1. American Life in the Seventeenth Century Chapter 4

2. Ch 4 discussion ?s 1.Why was family life in the North so different from that of the South? 2.Why did slavery grow to such an important institution in America? What were the effects of slavery on the Africans slaves? How did these slaves impact the new world?

3. Chesapeake  Maryland encouraged artisans and wealthy migrants to settle  Disease ravaged settlements  Fewer than half made it to 20 years old  Few women and disease resulted in weak family structure  Created large number of orphans  By end of seventeenth century birthrate increased  Scarcity of towns made it difficult to develop sense of community  Deep Rivers and peninsulas encouraged water transport  Was easier to sell goods to English textile manufacturers than overland  Reduced need for cities because trade happened directly from plantation to England

4. Tobacco Economy  Profitability of tobacco farmers increased demand for new land  Led to more conflicts with Indians  Increased supply of tobacco led to price decline  Exports go from 3 million pounds 1630 to 10 million 1660  Drop in price led to farmers growing more  Increased demand for labor  Natural population increase was too slow  15,000 immigrants from 1622 to 1640, but population increased 2,000 to 8,000  By 1670 planter /merchant elite owned more than ½ land in Virginia  Controlled stores, loaned money, rented land to lower classes

5. Ch 4 discussion ?s Part 2  Were the Salem Witch Trials a abnormal moment in an age of superstition or did they reflect common human social and psychological anxieties that could appear in any age?  Considering the extreme cultural and economic differences between the New England and Southern colonies, was the Civil War inevitable?

6. Indentured Servants  Exchange years of labor for trip to New World  Bound for 4 or 5 years  75% were young men  Headright System – person who pays for a laborer to come to Virginia or Maryland received 50 acres of land  Allowed people with money to acquire vast estates  Encouraged over 100,000 indentured servants to be brought to America  Were beaten, forced to work long hours, had contracts extended to improve profits of owners  Contracts could be bought and sold forcing indentures to move  Many were too poor, or land not good enough to be successful once indenture was over  ½ died before contract over, ¼ remained landless at end of indenture

7. Bacon’s Rebellion  By late 1600s there were many “freed” indentured servants with no money, land or prospects for jobs or marriage  1676 Nathaniel Bacon led a group of rebels against Governor Berkeley of Virginia  Bacon’s people opposed Berkeley’s Indian policies  Bacon wanted Indians expelled or exterminated from land  Berkley and supporters opposed because they wanted to keep tenant farmers laborers and protect merchant trade with Indians  Was war between classes – poor backcountry versus established wealthy planters Effect of Bacon’s Rebellion –Increased demand for African slaves because planters believed slaves could be controlled easier than indentures –Governors powers were limited, restored voting rights to landless freemen –Establish colonial resistance to royal control –Showed sharp class differences in colonies

8. Slavery in New World  Slave Trade  African slave trade already existed  Europeans limited slavery to non-Christians  would use slavery to Christianize Africans  South Atlantic System  Centered in Brazil and West Indies  Sugar was primary crop required a large amount of capital, only rich could do it  By 1650 more English in West Indies than Chesapeake and New England combined  Generated a lot of wealth for English merchants  Royal African Company had a monopoly granted by King  Trade fed British shipyards, industries, commerce  Sugar lobby gained influence in Parliament and drove policies to protect its industry in colonies

9. Triangle Trade  New England ships brought Rum to Africa to trade for slaves  New England ships brought slaves to Caribbean and sold for sugar  Were able to sell slaves for 500% profit in Americas  Influenced entire English economy  New England ships brought sugar to New England to be made into rum 1 2 3

10. Middle Passage  Taken from “Slave Coast” of Africa  Western coast of sub-Saharan Africa (Dahomey)  Slaves taken from slave fortresses in Africa to ships  On ships were chained together for entire ride  Little food or water, 20% died on trip  Odullah Equiano  1.5 million (14%) died in Middle Passage  About 1 in 10 slave ships had a slave revolt on board  Rhode Island took lead in slave trade

