American Colonies New England Colonies - 8

By Pam Clark

• The colonists that emigrated to New England were unique in comparison to those who emigrated to other English colonies in the 17th century.

• Most paid their own travel expenses, came with their own (one to two) indentured servants, and were devout, pious, people. They were artisans, shop keepers, and farmers who were not afraid of hard work. They relied of family members as their primary labor force.

• As Puritans, they were determined to live in a way pleasing to God, and their strong work ethic, combined with a climate similar to England’s, allowed them to farm subsistence crops similar to those they grew in England. The cold climate and fast flowing rivers and creeks provided protection from disease.

• As a result, they lived longer, on average to age seventy, and were survived by their large families of six or seven children as they had healthy children that grew to adulthood.

American Colonies New England Colonies - 8

• New England grew through two waves of emigration, the second “Great Migration” brought the Massachusetts Bay Company, and a republican form of self government that elected its own government officials, legislature, and courts, and they were the only European republic.

• By 1691, New England was comprised of the four colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

• As New England grew in population, they also developed new forms of commerce that competed with England, much to England’s dismay. These included fishing, the “carrying trade” of shipping; importing and exporting, and traded primarily with the English West

Indies, forming a mutually beneficial trade alliance.

• Boston ranked second only to England in shipbuilding in the year 1714.

American Colonies New England Colonies - 8

Puritans were severe in their punishment of“sinners,” following the Old Testament and English common law in the punishments they dealt.

They burned the writings of other religions, criminalized immorality, blasphemy, not attending church, and witchcraft.

Minister Roger Williams went on to form the

Settlement of Rhode Island after he accused

church leaders in of not doing enough toseparate themselves from the Church of England.

American Colonies New England Colonies - 8

In the 17th century, people were highlysuperstitious - looking for signs of God’spleasure or displeasure, and assigned meaning to anything and everythingimaginable: climate changes, failed crops, dreams, eclipses, deformities at birth, and even epidemics of disease wereperceived portents of God’s grace if good, or Satan’s handiwork if destructive.

During this superstitious time, women were accused of witchcraft at an alarmingrate - accounting for most of the accusations. Ironically, 80 percent of the accusers were women.

Although easy to accuse, witchcraft was difficult to prove. Until 1696, ninety-threecases of witchcraft were brought before juries in New England, and sixteen of those cases resulted in execution.

American Colonies New England Colonies - 8

• In 1692, the Salem witch trials eventually brought an end to the prosecution of witchcraft in New England.

• Despite their superstitions, the New Englanders were more educated, they had more opportunity for improving their circumstances in life, and their hard work ethic and perseverance sustained a diverse and complex society unique to the English colonies.

American Colonies New England Colonies - 8

American Colonies Chesapeake Colonies - 7

American Colonies Chesapeake Colonies - 7

The Chesapeake colonists differed greatly form the New England colonists, as most of the emigrants were poor, young, white men from London and Bristol, who came as indentured servants. Only 14 percent of the emigrants were women in 1635.

The mortality rate of indentured servants was high due to the labor-intensive work,the hot, muggy climate, as well as the slow moving waters, that facilitated the spreadof disease. Malaria, typhoid, and other diseases wiped out over half of the populationbetween 1625 and 1640, 15,0000 indentured servants were imported , and yet the population increased only 7,000 due to death.

The government of the Chesapeake colonies was composed of “hard-driving merchants and planters of middling origins” (p. 139). The government was designed to benefit the wealthy planters, and gentry.

As time went on, the rich tobacco planters became richer, and the smaller plantersbecame poorer.

American Colonies Chesapeake Colonies - 7

By 1700 there were over 13,000 slaves living in the Chesapeake colonies.

This was due to the lifting of the African trade monopoly, thus allowing more competition and lowering prices for slaves.

Slave traders began making regular stops to the Chesapeake region, and slaves were now less expensive to use as a labor force thanindentured servants were.

Mortality rates had also dropped as the population became more resistant to the diseases of the region.

American Colonies Chesapeake Colonies - 7

Bacon’s Rebellion occurred as a reaction to increased taxation and the insensitive and callous government under the control of governor Berkeley, who favored the wealthy planters, thus igniting rebellion by the common planters who were tired of being unfairly taxed.

Nathaniel Bacon, gained support for the rebellion by promising to free indentured servants that joined his cause, and reduce taxes if he was successful in the rebellion. He also supported zero tolerance for Indian

presence in the Chesapeake colonies.

Although the rebels were able to drive Berkeley and his men from their plantations, Bacon died of dysentery and the rebellion lost its leader and fell apart in the end.

Due to the revenue that the tobacco crop brought to England, the English government sent troops to restore order in Virginia, and ousted govenor Berkeley.

American Colonies Chesapeake Colonies - 7

The wealthy planters realized the need for a more cohesive government, and became more sensitive to the smaller planter’s concerns. They reduced taxes, and by the 18th century the small planters perceived the large planters as allies and guardians of their interests.

Some of the common planters moved further into the interior or south to improve their circumstances, while other common planters remained in the colony and usedSlave labor to bolster their productivity.