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Colonial Life

The Southern EconomyTobacco became the South’s first

successful cash crop.It was the main crop of Virginia

and Maryland.Rice and indigo were the main

cash crops of South Carolina. These crops needed certain techniques for cultivation which led to the development of plantations

Working the PlantationsIn order to be profitable, farmers had to

produce crop sin large quantities.Many poor, unemployed tenant farmers

in England were willing to sell their labor for a chance to acquire their own land.

They arrived as indentured servants. American colonists paid the cost of transportation and promised to provide food, shelter, and clothing until their labor contracts expired.

Working the Plantations

By the 1690s, planters in South Carolina imported enslaved Africans to cultivate rice.

Africans were valuable because of their immunity to malaria.

Plantation SocietyThe plantation system created a

society with distinct social classes.

Gentry = planter eliteYeoman = majority of landowners

in the South. They were “backcountry” farmers – they were subsistence farmers.

Tenant farmersSlaves

The ShameBy 1870 between 10 and 12 million

Africans were forcibly taken from West Africa and transported across the Atlantic to America on a journey that Europeans called the Middle Passage.

The first Africans to arrive in Virginia in 1619 were treated as indentured servants. Their status began to change as the number of Africans increased.

Slave Codes1638 – Maryland became the first

colony to recognize slavery.1705 – Virginia enacted a slave

code – set of laws that regulated slavery and defined the relationship between enslaved Africans and free people.

By the early 1700s slavery became a recognized and accepted institution – especially in the Southern colonies.

New England’s EconomyNew England’s geography was

unsuitable for large plantations and the raising of cash crops.

New England was located near the Grand Banks – a region rich in diverse types of fish and many whales.

ForestsNew England’s dense

forests contribute to making lumbering an important industry.

The waterfalls provided power for the sawmills.

The rivers transported the limber to the cost for shipment to other countries.

Life in New EnglandThe town was at the heart of New

England society.Local issues and problems were

discussed at town meetingsMen at these meetings began to

pass legislation for the town and to elect officials.

Meeting HousesVoting was limited to men who

owned property.New England Puritans were expected

to attend Sunday worship at their meetinghouse and to obey strict rules that governed most activities.

Puritans felt responsible for the moral welfare of their neighbors and watching a neighbors’ behavior was considered a religious duty.

The Rise of CitiesNew England produced few

goods that England wanted. However, England produced many goods that the colonists wanted.

The Caribbean was a market for New England’s fish and lumber. New England merchants received raw sugar or bills of exchange for their goods.

Society in the Middle Colonies

The Middles Colonies contained some of North America’s most fertile farmland. Wheat became the region’s most important cash crop.

The rivers in the Middle Colonies allowed farmers to transport their products to ships on the Atlantic coast.

The towns that arose where rivers emptied into the ocean developed into major cities: New York, Philadelphia

MercantilismMercantilism is a set of ideas

about the world economy and how it works.

Mercantilists believed that a country’s wealth was measured by the amount of gold and silver it possessed.

They believed that having a greater number of exports than imports would result in more gold and silver flowing into the country.

ColoniesMercantilists also

believed that a country should establish colonies in order to be self sufficient in raw materials.

The home country would then sell its manufactured goods to the colonies.

Navigation ActsIn 1660 Parliament passed a

navigation act that required all goods imported or exported from the colonies to be transported on English ships.

The act also listed specific raw materials that the colonies could sell only to England.

The list included most of the products that were profitable for the colonies.

Navigation ActsIn 1663 Parliament passed another

navigation act.This law required all goods imported by

the colonies to come through England.Merchants who were bringing goods to

the colonies had to stop in England, pay taxes, and then ship the goods on English ships.

The practice generated money for England, but increased the prices of goods in the colonies.

The Colonies ReactThe colonists were angry.

They frequently broke the law.

The charters of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Plymouth were revoked.

The king created the Dominion of New England and appointed Sir Edmond Andros as governor.

(he was harsh and the colonists hated him)

Glorious RevolutionWilliam and Mary ascended to

the throne and reinstated the colonial charters.

Locke and English Bill of Rights

After the Glorious Revolution, Parliament established the English Bill of Rights, which limited the power of the king and listed the rights that Parliament and English citizens were guaranteed.

John Locke wrote a book titled Two Treatises on Government. Locke thought that people were born with natural rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.