AMERICAN LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY

CHAPTER 4

AP FOCUS Social-Class conflict is a key element in the revisionist

interpretation of American historical development. Always under the surface of colonial societies, it erupts into full-scale civil war with bacon’s rebellion, in Virginia. American Diversity, which takes up class, IS an AP theme.

The introduction of slavery into the New World transforms the social, economic, and political makeup of the colonies. (Slavery and its legacy in North America is an AP theme.) The Primary source of African slaves is west-central Africa. A table (p. 73) shows a quantitative comparison of slave import to the colonies of the entire New World

Religious Hysteria, in the form of witch trials, plague the North American colonies, especially in the New England settlements. Religion is yet another AP theme.

AP NOTES Although initially an area where settlements

barely survived, the Chesapeake colony region soon spawned a powerful industry: cultivating and selling tobacco. So important was this crop that it helped maintain the economy of the region and, because of its tendency to exhaust the soil, led to westward penetration of the Chesapeake colonies.

The social life and customs of the North American colonists were considerably shaped and affected by where they lived. Unique cultural traits took root in the New England, middle, and southern colonies. Despite the presence of slavery in the colonies, white settlers were not so quick to nurture the type of social stratification that prevailed in Europe.

Life in America was brutal!-Climate was miserable, work was hard, and

disease took a deadly toll. (Life Span: 45)-Family Life Suffered: Men outnumbered

women 6:1 and 1/3 of new brides in Maryland were already pregnant.

-Still despite all these issues, Virginia grew to be the most populous colony with 59,000 people by century’s end.

THE UNHEALTHY CHESAPEAKE

William Bradford Separatist leader of settlers at the Plymouth

Colony in Massachusetts. Served as governor for 30 years after John

Carver died. Credited as the first civil authority to

designate what we have all come to know and love as Thanksgiving in the U.S.

Published his journal Of Plymouth Plantation, detailing the history of the Plymouth Colony.

The cultivation of tobacco made the Chesapeake Valley.

Production grew from 1.5 million pounds in 1630 to 40 million pounds in 1700.

Overplanting became the norm to try to generate a profit as prices fell.

Tell me about the “Headright” system? Describe the life of an indentured servant in

the Chesapeake?

THE TOBACCO ECONOMY

Nathaniel Bacon Colonist of the Virginia Colony, Instigated

Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 The rebellion failed when Bacon fell to

dysentery. Attempted to steal Native Americans’ treaty

protected lands Burned Jamestown to the ground in 1676.

Bacon’s Rebellion Uprising in 1676 in the Virginia Colony, led

by 29 year-old planter Nathaniel Bacon. About a thousand Virginians banded

together because they despised Governor William Berkeley’s friendly policies towards Native Americans.

The rowdy folks burned Jamestown in their fit of rage.

William Berkeley Colonial Governor of Virginia One of the Lords Proprietors of the Colony of

Carolina He was not afraid to be shot in the chest. Enacted friendly policies towards Native

Americans, that ultimately led to Bacon’s Rebellion.

After said rebellion, he was called back to England.

By the late 1600’s, the Chesapeake had grown a generation of angry young men.

(Describe these angry young men)*Tell me about Nathanial Bacon and his

rebellion.1.)2.)3.)4.)5.)

FRUSTRATED “FREEMEN” AND BACON’S REBELLION

Middle Passage Stage of triangular trade where Africans

were shipped to the new world. Approximately 15% of the Africans died at

sea. Up to 2 million total Africans died on the

voyages.

In the 300 years after Columbus discovered America, 10 million African slaves were brought to the Americas. Only 400,000 made it to North America.

Reasons for African Slaves versus Indentured Servants.

1.)2.)3.)*By 1750, black slaves made up ½ the

population of Virginia.

COLONIAL SLAVERY

PATH TO SLAVERY

Brutality of the Middle Passage was extreme.

Voyage lasted 2 months.

Enslaved Africans suffered psychological trauma of separation from their families & villages, as they sailed to a strange land & unknown future.

Slave traders branded their cargo w/ hot irons, placed them in shackles, & jammed them into dark holds that were so crowded they could hardly move.

PATH TO SLAVERYTHE “MIDDLE PASSAGE”

Foul air promoted disease & the ill might be thrown overboard due to this

Slave traders had an interest in delivering a large & healthy cargo.

Due to conditions, at least 10% of those making the Middle Passage voyage in the 1700s did not survive.

