AMERICAN SOCIETY - National Paralegal Collegenationalparalegal.edu/Slides_New/History1/ER_13e/Slides_02.pdf · AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE MAKING ... Carnes/Garraty. ... century (400

Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman © 2008

CHAPTER 2 AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE MAKING

The American Nation: A History of the United States, 13th edition

Carnes/Garraty


SETTLEMENT OF NEW FRANCE n French settlement progressed slowly after 1700

n Difficult to convince French people to move to remote settlements in America

n Military garrisons, individual fur traders and Jesuit missionaries were the main immigrants

n 1712 France chartered a private company to settle the mouth of the Mississippi n Result was New Orleans n In 1729 the Natchez Indians wiped out a sister settlement at Natchez and the company went bankrupt

n In 1731 the French government took control of Louisiana but settlement lagged


SETTLEMENT OF NEW FRANCE n Because few French women came, many men married Indian women n Fur traders in the north did the same though for them it was helpful to their success as traders

n As traders moved further west in search of game, they encountered Indians driven west by Iroquois n Traders supplied them with guns and ammunition


SOCIETY IN NEW MEXICO, TEXAS & CALIFORNIA n Guns spread from Indians of upper Mississippi to the

Indians of the Great Plains n Earlier Apache and Comanche had started riding

European horses n When guns and horses combined, the Indians with both became fearful enemies

n Comanche increased number and size of hunting bands as it became easier to hunt buffalo with guns n Encroached on Apache territory and were soon raiding Spanish and Pueblo settlements

n Spanish strengthened garrisons and built new missions in attempt to protect towns from Indians and French n Indian raids discouraged settlement


SOCIETY IN NEW MEXICO, TEXAS & CALIFORNIA n Trade in Indian slaves remained an enduring aspect of life n Most were women and children

n Many Indian women had unacknowledged children—genizaros—by Spanish men n Women usually worked as household servants and men as indentured servants on ranches

n To increase the numbers of colonists, Spanish officials granted genizaros the right to own land


SOCIETY IN NEW MEXICO, TEXAS & CALIFORNIA n In the 1760s Britain and Russia tried to colonize the

Northwest, threatening Spanish claims in California n Missionaries in California tried to Christianize and

Hispanicize the Indians who belonged to over 300 tribes speaking more than 100 languages n 1769—the first mission was established in San Diego with others following

n Jesuits monitored Indian life closely n Separated girls n Inculcated discipline of work n Paid no wages but fed and cared for the Indians

n California Indians, in and out of missions, were decimated by disease, undercutting the effort to establish a strong Hispanic colony


THE ENGLISH PREVAIL ON THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD n Southern part of English North America comprised

of three regions: n “tidewater”: Virginia and Maryland n “low country”: the Carolinas (and eventually Georgia) n “back country”: a vast territory that extended from the

“fall line” of the foothills of the Appalachians to the farthest point of western settlement

n Late 18 th Century emergence of common features— export oriented agricultural economy, slavery, absence of towns—result in concept of “South” as one region


THE CHESAPEAKE COLONIES n Virginia suffered from high death rate

n Of the 9000 colonists who came to Virginia nearly half died, leaving only 5,000 by the 1630s

n While the climate was hot and moist it was actually the dry summers that were the main cause of death by causing salt water contamination of drinking water and dysentery

n Well into the 1700s a white male of 20 could expect only 25 more years of life

n Result: n Frequent remarriage n Families with children from several different marriages

n Women easily found husbands (men outnumbered women three to two)

n Many men had to spend their lives alone or marry Indian women


THE LURE OF LAND

n Life centered on agriculture n Grants of land were relied upon to attract settlers n Labor to work land was vital

n Headright system n Any “head” entering the colony was issued a “right” to take 50 acres of unused land

n Could “seat” the claim and receive title to the land, had to mark its boundaries, plant a crop and construct a habitation

n May have to pay small annual payment, quitrent, to grantor


THE LURE OF LAND

n When people could not afford passage, they came as indentured servants n agreed to work for a stated period (usually about 5 years) in return for their passage

n during indenture subject to strict control (women could not marry and time lost due to pregnancy was added to total time)

n received nothing beyond their keep (headright went to person who paid their passage)

n If survived, servant was free and usually entitled to an “outfit” (a suit of clothes, some farm tools, seed, perhaps a gun) and, in some colonies, land


