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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS: FAMILIES IN AN ATLANTIC
EMPIRE
America: Past and PresentChapter 3
Sources of Stability: New England Colonies of the
Seventeenth Century New Englanders replicated traditional
English social order Contrasted with experience in other English
colonies Explanation lies in development of Puritan
families
Immigrant Families and New Social Order
Puritans believed God ordained the family Reproduce patriarchal English family
structure in New England Greater longevity in New England results in
“invention” of grandparents Multigenerational families strengthen social
stability
A Commonwealth of Families
Most New Englanders married neighbors of whom parents approved
New England towns collections of interrelated households
Church membership associated with certain families
Education provided by the family
Women’s Lives in Puritan New England
Women not legally equal with men Marriages based on mutual love Most Women contributed to society as
– wives and mothers– church members– small-scale farmers
Women accommodated themselves to roles they believed God ordained
Rank and Status in New England Society
Absence of very rich necessitates creation of new social order
New England social order becomes– local gentry of prominent, pious families– large population of independent yeomen
landowners loyal to local community– small population of landless laborers, servants,
poor
The Planters’ World
imbalanced sex ratio among immigrants high death rate scattered population
Family Life in a Perilous Environment
Normal family life impossible in Virginia– Mostly young male indentured servants – Most immigrants soon died – In marriages, one spouse often died within a
decade Serial marriages, extended families
common Orphaned children raised by strangers
Women in Chesapeake Society
Scarcity gives some women bargaining power in marriage market
Women without family protection vulnerable to sexual exploitation
Childbearing extremely dangerous Chesapeake women died 20 years earlier
than women in New England
Rank and Status in Plantation Society: The Gentry
Tobacco the basis of Chesapeake wealth Great planters few but dominant
– Arrive with capital to invest in workers– Amass huge tracts of land – Gentry see servants as possessions
Early gentry become stable ruling elite by 1700
Rank and Status in Plantation Society: The Freemen
The largest class in Chesapeake society Most freed at the end of indenture Live on the edge of poverty
Rank and Status in Plantation Society: Indentured Servants
Servitude a temporary status Conditions harsh Servants regard their bondage as slavery Planters fear rebellion
Rank and Status in Plantation Society: Post-1680s Stability
Gentry ranks open to people with capital before 1680
Demographic shift after 1680 creates creole elite
Ownership of slaves consolidates planter wealth and position
Freemen find advancement more difficult
Rank and Status in Plantation Society: A Dispersed Population Large-scale tobacco cultivation requires
– great landholdings– ready access to water-borne commerce
Result: population dispersed along great tidal rivers
Virginia a rural society devoid of towns
Race and Freedom in British America
Indians decimated by disease European indentured servant-pool wanes
after 1660 Enslaved Africans fill demand for labor
Roots of Slavery
First Africans to Virginia in 1619 Status of Africans in Virginia unclear for 50 years Rising black population in Virginia after 1672
prompts stricter slave laws– Africans defined as slaves for life
– Slave status passed on to children
– White masters possess total control of slave life and labor
– Mixing of races not tolerated
Constructing African American Identities: Geography’s Influence Slave experience differed from place to
place Majority of S. Carolina population black Nearly half Virginia population black Blacks much less numerous in New
England and the Middle Colonies
Constructing African-American Identities: African Initiatives
Older black population tended to look down on recent arrivals from Africa
All Africans participated in creating an African-American culture– Required an imaginative reshaping of African
and European customs. By 1720 African population, culture self-
sustaining
African-American Identities: Slave Resistance
Widespread resentment of debased status Armed resistance such as S. Carolina’s
Stono Rebellion of 1739 a threat Runaways common in colonial America Black mariners, other travelers link African-
American communities
Commercial Blueprint for Empire
English leaders ignore colonies until 1650s Restored monarchy of Charles II recognized
value of colonial trade Navigation Acts passed to regulate, protect,
glean revenue from commerce
Response to Economic Competition
“Mercantilism” a misleading term for English commercial regulation
Regulations emerge as ad hoc responses to particular problems
Varieties of motivation– Crown wants money– English merchants want to exclude Dutch– Parliament wants stronger Navy—encourage domestic
shipbuilding industry– Everyone wants better balance of trade
An Empire of Trade: The Navigation Act of 1660
Ships engage in English colonial trade– Must be made in England (or America)– Must carry a crew at least 75% English
Enumerated goods only to English ports– 1660 list included tobacco, sugar, cotton,
indigo, dyes, ginger– 1704-05 molasses, rice, naval stores also
An Empire of Trade: The Navigation Act of 1663
Goods shipped to English colonies must pass through England
Increased price paid by colonial consumers
An Empire of Trade:Implementing the Acts
Navigation Acts spark Anglo-Dutch trade wars
New England merchants skirt laws English revisions tighten loopholes 1696--Board of Trade created Navigation Acts eventually benefit colonial
merchants
Colonial Gentry in Revolt:1676-1691
English colonies experience unrest at the end of the seventeenth century
Unrest not social revolution but contest between gentry “ins” and “outs”
Winners gain legitimacy for their rule
Civil War in Virginia: Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon leads rebellion, 1676 Rebellion allows small farmers, blacks and
women to join, demand reforms Governor William Berkeley regains control Rebellion collapses after Bacon’s death Gentry recovers positions, unite over next
decades to oppose royal governors
The Glorious Revolution in the Bay Colony: King Philip’s War
1675--Metacomet leads Wampanoag-Narragansett alliance against colonists
Colonists struggle to unite, defeat Indians Deaths total 1,000+ Indians and colonists
Glorious Revolution: The Dominion of New England
1684--King James II establishes “Dominion of New England”– Colonial charters annulled– Colonies from Maine to New Jersey united– Edmund Andros appointed governor
1689--news of James II’s overthrow sparks rebellion in Massachusetts
The Glorious Revolution in the Bay Colony: Outcomes
Andros deposed William III and Mary II give Massachusetts
a new charter – Incorporates Plymouth– Transfers franchise from "saints" to those with
property
Contagion of Witchcraft
Charges of witchcraft common– Accused witches thought to have made a
compact with the devil Salem panic of 1691 much larger in scope
than previous accusations 20 victims dead before trials halted in late
summer of 1692 Causes include factionalism, economics
The Glorious Revolution in New York
1689--News of James II’s overthrow prompts crisis of authority in New York
Jacob Leisler seizes control Maintains position through 1690 March 1691--Governor Henry Sloughter
arrests, executes Leisler
The Glorious Revolution in Maryland
1689--news prompts John Coode to lead revolt against Catholic governor
Coode's rebellion approved by King William
Maryland taken from Calvert control 1715--proprietorship restored to the
Protestant fourth Lord Baltimore
COMMON EXPERIENCES, SEPARATE CULTURES
Purpose Families Ethnicity Economy
New England
Religious Nuclear families
Mostly English
Family farms
Middle Colonies
Mixed Nuclear families
Mixed European
Family farms
Chesapeake Gain wealth
Extended families
English (majority)& African
Market plantations (tobacco)
Lower South Gain wealth
Extended families
English & African (majority)
Market plantations (rice, indigo)