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Colonial Life Creation of an “American Identity” in the Era of Benign Neglect.

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Presentation on theme: "Colonial Life Creation of an “American Identity” in the Era of Benign Neglect."— Presentation transcript:

1 Colonial Life Creation of an “American Identity” in the Era of Benign Neglect

2 I. Restoration Colonies

3 A. Middle Colonies 1. Middle colonies NY, NJ, PENN, DEL, MD 2. Multicultural, tolerant Dutch influence

4 B. Southern (Proprietary) 1.Carolinas 1670s race ratio 2.Georgia 1732 social experiment buffer zone Oglethorpe

5 II. Communities of Trade

6 A. Lower South 1.World contact 1730s - rice & indigo production 2.Absentee landlords Caribbean influence Sea Islands

7 B. Chesapeake 1.Market agriculture tobacco imports

8 C. New England 1.Least dependent on Britain 2. Net exporter timber, fish to West Indies Slave trade

9 D. Middle Colonies 1.Breadbasket 2.Cosmopolitan centers NY, Philadelphia 3.“Best poor man’s country”

10 III. Community & Work

11 A. Planter Society 1.Early 1700s: white labor drying up Pressure to move west 2. Growth of slavery 1700: 13% 1776: 40%

12 3. American patriarchy paterfamilias

13 4. Few population centers 5. Lack of skilled (free) labor Labor Ideology

14 B. Slave Culture 1.Seasoning / isolation

15 2. Community languages Gullah “Mus tek cyear a de root fa heal de tree.” - religion participatory equality before God

16 3. Culture as resistance Culture of resistance Stono Rebellion, 1739

17 4. The Price of Slavery militant culture gender gap limited economic development limited democratization

18 C. Northern/Middle colonies 1.New opportunities economic status

19 2. Population explosion 1688: 225K 1775: 2.5M 500K (black) 3.Why? - cheap land, tolerance, skilled labor 4.Ethnic diversity Scots-Irish, Welsh, Germans, French

20 Colonial experience, American identity Interdependence ties together colonies Social patterns erode European traditions Opportunities add to sense of entitlement

21 The Enlightenment in America

22 I. 1700s: Age of Reason “Enlightenment” The search for rational basis of law, government, education, philosophy, nature.

23 A. 1500s-1600s: Religion 1.War oppression extremism Divine Right of Kings

24 B. Rational self-interest 1.Intellectuals repulsed by Salem 2.“Self-made” men southern planters, northern merchants, free farmers

25 C. Rational appeal 1.Rationalism/skepticism 2. Optimism 3. Natural Law

26 D. The English Connection 1. Isaac Newton 1687 – Principia Mathematica Natural Law Religious authority

27 2. John Locke Glorious Revolution 1689 – Essay Concerning Human Understanding “tabula rasa”

28 1690 – Two Treatises on Government Contract Theory “Natural Rights” Life, Liberty, Property English Liberalism

29 II. Empire of Reason

30 A. Intelligentsia 1. Urban dwellers/planters

31 B. Churches 1.Deism Harvard theologians - “liberal” Protestantism Innate evil? Innate authority?

32 C. American perspective 1.Tradition v. usefulness pragmatism Benjamin Franklin -active, confident, improving -Voluntary Associations -Self-education -Social improvement

33 The First Great Awakening

34 A. R evivals 1734-1775 1. Anglicans = George Whitfield Methodists = John Wesley Presbyterians = Gilbert Tennant

35 2. Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, 1741 - revive Calvinism God-centered universe predestination America cannot shirk its destiny - detested “money-grubbers” moral relativism

36 B. Causes 1.Economic frustration / competition “River Gods” 2.Women

37 C. Revivalism 1.American-style Protestantism always looking for converts 2. Blends religion & politics 1760s Connecticut: Old Lights v. New Lights

38 3. Denominationalism: religious pluralism - end of state-supported churches - revivals split churches - breaks political power of churches

39 D. Cultural basis of Revolution 1.Required no education: egalitarian 2.Gave poorer, rural colonists common experience 3.Experience was anti-authoritarian

40 4. Gave colonists common enemy Satan “Millennialism” King of France (Catholic) King of England

41 The Seven Years War, 1756-63 War for Empire and the Rise of American Nationalism

42 I. Background Britain & France Colonial / mercantile competition

43 A. Distinctive colonization 1.British have numbers 2.French have more Indian allies 3.British colonists imbued w/ Millennialism

44 B. An “American” conflict 1.1754 – Albany Plan of Union based on Iroquois Confederacy 2.Unification fails Britain’s responsibility

45 3. 1757 – Pitt the Elder “at His Majesty’s Expense” 30,000 British troops 20,000 colonial (militias) 4. Appeal crossed class boundaries

46 II. Course of the War

47 A. British losses 1.1758 – negotiations w/ Eastern Tribes

48 B. British successes 1. 1759, Quebec 1760, Montreal

49 2. Treaty of Paris, 1763

50 C. Angry colonists 1.Pontiac’s Rebellion, 1762-64 2. Proclamation Line of 1763

51 D. Cultural impact of the war 1.Benign neglect - Americans did not take orders well - shocked at treatment of British soldiers 2. Great Awakening - shocked by Brit conscripts 3. National identity – 4x trade, colonial “mixing” newspaper popularity

52 End of Benign Neglect Navigation Acts (1664) 1763


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