Units 1-2 Princeton Review Pt. 2 Flashcards
(22 cards)
Slavery in the Early Colonies
Extensive use of enslaved Africans in the American colonies began when colonists from the Caribbean settled the Carolinas
Before that, indentured servants and sometime enslaved Native Americans had been used for labor
As tobacco rice, expanded, more laborers were needed than indetures could provide
Englsaving Native Americans was difficult because they knew the land and so could easily escape and then were difficult to find, in some tribes cultivation was considered women’s work, Europe diseases decimated native population
Southern landowners increasingly turned to enslaved Africans for labor
They didn’t know the land so less likely to escape, removed from homelands and communities and often unable to communicate with one another because they were form different regions of AFica, proved easier to control than Native Americans
Also very easy to identity enslaved people on sight, Europeans came to associate skin color with inferiority, rationalizing AFricans enslavement
Majority of slave trade directed towards Caribbean and South America, still many slaves brought to English colonies
Middle PAssage
shipping route that brought enslaved people to the Americas, middle leg of triangular trad eroute among colonies, Europe, and Africa
Conditions brutally inhumane, so intolerable some committed suicide
Many died of sickness, others died during insurrections
No unusual for ⅕ of Afircan sto die on board
Congress ended American participating in Atlantic slave trade on January 1, 1808 because of mounting criticism of conditions on passsage
Slavery in the South
Nature of land and short growing season, farmed labor intensive crops liek tobacco, rice, and indigo, so brought enslaved people to do th work
Treatment of enslaved people was often vicious and sometimes sadistic
Slavery in the North
Slavery never really took hold in the North the same way it did in the South, still enslaved people were used on farms in NY, NJ, and PA. in shipping operations in MA and RI, and as domestic servants in urban households, particularly in NYC
Although northern states would take steps to phase out slavery following REvolution, still enslaved people in NJ at outbreak of Civil War
Only wealthy people owned slaves
Age of Salutary Neglect
British treatment of colonies preceding French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War)
Although England regulated trade and government in tis colonies, interfered with colonial affairs as little as possible
Long distance so absentee custom official sand were left to govern, occasionally turned eye to colonies’ violations of trad erestriction
Colonies developed a large degree of autonomy, later helped fuel revolutionary sentiments
English Regulation of Colonial Trade: Mercantilism
Mercntalism - idea that economic power was rooted in a favorablebalance of trade, and control of specie (hard currency such as coins), colonies were important mostly for economic reasons
Colonies on North American continent were seen mostly as markets for Britisha nd West Indian goods, also valued as a source of raw materials that would otherwise have ot be bought from foreign country
To keep favorable balance of trade, British government encouraged manufacturing in England, placed protective tariffs on imports so less competition
Navigation Acts
passed between 1651-1673
Required colonists to buy goods only from England, to sell certain of their products (tobacco, sugar, etc.) only to England, and to import any non-English goods via English ports and pay a duty on those imports
Also prohibited colonies from manufacturing a number of goods that England already produced
Overall sought to establish wide-ranging English control over colonial commerce
Navigation acts were only somewhat successful, as it was easy to smuggle goods, colonists also didn’t protest aggressively against Navigation Acts at the time, because they were entirely dependent on England for trade and for military protection
Wool Act of 1699
Forbade both export of wool from Ameican colonies and importation of wool rom other British colonies
Some protested by dealing only in flax and hemp
Molasses Act of 1773
Imposed an exorbitant tax upon importation of sugar from the French West Indies (protecting British merchants)
New Englanders frequently refused to pay tax, early example of rebellion against Britih
Colonial Governemnts
Despire trade regulations, colonists maintained large degree of autonomy
Every colony had a governor, either appointed by king or proprietor, although govern, had powers similar to the king’s in England, though also dependent on colonial legislatures for money, also stranded in New World so power relied on cooperation of colonists, so most were cooperative and only infrequently overruled legislatures
Except for PA which had a unicameral legislature, all colonies had bicameral legislatures modeled after British Parliament
Lower house was directly elected, had control over gov salaries and tax legislation
Upper house made up of appointees, served as advisors to governor and had some legislative and judicial powers, most were chosen from local population and were primarily concerned with protecting interests of colonial landowners
