African Life in America Slave labor & commercialized agriculture

created distinctive social structure Pyramid

broad base was composed of slaves ascending face comprised freeholders apex was crowned by a small planter elite.

Rhetorically at leased white southerners constituted a unified communion

During 18th C small elite increasingly monopolized wealth and power.

White society developed a protective shield of symbols and institutions

The great house The courthouse The church Created apparent unity of the

white community and thereby helped to secure its well-being

The plantation of the average wealthy tidewater planter consisted of some three thousand acres of land that generally were broken up into small tracts called a quarters.

  As part of the deterrent

process the southern colonies also created elaborate surveillance systems.

Separate judicial process for slaves created in reaction to the growing assertiveness of the South’s swelling slave populations

Late colonial period saw steady increase in

convictions and sentences of execution.

Church, courthouse and plantation house provided overlapping networks of relationships control

These institutions both: reinforced patterns of white domination and

control. made it possible for slaves to begin to

develop their own Separate culture in the quarters.

i.e. A black cultural world was developing within

the contours of the institution of slavery.

AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVE CULTURE

Stuff Trip to Ghana

”Africa's Calling: Culture in Ghana” (IS 370) under core-curriculum for humanities credit

(three credits) Prof. Barry Bilderbeck bbilder@uidaho.edu

VA Historical Archaeology Historic Jamestowne

Jefferson’s Montecello Jefferson’s Poplar Forest

Websites

Constant surveillance caused much African heritage to be lost

But not all Covert ceremonies and

actions continued Passed down from through

the generations

group and culture-building process began in slavery

African-American slaves were, as one scholar has put it,

"functionally members of the same caste”

Social survival involved more than adaptation to the dominant plural pattern

Management styles mattered

Low-country rice slaves little contact with whites prior to the Revolution

Black majority of rice coast counties developed a culture strongly influenced by African cultural patterns.

Example 1 Building materials similar to those

found in Africa leaves of the palmetto tree used in the construction of slave huts in the low

country. steeply pitched roofs and the circular

form that dispersed the suns rays evenly to keep buildings cool

All had their antecedents in coastal areas of West Africa.

Example 2 In parts of Africa a special language

was created that was distinct from that spoken by the master class

Low-country slaves created their own form of communication.

Known as Gullah in South Carolina Geechee in the Georgia Sea Islands

Resulted from a fission of African and English words

Example 3 Entertainment leads to

cultural formation and expression

Culture (music, tales, language, magic, religion)

‘The Old Plantation’ Anon

‘Preparations for the enjoyment of a fine Sunday’

Family life The traditional African domestic

organization was severely disrupted by conditions under slavery

But because of the growth of the size of quarters after 1740 the increase in the proportion of slaves in the

populations the decrease in the adult sex ratio

Slaves were in a position to begin re-forming families by the mid eighteenth century

Eve of Revolution variety of different kinds of households had emerged.

Slave marriages complex Slave marriages differed from

African prototypes But shared more similarity

with them than with the Euro-American family type

“Negroes marry after their own way.”

John Brickell, In he 1731 described a

common ceremony in North Carolina:

Their Marriages are generally performed amongst themselves . . . very little ceremony . . . the Man makes the Woman a Present such as a Brass Ring or some other Toy, which if she accepts of becomes his Wife

Mother-headed households and polygyny functionally useful under conditions of slavery Both survived until the end of slavery

Naming of children for parents, siblings, and blood relatives Suggests strength of family and kinship

ties Slave practice of passing on economic

skills, often the slaves' most valuable possession to sons and daughters.

Work

Most slaves involved in field work,

Tobacco (Virginia), Rice and Indigo (South

Carolina), After invention of cotton gin

(1793) cotton becomes most important slave-grown crop

Work began before dawn and ended after dusk

Initially multiple tasks for every slave

“Ploughing, planting, picking cotton, gathering corn, and pulling and burning stalks, occupies the whole four seasons of the year.

