Michael Chiu

AP US History
Period 2
9/15/09

Outline of Chapter 3: Society and Culture in Provincial America

-After some time, the colonies became more divergent from Britain because of the
different physical environment, the diversity of populations, and the Native Americans
The Colonial Population
-By the late seventeenth century, the Atlantic coast was mostly populated by non-natives
Indentured Servitude
-this practice started in England – men and women would bound themselves to a master
for a fixed period of servitude in return for food, shelter, and a trip to America
-while some indentures managed to establish themselves, most were left without land
Birth and Death
-in early colonization, death rates were extremely high, but eventually greatly decreased
and allowed the non-native population to expand
-the life spans of people in New England were greater than that of other colonies
-conditions improved much more slowly in the South
-the sex ratio in the colonies also became more balanced, increasing birth rates
Medicine in the Colonies
-very easy to get into the medical field without training
-Midwives assisted women in childbirth-very popular
-“humoralism – body is composed of four humors: yellow, black, blood, and phlegm
Women and Families in the Chesapeake
-women often undermined the traditional male authority
-women in the Chesapeake would have a life of child-bearing
-had more freedom and power than women in other areas
-because women were younger when they married, they often became widows
-because the sex ratio was increasing, colonial life became less perilous and arduous
-also, women lost some power that their small numbers had once given them
-by mid-eighteenth century, families became highly “patriarchal”-dominated by male
Women and Families in New England
-family structure more stable than Chesapeake
-children more likely to survive than in other areas
-Puritan church in England stressed male authority and female weakness/inferiority
The Beginnings of Slavery in British America
-African chiefs would send their enemies as slaves to the Europeans
-They would get to America through the “middle passage”- very bad conditions
-First black laborers arrived before 1620
-many slaves spent time first in the West Indies
-By 1700, slaves arriving in North America rapidly increased
-Because there was a high ratio of men to women, African increase in population was
slow – however, in some regions, blacks outnumbered whites – in the south
-In the 17th century in the South, the status for Africans was uncertain; for example in
South Carolina, whites and Africans lived relatively equally – some blacks even became
landowners
-However, in the early 18th century, whites realized they didn’t have to free blacks
-Many whites thought that Blacks were inferior – whites were superior race – already
shown with the Native Americans
-Slave codes- limited the rights of blacks and giving absolute authority to white masters
Changing Sources of European Immigration
-French Calvinists, or Huguenots, were one of the earliest non-English immigrants
-The Edict of Nantes of 1598 had allowed them to become a state within the state in
Roman Catholic France – this was revoked in 1685
-Many Germans also immigrated to the Colonies – known as the Pennsylvania Dutch,
because the Quaker colony became their most common destination\
-the Scots-Irish – Scottish Presbyterians who had settled in northern Ireland, occupied
land in the colonies, not having regard for who actually owned it
The Colonial Economies
-From the beginning, all the English colonies were commercial ventures
The Southern Economy
-Relied heavily on tobacco – sometimes production exceeded demand
-the staple for some economies, such as Georgia and South Carolina was rice
-In 1740, indigo became a staple crop of South Carolina – source of blue dye
Northern Economic and Technological Life
-Agriculture in the North was more diverse than the South’s
-New York, Pennsylvania, and the Connecticut River valley made wheat
-there were many cobblers, blacksmiths, riflemakers, cabinetmakers, silversmiths, and
printers in the Northern colonies
-First effort to establish a metals industry was in Saugus, Massachusetts – failure
-many industries exploited natural resources of the continent: lumbering, fishing, mining
The Extent and Limits of Technology
-Few colonists were self-sufficient in the late 17th and 18th centuries
The Rise of Colonial Commerce
-No commonly accepted way of exchange – no specie (gold or silver coins)
-However, commerce in the colonies still grew; there was an elaborate coastal trade,
which was one part of the triangular trade, where the mainland colonies received sugar
and slaves from the Caribbean markets and sent them rum and meat in return
-3 “legs” of triangular trade: merchants carried rum to Africa in exchange for slaves ,
which were transported to the West Indies and then exchanged the slaves fro sugar and
