AP U.S. History Lecture
THE MIDDLE COLONIES
I. Characteristics of the Middle Colonies: NY, PA, NJ, DE
A. Excellent land for farming: region became known as
the "bread colonies" for
exports of grain; also
grew fruits and vegetables.
B. Three rivers -- Susquehanna, Delaware, and Hudson -- tapped
fur trade in the
interior.
C. Less aristocratic than New England and the Southern
colonies (except N.Y.)
-- Land holdings intermediate in
size
D. Fewer industries than New England; more than in the South
1. Shipbuilding and lumbering also
important (not as large-scale as New England)
2. Shipping and commerce
E. Population more ethnically mixed; religiously tolerant;
democratically controlled
-- Yet, much factional conflict
among groups.
II. New York
A. Rise of the Dutch in North America
1. Henry
Hudson, Englishman employed by Dutch East India Co., sailed into
Delaware
& NY bays in 1609 and traveled up Hudson River.
2. New Netherlands founded in
1623-1624 in Hudson River by Peter Minuit
a.
Established by Dutch West India Company for quick-profit fur trade
b. Manhattan
Island bought from Indians for about $30
--
The tribe that sold the land didn’t own it but Dutch lay claim anyway.
3. New Amsterdam -- later NYC
-- founded as a company town -- sea port.
a. City run
by and for the Dutch Co., in the interest of the stock-holders
b. Little
religious toleration, free speech, or democratic practices.
c. Patroonship
-- Aristocratic structure; resembled serfdom
i. Huge estates granted to promoters who would settle 50 persons on them.
(One
in Albany larger than Rhode Island!)
ii. After repeated protests, a semirepresentative body was finally granted.
d. Cosmopolitan
town: 1640's -- 18 different languages existed
B. Fall of New Netherlands
1. Indians, in retaliation for Dutch
violence, massacred settlers.
-- Wall
built as a defense; today's Wall Street
2. New England hostile to growth of
New Netherlands; saw Dutch as a threat.
3. Swedes trespassed on Dutch
lands on the Delaware River
a.
Established New Sweden between 1638-1655
b. 1655, Dutch
force led by Peter Stuyvesant, ended Swedish rule;
c. Swedish
colonists were absorbed by New Netherlands.
4. 1664, Charles II ordered
military removal of Dutch from New Netherlands
a. Peter
Stuyvesant forced to surrender w/o firing a shot.
b. Charles'
brother, the Duke of York, given control over the area.
5. Name of colony changed to New
York.
C. New York Chapter of Liberties (1683)
1. Granted freedom of religion to
all Christians and gave all landholders suffrage.
2. Important as a step leading
to eventual democracy in New York.
3. Limitations:
a. Much land
in the hands of a few landowners or speculators.
b. New York
retained feudalistic traits more than any other colony in the North.
D. New York became a Royal colony in 1685 when James II became king.
E. New York flourished under English rule, profiting from
trade with Iroquois,
and attracting settlers who expanded
the agricultural base.
F. Autocratic in character
1. Discouraged
many Europeans from coming to N.Y.; retarded growth
2. Leisler's rebellion in NYC from 1689-1691
occurred in response
a. Remnants
of patroonships led to discontent as huge estates were
were parceled out to upper-class whites, crowding out poor farmers
b.
Combination of poor whites and farmers led by Jacob Leisler.
c.
Inspired by "Glorious Revolution" & overthrow of Dominion of New
England.
d. Revolt
failed, Leisler hanged, parceling out of huge estates continued.
III. Pennsylvania (founded 1681)
A. Quakers in England emerged during mid-1600's
(Religious Society of Friends)
1. Non-conformist in nature: more radical
than the Puritans in opposing authority
a. Refused
to support Anglican Church with taxes
b. Did not
employ a paid clergy.
c. Took no oaths.
d. Made no
deference to authority figures
e.
Pacifists: Refused military service; advocated passive resistance
2. Simple and democratic; sought
religious and civic freedom.
3. Believed in an "inner
light," not scripture or hierarchy, and saw all men
as equal in
God's eyes.
4. Suffered persecution in New England
& other colonies for opposing authority.
B. William Penn
1. 1681, gained huge grant from the
king in return for money owed to his father.
2. Primary motive or founding
colony: Haven for Quakers
3. Secondary motives: Experiment
with liberal ideas in gov't while making a profit.
-- "Holy
Experiment" -- Religious toleration among many denominations.
4. Pennsylvania became best
advertised of all colonies:
a. Pamphlets
distributed in England, Netherlands, France, & Germany.