THE LURE OF LAND

n Over half the colonists came as servants and most servants became landowners

n As time passed their lot became harder n Best land belonged to large planters n As more land went into cultivation, crop prices fell n Many slipped into dire poverty or became “squatters”

n Virginia society was on the edge of class war by the 1670s due to conflict between former servants and wealthy land owners


“SOLVING” THE LABOR SHORTAGE: Slavery n First Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619 aboard a Dutch

ship—unknown how they were treated n By 1640, some Africans were slaves n By the 1660s local statutes had firmly established the

institution of slavery in Virginia and Maryland n Slavery spread throughout the colonies though numbers were

relatively low in the North n White servants were more highly prized as they were not

alien, like Africans, and they were cheaper n In the 1670s, the flow of indentured servants slowed at the

same time that the chartering of the Royal Africa Company (1672) made slaves more readily available n By 1700, nearly 30,000 slaves lived in the English colonies


PROSPERITY IN A PIPE: Tobacco n Colonists had to find a market for products

in the Old World in order to have the money to buy manufactured goods

n Answer was tobacco (originally brought from the West Indies by Spanish)

n English were initially leery of tobacco, which clearly contained some sort of habit forming drug

n By 1617, smokers drove the price of a pound of tobacco to 5 shillings

n At this point, the colonists were granted a monopoly and heavily encouraged


PROSPERITY IN A PIPE: Tobacco n Required only semicleared land and a hoe but lots of human labor

n A single laborer working two or three acres could produce as much as 1,200 pounds of cured tobacco which would result in a 200% profit in a good year

n As a result production went from 2,500 pounds in 1616 to 30 million pounds by the late 17 th century (400 pounds per capita)


PROSPERITY IN A PIPE: Tobacco n Planters spread out along rivers in a helter skelter fashion

n Increase in tobacco production led to a drastic drop in tobacco prices in late 17 th century n Small farmers found it increasingly difficult to make a living

n Wealthy were accumulating more land which allowed them to maintain high yields by permitting some fields to lie fallow n The only option for small farmers was new land—Indian land


BACON’S REBELLION n In 1676, conflict:

n Governor William Berkeley and his “Green Spring” faction vs. western planters led by Nathaniel Bacon.

n Planters wanted approval to attack nearby Indians; Governor refused

n Bacon had raised an army of 500 men n Declared a traitor by Berkeley, Bacon and his followers

murdered some peaceful Indians, marched on Jamestown and forced Berkeley to give him permission to kill more Indians

n In September, Bacon returned to Jamestown and burned it to the ground causing Berkeley to flee

n Bacon died of dysentery and a British fleet arrived to restore order


BACON’S REBELLION

n RESULT: Virginia society became wedded to slavery as an answer to its labor problems n Slave ownership resulted in large differences in the wealth and lifestyle of planters

n 20 slaves + land = wealth n Created implicit agreement that class differences would be overlooked in favor of racial ones


THE CAROLINAS

n English and, after 1700, ScotsIrish settlers of the tidewater parts of Carolina also practiced agriculture: n tobacco in the future North Carolina n rice (replacing furs and cereals in 1696) in what would become South Carolina

n Rice became a major cash crop n 65 million tons were produced by eve of Revolution

n In the 1740s Eliza Lucas introduced indigo to South Carolina n did not compete for either land or labor with rice


THE CAROLINAS

n Southern colonists bought manufactured goods by producing: tobacco, rice, indigo, furs, and forest products such as lumber, tar, and resin

n Factors, agents in England and Scotland, managed the sale of crops, bought the required manufactures, and extended credit n Small scale manufacturing did not emerge in South as it did in the North

n Retarded development of urban life with Charleston the only city of note until the rise of Baltimore in the 1750s


