The Evolution of Colonial Society

Honors U.S. History

Bacon’s Rebellion

• Life for indentured servitude was not good– Not incorporated into proper society– Their land was near Indians– Not represented in the House of Burgesses– Had to pay taxes

• Nathanial Bacon leads lower SES farmers into Jamestown to revolt

• Bacon eventually dies, rebellion put down• Rich planters begin to think about cheaper forms

of labor– Africans

African Slavery in the Colonies

• Virginia and Maryland – 90% of white population of South, 80% of slave population (tobacco)

• Carolinas and Georgia – Nearly 2:1 ratio of slaves to white (rice and indigo)

• Slavery exists in the North but eventually dies out

• Minimal resistance to white slave owners

Decline of Puritans

• First generation dying off

• Next generations not pious enough– No conversion experience

• The Half-Way Covenant– Developing future Puritans

King Philip’s War

• Colonists pushing into the interior of the territory• Natives, under a Wampanoag leader called

“King Philip”, rebel• Eventually put down• Most deadly per capita war in American history• English King Charles II revokes charters of

everyone north of Maryland• Begins to rule all collectively as “Dominion of

New England”• “Glorious Revolution” inspired colonists to take

back their charters.

She’s a Witch, May We Burn Her?

• Salem, Massachusetts, 1692• Witchcraft seen as a reason for misfortune

if directed intentionally• The poor accused the rich

– Economic balance and advancement

• Neighbors turned on each other• Hundreds of people accused, 19 hung,

one pressed, several died in prison– One of the victims was a dog

Trade and Status

• England forced the colonies to only trade with them

• Very difficult to enforce– Salutary Neglect

• King appoints a governor to oversee the colony

• Colonial legislatures make laws and tax• Idea emerges that the colonies can

manage themselves

Religious Changes

• Deism – A lot less strict than Puritanism– God is a clock-maker– He builds the clock (earth)– The clock runs itself

• The Great Awakening– Christianity needs a jump start– Basic concept: Anyone can be saved

• Your choices today affect your afterlife