The Colonies Develop

New England: Commerce & Religion

Southern Colonies: Plantations & Slavery

Middle Colonies: Farms & Cities

The Backcountry

Original Colonies

New England: Commerce & Religion

• Subsistence farming

– Just enough food for themselves

• Congregation

– Communities built around the Common

– Land divided among members

• Economy based upon the sea

– Whaling

– Fishing for cod, herring, halibut, mackerel

• Economy– Mercantilism

• Belief that the colonies existed to benefit the mother country

– Supply England with raw materials– Buy finished goods from England

• Navigation acts (1651)– Colonists could sell certain goods only to England

» Tobacco, wood, sugar– Colonists could use only English ships– European imports passed though English ports only– High taxes on goods not shipped to England

• Triangular trade – Rum & iron shipped & sold to Africa– Slaves & gold bought & shipped to West Indies– Sugar & molasses bought & shipped to New England

Triangular Trade

New England• King Philip’s War

– War between Puritans & Wampanoag tribe• Joined by other tribes

– Metacom– 40 villages (including Plymouth & Providence) attacked

& 12 towns destroyed– Ended in1676

• Puritan life– Business becomes more important than religion to

many– New religious groups arrive– New royal charter grants religious freedom for all

New England– Salem witch trials

• Several accused

• Over 100 tried & 19 put to death• Governors wife accused & trials end

– Legacy• Work ethic• High regard for education• Representative government

–Opposition to royal power• Voting as a community

Southern Colonies:Plantations & Slavery

• Tidewater– Close to coast & rivers to allow shipping

• Cash crops– Rice & Tobacco

• Planter class– Owners of plantations– Elite families– Small in number, but held the South’s power

• Bacon’s Rebellion– Nathaniel Bacon vs. Virginia Governor William Berkeley

– Felt governor favored planters over farmers – Bacon burned Jamestown & took control of House of Burgesses• 23 men hanged• House of Burgesses passed laws to limit governors power

Southern Colonies:Plantations & Slavery

• Search for cheap labor– Indentured white servants left– Planters turn to slavery

• Slave life– Overseers controlled 20 to 25 slaves– 15 hour work days

• Expansion of Plantations– Indigo

• Produced a rich blue dye• Eliza Lucas

• Stono Rebellion (1739)– 20 slaves rebelled near Charleston– Led to Slave codes

• Economy– Wealth was in the hands of the few– Size of the farm or plantation depended upon location

Middle Colonies:Farms & Cities

• Quakers – William Penn (Pennsylvania)– Climate of Tolerance

•Dutch & German farmers– Philadelphia (fasting growing city)

• New York– Slaves & free blacks– Artisans (skilled craftspeople)– Quakers condemn slavery

• Diverse population– Germans

•Conestoga wagons•Long rifle

Middle Colonies:Farms & Cities

• Diversity leads to tolerance– No set religion– Movement to abolish slavery– Model for the nation

• Growth of cities– New York– Philadelphia

The Backcountry• Appalachian Mountains

– Natural western boundary– Fall line– Piedmont

• Scots-Irish– Presbyterians

• Back to the Bible• Many churches develop

– Clans (family units)– Music

• Bluegrass & country

• Regionalism– Population doubles & re-doubles between 1700 – 1750

• Contact brings conflict– Land taken from American Indians