1. AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE MAKING
Chapter 2
The American Nation, 12e
Mark. C. Carnes
John A. Garraty
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2. SPANISH SETTLEMENT
Missions were established by Franciscan friars, backed by soldiers and royal financial support, among
Pueblo Indians of the upper reaches of the Rio Grande
northern Florida
coastal regions of present-day Georgia and South Carolina
Goal—Christianize the Indians
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3. SPANISH SETTLEMENT
Friars baptized thousands of Indians and taught them
how to use European tools
grow European crops,
raise domesticated animals
Expected the Indians, for little or no compensation,
to build & maintain the missions
till the fields
serve the needs of the friars
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4. 17th CENTURY INDIAN PROBLEMS
Variety of Indian rebellions, most easily repressed
Pueblo Revolt of 1680 drove Spanish out of the American Southwest until the early 1690s
When they return they learn to make accommodations
Protection needed against Utes, Apaches and other Indians
Florida settlements were attacked
by mistreated Indians
English colonists—enslaved Christianized Indians and shipped to Barbados and other English colonies
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5. CHESAPEAKE COLONIES
Southern part of English North America comprised three regions:
“tidewater”: Virginia and Maryland
“low country”: the Carolinas (and eventually Georgia)
“back country”: a vast territory that extended from the “fall line” of the foothills of the Appalachians to the farthest point of western settlement
Late 18th century emergence of common features—export oriented agricultural economy, slavery, absence of towns—result in concept of “South” as one region
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6. CHESAPEAKE COLONIES High death rate due to hot moist climate Result:
of the 9000 colonists who came to Virginia nearly half died leaving only 5,000 by the 1630s
Well into the 1700s a white male of 20 could expect only 25 more years of life
Result:
Frequent remarriage
Families with children from several different marriages
Women easily found husbands (men outnumbered women three to two)
Many men had to spend their lives alone or marry Indian women
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7. THE LURE OF LAND Life centered on agriculture Headright system:
Grants of land were relied upon to attract settlers
Labor to work land was vital
Headright system:
any “head” entering the colony to take 50 acres of unused land which they claimed by marking its boundaries, planting a crop and constructing a habitation
May have to pay small annual payment, quitrent, to grantor
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8. INDENTURED SERVANTS
When could not afford passage came as indentured servants
agreed to work for a stated period (usually about 5 years) in return for their passage
during indenture subject to strict control (women could not marry and time lost due to pregnancy was added to total time)
received nothing beyond their keep (headright went to person who paid their passage)
If survived, servant was free and usually entitled to an “outfit” (a suit of clothes, some farm tools, seed, perhaps a gun) and, in some colonies, land
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9. INDENTURED SERVANTS
Over half the colonists came as servants and most servants became landowners
Best land belonged to large planters
Low tobacco prices and high local taxes kept most others in poverty
Virginia society on the edge of class war by the 1670s due to conflict between squatters (often former servants) and wealthy land owners
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10. “SOLVING” THE LABOR SHORTAGE: SLAVERY
First Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619 aboard a Dutch ship—unknown how they were treated
By 1640, some Africans were slaves
By the 1660s local statutes had firmly established the institution of slavery in Virginia and Maryland
Why treat as slaves?
Heathens
Skin color—blackness equated with dirt, the Devil, danger and death
Spanish practices
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11. GROWTH OF SLAVERY New Netherland: Virginia:
1626 there were 11 slaves
1664 there were 700 slaves in a population of 8000
Virginia:
1650: only 300 blacks
As late as 1670 no more than 2,000
White servants were more highly prized:
not as alien
not as expensive
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12. AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE
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13. GROWTH OF SLAVERY 1670s indentured servants decreased
improving conditions in England
competition from other colonies
1672 Royal African Company made slaves more readily available
1689 war in Europe cut off the market for tobacco, causing prices to fall and making immigration less attractive
Slavery became the “permanent” solution to the chronic labor shortage
Advantage: slaves and their offspring (who inherited their slave status from their mother) were forever barred from competing with whites for land or political power
By 1700 nearly 30,000 slaves lived in English colonies
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14. PROSPERITY IN A PIPE: TOBACCO
Colonists had to find a market for products in the Old World in order to have the money to buy manufactured goods
Answer was tobacco (originally brought from the West Indies by Spanish)
English were originally leery of tobacco, which clearly contained some sort of habit forming drug
By 1617, smokers drove the price of a pound of tobacco to 5 shillings
At this point, the colonists were granted a monopoly and heavily encouraged
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15. TOBACCO
Required only semi-cleared land and a hoe but lots of human labor
A single laborer working two or three acres could produce as much as 1,200 pounds of cured tobacco which would result in a 200% profit in a good year
As a result production went from 2,500 pounds in 1616 to 30 million pounds by the late 17th century (400 pounds per capita)
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16. TOBACCO
Increase in tobacco production led to a drastic drop in tobacco prices
Small farmers found it increasingly difficult to make a living
Wealthy were accumulating more land which allowed them to maintain high yields by permitting some fields to lie fallow
The only option for small farmers was new land—Indian land
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17. BACON’S REBELLION In 1676 conflict:
Governor William Berkeley and his “Green Spring” faction vs. western planters led by Nathaniel Bacon.
