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AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE MAKING

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Title: AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE MAKING


1
AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE MAKING
  • What Is an American?
  • Americans came from a variety of backgrounds
  • although they never completely abandoned their
    various heritages, they became different from
    their relatives who remained in Old World
  • Even the most rebellious seldom intended to
    create an entirely new civilization, but physical
    separation and a new environment led to different
    patterns of development

2
  • Spanish Settlements in New Mexico and Florida
  • Franciscan friars shaped life in Spanish North
    America
  • Franciscans established strings of mission
    settlements along the upper reaches of the Rio
    Grande, in northern Florida, and along the
    coastal regions of present-day Georgia and South
    Carolina
  • friars instructed thousands of Indians in the
    rudiments of Catholic faith and taught them
    European agricultural techniques

3
  • Franciscans exacted heavy price in labor from
    Indians
  • Indians built and maintained missions, tilled
    fields, and served friars this treatment led to
    rebellions in many of the missions
  • although most rebellions were isolated and easily
    repressed
  • in 1680, the Pueblo Indians combined under a
    religious leader named Pope, razed the town of
    Santa Fe, and pushed Spaniards back to El Paso
  • by the 1690s, Spanish had regained control

4
  • The Chesapeake Colonies
  • southern colonies of English North America
    consisted of three regions the Chesapeake Bay,
    the low country of the Carolinas, and the back
    country extending into the Appalachians
  • Not until the eighteenth century would common
    features prompt people to think of this as a
    single region

5
  • although Virginia grew in decade after it became
    royal colony, death rate remained high
  • newcomers underwent a period of seasoning, or
    illness those who survived developed immunities
    to the diseases of the region
  • life expectancy remained short, resulting in a
    society where living grandparents were a rarity
  • more often than not, before children reached
    maturity they had lost at least one parent loss
    of both parents was not uncommon
  • still there were opportunities for advancement,
    particularly through growing tobacco

6
  • The Lure of Land
  • agriculture remained the mainstay of life in the
    Chesapeake and in the South
  • London Company saw little profit from
    agriculture, so it used land, its only asset, to
    pay off debts and to raise capital
  • availability of land attracted landless
    Europeans, many of whom could not afford passage

7
  • thus a system of indentured servitude evolved to
    bring those with land and money together with
    those who wished to go to America
  • indentured servants worked for a period of years
    in exchange for their passage
  • those who survived the seasoning period and an
    often harsh period of servitude became free
  • many became landowners, but the best lands
    already belonged to large planters
  • ever-increasing need for labor and expense of
    meeting that demand with indentured servants led
    colonists to look for another solution

8
  • Solving the Labor Shortage Slavery
  • first African blacks to arrive in America landed
    in Jamestown in 1619
  • by about 1640, some, although certainly not all,
    blacks were slaves
  • racial prejudice and the institution of slavery
    interacted to bring about complete degradation of
    Africans in English colonies
  • although it spread throughout the colonies,
    slavery grew slowly at first
  • most colonists preferred white servants

9
  • in the 1670s, improving economic conditions in
    England led to a slow flow of new servants
  • at the same time, slaves became more readily
    available
  • for a variety of reasons, indentured servitude
    gave way to slavery as a solution to the
    colonies need for labor

10
  • Prosperity in a Pipe Tobacco
  • unlike wheat, tobacco required no expensive plows
    to clear the land it could be cultivated with a
    hoe
  • the crop required extensive human labor, but it
    produced a high yield and returned a high profit
  • the Tidewater region had many navigable rivers,
    and the planters spread along their banks

11
  • the Chesapeake did not develop towns and roads
    because commerce traveled along the rivers
  • tobacco rapidly exhausted the soil, which worked
    to the advantage of larger agricultural units
    that could leave some fields to lie fallow

12
  • Bacons Rebellion
  • distance from centers of authority made settlers
    in the Chesapeake difficult to subject to
    authority
  • a split developed between the ruling faction in
    Jamestown under Sir William Berkeley and settlers
    at the western edge of settlement
  • when Berkeley refused to authorize an expedition
    against Indians who had been attacking outlying
    settlements, western planters took matters into
    their own hands

13
  • under Nathaniel Bacon, the westerners
    demonstrated a willingness to attack not only
    Indians but the governor as well
  • Bacon and his followers marched on Jamestown and
    forced Berkeley to grant them authority for
    further attacks on Indians
  • later they burned Jamestown
  • not long after, Bacon became ill with a violent
    flux and died
  • an English squadron then arrived and restored
    order

14
  • The Carolinas
  • like their fellow colonists to the north, English
    and Scotch-Irish settlers in the Carolinas relied
    on agriculture
  • tobacco flourished in North Carolina
  • the introduction of Madagascar rice at the end of
    the 17th century provided South Carolina with a
    cash crop
  • in the 1740s, indigo was introduced into South
    Carolina

