Unit 4Colonial America

Write down everything in YELLOW.

What do we already know?

Discuss at your tables….

What do you know about the 13 colonies?

History? Geography?Government?

Economics?

Culture?

Colonies● Settlement in the Middle Colonies was based on the long growing season and

rich soil. ● A pull factor in the Middle Colonies was fertile farm land. ● Shipping and Manufacturing helped the growth of the New England Colonies.● The Southern Colonies were known for their large plantations and slavery.

Review: Indentured Servants Indentured servants would work for a set number of years in exchange for their ship fare to the colonies.

Most indentured servants were hired by wealthy landowners to work for a set number of years.

Indentured Servants were considered an emerging labor force in the colonies.

Colonial GovernmentP.287 Laws affecting each colony were made by the colonial assemblies. In the New England Colonies, the town meeting was the earliest form of self-government. The town meeting was a group of male colonists who got together to solve local problems. In other colonies men created written plans for government. These plans spelled out important rights that the colonists would have.

New England town meetings: decisions were made, laws were voted on and people were elected to public office.

Eight of the 13 colonies were ruled by royal governors. A royal governor was not elected by the colonists. Instead he was chosen by the king of England. Royal governors saw that the colony obeyed British laws. Sometimes the governor and the assembly disagreed on which laws had to be obeyed. If the governor found the assembly unwilling to support him, he could dissolve, or shut down, the assembly.

Assembly members could, in return, refused to vote for money for the governor’s plans. “Let us keep the dogs poor and we’ll make them do what we please,” one New Jersey assembly member said of the governors. The royal governors did not always have the same view as the assembly members.

Colonial Government● With the help of Colonial Assemblies, colonists were able to run their

everyday affairs.

● The Colonial Assemblies shared their power with the governor who was appointed by the British King.

Triangular Trade

I can describe triangular trade; including a route on a map, people and goods traded, the Middle Passage and the changes in the lives of the people in Africa.

I can draw and label a map of triangular trade.

What do you think this map is showing? What do you notice? What is happening?

Textbook: Triangular Trade (p.230)Many New England merchants and sea captains also became rich in the triangular trade. The first leg of the triangle started at such ports as Boston and NEw York. Traders sailed from these ports to the coast of West Africa, where they traded rum and guns for gold, ivory and captive Africans.

The second leg of the triangle began in Africa. This part of the voyage was called the Middle Passage because it was the middle part of the triangular trade route. Thousands of Africans died on the voyage to the Americans, which lasted 6 to 8 weeks.

In the West Indies the sea captains traded Africans for molasses, a thick syrup made from sugarcane. Then they returned to New England, where the molasses was made into rum. This was the last leg of the triangular trade route. Port cities such as Boston grew very quickly on the money earned in the triangular trade.

VOCABULARY

SLAVERYA system forcing

people to work and treating them as

property.

TRIANGULAR TRADE

Trade pattern between Africa, West Indies and the colonies involving

goods and slaves.

MIDDLE PASSAGERoute used to take enslaved Africans across the Atlantic

Ocean.

Colonies

West Indies

Africa

Slaves

, sug

ar an

d mola

sses

Lumbe

r, fis

h and

flour

Rum, guns, cloth and tools

Enslaved Africans

Slavery in the Middle Passage● Brainpop Video● Slavery Video on United Streaming

Slavery in the Colonies

● I can explain what life was like for slaves in the colonies. ● I can describe how slaves used their culture and their new

lives in the colonies to develop their own culture: including words, food and music.

Vocabulary

● Discrimination → treating people unfairly because of religion or race (color of your skin)

● Indentured Servant → a person who worked in exchange for ship fare (to pay for their trip to the colonies)

Slave Codes → laws that made enslaved Africans slaves for life and made them property.

→ illegal for them to marry, to own land, bare arms or earn freedom

Was slavery only in the Southern Colonies? ● No, slavery was in ALL the colonies, but most of the slaves were in

the South.

Southern colonies and slaves:

→ They grew large plantations of tobacco, indigo and rice.

→ They needed a large labor force (group of people to work)

New York: slavery began in 1626 when they forced enslaved Africans to do jobs like clearing forests, building roads etc. Then the colony was used as a slave market to buy and sell slaves.

New Jersey: offered 60 acres of land (per slave) to any man who imported African slaves.

The life of enslaved Africans

★ Harsh treatment★ Attacked by slave owners★ Worked 7 days a week★ Not a lot of food★ No doctors were allowed★ Lots of discrimination

○ Not allowed to marry○ Cannot own land○ Had to work for life○ Could not bare arms

Were there free Africans in the colonies?

Yes, there were also free blacks in colonial America. But they began to experience discrimination too.

For example, in 1690 Connecticut made a law making it illegal for free blacks (or Native Americans) to be outside after 9:00 pm.

Contradiction: when two ideas or action are in conflict (opposite of each other)

Discuss: How are the colonists contradicting themselves?

The slave trade had an effect on the people still living in Africa.

How???● Families were split up● Those that were left had to do all the work. ● Villages lost lots of people. ● Cultures in Africa changed because they lost

farmers, artists, teachers and leaders● Farming and trading were disrupted.● Populations in Africa changed (shrank)

How did enslaved Africans recall their African past and adapt elements of their new culture to create a new African American culture?

Enslaved Africans had strong families ties and oral traditions. They passed down their culture, beliefs and stories orally.

I can identify causes and effects of the triangular trade and the middle passage.

Enslaved Africans were taken across the middle

passage

CA

USE

SEF

FEC

TS

I can identify causes and effects of the triangular trade and the middle passage.

African ideas and traditions were brought to the colonies

The colonies grew and prospered (made money).

Enslaved Africans were taken across the middle

passage

CA

USE

SEF

FEC

TS

Workers were needed in the English colonies to work on plantations and farms.

Triangular trade routes were established.

Goods like rum, molasses and sugar were available to trade.

African cultures, villages and families were negatively affected. :(

Daily Life in the Colonies Which region is described in each paragraph?

The majority of the people made their living by farming cash crops. Market towns were important in this region. In addition, both the culture and religion of the population was diverse. Children attended schools which were run by different types of churches.

Fishing, whaling and trading were economic activities. Puritan laws were often very strict. In addition, religion, school and education were important. It was expected that everyone could read the Bible. Community decisions were made in town meetings.

There were few towns and cities in this region and plantations and farms were spread out. Children were tutored or went to schools built on plantation property. The plantations required many workers and enslaved Africans were used to do the work. In addition, laws relating to slavery called “slave codes” were put into place and enforced.

Colonial Economy

The Colonies Britain /

England

Raw Materials: trees, lumbar, wool, cotton etc.

Manufactured Goods: boats, furniture, houses etc.

Britain created the Navigation Acts “Trade Laws” 1699 “The Wool Act” → any clothing made from wool in the colonies could ONLY be sent / sold to Britain (they could not make money from other countries)

1732 “The Hat Act” → Hats made in the colonies cannot be exported (sent to be sold in another country)

1733 “The Molasses Act” → put a tax on all molasses, rum and sugar from any country except Britain. This made things more expensive for the colonists.

1750 “The Iron Act” → No new furnaces can be made in the colonies. Also, colonists cannot make hardware (tools).

How would these new laws affect the colonists?