Chesapeake Colonies
- Lots of disease > shorter life expectancy
- Families were few and fragile
- But by 1700, Virginia was most populous colony
Tobacco Economy
- As prices dropped, production increased which created demand for more labor which was met by:
- Indentured servants = "white slaves"
- "Headright" system > Merchant-Planter class
- Conditions worsened over the course of the 17th Century
1670 - Impoverished freemen of Virginia were disenfranchised by the Assembly
1676 - Rebellion of frontiersmen against Governor Berkeley led by Nathaniel Bacon
- Ignited the smoldering unhappiness of landless former servants against the haughty gentry of the tidewater plantations
- Lordly planters looked for less troublesome source of labor
Colonial Slavery
- Dramatic increase in the 1680's
- Most of the slaves came from the West Coast of Africa
- "Middle Passage" - 20% death rate
- "Slave codes"
- Conditions were most harsh on South Carolina's rice and indigo plantations
- Contributions to American culture included vocabulary, dance, instruments,& music
- Helped to build the country with their labor
Southern Society
- Planter Aristocracy: "FFV's" (First Families of Virginia) - Owned gangs of slaves and vast domains of land. Monopolized political power.
- Yeoman Farmers: Landowning small farmers
- Landless whites: Former indentured servants
- White indentured servants
- Black slaves
New England Family Life
- Healthier environment > Longer life span
- Family was the center of life > Stability
- Early marriage > Booming birthrate
- "Invented" grandparents
Life in New England Towns
- Characteristics: P. 48
- 1636 - Harvard College established (1693 - William & Mary established in Virginia)
- Town Meeting - "The best school of political liberty the world ever saw."
Religious Problems in New England
- Sermons scolded parishioners for their waning piety - "Jeremiads"
- Decline in conversions
- 1662 - "Half-Way Covenant" led to widening church membership
Salem Witch Trials
- 1692 - Witch hunt led to lynching of 20 persons (+ 2 dogs!)
- Weakened the prestige of the Puritan clergy
Effect of Climate/Geography on New England
- Premium placed on industry and frugality
- Less ethnically mixed
- Extremes of weather
- Diversified agriculture and industry
- Fine natural harbors
- Experts in shipbuilding and commerce
- Exploited the fish industry - "Gold mines of New England"
New England Legacy
- Calvinism, soil and climate > energy, purposefulness, sternness, stubbornness, self-reliance, and resourcefulness
- Prided themselves on being God's "chosen people" and boasted that Boston was the "Hub of the Universe"
- New England pioneers re-created New England towns from Ohio to Oregon(Springfield)
Early Settler Life
- Schedules set by the cycles of the seasons and sun
- Compared to most Europeans, Americans live in affluent abundance
- Land was relatively cheap
- Flagrant display of class distinctions not possible
Increased Social Unrest
- Resentment against upper-class pretensions
- 1676 - Bacon's Rebellion (Virginia)
- 1689-1691 - Leisler's Rebellion (New York City)
- End of 17th Century - Protestant Uprising (Maryland)