Colonial Life

By the middle of the eighteenth century, European colonists had established a number of distinctive colonial regions in North America. The northern periphery of New Spain, the oldest and most prosperous European colony, stretched from Baja California to eastern Texas, then jumped to the settlements on the

northern end of the Florida peninsula; cattle ranching was the dominant way of life in this thinly populated region. New France was like a great crescent, extending from the plantation communities

along the Mississippi near New Orleans to the French colonial communities along the St. Lawrence; in between were isolated settlements and forts, connected only by the extensive French trading network.

Agricultural South-Growth of cash crops

tobacco, rice, indigo

- Hard Labor

-Large plantations dominate economy

-Many small farms also

-Few towns and cities because of the agricultural lifestyle

- Isolated and Spread Out

Southern Society-Plantation owners were top of

society

Planters, Lots of Land and Slaves

-Small farmers were most of the population

0-2 Slaves, Hand to Mouth Existence

-Second class role of women

-Indentured servants

Too troublesome when free

-Slaves were lowest level

-slavery as a “necessary evil” to support the agricultural lifestyle

Slavery in America-Slaves would replace Indians and

indentured servants

-Triangular Trade

slaves-sugar-rum

-Middle Passage

- 20% Death Rate

-Slave culture

dance, religion

- Slave Codes: Slaves and

children property of master

for life

-Slave resistance

The Middle Passage

Settlement Patterns-Development of cities

Most were port cities---Boston--New York—Philadelphia—Charleston

-Lots of different immigrant groups and religions

-English, Germans, and Irish were largest groups

-Resentment begins

- Less loyalty to Britain and King

Industrial North-Diversified economy

- Do not strictly depend on

farming to survive

-Harsher weather conditions

-Food exports

-Lumber industry

-Ship building

-Iron making

(Trade with many countries)

Northern Slavery- Not as much slavery

- Crops required less labor

- Many house or dock workers

- Slaves had more rights than southern slaves but were still not equal with free citizens

- As immigrants provided cheap labor, many slaves were emancipated or slavery abolished in northern areas

New England Families- Longer life span than other

colonies- Average of 70 years

- Moved to colonies in family units

- Women married by 20 and had a child every 2 years

- Average of 10 children, 8 living- Child birth risky

- Strong extended family ties

- Divorce rare

- Adultery severely punished

New England Life- Settled in towns

- Meetinghouse, Homes, Village Green

- Established schools- If town had more than 50 families

- Democratic town meetings

- Religion guided colonies- Religious piety began to fade

over time

- Problem for colonies- Less immigration - Stony Soil- Climate Cold

Colonial Education

-Rate of education higher in colonies than in England

- Focused in New England

- Mainly for elite

-Religious purposes

-Establishment of universities

Harvard, Colombia, Princeton, Yale

(Nine total by 1775)

Enlightenment Thought-Stresses the use of reason and

scientific method

-Led to many scientific discoveries

-Benjamin Franklin as leading

American scientist

- Also writes Poor Richard’s

Almanac read worldwide

-Also led to increasing education

Philosophy-John Locke

-Natural Rights

life, liberty, property

-Social Contract---an agreement between a people and their gov’t to protect their rights

-Baron Montesquieu

separation of powers in government

Social Contract Theory

Colonial Women- Few legal rights

Abigail Adams

- Wrote to John Adams

requesting more rights for

women

- Many women did many jobs on

the farms of the region

- Only single women could own

property or run a business

- Religion also helped to make

women submit to men

(Ephesians 5)

Witch Trials-1692 - Salem , Massachusetts

-Puritan community standards being challenged

-Young girls accused people of being witches

-The accused named other witches

-Witches were often executed

-Trials later suspended due to poor evidence

Really a social issue: property owners v. non-property owners

Witch Trials: Strange Behavior Occurs

Witch Trials:The Hunt Begins

Witch Trials:The Trials and Executions

Great Awakening-Revival of the Puritan faith

- Problem of Half-Way Covenant

- Focus on personal relationship with Christ

- All parts of colonies involved

- First mass movement in America

- Created shared identity

-Jonathan Edwards

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

-George Whitefield

-New religious denominations

Methodist Churches Established

George Whitefield Benjamin Franklin on George Whitefield(from Franklin’s Autobiography)

“…The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and bow much they admired and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring them that they were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.”“…I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing from me, I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me to give the silver; and he finished so admirably, that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all.”

On the Death of George Whitefield

Phyllis Wheatley, 1770 HAIL, happy saint, on thine immortal throne,Possest of glory, life, and bliss unknown;We hear no more the music of thy tongue,Thy wonted auditories cease to throng.Thy sermons in unequall'd accents flow'd,And ev'ry bosom with devotion glow'd;Thou didst in strains of eloquence refin'dInflame the heart, and captivate the mind.Unhappy we the setting sun deplore,So glorious once, but ah! it shines no more.Behold the prophet in his tow'ring flight!He leaves the earth for heav'n's unmeasur'd height,And worlds unknown receive him from our sight.There Whitefield wings with rapid course his way,And sails to Zion through vast seas of day.Thy pray'rs, great saint, and thine incessant criesHave pierc'd the bosom of thy native skies.Thou moon hast seen, and all the stars of light,How he has wrestled with his God by night.He pray'd that grace in ev'ry heart might dwell,He long'd to see America excell;He charg'd its youth that ev'ry grace divineShould with full lustre in their conduct shine;

That Saviour, which his soul did first receive,The greatest gift that ev'n a God can give,He freely offer'd to the num'rous throng,That on his lips with list'ning pleasure hung."Take him, ye wretched, for your only good,"Take him ye starving sinners, for your food;"Ye thirsty, come to this life-giving stream,"Ye preachers, take him for your joyful theme;"Take him my dear Americans, he said,"Be your complaints on his kind bosom laid:"Take him, ye Africans, he longs for you,"Impartial Saviour is his title due:"Wash'd in the fountain of redeeming blood,"You shall be sons, and kings, and priests to God."Great Countess,* we Americans revereThy name, and mingle in thy grief sincere;New England deeply feels, the Orphans mourn,Their more than father will no more return.But, though arrested by the hand of death,Whitefield no more exerts his lab'ring breath,Yet let us view him in th' eternal skies,Let ev'ry heart to this bright vision rise;While the tomb safe retains its sacred trust,Till life divine re-animates his dust.

Critics of Great Awakening

Dr. Squintum's Exaltation or the Reformation, 1763His detractors called Whitefield "Dr. Squintum," the name of an enthusiastic preacher in a popular play satirizing Methodists. The play criticized the upstart sect for appealing to its followers' passions. For Whitefield, true religion was a matter of the heart--an emotional embrace of Christ--rather than a rational assent to a body of dogma. www.indiana.edu/.../sources/ex2_squintum.shtml