molasses, which was shipped back to New England to be made into rum – never simple
-a merchant class began to emerge – consisted of adventurous entrepreneurs
The Rise of Consumerism
-Many people in the British colonies began to have a growing preoccupation with the
consumption of material goods and of the association of possessions with social status
-Increasing division of American societies by class – increasingly commercial society
-Things that were once considered luxuries became necessities Ex. Tea, glassware
Patterns of Society
-there was a lot of social mobility in America; aristocrats less powerful
The Plantation
-some plantations were of enormous size, such as the Maryland plantation of Charles
Carroll, supposedly the wealthiest man in the colonies
-owners of plantations were constantly at risk because profits were variable
-Southern society was highly stratified; great landowners sometimes controlled small
farmers who could not effectively compete with the wealthy planters –dominated
Plantation Slavery
-Many slaves developed their own languages
-a distinctive slave religion emerged: a blend between Christianity and African folklore
-the most important slave revolt, the Stono Rebellion happened in South Carolina in
1739, where about 100 slaves rose up, seized weapons, killed several whites, and
attempted to escape south to Florida – they were crushed by whites
The Puritan Community
-the social unit in Puritan New England was the town – each town drew up a “covenant”,
an religious agreement among its members
-Residents held yearly town meetings to settle important issues and chose “selectman”
-As towns grew, cultivation happened farther away from community centers
-Relations between generations were contractual
The Witchcraft Phenomenon
-the most famous outbreak of hysteria regarding witchcraft happened in Salem,
Massachusetts where girls began to exhibit strange behavior; causing many people to be
accused of witchcraft – 19 were put to death before it ended in 1692
Cities
-Colonial cities began to flourish in the 18th century-2 largest were New York and
Philadelphia
-Cities were centers of industry and the locations of schools and shops – also the location
of urban social problems – cities required to create elaborate governments
Awakenings and Enlightenments
-Two powerful ideas in America in 18th century: outlook with emphasis on God and one
stressing science and human reason
The Pattern of Religions
-Because settlers in America had so many different religions, tolerance was required
-the Church of England was established as the official faith in many colonies, but many
colonies ignored it
-Protestants were very anti-Catholic; they hated the pope- however, Catholics to few in
most of the colonies to cause trouble or conflict
-After the rise of science and free thought in Europe and the importation of these ideas to
America, ministers preached sermons of despair known as “jeremiads”
The Great Awakening
-started in the 1730s and reached climax in 1740s-brought religious fervor to colonies
-the most powerful and outstanding preacher of the Great Awakening was Jonathan
Edwards, a Puritan- he attacked the idea of easy salvation for all
-led to the division of existing congregations and founded new ones
The Enlightenment
-challenged traditional authority; challenged people to look to themselves and not God
-emphasized human rationality and education
-largely influenced by European philosophers such as John Locke and Francis Bacon
Education
-White male Americans achieved the highest degree of literacy
-the first American college was Harvard, established in 1636 and named after
Charlestown minister John Harvard
-these colleges had vast liberal curricula
The Spread of Science
-Because of the Enlightenment, there was an increasing interest in scientific knowledge
-Benjamin Franklin won international fame with his experimental proof of the nature of
lightning and electricity and his invention of the lightning rod using a kite
-in the 18th century, people began to experiment with smallpox inoculations, some being
successful- by the mid 18th century, it was a common medical procedure in America
Concepts of Law and Politics
-not many English-trained lawyers
-there were many differences between the American and British political systems
-Because the royal government was so far away, Americans created a system that gave
them a large measure of self-government
Conclusion
-population grew steadily in America between 1650s and 1750s
-various distinctions between the Northern and Southern colonies
-slaves were heavily relied on in the late 17th century in plantations
-White American accepted common assumptions about racial inequality
-Because many Americans were deeply, religious, the Great Awakening had a powerful
impact throughout the colonies
-the belief in certain basic principles of laws and politics shared by most white colonists
would lead to a great imperial crisis in the years after the 1750s