Colonial Ways of Life (1608-1763)

Chapter 3

The Southern Colonies

Southern Economy• Tobacco was a cash crop in Virginia & Maryland• South Carolina grew rice & indigo• Plantation – large commercial (for profit) estate where

labors lived and cultivated crops for owner• Indentured Servants – VA & MD had plenty of land, but

not enough labor. England had poor willing to come to America

• Indentured Servant: laborers bound to land owner working off debt of travel,

• Contract lasted 4-11 years

Southern Society• Plantations were self-contained communities

that had schools, churches, and workshops• 1600s, plantations small; 1700s, plantations

large due to slave labor• Small land owners lived in the backcountry

(frontier), close to Native American land• Small farmers known as yeoman• Practiced subsistence farming: only growing

enough crops for themselves– Corn, beans, potatoes, barley, rye

Social Classes in Southern Society

Bacon’s Rebellion

• Sir William Berkeley – governor of Virginia– Allowed wealthy planters to dominate society– Controlled by appointing supporters to the

governing council and giving land to burgesses– Restricted vote to wealthy land owners – almost

½ lost right to vote– Angered backcountry farmers and tenant farmers– Native American relations will spark the rebellion

Bacon’s Rebellion: Crisis Over Land• LAND!!! *That’s why people came to America!• Indentured servants & tenant farmers wanted to

own land eventually• Backcountry farmers wanted to expand their

land holdings• Colonists did not want war with Native

Americans• Berkeley asked burgesses for $$ to build forts

along the frontier to protect backcountry farmers

Bacon Leads a Revolt

• Backcountry farmers will meet at Nathaniel Bacon’s house– Bacon member of governor’s council but he took

up cause of small farmers because he had been attacked by Native Americans

– Organized a militia (army)– Berkeley restored voting rights to all FREE men– Changes did NOT satisfy Bacon & his men, they

went to Jamestown, seized power, and charged Berkeley with corruption

Slavery in the Colonies

• 1450-1870: 10-12 million Africans enslaved• 1450-1870: 2 million will die in transit• 500,000 taken to North America – first arrive

in 1619• Chattel Slavery – humans owning other

humans; slaves first treated like indentured servants; enslaved because they weren’t Christian

Slavery in the Colonies

• Maryland was the first to formally recognize slavery when it denied Africans same rights as English citizens

• 1705, VA enacted a slave code– Set of laws to regulate rights and behaviors of

slaves

• Because slaves played an important role in growth of colonies plantation economy

New England & Middle Colonies

Section 2

Puritan Society

• Puritan law banned: card games, dice, plays, dancing

• Salem & Witchcraft– Devout Puritans believed Satan used witches to

work evil in the world– Salem, MA 1692: 20 residents of Salem were

charged with witchcraft & executed– Began because a group of teenage girls accused

an African servant of being a witch

Trade & Rise of Cities

• New England wanted to buy: ceramic plates, hardware, fine cloth, and linens

• Triangular Trade– New England bought goods from England by

selling NE products to foreign countries in exchange for goods England wanted

– Bill of exchange: credit slips English merchants gave planters in exchange for sugar – could buy English goods with them

Triangular Trade

• This trade made many New England merchants wealthy.

• Many of these wealthy merchants built factories to refine raw sugar & distill molasses into rum

• NE will sell their rum to Southern colonies for rice, tobacco, and indigo

The Imperial System

Section 3

Mercantilism• Mercantilism: a set of ideas about the world

economy & how it worked; popular in the 1600s-1700s.– Country had to keep a favorable balance of trade– Country should be self-sufficient in raw materials– Should establish colonies where raw materials were

available– Raw materials in exchange for manufactured goods– Negative: colonies could not sell goods for gold or silver

– NE turned to triangular trade & smuggling

Navigation Acts• Mercantilists policies simple in 1600s, English

government tried to encourage exports and restrict imports

• Charles II, king in 1660, wanted to change the lax policies & enact a navigation act

• All goods imported/exported had to be shipped on British ships

• Specific raw materials could only be sold in England: sugar, tobacco, lumber, cotton, wool, & indigo

Navigation Acts

• 1663, Parliament passes the Staple Act– All merchants bringing European goods to the

colonies had to stop in England to pay taxes– Colonial merchants were frustrated with the new

acts & broke the laws– As a colonial power, England had the authority to

appoint customs officials/inspectors who directly reported to the English government

– In response to colonial disobedience, Parliament & the king created the Dominion on New England

Glorious Revolution

• English were suspicious of their new king James II. He insisted on his divine right to rule– King chosen by God & given all power to rule– James II angered people by rejecting advice of

Parliament, prosecuted bishops in the Anglican Church, revoked charters of English towns/corporations, and offended the people by practicing Catholicism

Bloodless Revolution

• Fearful that James II could turn England back to Catholic nation, Parliament asked Mary & William to succeed James II to the throne

• In response to invitation, James II fled England• Exchange of power = Glorious Revolution• Before taking the throne William & Mary had to

sign the English Bill of Rights– Guaranteed: freedom of speech (in Parliament), no

excessive bail, no cruel punishment, illegal for king to tax or raise army without Parliament’s ok

Legacy of John Locke

• Glorious Revolution set a precedent – it showed a revolution against the king was (sometimes) justified

• During the turmoil, English philosopher, John Locke, wrote a book called The Two Treatises of Government

• Locke argued king’s right to rule came from the consent of the governed (the people)

Legacy of Locke

• Locke believed everyone had certain natural rights: life, liberty, & pursuit of property

• People form a contract with government in exchange for protection

• Locke said if rights of people were violated, then people were justified to rebel & replace the government

• U.S. Constitution & Declaration of Independence – based on Locke’s ideas

Legacy of Locke

• Mayflower Compact & Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were examples of how colonists understood the contract between government & the people

• Colonists will use Locke’s ideas when they rebel in 1775 against England

• Thomas Jefferson will use Locke’s ideas in the Declaration of Independence in 1776

Diverse Society

Section 4

The Enlightenment

• Enlightenment Period: challenged authority of church in science & philosophy while elevating the power of human research

• Enlightenment thinkers believed in natural laws – could be applied to political, social, and economic relationships– Rationalism: focus on logic

• Rousseau wrote The Social Contract – argued govt should be formed from consent of people & people should make laws

The Enlightenment

• Baron de Montesquieu proposed three types of power in government: judicial, executive, and legislative & each power should be separate!– Three branches to protect the power of the people– Separation provided a system of checks and

balances that would prevent government from abusing its authority

– Ideas influenced the U.S. Constitution

The Great Awakening

• Stressed dependence on God – appealed to farmers, works, and enslaved people

• Revival spread from England – movement stressed piety– Pietism: focus on devoutness & emotional unity

with God– Revival: large public meetings for preaching &

prayer

Great Awakening• Many preachers felt religion was decreasing due to

focus on reasoning and not a reliance on God– NE preacher – Jonathon Edwards• Person had to be “born again”• Having a personal internal emotional experience that brought

a person to God was a central part of Great Awakening

• Had a profound effect on the South – Baptists let their slaves attend revivals where preachers condemned brutality of slavery and all people were equal in eyes of God

Overall Effect of Enlightenment & Great Awakening

• E. last two cultural movements in the colonies before the American Revolution

• F. Both movements emphasized individualism which supported independence. Enlightenment provided arguments against British rule and Great Awakening undermined allegiance to a traditional authority.