British never tried to establish powerful central gov in colonies, autonomy that England allowed colonies helped ease their transition to independence in the following century
Colonists did make some small efforts toward centralized gov, New England Confederation was most prominent of these attempts, had no real power but did offer advice to northeastern colonies when disputes arose, also provided colonists from different settlements opportunity to meet and discuss mutual problems
Bacon’s Rebellion
Took place on Virignia’s western frontier in 1676
With virtually all coastal land having been claimed, newcomers who sought to start their own farms in the region were forced west into back country
Encroaching on land inhabited by Native Americans made frontier farmers subject to raids
In response, western settlers thought to band together and drive the native tribes out of the region
But, were stymied by gov in Jamestown which didn’t want to risk full scale war
Class resentment grew as frontiersmen, many of whom had been indentured servants, began to suspect that eastern elites viewed them as expendable “human shields.” serving as a buffer between them and the natives
Farmers rallied behind Nathaniel Bacon, a recent immigrant who despite his wealth had arrived too late to settle on the coast
Bacon demanded that Governor William Berkeley grant him authority to raise militia and attack nearby tribes
When Berkeley refused, Bacon and his men lashed out at the natives anyway, attacking not only the Susquehannock but also the Pamunkeys, who were actually allies of the English
Rebels then turned attention to Jamestown sacking and burning city
Rebellion dissolved when Bacon suddenly died of dysentery, and conflict between colonists and Native Americans was averted with new treaty, but Bacon’s Rebellion is often cited as an early example of a populist uprising in America
Alliance along class lines as ooppposed to racial lines (many disgruntled fomer indentured servants allied themselves with free Black people who were also disenfranchised), frghtened many southerners and led to the development of what would eventually become Black codes following the Civil War
Stono Rebellion
First and one of the most successful slave rebellions
September 1739, about 20 enslaved people met near Stono River outside Charleston, SC
They stole guns and ammunition, killed storekeepers and planters, and liberated a number of enslaved people
The rebels, now numbering about 100, fled to Florida, where they hoped Spanish colonies would grant them freedom, but colonial militia caught up with them and attacked, killing some and capturing most of the others
Those who were captured and returned were later executed
As a result of this rebellion, many colonies passed more restrictive laws to govern the behavior of enslaved people (slave codes)
Salem Witch Trials
1692
Not the first witch trials in England
But never before nad so many been accused at once, more than 130 “witches” were jailed or executed in Salem in the summer of 1692
Decline of Puritanism
Region had recently endured autocratic control of the Dominion of New England, an English gov attempt to clamp down on illegal trade
1691, MA became a royal colony under the new monarchs, and suffrage was extended to all PRotestants; previously only Puritans could vote, so this move weakened Puritan primacy
War against French and Native Americans on the Canadian border (called King William’s War in the colonies and the War of the League of Augsburg in England) soon followed and further heightened regional anxieties
To top it all off, Puritans efared that their religion was being undermined by the growing commercialism in cities like Boston
Many 2nd and 3rd generation Puritans lacked the fervor of the original Pilgrim and Congregationalist settlers, a situation that led to the Halfway Covenant, which changed the rules governing Puritan baptisms
Halfway Covenant (1662)
Prior to the HalfWay Covenant in 1662, Puritans had to experience the gift of God’s grace in orer for their children to be baptized by the church
With so mnay, particularly men, losing interest in the church, the Puritan clergy decided to baptize all children whose parents were baptized, but still, those who ha dnot experienced God’s grace were not allowed to vote
All of these factors, historians argue, combined to create mass hysteria in Salem in 1692
Hysteria ended when the accusers, most of them teenage girls, accused some of the colony’s most prominent citizens of consorting witht eh Devil, thus turning town leaders against them
Some historians also feel that the hysteria had simply run its course
Religious movements
The generations that followed the original settlers were generally less religious than those that preceded them
By 1700, women constitutde the majority of active church members, however between the 1730s and 1740s the colonies experienced a wave of religious revivalism known as the First Great Awakening
Two men, Congregationalist minister Jonathan Edwards and MEthodist preacher George Whitfield, came to exemplify the period
