ssush2a & b development of the colonial economy and...

SSUSH2A & B

Development of the Colonial Economy and Society (The New England and Southern Colonies)

Economic Development of the New England Colonies

• New England’s economy was greatly influenced

by a Puritan belief known as the Puritan Work

Ethic, which was based on the idea that God

commanded six days of work a week.

• Agriculture actually played a minor role in

Colonial times because the soil was too rocky

and thin to support many large farms.

• Clearing fields for farming involved removing

trees that produced lumber that was often

exported to England, where it was in short

supply due to their depleted forests.

Economic Development of the New England Colonies

• However, fishing and whaling were actually

the main supporters of the regions economy.

• New England also had a few factories where

manufactured goods were produced, such as

the Saugus Iron Works near Boston.

• Water power was used as a source of

energy to run the equipment like the large

bellows that kept the wood fires burning .

• Some of the iron was shipped to England,

but most of it was used in colonial

blacksmith shops to make nails and tools .

Economic Development of the New England Colonies

• Shipbuilding was another big industry

in New England.

• Large numbers of ships manufactured

in New England sailed the Trans-

Atlantic Trade Route creating a

prosperous region trade system.

• The Colonial shipping trade

followed certain, three way,

Triangular Trade Routes

Development of the Triangular Trade Routes

Development of the Triangular Trade Routes

• Ships leaving the American

colonies carried manufactured

goods, such as tools and rum,

to the west coast of Africa.

• In Africa, these items were traded for slaves, gold, and pepper, which

were then shipped to the West Indies (Caribbean) .

The First Triangular Trade Route

• Then, in the West Indies, these items were traded for sugar and

molasses, which in turn were shipped to America and sold for a profit .

Development of the Triangular Trade Routes

The Second Triangular Trade Route

• Ships from the American

colonies sailed to the

West Indies carrying

food products and lumber.

• These goods were traded

for fruit, sugar and

molasses and shipped to

England.

• Then, these goods were traded in England for manufactured goods,

which were then carried to the American colonies and sold for a profit .

Development of the Triangular Trade Routes

The Third Triangular Trade Route

• Ships from the American

colonies sailed to

Southern Europe

carrying lumber, fish,

meat, and grain.

• These goods were then

traded for fruit and wine

and shipped to England.

• Then, once again, these goods were traded in England for manufactured

goods, which were then carried to the American colonies and sold for a

profit .

Development of the Triangular Trade Routes

• American traders did quite well for themselves using these trade routes

until the British developed an economic policy called Mercantilism.

• Mercantilism was designed to protect English industries from colonial

competition and caused interference with the colonial shipping trade .

• Economic problems arose in New

England when the Navigation Acts

were put into effect restricting

colonial shipping of certain goods.

• As a result, angry colonists in

Massachusetts and Rhode Island

burned British ships.

Economic Development of the Southern Colonies

• Tobacco was the main crop grown in Virginia and most

of the Southern Colonies.

• Most southern farms were not large plantations since

they usually contained only about 200 acres.

• Southern farmers grew tobacco as a cash crop to make

it possible to buy the other things they really needed.

• Although tobacco farming was a very

labor intensive and long process, most

Virginia farmers would have only two

or three slaves

Economic Development of the Southern Colonies

• The tobacco growing season started in January and

lasted until August.

• After the tobacco was

harvested, it was hung in

a tobacco barn to dry.

• After the tobacco

was dried, it would

be packaged in a

wooden barrel known

as a Hogshead.

Economic Development of the Southern Colonies

• Once the Hogshead was full, it

would be taken to town where

an inspector would check the

tobacco for color and smell

• If the tobacco passed inspection,

the farmer would receive a tobacco

note with the type and weight of

the tobacco recorded on it.

• The farmer could then take

the tobacco note to a

merchant for credit towards

goods he wished to purchase.

Economic Development of the Southern Colonies

• Other southern colonies made

attempts to grow:

Indigo

Rice

Cotton

• However, these crops proved to be much more costly and labor

intensive requiring them to be grown on much larger plantations.

• Obviously, the greater need for

labor on the plantations

facilitated the development of

the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade:

Development of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The Dominant Triangular Trade Route

• Ships from the American

colonies sailed to England

carrying sugar, tobacco, tea,

and cotton.

• These goods were traded for

textiles, gunpowder and rum

and carried to West Africa.

• In Africa, these items were traded

for slaves and carried to both the

West Indies (Caribbean) and the

American Colonies .

Development of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

• In 1672, King Charles II granted a charter to

the Royal African Company to engage in the

slave trade.

• Between 1450-1870, an

estimated 10-12 milion

Africans were transported

across the Atlantic Ocean.

• The worst part of this terrible

journey across the Atlantic was

nick-named the Middle Passage.

Development of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

• By 1705, Virginia had consolidated all its different

slave laws into one singe Slave Code.

• In 1712, South Carolina had followed Virginia’s

example and created their own slave law.

• Most of the early slave laws dealt with the status of children born from

slave parents in the American colonies.

• Maryland’s earliest slave law (in 1664), dictated that

any free-white woman that married a slave was to

serve her husbands master as long as he lived and

that any of their children were considered slaves.

Development of Early Colonial Society

• Because of the wealth generated by

trade, Colonial America developed very

distinct social classes.

• In the south there was a rise of an elite

planter class, or gentry, mostly located

in coastal or tidewater areas where

there was easy access to shipping.

• Northern elites were mostly

wealthy merchants who lived

in cities and towns where they

gained prestige and power.

• While the Western Frontier and Colonial

Backcountry was settled by the smaller

yeoman farmers and former Indentured

Servants.