Periods 2 & 3: 1607-1800 Flashcards
British North America population (1750)
2.5 million non-Indian inhabitants
New France population (1750)
70,000 inhabitants
Spanish North America population (1750)
20,000 inhabitants
Why did British North America’s population grow?
- natural increase
- immigration
- the importation of slaves
Characteristics of men in colonial society
- Landowning preserved for men
- Dominated politics
- English law gave the husband unlimited power in the home
Characteristics of women in colonial society
- Average wife bore 8 children
- Domestic work
- Educated children
- Had limited legal and political rights
- Under English law, married women were considered to be under the protection of their husbands - this means they had no legal existence
New England’s economy
- Subsistence farming
- Ship building
- Fishing
- Trading
- Rum-distilling
The middle colonies’ economy
- Farmed wheat and corn
- Small manufacturing
- Trading
The southern colonies’ economy
- Agriculture varied - subsistence and commercial agriculture
- Tobacco, indigo, and rice were major crops
Self government in the colonies
Representative assemblies elected by eligible voters
Religious toleration in the colonies
Permitted the practice of different religions with varying degrees of freedom
Hereditary aristocracy in the colonies
Class system based on economics (not birth rights)
Social mobility of the colonies
- All had the opportunity to improve their standard of living and social status
- Exceptions included African Americans
Voting and colonial assemblies
- Women, blacks, and Native Americans could not vote
- Property qualifications excluded 40% of white males from voting
- Voter turnout in rural areas was low
- Colonies become increasingly self-governing
- Assemblies do not set trade regulations, print money, or declare war
Salutary neglect
- Britain’s lack of interest and presence in colonial politics allowed assemblies to take considerable power and left the colonies alone to govern themselves
- Colonies then became more self-sufficient and eventually led them to feelings of individuality that they feared losing
- This brings forth the Declaration of Independence and other events
Causes of the Great Awakening
- Change in religion (strongest 1730s and 1740s)
- Emotional sermons
- Met outdoors
- Countered Enlightenment rationalism
Ideas of the Great Awakening
- Predestination - salvation by faith and not good works
- Stressed corrupt human nature, divine fury, and a need to repent and convert
Jonathan Edwards
- Influenced New England
- One notable sermon - Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
- Argued that God was rightfully angry with human sinfulness
- Individuals who were sorry and gave penance for their sins could be saved; those who didn’t would suffer eternal damnation
George Whitefield
- British preacher who travelled around the colonies
- Attracted large audiences (10,000 people)
- Emotional sermons
- God would save those who openly professed belief in Jesus Christ; those who didn’t would be damned to Hell
- Ordinary people with faith and sincerity could understand the gospels with depending on ministers to lead them
Impacts of the Great Awakening
- Decline in influence of older sects - split American Protestant faith
- Stimulated the founding of new colleges
- Drew many African Americans and Native Americans to the Protestant faith for the first time
- Fostered greater religious tolerance
- Challenged clergy (untutored ministers could preach)
- Emotionalism became a part of Protestant services
- Democratizing effects by changing the way people viewed authority
The Press (Peter Zenger case)
- 1735 - NY editor John Peter Zenger was brought to trial on a charge of libelously criticizing NY’s royal governor
- English common law stated that injuring a governor’s reputation was considered a criminal act, no matter whether a printed statement was true or false
- Outcome: The jury voted to acquit Zenger
- Did not guarantee complete freedom of the press but encouraged newspapers to take greater risks in criticizing the government
The Enlightenment’s influence on the United States
- Natural rights
- Purpose of government
- Equality
- Consent of the governed
- Limited government
- Right to revolt
- All ideas are found in Locke’s works, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution
The pull to America
○ Word-of-mouth information about America
○ Effective work and writing by recruiters
○ Appeal of land and economic opportunities
○ Desire to join earlier migrants
○ Safe pursuit of personal religious beliefs
- Hope of educating and converting Natives
The push from England
○ Escape from direct religious persecution
○ Fear regarding the religious future at home
○ Anxiety about political change in Europe
○ Dismay over economy and a need for farmland
○ Relief from joblessness or personal adversity
○ Restlessness and desire for adventure
Roanoke (The Lost Colony)
- 1587 - Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to establish a settlement at Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina
- When Governor John White returned in 1590 after going to England to get supplies, there was no trace of the colony
○ The only thing left of then was the word “Croatoan” carved into a tree - 1st English child was born there
○ Virginia Dare - August 18, 1587
- When Governor John White returned in 1590 after going to England to get supplies, there was no trace of the colony
Jamestown (1607)
- King James I chartered the Virginia Company, which funded Jamestown
○ The 1st permanent English settlement- Jamestown nightmare:
○ 1607: 40 settlers died on the voyage
○ Gentlemen settlers refused to work
○ Marshy land prone to disease
○ Settlers wasted time looking for gold
- Jamestown nightmare:
Tobacco in Virginia
- Prominent in Chesapeake, VA
- Tobacco provided the colony with a “cash crop”
- Problems with tobacco:
○ Destroys land
○ Colonists kept moving westward
○ Demand for labor increased
Indentured servants in the colonies
- 4-7 years of service
- Promised “freedom dues” (land and money)
- Forbidden to marry
- Temporary solution to labor issues
○ 1610-1614: Only 1 in 10 outlived their indentured contract - Headright system: Land grants offered by Virginia; led to growth in the colonies
Causes of Bacon’s Rebellion
- Sir William Berkeley favored wealthy planters
- Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion that killed all Natives in sight and burned Jamestown
- The frustrations of Bacon’s Rebellion:
○ Lack of land
○ Lack of political power
○ Lack of help to suppress Native American attacks
Impact of Bacon’s Rebellion
○ Demonstrated tension in colonial society between social classes (wealthy planters and landless/poor farmers)
○ Colonial resistance to royal control
Maryland (Chesapeake Colony)
- Proprietorship: Lord Baltimore given land by King Charles I
- Act of Toleration (1649): Religious freedom for all Christians (intention to protect Catholics)
○ One of the first laws to promote religious toleration in the colonies
- Act of Toleration (1649): Religious freedom for all Christians (intention to protect Catholics)
The Plymouth colony
○ Settled by Pilgrims (Separatists)
○ Because the Church of England enrolled all the king’s subjects, Separatists felt they had to share the Church with the “damned”
○ Believed in a total break from the Church of England
○ William Bradford
The Massachusetts Bay Colony
○ Settled by Puritans
○ Led by John Winthrop
○ Believed in predestination
○ Wanted total reform (purify) the Church of England
○ Hoped to create a religious “City Upon a Hill”
○ “Great Migration” of the 1630s
○ Turmoil in England sent about 70,000 Puritans to America
The Mayflower Compact
- 1620: Pilgrims landed at Plymouth
○ The Mayflower Compact: An agreement to form a crude government and submit to majority rule
○ Led to adult male settlers meeting in assemblies to make laws in town meeting- Direct democracy
John Winthrop and the MA Bay Colony
- Well-off attorney and manor lord in England
- Puritan minister
- Goal: Wanted to be a “City Upon a Hill”
○ Believed that they had an agreement with God to serve as a model for all people - Became 1st governor of Massachusetts
○ Believed that he had a calling from God to lead there
○ Served as governor or deputy governor for 19 years