COLONIES IN MID-18 TH C

Transcription

1 COLONIES IN MID-18 TH C I. SOUTHERN COLONIES -Geography: Rich Soil in the coastal lowlands; "Tidewater" areas (where salt water reached), vs. the "Piedmont" or "backcountry" (foothills inland); appalachian range furher inland. -Navigable rivers running to sea. -Humid, swampy in the tidewater; bred mosquitoes, but people didn't understand this; "seasoning" of new arrivals. -Long growing season, mild winters. SLAVERY There is much historiographical debate on how slavery came to be the dominant labor system in the Southern Colonies. Geography? Rich manipulation? Racism? First blacks arrived in VA in 1619, but their status is unclear... All 13 colonies had slaves legally. By 3rd quarter of the 17th C becomes dominant labor system in Chesapeake & S. colonies. was not "natural" in any sense of the word. Here is a brief outline: Tobacco cultivation: extremely labor intensive & land intensive. Need fresh land, cattle for fertilizer, woodlands for casks... needed about 50 acres/hand. (Isaac 22) Indians (used in Spanish Empire) ran away/refused to work/died... Colonial Gov'ts established the Headright System: 50 acres/head (sometimes 100 in MD). This led to land accumulating in few hands, w/ population of large #s of male indentured servants. But upon their release there are serious tensions tidewater v. backcountry (where ex-servants went for land). (Last of the Mohicans) Bacon's Rebellion (1675): back-country freemen rebelling against authority of tidewater governor... by last quarter of 1600's full shift to African slavery. SOCIAL STRUCTURE / ECONOMY Southern colonies dominated by plantation lifestyle: Planters, Small Farmers and indentured servants, slaves. -On the top: PLANTER ARISTOCRATS, large slaveowners and landowners; small minority; power in colonies based on ownership of land and of slaves. How did they come to dominate? -Origins in noble families in S England; Royalists and "distressed Cavaliers." Started out rich. -Obtained large tracts of the most fertile and best located land (in the tidewater and on the rivers). Enables them to dominate the economy, based on export of

2 cash crops: tobacco, rice, indigo. Small farmer sell to big, who will export from river on his property. Agriculture supreme: no major cities or ports (Charles Town S.C.)... this limits growth of middle class. -Encouraged race slavery and divisions among poor blacks and whites. -They intermarry to improve their estates, and dominate the political structure of the colonies. -Lower Down: SMALL FARMERS and indentured SERVANTS (white). The majority of immigrants to N American colonies came as servants; about 75% of 17th C VA immigrants. You would serve a number of years and then be released, perhaps with a grant of cash and/or land. The Dream: upward mobility to landownership. This was easier the earlier you got here. -A study of MD shows that most of those who first arrived became landowners, but by the 2'nd half of the 17'th C more than 50% of servants were still landless 10 years after release. -Best land already taken by the Planters; out to backcountry. -Often in debts to Gentlemen or to a "factor"; an export agent. -Drop of tobacco prices after 1660 hurt small farmers most; leading cause of Bacon's Rebellion. -Bottom: SLAVES. -1'st 1/2 of 18'th century slaves as proportion of population increased dramatically in South. 1776: slaves = 40% of VA and MD; shipping 100 million pounds of tobacco per year. -60% in SC Most worked on Rice/Indigo plantations; Tobacco plantations. Slaves often highly skilled (Rice!), but w/o any rights whatsoever. -Small revolts (one at St. Augustine 1739) scare whites, but ineffective. -No strong tradition of public schooling. -Religion: Anglican among wealthy; lost ground during Great Awakening in 1730's. Clear tidewater/backcountry split: Scotch Presbyterian immigrants. Toleration in Maryland... II. NEW ENGLAND COLONIES -Geography: Coastline with many natural harbors, harsh winters and hot summers, relatively short growing season and middling soil (rocky). Not great farmland; not large-scale plantations.