15
  • the production of cash crops meant that the
    southern colonies could obtain manufactured goods
    and various luxuries from Europe
  • despite the obvious benefits of the situation, it
    prevented the development of a diversified
    economy in the southern colonies
  • slavery emerged early on as the dominant form of
    labor on South Carolinas plantations
  • Blacks constituted a majority of the population
    in South Carolina

16
  • each colony promulgated regulations governing
    behavior of blacks, which increased in severity
    with the density of the black population
  • slaves came from different places and performed
    different tasks there was no single slave
    experience
  • more skilled a slave, more difficult it became to
    prevent that slave from running away
  • few runaways became rebels
  • a few isolated reformers, mostly Quakers, opposed
    slavery

17
  • even some Quakers owned slaves, and racial
    prejudice was common even among Quakers
  • Home and Family in the Colonial South
  • except for the most affluent planters, life in
    the southern colonies was primitive and
    uncomfortable
  • houses were small furniture and utensils were
    sparse and crudely made
  • clothing for most was rough and, because soap was
    expensive, usually unwashed

18
  • women only rarely worked in the fields, but their
    duties included tending animals, making butter
    and cheese, pickling and preserving, spinning,
    and sewing
  • women also cared for their own and often orphan
    children as well
  • education in the South was less widespread than
    in New England
  • in the early 18th century only a handful of
    planters achieved real affluence
  • these large planters controlled politics

19
  • the spread-out population made it difficult to
    support churches
  • in spite of its standing as the official religion
    with the support of public funds, the Anglican
    church never became a powerful force in the South
  • in this society, social events such as births,
    marriages, and funerals were great occasions

20
  • Georgia and the Back Country
  • this region included the Great Valley of
    Virginia, the Piedmont, and Georgia
  • Georgia was founded by a group of philanthropists
    in London, who conceived the idea of taking
    honest persons imprisoned for debt and resettling
    them in the New World

21
  • the idealistic regulations governing the colony
    swiftly fell into disuse
  • Georgia developed an economy similar to South
    Carolinas
  • settlers began to settle farther inland
  • in North Carolina, a dispute over representation
    in the assembly led to a pitched battle between
    frontiersmen and troops dispatched by the
    assembly
  • the Regulators, as the frontiersmen called
    themselves, were crushed and their leaders
    executed

22
  • Puritan New England
  • New England enjoyed several advantages over the
    southern colonies, for example
  • Boston had a dependable supply of water
  • the terrain and climate made for a much healthier
    habitat.

23
  • The Puritan Family
  • the Puritans brought more supplies with them than
    other colonists, which helped ease their
    adjustment
  • in addition to supplies, Puritans brought a plan
    for an ordered society
  • Central to that plan was a covenant, an agreement
    to bind individuals to the group
  • Puritan families were nuclear and patriarchal

24
  • Puritan Women and Children
  • mortality among infants and children was lower in
    New England than in the Chesapeake
  • few families escaped the loss of a child
  • the outbreak of the English Civil War ended the
    Great Migration
  • thereafter, high birthrate and low mortality rate
    accounted primarily for growth of the colony
  • as a result, the population of New England was
    more evenly distributed by age and sex than in
    colonies to the south

25
  • Womens childbearing years extended over two
    decades
  • social standards required that husbands rule over
    wives and that parents rule over children
  • children were expected to take on duties of
    adults at an early age, and liberal use of
    corporal punishment ensured strict discipline
  • older children might be sent to live with another
    family or apprenticed to a craftsman

26
  • Visible Saints and Others
  • Puritans believed that church membership should
    be a joint decision between the would-be member
    and the church
  • obvious sinners were rejected out of hand
  • with the Great Migration, large numbers of
    applicants enabled the churches to restrict
    membership to visible saints

27
  • a decade later, new conditions led to a
    reconsideration
  • fewer than half of all adults in New England were
    church members by the 1650s, and many young
    people refused to submit to the zealous scrutiny
    necessary for membership
  • growing numbers of nonmembers led to problems
  • could they be compelled to attend churches?
  • could they be taxed but not allowed to vote?
  • could they be baptized?

28
  • if baptism were restricted to church members and
    a majority of the community did not qualify, the
    majority of people would be living in a state of
    original sin
  • the solution was the Half-Way Covenant, which
    provided for limited membership for any applicant
    not known to be a sinner who would accept the
    church covenant

29
  • Democracies Without Democrats
  • the colonies were largely left to govern
    themselves
  • in spite of seemingly repressive laws passed by
    the governments of Massachusetts and Connecticut,
    primary responsibility for maintaining order
    rested with the towns of the region

30
  • Dedham A Typical Town
  • in 1635, the heads of thirty households from
    Watertown established a new town at Dedham
  • they set up a form of representative government
    and a church structure of government permitted
    all male adults who subscribed to the covenant to
    vote
  • but was colonial New England democratic?
  • most male New Englanders could vote

31
  • they tended to elect men from the wealthiest
    most established levels of the community
  • many voters did not bother to vote, because many
    offices were uncontested

