1. American Life in the Seventeenth Century, 1607-1692
Ch. 4:
American Life in the Seventeenth Century,

2. The Chesapeake

3. Unhealthy Chesapeake Short lives for early settlers
Malaria, dysentery & typhoid
½ born did not survive their 20th birthday few lived to 50
Fewer women: 6-to-1 ratio in 1650
Few children reached adulthood with both parents
Few grandparents
Population growth came from immigrants until end of the 17th century

4. The Tobacco Economy Tobacco grows well, but… Labor-intensive crop
Exhausts soil
Creates need for new land
Labor-intensive crop
Indian slaves/workers did not work out

5. The Tobacco Economy Indentured Servants Headright System
¾ of immigrant population
Headright System
100 acres of land to those who paid passage
Virginia & Maryland

6. Early Virginia Governor William Berkeley (1642—1670)
Appointed by King
Growth in population
,000
,000
House of Burgesses
Berkeley influenced (i.e. “controlled”) the vote
Landowners only could vote

7. Bacon's Rebellion, 1676 Nathaniel Bacon-
Gentry in the back-country
Under representation in House of Burgesses
Indian uprising in west
Resented White encroachment
No help for settlers from government in Jamestown
Berkeley had a lucrative fur trade with the Indians

8. Bacon's Rebellion, 1676
Bacon attacked the Indians including a peaceful tribe
Burned down Jamestown
End of revolt
Bacon died suddenly
22 executed for rebellion

9. Bacon’s Rebellion, 1776

10. Bacon's Rebellion, 1676 Significance: Social class conflict
Indians v. Whites
Power potential of landless masses
Landowners shifted to importing African slaves
Perpetual slavery would not require westward expansion.

11. Slavery in America “Middle Passage“
Portuguese dominated trade at first
Heavy trade in Caribbean & the southern colonies
11 million to N & S America & the Caribbean
“Middle Passage“
Horrific ship life between Africa and New World
Royal African Co. of England had a monopoly

12. Middle Passage

13. Slave ship
Slave ship
This plan graphically depicts the crowded, unsanitary conditions under which enslaved Africans were packed like cargo and transported across the Atlantic. (Library of Congress)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

14. Growth of Slavery Numbers: By 1700 = 25,000 in America
N. England=16,000
Middle colonies= 29,000
South had the rest
Totals:
~10 million Africans taken from Africa
400,000 taken to North America
Most to South America or West Indies

15. Growth of Slavery Change in status: Slave Codes:
At first--indentured servants
Early 1700s--permanent status as slaves.
Justification--considered an inferior race.
Slave Codes:
Numbers of slave increased = harsher treatment
All descendants of slaves were also property (or chattels)
Illegal to teach a slave to read and write

16. Developing African American Culture
Population:
3/4 lived on plantations of 10 or more slaves.
1/2 lived in communities of 50 or more

17. Developing African American Culture
Families & Culture:
In more populated areas--developed strong & elaborate family structures.
Most slaves were field hands, some learned trades and crafts.

18. Developing African American Culture
Resistance:
NY slave revolt, 1712:
12 Whites killed;21 Blacks executed
South Carolina, 1739:
Stono Rebellion
50 slaves tried to get to Spanish Florida
Most resistance was passive: Running away, breaking tools, faking illnesses etc.

19. Stono Rebellion

20. Plantations & Southern Society
Stratified Southern class system-
Large Plantation owners –wealthy & influential
FFV (First Families of Virginia) came before 1690
Included Lees, Fitzhugh's, Washington's etc.
Small Farmers - largest social group
Economy of tobacco - precarious
Landless Whites (free whites)-- former indentured servants
Blacks (free and slaves)

21. A Tobacco Plantation

22. New England

23. New England Culture & Family
Population:
Lifespan increased 10 years by immigrating to New England
If survived infancy, life expectancy was up to age 70.
Population growth
Reproduction; married young
10 children common

24. New England Culture & Family
Came in family units
Structure was more stable
“Invented” grandparents (lifespan)
Puritans had high value on family –religion & economics
Divorce--rare

25. New England Culture & Family
Women
Submissive
Married women yielded property to men
Could inherit property from husband
Single women could manage own estates
Midwifery – One job available for women

26. New England Family

27. Life in New England Towns
Villages "covenant“--commitment of unity & harmony
Town organizations:
Houses and church around "common" farmlands given outside the village
Town meetings - members vote
Inheritance - land divided among all sons (not primogeniture)

28. Life in New England Towns
Education
Massachusetts School law 1647
Every village over 50 households required to provide an elementary
Education led to a 50% literacy rate
New England Primer: widely used schoolbook taught lessons of social and religious duty
Harvard established in 1637 = train for the ministry

29. Halfway Covenant Decline of Piety Halfway Covenant,1662
Rise of denominationalism
Movement westward
Rise of towns & material goods
Enlightenment
Halfway Covenant,1662
Many children of "saints" had not had the "conversion experience"
Compromise:
Right of baptism for children
Not allowed to vote in church affairs
Jeremiad –doomsayers
Orthodox Puritans felt that religious piety in New England was declining

30. Salem Witch Trials Salem, Massachusetts 1692 “Witch Hunt”
20 residents put to death
Tensions between people of differing economic status
Accused = wealthy (property-holding women)
Accusers = subsistence farming families
Showed widening social stratification
Ceased when the governor’s wife was accused

31. Salem Witch Trials

32. New England Way of Life Frugal and hard working
Rocky soil and strict religion
Climate:
Hot summers & cold winters
Culture conflict about land:
Native Americans used the land but had no concept of ownership
New Englanders cleared & divided the land.

33. New England Way of Life Livestock: pigs, horses, sheep & cattle
Shipbuilding: Timber & Commerce
Fishing (Cod)
“Yankee ingenuity”—creative &hard workers