THE “MIDDLE PASSAGE”

THE “MIDDLE PASSAGE”

THE “MIDDLE PASSAGE”

After the middle passage, slaves were distributed to all areas of North America after arrival in the ports of Charleston, SC and Newport, R.I.

A few of the earliest slaves gained their freedom and even became slaveholders. After that, the plantation masters that slaves and their children were property, not people. The term for this is “chattels”.

Some colonies made it a crime to teach slaves how to read and even conversion to Christianity did not aid in their freedom.

SLAVE ARRIVAL IN AMERICA

Life in the South for a slave was even harder than for indentured servants. The rice, indigo, and especially the tobacco plantations were brutal work.

Despite all the hardships, a unique African-American emerged as a mix of African and white cultures.

Language, music, and food were all transformed by the African slaves. Examples?

Desiring freedom, slaves did attempt to escape regularly and even revolted.

New York: 1712 Stono River SC: 1739

AFRICANS IN AMERICA

As time wore on, a gap between the rich and the poor widened in the South.

Virginia was becoming a state of “aristocratic” plantation owners. (FFV’s?)

The next in line of this “aristocracy” was the small farmers, also known as “yeoman” farmers. (Largest social group who held small plots of land and 1 or 2 slaves.)

At the bottom of the scale were landless “whites” followed by slaves who had no rights.

(The wide spread nature of the South led to fewer cities, schools, and churches. The plantation was your life.)

SOUTHERN SOCIETY

Climate and conditions were much healthier in New England than in the South.

Some life expectancies reached 70 years of age in certain areas.

Families emigrated to New England rather than single people in the Chesapeake.

Women became pregnant when they married and had a child every 2 years until menopause. (8-10 children per family)

A women’s role in New England versus in the South?

THE NEW ENGLAND FAMILY

In keeping with the Puritan ways toward order, town life was very structured.

How did you become a town? Good Planning? Education was valued by New Englanders-Towns of 50 families built primary schools while

towns of 100 families built secondary schools.-Harvard was the nation’s first college in 1636

and was used to train men for the ministry.-Virginia’s first college in 1693? Why?The church still ran the “democratic” towns from

their “congregationalist” churches.

LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND TOWNS

Puritan leaders worried that the passage of time was dampening the religious zeal within the new generations.

The birth of the “Jeremiad” attempted to do what?

In 1662, church leaders established the “Half-Way” covenant to do what?

In effect, strict religious purity was sacrificed somewhat to the cause of wider religious participation. Interestingly, from about this time onward, women were the majority in the Puritan congregations.

JEREMIADS AND THE HALF-WAY COVENANT

Jeremiads The term Jeremiad is applied to moralistic

texts that denounce a society for its wickedness, and prophesy its downfall.

Particularly appropriate examples of said Jeremiads are sermons like “Sinners in the hand of an angry god” by Jonathan Edwards.

Favorite literary device of the Purtians.

Half-Way Covenant Provided for a partial church membership

for the children and grandchildren of church members.

The partial members could not accept communion or vote.

The Children of the first generation members did have a right to be Baptized in the church.

Planted seeds for the first Great Awakening in the 1730s.

In 1692, a hysterical “witch hunt” led to the deaths of 20 people and 2 dogs by hanging or being pressed to death.

Identify the causes of this “fervor”: 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.)Outcome:

SALEM WITCH TRIALS

The New England soil dictated the way of life in these colonies.

Agriculture was on a limited basis and they raised crops to survive, not for the economy.

The main industries were shipbuilding due to the amount of timber available and fishing. These were their exports but to whom and why?

Slavery was tried in the New England states but fizzled due to lack of large scale farming.

Tell me about their relations with the Indians?

THE NEW ENGLAND WAY OF LIFE

Leisler’s Rebellion Uprising in New York, where German

American merchant/militia captain Jacob Leisler took the colony over and ruled it from 1689-1691.

The rebellion reflected the resentment against the policies of King James II

Leisler was executed after being taken from power by British troops, and was replaced by a british governor.

The cycle of the seasons and the sun set the schedules of the earliest Americans. Describe this day to me?

Tell me about the roles of men, women, and children in colonial society.

THE EARLY SETTLERS’ DAYS AND WAYS

FOCUS QUESTIONS How did the climate in the southern colonies

influence life expectancy, family life, immigration, and economic development?

What role did Bacon’s rebellion play in the adoption and expansion of slavery in the southern colonies?

What Contribution did enslaved Africans provide the colonies?

How was life expectancy, family life, immigration, and economic development different in New England as compared with the southern colonies?

What are the differences in the legal standing of women in southern colonies and New England colonies?