APUSH

Larger societies.

A few tribes had developed more complex cultures and societies in which thousands lived and worked together. The Pueblos in the Southwest lived in multistoried buildings and developed intricate irrigation systems for farming. East of the Mississippi River, the Woodland Native Americans prospered with a rich food supply. Mound-building cultures, including the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian, evolved in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys and elsewhere. Supported by hunting, fishing, and agriculture, many permanent settlements developed. Cahokia (near present-day East St. Louis, Illinois), the largest, had as many as 30,000 inhabitants. For unknown reasons, Mississippian culture began to decline in the 15th century. In the Northeast (present-day New York), Iroquois tribes formed a political confederacy, the League of the Iroquois, which withstood attacks from opposing Native Americans and Europeans during much of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Monetary system.

A major English strategy in controlling the colonial economy was to limit the use of money. The growing colonies were forced to use much of the limited hard currency—gold and silver—to pay for the imports from England that increasingly exceeded colonial exports. To provide currency for domestic trade, many of the colonies issued paper money, but this often led to inflation. The government in England also vetoed colonial laws that might harm English merchants.

Political influence.

A movement as powerful as the Great Awakening was bound to affect all areas of life, including colonial politics. Unlike anything before it, the movement affected every social class in every section. For the first time, the colonists—regardless of their national origins—shared in a common experience as Americans. The Great Awakening may also have had a democra- tizing effect by changing the way people viewed authority. If the common people could make their own religious decisions without relying on the "higher" authority of ministers, then might they also make their own political decisions without deferring to the authority of the great landowners and merchants? This revolutionary idea was not expressed in the 1740s, but 30 years later, it would challenge the authority of a king and his royal governors.

Brief experiment: the Dominion of New England.

A new king, James II, succeeded to the throne in 1685. He was determined to increase royal control over the colonies by combining them into larger administrative units and doing away with their representative assemblies. In 1686, he combined New York, New Jersey, and the various New England colonies into a single unit called the Dominion of New England. Sir Edmund Andros was sent from England to serve as governor of the dominion. The new governor made himself instantly unpopular by levying taxes, limiting town meetings, and revoking land titles. James II did not remain in power for long. His high-handed attempts at asserting his royal powers led to an uprising against him. The Glorious Revolu- tion of 1688 succeeded in deposing James and replacing him with two new sovereigns, William and Mary. James' fall from power brought the Dominion of New England to an end. Massachusetts Bay, New York, and the other colonies again operated under separate charters.

Majority rule in Plymouth.

Aboard the Mayflower in 1620, the Pilgrims drew up and signed a document that pledged them to make decisions by the will of the majority. This document, known as the Mayflower Compact, represented both an early form of colonial self-government and an early (though rudimentary) form of written constitution, establishing the powers and duties of the government.

The Townshend Acts.

Adopting Townshend's program in 1767, Parliament enacted new duties to be collected on colonial imports of tea, glass, and paper. The law required that the revenues raised be used to pay crown officials in the colonies, thus making them independent of the colonial assemblies that had previously paid their salaries. The Townshend Acts also provided for the search of private homes for smuggled goods. All that an official needed to conduct such a search would be a writ of assistance (a general license to search anywhere) rather than a judge's warrant permitting a search only of a specifically named property. Another of the Townshend Acts suspended New York's assem- bly for that colony's defiance of the Quartering Act.

Early hardships.

After a first winter that saw half their number perish, the settlers at Plymouth were helped to adapt to the land by friendly Native Americans. They celebrated a good harvest at a thanksgiving feast (the first Thanksgiving) in 1621. Under strong leaders, including Captain Miles Standish and Governor William Bradford, the Plymouth colony grew slowly. Fish, furs, and lumber became the mainstays of Plymouth's economy.

Florida. (Spanish Settlements)

After a number of failed attempts and against the strong resist- ance of the Native Americans, the Spanish in 1565 established a permanent settlement at St. Augustine. Today, St. Augustine is the oldest city in North America.

The Declaration of Independence

After meeting for more than a year, the congress gradually and somewhat reluctantly began to favor independence rather than reconciliation. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution declaring the colonies to be independent. Five delegates including Thomas Jefferson formed a committee to write a statement in support of Lee's resolution. The declaration drafted by Jefferson listed specific grievances against George III's government and also expressed the basic principles that justified revolution: We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The congress adopted Lee's resolution calling for independence on July 2; Jefferson's work, the Declaration of Independence, was adopted on July 4, 1776.

Texas. (Spanish Settlements)

After they were driven from New Mexico, the Spanish established a few small settlements in Texas. These settlements grew in the early 1700s as Spain attempted to resist French efforts to explore the lower Mississippi River.

Social background of Loyalists

Although Loyalists came from all groups and classes, the majority tended to be wealthier and more conservative than the Patriots. Most government officials and Anglican clergymen in America remained loyal to the crown. Native Americans. At first, the Native Americans tried to stay out of the war. Eventually, however, attacks by Americans moved many Native Americans to support the British, who promised to limit colonial settlements in the West.

Religion

Although Maryland was founded by a Catholic proprietor, and many larger towns like New York and Boston attracted some Jewish settlers, the overwhelming majority of colonists belonged to different Protestant denomina- tions. The Presbyterians were especially well represented in New England. People of Dutch descent in New York attended services of the Dutch Reformed Church. Lutherans, Mennonites, and Quakers were the most common Protestant sects in Pennsylvania.

Transition to a royal colony.

Although it made profits from tobacco sales, the Virginia Company made unwise decisions that caused it to fall heavily into debt. The bankrupt company's charter was revoked in 1624, and the colony, now known as Virginia, came under the direct control of King James I. Thus, Virginia became England's first royal colony (a colony under the control of a king or queen).

Lasting problems.

