Creating Anglo America Britain saw colonies as sources of raw materials and markets for finished goods To maximize these goals officials developed economic

Creating Anglo America

• Britain saw colonies as sources of raw materials and markets for finished goods

• To maximize these goals officials developed economic policies later called mercantilism

• Mercantilist goals Gold and silver – how much a nation

possessed determined its wealth and power. If it could not be mined it could be obtained through guile and warfare

Mercantilism

Favorable balance of trade- selling more goods than buying. A trade deficit meant the “export” of gold and silver

Of the English colonies those in the South and Caribbean were valued for their resources and those in the North as markets

The sugar imported from Barbados was worth more than all the goods sent to England by the mainland colonies

Mercantilism

To sell goods internal production must be stimulatedBritish protected home markets and manufacturing through

tariffs and subsidies paid to British manufacturers

Mercantilism

• Put into effect over period of half century or more

• Acts were designed to Bring in more gold and silverDevelop the imperial merchant fleetChannel the flow of raw materials into BritainKeep foreign goods and vessels out of colonial ports

The Navigation Acts

• System originated in 1650’s in response to stiff economic competition with Dutch

• Much of colonial business between Europe and the English colonies was conducted by Dutch ships

• First slaves to Jamestown came on Dutch ships

The Navigation Acts

• Navigation Act of 1660Reserved the entire colonial trade to English shipsCaptain and ¾ of crew had to be EnglishEnumerated articles (sugar, tobacco, cotton, ginger, and dyes

like indigo) could not be shipped, conveyed, or transported outside the empire

The Navigation Acts

• Three years later Parliament required all goods going to the colonies first had to pass through England

• Enumerated articles grew to include rice, molasses, naval stores, furs, and copper

• Colonies were NOT seen as entities to exploit but as part of a larger economic unit

The Navigation Acts

• Restrictions were placed on colonial manufacturingWool Act 1699- prohibited the export of colonial woolen cloth1732- hat making prohibited Iron Act of 1750

• Outlawed construction of new rolling and slitting mills • By 1775 colonies turning out 1/7 of world supply• Iron Act not intended to destroy iron industry but to steer it into a direction better

suited for Britain. Britain lifted all tariffs on colonial pig and bar iron

The Navigation Acts

• Colonists increasingly complained of mercantilist policies – chronic shortage of specie (Pine Tree Shilling 1652)

• Colonial economy growing rapidly – consumed more manufactured products than it could pay for

• American “debt” actually British investment in colonies

The Effects of Mercantilism

• Colonial products that had no market in Britain (fish, wheat, corn) could move freely to foreign ports

• Shipbuilding became big colonial business

• Though mercantilism was supposed to treat mother country and colonies as single economic unit when conflicts arose the mother country always won


• As the American economy became more complex – the colonies would experience greater problems

• The restrictions of mercantilism were lessened due to inefficiency of British government

• Smuggling became a respected profession and bribery of government officials standard practice


• The Molasses Act of 1733 placed heavy duty on molasses imported from Caribbean but duties were rarely collected due to smuggling and bribery

• Tobacco farmers suffered under mercantilism as farmers could not trade excess crops to other Europeans

• Generally, both Britain and the colonies prospered under mercantilism

• Policy of Salutary Neglect


The Founding of Carolina

• Charles II awarded land north of Florida (buffer with Spain) to eight proprietors

• Settlers came from Barbados• Wanted feudal society w/ titles of

nobility• Instituted assembly, religious

toleration, headright of 150 acres per family

• Absolute power over slaves• Established rice as cash crop

The Founding of Pennsylvania

• Proprietor – William Penn – given as payment for debt

• Quaker• Wanted religious freedom and

established good relations with Indians

• Quakers already established in colony of New Jersey

• Penn sold land – large German immigration

Origins of American Slavery

• Labor needed for tobacco cultivation

• Slaves better alternative to indentured servants Skin color made running away

almost impossible No terms of service Children became slaves Slaves could not compete

politically or economically

Origins of American Slavery

• Division between Europeans and slaves not based on color or race but civilized versus barbarian or Christian versus heathen

