The American Colonies in the 1700’s and Mercantilism AP US -Hamer Unit 2
Growing Population More by birth rate then immigration 1700: 300,000 people (20,000 black slaves) 1775: 2.5 million people (400,000 white immigrants, 500,000 black slaves) Average age in 1775 was 16
Urban vs. Rural Few major cities Philadelphia (34,000), NYC, Boston, and Charleston 90% of population lived in rural areas Didn’t reach much past the Appalachians Philadelphia in 1800
Diversity Mainly English but more diverse than anywhere else German 6% Scots Irish 7% Others 5% Africans 20% Americans became a new ethnicity
American Social Ladder More stratified in the 1700’s than the 1600’s Top few were very wealthy (planters and merchants) Mostly middle Artisans Shopkeepers Farmers Workers (Labor or servants) Some destitute women and children Land became scarcer Convicts from England Slaves Less stratified than Europe + ability to progress up the social ladder
Jobs of the 1700’s Clergy Physicians Lawyers Agriculture - 90% of the people Shipbuilding and fishing Manufacturing
Transportation in the Colonies Terrible roads - these were improving in the 1700’s though Waterways Caused the slow dissemination of news Taverns found along travel routes Became the place to get news and share ideas Mail existed, but not confidential or quick
Religion in the 1700’s Congregationalists (This is the new word for Puritans) and Presbyterians made up half of all church members in 1775 Anglicans were 1/4 Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, and Rebellion became a Holy Trinity
Education Public education was not a priority in England New England soon wanted public education so that they could have educated, Bible reading citizens Massachusetts School Law (and soon other New England colonies) required a school teacher for every town with more than 50 families Not much schooling in the south because of distance between homes – relied more on tutors Colleges at the time were to train ministers and learn old, dogmatic education What does it mean to have an educated citizenship – how will this affect the Revolution?
Culture Very little in America since people were working so hard to build a country Ben Franklin was the first “civilized” American The few scientists, like Franklin, were not approved of by clergy
Press Not many libraries or individual ownership of books Franklin started the first public lending library in Philadelphia By 1775, 40 colonial newspapers News was slow Zenger case, argued by Hamilton, allowed for more freedom of the press and therefore more discussion about life and politics
Colonial Folkways Hard life Dirty Some time for play Dancing and plays allowed in South (away from Puritans!) Many similarities Some democracy, ethnic and religious toleration, spoke English, mainly Protestant, used to independence
Mercantilism What is it? Economic system where the mother country is supposed to profit from her colonies. Colonies supply raw materials to only the mother country Colonies also provide markets for the manufactured goods from the mother country (and only the mother country) Wealth for the mother country is measured in bullion
Early Mercantilism American colonies could not produce manufactured goods Woolen Act 1699 – No manufacturing of textiles Hat Act 1732 – No manufacturing of hats Iron Act 1750 – No manufacturing of iron products
Growing Problems with Trade Trade Imbalance Growing American population demanded more British goods Slow growing British population quickly got saturated with American goods America had no bullion left (it all went to England) American colonies shipped to other countries Also began to buy from other countries
Tightening the Mercantilist System Molasses Act of 1733 Created by England to get the colonists to stop buying cheaper French Caribbean molasses to make rum Parliament would not end the act in spite of colonial pleas Colonists got around this with smuggling…this will lead the tone for future conflicts