Colonial Ways of Life

Chapter 3

Colonial Economies The colonial economies became the backbone

of each individual colony. How they developed socially, ethnically, and politically usually depended on the cash crops and manufactured goods produced.

Identify and label these products on your map as well as major cities.

Create a key Use the map on page 85 and 92.

Culture in the Colonies Organize into groups: New England

colonies, Middle colonies, and Southern colonies

First, identify which colonies are part of your group.

Analyze these colonies in terms of language, social groups, economic system, and religion.Note your answers in chart form

Finally, select a representative character of your region and write a letter describing the person’s life to family members left behind in Europe. Letters must represent the realities of life in your region.

The Southern Colonies

Chapter 3 Section 1

The Southern Economy Economy based on agriculture. Tobacco, first cash crop

Grown for market. Demand made many Chesapeake Bay farmers

wealthy. Rise of plantations

Large estates where many laborers lived on the land and cultivated the crops for the landowner.

What cash crops are grown in the southern colonies?

Rice and Indigo in South Carolina Failed crops:

sugarcane and rice New type of rice

introduced Led to need for West

African labor. Indigo introduced

Could be produced in the rice off season.

Southern SocietyWealthy Planters

Small/backcoun

try farmers

Landless tenant farmers

Indentured Servants

Enslaved Africans

Southern gentry- planter elite, served as representatives in government, commanded local militia, and served as judges.

Backcountry farmers and subsistence farming

Tenant farmers worked land they rented from elite.

Indentured servants sold their labor for food, clothing, and shelter. 4-7 year contracts

Bacon’s Rebellion Wealthy planters dominated Virginia society.

Restricted vote and gave tax exemptions to the gentry Crisis over land

Land for indentured servants and tenant farmers? Governor Sir William Berkeley refused to extend colony

into Native American lands. Nathaniel Bacon leads a revolt

Seized power from the corrupt Governor. Slavery increases in Virginia

As a result, Virginia’s government supported expanding westward into Native American lands.

Accelerated use of slave labor.

Slavery in the Colonies Between 10-12 million Africans were forcibly

transported to the Americas between 1450-1870.

Roughly 2 million died at sea along the middle passage.

3.5 million to Brazil 1.5 million to Spanish colonies 4 million to the Caribbean 500,000 to North America

The Middle Passage Olaudah Equiano reflects on his journey,“At last, when the ship we were in had got in all

her cargo, … we were all put under deck… The closeness of the place, and heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. …. This brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died… the shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable…”

Slavery in the Colonies The first Africans were treated as indentured

servants. Many obtained their freedom by converting to

Christianity 1638, Maryland becomes first colony to

recognize slavery. In 1705, Virginia creates a slave code– set of

laws that defined the relationship between slaves and free people.

New England and the Middle Colonies

Chapter 3 Section 2

New England’s Economy What role did

geography play in shaping the economy of the New England region?

Fishing and Whaling Lumbering and

Shipbuilding

Life in New England’s Towns Towns became the heart of New England

society. Town Meetings

Free men elected leaders to the General Court. Town meetings developed into the local

governments; run by elected selectmen Puritan Society

“Holy watching” and “Doing the Lord’s work”

Trade and the Rise of Cities Triangular Trade

Bills of exchange – credit slips English merchants gave the planters in exchange for their sugar.

Triangular trade – three way trade New England merchants established with the Caribbean colonies and England.

Made many merchants very wealthy and led to new industries in New England.

Trade and the Rise of Cities

Trade and the Rise of Cities A New Urban Society

Overcrowding, crime, pollution, and epidemics

Led to increased city governments

Wealthy Merchant

s

Artisans

Unskilled Laborers

Society in the Middle Colonies Growth of the Middle Colonies

Rivers made it easy for farmers to move their goods to the coast for shipping to markets.

The Wheat Boom Population explosion and new immigrants led to

huge demand for wheat to feed them. Entrepreneurs- businessmen who risked their

money by buying land, equipment, and supplies for profits.

Created capitalists, people who had money to invest in new business.