3 Rivers w/high waterfalls: bad for trade to interior, but good for industry (eventually). -Quinn covers story of Plymouth and Massachusetts; other colonies were spinoffs of Mass, founded by religious or economic dissenters. Majority of immigrants to New England, about 21,000, arrived during the "Great Migration" of They were English Puritans (of varying radicalism), settled as families, and there was relatively little immigration after 1642 (few hundred/year). Came from E Anglia in England - Cambridge, Dedham, Newton, Springfield, Medford, Boston, Braintree, Billerica, Weymouth, Dorchester, Hingham... et cetera (maps?) -unity and homogeneity -long life spans (2X Virginia, +10 from England) -average family 7-8 children -rapid population growth w/o immigration. SOCIAL STRUCTURE/ECONOMY -New England was socially less divided than the Southern colonies; stronger middle class. Basic social unit was the town (contrast w/plantation); NE towns often tried to replicate ideal conditions of England: localism / tradition of autonomy. Major decisions made by unanimous Town Meeting vote. Economy: small farming, fishing, timber, and commerce. Plantation & slavebased economy not geographically practical here; no headright system. 10% lived in seaports; most small farmers. -Triangle Trades: Rum to Africa, Slaves to Indies, Molasses & Sugar home. OR: lumber/supplies to Indies, Sugar to England, Manufactures home. -Trade was very profitable: -1771: wealthiest 5% of the people in Boston owned 49% of the wealth; bottom 30% controlled 0.1%. -On the top: Merchants. Families accumulated capital, which then creates more capital - Beacon Hill, Gloucester, Salem... -In the middle: small farmers, artisans and tradesmen. Largest social class. Small farmers grew enough to provide for their families, with a small surplus for sale. Often cash-poor: currency shortage in the colonies, and didn't have lots of extra $ anyway. Credit and barter economy: borrow from merchant or banker. (South: planter). Often attempt to improve lot by moving west. "Leather Aprons" Much smaller group, but important in the Northern Cities. Butchers, blacksmiths, etc. etc. Often did work for credit for farmers. 1700: 5% of the population lived in cities, and Boston was biggest, so this class was small.

4 -Bottom: Workers and Indentured Servants. -Labor was short and land was plentiful, so workers did have some leverage: upper classes complained regularly about price of labor and its scarcity. But there was abject poverty. Originally each community cared for "its own" poor, but by the 1730's wandering beggars were common. Poorhouses built in the cities High literacy rate (Bible) and respect for education (ministers); Harvard, Yale... to educate ministry. -Towns of more than 50 required to have a public school. Commerce: cities flourished. Boston, Newport, New Haven... urban middle class. III. THE MIDDLE COLONIES (NY NJ PA DL) -Geography: Good farmland, longer growing season - "The Bread Colonies" b/c of all the grain they raised. Rolling hills, rich soil. Navigable rivers; good coastline for ports. Delaware River valley is central geographic feature. SOCIAL STRUCTURE/ECONOMY Many ethnic groups, notably Germans and Scotch-Irish; By mid-18th C English were the smallest ethnic group in middle colonies. Patchwork quilt style: groups settled together, kept language and customs alive; valleys formed by ridges in W. Pennsylvania encouraged this as well. Most economically egalitarian region in British America; inheritance divided equally among all children (daughters did not inherit land). "Thee" and "thou" as informal means of address; no formal titles allowed in Quakerism. On top: Large landowners & merchants. Feudal landholding system in NY; merchants in NYC and Philadelphia. Quaker elite controlled trade & politics; religion encouraged industry & wealth, w/o ostentation. Middle: Small farmers; very successful... excellent soil & access to rivers (settlement in 250 acre plots) allowed for export to port cities; Philly most important. Urban tradesmen. Bottom: indentured servants and slaves. Quakers discouraged slavery, although it was legal, and it never took hold on large scale. Economy based on exports of foodstuffs and grains: "The Bread Colonies." Fur trading (using rivers again), lumbering & shipbuilding. Industry (ironworks & mills) more common here than other regions.

5 Education varied w/culture and locality: required by law, but left to individual community & family. Often practical in nature. Not as prevalent as New England, nor as rare as the South. GOVERNING THE COLONIES I. Government In England Power divided between the monarch (King or Queen) and Parliament. Laws were made exclusively by Parliament. Parliament had two houses: -the House of Commons: elected; controlled the miltary and had right to pass tax laws. -the House of Lords: appointed; members of the Aristocracy... represented the upper classes. Together voted to appropriate money to the crown. Most democratic and progressive gov't of its day; colonists expected to enjoy the same privileges. "The Rights of Englishmen" included the right to be taxed only by representatives of the people... Commons. Much conflict between crown & parliament, dating way back. Related to conflict Protestant v. Catholic (Parliament = protestants). II. Government in the Colonies Colonies are administered by the crown: the monarch issues a "charter" which defines the rights and government of a colony. Conflict crown/parliament/colonies over these charters and their meaning; Parliament did not want to give too much power to the king, colonies wanted freedom of action, king wanted efficiency -"Governor": appointed by the crown; ultimate authority. Can veto laws, and can dissolve the "Assembly" and call for new elections. -"Council": the upper house, analagous to the house of Lords. In Massachusetts was elected by the Assembly; everywhere else is appointed by the governor. -"Assembly": lower house, analagous to the house of Commons. Elected by the voters. Voted local taxes, authorized/organized the militia. Paid the governor's salary: a means to gain influence....by 1760 this was the most powerful branch of the colonial government. Assemblies: existed everywhere by 1700; rapidly gained in power.

6 17'th C class consciousness: the upper classes have the right and obligation to rule, and the lower classes have the obligation to respect their betters. Society organized as a hierarchy, with authority and power from top to bottom... -distance from England, hard existence, growth of assemblies all worked to break this down.