American Life in the 17th Century

 

I.                    The Unhealthy Chesapeake

a.       Life Expectancy

                                                               i.      Starvation, Indians, and diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and typhoid cut 10 years off the life expectancy of newcomers from England

                                                             ii.      The majority of immigrants were single men in their late teens and early 20s

                                                            iii.      Half the people born in MD or VA didn’t see their 20th birthday

                                                           iv.      Men outnumbered women by 6 to 1

1.      As a result, eligible women didn’t remain single for long and had trouble finding women

2.      Most couples lost their partner within 7 years

                                                             v.      It would take until the end of the 17th century for the population of the Chesapeake to grow on the basis of its birthrate

1.      VA had the most with 59,000

II.                 The Tobacco Economy

a.       Tobacco

                                                               i.      Intense tobacco cultivation quickly exhausted the soil.  As a result:

1.      People went in search for new land

a.       People ran into the Indians

                                                             ii.      By 1700, nearly 40 million pounds were being shipped out of the Chesapeake Bay

b.      Laborers

                                                               i.      It didn’t come from:

1.      Families – They reproduced too slowly

2.      Indians – Died too quickly

3.      Slaves – Cost too much

                                                             ii.      England still had a “surplus” of displaced farmers, desperate for employment.  Many became indentured servants – agreeing to work for nothing in exchange for passage to the colonies.  Eventually, they would receive “freedom dues”:

1.      A few barrels of corn

2.      A suit of clothes

3.      A small piece of land

                                                            iii.      VA and MD employed the “headright” system.  Under its terms, whoever paid the passage of a laborer received the right to acquire 50 acres of land

                                                           iv.      By 1700, 100,000 indentured servants came to the region (3/4 of all European immigrants to the area)

                                                             v.      In the 1700s, as prime land became scarcer, masters became increasingly resistant to include land grants in “freedom dues.”  Even after formal freedom was granted, poor free workers often had little choice but to hire themselves out for pitifully low wages to their former masters

III.               Frustrated Freeman and Bacon’s Rebellion

a.       Poor Freemen

                                                               i.      By the end of the 17th century, there were many men who were frustrated by the fact that they couldn’t find a woman and couldn’t acquire any land

                                                             ii.      Many drifted around or moved west

                                                            iii.      Shocked at the number of these people and thinking that they had little intelligence or interest in the country, the VA assembly disfranchised them

b.      Governor William Berkeley & Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion

                                                               i.      1676 – 1,000 Virginians, led by Nathaniel Bacon (who was a planter) revolted

                                                             ii.      They revolted because the governor of VA, William Berkeley, would do nothing about the Indian attacks that were happening out west

1.      Berkeley didn’t want to do anything because he monopolized the fur trade with the Indians

                                                            iii.      Not only did the revolt put down the Indians, but they also chased Berkeley from Jamestown and torched the capital

                                                           iv.      When Bacon died of disease, the rebellion was put down by the governor

c.       Aftermath of Bacon’s Rebellion

                                                               i.      Bacon had ignited the smoldering unhappiness of landless former servants

                                                             ii.      He also pitted poor, backcountry frontiersmen against the plantation owners (gentry)

                                                            iii.      All this ignited fear that rebellions would break out elsewhere

IV.              Colonial Slavery

a.       Africans

                                                               i.      In the 1600s, most slaves were hauled to South America or the West Indies

                                                             ii.      Most slaves arrived to the colonies after 1700 (the earliest were brought to Jamestown in 1619)

b.      Indentured Servants Decline

                                                               i.      1680s – Rising wages in England shrank the pool of poor people willing to gamble on a new life (or an early death) as indentured servants in America.  During this time, more  black slaves were arriving in America than white servants

c.       Slave Trade

                                                               i.      1698 – The Royal African Company lost its crown-granted monopoly on carrying slaves to the colonies.  Enterprising Americans rushed to cash in on the lucrative slave trade, causing the supply of slaves to rise steeply

                                                             ii.      Most slaves who reached North America came from the west coast of Africa

                                                            iii.      1700-1750 – Tens of thousands of slaves arrive in America

d.      Slave Trade Process

                                                               i.      Slaves were captured by African coastal tribes

                                                             ii.      The coastal tribes traded them in crude markets to European and American merchants

                                                            iii.      They were branded and bound

                                                           iv.      They were herded aboard sweltering ships for the gruesome “middle passage” (death rates were as high as 20%)