Planters wanted approval to attack nearby Indians; Governor refused
Bacon had raised an army of 500 men
Declared a traitor by Berkeley, Bacon and his followers murdered some peaceful Indians, marched on Jamestown and forced Berkeley to give him permission to kill more Indians
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18. BACON’S REBELLION
In September, Bacon returned to Jamestown and burned it to the ground causing Berkeley to flee
Bacon died of dysentery and a British fleet arrived to restore order
RESULT: Virginia society became wedded to slavery as an answer to its labor problems—class divisions traded for racial ones
20 slaves + land = wealth
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19. THE CAROLINAS
English and, after 1700, Scots-Irish settlers of the tidewater parts of Carolina also practiced agriculture:
tobacco in the future North Carolina
rice (replacing furs and cereals in 1696) in what would become South Carolina
Rice became a major cash crop
65 million tons were produced by eve of Revolution
In the 1740s Eliza Lucas introduced indigo to South Carolina (did not compete for either land or labor with rice)
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20. TRADE
Southern colonists bought manufactured goods by producing: tobacco, rice, indigo, furs, and forest products such as lumber, tar, and resin
Factors, agents in England and Scotland, managed the sale of crops, bought the required manufactures, and extended credit
Small scale manufacturing did not emerge in South as it did in the North
Retarded development of urban life
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21. SOUTHERN SLAVERY
Slave labor predominated on rice plantations of South Carolina
1730: 3 out of every 10 people south of Pennsylvania was black
In South Carolina blacks outnumbered whites 2 to 1
Slave regulations increased in severity as size of the black population increased
Blacks had no civil rights under the codes
for minor offenses, whippings were common
for serious crimes blacks could be hanged or burned to death
for sexual offenses or constant running away they could be castrated
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22. SLAVERY
Acculturated slaves, those that could speak English, use European tools, perhaps practice a trade, were more valuable but also more likely to runaway or resist
Field hands expressed dissatisfaction by pilferage, petty sabotage, laziness or feigned stupidity
Slave rebellions were rare in the American South though fear of them was high
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23. HOME & FAMILY IN THE SOUTH
Except for those of the most affluent, houses had one or two rooms, and were small, dark, and crowded
Furniture and utensils were sparse and crudely made, chairs were rare, tables were boards, there was no plumbing and even chamber pots were out of reach of the poor
Clothes were crude, people rarely washed but food was plentiful
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24. WOMEN & CHILDREN
White women (free or indentured) rarely worked in the fields
They were responsible for tending to farm animals, making butter and cheese, pickling and preserving, spinning and sewing, and caring for children
Children were not usually as harshly disciplined as in New England
Schools were rare and what learning occurred, was done at home
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25. WELL-TO-DO
Maybe three rooms for a family of four or five, plus servants, and a greater variety of food
Until the early 18th century, few achieved real wealth such as that held in 1732 by Robert Carter whose 1,000 slaves and 300,000 acres made him the richest man in America
Men like Carter lived in solid, two-story houses of six or more rooms, furnished with English and other imported carpets, chairs, tables, wardrobes, chests, china, and silver and were able to send their children abroad for schooling
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26. WELL TO DO 1693: founding of the College of William and Mary
Mission was to train clergyman
Initially education was little above grammar school level
Political power and positions belonged to large planters because
of their wealth
they were generally responsible leaders who understood the need for sociability
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27. ANGLICAN CHURCH Most southerners led isolated lives
Churches were few and far between
By mid-18th century the Anglican Church was the “established” religion
1619 attendance at Anglican services became mandatory in Virginia
