chapter 4 american life in the 17 th century. american wilderness brutal disease malaria,...
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 4AMERICAN LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY
American wilderness Brutal Disease
Malaria, dysentery, typhoid
Life expectancy declined
Men outnumbered women 6 to 1 Men could not find mates
CHESAPEAKE
Planted tobacco to sell before planting corn to eat
Exhausted soil
Demand for new land Went further up rivers and pushed west
More tobacco = More labor Indentured servants
TOBACCO
Head-right System Servant Workers Paid passage = 50 acres of land
100,000 Indentured servants = 1700 Virginia/ Maryland
CONT.
Freemen = looking for land / Women
Governor Berkeley Friendly policies with Native Americans
Nathaniel Bacon Looking for untamed land 1,000 broke out of control = 1676 Plundering and Pilfering Civil War in Virginia
BACON’S REBELLION
7 million slaves to New World
COLONIAL SLAVERY
1680’s Black slaves outnumbered whites in plantations colonies
Royal African Company = Charter lost
Rhode Islanders = Cash in on slave trade
1750 ½ population = Virginia Outnumbered 2 to 1 = S. Carolina
CONT.
Middle Passage Journey from Africa to the West Indies
Passage was extremely diffi cult20% of the slaves died on the trip
COLONIAL SLAVERY
Slave life severe in deep SouthLife drainingRice/Indigo
Tobacco = less demandingPlantations closer together
More contact with other slaves
CultureGullah (Language) Jazz
AFRICANS IN AMERICA
New York Slave Revolt – 1712 9 whites died 21 slaves executed = burned at the stake
South Carolina Slave Revolt – 1739 50 slaves Stono River = Spanish Florida
CONT.
Plantation owners ran the South’s economy Monopolized political
power Families = Fitzhughs,
Lees, Washingtons
Dominated House of Burgesses
Hard working, businesslike, long hours
Small Farmers Largest group Hand to Mouth 1-2 slaves
Landless whites Former indentured
servants
SOUTHERN SOCIETY
Southern families = economic security for women
Men died young
Women retain separate title to their property
Widows right to inherit
CONT.
Few cities sproutedLife revolved around plantations
Waterways = transportation
CONT.
Clean Water, Cool Temperatures
Added 10 yrs to life
Migrated as families Early marriages Birth Rate increased
10 pregnancies / 8 children
Parents / Grandparents
NEW ENGLAND
Women gave up property when married
Lawmakers = protect / defend marriages Divorce rare
Midwifery Childbirth Female monopoly
CONT.
Tight knit society
Puritans = unity of purpose Moral health
Distribution of land in hands of proprietors Woodlot, tract
(crops), pasture
50 plus = schools
Massachusetts Harvard – 1636
Virginians William and Mary –
1693
Congregational Church Government
NEW ENGLAND TOWNS
Jeremiad Doom-saying Scolded parishioners Decline in conversions
Half Way Covenant - 1662 Admit to baptism – not full communion
Doors to Puritan church swung open
CONT.
Salem Witch Trials – 1692 Massachusetts Witch hunt 20 individuals Gossip
Superstitions Property owning Widows
Ended in 1693
CONT.
Less ethically mixed
Stony soil /Extreme weather
Expert shipbuilders / commerce
Codfish “fishy goldmines of New England”
Huge impact on the rest of the nation
NEW ENGLAND
Most were farmers Sun up to sun down
Women managed the home (plantation)
Distinction amongst classes Leisler’s Rebellion – 1689
Lordly landowners against Merchants Gentlemen / dividing class Laws passed to keep them in their place
EARLY SETTLERS