                                                             v.      Survivors were put on the auction blocks in New World ports

                                                           vi.      A few eventually became slave-owners themselves

e.       Slaves Compared To Indentured Servants

                                                               i.      By 1662, laws began to make a difference between slaves and indentured servants.  VA passed the first “slave codes”, making blacks and their children property or chattels for the life of their master.  Some colonies made it a crime to teach a slave to read or write

                                                             ii.      By the end of the 17th century it was clear that racial discrimination powerfully molded the slave system

V.                 Africans in America

a.       Conditions of African Slaves in the South

                                                               i.      Climate was hostile to health

                                                             ii.      Rice labor was life-draining

                                                            iii.      Plantations were wide apart, creating a lonesome environment

b.      Conditions of African Slaves in the Chesapeake

                                                               i.      Climate was hostile to health

                                                             ii.      Tobacco labor was less demanding

                                                            iii.      Plantations were closer together, allowing frequent contact with friends and relatives

c.       Native-Born African Americans

                                                               i.      Native-born African-Americans contributed to the growth of a stable and distinctive slave culture:

1.      Speech – Blacks evolved a unique language of an African and English blend, called Gullah.  We have words today from this language, such as:

a.       Goober – peanut

b.      Voodoo – witchcraft

2.      Dances and singing – Contributed to the development of jazz

3.      Music – Banjo and bongo drum

                                                             ii.      Some slaves also helped to build the country by becoming skilled artisans – carpenters, bricklayers, and tanners

d.      Slave Revolts

                                                               i.      For obvious reasons, slaves wanted their freedom.  However, no slave uprising in American history matched the scale of Bacon’s Rebellion

VI.              Southern Society

a.       Social Structure

                                                               i.      As slavery spread, the gaps in the South’s social structure widened

b.      Planters

                                                               i.      At the top were planters, who owned many slaves and vast domains of land

                                                             ii.      They ruled the region’s economy and wealth

                                                            iii.      They also dominated the House of Burgesses

                                                           iv.      Most of these people came from families established in VA before 1690 and were called the “first families of VA,” or “FFVs”

                                                             v.      Most weren’t the typical wealthy gentlemen that you would think of in this time.  They were hard-working and labored long hours over the problems of plantation management

1.      One of the biggest problems was the servants (one had a problem keeping them sober)

c.       Small Farmers

                                                               i.      The largest social group

                                                             ii.      They tilled their modest plots and might own one or two slaves and worked very hard

d.      Landless Whites

                                                               i.      Most of these people were luckless former indentured servants

e.       Indentured Servants

                                                               i.      People who were serving out their indenture term

f.        Slaves

                                                               i.      Gradually replaced white indentured servants toward the end of the 17th century

g.       The Developing Professional Class

                                                               i.      Few cities sprouted in the colonial South, and consequently an urban professional class, including lawyers and financiers, was slow to emerge

VII.            The New England Family

a.       Population Growth In New England

                                                               i.      Water was cleaner and temperatures cooler, which retarded the spread of killer microbes

                                                             ii.      New England added ten years to their life spans by migrating from England

                                                            iii.      The life expectancy was 70 years

b.      New England Families

                                                               i.      In contrast with the Chesapeake, New Englanders tended to migrate not as single individuals, but as families

                                                             ii.      Families remained the center of life in New England, so the population grew from natural reproduction

                                                            iii.      Women wed in their early 20s and produced babies every two years until menopause (child raising became their full-time job)

                                                           iv.      Two out of ten babies usually died in childbirth

c.       Family Stability

                                                               i.      The longevity of the New Englanders contributed to family stability

                                                             ii.      Children received guidance from their parents and grandparents

                                                            iii.      In contrast to the Chesapeake, family stability was reflected in low premarital pregnancy rates and in the strong social structure

d.      Women’s Rights

                                                               i.      Property Rights – Because southern men frequently died young, leaving widows with small children to support, the southern colonies generally allowed married women to retain separate title to their property and gave widows the right to inherit their husband’s estate

                                                             ii.      Civil Rights – Women couldn’t vote.  They were considered morally weaker than men (Adam and Eve) and their main job was to raise children and take care of the house.  The New England authorities could and did intervene to restrain abusive spouses

                                                            iii.      Marriage Laws – Above all, the laws of Puritan New England sought to defend the integrity of marriages.  Divorce was exceedingly rare, and usually only on two grounds:

1.      Abandonment

2.      Adultery – Punishment was you were whipped in public and forced forever to wear the capital letter “A” (The Scarlet Letter)

VIII.         Life in the New England Towns

a.       Tightly Knit Society

                                                               i.      In New England, there evolved a tightly knit society, developed by:

