AP U.S. History
Student Lecture Notes
Unit 1.5
COLONIAL SOCIETY IN THE 18TH CENTURY
I. Characteristics of 18th century British Colonial America
A. Enormous population growth: common
feature among the 13 colonies
1. Demographic
changes resulted in shift in the balance of power between
the colonies and England.
2. 1700 =
less than 300,000 people; 2.5 million by 1775 (20% black)
3. High
fertility rate: ratio of English settlers for each American colonist dropped
a. 20 to 1 in 1700.
b. 3 to 1 in 1775.
4. Largest
colonies were Virginia, Mass., Penn., NC, and Maryland
5. Only four
major cities: Philadelphia, NY, Boston, Charleston
6. 90%
lived in rural areas in early 18th century; 80% by American
Revolution
B. America as a melting pot: The
"Old Immigration"
1. Most mixed population in perhaps
all the world despite being mainly English
a. South
held 90% of slaves
b. New
England the least ethnically mixed; predominantly Puritan
c. Middle
colonies most ethnically mixed
d. Outside
of New England, about 1/2 of population non-English in 1775
2. Population breakdown: 1790
a. English & Welsh (66%): English was dominant language; British
institutions
b. African: 20% of population
by 1775; mostly concentrated in the South
c. Scots
Irish (and Scots Highlanders) (5.6%)
i. Presbyterian Scots Lowlanders
-- Hated the British for uprooting them earlier from Scotland.
-- Most were frustrated and poor
ii. Thousands came to America in early 1700s (mostly in
Pennsylvania)
iii. Squatted on frontier lands and fought Native
Americans.
-- Eventually moved south into backcountry of Maryland, western
Virginia, & western Carolinas; fought Indians on the frontier
c. Scots
Highlanders – small population; loyal to the crown; relatively well-off
d. German
(4.5%)
i. Fled religious persecution,
economic oppression, and war in early 1700's
ii. Settled mostly in Pennsylvania; comprised 1/3 of its population
iii. Primarily Lutheran
iv. No loyalty to British crown.
v. Retained German language and customs.
e. Dutch (2.0%): concentrated in New York, New Jersey
f. Irish (1.6%)
g. French (0.4%)
h. All other whites
(0.3%) (Swedes, Jews, Swiss)
C. Structure of Colonial Society
1. Stratification
emerged by the mid 18th c.; not as much in prior to 1750
a. Small Upper-class:
i. Aristocratic plantation owners in South dominated wealth and influence
ii. Merchants, lawyers, officials, and clergymen dominated the North
b. Yeoman farmers constituted the majority of the population: owned land
c. Lesser tradesman, manual workers, and hired hands: many did not own land
d. Indentured servants and jailbirds: limited/no influence
e. Slaves: 20% of population
2. Americans
on average had the highest standard of living in the world.
II. Commerce and Trade
A. Triangular
trade (illegal trade designed to circumvent Navigation Laws)
1. New Englanders exported timber, fish, cotton goods, and
light
manufacturing
to French Caribbean in return for molasses.
2. New England ships brought molasses back home to be
distilled for rum
production.
-- Rhode Island became center for rum distillation in the colonies.
3. Rum from New England shipped to West Indies where slave
ships that
had
disposed of their human cargo, took rum to Gold Coast of Africa.
4.
Slaves transported via Middle Passage to the colonies (e.g. Newport, RI)
B. Land
speculation made many investors wealthy
C.
Manufacturing
a. Secondary in importance to farming
b. Small industries such as tailoring, shoemaking, baking, metalworking,
and
furniture making were part of small industries.
c. Lumbering most important: shipbuilding
d. Women spinners and weavers at home produced large output of cloth.
e. Other enterprises included naval stores, beaver hats, rum, carpentry
D. Increased trade
1. Growth of American population created
increased demand for British goods
2. As
American economy grew, Americans sought other foreign markets
a. Exports to France and West Indies brought in money to buy British goods
b. Molasses Act, 1733: British sought to stop colonial trade with French
West Indies; the colonists ignored it
E. Transportation
1. Inland transportation poor by
road
2. Most of population located near
rivers
3. Taverns along roads were
important places to discuss politics
4. Postal system emerged by mid
1700s
III. Religion
A. State of Religion
1. Only about 1 in 7 in the North
were church members; less in the South
2. Toleration came about in large
part due to non-church members.