1654 Maryland repealed religious toleration
1657 reenacted it
1692 repealed it permanently and established the Anglican Church
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28. SOCIABILITY
Social events of any kind were great occasions accompanied by feasting and drinking
Fishing, hunting, cockfighting, and horse racing were other forms of entertainment
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29. GEORGIA & THE BACK COUNTRY
Great Valley of Virginia
The Piedmont
Also part of back country was Georgia
founded by a group of London philanthropists in 1733 to give a place of settlement for honest persons who had been imprisoned for debt
England (who would transport 50,000 convicts during the colonial period) granted a charter for Georgia in 1732 after the philanthropists agreed to operate the colony without profit to themselves for 21 years
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30. GEORGIA
In 1733, their leader, James Oglethorpe founded Savannah with a vision of creating a colony of sober, yeomen farmers
Land grants limited to 50 acres and made non-transferable
alcohol was banned
so were slaves
Indian trade was strictly regulated
Oglethorpe’s rules were quickly circumvented
The economy developed like South Carolina
In 1752, the proprietors gave up and Georgia became a royal colony
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31. THE BACKCOUNTRY
New settlers moved into the backcountry, mainly Scots-Irish and Germans
By 1770 the back country had about 250,000 settlers, 10% of the population, yet often they felt underrepresented, which could result in conflict with the Low Country
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32. THE PURITAN FAMILY Puritans lived longer than southern colonists:
More healthful climate
Better initial preparation,
Puritan society was ordered by a covenant to ensure everyone’s upright behavior
At the center of society was the family which was nuclear and patriarchal
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33. THE PURITAN FAMILY Responsibilities of the Father:
providing for the physical welfare of the household, including servants
making sure they all behaved properly
transacting all economic dealings
Responsibilities of the Wife:
keeping house
educating the children
improving “what is got by the industry of man”
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34. PURITAN WOMEN & CHILDREN
Women had as many as 12 to 14 children
Any free time occupied with dealings with neighbors and relatives and involvement in church
Childrearing took more than three decades of a woman’s life since most children survived
Homemaking duties occupied all remaining time
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35. PURITAN FAMILY
Puritan family was hierarchical, husbands ruled over wives and parents over children and obedience was expected
Physical correction was common
Girls worked around the house
Boys worked outdoors
When older they were sent to nearby families as servants
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36. POPULATION GROWTH
The Great Migration ended in the 1640s with the outbreak of the English Civil War
Thereafter, population increase was due to high birthrate (50 births for every 1,000 people—3x today’s rate) and low mortality rate (20 per 1,000)
Population was more evenly distributed by age and sex than in the South
Women married in early twenties rather than late teens
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37. VISIBLE PURITAN SAINTS & OTHERS
Church membership was to be a joint decision between would-be member, who would relate why they believed they received God’s grace, and those already in the church
Originally, those who could not “prove” salvation were excluded
PROBLEMS:
Growing numbers of non-members could not be compelled to go to church
It was harder to defend policy that taxpayers could not vote if they were not church members
Nonmember parents whose children could not be baptized worried for their souls
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38. HALF-WAY COVENANT
To cope with the third generation who were neither baptized nor church members, in 1662, 80 ministers and laymen developed a limited form of membership for any applicant not known to be a sinner who was willing to accept the provisions of the church covenant
They and their children could be baptized but they could not receive communion nor participate in church decisions
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39. DECLINE?