1.      Family stability

2.      Small villages and farms

3.      The Puritanist concern for the moral health of the whole community

                                                             ii.      This would lead to the 19th century crusade for abolishing black slavery

b.      Orderly Towns

                                                               i.      New towns were legally chartered by colonial authorities to proprietors.  These proprietors moved to the designated place and laid out their town

                                                             ii.      Each town usually consisted of:

1.      A meetinghouse (served as a church and town hall)

2.      Surrounded by houses and each received several parcels of land:

a.       One for wood

b.      One for growing crops

c.       One for pasturing animals

3.      Village green (where militia could drill)

c.       Education

                                                               i.      Towns of more than 50 families were required to provide elementary education

                                                             ii.      A majority of adults knew how to read and write

                                                            iii.      1636 – MA established the oldest college in America – Harvard

                                                           iv.      1693 – VA established the 2nd oldest college in America – William and Mary

d.      Government

                                                               i.      In the town meeting, adult males met together and each man voted.  They:

1.      Elected officials

2.      Appointed schoolmasters

3.      Discussed problems (such as road repairs)

IX.              The Half-Way Covenant and the Salem Witch Trials

a.       Problems With the Church

                                                               i.      As the population grew, Puritans began to move farther away from churches

                                                             ii.      The passage of time was also dampening the first generation’s flaming religious zeal

1.      As a result, there was a decline in conversions – testimonials by individuals that they had received God’s grace and therefore deserved to be admitted to the church as members

b.      The Half-Way Covenant

                                                               i.      In 1662, ministers announced a new method for church membership, the Half-Way Covenant

                                                             ii.      This new arrangement admitted to baptism, but not communion, the unconverted children of existing members

                                                            iii.      By conferring partial membership rights in the once-exclusive Puritan congregation, the Half-Way Covenant weakened the distinction between the “elect” and others

                                                           iv.      This widening of church membership gradually erased the distinction between the “elect” and other members of society.  In effect, strict religious purity was sacrificed somewhat to the cause of wider religious participation

c.       Salem Witch Trials

                                                               i.      In the 1692, there was an urge to find a scapegoat for social resentments.  Farm families in Salem’s west were accusing the families who were a part of the growing market economy on the coast of being witches (there had previously been witch trials in England and the colonies)

                                                             ii.      Most of the people accused were property-owning women

                                                            iii.      20 women and 2 dogs were hanged

                                                           iv.      It ended in 1693, when the governor prohibited any further trials and pardoned those already convicted (his wife was accused)

                                                             v.      20 years later, the MA legislature made reparations to the victim’s heirs

X.                 The New England Way of Life

a.       Geography & Climate

                                                               i.      Since the Ice Age’s glaciers left many stones, the Puritans didn’t possess good soil

1.      Tobacco couldn’t flourish because they couldn’t have large farms

a.       Consequently, they had few slaves on their small farms

2.      New England put their interest into industry

                                                             ii.      They hacked timber from their dense forests for shipbuilding

1.      They used the ships for commerce

                                                            iii.      They also fished codfish

                                                           iv.      Summers were uncomfortably hot and the winters cruelly cold

                                                             v.      The soil and climate of New England encouraged a diversified agriculture and industry

b.      Livestock

                                                               i.      The English brought pigs, horses, sheep, and cattle from Europe

                                                             ii.      Because the growing herds needed ever more pastureland, the colonists were continually clearing forests

c.       Legacy

                                                               i.      New Englanders scattered from Ohio to Oregon trying to find sterile soil

                                                             ii.      They took with them their concept of an orderly New England town

                                                            iii.      They also took with them their Puritan heritage – high idealism and strong conscience

XI.              The Early Settlers’ Days and Ways

a.       Life of a Settler

                                                               i.      Planted in the spring

                                                             ii.      Tended their crops in the summer

                                                            iii.      Harvested in the fall

                                                           iv.      Prepared to begin the cycle again in the winter

                                                             v.      Women wove, cooked, cleaned, and cared for children

                                                           vi.      Men cleared land, fenced, planted, cropped, cut firewood, and butchered livestock

                                                          vii.      Children helped with all these tasks and picked up school as they could

b.      European Life Compared to American Life

                                                               i.      Land was relatively cheap in America.  It cost 3 times less in America than in England

                                                             ii.      Most people who immigrated were middle class.  The rich didn’t want to expose themselves to the wilderness and the poor couldn’t afford to start a new life or have the means to do it

c.       Social Class in the New World

                                                               i.      For the most part, frontier life did not permit the flagrant display of class distinctions.  Most white people were equal

                                                             ii.      However, resentment again the upper-class helped to spark outbursts like Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676 in VA and other rebellions