Download Chapter 5 - Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution

Unit 1: Founding the New Nation
CA. 33,000 BCE – 1783 CE
• Chapter 1: New World Beginnings, 33,000 BCE-1769
• Chapter 2: The Planting of English America, 1500-1733
• Chapter 3: Settling the Northern Colonies, 1619-1700
• Chapter 4: American Life in the Seventeenth Century, 1607-1692
• Chapter 5: Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution, 1700-1775
• Chapter 6: The Duel for North America, 1608-1763
• Chapter 7: The Road to Revolution, 1763-1775
• Chapter 8: America Secedes from the Empire, 1775-1783
• Unit Exam: Take-Home Essay on American & National Identity
Chapter 5
Colonial Society on the Eve of
Revolution, 1700-1775
“Driven from every other corner of the earth, freedom of thought and
the right of private judgement in matters of conscience direct their
course to this happy country as their last asylum.”
Samuel Adams, 1776
I. Conquest by the Cradle
• Colonial Commonality: population growth throughout the
1700s
• The colonists were doubling their numbers every twenty-five
years.
• 1775 the average age was about sixteen.
• 1700 – English: American ratio at 20:1
• 1775 – English: American ratio at 3:1
• The most populous colonies in 1775 were: Virginia,
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and
Maryland—in that order.
• Only four major cities: Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and
Charleston
• About 90% of the people lived in rural areas.
This is a picture of the actual
baby that led the conquest of
North America.
It was truly terrifying.
II. A Mingling of the Races
• The colonies were a “melting pot” from the start –
start of multicultural American identity.
• The middle colonies, especially Pennsylvania,
received the bulk of later white immigrants.
• Outside of New England about ½ were non-English
in 1775.
• The African American community was even more
diverse in its origin.
• In New England, “praying towns” sprang up where
Indians gathered to be Christianized.
• Great Lakes contained dozens of groups of displaced
natives.
Ethnic Makeup of Colonial America
III. Africans in America
• Life as a Slave – South vs. Deep South
• In the deepest South, slave life was severe
• Africans in the tobacco-growing
Chesapeake region had a somewhat
easier life
• Slaves helped mightily to build the
country with their labor.
• Slave Revolts:
• 1712 The New York slave revolt
• 1739 A South Carolina slave revolt
erupted.
• None were as severe as Bacon’s Rebellion
Ceremony, Charles Willson Peale, 1819
Africans Destined for
Slavery
This engraving from 1830
is an example of
antislavery propaganda in
the pre–Civil War era. It
shows hapless Africans
being brought ashore in
America under the whips
of slave traders and,
ironically, under the
figurative shadow of the
national Capitol.
p68
IV. The Structure of Colonial Society
• America seemed the land of equality and opportunity, except for
slavery.
• New England: each new generation faced more limited prospects of
land.
• Small farms dominated, children hired out as wage laborers, homeless poor.
• The South: great plantations continued their disproportionate
ownership of slaves.
• Wealth was in the hands of the largest slave owners.
• Lower class numbers grew with continued influx of indentured servants.
• Black slaves were on the bottom of the social pyramid.
V. Clerics, Physicians, and Jurists
• How were the various occupations and activities of colonial America
related to the nature of the economy?
• Why were such occupations as lawyer, printer, and artisan taking on
greater importance?
• Which professions were becoming less influential?
VI. Workaday America
• Trade! Trade! Trade!
• Agriculture (90% of the population)
• Fishing
• Commerce
• Triangular Trade was incredibly profitable
• Manufacturing
• Household Manufacturing
• Overall Americans enjoyed a higher standard of living than
the masses of any country
• Trade was expanding (too quickly?) in the world of
Mercantalist economics.
• 1733 the British passed the Molasses Act aimed at slowing North
American trade with the French West Indies.
• Foreshadowing: headstrong Americans would revolt rather than
submit to a far-off Parliament, apparently bent on destroying
colonial livelihood
VII. Horsepower and Sailpower
• Transportation was very difficult.
• Population clustered along navigable rivers
– Taverns sprang up along the main routes – labs for
communication/democracy
– Taverns were important in developing public opinion and
eventually became centers for discussion on the
revolutionary movement.
• Mid-1700s intercolonial postal system started
VIII. Dominant Denominations
• Two “established” or tax-supported churches existed in 1775 (see Table
5.1).