3. Two major issues:
a. Rights of
dissenters in established churches
b. Religious
style and conviction during the Great Awakening
4. Eventually, campaign for full religious
rights led to separation of church and
state after
the American Revolution except for New England
B. Different religious groups
1. Anglican
Church -- Church of England; tax supported
a. Official faith in VA, MD, N & S Carolina, GA, & part of NY
b. Church was a branch of royal authority
c. Faith was less fierce and more worldly in contrast to Puritan faith
d. Weakened by lack of a resident bishop in US
-- Non-Anglicans saw a bishop as a conspiracy to impose royal power
e. Established College of William and Mary in VA to train ministers, 1693
2. Congregational Church
(Grew out of the Puritan church)
a. Prominent in New England
b. Initially, all citizens, regardless of faith, supported the church through
taxes
-- Eventually, non-members of other well- known denominations protested
and became exempted.
c. Emphasized Church of Christ's existence in each individual
Congregation.
3. Presbyterian Church
a. Closely
associated with the Congregational Church -- both were Calvinist
b. Contrast
to Congregationalists: Presbyterians believed all Presbyterian
churches constituted a unified body
c. Not an
official religion in any of the colonies
4. Quakers
a. Quakers
existed in large numbers in PA, NJ, DE, and Rhode Island.
b. Protested
New England slave trade (e.g., Newport, RI)
--
Became important in the emerging 18th century abolition movement.
5. Jews
a. First
Jews arrived in mid-17th c.; located in RI, NY, PA, MD, and SC.
b.
Approximately 1,500 in the colonies by mid-18th century.
C. The Great Awakening
-- 1730s-1740s
1. First mass
social movement in American History
-- Spread principally throughout the middle and southern colonies.
2. Main issue was religious style:
personal faith, church practice, & public decorum.
a. Two
primary issues:
i. Crisis within the ministry (to what degree should organizational purity
be maintained)
ii. Crisis between the clergy and the laity (e.g. ministers' salaries, degree
of political control exercised by the Congregation)
b. Great
Awakening was a reaction against the elaborate theological doctrines,
emotional stagnation, & liberal doctrines (arminianism) of established
churches
-- Arminianism: Directly challenged Calvinism’s predestination
doctrine
and was supported increasingly by liberal ministers
-- Stated man is not helpless in achieving salvation; his will can be an
effective force in his being saved
c. Enthusiasts
saw themselves as beneficiaries of a direct inspiration from God:
became the driving force behind the Great Awakening
3. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
a. Credited
with starting the Great Awakening in 1734
-- Most influential theological writer and thinker of the movement.
b. Blasted
the idea of salvation through free will (arminianism); dependence on
God's grace is paramount
c. Emphasized
eternal damnation
d. Style was
learned and reasoned; not emotional like other "new lights"
4. George Whitefield
(1714-1770)
a. Brilliant
English orator who traveled extensively throughout the colonies
b. His basic
appeal was to the Bible
c. Most
influential figure of Great Awakening; founded Methodism in GA and SC
5. "Old Light" vs "New
Light"
a. Old Lights -- orthodox and liberal clergymen deeply
skeptical of
emotionalism and theatrical antics of the revivalists.
-- Believed emotionalism threatened their usefulness and spiritual authority.
b. New
Lights -- supported the Awakening for revitalizing American religion
and used emotionalism to move followers.
c.
Congregationalists and Presbyterians split over the issue
d. Baptists
attracted believers in conversion who longed for emotion in religion.
6. Results
a. Split denominations
thus increasing competitiveness of American churches.
b. Brought
religion to many who had lost touch with it
c.
Undermined the older clergy
d.
Encouraged a new wave of missionary work among the Indians and slaves
e. Founding
of "new light" colleges: Dartmouth, Brown, Rutgers, & Princeton.
f. Laid the foundation for
anti-intellectualism as part of the American character.
7.
The Great Awakening had a strong democratic component
a. People increasingly had more choice over religion (a highly American trait)
b. Another important example of resistance to established authority
IV. Education
A. New England was dedicated to education
1. Stressed Bible reading by community
members
2. Primary and secondary schools
established early (Massachusetts School of Law)
3. Literacy much higher in New
England than the Chesapeake region or deep
South where
only the privileged enjoyed the benefit of education.