The General Court of Massachusetts endorsed the covenant and two years later allowed halfway members to vote
Opponents of the covenant said it reflected a slackening of religious fervor
Historian Perry Miller suggests that the 1660s marked the beginning of religious decline yet there was a rise in church membership, ministers continued to be accorded prestige and there was a lessening of intra-church squabbling
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40. DEMOCRACIES WITHOUT DEMOCRATS
Puritans believed government was both a civil covenant, entered into by all who came within its jurisdiction, and the principal mechanism for policing the institutions on which the maintenance of social order depended
Massachusetts and Connecticut
Passed laws requiring church attendance, levying taxes for support of the clergy, and banning Quakers from practicing their religion (when four were hanged, a royal decree was issued in 1662 prohibiting further executions)
Provided the death penalty for adultery and blaspheming a parent
Established the price a laborer might charge for his services or the amount of gold braid servants could wear on their jackets
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41. THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND
The most serious threat to Puritan control came in the 1680s during the Restoration governments of Charles II ( ) and James II ( ) when the government sought to bring the colonies under effective royal control
In 1684, the Massachusetts charter was annulled, as were all charters north of Pennsylvania, and the colonies were combined to form the Dominion of New England
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42. THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND
In 1686 Edmund Andros, a professional soldier and administrator, arrived to make the colonies behave like colonies and not like sovereign powers
abolished popular assemblies
changed the land-grant system to give the king quitrents
enforced religious toleration
1689: Andros and the Dominion were overthrown in the wake of the 1688 Glorious Revolution that put William of Orange on the throne
1691: Massachusetts became a royal colony
included Plymouth and Maine
governor appointed by the king
General Court elected by property owners (who did not have to be church members to vote)
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43. SALEM BEWITCHED
In 1666 families living in the rural outback of the thriving town of Salem petitioned the General Court for the right to establish their own church
When it was granted in 1672, the 600 inhabitants of the village were on their own politically as well
In 1689 Samuel Parris became minister after having spent 20 years in the Caribbean as a merchant
He arrived with his wife, his daughter Betty, a niece—Abigail, and a West Indian slave named Tituba who told fortunes and practiced magic on the side
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44. SALEM BEWITCHED
When Parris was dismissed in 1692, his daughter, niece and a playmate began speaking in tongues and were declared bewitched
The first three accused were Sarah Good, a pauper with a nasty tongue; Sarah Osborne, a bedridden widow; and Tituba
When brought before the General Court, the Sarahs declared themselves innocent while Tituba confessed
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45. SALEM BEWITCHED
By the end of April 1692, 24 more people had been charged
The hunt spread to neighboring Andover
By May, to Maine and Boston and up the social ladder to some of the colony’s most prominent citizens
By June, when the governor convened a special court, more than 150 persons stood charged with witchcraft
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46. SALEM BEWITCHED
In the next four months, the court convicted 28, most of them women
Five confessed and were spared
Several escaped
19 were hanged
One, accused of wizardry, was crushed to death under stones
Finally, the governor adjourned the court and forbade any further executions
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47. SALEM BEWITCHED
While everyone’s reputation suffered, ministers suffered the most
Increase Mather comes off best having urged the governor to stop the trials
His son, Cotton, actively and enthusiastically participated in the hunt
The event shows the anxiety Puritans had about women since many of the accused were
widows of high status
older women who owned property
women who lived apart from the daily guidance of men
All potentially subverted the patriarchal authorities of church and state
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48. HIGHER EDUCATION IN NEW ENGLAND
With the Great Migration came some 150 university-trained colonists, mostly in divinity, who became the first ministers
1636: Massachusetts General Court appropriated money to establish an institution of higher learning to train ministers—Harvard University, which received its charter in 1650
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49. GRAMMAR SCHOOLS
Below Harvard were the Grammar schools where boys spent 7 years learning Greek and Latin
The first was established by Boston in 1636
Massachusetts and Connecticut soon passed education acts that required all towns of any size to establish such schools (though not everyone did and not all of the schools were very good)
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50. LITERACY
Mid-17th Century—majority of men in New England could read and a somewhat smaller percentage could also write
Mid-18th century—male literacy was almost universal, a condition only matched by Scotland and Sweden
Literacy among women also improved steadily
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51. LITERACY
Many settlers brought impressive libraries with them and continued to import large numbers of books
First printing press was established in Cambridge in 1638
By 1700 Boston was producing an avalanche of printed matter, most by ministers though not exclusively on religious matters
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52. CHANGES
1690s Harvard acquired a reputation for encouraging religious tolerance
In 1701 several Connecticut ministers founded Yale to uphold Puritan values
By 1722, they too appeared to have slipped
Even ministers were no longer the unquestioned last word—attacks on Cotton Mather in 1721 for his suggestion of inoculation to combat an outbreak of smallpox
