Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution CHAPTER FIVE

Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution CHAPTER FIVE

Introduction Britain ruled 32 colonies in North America by 1775 Canada Floridas Caribbean islands 13 Original Colonies Distinctive social, economic and political structures Distinctive American way of life

Autonomy Massachusetts Bay Colony General Court Plymouth Colony Mayflower Compact Connecticut Fundamental Orders

Conquest by the Cradle Growth of American colonies 1700 300,000 people 20,000 African-Americans (forced immigrants) 20: 1 British subject to American colonist 1775 2.5M people 500,000 African-Americans (forced immigrants) Average age: 16 years old 3:1 British subject to American colonist Bulk east of the Alleghenies Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Maryland (in order) most populous Four large cities Philadelphia New York Boston Charleston 90% lived in rural America

A Mingling of the Races (1790) Melting Pot English (49%) African (19%) 90% slaves owned in South Scottish (7%) Scots-Irish (5%) Irish (3%) German (6%) Duetsch Pennsylvania Dutch Others (9%)

A Mingling of the Races (1790) Signers of the Declaration of Independence 56 Signers 18 were non- English 8 had not been born in the United states

Mid-18 th Century Most colonies shared Same degree of ethnic and religious toleration (except Catholicism) English as a common language Protestant in religion Opportunity for social mobility

The Structure of Colonial Society Most of white Americans (and a handful of free African- Americans) Farmers Clad in buckskin No titled nobility dominated society No pauperized underclass threatened from underneath Upward mobility was possible

The Structure of Colonial Society Prior to the Revolution (1690s) Stratification and barriers to upward mobility or the Europeanization By 1750, 10% of Bostonians and Philadelphians owned nearly 2/3 of the taxable wealth in their cities Plague of war Orphans Widows Almshouses

The Structure of Colonial Society Homeless 1750 Boston Required to wear a large red P on their clothing to show they were supported by public charity

The Structure of Colonial Society South Planters (power of) Wealth concentrated by the largest slave owners Poor Whites Tenant farmers In Colonial Elections The right to vote being reserved for property owners

Clerics, Physicans, and Jurists Christian ministry Most honored profession Physicians Most poorly trained and not highly esteemed 1765, the first medical school was established University of Pennsylvania Epidemics were a constant nightmare Smallpox Chorea Typhus Diphtheria Lawyers Originally not favored and not highly esteemed Regarded as noisy windbags and troublemaking rogues

Workaday America Economic activity Fishing Commerce Farming Manufacturing Slave trading Lease amount of importance was manufacturing Colonies sought trade with non-british to make money to buy what they wanted in Britain

Workaday America Agriculture leading industry 90% of the people Tobacco Maryland and Virginia Breadbasket Middle Colonies NYC exporting 80K barrels of flour per year Cattle New England

Workaday America Fishing Commercial Fishing Whaling Merchant 1/3 of the British merchant marine was American built

Workaday America Triangular Trade Route Middle Passage

Workaday America Manufacturing Lumbering Shingles Homes Shipbuilding

Horsepower and Sailpower Transportation was slow; even the mail (mid-1700s) was unreliable Man-made roads were quagmires of mud at times Horse drawn transportation Heavy reliance was placed on waterways

DOMINANT DENOMINATIONS: Estimated Religious Census, 1775 (74% Americans belonged to organized Churches) Church of England Membership acted as a major prop for kingly authority Only the Anglican and Congregationalist Churches were tax-supported in Colonial America Dominant Denominations Congregationalists New England 575K membership Anglicans NY and South 500K membership Presbyterians Frontier 410K membership Lutheran) Pennsylvania 200 K membership Dutch Reformed NY & NJ 75K membership Quakers PA, NJ & DE 40K membership Baptists RI, PA, NJ & DE 25K membership Catholic MD & PA 25K membership Methodists Scattered 5K membership Jews NY & RI 2K membership

Great Awakening Orthodox Calvinism (Puritans) waning Predestination Religious revival (aka) Great Awakening (1740s) swept through the colonies Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God sermon Massachusetts and New England

Great Awakening George Whitfield Church revivals Evangelical style of preaching Human helplessness and divine omnipotence

Schools and Colleges Education was most zealously promoted in New England Main emphasis was on religion University of Pennsylvania (Ben Franklin) was the first free from denominational control

Schools and Colleges Harvard (1636) Congregational William and Mary (1693) Anglican Yale (1701) Congregational Princeton (College of NJ) Presbyterian Pennsylvania (The Academy) Nonsectarian) Columbia (King s College) Anglican) Brown (Rhode Island College) Baptist Rutgers (Queen s College) Dutch Reformed Dartmouth (Indian Missionary School) Congregational

Taverns Taverns important All social classes frequented them Amusements Bowling alleys Pool tables bars Gambling equipment Mingle and discuss democracy Boston s Green Dragon Tavern

A Provincial Culture Culture was generally ignored and unappreciated Colonial Americans were still in thrall to European tastes, especially British First civilized American Ben Franklin Lightning rod Author Bifocal glasses A highly efficient stove American Painters John Trumbull Charles Wilson Peale Benjamin West John Singleton Copley

John Trumbull

Charles Wilson Peale

Benjamin West

John Singleton Copley

A Provincial Culture Colonial literature Phillis Wheatley

A Provincial Culture Benjamin Franklin Poor Richard s Almanack (1732-58)

Pioneer Presses Eve of Revolution 40 colonial newspapers First Boston News-Letter (1704)

Pioneer Presses Peter Zenger Assailed the corrupt royal governor Indicted for libel Andrew Hamilton Argued case (1734-35) Freedom of the Press Eve of Revolution It pointed the way to open public discussion

Great Game of Politics 13 Original Colonies 8 had royal governors appointed by the King 3 (MD, PA & DE) were under proprietors who chose the governors 2 (CN & RI) elected governors under selfgoverning charters

Great Game of Politics 13 Original Colonies 8 had royal governors appointed by the King 3 (MD, PA & DE) were under proprietors who chose the governors 2 (CN & RI) elected governors under selfgoverning charters Important principle of self-rule for nearly 150 years Self-taxation through representation

Great Game of Politics Most governors appointed by the King But colonial legislatures usually controlled taxes and expenditures that paid the governor s salaries Worst of the Royal governors Lord Cornbury First cousin of Queen Anne Governor of New York and New Jersey in 1702 Drunkard, Grafter, Embezzler, Religious bigot and Vain Fool

Colonial Folkways Card playing Billiards Dancing Music Fox hunting Horse racing Cockfighting House-raisings Quilting bees Husking bees Apple parings