32
  • The Dominion of New England
  • during Restoration, the English government sought
    to bring colonies under effective royal control
  • Massachusettss charter was annulled, and it
    became a royal colony
  • Edmund Andros, a professional soldier, became
    governor
  • after the Glorious Revolution, colonists
    overthrew Andros

33
  • Salem Bewitched
  • Salem Village, a rural settlement near Salem,
    petitioned General Court for a church of their
    own
  • after a few years, the General Court granted
    their request
  • a series of preachers failed to unite feuding
    factions of village
  • Samuel Parris became minister in 1689 and proved
    equally unable to unite the village
  • church voted to dismiss him

34
  • Parriss daughters and Ann Putnam began to behave
    in ways their elders diagnosed as bewitched
  • they accused three socially marginal women of
    witchcraft
  • the three were brought before a court, but the
    accusations spread and worked up the social
    ladder
  • a group of ministers intervened
  • Governor Phips adjourned the court
  • 19 persons had been hanged and one more pressed
    to death by heavy stones

35
  • the episode also revealed some anxieties Puritan
    men felt toward women
  • many Puritans believed that Satan used the allure
    of female sexuality to work his will
  • in addition, many accused witches were widows of
    high status or older women who owned property
    such women potentially subverted the patriarchal
    authorities of church and state

36
  • Higher Education in New England
  • demand for educated ministers outstripped supply
    in the 1630s
  • Massachusetts General Court appropriated money
    for a schoole or colledge
  • John Harvard left double the appropriation and
    his library to what became Harvard
  • Massachusetts and Connecticut passed laws
    requiring towns of any size to establish grammar
    schools

37
  • as a result, New England had a remarkably high
    rate of literacy
  • several ministers in Connecticut became
    disenchanted with the growing religious
    toleration at Harvard and founded a new college
    named after its first benefactor, Elihu Yale

38
  • Prosperity Undermines Puritanism
  • colonists in New England turned early to farming
  • they also grazed cattle, sheep, and hogs
  • game and firewood abounded in the forests, as did
    fish in the Atlantic
  • yet a short growing season and rocky, hilly
    terrain meant that farmers produced little
    surplus

39
  • the products New Englanders grew were available
    in Europe
  • thus, while fed and sheltered, New Englanders had
    little surplus and nowhere to sell it
  • more pious settlers welcomed the situation as
    protection against becoming too worldly
  • Massachusetts had laws against usury and
    profiteering

40
  • A Merchants World
  • early efforts to produce manufactured goods in
    New England failed
  • fur seemed a likely item to trade for English
    manufactured goods, but fur-bearing animals
    retreated away from settlements
  • fish provided merchants with a marketable
    commodity
  • this was the start of the triangular trade
  • trade became the driving force of the New England
    economy

41
  • Portsmouth, Salem, Boston, Newport, and New Haven
    grew rapidly
  • Boston became the third most populous city in the
    British Empire
  • The Middle Colonies
  • Middle Colonies, located between New England and
    Chesapeake, contained elements of the distinctive
    features of colonies to north and south

42
  • Economic Basis for the Middle Colonies
  • New York and Pennsylvania contained ethnically
    and religiously diverse populations
  • Scandinavian and Dutch settlers outnumbered the
    English in New Jersey and Delaware
  • Pennsylvania drew German Quakers, Mennonites, and
    Moravians
  • Scotch-Irish settlers came to Pennsylvania in the
    early eighteenth century

43
  • The Best Poor Mans Country
  • land was easy to obtain in Pennsylvania
  • ordinary New Yorkers could become landowners
    fairly readily
  • Philadelphia grew more rapidly than Boston and
    New York
  • due largely to navigable rivers that penetrated
    deep into the back country
  • by the middle of the 18th century, Philadelphia
    became the largest city in English America
  • not only did merchants do well, but artisans
    often left substantial estates

44
  • The Politics of Diversity
  • the Middle Colonies developed a more
    sophisticated political culture than either New
    England or the southern colonies
  • All of the Middle Colonies had popularly elected
    representative assemblies
  • New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians were less likely
    than southern colonists to defer to the landed
    gentry

45
  • Leislers Rebellion shaped New York politics for
    two decades
  • political divisions led to the trial for
    seditious libel of John Peter Zenger, the editor
    of an opposition newspaper
  • the Zenger trial established truth as a defense
    against libel, which was contrary to English
    common law
  • Pennsylvania was split between the proprietary
    party and a Quaker party

46
  • settlers in western Pennsylvania, resentful of
    eastern indifference to the threat of Indian
    raids
  • the Paxton boys slaughtered an Indian village and
    marched on the capital
  • Ben Franklin talked them out of attacking the town

47
  • Rebellious Women
  • Anne Hutchinson incurred the wrath of Puritan
    leaders by criticizing their teachings and
    challenging them in public debate
  • the authority of husbands differed over time and
    place
  • the general trend was away from a rigidly
    hierarchical family

48
  • nevertheless, women found themselves increasingly
    relegated to the margins of political life during
    the 18th century
  • by the middle of the century, the general
    expectation was that white women would confine
    themselves to matters relating to the home
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