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53. PROSPERITY UNDERMINES PURITANISM
Colonists grew barley (to make beer), rye, oats, green vegetables, potatoes, pumpkins, and corn (not only edible but drinkable)
They grazed cattle, sheep, and hogs on common pastures or in the woods and hunted deer, turkey, and other game birds
The Atlantic provided cod and other fish
BUT while colonists had plenty to eat they had little surplus and no place to sell it
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54. PROSPERITY UNDERMINES PURITANISM
Puritans were suspicious of prosperity
laws against usury and profiteering in scarce commodities
Early Puritan leaders resisted arguments that business was a socially useful calling
They believed differences in wealth should be modest and should favor community leaders
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55. A MERCHANT’S WORLD
New Englanders first tried to limit their reliance on European goods by producing their own
When that failed, they tried to trade for them with beaver and other fur bearing animals
By 1650, these had become less available and colonists had to turn to indirect trading schemes
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56. TRIANGULAR TRADE
In 1643 five New England vessels packed their holds with fish which they sold in Spain and the Canary Islands, taking payment in sherry and madeira which were tradable in England (one took payment in slaves which they sold in West Indies)
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57. GROWING TOWNS
As maritime trade became the driving force in New England, port towns like Portsmouth, Salem, Boston, New Port, and New Haven became larger and faster growing than interior towns
1720: Boston was the commercial hub of the region with a population of 10,000 making it the third largest city in the British Empire
More than one quarter of Boston’s adult male population had either invested in shipbuilding or were directly employed in maritime commerce
Ships captains and merchants held most public offices
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58. BOSTON
Beneath the top layer of merchant elite lived a stratum of artisans and small shopkeepers
Beneath them a substantial population of mariners, laborers and “unattached” people with little or no property
1670s: at least a dozen prostitutes worked in Boston
1720: crime and poverty serious problems
public relief rolls exceeded 200
dozens of criminals languished in jail
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59. THE MIDDLE COLONIES: Economic Basis
The Middle Colonies consisted of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware
About 10% of the population was composed of slaves
Colonists produced crops for both consumption and export (wheat)
Colonists in the Hudson Valley and southeastern Pennsylvania lived spread out
Substantial numbers lived in New York City and Philadelphia and in interior towns like Albany where they engaged in trades
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60. THE MIDDLE COLONIES: An Intermingling of Peoples
Scandanavian and Dutch settlers outnumbered the English in New Jersey and Delaware
Germans flocked to Pennsylvania and French Huguenots to New York
Early 18th century: hordes of Scots-Irish settled in Pennsylvania, back country of Virginia, and North Carolina
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61. “THE BEST POOR MAN’S COUNTRY”
Ethnic differences seldom caused conflict because they did not limit opportunity
Pennsylvania gave 500 acres to families upon arrival with only a quitrent due to the proprietor every year
New Jersey and Delaware had similar arrangements
In New York the manorial system limited opportunity but land was available and tenants could get long term leases
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62. Ethnic Groups
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63. “THE BEST POOR MAN’S COUNTRY”
Mixed farming offered main path to prosperity
Inland communities offered comfortable living for artisans
Cities had a variety of opportunities for the ambitious
Philadelphia profited from this (and its inland waterways) and by the 1750s had a population of 15,000, surpassing Boston as America’s largest city
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64. THE POLITICS OF DIVERSITY
Governments of Middle Colonies
Had popularly elected representatives assemblies
Most white males could vote
As in the South representatives were elected by counties but, unlike Southern voters, did not defer to landed gentry
1689: New York suffered a takeover by Jacob Leisler, a disgruntled merchant and militia captain
Only lasted two years but split NY politics until 1710
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65. NEW YORK POLITICS
Political tranquility restored under Robert Hunter ( )
1730s: Governor William Cosby demanded back pay while chief justice Lewis Morris opposed him
Morris and allies founded New York Weekly Journal run by John Peter Zenger
Cosby objected to contents and shut down paper after two months, charging Zenger with seditious libel
Jury acquitted Zenger after attorney argued that statements in paper were true and thus not libel
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66. PENNSYLVANIA POLITICS
Two interest groups:
Proprietary party
Quaker party clustered around assembly
Neither organized nor represent particular positions but did mean had to consider popular opinion
Paxton Boys (Scots-Irish from Lancaster County):
Murdered peaceful Conestoga Indians in retaliation for frontier Indian attacks
Marched on Philadelphia
Delegation, led by Benjamin Franklin, acknowledged grievances and promised bounty on Indian scalps
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67. WEBSITES
LVA Colonial Records Project—Index of Digital Facsimilies of Documents on Early Virginia
Anglicans, Puritans and Quakers in Colonial America
DSL Archives: Slave Movement During the Eighteenth Centuries (Wisconsin)
Witchcraft in Salem Village
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68. WEBSITES Benjamin Franklin http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html
Religion and the Founding of the American Republic
DoHistory, Harvard University Film Center
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