THE CAROLINAS n Slave labor predominated on rice plantations of South Carolina n 1730: 3 out of every 10 people south of Pennsylvania was black

n In South Carolina blacks outnumbered whites 2 to 1 n Slave regulations increased in severity as size of the black population increased

n Blacks had no civil rights under the codes n for minor offenses, whippings were common n for serious crimes blacks could be hanged or burned to death

n for sexual offenses or constant running away they could be castrated


THE CAROLINAS

n Acculturated slaves, those that could speak English, use European tools, perhaps practice a trade, were more valuable but also more likely to run away or resist

n Field hands expressed dissatisfaction by pilferage, petty sabotage, laziness or feigned stupidity

n Slave rebellions were rare in the American South though fear of them was high

n Slavery had economic, social and psychic reasons n Only a few Quakers objected


HOME AND FAMILY IN THE SOUTH n Except for those of the most affluent, houses had one or two rooms, and were small, dark, and crowded n Furniture and utensils were sparse and crudely made n Chairs were rare n Tables were boards n There was no plumbing n Even chamber pots were out of reach of the poor

n Clothes were crude, rarely washed and often infested with vermin

n Food was plentiful


HOME AND FAMILY IN THE SOUTH n White women (free or indentured) rarely worked in the fields n They were responsible for tending to farm animals, making butter and cheese, pickling and preserving, spinning and sewing, and caring for children

n Children were not usually as harshly disciplined as in New England

n Schools were rare and what learning occurred was done at home n A large percentage of children were illiterate n Children were put to useful work at an early age


HOME AND FAMILY IN THE SOUTH n Welltodo, “middling” planters had maybe three rooms for a family of four or five, plus servants n Also had a greater variety of food

n Until the early 18 th Century, few achieved real wealth such as that held in 1732 by Robert Carter, whose 1,000 slaves and 300,000 acres made him the richest man in America

n Men like Carter lived in solid, twostory houses of six or more rooms, furnished with English and other imported carpets, chairs, tables, wardrobes, chests, china, and silver and were able to send their children abroad for schooling


HOME AND FAMILY IN THE SOUTH n 1693: founding of the College of William and Mary n Mission was to train clergyman n Initially education was little above grammar school level

n Political power and positions belonged to large planters because n of their wealth n they were generally responsible leaders who understood the need for sociability


HOME AND FAMILY IN THE SOUTH n Most Southerners led isolated lives n Churches were few and far between n By mid18 th Century the Anglican Church was the

“established” religion n 1619 attendance at Anglican services became mandatory in Virginia

n 1654 Maryland repealed religious toleration; reenacted it in 1657 and permanently repealed it and established the Anglican Church in 1692

n Social events of any kind were great occasions accompanied by feasting and drinking

n Most planters invested their savings in more production, not in idle amusements


GEORGIA AND THE BACK COUNTRY n Back country

n Great Valley of Virginia n The Piedmont

n Also part of back country was Georgia n founded by a group of London philanthropists in 1733 to give a place of settlement for honest persons who had been imprisoned for debt

n England (who would transport 50,000 convicts during the colonial period) granted a charter for Georgia in 1732 after the philanthropists agreed to operate the colony without profit to themselves for 21 years


GEORGIA AND THE BACK COUNTRY n In 1733, their leader, James Oglethorpe founded Savannah with a vision of creating a colony of sober, yeomen farmers n Land grants limited to 50 acres and made non transferable

n alcohol was banned n so were slaves n Indian trade was strictly regulated

n Oglethorpe’s rules were quickly circumvented n The economy developed like South Carolina n In 1752, the proprietors gave up and Georgia became a royal colony


GEORGIA AND THE BACK COUNTRY n Settlers moved into the rest of the southern back country, mainly ScotsIrish and Germans

n By 1770 the back country had about 250,000 settlers, 10% of the population, yet often they felt underrepresented, which could result in conflict with the Low Country n 1771: Regulators in North Carolina


PURITAN NEW ENGLAND

n New England towns had a dependable water supply

n Surrounding area was more open than malaria infected terrain of the tidewater

n New Englanders escaped many of the “agues and fevers” that beset southern colonists


