New England Colonies

• Massachusetts• Connecticut• Rhode Island• New Hampshire• Poor rocky soil• Colder climate, shorter growing season• Narrow coastal plain• Not suited for the production of cash crops• Small farms, not plantations• Subsistence farming

• Main crop wheat• Grew other grains, vegetables, apple orchards, dairy cattle, sheep,

and pigs• Fishing and whaling were the most profitable activities• Grand Banks, offshore, attracted cod, mackerel, halibut, herring• Good harbors, abundant timber for boat construction• New England colonists found markets for their fish in colonial

America, southern Europe, and Caribbean

• Whale blubber used to make candles, lamp oil, bones used to make buttons, combs• Strong lumber industry• Maine and New Hampshire- waterfalls near coast to power sawmills• Lumber used for furniture, buildings, barrels• Shipbuilding important industry- ships built quickly and cheaply- 30 to

50% less than in England• By 1770s one in three English ships built in America

Social Life• Town was the center of social life• Puritans- Christians must form groups united by a church covenant-

voluntary agreement to worship together• Commitment to church covenant led to development of small towns

surrounded by farms• Town common or open public area was important to daily life• Marketplace, school, meetinghouse or church bordered the town

common• Families had a lot for a home and storage buildings, garden

New England Government• Early colonial period, General Court appointed town officials to manage

town affairs• Evolved to where the town’s citizens met to discuss issues at town meetings• Town meetings became the local governing body- landowners had the right

to vote and pass laws• Elected selectmen to oversee town matters, appoint clerks, constables, • Any resident could attend a town meeting, express opinion• New England settlers allowed to participate in local government- strong

belief they had the right to govern themselves- town meetings set the stage for the American Revolution and democratic government

Puritan Society• Puritans valued• -hard work• -religious devotion• -obedience to strict rules• -card playing, gambling were banned• Stage performance and mixed dancing looked down upon• Watching neighbors behavior was a religious duty• Did not lead a pleasureless life- drank rum, enjoyed music, wore bright

clothes

• Valued education• 1642- Massachusetts legislature made parents and ministers teach all

children to read so they could understand the Bible• 1647- legislature made towns with 50 or more families establish

elementary school and 100 or more families set up secondary school• Other New England colonies passed similar mandatory education laws

New England Trade• New England colonial merchants developed a system of Triangular Trade- a three way

exchange of goods• Fish, flour, meat to Caribbean- enslaved peoples, money, molasses, sugar to the

colonies• Rum, cloth, tools to Africa- enslaved peoples to British West Indies = Middle Passage• Lumber, fur, fish, whale oil, grain, naval stores, tobacco, indigo to England –

manufactured goods, furniture, clothes, luxuries to colonial America• Trade with Caribbean sugar plantations made many New England merchants wealthy-

with wealth built factories to refine raw sugar and distilleries to make rum from molasses• Traded with southern colonies- fish, rum, grain, for tobacco and indigo

Urban Development• Trade made Northern ports of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia grow into cities• South, trade made Charles Town, S.C. the southern regions largest urban center• Cities developed a new society with social classes• Wealthy merchants at the top- controlled city’s trade- were a minority of the

population• Artisans and families made up almost half of the urban population- skilled workers,

carpenters, smiths, coopers, bakers, masons, shoemakers• On the same level as the artisans were innkeepers and retailers- owned and

operated own businesses• Under the artisans- the unskilled or those without property- loaded and serviced

ships- worked as servants- 30% of the urban population

• Indentured servants next in line and then enslaved Africans• Few enslaved peoples in the North, usually in the cities (port

cities),10-20% of the population

Middle Colonies

• New York• New Jersey• Pennsylvania• Delaware• Combination of the Southern and New England economies• Fertile soil, long growing season- rye, oats, barley, potatoes, wheat-

economy based on exportation of cash crops- most important cash crop wheat• Trade led to the growth of cities along the coastal region

