The Gap Between Rich and Poor in Colonial America, and the Implications of Economic Disparity

*Economics, Trade, and Rebellion

* Indentured Servitude was a labor system that seemed to solve two problems at once. England had a large number of poor peasants who had been forced off of their land and needed work. In the English colonies, there was a labor shortage. By contracting labor from England and bringing it to the American colonies, the English could kill two birds with one stone.*Indentured

Servitude

* In general, indentured servants promised to work for between four and seven years in exchange for passage to the New World. If they lived through their time of service – and only one half of the servants did – they would inherit land, tools, and some quantity of non-perishable food.

* Yellow fever and malaria often killed indentured servants during what colonists called “the seasoning period.”

*Contracts

Indigo Rice

*Cash Crops of the Carolinas

Teenager Eliza Lucas was so accomplished as a botanist that she helped establish indigo as a cash crop in South Carolina.

Enslaved Africans were coveted by all plantation owners, but for rice cultivation, African slaves were required. They knew how it grew.

Wealthy Plantation Owners

Small Farmers Indentured Servants

Enslaved Africans

The Social Classes of the Southern Colonies, 1607 - 1775

*Bacon’s Rebellion

Almost all of the power in Virginia was in the hands of the wealthy planters. Elections had not been held in the House of Burgesses for over a decade. Many poor farmers – men that Bacon sought to lead – wanted to fight against local Native American tribes in order to gain more land. Attacking Governor Berkeley, who was opposed to war against the Indians – and the Indians themselves – allowed these men to gain more land. It also sent a strong message to the elite landowners that they must create more opportunities for the lower classes. The elite wanted stability more than opportunity at this moment in history, because they were already quite comfortable.

*Bacon’s Rebellion

*During Bacon’s Rebellion, an unauthorized war was launched against Native Americans. Moreover, the House of Burgesses and the Governor were attacked. The city of Jamestown was burned to the ground. Wealthy landowners began to fear the poor farmers they shared the land with, because they sought greater economic opportunity. Were it not for the sudden death of Nathaniel Bacon, the turmoil may have resulted in the overthrow of the government.

*Enslaved Labor Increases

*The demands for more land by indentured servants made Virginians less likely to bring them to the colony.

*In Virginia and other colonies, strict slave codes made it easier to manage enslaved people on plantations.

*The New England Economy

*Diversity in the economy of New England provided more pathways to prosperity:

*Shipbuilding

*Timber

*Cattle Ranching

*Shipping and Trade

*Fishing or Whaling

*Farming (wheat, orchards, dairy farms)

*Merchants

*The Church was the Center of New England Communities

*The New England Town Hall MeetingOne of the most important democratic traditions Americans can trace back to Puritan New England is the town hall meeting. Simple Athenian democracy. Everyone was allowed to speak. One man, one vote. Everyone’s vote was heard, and everyone’s vote counted.

*Sunday School: The Origins of Public EducationAll of public education started with Puritan Sunday School. Across most of the country, Sunday Schools were the first versions of public education established. By the 1840s or so, most Americans saw a need for public education in major cities as well – just to teach immigrants about American cultures and values.

*The Caribbean Islands

Wealthy Merchants

and Traders

Artisansand

Skilled Workers

Unskilled Free Workers

Indentured Servants and

Enslaved Africans

The Social Classes of the Middle Colonies, 1607 - 1775

*Wheat – For Export

*Middle Colonies, Major Waterways

*The Susquehanna River

*The Delaware River

*The Hudson River

*Waterways led to major port cities like Philadelphia or New York City.

* Mercantilism always favors the dominant nations, not the colonies. Colonies provide low cost raw materials – like timber, precious metals, or cash crops like sugar, rice, indigo, and tobacco. Manufacturers in the European nations then sold finished goods to the colonies at high prices. The colonists lost money on both exchanges.

* Smuggling increased as a result of the Navigation Acts!

*William and Mary – The two swore to uphold the English Bill or Rights.

*The English Bill of Rights

*The right to free speech.

*The right to petition the government.

*Excessive bail was banned.

*No cruel and unusual punishment.

*Right to a jury trial.

The English Bill of Rights stated that the Crown could not suspend the Parliament’s laws or create special courts to misinterpret the laws. It also prevented the Crown from collecting taxes without the consent of the Parliament, or raising an army independently.

*The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights

*The right to free speech.

*The right to petition the government.

*Excessive bail was banned.

*No cruel and unusual punishment.

*Right to a jury trial.

All of the rights presented here are included in the Bill of Rights at in the United States Constitution. There are also several basic principles of government which are drawn from the English Bill of Rights. For example, the separation of powers in the government and the granting of the power of the purse to the Legislative Branch.