AP United States History
Mr. M. Pecot
Bailey, Chapter 5: Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution
I. Colonial Demographics
a) Population growth
1. All of the 13 colonies of British North America experienced a population boom
§ 1700: under 300,000 (20,000 African)
§ 1775: 2,500,000 (500,000 African)
- increase is made up of immigrants (400,000 white/roughly 400,000 black slaves) & from natural increase
2. American population doubles every 25 years
§ Effect on ratio of English to Americans:
- 1700 = 20:1
- 1775 = 3:1
§ shift of population foreshadows a shift of power
b) Population centers
1. Primarily east of the Appalachian and Allegheny Mts.
§ A few pioneers in KY and TN
2. Major colonies (in order of size)
§ Va, Mass, Pa, North Carolina, Md.
3. Few cities
§ Philadelphia (34,000); New York; Boston; Charleston
§ 90% live in rural areas
c) Ethnic Groupings
1. Germans = 6% of the population by 1775 (150,000)
§ flee religious persecution, economic probs, and war
§ predominantly Lutheran
§ settle primarily in Pa (Pa Dutch = Deutsch) (1/3 of residents)
2. Scots-Irish = 7% of the population by 1775 (175,000)
§ Scots lowlanders who had been transplanted to Northern Ireland
- migrate seeking better economic opportunity (English restriction on production of wool and linens had hurt the Northern Ireland economy)
§ settle in western frontiers of Pa (best land already taken by Germans); Md.; Va.; and Carolinas
- Indian conflicts
- the "great wagon road" along the Appalachians
§ whiskey and rebellion!
- Scots-Irish have little love for the English crown and tend towards anti-authoritarianism in general
- Paxton Boys (1764)
- PA uprising to protest lenient Indian policy
- Regulator Movement (1768-1771)
- NC insurrection against eastern domination of colonial affairs
3. Africans = 20%
§ 90% live in the south
4. Other groupings = 5%
§ French Huguenots; Welsh; Swedes; Jews; Irish; Swiss; Scots Highlanders
d) Distribution of ethnic groups
1. 50% of the population is non-English
2. Middle colonies are the most diverse; New England is the least
e) Impact of ethnic diversity
1. Creation of new societies out of ethnic mixtures
§ Michel-Guillaume de Crevecoeur: "What then is this American, this new man?"
§ African-American identity
II. Colonial Society
a) A meritocracy, not an aristocracy
1. Lack of a titled nobility or a clearly stratified underclass (ahem…except slaves, of course)
§ Most Americans are small farmers (yeomen)
2. the possibility of social mobility exists (even if the likelihood of it does not)
b) 18th c. stratification
1. Rising wealth in the 18th c. led to a "Europeanization" of America
§ merchant princes in NE
§ planter elite in the S ("southern gentry")
- opulent lifestyles
- preferential seating in churches, schools
2. Lower classes
§ widows, orphans
§ wage workers
§ indentures
§ "jayle birds"
§ slaves
III. Working in the Colonies
a) Professionals
1. Clergy
2. Physicians & the state of medicine
§ not a very highly respected profession
- first medical school opened in 1765
- most physicians are apprenticed, however
- bleeding is most common cure (based on theory of humors)
§ plagues
- smallpox
- 1721 - inoculations introduced but are opposed by many religious leaders
- diphtheria
- 1730 -- thousands perish in an outbreak
3. Lawyers
§ viewed unfavorably until the mid-1700s
- often defend colonial rights against the crown
- Patrick Henry; James Otis
b) Living of the land
1. Agriculture
§ The leading industry (90% engaged in it)
- Tobacco in Chesapeake
- Grain in the middle colonies
- 1759: NY exports 80,000 barrels of flour
§ allows for a generally high standard of life
2. Fishing and Whaling
§ the major industry of New England
- cod
- spawns shipbuilding and maritime industry
c) Commerce
1. The quickest way to riches -- trading and land speculation
§ Yankee traders carry food and forest products to Caribbean
§ 'Triangular trade"
d) Manufacturing
1. The least developed economic sector, but small industries emerge:
§ rum distilling (Rhode Island and Mass.)
§ beaver hats
§ iron forges
§ cottage industries (e.g., weaving and spinning)
2. Lumbering and shipbuilding
§ the largest manufacturing activity in the colonies
- 1770: 400 ships per year
- 1/3 of all the British merchant marine was American-built
§ Naval stores
IV. Strains on the Mercantile System
a) Trade with non-English markets
1. England's smaller population is saturated with American products, while demand for manufactures in the US continues to grow…
§ trade with foreign markets becomes necessary in order to make the cash to buy English goods
2. Tobacco
§ traded directly to France and other continental countries through re-exporters (the entrepot system)
3. West Indian trade
§ direct trade with the French west Indies emerges (food and timber)
§ 1733 Molasses Act -- Parliament attempts to prohibit N. American trade with the French West Indies
- Colonial Response: smuggling
V. Transportation
a) Problems with transportation
1. Roads
§ no roads connecting major cities until 1700
§ all roads were dirt and poorly constructed
- 1776: 29 days for news of the Declaration of Independence to reach Charleston from Philly
- dusty in summer; muddy in winter
§ Dangers of travel
2. Waterways
§ Cities depend upon navigable rivers (this is where the population clusters)
§ Coastwise transportation
b) Social networks form:
1. Taverns
§ along main routes and in cities: gathering place for people of all classes
§ Amusement centers
- bowling; pool; gambling (dice and cards)
