Colonial Life and Strife

1
Colonial Life and Strife

• Mrs. Housenick
• APUSH
• 9/5/12

2
The Unhealthy Chesapeake (South)

• Short life expectancylots of disease
• Population increase only through immigration
• Mostly men
• Few families, those that existed were weak
• Did get healthier by end of 1600s as immunity
  built, more women coming in

3
The Tobacco Economy

• Made money, but intense cultivation exhausted
  soil
• Lots of tobacco meant depressed prices
• Need for labor? indentured servitude
• Not enough workers in colonies, Native Americans
  dying from disease, African slaves too expensive
• As land becomes scarce, freed indentured servants
  forced to become low wage workers for former
  masters

4
Bacons Rebellion

• Single young men, former indentured servants,
  frustrated since never got land
• Most living in backcountry, trying to get by on
  worst land
• 1676 Lead by Nathaniel Bacon, these men began
  huge rebellion
• Angry at Virginia Governor Berkeleys friendly
  policy towards Indians
• Rebels murdered Indians, then chased Berkeley
  from Jamestown and set it on fire

5
Bacons Rebellion ctnd.

• Bacon died suddenly of disease, Berkeley crushed
  uprising, killed 20 rebels
• Still, lead to intense fear of landless former
  servants
• Wealthy planters began looking for less
  troublesome workers? AFRICAN SLAVES!

6
Southern Society

• By early 1700s, social hierarchy developing
• 1. Small group of wealthy planters at topowned
  lots of land and slaves
• 2. Small farmerslargest social group
• Might own 1-2 slaves, but had to do lots of work
  on own
• 3. Landless whitesmostly former indentured
  servants
• 4. Indentured servants
• 5. Black slaves
• Few cities, no real urban professional class

7
The New England Family

• Nature nicer to New Englandclean water, cool
  temperature meant less disease
• Life span actually longer than in Europe
• Tended to migrate as a family, population grew
  from natural reproduction
• Early marriage? large birthrate
• Family stability, multigenerational family life
• Divorce rare

8
Women in New England

• Women gave up property rights when married,
  unlike in South where large number of widows made
  this impossible
• Women couldnt vote, but some idea of womens
  rights developing
• Abusive spouses punished by government
• Some women worked as midwifes

9
Life in New England

• Tightly knit society
• Towns highly planned and organized
• Meetinghouse surrounded by houses
• Towns larger than 50 had elementary schools
• Harvard College est. in Massachusetts in 1636
• Democracy in town meetings

10
Fears of Weakening Religion

• Worries that religious passion dying out in New
  England
• Halfway Covenant allowed partial membership
  rights to non-converted Christians
• Sign that purity of New England church was
  weakened
• Sacrificed religious purity for wider religious
  participation

11
Salem Witch Trials

• 1690s Young girls in Salem, MA accused older
  women of being witches
• 20 executed? witch-hunt now describes time of
  paranoia and unfair accusations
• Show unsettled social and religious conditions in
  Massachusetts
• Accused witches came from wealthy families,
  accusers from small farming families
• Shows class tensions, and fears that religion
  dying out because of richs focus on making money

12
New England Way of Life

• Geography played huge role in way people lived!
• Rocky, unfertile soil meant had to work hard to
  live off land? Protestant work ethic
• Meant less immigrants, so New England less
  diverse
• Extreme climate meant large-scale agriculture not
  possible, so no need for slaves
• Took advantage of harbors for shipbuilding and
  commerce, fishing

13
Early Settlers Days and Ways

• Most colonists farmerslived by cycle of seasons
  and sun
• Lived wealthier than Europeansmostly because of
  availability of land
• More equality, but some class tensions
• EX Leislers Rebellion (1689-91)--aspiring
  merchants attacked wealthy landowners in NY

14
Population in the Colonies

• Grew quickly and was doubling every 25 years!
• Will lead to shift in balance of power between
  colonies and Britain
• Diverse population
• Germansesp. in Pennsylvania
• Scots-Irishrebellious frontiersman
• 1764 Lead Paxton Boys in Philadelphia, armed
  march to protest Quakers leniency towards
  Indians
• 1765 Regulator Movementbackcountry farmers
  angry at eastern domination over colony

15
Structure of Colonial Society

• Social ladder very open, possible to climb easily
• By mid-1700s, was some stratification
• Small group of merchants in New England and
  middle colonies at top
• Concentrated land ownership in South
• Lower class forming of indentured servants,
  paupers and convicts involuntarily shipped to
  America, black slaves

16
Work and Transportation in the Colonies

• Professions clergy, physicians, lawyers
• Workers
• 90 of population involved in farming
• Also fishing and manufacturing (mainly in New
  England and middle colonies)
• Triangular trade (between America, Africa and
  West Indies) very profitable
• Roads between cities existed, but in terrible
  conditions
• Heavy reliance on waterways
• Intercolonial mail system by mid-1700s