Although it was short-lived, Bacon's Rebellion, or the Chesapeake Revolution, highlighted two long-lasting disputes in colonial Virginia: (1) sharp class differences between wealthy planters and landless or poor farmers and (2) colonial resistance to royal control. These problems would continue into the next century, even after the general conditions of life in the Chesapeake colonies became more stable and prosperous.

Fighting Begins

Angrily dismissing the petition of the First Continental Congress, the king's government declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion and sent additional troops to that colony to deal with any further disorders there. The combination of colonial defiance and British determination to suppress it led to violent clashes in Massachusetts—what would prove to be the first battles of the American Revolution.

Proclamation of 1763.

As a further measure for stabilizing the western frontier, the British government issued a proclamation that prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. Such a measure, it was hoped, would help to prevent future hostilities between colonists and Native Americans. But the colonists reacted to the proclamation with anger and defiance. After their victory in the French and Indian War, Americans hoped to reap benefits in the form of access to western lands. For the British to deny such benefits was infuriating. Defying the prohibition, thousands streamed westward beyond the imaginary boundary line drawn by the British. (See map, page 68.)

The Carolinas

As a reward for helping him gain the throne, Charles II granted a huge tract of land between Virginia and Spanish Florida to eight nobles, who in 1663 became the lord proprietors of the Carolinas. Eventually, in 1729, two The Thirteen Colonies and the British Empire, 1607-1750 29 royal colonies, South Carolina and North Carolina, were formed from the original proprietorship.

Headright system.

As another method for attracting immigrants,Virginia offered 50 acres of land to (1) each immigrant who paid for his own passage and (2) any plantation owner who paid for an immigrant's passage.

Congregationalists.

As successors to the Puritans, members of the Congregational Church were found mainly in New England. Protestant critics of this church thought its ministers were domineering and its doctrine overly complex.

Slave laws.

As the number of slaves increased, white colonists adopted laws to ensure that African Americans would be held in bondage for life and that their slave status would be inherited by their children. In 1641, Massachu- setts became the first colony to recognize the slavery of "lawful" captives. Virginia in 1661 enacted legislation stating that children automatically inherited their mother's slave status for life. By 1664, Maryland further locked African slaves into perpetual bondage by declaring that baptism did not affect the slave's status, and that white women could not marry African-American men. It became customary for whites to regard blacks (whether slave or free) as social inferiors. Thus, both racism and slavery became an integral part of American colonial society.

The Articles of Confederation

At Philadelphia in 1776, at the same time that Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, John Dickinson drafted the first constitution for the United States as a nation. Congress modified Dickinson's plan to protect the powers of the individual states. The Articles of Confederation, as the document was called, was adopted by Congress in 1777 and submitted to the states for ratification.

Peace Efforts

At first the congress adopted a contradictory policy of waging war while at the same time seeking a peaceful settlement. Many in the colonies did not want independence, for they valued their heritage and Britain's protection, but they did want a change in their relationship with Britain. In July 1775, the delegates voted to send an "Olive Branch Petition" to King George III, in which they pledged their loyalty and asked the king to intercede with Parliament to secure peace and the protection of colonial rights. King George angrily dismissed the congress' plea and agreed instead to Parliament's Prohibitory Act (August 1775), which declared the colonies in rebellion. A few months later, Parliament forbade all trade and shipping between England and the colonies.

Colonial reaction.

At first, the colonists did not strongly protest the taxes under the Townshend Acts because they were indirect taxes paid by merchants at the ports (not direct taxes on consumer goods). Eventually, however, a few colonial leaders such as John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and Samuel Adams and James Otis of Massachusetts argued forcefully against the new duties. In his Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania, Dickinson agreed that Parliament could regulate commerce but argued that because duties were a form of taxation, they could not be levied on the colonies without the consent of their representa- tive assemblies. Dickinson argued that the principle of no taxation without rep- resentation was an essential principle of English law. In 1768, James Otis and Samuel Adams jointly wrote the Massachusetts Circular Letter and sent copies to every colonial legislature. It urged the various colonies to petition Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts. British officials in Boston ordered the letter retracted, threatened to dissolve the legislature, and increased the number of British troops in Boston. Responding to the circular letter, the colonists again conducted boycotts of British goods. Merchants increased their smuggling activities to avoid the offensive Townshend duties.

Population Growth

At the start of the new century, in 1701, the English colonies on the Atlantic Coast had a population of barely 250,000 (not counting the Native Americans). By 1775, the figure had jumped to 2,500,000, a tenfold increase within the span of a single lifetime. (Among African Americans, the population increase was even more dramatic: from about 28,000 in 1701 to 500,000 in 1775.) The spectacular gains in population during this period were the result of two factors: immigration of almost a million people and a sharp natural increase, caused chiefly by a high birthrate among colonial families. An abundance of fertile American land and a dependable food supply attracted thousands of European settlers each year and also encouraged the raising of large families.

Columbus' legacy.

At the time of his death, many Spaniards viewed Columbus as a failure because they suspected that he had not found a route to the riches of China and the Indies, as he claimed, but a "New World." Today, some people scoff at Columbus for having erroneously given Native Americans the name "Indians." Even the land that he had explored was named for someone else, Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian sailor. Also Columbus' critics point out the many problems and injustices suffered by Native Americans after Europeans arrived and took over their land. Nevertheless, no one can seriously dispute Columbus' importance. Modern scholars have recognized his great skills as a navigator and his daring and commitment in going forth where nobody else had ever dared to venture. Furthermore, there is no denying that Columbus' voyages brought about, for the first time in history, permanent interaction between Europeans and Native Americans.

Education

Basic education was limited and varied greatly among the colonies. Formal efforts were directed to males, since females were to be trained only for household work.

Southern colonies.

