europe cannot force its way in. Disease much less of a factor.
Africa Wealth through people reflected African economy/culture. Slave System was already in place when Europeans arrived. - Africans only sold surplus people. - Slave economy misunderstood by Europeans
Slavery Changes in Americas Slaves viewed as African. Language issues & buying strategies Development of new identities: -National, Creole, & Pan-African identities Importation keeps African culture alive Leadership comes from new exports: warriors and elites conquered in battle. W. Africa: 4 main culture groups, w/ 7 sub-groups Not one people, lots of differences.
Africa Competition Destabilization “Playing Sides” Legacy of the Slave Trade European view
Joining the Models Together: Creating The Atlantic World Increasing economy in Atlantic = increase in political/cultural ties to Europe. Golden Age of Piracy/lawlessness ending. 1670s - @500 trans-Atlantic crossings. 1730s - @1,500. Shipping is cheaper, faster, more cargo, more passengers.
The Atlantic World Raw materials from the colonies increases English manufacturing. English staying in England-jobs. Immigration from other countries. “Back country” areas begin filling up, development of more marginal/peripheral areas.
Increasing Connections Colonies more connected w/one another, more aware of events in Europe. Newspaper publishing in colonies & Europe Regular Mail system Emotional tie to England Other colonies (ports) start publishing newspapers. Coffee houses in ports/London, tied to colonies. Leads to one intellectual community, later spread of revolutionary ideas.
Forming the Atlantic World • Trade becomes more complex • Trade volume increases • More markets for grain • Cost of shipping decreases • England wants more grain-producing colonies
The Middle Colonies • Pennsylvania • New Jersey • Delaware • New York (New Amsterdam) • Replace New England in grain export
England starts paying attention • Trade volume increases • Cultural connections increase • Amount of $ at stake increases • Colonies become more important to England • Colonial economies in 1700=4% of England’s GDP • Colonial economies in 1770=40% of England’s GDP