Chapter Three

CREATING ANGLO-AMERICA (1660-1750)

KING PHILIP’S WAR• King Metacom “Philip” was an Indian leader that organized a series of raids throughout the

Massachusetts Bay colony

• More settlers were moving in and needing more farm land

• They used force and violated several treaties to remove Metacom’s tribe from their land

• At the same time, colonists were setting up “Praying Towns” throughout the area

• These were towns that wanted to enforce English religion, customs, and laws upon natives without granting citizenship

• The English used these towns as another excuse to encroach on their land

• Metacom launched an offensive in 1675

• They attacked 52 villages and 13 Praying Towns throughout Massachusetts Bay

• This was the extent of his success

• Metacom was quickly killed

KING PHILIP’S WAR• Reactions

• The colonist’s counterattack in 1676 marked the end of Indian power in Massachusetts Bay

• As a result, Indians in the area no longer trusted English colonists

• In the future, small, insignificant Indian raids would often set off waves of paranoia in English settlements

King Metacom

MAKING SENSE OF KING PHILIP’S WAR• “Each man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice”

• “One man calls cruelty what another calls justice” – Thomas Hobbes

• The memory of war

• “How does someone far from the scene of battle image “savage cruelty” except by thinking the worst?” -- Jill LaPore

• Truth in war in relative

• War is often about propaganda: false reports, rumors, deceptions

• “Bloody,” “cruel,” “brutal,” “savage,” and “atrocious” are all overused and typically imprecise

ENGLAND’S COMMERCIAL EMPIRE• Commerce became the foundation of the new English empire

• Elizabeth I was largely responsible for this

• England wanted to become the biggest player in the Atlantic trade game

• The first step was to solidify control of the eastern coast of North America

• Charles II ruled over the colonists with an iron fist

• After finding out that the colonists were not following the Navigation Acts, he tightened control

• Appointed new colonial governors who would be loyal to the King

• Created “dominions” over the colonies that would govern the colonies at large

• Severely limited the law-making ability of the colonies

• This became an early form of the “federal system” that we know today

NEW NETHERLAND (NY AND NJ)• The Dutch settled New Netherland in 1609 shortly after the voyages of Henry Hudson

• The colony was property of the Dutch West Indies Co.

• The New York area received very little attention and had a series of incompetent leaders

• Immigrants were primarily from Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Africa (most had little loyalties to the Dutch)

• The English took notice and began attacking New Amsterdam

• They took control in 1664

• The colonies (NY, NJ, Delaware, and Maine) became personal property of James II, the Duke of York

• English began to occupy the area freely after learning how weak Dutch influence was in the colonies

• The Dutch eventually surrendered the colonies, so they could retain their holdings in Africa, Asia, and South America

NEW YORK• Government

• The Duke of York introduced the “Duke’s Laws” which granted religious freedom and recognition of preexisting land titles (to those already in the colony)

• However, the governor was appointed by the king

• Power of the colonial government was chosen by the king

• However, he did allow for local government control by the colonists

• Colonists in New York demanded the same liberties as Englishmen under English Common Law

• They finally were recognized in the Charter of Liberties and Privileges in 1683

• New York also established an elected assembly

• By 1700, the Duke of York divided up 2 million acres of land to roughly 5 elite New York families

NEW JERSEY• The land between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers became New Jersey

• The Duke of York sold this land to his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret

• Carteret attempted to collect taxes from colonists, but gave up

• He eventually sold half of his property to the Quakers

• They put in a democratic government in West Jersey

CAROLINA

CAROLINA• Carolina was the first colony established after Charles II ascended the throne• Located between Virginia and Spanish Florida

• The Treaty of Madrid made it possible for England to colonize this land• England used this as an opportunity to keep pressure on Spanish Florida and also

prevent Spanish expansion• John Locke and Sir Anthony Cooper devised a radical plan of government

• The majority of the governmental power would rest with the hereditary elite, but the rights of common landowners would be protected

• Cooper appealed to farmers in Barbados to colonize Carolina• Numerous settlements sprung up around Charleston• Government largely failed on the Locke/Cooper model• Slaves were readily imported

CAROLINA• A complicated feudal system resulted

• Religious toleration and elected assemblies were included though

• Overall, Carolina became a significant importer of slaves

• The climate and soil allowed for numerous kinds of plant cultivation

QUAKERS• Known also as the Religious Society of Friends

• A Christian religious denomination that began in the early 17 th century

• Principles

• Each man and woman could communicate directly with God

• Rejected the concept of predestination

• Believers emitted an ‘inner light’

• English authorities considered them anarchists and dangerous to society

• They were persecuted heavily in the mid-17 th century

• Regarding Liberty

• Quakers believed that whites, blacks, and Indians were all entitled to liberty

• They believed that religious freedom was a fundamental principle

• They also had a strict moral code

• William Penn attempted to use this as the foundation for his first government in Pennsylvania