• Merchants from the Middle Colonies sold wheat and flour to colonies in the Caribbean• Geography of the Middle Colonies included three large rivers- Hudson, Delaware,

Susquehanna- ran into the interior- allowed farmers to ship crops to coast• Early to mid 1700s demand for wheat up- population growth in Europe- wheat

prices more than doubled = prosperity• Wheat boom led to the creation of a new group of wealthy capitalists- money to

invest in business• Industry did not develop on a large scale- did build large mills near New York and

Philadelphia to produce flour for export• Glass and pottery works also built

EQ: How did English government policy impact Colonial America?• MERCANTILISM• -economic theory• -turn England into a world power• -a nation should export more than it imports • -result- more gold and silver go into a nation than goes out• -had to be self-sufficient in regards to raw materials- if purchased gold

and silver would flow out in payment

• Self-sufficiency depended on colonies- raw materials were available• England buy raw materials from colonies- sell finished goods to colonies• Colonies did see some benefit• -market for raw materials and a supplier of finished goods• Mercantilism had a down side for the colonies• -colonies could not sell raw materials to other nations even if they offered a

higher price• -if a colony did not produce raw materials needed in England- it could not

get gold or silver- serious problem for New England- one reason for New England engaging in triangular trade and smuggling

• NAVIGATION ACTS• -Charles II king in 1660- wanted to generate wealth from colonial America• Based government policies on mercantilist theory• Charles II asked Parliament for a series of laws that imposed restrictions

on colonial trade• -all goods shipped to and from the colonies be carried on English ships• -listed specific products (enumerated commodities) that could only be

sold in England or other English colonies – sugar, cotton, tobacco, wool, indigo- major cash crops for the colonies

• Colonial response- break the laws• New England merchants engaged in smuggling goods to Europe, the

Caribbean, and Africa• 1686 James II is king- move to stop smuggling • Massachusetts, Plymouth, Rhode Island merged into a new royal

colony- Dominion of New England- governed by an English governor-general appointed by the king• 1687- New Jersey and Connecticut were added to the Dominion of

New England- early 1688 New York was added

• King James II appointed Sir Edmund Andros to be the first governor-general• Andros unpopular-levied new taxes, enforced the Navigation Acts• Andros attempted to undermine the Puritan congregations• Declared only marriages performed in Anglican churches were legal

Limiting the power of the monarch• Magna Carta- 1215- nobles/barons and King John signed the great charter• King agreed to rule subjects according to customs of feudal law• Attempt by nobles to prevent King John from abusing power• First clauses deal with Catholic Church in England• Next state that King John will be less harsh on nobles• Many of the clauses deal with the English legal system• -laws good and fair• -citizens access to the legal system• -no punishment unless first going through legal system

• -last sections outline how to monitor the King- the nobles responsible to make sure king followed the Magna Carta- authorized to use force if necessary• GLORIOUS REVOLUTION• 1688 Andros losing support in New England, James II lost support in

England by disregarding Parliament• Revoked town charters, prosecuted Anglican bishops, practiced

Catholicism• James II had a son in 1688- many had been willing to wait until he died-

thought his Protestant daughter Mary would take the throne

• Son would be raised Catholic, first in line for the throne• To stop a Catholic dynasty Parliament asked Mary and her husband William of Orange

to claim the throne• James fled England = Glorious Revolution• Colonists kicked out Governor-General Andros• William and Mary allowed Rhode Island and Connecticut to return to previous form

of government• 1691 merged Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Maine into royal colony of

Massachusetts• Headed by a governor appointed by the king- colonists elected an assembly• William and Mary had to swear acceptance of the English Bill of Rights, written 1689

• English Bill of Rights stated that the monarch could not suspend Parliament’s laws, create their own courts, impose taxes, raise an army without the approval of Parliament• English Bill of Rights provided freedom of speech within Parliament-

no excessive bail, no cruel and unusual punishments- every English citizen the right to an impartial jury in legal cases-English Bill of Rights influenced the American Bill of Rights