PUTTING DOWN ROOTS: FAMILIES IN AN ATLANTIC

EMPIRE

America: Past and PresentChapter 3

Sources of Stability: New England Colonies of the

Seventeenth Century New Englanders replicated traditional

English social order Contrasted with experience in other English

colonies Explanation lies in development of Puritan

families

Immigrant Families and New Social Order

Puritans believed God ordained the family Reproduce patriarchal English family

structure in New England Greater longevity in New England results in

“invention” of grandparents Multigenerational families strengthen social

stability

A Commonwealth of Families

Most New Englanders married neighbors of whom parents approved

New England towns collections of interrelated households

Church membership associated with certain families

Education provided by the family

Women’s Lives in Puritan New England

Women not legally equal with men Marriages based on mutual love Most Women contributed to society as

– wives and mothers– church members– small-scale farmers

Women accommodated themselves to roles they believed God ordained

Rank and Status in New England Society

Absence of very rich necessitates creation of new social order

New England social order becomes– local gentry of prominent, pious families– large population of independent yeomen

landowners loyal to local community– small population of landless laborers, servants,

poor

The Planters’ World

imbalanced sex ratio among immigrants high death rate scattered population

Family Life in a Perilous Environment

Normal family life impossible in Virginia– Mostly young male indentured servants – Most immigrants soon died – In marriages, one spouse often died within a

decade Serial marriages, extended families

common Orphaned children raised by strangers

Women in Chesapeake Society

Scarcity gives some women bargaining power in marriage market

Women without family protection vulnerable to sexual exploitation

Childbearing extremely dangerous Chesapeake women died 20 years earlier

than women in New England

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: The Gentry

Tobacco the basis of Chesapeake wealth Great planters few but dominant

– Arrive with capital to invest in workers– Amass huge tracts of land – Gentry see servants as possessions

Early gentry become stable ruling elite by 1700

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: The Freemen

The largest class in Chesapeake society Most freed at the end of indenture Live on the edge of poverty

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: Indentured Servants

Servitude a temporary status Conditions harsh Servants regard their bondage as slavery Planters fear rebellion

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: Post-1680s Stability

Gentry ranks open to people with capital before 1680

Demographic shift after 1680 creates creole elite

Ownership of slaves consolidates planter wealth and position

Freemen find advancement more difficult

Rank and Status in Plantation Society: A Dispersed Population Large-scale tobacco cultivation requires

– great landholdings– ready access to water-borne commerce

Result: population dispersed along great tidal rivers

Virginia a rural society devoid of towns

Race and Freedom in British America

Indians decimated by disease European indentured servant-pool wanes

after 1660 Enslaved Africans fill demand for labor

Roots of Slavery

First Africans to Virginia in 1619 Status of Africans in Virginia unclear for 50 years Rising black population in Virginia after 1672

prompts stricter slave laws– Africans defined as slaves for life

– Slave status passed on to children

– White masters possess total control of slave life and labor

– Mixing of races not tolerated

Constructing African American Identities: Geography’s Influence Slave experience differed from place to

place Majority of S. Carolina population black Nearly half Virginia population black Blacks much less numerous in New

England and the Middle Colonies

Constructing African-American Identities: African Initiatives

Older black population tended to look down on recent arrivals from Africa

All Africans participated in creating an African-American culture– Required an imaginative reshaping of African

and European customs. By 1720 African population, culture self-

sustaining

African-American Identities: Slave Resistance

Widespread resentment of debased status Armed resistance such as S. Carolina’s

Stono Rebellion of 1739 a threat Runaways common in colonial America Black mariners, other travelers link African-

American communities

Commercial Blueprint for Empire

English leaders ignore colonies until 1650s Restored monarchy of Charles II recognized

value of colonial trade Navigation Acts passed to regulate, protect,

glean revenue from commerce

Response to Economic Competition

“Mercantilism” a misleading term for English commercial regulation

Regulations emerge as ad hoc responses to particular problems

Varieties of motivation– Crown wants money– English merchants want to exclude Dutch– Parliament wants stronger Navy—encourage domestic

shipbuilding industry– Everyone wants better balance of trade

An Empire of Trade: The Navigation Act of 1660

Ships engage in English colonial trade– Must be made in England (or America)– Must carry a crew at least 75% English

Enumerated goods only to English ports– 1660 list included tobacco, sugar, cotton,

indigo, dyes, ginger– 1704-05 molasses, rice, naval stores also

An Empire of Trade: The Navigation Act of 1663

Goods shipped to English colonies must pass through England

Increased price paid by colonial consumers

An Empire of Trade:Implementing the Acts

Navigation Acts spark Anglo-Dutch trade wars

New England merchants skirt laws English revisions tighten loopholes 1696--Board of Trade created Navigation Acts eventually benefit colonial

merchants

Colonial Gentry in Revolt:1676-1691

English colonies experience unrest at the end of the seventeenth century

Unrest not social revolution but contest between gentry “ins” and “outs”

Winners gain legitimacy for their rule

Civil War in Virginia: Bacon's Rebellion

Nathaniel Bacon leads rebellion, 1676 Rebellion allows small farmers, blacks and

women to join, demand reforms Governor William Berkeley regains control Rebellion collapses after Bacon’s death Gentry recovers positions, unite over next

decades to oppose royal governors

The Glorious Revolution in the Bay Colony: King Philip’s War

1675--Metacomet leads Wampanoag-Narragansett alliance against colonists

Colonists struggle to unite, defeat Indians Deaths total 1,000+ Indians and colonists

Glorious Revolution: The Dominion of New England

1684--King James II establishes “Dominion of New England”– Colonial charters annulled– Colonies from Maine to New Jersey united– Edmund Andros appointed governor

1689--news of James II’s overthrow sparks rebellion in Massachusetts

The Glorious Revolution in the Bay Colony: Outcomes

Andros deposed William III and Mary II give Massachusetts

a new charter – Incorporates Plymouth– Transfers franchise from "saints" to those with

property

Contagion of Witchcraft

Charges of witchcraft common– Accused witches thought to have made a

compact with the devil Salem panic of 1691 much larger in scope

than previous accusations 20 victims dead before trials halted in late

summer of 1692 Causes include factionalism, economics

The Glorious Revolution in New York

1689--News of James II’s overthrow prompts crisis of authority in New York

Jacob Leisler seizes control Maintains position through 1690 March 1691--Governor Henry Sloughter

arrests, executes Leisler

The Glorious Revolution in Maryland

1689--news prompts John Coode to lead revolt against Catholic governor

Coode's rebellion approved by King William

Maryland taken from Calvert control 1715--proprietorship restored to the

Protestant fourth Lord Baltimore

COMMON EXPERIENCES, SEPARATE CULTURES

Purpose Families Ethnicity Economy

New England

Religious Nuclear families

Mostly English

Family farms

Middle Colonies

Mixed Nuclear families

Mixed European

Family farms

Chesapeake Gain wealth

Extended families

English (majority)& African

Market plantations (tobacco)

Lower South Gain wealth

Extended families

English & African (majority)

Market plantations (rice, indigo)