1. Eighteenth Century Colonial America
Englishmen to Americans I

2. Englishmen to Americans
During the 1700s the colonists transform from Englishmen living in America to Americans

3. Changing Demographics
Dramatic population growth in 1700s
,000 (20,000 African)
mill. (1/2 mill. African)
Pop. Doubled every 20 yrs.
immigration
natural increase-very high birthrate
Avg. age was 16
People lost direct connection to England

4. A Polyglot Society
Immigration resulted in an increasingly diverse society
English
Germans in Pennsylvania
Scots-Irish first in Pennsylvania and western N.C., Virginia, & S.C..
Highland Scots in N.C.
Huguenot French in S.C.
Dutch in New York
Swedes in Delaware (log cabins)
Africans

5. “A New Man”
American growing ethnic diversity described by Michel Guillaume de Crevecoeur in his essay Letters from an American Farmer
An American is a “new men” born of a “strange mixture of blood which you find in no other country”
First to describe the “American Dream”

6. A Rural Nation 90% agrarian Poor transportation Few towns
few roads
water travel most reliable
especially between colonies
Few towns
center of government and trade
Four cities with pop. Greater than 35,000
Philadelphia (50,000)
New York
Boston
Charleston

7. 1700s Economics Economic system of the 1700’s was Mercantilism
Nations need to be self-sufficient
Limit imports and maintain trade surplus
Economic activity should strengthen the nation
Colonies exist to benefit the Mother Country
Colonies provide raw materials
Colonies consume products made in mother country
Not allowed to manufacture
Trade benefits England not the American colonies

8. The Navigation Acts (1651)
English Board of Trade controlled colonial trade & enforced mercantilism through the Navigation Acts (1651)
All goods had to be transported in English ships
Non-English goods had to go first to England to pay a tariff
Enumerated goods (tobacco, furs, cotton, sugar, indigo, & naval stores) could only be traded in the empire

9. American Trade Networks
Two large American trade networks
with England
Raw materials for finished goods
Triangle Trade between the colonies, the Caribbean, and Africa
Molasses to rum to slaves
American smugglers often violated the Navigation Acts

10. Slavery in America
Southern plantation economy based on African slavery
First brought to Jamestown in 1620 by Dutch
2000 by 1670
Grew quickly after 1700
65,000 by 1720
Majority of the population in S.C.

11. “A Hellish Voyage” Imported from West Coast of Africa
20% mortality rate
Part of the Triangle Trade
Trip across the Atlantic called the Middle Passage
Auction centers in Charleston, SC & Newport, Rhode Island

12. Slave Rebellions Stono Rebellion (1739)
Largest slave rebellion before the Revolution
Slaves execute owners, seize weapon and attempt to flee to Florida
Defeated in a running fight
New York Rebellion’s Rebellions (1712 & 1741)
2nd largest slave pop. of any city
Hundreds executed after plots to burn the city

13. A “Hale and Hearty Race”
Americans were generally larger and healthier than Europeans
Ate more and better (especially meat)
Longer life spans
Diseases very common
smallpox, diphtheria, & tuberculosis
Limited medical knowledge
bleeding was primary treatment for most illness
Smallpox inoculations by 1721
opposed by many ministers
supported by Benjamin Franklin