1. Colonial Population, Economies & Patterns of Society
Chapter 3
Colonial Population, Economies
& Patterns of Society

2. Population of the New England Colonies
What factors
Contributed to
Rapid increase
In population?

3. Population Comparisons: New England v. the Chesapeake

4. M.C.
During 17th century, at least ¾ of the immigrants who came to Chesapeake colonies came as:
Slaves
Artisans
Indentured servants
Convicts
families

5. Indentured Servitude
Headright System

6. Indentured Servitude Headright System: Indenture Contract:
Each Virginian got 50 acres for each person whose passage they paid.
Indenture Contract:
5-7 years.
Promised “freedom dues” [land, £]
: only 1 in 10 outlived their indentured contracts!

7. T/F, M.C. Africans were enslaved from the time of their arrival.
Which is a correct statement about the use of slave labor in colonial Virginia?
It was forced on reluctant white Virginians by profit minded merchants
It was first case in which Europeans enslaved blacks
It fulfilled original plans of Virginia Co.
It first occurred after invention of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin
It spread rapidly in late 17th c, as blacks displaced White indentured servants in tobacco fields

8. English Tobacco Label First Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619.
Their status was not clear  perhaps slaves, perhaps indentured servants.
Slavery not that important until the end of the 17c.

9. 17c Population in the Chesapeake
WHY this large increase in black popul.??

10. The Atlantic Slave Trade

11. The “Middle Passage”

12. Colonial Slavery
As the number of slaves increased, white colonists reacted to put down perceived racial threat.
Slavery transformed from economic to economic and racial institution.
Early 1600s  differences between slave and servant were unclear.
By the mid-1680s, black slaves outnumbered white indentured servants.

13. Colonial Slavery Beginning in 1662  “Slave Codes”
Made blacks [and their children] property, or chattel for life of white masters.
In some colonies, it was a crime to teach a slave to read or write.
Conversion to Christianity did not qualify the slave for freedom.

14. MC
In the Puritan colonies, the principal economic and religious unit in the community was the
Family
Meeting house
Town meeting
Small farm

15. Characteristics of Puritan NE
Winthrop’s colony was one guided by English law and the Bible
Expected to work together for the common good
Voting rights granted to all freemen – those who were church members and property owners
Freemen in each town then elected representatives to make laws for the colony – General court
½ the men could vote
none of the women had right to vote

16. The New England Way
Depended on educated people who could understand the Bible
General Court’s Laws:
required parents to make sure that their children learned to read
1636, Harvard College, Yale (1701) – ministry training
William and Mary (1693)
1647, “the old deluder law
50 or more people = private tutor for kids
100 or more people = mandatory school built

17. Characteristics of Life in New England settlements
Educated farmers, artisans
Orderly families
Patriarchy extremely important
Total obedience to fathers or husbands
Worked in fields during harvest
Made family essentials like, soap, candles, yarn, clothes, butter, cheese

18. Characteristics…. Many large families No food problem like Jamestown
Average 6 children
Average marriage age, women (22), men (27)
No food problem like Jamestown
Diseases couldn’t survive in cold climate
Low mortality –
average life expectancy was 70 years old
In one town, 85% of all children lived to adult

19. Commerce Very little need for indentured servants and slaves
Large families, fathers, and sons provided the labor needed
Cold winters and poor soil prevented farmers from raising a large surplus of crops to sell
Business of New England: fishing and trade
Distilled rum, built ships
Sold fish, grain, lumber, meat, turpentine

20. Puritan Rebels

21. Fear and Paranoia Conflicts also existed within the MA bay colony.
The Salem Witch trials caused mass hysteria and deaths. {Unsolved History: The Salem Witch Trials}
Possible Causes:
New England’s environment of fear/accusations
Puritan beliefs and New England Folklore
Economic and Political tension divided the community – socio-economic factors
Men’s fear of women gaining economic/social independence, which would threaten the power structure and social order

22. Differences - Population
Farmers, Artisans, Religious, Very few slaves and indentured servants (NE)
Printers, Artisans, Farmers, Religiously tolerant, indentured servants and
slaves (MC)
Gentry, Indentured servants, slaves, Debtors/Criminals, Religiously tolerant (SC)

23. Economy The Southern Plantation as an economic unit
Tobacco, rice, indigo
The commercial economy in the North alongside agriculture
More diverse
Wheat, lumbering, shipbuilding,
Home industries – blacksmiths, printers, etc
Sangus Ironworks

24. Differences – Death Rates
Low (NE) vs. High (SC)
Widowarchy – women had more
autonomy and independence

25. Differences – Family Patterns
NE colonies – more sense of community, more stable family relationships, low divorce rate, large immediate families
Southern colonies – less sense of community, started off slow bc more men than women, multiple marriages, large extended families (step-parents/children/siblings, etc.)

26. Society NE – smaller communities clustered together, Boston (hub)
Middle – mixture of towns and cities (NY, Philadelphia),
Southern – more rural society, plantations spread out from each other

27. Education NE colonies – very important, see NE notes
Middle colonies – more important, Southern colonies – no formal education system, children of wealthy privately tutored, children needed on farms more than in schools

28. A Distinct American Character
“If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." ~ B. Franklin ( )