PENNSYLVANIA

PENNSYLVANIA• The last colony established in the 1600s

• Pennsylvania was established to alleviate a 16,000 pound debt owed by the Stuarts (Charles II’s family) to William Penn’s late father

• Penn got the land as a result

• Penn envisioned a colony of harmony between colonists and Indians

• Haven for spiritual freedom

• Penn was a member of the Quakers and Society of Friends (SoF)

• One of his primary motives was to establish a haven for those trying to escape religious persecution in Europe

• Penn owned all of Pennsylvania’s land and sold it at very low prices

• Very different because he did not grant land outright

WILLIAM PENN

PENNSYLVANIA • Land Owners

• 600 people initially bought land from Penn (roughly ¾ of a million acres)

• Most of the buyers were Quakers

• Penn recruited immigrants from England, Ireland, Germany, and Wales

• The population boomed

• Government

• A majority of the male population could vote

• Males only had to own 50 acres of land to be eligible

• Criminal laws were lax

• Capital punishment for murder and treason only

• Penn’s initial government was overly complicated

PENNSYLVANIA• Philadelphia

• Became a booming port city built on a grid system

• Boasted wide roads and red brick homes

• The city prospered because it was in the middle of the booming Atlantic trade route

• Markets did well because of the grid system

• Overall

• Penn did not make a lot of money, but Pennsylvania was successful

• He owned a wealthy colony, but eventually went broke and was thrown in debtor’s prison

• He later marked the entire colony as a complete failure

PHILADELPHIA’S GRID SYSTEM

SLAVERY IN AMERICA• One of the primary reasons for the expansion of slavery in North America was the need for

labor on tobacco plantations

• Slavery in North America would be very different from slavery throughout history\

• Only a small portion of the 8-11 million African slaves sold came to America

• By 1720, 1 in 5 in the Chesapeake Bay colonies was black

• However, slavery expanded slower in North America due to expense and high mortality

• The Middle Passage was the worst part of the journey through the Atlantic Slave Trade route

• Space on ships was roughly the size of coffins

• No bathrooms

• Almost no food

SLAVERY IN AMERICA• Race and Racism

• These concepts did not exist at this point in history

• The true battle was between Christians and barbarians, not white vs. black, etc.

• Africans fit the mold for the typical English interpretation of barbarians

• Africans were seen as alien in color, religion, and social practices

• Why slaves over indentured servants or Indians?

• Indentured servants were expensive

• They eventually had to be paid off, given land, etc.

• They were less willing to do hard labor on sugar and tobacco plantations

• Disease and warfare killed off a great portion of the Indians

SLAVERY IN AMERICA• Black Codes

• Passed in Virginia for all tobacco growers

• Ruled that any person who killed a slave while punishing them would not be tried in court

• No black could strike a white

• Slaves are slaves from birth to death

• Slaves could not hold property, testify in court, etc.

• Religious conversion did not warrant the freedom of a slave

• Virginia and Maryland began referencing these codes in 1660

• In cases where one part is free and the other is a slave, the offspring’s status would follow that of the mother

• These restricts gave slaves a legitimate reason to consider rebellion

SLAVERY IN AMERICA• Slave Resistance by Civil Disobedience

• Broke tools

• Slowed their work

• Arson, theft, and murder (rare cases)

• Who owned slaves in the South?

• 5% of the upper class owned slaves, held large tracts of land, and did not do labor with their slaves

• Middle Class – worked with their slaves and owned smaller portions of land

• Lower Class – did not own slaves and were lucky to own a horse

BACON’S REBELLION

BACON’S REBELLION• Nathaniel Bacon was a young planter that was bent on gaining power and becoming one of

the ‘elite planters’ in Virginia

• He gained a following by promising freedom and land those who joined him

• He said that the colonial government was robbing and cheating everyone

• He also called for the removal of all Indians and lower taxes

• Specifically, Bacon was angry at Virginia Governor William Berkeley

• Berkeley ran a corrupt government for 30 years in an alliance with Virginia’s wealthiest tobacco planters (Bacon was not invited to the club)

• He gave them the best land grants, leaving new planters little choice on the land they received

• He also did not want to forcibly take Indian lands

GOV. WILLIAM BERKELEY

BACON’S REBELLION• The conflict began with a minor confrontation between Indians and settlers on the western

frontier

• Bacon was furious and began to raid Indian and settlers’ villages

• Declared a traitor by Berkeley

• Indians were his primary target, but settlers became collateral damage

• Bacon proceeded to march on Jamestown and burn it to the ground

• Became the de facto ruler of Virginia for a short time after he ran the governor off