Drawing and cutting wood, pressing cotton, fattening and killing hogs,

are but incidental labours”Solomon Northup – former slave

Growth of skills among slaves

Some slaves moved either indoors and became house slaves

Also moved into specialized work such as blacksmiths and carpentry

Industrial type work, especially in ports

Domestic Slavery

Free Time

Notion of free time Informal economic

activity, pros and cons

Religion Equal, if not more,

important than family for the maintenance and reconstruction of culture was religion

Religious community of necessity paid obeisance to white Christian beliefs and practices

But black Christians proceeded both consciously and unconsciously to reinstate certain traditional values and beliefs

African-American Christianity retained an immutable individual essence.

Three elements crucial in the creation of a common religious culture:

1) the particular complex of values that were common to traditional religion

2) the relative isolation of black communities from competing values

3) committed efforts of the handful of white planters and missionaries who brought the faith to blacks' together with the work of a larger number of black converts who were the principal carriers of the faith.

What emerged in the end was a religious system that stood alongside the white system rather than within lt.

Protestant Christianity forms a critical chapter in the history of the emerging black community and indeed in the history of slavery.

Punishment Master has right of life or death Important to control large

numbers of slaves - deterrent Ingenuity of methods, need to

keep slaves docile and working while punished

Threat of sale, rape, violence.

Resistance Violent rebellions rare

New York 1712 & 1741 South Carolina 17391800 Virginia

Personal resistance vs masters and overseers more common - could be violent or passive

Effectiveness of running away (groups most likely to flee,outcomes)

Virginia Gazette June 21, 1770

AFTER THE SEVEN YEARS WAR

RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Internal Change

John Adams “What do we mean

by the revolution? The war? That was

no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760 to 1775”

For Wood the problem of American politics was not

Imperial Constitutional But social By looking at the

“transformations in the relationship that bound people together”

We see the true radical nature of the revolution

Example: Rhode Island

The location with the weakest level of royal control in the Americas

Yet it was also one of the most faction-ridden locations in the Americas

A location where, as in the rest of the colonies, the social structure of colonial society was beginning to buckle

SITES OF WEAKNESS

Land ownershipIn the 1760s ¾ of all farmland

in England was owned by gentry and noble landlords

400 families owned one fifth of all land in England

Out of a population of 7-8 million

In contrast most American farmers by now owned their own land

One aspect of American society which challenged the hierarchical structure of dependency and paternalism

Georgia plantation owner William Knox

who son Henry fought at Bunker hill

Wrote that freehold tenure

“excluded all ideas of subordination and dependence”

Population Growth Population boom in the

late colonial period Challenged relations with

Native Americans But also challenged

colonial social structure

New England “warning out laws” During the colonial period,

at a time, when everyone had a fixed place

A vagrant who arrived and stayed in a town for a fixed period of time 3 months in New

Hampshire 1 year in Massachusetts

They were considered to be part of the town

“warning out laws” in place to push people back to their original place

Increase in population and the ownership of land

Movement became a major factor in White American life

Farms now thought of less as patrimoniessomething to hand down and use as a tool of control

But more as a commoditySomething to be bought and sold

“They acquire no attachment to Place: but wandering about Seems engrafted in their nature”

A British officialLed to the gradual collapse of the “warning out laws”

People could no longer be tied to a physical place

Another sign of the collapsing societal structure

Economic boom (and later bust) 1740s and 1750s saw a massive increase in

exports and imports

This led to increased wealth But more important was the effect on

social structure Increase wealth led to desire for a rise in

individual standard of living

Emulation Luxury goods

Latest fashionsTea and tea setsSilk handkerchiefsFeather mattressesA new carriageGlass windows

Items like this had traditionally been for those at the top of the hierarchy

Late colonial period these boundaries were collapsing

In America “Every tradesman is a

Merchant, every Merchant is a gentleman, and every Gentleman is one of the Noblese”

In addition to increase in imported goods

also see an increase in Domestic tradehad two long term effects

1) improvement of transportation and communicationled to new and better roadsBetter communication