• Slavery based on plantation agriculture

• Large numbers of slaves made tight control necessary

Reading – Slavery on the Frontier

Bacon’s Rebellion

• Virginia Governor William Berkeley in corrupt relationship with Tidewater planters

• Small farmers (many former indentured servants) faced w/marginal lands & high taxes

• Poverty increased – loss of land = loss of vote

• Poor demanded lands occupied by Indians

Bacon’s Rebellion

• Berkeley refused – settlers massacred Indian settlements and marched on Jamestown

• Settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon• Burned Jamestown – plundered

wealthy Tidewater estates• Rebellion put down by British

warships• Some reforms made – plantations

shifted from indentured servants to more slavery

A Slave Society

• Not only rebellions like Bacon’s but also high death rates and the decreasing supply of white servants made servants for life more economical

• Increasing numbers of blacks resulted in more slave codes – greater restrictions on slaves

• Virginia went from slavery being just one type of labor to being a slave society

The Dominion of New England

• James II combined Connecticut, Plymouth, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and West and East Jersey into a single colony

• Ruled by Sir Edmund Andros• Ruled by decree, imposed

taxes w/out approval of assembly

The Glorious Revolution

• 1688 – Parliament hands monarchy to William of Orange aka Glorious Revolution

• Solidifies dominance of Protestantism in colonies

• Boston overthrew Andros – New England reestablished colonial governments and restored charters

• Massachusetts combined w/Plymouth and made royal colony

• Enforced religious toleration created tensions among Puritans

William and Mary

Reading: The Salem Witch Trials

The Growth of Colonial America

• Skilled workers moving to America caused Britain to end official promotion of migration

• Britain sent 50,000 convicts to Chesapeake for labor and encouraged migration from other parts of empire and Europe

• Large movement of Scots-Irish to America


• Largest migration from Europe was German – many pushed by religious persecution

• Migrants tended to settle on frontier creating tight-knit communities

• Pull factors included land, lack of military draft, and economic opportunity (freedom to enter trades) German style architecture

Indians in Transition

• Disease and war had decimated Indians

• Remnants formed into larger confederations such as Iroquois & Cherokee

• Indians increasingly dependent on European products

• Tide of migration west caused friction w/Indians


• New England and the frontier mostly small farms but middle colonies oriented towards commerce

• Colonials becoming more prosperous – European and even Asian products seen in colonial homes

• Tea, once a luxury, became a necessity for all


• American cities small in comparison to Europe or even Spanish America – Mexico City = 100,000 / Boston = 6,000

• Port cities rising due to agricultural exports, imports of manufactured goods, growth of artisan class

• Artisans usually worked in home with apprentices and/or journeymen

• Skills acquired some measure of status and economic freedom Coopers at work making barrels


• The Atlantic World Colonies shipped tobacco,

indigo, rice, and other commodities to Britain

Sold farm products to West Indies

West Indies sugar shipped to American colonies = rum

Ships built in New England made up 1/3 of Britain’s trading fleet

Social Classes in the Colonies

• In New England and middle colonies trade created a wealthy and powerful upper class of merchants

• In the South the elites were wealthy planters

• Southern planter class tight-knit, intermarried, passed down wealth and power through family


• Rather than assuming an American identity, the elites wanted to become more British

• Anglicization – wealthy Americans imitated British manners and behaviors

• Fashion, furniture, and other possessions imported to raise their status

• Living the ‘aristocratic’ style bankrupted many


• Richest group were South Carolina planters

• Charleston – richest city in British America

• Elites saw political power as their right

• “Gentleman” status – freedom from labor


• Poverty rising as population increased

• Land increasingly limited in settled regions

• Tenant farming and wage labor increasing

• Communities helped poor through work houses – also expelled unemployed

• Many poor were families headed by widowed or abandoned women


• Most American were middle class

• 2/3 of Americans owned land – in England 3/5 were landless

• Land was equal to independence – attempts to limit land were resented

• Women experienced a decline in freedom as colonial life became more structured

Documents

Creating Anglo America Britain saw colonies as sources of raw materials and markets for finished goods To maximize these goals officials developed economic