Because of the South's varied geography and climate, farming ranged from small subsistence family farms to large plantations of over 2,000 acres. Cash crops were mainly tobacco in the Chesapeake and North Carolina colonies, and rice and indigo in South Carolina and Georgia. On the plantations, a shortage of indentured servants led to the increased use of slaves. Most plantations were self-sufficient—they grew their own food and had their own slave craftspeople. The Carolinas also exported large quantities of timber and naval stores (tar and pitch). Most plantations were located on rivers so that their cash crops could be shipped directly to Europe.

Second Phase of the Crisis, 1767-1773

Because the British government still needed new revenues, the newly appointed chancellor of the exchequer, Charles Townshend, proposed another tax measure.

New Jersey

Believing that the territory of New York was too large to administer, James in 1664 gave to two friends, Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, that section of the colony located between the Hudson River and Delaware Bay. In 1674, one proprietor received West New Jersey and the other East New Jersey. To attract settlers, both proprietors made generous land offers and allowed religious freedom and an assembly. Eventually, they sold their proprietary interests to various groups of Quakers. Land titles in the Jerseys changed hands repeatedly, and inaccurate property lines added to the general confusion. To settle matters, the crown decided in 1702 to combine the two Jerseys into a single royal colony: New Jersey.

The Thirteen Colonies And The British Empire, 1607-1750

Between the founding of Jamestown (Virginia) in 1607 and the founding of Georgia in 1733, a total of 13 distinctly different English colonies developed along the Atlantic Coast of North America. Every colony received its identity and its authority to operate by means of a charter (a document granting special privileges) from the English monarch. Each charter described in general terms the relationship that was supposed to exist between the colony and the crown. Over time, three types of charters—and three types of colonies—developed: ● Corporate colonies, such as Jamestown, were operated by joint-stock companies, at least during these colonies' early years. ● Royal colonies, such as Virginia after 1624, were to be under the direct authority and rule of the king's government. ● Proprietary colonies, such as Maryland and Pennsylvania, were under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king. Unlike those who settled the French and Spanish colonies in the Americas, the English colonists brought with them a tradition of independence and repre- sentative government. They were accustomed, in other words, to holding elec- tions for representatives who would speak for property owners and either approve or disapprove important measures, such as taxes, proposed by the king's government. While political and religious conflicts and civil war domi- nated England, feelings for independence grew in the colonies. Eventually, tensions developed between the king's purposes and those of his colonial subjects. This chapter summarizes the history of the English colonies as their separate political, economic, and social systems slowly took shape.

The United States Under the Articles, 1781-1787

Between the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1783 and the meeting of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia was a period of only four years. As you recall, the original U.S. government under the Articles of Confederation consisted of a one-house congress, no separate executive, and no separate judiciary (court system). Let us review some of the major problems the United States faced immediately after winning its independence.

Politics

By 1750, the 13 colonies had similar systems of government, with a governor acting as chief executive and a separate legislature voting either to adopt or reject the governor's proposed laws.

Royal colony.

By 1752, Oglethorpe and his group gave up their plan. Taken over by the British government, Georgia became a royal colony. Restric- tions on rum and slavery were dropped. The colony grew slowly by adopting the plantation system of South Carolina. Even so, at the time of the American Revolution, Georgia was still the smallest and poorest of the 13 colonies.

State Governments

By 1777, ten of the former colonies had written new constitutions. Most of these documents were both written and adopted by the states' legislatures. In a few of the states (Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina), a pro- posed constitution was submitted to a vote of the people for ratification (approval). Each state constitution was the subject of heated debate between conservatives, who stressed the need for law and order, and liberals, who were most concerned about protecting individual rights and preventing future tyrannies. Although the various constitutions differed on specific points, they had the following features in common:

Africans

By far the largest single group of non-English immigrants did not come to America of their own free will. They were Africans—or the descendants of Africans—who had been taken captive, forced into the holds of European ships, and sold as slaves to southern plantation owners and other colonists. Some Africans were granted their freedom after years of forced labor. By 1775, the African-American population (both slave and free) made up fully 20 percent of the colonial population. An overwhelming majority—90 percent—lived in the southern colonies in a state of lifelong bondage. African Americans formed a majority of the population in South Carolina and Georgia and significant minorities in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. Outside the South, thou- sands of African Americans worked at a broad range of occupations, some as slaves and others as free wage earners and property owners. In every colony, from New Hampshire to Georgia, there were laws that discriminated against African Americans and placed limits on their rights and opportunities.

The Economy

By the 1760s, almost half of England's world trade was with its American colonies. The government in England permitted limited kinds of colonial manu- facturing, such as making flour or rum, but it restricted efforts that would compete with English industries, such as textiles. The richness of the American land and British mercantile policy produced a society almost entirely engaged in agriculture. As the people prospered and communities grew, increasing numbers be- came ministers, lawyers, doctors, and teachers. The quickest route to wealth was through the land, although regional geography often provided distinct opportunities for the hardworking colonists.

Early Explorations

Changing economic, political, and social conditions in Europe shaped the ambitions of the Italian-born Christopher Columbus.

New York

Charles II wished to consolidate the crown's holdings along the Atlantic Coast and close the gap between the New England and the Chesapeake colonies. This required compelling the Dutch to give up their colony of New Amsterdam centered on Manhattan Island and the Hudson River Valley. In 1664, the king granted his brother, the Duke of York (the future James II), the lands lying between Connecticut and Delaware Bay. As the lord high admiral of the navy, James dispatched a force that easily took control of the Dutch colony from its governor, Peter Stuyvesant. James ordered his agents in the renamed colony of New York to treat the Dutch settlers well and to allow them freedom to worship as they pleased and speak their own language. James also ordered new taxes, duties, and rents without seeking the consent of a representative assembly. In fact, he insisted that no assembly should be allowed to form in his colony. But taxation without representation met strong opposition from New York's English-speaking settlers, most of whom were Puritans from New England. Finally, in 1683, James yielded by allowing New York's governor to grant broad civil and political rights, including a representative assembly.

Anglicans.