§ Information centers
- gossip, political news, debates
- instrumental centers for gauging and creating public opinion
2. Postal Service
§ est. by the mid-1700's, but slow and infrequent
§ poor secrecy
VI. Religion in the 18th c.
a) The "established" churches (tax supported)
1. Church of England (Anglican)
§ official in Ga., N.C., S.C., Va., Md., and part of NY
- source of kingly authority in colonies
§ Characteristics of Anglicanism
- more lenient and worldly
- no American bishop, therefore ministers (who could study at William and Mary (1693) had to travel to England to be ordained
2. Congregational Church
§ in all NE colonies except RI
- Mass initially taxes all residents, but by 18th c. exempts members of well-known denominations
b) The Great Awakening
1. Decline of religion in the 18th c.
§ In Puritan church -- elaborate theology and liberalizing church membership causes disastifaction: INTELLECTUALISM AND LIBERALISM
- "dead dogs"
- loss of Calvinist zeal
- rise of "good works" doctrines (v. predestination)
- claims that spiritual conversion was not necessary for church membership
2. Great Awakening: 1730s & 1740s
§ Jonathan Edwards - 1734
- emphasis on Gods grace as necessary for salvation
- educated, deeply theological
- "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
§ George Whitefield - 1738
- evangelical preaching
- gifted orator
- revival meetings/camp meetings
- emotional appeals and responses
3. "Old lights" v. "New lights"
§ Orthodox clergymen (old lights) are skeptical of the emotionalism and theatrics
§ Splits in denominations of the issue of emotionalism in religion
- Congregationalists
- Presbyterians
4. Effects of the GA
§ Emphasis on direct, emotive spirituality undermines the older clergy
§ Increases the number of "American" churches
§ Encourages missionary work among Indians and slaves
- slaves encouraged to attend open-air meetings
§ New educational facilities to train "new lights" ministers
- Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth
§ first spontaneous movement of the American people
VII. Education in the Colonies
a) Breaking with English educational traditions
1. In England, education is for leadership, not citizenship: only the aristocratic class needs education
2. Education for males only
b) New England
1. Zealous interest in education
§ Old Deluder Law (1647)
2. Length of instruction varies with agricultural schedule
c) South
1. Scattered population hampers central educational systems from forming
2. Reliance on private tutors
d) Curriculum in colonial schools
1. Emphasis is on religion and classical languages
2. Stress doctrine and dogma over experiment and reason
3. Severe discipline
e) Higher education
1. Important for training new ministers
2. 9 colleges established during the 17th and 18th century
§ University of Pennsylvania (the only non-denominational college in the colonial period)
VIII. Arts and culture in the 18th c.
a) Art
1. Culture rises as wealth (and leisure time) increase in 1700s
§ a rather stilted artistic environment for art
§ Prominent artists: generally English-trained portrait artists
- John Trumbull
- Charles Wilson Peale
- Benjamin West
- John S. Copley
b) Architecture
1. Reflects the blend of cultures (old world designs for new world uses)
§ Log cabin = Swedish style
§ Georgian style 1720s
c) Literature
1. Generally undistinguished in the 1700s
2. Few exceptions
§ Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
§ Benjamin Franklin
- Poor Richard's Almanack
3. Libraries
§ Largest private library = 4000 volumes (Byrd family of Va.)
§ Franklin founds the first privately supported "circulating" library in the US
§ by 1776: 50 public libraries and collections supported by subscription
4. Newspapers
§ by 1775: 40 colonial newspapers
- weeklies
- important sources of international news (although they lag behind) and a place to air colonial grievances
§ Freedom of the press
- John Peter Zenger case (1734)
- Editor of a paper that accused the royal gov of NY of corruption
- charged with seditious libel
- found "guilty" by jury
IX. Colonial Politics
a) Various governmental structures in the colonies
1. Royal colonies
§ 8 of 13 colonies
§ royally appointed govs
2. Proprietary colonies
§ Md., Pa., and Delaware
§ proprietors choose the governors
3. Charter colonies
§ Conn and RI
§ elect their own governors
b) Similarities in government
1. Bicameral legislative
§ Upper House
- council, appointed by the crown or proprietor (elected only in RI and Conn.)
§ Lower House
- elected by "qualified" voters
- backwoods elements are under-represented
§ legislatures vote on all taxation matters (self-taxation with representation)
2. Governors
§ usually able men, but some exceptions
- Lord Cornbury (NY and NJ in 1702)
§ often have trouble with the legislatures
- assemblies hold the "power of the purse" (can withhold salaries)
c) Local government (intra-colonial)
1. County gov't in the South
§ county-wide courts, administration
2. Town meetings in New England
d) Voting
1. Restrictions exist in all colonies in 1775
§ religious or property
§ 50% of all adult white males are disenfranchised
2. Civic participation
§ many choose to leave leadership in the hands of "their betters"