Edwards preach the severe, predeterministic doctrines of Calvinism and became famous for his graphic depictions of Hell
Whitefield preached a Chrisitianity based on emotionalism and spirituality, which today is manifested in southern evangelism
The First Great Awakening is often described as the response of devout people to the Enlightenment, a European intellectual movement that borrowed heavily from ancient philosophy and emphasized rationalism over emotionalism or spirituality
Whitefield was a native of England, where the Enlgihtenment was in full swing; its effects were also being felt in the colonies, especially in the cities
Benjamin Franklin
Typified Enlightenment ideals in America, self-made and self-educated
Franklin was a printer’s apprentice who, through his own ingenuity and hard work, became a wealthy printer and a successful and respected intellectual
His Poor Richard’s Almanack was extremely popular and remains influential to this day
Franklin did pioneering work int eh field of electricity
Invented bifocals, the lightning rod, and the Frankline stove, and he founded the colonies’ first fire department, post office, and public library
Espoused Englightnement ideals about education, government, and religion, until Washington came along
Toward the end of his life served as an ambassador in europe, negotiated a crucial alliance with the French, and later the pece try that ended the Revolutionary War
Life in the Colonies
Very fast rate of growth, population increased from 250,000 in 1700 to 1,250,000 in 1750
Colonies began to develop substantial non-English European populations
Scotch-Irish, Scots, and Germans all started arriving in large numbers during the 18th century as well as English
Black population in 1750 was more than 200,000 and in a few colonies they would outnumber white people by the time of the Revolution
Citizens with anything above a rudimentary elevel of education were rare, and nearly all colleged establishe dduring this period served primarily to trian ministers
White people in the countryside
Vast majority of colonists – over 90 percent – lived in rural areas
Lief for white people in the countryside was rugged but tolerable, labor divided along gender lines, men did outdoor work such as farming and women did indoor work of housekeeping and childrearing
Opportunities for social interaction outside the family were limited ot shopping days and rare special community events
Both children and women were completely subordinate to men, particularly to the head of the household
Children’s education was secondary to their work schedules
Women weren’t allowed to vote, draft a will, or testify in court
Black people
Most black people were enslaved, lived predominantly in the countryside in the south
Their lives varied form region to region, with conditions being most difficult in the South, where the labor was difficult and the climate less hospitable to hard work
Those enslaved people who worked on large plantations and developed specialized skills, such as carpentry or cooking, fared better than did field hands
Was always demeaning
Enslaved people often developed extended kinship ties and strong communal bonds ot cope with the misery of servitude and the possibility that their nuclear families might be separated by sale
In the North, where Black populations were relatively small, Black people often had trouble maintaining a sense of community and history
Cities
Condiitons were often much worse than in the country
Because work could often be found there, immigrants settled int he cities
Work they foun generally paid too litte, and poverty was widespread
Sanitary conditions were primitive, and epidemics such as smallpox were common
On the positive side, cities offered residents much wider contact with other people and with the outside world
Cities served as centers of progress and education
Life in different regions
Lives of oclonists in various regions differed considerably
New England - society centered on trade, Boston was the colonies’ major port city, population farmed fo rsubsistence, not for trade, and mostly subscribed to rigid Puritanism
Middle colonies (NY, PA, NJ) - had more fertile land so focused primarily on farming (also known as the “bread colonies” because of heavy exports of grain), Philadelphia and NYC were major trade centers like Boston, population of the region was more heterogeneous than was that of New England
Lower south (the Carolinas) - concentrated on cash crops such as tobacco and rive, slavery played a major role on plantations, although the majority of Southerners were subsistence farmers who had no enslaved people, black people constitude up to hal fthe population of some southern colonies
Chesapeake (MD and VA) - combined features of the middle colonies and the lower South, slavery and tobacco played a larger role in the Chesapeake than the middle colonies but like the middle colonies the Chesapeake residents also farmed grain and thsu diversified their economies, the development of major cities in the Chesapeake region also distinguished it from the lower South, which was almost entirely rural