• Congregational Church – Grew from Puritans
• Formally established in New England, except Rhode Island
• At first supported by taxing all residents.
• The Church of England - Anglicans
– Official faith in Georgia, North/South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and part of New
York.
– It was less zealous than the religion of New England.
– Sermons were shorter, less of a jeremiad.
– 1693 the College of William and Mary, Virginia, was established to train a better
class of clergy
IX. The Great Awakening
• In all the colonial churches, religion became less fervid as the
18th century went on.
• Arminianism—all humans, not just the “elect,” could be saved if
they freely accepted God’s grace
• Great Awakening exploded in 1730s – 1740s – REACTIONARY.
• Massachusetts' Jonathan Edwards warned his subjects in the sermon
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
• George Whitefield’s introduced evangelical preaching and
revolutionized the spiritual life of the colonies.
• Orthodox clergymen, known as old lights, were skeptical of the
emotionalism and theatrical antics of the revivalists.
• New lights defended the Awakening for revitalizing American religion.
• Effects of the Great Awakening:
• Old clergy lost influence.
• Increase in denominations led to competitiveness of American
churches.
• It encouraged new waves of missionary work.
• It led to the founding of colleges.
The Great Awakening in Action
X. Schools and Colleges
• Educational trends in the colonies.
• Originally reserved for the aristocracy and
clergy.
• Became more secular as time went on.
• Education for teenage boys flourished.
• New England established primary/secondary
schools with wide quality of instruction and
length of days.
• South, because of geography, was severely
hampered in establishing effective school
system.  What does “because of
geography” mean??
• The general atmosphere in the colonial
schools and colleges was grim and gloomy.
•
•
Most emphasis was on religion and classical
languages, Latin and Greek
Focus was not on experiment and reason,
but on doctrine and dogma
The College of New Jersey at Princeton, 1764
Table 5-3 p90
XI. A Provincial Culture
• Art and culture still had European roots.
• Colonial contributions:
• John Trumbull (1756-1843), painter
• Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), known for his portrait
of George Washington, ran a museum
• Benjamin West (1738-1820) and John Singleton Copley
(1738-1815), famous painters.
• Architecture was European, but it was adapted for the
New World (climate, religion, etc.)
• 1720 the red-bricked Georgian style introduced
• Enslaved poet Phillis Wheatley (ca. 1753-1784)
• Benjamin Franklin’s classic Poor Richard’s Almanack
• Science was slowly making progress:
• There were a few botanists, mathematicians, and
astronomers of reputation
• Benjamin Franklin was considered the only first-rank
scientist produced in the American colonies.
Red-Bricked Georgian Style
Trumbull – Declaration of Independence
Peale – Yarrow Mamout
Copley – Paul Revere
XII. Pioneer Presses
• Most Americans were too poor and too
busy for books.
• Printing press:
• First printed pamphlets, leaflets, and journals
• Newspapers became just as significant as
taverns.
• The Zenger trial (1734-1735)
• John Peter Zenger spoke out against a corrupt
royal governor and was put on trial – defended
by Andrew Hamilton.
• It helped to established the doctrine that true
statements about public officials could not be
prosecuted as libel.
A colonial woman sends out the world’s first tweet.
XIII. The Great Game of Politics
• Each utilized a two-house legislative body:
• Upper house—appointed by the crown in the royal colonies and by the proprietor in the
proprietary colonies. It was chosen by the voters in self-governing colonies.
• Lower house—popular branch, elected by the people.
• Self-taxation through representation was a precious privilege that Americans had
come to cherish above most others.
• Governors were generally appointed by the king – HOW DID COLONISTS ASSERT
CONTROL OVER THE ROYAL GOVERNORS?
• Town meetings & taverns served as exhibitions of democracy.
• By 1775 America was not a true democracy- socially, economically, or politically –
but the seeds had been planted.
XIV. Colonial Folkways
• Everyday life in the colonies was
monotonous and tough.
• Plenty of food – the same food every day.
• European style comforts were absent.
• Amusement was important, when time
permitted.
• 1775 America:
• Each colony was slightly different, but held
together by common origins, common ways of
life, and common beliefs in toleration,
economic development and self-rule.
• Opportunity for unity was there.
Unity?