2) a shift in producersWe see wide-spread “proto-industrialization”

Increase in trade goods came not from top

But from farmers becoming part-time manufactures and entrepreneursSpinning cloth Weaving hatsMaking hoops and barrelsDistilling rum

Economic development spread across society

To facilitate growth New structure of credit and debt Traditional loans

way of tying together different rungs of the hierarchical ladder

Intra-American trade shifted loans to more impersonal business transactions

Again weakened social structure

Expanding trade challenged the traditional method of exchange Bartering

Goods shipped over greater distances

between people who did not know each other

paper money became more important

Allowed people to participate independently and impersonally in the economy

Chesapeake Tobacco:An example of changing

economic system Traditionally Consignment system Small planter would

sell their crops through the elite planters

Elite planters could translate their access to English Merchants to prestige and social patronage

1730 onwards Scottish merchants set

up stores all over the Chesapeake

These merchants purchased tobacco directly of small farmers

This cut out the elite planters and created greater independence and equality

Cultural life Changing relationship with God

Traditionally church controlled by elite who defined the

process of worship Great Awakening

1730s – 1740s Jonathan Edwards

emphasized the importance and power of immediate, personal religious experience

Family Model for society, was also changing Sons and daughters leaving home straining if not breaking traditional

bonds Those who remained more likely to

marry someone of their own choosing from outside the local region, a different

nationally, or a different religion

“revolution against patriarchy”Fathers quarreled with sons

American youngsters had a reputation for being unruly

AlsoWives quarreled with husbandsServants with mastersSlaves with masters

By 175O most of the colonies had virtually all the requisites of self-governing states.

Effective local elite that dominated political and social life.

Autonomous local center of administration and political authority.

Particularly important were the popularly elected lower houses of assembly in each colony.

In the century before the Revolution colonial Americans participated in the political process much more extensively than did the British

Additionally the colonies played a critical part in English trade

Accounted for 36 % of the total volume of English imports

37 % of the total volume of English exports.

Far from the colonies being weak and dependent subsidiaries

The British economy was fast becoming dependent on the colonies.

After Seven Years war English officials saw

1) rapid growth and development of colonial economic and political institutions

2) importance of colonies for the prosperity and power of England.

Fearful of consequences of a loss of control over colonies

British government sought to maintain, and intensify, authority

BRITAIN ACTS

In order to finance the Seven Years' War, the government had borrowed money from the Dutch Merchant bankers The Bank of England (established in

1694)Private companies and individuals,

All at high rates of interest. George Grenville, installed as PM, on 16

April 1763,Had problem of what to do and how to

pay off the debt.

Grenville Left the land tax at 4

shillings in the pound, which was not popular. Under peacetime

conditions, was usually 3 shillings

Cut expenditure in army and navy after peace concluded. Seen as weakness

on the part of the government

Grenville believed Britain defending the Empirecolonies should help meet costs.

British most heavily taxed country in Europe

Colonies 2-4 shillings per person 1.5% of per capita income

Britain 12 -18 shillings per person7.5% of per capita income

But there were differences Britain Efficient State

apparatus Solid system of

public finance able to impose

taxes without creating great political instability

ColoniesPower of state

weakened distance traditions of lax

GovernmentBenign NeglectPeople used to low

taxesColonial assemblies

demanded the right to consent to their taxation

SUGAR ACT

1764 new ‘Act of Trade’ Known as “Sugar Act” Affected import of molasses from West IndiesAmended Molasses act of 1733

Massachusetts Rum

West Indies Molasses

Africa Slaves

Before 1764 Sugar ActDuty on foreign- produced molasses was 6d per gallon

After the Act3d per gallon

Therefore costs lower than before act

Problem not specifically about the tax

What made this moment different was implementation

Smuggling had always occurred in the colonies

After war Grenville decided rather than stop the smugglers he would reorganize the system and

gain income

July 1763 Ordered all Custom

collectors to report to their posts

Most living in Britain, collecting big salaries their assistants were in the colonies collecting bribes from smugglers