Colonial members of the Church of England tended to be prosperous farmers and merchants in New York and plantation owners in Virginia and the Carolinas. There was no Anglican bishop in America to ordain ministers. The absence of such leadership hampered the church's development. Because the Church of England was headed by the king, it was viewed as a symbol of English control in the colonies.

Columbus

Columbus spent eight years seeking financial support for his plan to sail west from Europe to the "Indies." Finally, in 1492, he succeeded in winning the backing of the two Spanish monarchs. Isabella and Ferdinand were then at the height of their power, having just defeated the Moors. They agreed to outfit three ships and to make Columbus governor, admiral, and viceroy of all the lands that he would claim for Spain. After sailing from the Canary Islands on September 6, Columbus landed in the Bahamas on October 12. His success in discovering lands on the other side of the ocean brought him a burst of glory in Spain. But three subsequent voyages across the Atlantic were disappointing. Columbus died in 1506, still believing that he had found a western route to Asia.

Accomplishments.

Despite its weaknesses, the congress under the Articles did succeed in accomplishing the following: 1. Winning the war. The U.S. government could claim some credit for the ultimate victory of Washington's army and for negotiating favorable terms in the treaty of peace with Britain. 2. Land Ordinance of 1785. Congress established a policy for surveying and selling the western lands. The policy provided for setting aside one section of land in each township for public education. 3. Northwest Ordinance of 1787. For the large territory lying between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River, the congress passed an ordinance (law) that set the rules for creating new states. The Northwest Ordinance granted limited self-government to the developing territory and prohibited slavery in the region.

Permanent restrictions.

Despite the Glorious Revolution, mercantilist policies remained in force. In the 18th century, there were more English officials in the colonies than in any earlier era. Restrictions on colonial trade, though poorly enforced, were widely resented and resisted.

Dutch Claims

During the 1600s, the Netherlands also began to sponsor voyages of exploration. The Dutch government hired Henry Hudson, an experienced Eng- lish seaman, to seek a northwest passage. In 1609, Hudson sailed up a broad river (later named for him as the Hudson River), an expedition that established Dutch claims to the surrounding area that would become New Amsterdam (and later New York). A private joint-stock company (see below), the Dutch West India Company, was given the privilege of taking control of the region for economic gain.

Women

During the war, both the Patriots and Loyalists depended on the active support of women. Some women followed their men into the armed camps and worked as cooks and nurses. In a few instances, women actually fought in battle, either taking their husband's place, as Mary McCauley (Molly Pitcher) did at the Battle of Monmouth, or passing as a man and serving as a soldier, as Deborah Sampson did for a year. The most important contribution of women during the war was in main- taining the colonial economy. While fathers, husbands, and sons were away fighting, women ran the family farms and businesses. They provided much of the food and clothing necessary for the war effort. Despite their contributions, women remained in a second-class status. Unanswered went pleas such of those of Abigail Adams to her husband, John Adams: "I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors."

The Structure of Colonial Society

Each of the 13 British colonies developed along different lines and adopted its own unique institutions. However, the colonies also shared a number of characteristics in common.

List of rights (State Governments)

Each state constitution began with a "bill"or"declaration" listing the basic rights and freedoms, such as a jury trial and freedom of religion, that belonged to all citizens by right and that state officials could not infringe (encroach on).

Expanding Trade

Economic motives for exploration grew out of a fierce competition among European kingdoms for increased trade with Africa, India, and China. In the past, this trade had traveled from the Italian city-state of Venice and the Byzantine city of Constantinople on to an overland route that reached all the way to the capital of the Chinese empire. This land route to Asia had become blocked when, in 1453, the Ottoman Turks seized control of Constantinople. Might a new way to the rich Asian trade be opened up by sailing either west across the Atlantic Ocean or south along the West African coast? At first, the latter possibility (sailing around Africa) seemed more promising. Voyages of exploration sponsored by Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator eventually succeeded in opening up a long sea route around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. In 1498, the Portuguese sea captain Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India by this route. By this time, Columbus had attempted what he thought would be a shorter route to Asia. (He was wrong, of course. What he found was a sea route to the Americas.)

George Whitefield.

Edwards' influence was largely limited to the New England colonies. Another preacher, George Whitefield, came from England in 1739 and traveled from one end of colonial America to the other. More than any other figure, Whitefield ignited the Great Awakening with his rousing sermons on the hellish torments of the damned. He preached in barns, tents, and fields, sometimes attracting an audience of 10,000 people. He stressed that God was all-powerful and would save only those who openly professed belief in Jesus Christ; those who did not would be cast into hell. Whitefield taught that ordinary people who had faith and sincerity could understand the Christian Gospels without depending on ministers to lead them.

Jamestown

England's King James I chartered the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company that established the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown in 1607.

English Claims

England's earliest claims to territory in the New World rested on the voyages of John Cabot, an Italian sea captain who was under contract to England's King Henry VII. Cabot explored the coast of Newfoundland in 1497. England, however, did not follow up Cabot's discoveries with other ex- peditions of exploration and settlement. England's monarchy in the 1500s was preoccupied with other matters, including Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church. In the 1570s and 1580s, under Queen Elizabeth I, England challenged Spanish shipping in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Sir Francis Drake, for example, attacked Spanish ships, seized the gold and silver that they carried, and even attacked Spanish settlements on the coast of Peru. Another English adventurer, Sir Walter Raleigh, attempted to establish a settlement at Roanoke Island off the North Carolina coast in 1587, but the venture failed.

Acts of Trade and Navigation.

England's government implemented a mercantilist policy with a series of Navigation Acts (1650 to 1673), which established three rules for colonial trade: 1. Trade to and from the colonies could be carried only by English or colonial-built ships, which could be operated only by English or colo- nial crews. 2. All goods imported into the colonies, except for some perishables, could pass only through ports in England. 3. Specified or "enumerated" goods from the colonies could be exported to England only. Tobacco was the original "enumerated" good, but over a period of years, the list was expanded to include most colo- nial products.

