3.  The Colonies Come of Age

A.                 England and Its Colonies

1.                  England and Its Colonies Prosper

a)                  Mercantilism

(1)               Benefited both England and the colonies but it was designed to benefit England

(2)               Goal as a country is self sufficiency

(3)               Nations in competition to acquire the most gold and silver

(4)               Favorable balance of trade

(5)               England looked to colonies as a market for English goods, as a source of raw materials not native to Britain , and a producer of goods and materials to be sold to other countries

b)                  The Navigation Acts

(1)               Some colonists began selling directly to other countries which England saw as an economic threat

(2)               Parliament passed the Navigation Acts in 1651

(a)                A series of laws restricting colonial trade

(b)               Benefited most colonists as well as England

2.                  Tensions Emerge

a)                  Crackdown in Massachusetts

(1)               Some colonists continued to smuggle and trade illegally

(2)               Charles II singled out the leaders and merchants of Massachusetts as the worst offenders in 1684

(3)               Puritans had long professed their hostility to English authority

(4)               Charter was revoked and Massachusetts became a royal colony

b)                  The Dominion of New England

(1)               James II consolidated northern colonies into the Dominion of New England and put under control of royal governor Sir Edmund Andros

(2)               Andros made thousands of enemies within weeks

(a)                Questioned the lawfulness of the Puritan religion

(b)               Made it clear that Navigation Acts would be strictly enforced violators prosecuted

(c)                Restricted local assemblies and levied taxes without any input from local leaders

(3)               Colonists sent Increase Mather to England to try to get old charter restored and Andros recalled

c)                  The Glorious Revolution

(1)               James II forced out of England in a bloodless revolution where William and Mary take the throne

(2)               Colonists arrested Andros and his government

(3)               Parliament, which had increased its power over the crown, dissolved the Dominion of New England and restored the colonies to their original status

(4)               New charter, granted in 1691, included some changes

(a)                King appointed governor

(b)               More religious toleration and non Puritan representation in the assembly

3.                  England Loosens the Reins

a)                  Salutary Neglect

(1)               Navigation Acts strengthened

(2)               England left colonies alone though as long as they continued to provide raw materials and purchase English goods

b)                  The Seeds of Self Government

(1)               Colonies got used to governing themselves

B.                 The Agricultural South

1.                  A Plantation Economy Arises

a)                  Cash crop

(1)               Tobacco in Virginia , Maryland and North Carolina

(2)               Rice and later Indigo in South Carolina and Georgia

b)                  Plantations developed instead of towns throughout the south

c)                  Plantations were self sufficient and had direct access to shipping through long and deep rivers

d)                  Charles Town, South Carolina was one of the few cities, but it was a major port

2.                  Life in Southern Society

a)                  A Diverse and Prosperous People

(1)               German and Scottish as well as English

(2)               By mid 1700s southern planters were extremely prosperous

(3)               Tobacco exports almost tripled from 1713 – 1774

b)                  The Role of Women

(1)               Had few legal or social rights

(2)               Even daughters of wealthy planters were only taught the basics

(3)               Average woman worked very hard

(4)               Wealthy women had it easier but still had to bow to the will of their husbands

c)                  Indentured Servants

(1)               Even when freed from bondage their lives improved only slightly

(2)               Made up a significant portion of the colonial population in the 1600s, but by the end of the century the number had decreased

(3)               Colonists turned to slaves

3.                  Slavery becomes entrenched

a)                  The Evolution of Slavery

(1)               Natives did not make good slaves

(2)               Indentured servants became rare and expensive

(3)               African slaves had certain advantages from the colonists’ perspective

(4)               In 1690 there were 13,000 black slaves in the South and by 1750 there were 200,000

b)                  The European Slave Trade

(1)               Slavery had existed for years in the West Indies where blacks were in the majority on many of the islands

(2)               Triangular trade

(a)                Rum and other goods from New England to Africa for slaves to the West Indies for sugar and molasses which was taken back to New England to make more rum

(b)               Also encompassed a network of trade routes crisscrossing the Northern and Southern colonies, the West Indies , England , Europe , and Africa

c)                  The Middle Passage

(1)               Middle leg of triangle of trade between Africa and the West Indies or North America

(2)               Horrible conditions

(3)               Up to 20% or more died on each voyage

d)                  Slavery in the South

(1)               80-90% worked in the fields

(2)               Others worked in the house or as artisans

(3)               Owners were allowed to whip, beat and even kill slaves

4.                  Africans Cope in Their New World

a)                  Culture and Family

(1)               Tried to preserve African heritage

(a)                South Carolina imported many slaves from the same region of Africa as rice planters

(2)               Tried to keep families together but if parents were sold other slaves would step in and raise the children

(3)               New families were created when slaves were sold to work on other plantations

(4)               Music and dance

b)                  Resistance and Revolt

(1)               Slaves resisted in a variety of sometimes subtle ways

(2)               Sometimes the resistance turned to open revolt

(a)                Stono Rebellion

(i)                  20 slaves gathered at the Stono River southwest of Charles Town in 1739

(ii)                Killed several planter families and marched south

(iii)               They were surrounded later the same day and those that survived the fight were captured and executed

(b)               Even though slave laws were tightened after the Stono Rebellion slave revolts continued into the 1800s