Collectors who remained were dedicated

To the surprise of the colonialsThey were not open to bribes

In the past British imposed laws had been either ignored or circumvented Not so now

In addition they were often people without local ties, setting them outside of the communities i.e. unresponsive to public/personal

pressure

Form of prosecutions changed

In the past prosecutions had taken place in the colonial courtsFamily and friends of the accused in the jury

Custom Collectors now had option of trying the crime in Vice-Admiralty courts

Vice-Admiralty courts 1763 eleven in operation in

British America. Did not use a jury system Judge heard all evidence and

testimony and handed down a ruling.

Traditionally these courts were occupied only with commercial matters.

With Sugar Act authority expanded to include enforcement of customs and criminal charges for smuggling.

Within the Vice-Admiralty courts Defendant was assumed guilty until he proved himself innocent.

Failure to appear as commanded resulted in an automatic guilty verdict

No friendly jury

Sugar Act could not have come at a worse time

End of the war had left not only Britain but also the colonies in financial difficulty i.e. without an army to feed, clothe, and

supply a huge part of the market was taken away

Beginning in 1760 a depression had begun to hit the colonies

By 1763 it was severe Act therefore easy target to blame for

financial woes

September 1, 1764Additional economic pressure

Parliament passed the Currency Act

British Government effectively assumed control of the colonial currency system.

Act prohibited issue of new bills and reissue of existing currency

Parliament favored a "hard currency" system based on pound sterling simply abolished colonial currency

colonies protested vehemently against thisgenerally ignored this act

Response to the Sugar Act Primarily came from merchants

main group who would have to pay the tax tended to be in the form of broadsides

and pamphlets denouncing the ActReasons Against the Renewal of the

Sugar Act (Boston 1764)An Essay on the Trade of the Northern

Colonies of Great Britain in North America (Rhode Island 1764)

9 of the 13 colonial legislatures complained

Popular protests were limited, they would wait for later British actions

Stamp Act

Duties in American Colonies Act 1765; 5 George III, c. 12

The Sugar Act did not affect general population

But, they did have reason to worry

For in the same speech that introduced the Sugar Act Grenville also said

“it may be proper to charge certain Stamp Duties in the said Colonies and Plantations”

Stamp Acts Originated in Holland in the

17th C First introduced in England in

1694 An act for granting to Their

Majesties several duties on Vellum, Parchment and Paper for 10 years, towards carrying on the war against France.

Between 1 penny to several shillings on a number of different legal documents including insurance policies documents used as evidence in courts

grants of probate Raised around £50,000 a year Adjusted and expanded over the

years

On August 1, 1712 the first stamp tax on British newspapers appeared

In a true history Geek moment I have a page from a August 1712 copy of the Spectator which bears a stamp

After Sugar Act Grenville asked the colonial representatives for ideas to help rise money

However, he wouldn’t accept any suggestions that challenged Parliaments rights to act

Like any good parliament man he found it intolerable to be told that Parliament lacked the right to do what it wanted to do

February 6, 1765 Grenville brings Stamp Act before parliament for the 1st of three readings

Anger against the colonials is so strong that it quickly passes through Parliament

There were a few people who attempted to prevent the Act

But most supported people like M.P. Charles Townshend who made the following statement

Charles Townshend

“And now will Americans, Children planted by our Care, nourished up by our Indulgence until they are grown to a Degree of Strength and Opulence, and Protected by our Arms, with they grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy burden of that weight which we lie under?”

The Act received approval on March 22, 1765

News of Stamp Act reached colonies during first two weeks of April 1765

Initially no one sure how to respond

Then on May 31 the house of Burgess approved a set of resolves proposed by Patrick Henry

Henry, a lawyer of 25, was new to the house having been elected only ten days earlier

However he had been involved in several high profile court cases

He had also chosen his timing with intent

The House of Burgess only needed 205 of its members present to constitute a quorum

It was the end of the session and on 39 out of 116 members were left in town