English.

English settlers continued to come to the American colonies, but with fewer problems at home, their numbers were relatively small compared to others, especially the Germans and Scotch-Irish.

Cultures of North America

Estimates vary widely as to the population in the region north of Mexico (present-day United States and Canada) in the 1490s, when Columbus made his historic voyages. From under a million to over 10 million people may have been spread across this area.

Developing Nation-States

Europe was also changing politically in the 15th century. Monarchs were gaining power and building nation-states in Spain, Portugal, France, England, and the Netherlands. (A nation-state is a country in which the majority of people share both a common culture and common political loyalties toward a central government.) The monarchs of the emerging nation-states depended on trade to bring in needed revenues and the Church to justify their right to rule. Among these monarchs were Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain and Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, who used their power to search for riches abroad and to spread the influence of the Roman Catholic Church to new overseas dominions.

Exchanges.

Europeans and Native Americans had developed vastly dif- ferent cultures over the millennia. The contact between the peoples of the Americas and the Europeans had both immediate and long-term effects. The Native Americans introduced Europeans to many new plants and foods, in- cluding beans, corn, sweet and white potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco. They also infected Europeans with syphilis for the first time. Europeans brought sugar cane, bluegrasses, pigs, and horses, which all flourished in the new lands. They also introduced the wheel, iron implements, and guns to the Americas. Deadlier than all the guns was the European importation of germs and diseases, such as smallpox and measles, which within a century decimated the Native American population. Millions died (there was a mortality rate of over 90 percent), including entire tribal communities. These exchanges, biological and cultural, would permanently change the entire world.

Renewal of the Conflict

Even during the years of comparative peace, 1770-1772, Samuel Adams and a few other Americans kept alive the view that British officials were deliberately conspiring against colonial liberties. A principal device for spread- ing this idea was by means of the Committees of Correspondence initiated by Samuel Adams in 1772. In Boston and other Massachusetts towns, Adams began the practice of organizing committees that would regularly exchange letters about suspicious or potentially threatening British activities. The Virginia House of Burgesses took the concept a step further when it organized intercolo- nial committees in 1773.

Reorganization of the British Empire

Even more serious than the resentful feelings stirred by the war experience was the British government's decision to change its colonial policies. Previously, Britain had exercised little direct control over the colonies and had generally allowed its navigation laws regulating colonial trade to go unenforced. This earlier policy of salutary neglect was now abandoned as the British saw a need to adopt more forceful policies for taking control of their expanded North American dominions. All four wars—and the last one in particular—had been extremely costly. In addition, Britain now felt the need to maintain a large British military force to guard its American frontiers. Among British landowners, pressure was building to reduce the heavy taxes that the colonial wars had laid upon them. King George III and the dominant political party in Parliament (the Whigs) pursued a colonial policy aimed at solving Britain's domestic financial problems. Making the American colonies bear more of the cost of maintaining the British empire was a popular policy with the various factions of Whigs that vied for the king's favor.

Victory

Faced with a larger war, Britain decided to consolidate its forces in America. British troops were pulled out of Philadelphia, and New York became the chief base of British operations. In a campaign through 1778-1779, the Patriots, led by George Rogers Clark, captured a series of British forts in the Illinois country to gain control of parts of the vast Ohio territory. In 1780, the British army adopted a southern strategy, concentrating its military campaigns in Virginia and the Carolinas where Loyalists were especially numerous and active. Yorktown. In 1781, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War was fought near Yorktown, Virginia, on the shores of Chesapeake Bay. Strongly supported by French naval and military forces, Washington's army forced the surrender of a large British army commanded by General Charles Cornwallis.

Professions

For perhaps the first hundred years of colonial life (1607-1707), Christian ministry was the only profession to enjoy widespread respect among the com- mon people. In the course of the 18th century, however, other professions gradually acquired respectability and social prominence. Physicians. The thousands of colonists who fell prey to epidemics of smallpox and diphtheria were treated by a cure that only made matters worse. The common practice then was to bleed the sick, often by employing leeches or bloodsuckers. For a beginning doctor, there was little to no formal medical training other than acting as an apprentice to an experienced physician. The first medical college in the colonies was begun in 1765 as part of Franklin's idea for the College of Philadelphia.

Beginning of the war.

From the British point of view, the French pro- voked the war by building a chain of forts in the Ohio River Valley. One of the reasons the French did so was to halt the westward growth of the British colonies. Hoping to stop the French from completing work on Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) and thereby win control of the Ohio River Valley, the governor of Virginia sent a small militia (armed force) under the command of a young colonel named George Washington. After gaining a small initial victory, Wash- ington's troops surrendered to a superior force of Frenchmen and their Native American allies on July 3, 1754. With this military encounter in the wilderness, the final war for empire began. At first the war went badly for the British. In 1755, another expedition from Virginia, led by General Edward Braddock, ended in a disastrous defeat, as more than 2,000 British regulars and colonial troops were routed by a smaller force of French and Native Americans near Ft. Duquesne. The Algonquin allies of the French ravaged the frontier from western Pennsylvania to North Carolina. A British invasion of French Canada in 1756 and 1757 was repulsed.

Local government.

From the earliest period of settlement, colonists in New England established towns and villages, clustering their small homes around an open space known as a green. In the southern colonies, on the other hand, towns were much less common, and farms and plantations were widely separated. Thus, the dominant form of local government in New England was the town meeting, in which people of the town would regularly come together, often in a church, to vote directly on public issues. In the southern colonies, local government was carried on by a law-enforcing sheriff and other officials who served a large territorial unit called a county.