B. Middle colonies
1. Also had primary and secondary
education
a. Some
tax-supported, some privately owned
b.
Spread-out population made creation of good school systems difficult
2. Many wealthy families sent their
sons to colleges in England
C. South
1. Educational opportunities limited
for most people except the privileged.
2. Wealthy planters hired tutors to
teach their children.
3. Population highly dispersed; ineffective
educational system for common folks
D. Higher education
1. Primary focus on the training of
new clergy, not academics
--
Emphasis placed on religion and on the classical languages, Latin and Greek
2. Higher education improved with
establishment of University of Pennsylvania
a. Benjamin
Franklin helped establish it
b. First
American college free from denominational control
-- More modern curriculum: modern languages, experimentation, reason
3. Nine important colleges emerged
during colonial period (others existed as well)
-- Harvard,
William & Mary, Yale, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Brown,
Rutgers, and Dartmouth
V. Culture and the Press
A. Most Americans too busy working to
survive to spend time on art.
B. Phillis Wheatley (c.1753-1784) a
notable exception
1. Slave
taught by her master’s mistress to read & write
2. First
important African American writer in America.
3.
Abolitionists would point to her as proof that blacks not intellectually
inferior.
C. Benjamin Franklin
1. Writings had a profound
effect on shaping the American character
2. Poor Richard's Almanack
(edited from 1732-1758)
a.
Compendium of writings of many thinkers of the day
b.
Emphasized thrift, industry, morality, and common sense
c. More
widely read than any book except the Bible; widely read in Europe
3. Franklin's Autobiography
now considered a classic
4. Franklin perhaps the only
first-rank scientist produced in colonies.
a. Experiments with electricity
b. Bifocal spectacles
c. Franklin
stove
d. Started
first privately supported circulating library in America; by
1776, there were about 50.
D. The colonial press
1. Hand-operated printing
presses ran off pamphlets, leaflets and journals.
-- Effective for airing social grievances and building opposition to the
British
2. Zenger Case (1735)
a. Case paved
the way towards freedom of expression
b. John Peter
Zenger's newspaper had criticized the corrupt royal governor
c. He was charged
with seditious libel and brought to trial
d. He argued that
he had printed the truth; royal chief justice ruled printing was
enough to convict, regardless of truth
e. Jury ruled in
favor of Zenger
f. Newspaper
editors thus received some freedom (not as much as post-1776)
VI. Colonial Politics
A. Structure of Colonies -- 1775
1. Royal Colonies: Eight
colonies had royal governors appointed by the crown.
2. Proprietary Colonies: 3
colonies led by proprietors who chose governors
--
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware
3. Charter Colonies: Connecticut
& Rhode Island elected own governors
under
self-governing charters.
B. Bicameral legislature most common
1. Upper house, or Council
-- normally appointed by the crown or proprietor
2. Lower house, or Assembly
-- elected by property owners (the people)
-- Voted for
taxes to pay expenses in the Colonial government
C. Nature of American politics
1. Colonial governments did not
enjoy the power that Parliament enjoyed
2. Yet, colonial governments far
more reformed than those in England
a. Much more
direct representation; will of the people more effective
b. Less
corruption
3. Administration at the local level
a. New
England -- townhall meetings
b. South --
county government
c. Middle
colonies -- Combination of the above
4. Voting restrictions
a. The upper
class opposed democracy; did not trust common people
b. Property
and/or religious qualifications were imposed
c. As
much as 50% of white males were disenfranchised
D. Governors
1. Legal power
a. Authority
to exercise veto power over colonial legislation
b. Had power
to dissolve lower houses of colonial assemblies.
c. Had power
over the judiciary in colonies; in Britain judges lacked these powers
2. Weak in many respects
a.
Assemblies often controlled governors’ salaries
-- One governor did not get paid for a dozen years!
b. King's
orders were often strict & ineffective as Britain was 3,000 miles away
c. Lack of
money from supporters
d. Assemblies
had powers to fill government positions in most colonies
e. Towns
instructed their representatives how to vote-- will of the people
E. Development of Democratic Ideals in Colonial
America
1. Democratic ideal of tolerance
emerged
2. Educational advantages compared
to Europe
3. Equality of opportunity much more
pronounced than in Europe
4. Freedom of speech & the press
5. Freedom of assembly
6. Representative government
VII. Age of the Enlightenment -- (1720s to about 1790)
A. Classical Liberalism
1. Liberty --
Individual human rights
a. Freedom
of religion
b. Freedom
of speech & press
c. Fair and
equal treatment before the law
2. Equality -- All citizens
should have identical rights and civil liberties. Above all,
nobility had
no right to special privileges based on accident of birth.
a. Equality
of opportunity
b. Did not
mean everyone should be economically equal.