THE PURITAN FAMILY n Puritan society was ordered by a covenant to ensure

everyone’s upright behavior n At the center of society was the family which was nuclear

and patriarchal n Responsibilities of the Father:

n providing for the physical welfare of the household, including servants

n making sure they all behaved properly n transacting all economic dealings

n Responsibilities of the Wife: n keeping house n educating the children n improving “what is got by the industry of man”


THE PURITAN FAMILY n Women had as many as 12 to 14 children n Any free time was occupied with dealings with neighbors

and relatives and involvement in church n Childrearing took more than three decades of a woman’s

life since most children survived n Homemaking duties occupied all remaining time n Puritan family was hierarchical, husbands ruled over wives

and parents over children and obedience was expected n Physical correction of children was common n Girls worked around the house n Boys worked outdoors n When older they were sent to nearby families as servants


THE PURITAN FAMILY

n The Great Migration ended in the 1640s with the outbreak of the English Civil War n Thereafter, population increase was due to high birthrate (50 births for every 1,000 people—3x today’s rate) and low mortality rate (20 per 1,000)

n Population was more evenly distributed by age and sex than in the South

n Women married in early twenties rather than late teens


VISIBLE PURITAN SAINTS AND OTHERS n Church membership was to be a joint decision between wouldbe member, who would relate why they believed they received God’s grace, and those already in the church

n Originally, those who could not “prove” salvation were excluded

n PROBLEMS: n Growing numbers of nonmembers could not be compelled to go to church

n It was harder to defend policy that taxpayers could not vote if they were not church members

n Nonmember parents whose children could not be baptized worried for their souls


VISIBLE PURITAN SAINTS AND OTHERS n At first, churches permitted baptism of the children of church members

n HALFWAY COVENEN—To cope with the third generation who were neither baptized nor church members, in 1662, 80 ministers and laymen developed a limited form of membership for any applicant not known to be a sinner who was willing to accept the provisions of the church covenant n They and their children could be baptized but they could not receive communion nor participate in church decisions

n 1664 the General Court extended the vote to halfway church members


VISIBLE PURITAN SAINTS AND OTHERS n Opponents of the covenant said it reflected a slackening of religious fervor

n Historian Perry Miller suggests that the 1660s marked the beginning of religious decline yet there was a rise in church membership, ministers continued to be accorded prestige and there was a lessening of intrachurch squabbling


DEMOCRACIES WITHOUT DEMOCRATS n Puritans believed government was both a civil covenant,

entered into by all who came within its jurisdiction, and the principal mechanism for policing the institutions on which the maintenance of social order depended

n Massachusetts and Connecticut n Passed laws requiring church attendance, levying taxes for support of the clergy, and banning Quakers from practicing their religion (when four were hanged, a royal decree was issued in 1662 prohibiting further executions)

n Provided the death penalty for adultery and blaspheming a parent

n Established the price a laborer might charge for his services or the amount of gold braid servants could wear on their jackets

n Most of daily life regulated by towns


THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND n The most serious threat to Puritan control came in the 1680s during the Restoration governments of Charles II (16601685) and James II (16851688) when the government sought to bring the colonies under effective royal control

n In 1684, the Massachusetts charter was annulled, as were all charters north of Pennsylvania, and the colonies were combined to form the Dominion of New England


THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND n In 1686 Edmund Andros, a professional soldier and

administrator, arrived to make the colonies behave like colonies and not like sovereign powers n abolished popular assemblies n changed the landgrant system to give the king quitrents n enforced religious toleration

n 1689: Andros and the Dominion were overthrown in the wake of the 1688 Glorious Revolution that put William of Orange on the throne

n 1691: Massachusetts became a royal colony n included Plymouth and Maine n governor appointed by the king n General Court elected by property owners (who did not have to be church members to vote)


SALEM BEWITCHED

n In 1666 families living in the rural outback of the thriving town of Salem petitioned the General Court for the right to establish their own church

n When it was granted in 1672, the 600 inhabitants of the village were on their own politically as well

n In 1689 Samuel Parris became minister after having spent 20 years in the Caribbean as a merchant

n He arrived with his wife, his daughter Betty, a niece— Abigail, and a West Indian slave named Tituba who told fortunes and practiced magic on the side


