Chapter 4

American Life in the Seventeenth Century

1. Life in Virginia

Unhealthy
Why do the Virginians die young? in Maryland and Virginia die before 20
Disease Fragile Family Unit 6:1 Male to Female Ratio high pregnancy rate Growth Early only immigration Birthrate Growth

2. Indentured Servants & Tobacco A recipe for disaster

Tobacco
Required Land/ Spread to the Frontier

Headright System Berkeley

100,000 indentured servants (1700) Governor of Virginia

Indentured Servant Uprising

Lack of Protection Nathaniel Bacons Rebellion 1676- Attack on Jamestown Class Struggle

3. Slavery Begins from Africa

10,000,000 to the New World

400,000 to North America Primarily in West Indies

After 1700 Slavery Grows

British Economy Picks Up Fear of Rebellion Higher Immunity Middle Passage Racial Discrimination- A Means of Control Slave Revolts- 1712 (NYC), 1739 South Carolina

Regional Conditions
Worse in the South Tobacco easier than rice

Slave Culture
Language & Music

4. Southern Society

Plantation Farmers
Leaders of Virginia (FFVs)

Small Farmers
Largest Group Poor White Trash

Agricultural Society

5. New England Life

Family Unit
Higher Life Expectancy than the South & England

Baby Factory
High Mortality Rate for Newborns

Women did not have as many rights

Tight Community
Moral Consciousness Meeting House Education Valued Harvard 1636, William & Mary 1693

6. A Crumbling Society

Puritan Next Generation not as devout Half-Way Covenant Salem Witch Trials Merchant Elite Leislers Rebellion 1689-1691 New York