• Control was finally restored after British warship came

• Overall, he effectively pushed the Indians out of the Chesapeake Bay

BACON’S CASTLE

BACON’S REBELLION• Threats of Civil War

• Bacon’s Rebellion served as a rude awakening for many of the colonial elite

• The elite previously did not think the non-elite would attempt to revolt

• This was essentially a struggle between economic classes

• The elite slowly realized they had to improve their image and show some concern for the poor

• Essentially, this was a perfect example of the danger of many land-less freemen in a society controlled by a few elite

• Resembles Early Marxism

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION• Also called the Revolution of 1688

• It essentially established Parliamentary supremacy (over monarch supremacy) and secured a Protestant succession to the throne after Charles II

• Charles II’s successor, James II was not very popular and thought about converted England back to Catholicism (bad idea)

• However, Parliament did not worry too much as the throne would have passed to his daughter, Mary, a Protestant, and the wife of William of Orange

• The conflict began when James II had a son (which would potentially turn England Catholic again)

• Parliament forced James II into exile and invited his daughter Mary and her husband William to ascend the throne

• Is this really a revolution or a Dutch take-over?

JAMES II

WILLIAM AND MARY

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION• Why is it called the glorious revolution?

• It was a bloodless revolution

• Glorious because it was the first revolution England had without constant warfare

• Remember the English Civil War?

• How did the revolution affect the colonies?

• Massachusetts Bay finally annexes Plymouth Bay

• A new charter that tolerated religious freedom was developed

• Some colonists became angry when the crown instituted a Lord of Trade to oversee the colonies

• James II created a ‘super-colony’ called the Dominion of New England before his departure

• Basically all the colonies were viewed as one contiguous unit

• This made them easier to administrate

WITCHCRAFT IN NEW ENGLAND

WITCHCRAFT IN NEW ENGLAND• During the 17th century, over 350 New Englanders were accused of witchcraft

• Over 200 in Salem, Massachusetts alone• Virtually no one was accused in the South; this was truly a Northern phenomenon

• Who was accused?• Typically, older, outcast women were the primary targets• They usually were post-menopausal, did not have sons, had economic autonomy, and were single• Economic autonomy alone gave men a reason to envy this women to some degree

• In Salem, an Indian slave woman named Tituba was blame for the outbreak of witchcraft• Led to hysteria• 14 women and 5 men were executed as a result

• What ends the hysteria• The governor’s wife eventually gets accused of witchcraft• Thus, the governor believe the hysteria had gone too far and ended the numerous trials

• Spectral evidence is outdated and potentially dangerous

WITCHCRAFT IN NEW ENGLAND• Potential Causes

• Strong belief that Satan was acting in the world

• “The invisible world” – disease, natural catastrophes, and bad fortune

• Belief that Satan recruited witches and wizards to work for him

• Belief that a person affected by witchcraft exhibits certain symptoms

• Most of the symptoms could be faked

• Not a strong sense of scientific criticism/examination

• Lots of issues in Salem Village

• Smallpox breakout

• Congregational issues

• Frontier wars with Indians

WITCHCRAFT IN NEW ENGLAND• Potential Causes

• Admission of spectral evidence by judges and magistrates

• “Confessing witches” add credibility to the accusations

WITCHCRAFT IN NEW ENGLAND• Procedure for the witchcraft trials

• The afflicted person submits a compliant to the Magistrate indicating a suspected witch

• Sometimes a third party made the complaint

• The Magistrate issues a warrant for the accused witch

• The accused witch is taken into custody and examined by two or more Magistrates

• After listening to testimony, if the Magistrate believes the accused is guilty, the person is sent to jail for reexamination and trial

• The case is presented to the Grand Jury.

• If the accused witch is indicted by the Grand Jury, he/she is tried before the Court of Oyer and Terminer

• A jury decides the guilt of the accused

• If guilty, the accused receives a death sentence by hanging from the Court

• The Sheriff and his deputies carry out the execution

TITUBA

POPULATION DIVERSITY IN NORTH AMERICA• Large scale migration began to drain England as everyone started to come to North America

• England began efforts to stop emigration

• Over 145,000 Scots and Scots-Irish migrated to the colonies

• Germans

• Over 110,000 migrated

• They represented the largest group of immigrants

• They tended to travel in families and greatly enhanced the ethnic and religious diversity of the colonies

POPULATION DIVERSITY IN NORTH AMERICA• Liberties that attracted settlers

• Land availability• Lack of a military draft• Little restraints on economic opportunity

• Regional diversity• The colonial backcountry was the fastest growing region• Farmers in the Middle Colonies enjoyed an especially high standard of living• Pennsylvania became known as the best “poor man’s country”

• European competition• By the mid-18th century, France had roughly 10,000 settlers left

• Spain had less than 14,000 (mostly in Texas and Florida)