The War

From the first shots fired on Lexington green in 1775 to the final signing of a peace treaty in 1783, the American War for Independence, or Revolutionary War, was a long and bitter struggle. Americans not only fought a war during this period but also forged a new national identity, as the former colonies became the United States of America. Some 2.6 million people lived in the 13 colonies or states during the war. An estimated 40 percent of the population joined actively in the struggle against Britain. They called themselves American Patriots. A smaller number, 20-30 percent, sided with the British as Loyalists, while the rest tried to remain neutral and uninvolved.

Early Political Institutions

From the very beginning, England allowed its American colonies a certain degree of self-rule.

Special regulations.

Given a royal charter for a proprietary colony, a group of philanthropists led by James Oglethorpe founded Georgia's first settlement, Savannah, in 1733. Oglethorpe acted as the colony's first governor and put into effect an elaborate plan for making the colony thrive. There were strict regulations, including an absolute ban on drinking rum and the prohibition of slavery. Nevertheless, partly because of the constant threat of Spanish attack, the colony did not prosper.

Higher education.

Harvard, the first colonial college, was founded at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1636 in order to give candidates for the ministry a proper theological and scholarly education. Two other early colleges were William and Mary in Virginia (opened in 1694) and Yale in Connecticut (1701). Like Harvard, both were sectarian, meaning that they existed to promote the doctrines of a particular religious sect. William and Mary was founded by Anglicans and Yale by Congregationalists. The Great Awakening prompted the creation of five new colleges between 1746 and 1769: ● College of New Jersey (Princeton), 1746, Presbyterian ● King's College (Columbia), 1754, Anglican ● Rhode Island College (Brown), 1764, Baptist ● Queens College (Rutgers), 1766, Dutch Reformed ● Dartmouth College, 1769, Congregationalist Only one nonsectarian college was founded during this period. The College of Philadelphia, the future University of Pennsylvania, had no religious spon- sors. On hand for the opening ceremonies in 1765 were the college's civic- minded founders, chief among them Philadelphia's leading citizen, Benjamin Franklin.

Voting

If democracy is defined as the participation of all the people in the making of government policy, then colonial democracy was at best limited and partial. Those barred from voting—white women, poor white men, slaves of both sexes, and most free blacks—constituted a sizable majority of the colonial population. Nevertheless, the barriers to voting that existed in the 17th century were beginning to be removed in the 18th. Religious restrictions, for exam- ple, were removed in Massachusetts and other colonies. On the other hand, voters in all colonies were still required to own at least a small amount of property. Another factor to consider is the degree to which members of the colonial assemblies and governors' councils represented either a privileged elite or the larger society of plain citizens. The situation varied from one colony to the next. In Virginia, membership in the House of Burgesses was tightly restricted to certain families of wealthy landowners. In Massachusetts, the legislature was more open to small farmers, although here, too, an educated, propertied elite held power for generations. The common people in every colony tended to defer to their "betters" and to depend upon the privileged few to make decisions for them. Without question, colonial politics was restricted to participation by white males only. Even so, compared with other parts of the world, the English colonies showed tendencies toward democracy and self-government that made their political system unusual for the time.

The Chesapeake Colonies

In 1632, King Charles I subdivided the vast area that had been the Virginia colony. He chartered a new colony located on either side of Chesapeake Bay and granted control of it to George Calvert (Lord Baltimore), as a reward for this Catholic nobleman's loyal service to the crown. The new colony of Mary- land thus became the first of several proprietary colonies.

South Carolina.

In 1670, in the southern Carolinas, a few colonists from England and some planters from the island of Barbados founded a town named for their king. Initially, the southern economy was based on trading furs and providing food for the West Indies. By the middle of the 18th century, South Carolina's large rice-growing plantations worked by African slaves resembled the economy and culture of the West Indies.

Delaware.

In 1702, Penn granted the lower three counties of Pennsylvania their own assembly. In effect, this act created Delaware as a separate colony, even though its governor was the same as Pennsylvania's until the American Revolution.

Georgia: The Last Colony

In 1732, a thirteenth colony, Georgia, was chartered. It was both the last of the British colonies and also the only one to receive direct financial support from the home government in London. There were two principal reasons for British interest in starting a new southern colony. First, Britain wanted to create a defensive buffer to protect the prosperous South Carolina plantations from the threat of invasion from Spanish Florida. Second, thousands of people in London and other cities were being imprisoned for debt. Wealthy philanthropists thought it would relieve the overcrowded jails and prison ships if debtors could be shipped to an American colony to start life over.

Declaratory Act.

In 1766, Grenville was replaced by another prime minister, and Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act. When news of the repeal reached the colonies, there was widespread rejoicing. Few colonists at the time were aware that Parliament had also enacted a face-saving measure known as the Declaratory Act (1766). This act asserted that Parliament had the right to tax and make laws for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever." This declaration of policy would soon lead to renewed misunderstanding and conflict between the American colonists and the British government.

Intolerable Acts

In England, news of the Boston Tea Party angered the king, Lord North, and members of Parliament. In retaliation, the British government enacted a series of punitive acts (the Coercive Acts), together with a separate act dealing with French Canada (the Quebec Act). The colonists were outraged by these various laws, which were given the epithet "Intolerable Acts."

Massachusetts Bay Colony

In England, the persecution of Puritans increased as a result of the policies of a new king, Charles I. Seeking religious freedom, a group of Puritans (who were not Separatists) gained a royal charter for a new colonizing venture, the Massachusetts Bay Company (1629). In 1630, about a thousand Puritans led by John Winthrop sailed for the Massachusetts shore and founded Boston and several other towns. A civil war in England in the 1630s drove some 15,000 more settlers to the Massachusetts Bay colony—a movement known as the Great Migration.

Improvements in Technology

In Europe, there occurred a rebirth of classical learning and an outburst of artistic and scientific activity known as the Renaissance. Columbus and other explorers lived when this era of creative vitality was at its height, in the late 1400s and early 1500s. One aspect of the Renaissance was a gradual increase in scientific knowledge and technological change. Europeans made improvements in the inventions of others. For example, they began to use gunpowder (invented by the Chinese) and the sailing compass (adopted from the Chinese by Arab merchants). There were also major improvements in shipbuilding and mapmaking. The invention of the printing press in the 1450s also aided the spread of knowledge across Europe.