(3)               A number of slaves tried to run away even though the punishment was severe

(a)                Some who were successful took refuge among the Native Americans

C.                 The Commercial North

1.                  Commerce Grows in the North

a)                  A Diversified Economy

(1)               From 1650-1750 the colonies’ economy grew twice as fast as Great Britain ’s economy and much of this occurred in the New England and Middle colonies

(2)               Raised a variety of crops and livestock on small farms

(3)               Grinding wheat, harvesting fish, and sawing lumber became thriving industries

(4)               Ship building became a major industry

(5)               Merchants prospered and became very powerful

b)                  Urban Life

(1)               Expansion of trade caused port cities to grow

(a)                Boston , New York City, and Philadelphia

(b)               Philadelphia became second only to London in the British Empire

(c)                Grid plan with open squares

(d)               Lack of public services with high concentration of people caused problems

(i)                  Firewood and clean water were scarce and garbage was abundant

2.                  Northern Society is Diverse

a)                  Influx of Immigrants

(1)               More of a variety of immigrants than in the South

(a)                Germans and Scots-Irish in Pennsylvania

(b)               Dutch in New York and Scandinavians in Delaware

b)                  Slavery in the North

(1)               Less incentive for slavery than in the South

(2)               It existed to some extent in New England and was extensive in the Middle Colonies

(3)               Racial prejudice was the norm

c)                  Women in Northern Society

(1)               As in the South, women had extensive work responsibilities but few legal rights

(2)               In New England , religion as well as law kept women down

d)                  Witchcraft Trials in Salem

(1)               1692

(2)               Hysteria spread due to strict limitations on women, social tensions, strained relations with Native Americans, and religious fanaticism

(3)               Began with girls

(4)               Ended with Governor’s wife being accused

(5)               19 hanged and one person crushed to death

(6)               150 imprisoned

3.                  New Ideas Influence the Colonists

a)                  The Enlightenment

(1)               1700s

(2)               Emphasis on reason and the scientific method

(3)               Benjamin Franklin

(4)               John Locke and the Social Contract theory

(a)                Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence

b)                  The Great Awakening

(1)               Puritan Church was in decline by the end of the 17^th Century

(2)               New Massachusetts charter of 1691 forced the Puritans to allow freedom of worship

(3)               Many were prospering and developing a taste for material things and sensual pleasures

(4)               Jonathan Edwards

(5)               Preachers traveled and attracted thousands

(6)               Began to challenge authority of the established churches

(7)               Increased interest in higher education

(a)                Princeton , Brown, Columbia , and Dartmouth

D.                 The French and Indian War

1.                  Rivals for an Empire

a)                  France ’s North American Empire

(1)               Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River in 1534

(2)               Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec in 1608

(a)                First permanent French settlement in North America

(3)               Claimed the entire Mississippi River Valley in 1682

(a)                Louisiana

(4)               New France differed from British colonies in that there was less interest in settlement

(5)               Developed friendlier relations with the Natives

(a)                Traded furs with them

2.                  Britain Defeats an Old Enemy

a)                  Seven Years War

b)                  Early French Victories

(1)               Dispute over Ohio Territory

(2)               French built Fort Duquesne at what is now Pittsburgh

(3)               British had granted land to a group of wealthy VA planters

(4)               George Washington led a group that established Fort Necessity which was 40 miles from Fort Duquesne

(a)                Forced to surrender the fort and retreat in May 1754

(5)               One year later Washington went back with British General Edward Braddock and 1500 soldiers

(a)                Defeated badly by French and Natives

(b)               Braddock killed

(6)               British suffered defeat after defeat due to their fighting methods during 1755 and 1756

(a)                Americans lost some respect for them

c)                  Pitt and the Iroquois Turn the Tide

(1)               William Pitt reinvigorated the British army through increased spending and his own energy

(2)               British began winning battles and gained the support of the powerful Iroquois

(3)               British win at Quebec

(a)                Led to victory in the war

(4)               Treaty of Paris of 1763

(a)                Britain got all land east of the Mississippi including Florida which they got from Spain , an ally of France

(b)               Spain gained French lands west of the Mississippi , including New Orleans

(c)                France kept control of only a few small islands near Newfoundland and the West Indies

(d)               Native Americans found the British harder to deal with than the French

d)                  Victory Brings New Problems

(1)               Ottawa leader Pontiac led Native Americans to capture eight British forts in the Ohio Valley

(a)                British distributed small pox ridden blankets to Natives at peace negotiations

(2)               Proclamation of 1763

(a)                Banned all settlement west of the Appalachians

(b)               Response to trouble with Natives

(c)                Difficult to enforce

3.                  The Colonies and Britain Grow Apart

a)                  British Policies Anger Colonists

(1)               Writs of Assistance, authorized by the royal Governor of Massachusetts, allowed British customs officials to search colonial businesses and homes

b)                  Problems Resulting From the War

(1)               10,000 British troops left in colonies

(2)               Britain went into deep national debt

(3)               George Grenville became prime minister in 1763

(a)                Financial Expert

(b)               Prompted Parliament to pass the Sugar Act in 1764

(i)                  Halved the duty on foreign made molasses

(ii)                Placed duties on certain imports

(iii)               Allowed prosecutors to try cases in vice admiralty rather than colonial courts

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