SALEM BEWITCHED n When Parris was dismissed in 1692, his daughter, niece

and a playmate began speaking in tongues and were declared bewitched

n The first three accused were Sarah Good, a pauper with a nasty tongue; Sarah Osborne, a bedridden widow; and Tituba

n When brought before the General Court, the Sarahs declared themselves innocent while Tituba confessed

n By the end of April 1692, 24 more people had been charged n The hunt spread to neighboring Andover n By May, it spread to Maine and Boston and up the social ladder to some of the colony’s most prominent citizens


SALEM BEWITCHED n By June, when the governor convened a special court, more than 150 persons stood charged with witchcraft

n In the next four months, the court convicted 28, most of them women n Five confessed and were spared n Several escaped n 19 were hanged n The husband of one witch, accused of wizardry, was crushed to death under stones

n Finally, the governor adjourned the court and forbade any further executions


SALEM BEWITCHED n While everyone’s reputation suffered, ministers suffered the most n Increase Mather comes off best, having urged the governor to stop the trials

n His son, Cotton, actively and enthusiastically participated in the hunt

n The event shows the anxiety Puritans had about women since many of the accused were: n widows of high status n older women who owned property n women who lived apart from the daily guidance of men

n All potentially subverted the patriarchal authorities of church and state


HIGHER EDUCATION IN NEW ENGLAND n With the Great Migration came some 150 university trained colonists, mostly in divinity, who became the first ministers

n 1636: Massachusetts General Court appropriated money to establish an institution of higher learning to train ministers—Harvard University—which received its charter in 1650

n Below Harvard were the Grammar schools where boys spent 7 years learning Greek and Latin n The first was established by Boston in 1636 n Massachusetts and Connecticut soon passed education acts that required all towns of any size to establish such schools


HIGHER EDUCATION IN NEW ENGLAND n Mid17 th Century—majority of men in New England

could read and a somewhat smaller percentage could also write

n Mid18th century—male literacy was almost universal, a condition only matched by Scotland and Sweden

n Literacy among women also improved steadily n Many settlers brought impressive libraries with them

and continued to import large numbers of books n First printing press was established in Cambridge in

1638 n By 1700, Boston was producing an avalanche of printed

matter, most by ministers though not exclusively on religious matters


HIGHER EDUCATION IN NEW ENGLAND n 1690s Harvard acquired a reputation for encouraging religious tolerance

n In 1701 several Connecticut ministers founded Yale to uphold Puritan values n By 1722, they too appeared to have slipped

n Even ministers were no longer the unquestioned last word—attacks on Cotton Mather in 1721 for his suggestion of inoculation to combat an outbreak of smallpox


A MERCHANT’S WORLD

n Colonists grew barley (to make beer), rye, oats, green vegetables, potatoes, pumpkins, and corn (not only edible but drinkable)

n They grazed cattle, sheep and hogs on common pastures or in the woods and hunted deer, turkey, and other game birds

n The Atlantic provided cod and other fish n BUT, while colonists had plenty to eat, they had little surplus and no place to sell it



n First generation of puritans accepted economic marginality but succeeding generations did not

n In 1643 five New England vessels packed their holds with fish which they sold in Spain and the Canary Islands, taking payment in sherry and Madeira which were tradable in England n one took payment in slaves which were sold in West Indies thereby initiating the triangular trade



n As maritime trade became the driving force in New England, port towns like Portsmouth, Salem, Boston, New Port, and New Haven became larger and faster growing than interior towns

n 1720: Boston was the commercial hub of the region with a population of 10,000 making it the third largest city in the British Empire n More than one quarter of Boston’s adult male population had either invested in shipbuilding or were directly employed in maritime commerce

n Ships captains and merchants held most public offices



n Beneath the top layer of merchant elite lived a stratum of artisans and small shopkeepers

n Beneath them a substantial population of mariners, laborers and “unattached” people with little or no property

n 1670s: at least a dozen prostitutes worked in Boston

n 1720: crime and poverty serious problems n public relief rolls exceeded 200 n dozens of criminals languished in jail