Thomas Paine's Argument for Independence

In January 1776, a pamphlet was published that soon would have a pro- found impact on public opinion and the future course of events. The pamphlet, written by Thomas Paine, a recent English immigrant to the colonies, argued strongly for what until then had been considered a radical idea. Entitled Common Sense, Paine's essay argued in clear and forceful language for the colonies becoming independent states and breaking all political ties with the British monarchy. Paine argued that it was contrary to common sense for a large continent to be ruled by a small and distant island and for people to pledge allegiance to a king whose government was corrupt and whose laws were unreasonable.

British victory.

In London, William Pitt, the new British prime minister, concentrated the government's military strategy on conquering Canada. This objective was accomplished with the retaking of Louisbourg in 1758, the surrender of Quebec to General James Wolfe in 1759, and the taking of Montreal in 1760. With these victories and the signing of a peace treaty in 1763, the British extended their control of North America, and French power on the continent virtually ended. Through the peace treaty (the Peace of Paris), Great Britain acquired both French Canada and Spanish Florida. France ceded (gave up) to Spain its huge western territory, Louisiana, and claims west of the Mississippi River in compen- sation for Spain's loss of Florida.

Treaty of Paris.

In London, news of Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown came as a heavy blow to the Tory party in Parliament that was responsible for conducting the war. The war had become increasingly unpopular in England, partly because it placed a heavy strain on the British economy and the govern- ment's finances. Lord North and other Tory ministers resigned and were replaced by leaders of the Whig party who wanted to end the war. In Paris, in 1783, a treaty of peace was finally signed by the various belligerents. The Treaty of Paris provided for the following: (1) Britain would recognize the existence of the United States as an independent nation. (2) The Mississippi River would be the western boundary of that nation. (3) Americans would have fishing rights off the coast of Canada. (4) Americans would pay debts owed to British merchants and honor Loyalist claims for property confis- cated during the war.

Jonathan Edwards.

In a Congregational church at Northampton, Massachusetts, the Reverend Jonathan Edwards initiated the Great Awakening with a series of sermons, notably one called "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741). Invoking the Old Testament Scriptures, Edwards argued that God was rightfully angry with human sinfulness. Each individual who expressed deep penitence could be saved by God's grace, but the souls who paid no heed to God's commandments would suffer eternal damnation.

Social Change

In addition to revolutionizing the politics of the 13 states, the War for Independence also had a profound effect on American society. Some changes occurred immediately before the war ended, while others evolved gradually as the ideas of the Revolution began to filter into the thoughts and attitudes of the common people.

Stamp Act.

In an effort to raise funds to support British military forces in the colonies, Lord Grenville turned to a tax long in use in England. The Stamp Act, enacted by Parliament in 1765, required that revenue stamps be placed on most printed paper in the colonies, including all legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, and advertisements. This was the first direct tax— collected from those who used the goods—paid by the people in the colonies, as opposed to the taxes on goods that were imported into the colonies, which were paid by merchants.

California. (Spanish Settlements)

In response to Russian exploration from Alaska, the Spanish established permanent settlements at San Diego in 1769 and San Francisco in 1776. By 1784, a series of missions or settlements had been established along the California coast by members of the Franciscan order. Father Jun ́ıpero Serra founded nine of these missions.

New England Confederation.

In the 1640s, the various New England colonies were constantly faced with the threat of attack from the Native Ameri- cans, the Dutch, and the French. Because of the civil war then being fought in England, the colonists could expect little assistance. Therefore in 1643, four New England colonies (Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven) formed a military alliance known as the New England Confederation. The confederation was directed by a board comprised of two representatives from each colony. It had limited powers to act on boundary disputes, the return of runaway servants, and dealings with the Native Americans. The confederation lasted until 1684, when colonial rivalries and renewed control by the English monarch brought this first experiment in colonial coopera- tion to an end. It was important because it established a precedent for colonies taking unified action toward a common purpose.

Halfway Covenant.

In the 1660s, a generation had passed since the founding of the first Puritan colonies in New England. The new native-born generation showed signs of being less committed to religious faith and more interested in material success. How was the Puritan church to remain strong if younger people failed to become members? In an effort to maintain the church's influence and membership, a halfway covenant was offered by some clergymen to those who professed limited religious commitment. In other words, people could now take part in church services and activities without making a formal declaration of their total belief in Christ. Other ministers rejected the halfway covenant and denounced it from the pulpit. Nevertheless, as the years passed, strict Puritan practices were weakened in most New England communities in order to maintain church membership.

Architecture.

In the 1740s and 1750s, the Georgian style of London was widely imitated in colonial houses, churches, and public buildings. Brick and stucco homes built in this style were characterized by a symmetrical placement of windows and dormers and a spacious center hall flanked by two fireplaces. Such homes were found only on or near the eastern seaboard. On the frontier, a one-room log cabin was the common shelter.

Triangular trade.

In the 17th century, English trade in African slaves had been monopolized by a single company. But after the Royal African Company's monopoly expired, many New England merchants entered the lucra- tive slave trade. Merchant ships would regularly follow a triangular, or three- part, trade route. First, a ship loaded with barrels of rum would start out from a New England port like Boston and cross the Atlantic to West Africa; there the rum would be traded for hundreds of captive Africans. Second, the ship would set out on the horrendous Middle Passage (horrendous for the Africans who were forced to experience it). Those Africans who survived the frightful voyage would be traded as slaves in the West Indies for a cargo of sugarcane. Third, completing the last side of the triangle, the ship would return to a New England port where the sugar would be sold to be used in making rum. Every time that one type of cargo was traded for another, the slave-trading entrepreneur usually succeeded in making a substantial profit.