-- Promised land, freedom of religion, and representative government.
b. These
generous land policies attracted many immigrants
c. Also attracted
carpenters, masons, shoemakers, and other manual workers
C. Pennsylvania.
1. All Swedes, Finns, and
Dutch in the area were naturalized
2. Philadelphia was
carefully planned
3 . Penn bought land from Indians and Quakers had excellent
relations with them.
4. Representative gov't established with landowners having
voting rights.
a. No
tax-supported state church
b. Freedom
of worship guaranteed to all residents
c. No
provisions for military defense; against Quaker pacifist doctrine
d. Quakers
strongly against slavery
5. By 1700, Pennsylvania was 4th
largest colony (behind VA, MA, and MD)
a. Quakers
were shrewd businessmen; exported grain & other foodstuffs
b. Attracted
a large German population
IV. New Jersey started in 1664 as Quaker settlement; 2 proprietors
received area
from Duke of York (the future king of
England).
-- 1702, the two Jerseys were
combined as a royal colony.
V. Delaware was granted its own assembly in 1703.
1. Contained large Quaker population
2. Remained under the governor of Pennsylvania until the
American Revolution
VI. Class struggles in the 17th Century
A. Most immigrants were neither at the top or bottom of
society.
1. Few class distinctions existed on
the frontier
2. Upper-class pretensions were
resented; egalitarian society was desired
B. Upper-class attempt at reproducing European stratification
in America
did not succeed.
a. Common
people too numerous to be subjugated
b. Emerging
middle class became increasingly influential
c.
Democratic traditions in many colonies provided a hedge against complete
upper class control.
2. Rebellions
against upper classes failed to topple them
a. Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)
b. Leisler’s Rebellion (1691)
VII. Colonial lifestyle
A. Most colonists were farmers (about 80% by the American
Revolution)
B. Compared to most
17th c. Europeans, Americans had a higher standard of living.
1. Land was cheap, although less
available in southern plantation system
2. Wages were about three times that
of Europe
MAJOR CONCEPTS FOR 17TH CENTURY COLONIAL AMERICA
·Why was the Protestant Reformation ultimately important to the creation of America?
-- Calvinism drove the will of the Puritans to establish a religiously pure colony in America
-- Most of early America was Protestant (except certain Catholic pockets)
-- Protestantism became one of the defining characteristics of American culture: work ethic, democratically structured churches, religious toleration among different religious groups (except some Puritans and some officials affiliated with the Anglican Church)
·How were the Puritan immigrants important to the growth of democracy in the New World?
-- Congregational church in MBC: Townhall meetings, church members could vote
-- Simple manhood suffrage in Rhode Island
-- Fundamental Orders in Connecticut River colony
·Significance of New England Confederation?
-- First step towards colonial unity
·Major effects of Dominion of New England?
-- Puritan influence permanently reduced
-- Common revolutionary sentiment throughout the colonies
·Similarities among all 13 colonies
-- mostly English
-- possessed British freedoms
-- self-government (though not all democratic)
-- religious toleration (to at least some degree in each colony)
-- educational opportunity (most in New England; least in the South)
-- economic opportunity and social self-development
-- increasingly unique from the British monarchy in character
·Differences among the three colonial regions.
-- New England: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire
Puritan dominated in many areas, less religiously tolerant, more restrictions on civic participation, more industry, less available farm land
-- Middle Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware
Ethnically diverse, religiously tolerant, democratic, Quakers contributed to human freedom, farming, lumbering, ship building, shipping, trade, fur trapping
-- Southern Colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia
Plantation economy, aristocratic, slavery, cash crops, scattered population, expansionary, some religious toleration (Church of England dominant)
Bibliography:
Bailey, Thomas A., Kennedy, David M.: The American Pageant, 10th edition,
Lexington,
Massachusetts: D.C. Heath, 1994
Bailyn, Bernard, The Origins of American Politics, New York: Vintage
Books, 1968
College Board, Advanced Placement Course Description: United States History,
College Entrance Examination Board, 2002
Foner, Eric & Garraty, John A. editors: The Reader’s Companion to
American History, Boston:
Houghton MifflinCompany, 1991
Josephy, Jr., Alvin M., 500 Nations: An Illustrated History of North
American Indians,
New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1994.
Nash, Gary : American Odyssey, Lake Forest, Illinois: Glencoe, 1992
Zinn, Howard, A People’s History of the United States, New York: Harper
and Row 1980