THE MIDDLE COLONIES: Economic Basis n The Middle Colonies consisted of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware n About 10% of the population was composed of slaves

n Colonists produced crops for both consumption and export (wheat)

n Colonists in the Hudson Valley and southeastern Pennsylvania lived spread out

n Substantial numbers lived in New York City and Philadelphia and in interior towns like Albany, where they engaged in trades


THE MIDDLE COLONIES: An Intermingling of Peoples n Scandinavian and Dutch settlers outnumbered the English in New Jersey and Delaware

n Germans flocked to Pennsylvania and French Huguenots to New York

n Early 18 th century hordes of ScotsIrish settled in Pennsylvania, back country of Virginia, and the Carolinas

n An economic boom in England helps explain the relatively low level of English colonists


“THE BEST POOR MAN’S COUNTRY” n Ethnic differences seldom caused conflict because they did not limit opportunity

n Pennsylvania gave 500 acres to families upon arrival with only a quitrent due to the proprietor every year n New Jersey and Delaware had similar arrangements

n In New York the manorial system limited opportunity but land was available and tenants could get long term leases


“THE BEST POOR MAN’S COUNTRY” n Mixed farming offered main path to prosperity n Inland communities offered comfortable living for artisans

n Cities had a variety of opportunities for the ambitious

n Philadelphia profited from this (and its inland waterways) and by the 1750s had a population of 15,000, surpassing Boston as America’s largest city n Most Philadelphians could do well for themselves while, increasingly, artisans in Boston were mired in economic stagnation


THE POLITICS OF DIVERSITY n Governments of Middle Colonies n Had popularly elected representatives assemblies n Most white males could vote

n As in the South, representatives were elected by counties but, unlike Southern voters, did not defer to landed gentry

n 1689: New York suffered a takeover by Jacob Leisler, a disgruntled merchant and militia captain n Only lasted two years but split NY politics until 1710


THE POLITICS OF DIVERSITY n New York’s political tranquility was restored under Robert Hunter (17101719)

n 1730s: Governor William Cosby demanded back pay while Chief Justice Lewis Morris opposed him n After Cosby removed him, Morris and allies founded New York Weekly Journal run by John Peter Zenger

n Cosby objected to contents and shut down paper after two months, charging Zenger with seditious libel

n Jury acquitted Zenger after attorney argued that statements in paper were true and thus not libel


THE POLITICS OF DIVERSITY n Pennsylvania politics revolved around two interest groups:

n Proprietary party n Quaker/Germanspeaking Pennsylvania Dutch party clustered around assembly

n Neither organized nor represented particular positions but did mean political leaders had to consider popular opinion

n 1763: Paxton Boys (ScotsIrish from Lancaster County) n Murdered peaceful Conestoga Indians in retaliation for frontier Indian attacks

n Marched on Philadelphia n Delegation, led by Benjamin Franklin, acknowledged grievances and promised bounty on Indian scalps


BECOMING AMERICANS n In 1650, some 50,000 Europeans had come to North America n Most clung to Atlantic seaboard n Indians outnumbered Europeans 10 to 1 n African slaves were rare n French and Spanish colonization relatively inconsequential

n By 1750 nearly a million settlers occupied the Atlantic seaboard n About a quarter million African slaves n Indians had been enveloped or retreated

n New Spain and New France also grew but still had fewer than 20,000 inhabitants


MILESTONES


WEBSITES

n LVA Colonial Records Project—Index of Digital Facsimilies of Documents on Early Virginia

http://ajax.lva.lib.va.us/F/?func=file&file_name=findb clas27&local_base=CLAS27

n DSL Archives: Slave Movement During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Wisconsin)

http://dpls.dacc.wisc.edu/slavedata/index.html n Salem Witch Trials http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft n Salem Witchcraft Trials (1692) http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm


WEBSITES

n Benjamin Franklin http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html n Religion and the Founding of the American Republic http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/religion.html n DoHistory, Harvard University Film Center http://dohistory.org/ n Anglicans, Puritans and Quakers in Colonial America http://www.mun.ca/rels/ang/texts/ang1.html