3. Human dignity and human happiness
4. Science, progress, and
rationality: liberal principles would lead to better
government
and a better society for all.
5. Representative government
(but not democracy): Only those who owned
property and
had a stake in society could become representatives.
B. Important Thinkers
1. John Locke: Second
Treatise on Civil Government (1690) (late 17th
century
during England's "Glorious Revolution")
a. Men set
up governments in order to protect their property
b. Natural
Rights: Life, liberty, and property
c. Natural
right to rebellion: A government that oversteps its proper function
becomes
a tyranny. Rebellion can be avoided
if government respects the
right
of its citizens and if the people defend their liberties.
2. Baron de Montesquieu:
The Spirit of Laws (1748)
a. Checks
and balances; separation of powers among 3 branches of gov’t
b. Despotism
could be avoided if political power were divided and shared by
a diversity of classes and orders holding unequal rights and privileges.
3. Adam Smith: Wealth of
Nations (1776)
a. Most
significant work on capitalism ever written; founded modern economics
b.
Formulated the idea of a free economy; contrasted sharply with mercantilism
-- Free competition, via private enterprise, would result in greater income for
everyone, not just the rich.
D. Deism – Religious or
philosophical branch of the Enlightenment
1. Premise: God created the universe and then stepped
back; universe ran
like
a clock—the "Ghost in the Machine"
2. Deists
largely rejected traditional Christianity.
3.
Influenced Jefferson, Franklin, Washington & Paine
4. Not a
wide-scale movement; popular among certain groups of intellectuals
XIII. Democratic developments in colonial America
o 1619, Formation of the Virginia House of Burgesses: First representative assembly in America; beginning of representative government in America.
o 1620, Mayflower Compact: First agreement for self-government; freemen agreed to majority rule
o After 1629, New England Townhall Meeting: Church members discussed political and community issues
o Colonial Assemblies: The lower house of colonial assemblies gradually gained political influence; governors had difficulty ruling without the support of assemblies.
o 1639, Fundamental Orders of Connecticut: First written constitution in America.
o 1643, New England Confederation: Connecticut, New Haven, Plymouth, and Massachusetts formed an organization for collective security against Indian attacks. This was an important step in creating more unity among New England colonies.
o 1649, Maryland Act of Toleration: Guaranteed religious freedom to all Christians (but not Jews and atheists)
o 1676, Bacon’s Rebellion: Western Virginia farmers revolted against eastern government; first of several major rebellions where common people are fighting for a more responsive government.
o 1683, New York chapter of Liberties: Granted freedom of religion to all Christians and gave all landowners the right to vote. Created to attract more settlers to New York.
o 1691, Leisler’s Rebellion: Jacob Leisler led a rebellion of frustrated poor people and farmers who protested huge land grants favoring wealthy landholders and speculators that left common people with few opportunities to own land.
o 1735, Zenger Case: A colonial jury found John Peter Zenger innocent of libel against New York's governor. This is an important first step towards freedom of the press.
o 1739, Carolina Regulator Movement: Frustrated poor people from western North Carolina rebelled against the colonial government (similar to Bacon's Rebellion and Leisler's Rebellion)
o 1754, Albany Plan for Union: Proposed by Benjamin Franklin, this plan would have created an intercolonial congress. It was rejected by Britain for giving too much control to the colonies. It was also rejected by the colonies who feared an oppressive colonial congress.
o 1713-1763, "Salutary Neglect": The colonies enjoyed relative autonomy from British rule. Americans became used to regulating their own political and economic affairs (such as Triangular Trade) without British interference. When Britain tried to reimpose control in 1763, the road to revolution began.
o 1740s, Great Awakening: Americans enjoyed much choice regarding religious groups. Churches increasingly had to cater to the needs of their parishioners. This was an important democratic step.
o
1720s to 1790s, The Enlightenment: American
political thought was influenced by Locke's natural rights philosophy (including
consent of the governed) and Montesquieu's views on checks and balances.
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