The Imperial System

Chapter 3 Section 3

Mercantilism Mercantilism - The theory that the state’s

(country) power depends on its wealth.1. Accumulate gold and silver2. Sell more than you buy3. Be self-sufficient in raw materials/est. colonies

where raw materials are Navigation Acts

1. All goods imported or exported carried on English ships

2. Listed specific raw materials that could be sold only to England or other English colonies.

3. Staple Act required everything the colonies imported to come through England.

Mercantilism Problems with Enforcement

Massachusetts merchants routinely ignored Acts; smuggled good to Caribbean and Europe

Gov. informed King Charles II Mass. was not required to obey laws made by Parliament unless it was in the interest of Mass to do so.

The Dominion of New England In 1686 the English government merged Mass,

Plymouth, and Rhode Island together to create the Dominion of New England.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 King James II offends many English people.

Revokes town charters Openly practices Catholicism

A Bloodless Revolution Parliament invites his Protestant daughter Mary

and husband William to take the throne. James II flees resulting in a bloodless change of

power known as the Glorious Revolution.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 The Glorious Revolution in America

William and Mary allow the Dominion of New England to dissolve.

Insist that the Massachusetts governor had to be appointed by the king.

Also changed who could vote in Mass and granted freedom of worship to Anglicans.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 The Legacy of John Locke

Glorious Revolution showed that there were times when revolution against the king was justified.

English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) writes Two Treatise of Government (1690).

Natural rights – fundamental rights all people are born possessing, including the right to life, liberty, and property.

Kings should not have absolute power, or power without limits.

Social Contract John Locke and other philosophers developed a solution to

the problems that exist in a place without government. In a state of nature, people might feel free to do anything they want to do. However, their rights would not be protected and they would feel insecure. Locke argued that people should agree with one another to give up some of their freedom in exchange for protection and security. They should consent to follow some laws in exchange for the protection that these laws would give them. This agreement is called a social compact or social contract. A social compact is an agreement people make among themselves to create a government to rule them and protect their natural rights. In this agreement the people consent to obey the laws created by that government.

A Diverse Society

Chapter 3 Section 4

Family Life in Colonial America Population Growth

High birth rates Immigrants

Women in Colonial Society In the 1700s, the status of women improved

Health and Disease Improvements in housing and sanitation helped

American colonists resist some diseases. Cotton Mather develops a small pox vaccine.

Immigrants in Colonial AmericaGroup Where They

SettledReasons for Immigrating

Germans Pennsylvania Pursue religious freedom and escape religious wars.

Scotch-Irish Pennsylvania, western frontier, southern backcountry

Rising taxes, poor harvests, religious discrimination

Jews New York, Philadelphia, Charles Town, Savannah, Newport

Religious tolerance

Africans in Colonial America Africans Build a New Culture

Developed own language, religious practices, musical forms

Oppression and Resistance Authority was maintained through harsh means. Passive resistance Stono Rebellion, 1739

75 Africans overpowered their white overseers then headed south to Spanish Florida.

Local militia ended the rebellion, killing 30-40 Africans.

The Enlightenment Challenged the authority of the church in

science and philosophy while elevating the power of human reason.

Rationalism- emphasis on logic and reason John Locke’s Essay on Human Understanding Montesquieu and Separation of Political Power

Executive, Legislative, and Judicial

The Great Awakening Pietism- stressed an individuals piety or

devoutness and an emotional union with God. Ministers held revivals, large public meetings

for preaching and prayer. This revival of religious feelings was known as

the Great Awakening. Effects:

Divided congregations in New England Baptist preaching won converts among poor

tenant and backcountry farmers. New African Christian culture on plantations

Factors Contributin

g to Colonial

Population Increase

Immigration

Improved housing

and sanitation

Smallpox inoculatio

nHigher

birthrate

Enslavement of

Africans

Study Guide Questions1. What cash crops did the economy of the Southern colonies

depend on?2. Identify the consequences of Bacon’s Rebellion3. Why did Southern planters come to rely on enslaved labor?4. What role did town meetings play in the New England

colonies?5. Explain the Triangular Trade and how it contributed to the

rise of cities. 6. How did the ideas of John Locke contribute to revolutionary

ideas in the American colonies?7. Explain how the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening

influenced the American colonies.8. What factors and motivations drove immigration to the

American colonies in the 1700s?