11. Colonial Slavery  1641 MA was first colony to recognize slavery  1649 2% of Chesapeake colonies were slaves by 1670 5%, by 1720 20%, by 1740 40%  1750 ½ of VA 2/3 of SC were slaves  Large scale slavery begins  Between 1520-1650 820,000 slaves brought from Africa  Portuguese, Dutch, then English led trade  Rising wages in England reduced number of indentures  Navigation Acts (1651, 1660, 1663)  Limited trade between colonies and England which depressed demand for tobacco  1660s the tobacco market collapsed, dropping prices causing plantation owners to save on labor costs  Uprisings like Bacon’s rebellion scare planters from using indentures  1698 royal monopoly on slave trade ended allowing others into the market

12. Slavery in America  Racism develops as a justification and a response to slavery  Laws passed to create legal distinctions  Slave Codes  Established slaves as property  Illegal to teach them to read or write  Gave slave owners increasing power over their slaves  Deep South (SC)  Rice and indigo plantations  Many worked to death  Required large numbers of slaves  Chesapeake (MD, VA)  Tobacco plantations  Closer together, so allowed socialization between slaves  Slave population grew through natural reproduction  By 1720 1/3 of slaves were women  By 1750 ¾ of slaves were born in America

13. Africans in America  African culture  Initially Africans sought out people from their tribes  Gullah  Blend of different African cultures and American influences  Allowed communication between slaves  Music, hairstyles, wood carvings, pottery, agricultural techniques  Slave Revolts  Violence of master against slave was most common in areas with large slave populations  Some slaves escaped to live with Indians  1712 New York City  1739 Stono Rebellion (SC) (largest in history)  Catholic governor of Spanish Florida offered freedom to slaves  Many fled and joined Spain when it fought England in 1739  Also known as Cato’s Conspiracy  Once it was defeated, it lead to harsher treatment of slaves in south

14. Southern Society  Planters in 1700s were hardworking businessmen  Developed vast wealth and estates  Gained economic and political control  Eventually, planters saw themselves as English country gentlemen, not Americans. Helped to separate elites from common farmers Smaller yeoman farmers were largest social group Modest income Planters reduced taxes, and encouraged slave ownership to help middle class and poor whites to reduce uprisings against planter class Received low level governmental appointments Few cities and limited professionals

15. New England Family  Women  Married young, Up to 10 pregnancies  took care of animals, made clothes and food  would run farms or shops when husband was not around or died  Were denied political, economic and property rights in effort to protect marriage  Divorce was rare, adultery strictly punished  Scarlet Letter Lifespan was longer and families bigger –Settlers migrated with families –Created strong, stable family structures Every member of family worked farm Men –controlled property and family wealth –ran businesses and farms –were allowed to vote and participate in government

16. New England Town  Denser population, geography not suitable for large scale farming led to growth of towns  Centered around a church, frequently had a commons in center  Commons used to drill militia, graze animals  Towns were well organized and based on charters Education in New England –Protestants believed you had to read Bible Required a school if a town had more than 50 families Led to increased literacy rates in America –Boys were given more formal education –Girls were taught housekeeping skills Town Meetings –Took inspiration from structure of Congregationalist Church –Adult males met and voted on issues –Picked government officials –Important step towards developing democracy

17. Half Way Covenant  Newer generations of New Englanders and recent immigrants lacked religious zeal of original settlers  Resulted in fewer conversions and declining church membership  Half Way Covenant (1662) allowed to admit to people to join church without conversion  “baptism but not full communion”  Allowed non-elect into church  Reduced power of religious zealots  Religious purity sacrificed to increase peoples participation in religion

18. Salem Witch Trials 1692  Halfway Covenant increased number and influence of women in churches  Accusations of witchcraft  Frequently directed at property owning women or older single women  Accusers were from subsistence farmers, targets were associated with market economy