Protestant Dominance

In the 17th century, certain colonial governments had taxed the people to support one of the Protestant denominations. Churches financed in this way were known as established churches. There were two such established churches in the early colonies: the Church of England (or Anglican Church) in Virginia and the Congregational Church in Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut. As various immigrant groups increased the religious diversity of the colonies, the governments gradually changed their policies on tax-supported churches. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, by the time of the Revolution, members of other established religions were exempt from supporting the Congregational Church. Some direct tax support remained until the 19th century. In Virginia, all tax support for the Anglican Church ended shortly after the Revolution.

The Enlightenment

In the 18th century, some educated Americans were attracted to a European movement in literature and philosophy that is known as the Enlightenment. The leaders of this movement believed that the "darkness" of past ages could be corrected by the use of human reason in solving most of humanity's problems. A major influence on the Enlightenment and on American thinking was the work of John Locke, a 17th-century English philosopher and political theorist. Locke, in his Two Treatises of Government, reasoned that while the state (the government) is supreme, it is bound to follow "natural laws" based on the rights that people have simply because they are human. He argued that sovereignty ultimately resides with the people rather than with the state. Furthermore, said Locke, citizens had a right and an obligation to revolt against whatever government failed to protect their rights. Other Enlightenment philosophers adopted and expounded on Locke's ideas. His stress on natural rights would provide a rationale for the American Revolution and later for the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution.

Spanish Policy

In the American territories conquered and occupied by Spain, millions of Native Americans died as a result of both the conquistadores' methods of warfare, efforts at enslavement, and, even more, European diseases for which the Native Americans had no immunity. Spain incorporated the conquered peoples of Central and South America into a highly organized empire. Because few families came from Spain to settle the empire, the explorers and adventurers intermarried with Indians as well as with Africans. The latter group were captured in Africa and forced to travel across the ocean to provide slave labor for the Spanish colonists. A rigid class system developed that was dominated by pure-blooded Spaniards.

Representative government in Massachusetts.

In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, there were limited but important democratic actions. All free- men—male members of the Puritan Church—had the right to participate in yearly elections of the colony's governor, his assistants, and a representative assembly.

Catholic victory in Spain.

In the Middle Ages, Spain had been partly conquered by Muslim invaders. Only one Moorish stronghold remained in that country when Isabella, queen of Castile, and Ferdinand, king of Aragon, united their separate Christian kingdoms. In 1492, the very year that Christopher Columbus sailed on his historic first voyage, Isabella and Ferdinand succeeded in defeating the Moors of Granada. The uniting of Spain under Isabella and Ferdinand was a sign of new leadership, hope, and power for European believers in the Roman Catholic faith.

Achievements in the Arts and Sciences

In the coastal areas, as fear of the Native Americans faded, people of means could display their prosperity and success by adopting architectural and decorative styles from England.

Protestant revolt in northern Europe.

In the early 1500s, certain Christians in Germany, England, France, Holland, and other northern European countries revolted against the authority of the pope in Rome. Their revolt was known as the Protestant Reformation. Conflict between Catholics and Protestants led to a series of religious wars. It also caused the Catholics of Spain and Portugal and the Protestants of England and Holland to want their own versions of Christianity adopted by non-Christian peoples in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Thus, a religious motive for exploration and colonization was added to political and economic motives.

Early English Settlements

In the early 1600s, England was finally in a position to colonize the lands explored more than a century earlier by John Cabot. By defeating a large Spanish fleet—the Spanish Armada—in 1588, England had gained a reputation as a major naval power. Also in this period, England's population was growing rapidly while its economy was depressed. This condition gave rise to a large number of poor and landless people who were attracted by the idea of economic opportunities in the Americas. The English had also devised a practical method for financing the costly and risky enterprise of founding new colonies. Their joint-stock companies pooled the savings of people of moderate means and supported trading ventures that seemed potentially profitable. Thus, in the 1600s, various colonies on the North Atlantic Coast were able to attract large numbers of English settlers.

Cultural Life

In the early 1600s, the chief concern of most colonists was economic survival. People had neither the time nor the resources to pursue leisure activities or create works of art and literature. One hundred years later, however, the colonial population had grown and matured to the point that the arts and other aspects of civilized living could flourish, at least among the well-to-do southern planters and the merchants of the northern cities.

The Great Awakening

In the first decades of the 18th century, sermons in Protestant churches tended to be long intellectual discourses and portrayed God as a benign creator of a perfectly ordered universe. There was less emphasis than in Puritan times on human sinfulness and the perils of damnation. In the 1730s, however, a dramatic change occurred that swept through the colonies with the force of a hurricane. This was the Great Awakening, a movement characterized by fervent expressions of religious feeling among masses of people. The movement was at its strongest during the 1730s and 1740s.

New Revenues and Regulations

In the first two years of peace, Parliament adopted three measures that aroused colonial suspicions of a British plot to subvert their liberties. These were the Sugar Act of 1764, the Quartering Act of 1765, and the Stamp Act of 1765. Each measure expressed the imperial policies of King George III's chancellor of the exchequer (treasury) and prime minister, Lord George Grenville.

Protestant revolt (Maryland)

In the late 1600s, Protestant resentment against a Catholic proprietor erupted into a brief civil war. The Protestants triumphed, and the Act of Toleration was repealed. Catholics lost their right to vote in elections for the Maryland assembly. In the 18th century, Maryland's economy and society was much like that of neighboring Virginia, except that in Maryland there was greater tolerance of religious diversity among different Protestant sects.

African Americans (Patriots)

Initially, George Washington rejected the idea of African Americans serving in the Patriot army. But when the British promised freedom to slaves who joined their side, Washington and the congress quickly made the same offer. Approximately 5,000 African Americans fought as Patri- ots. Most of them were freemen from the North, who fought in mixed racial forces, although there were some all-African-American units. African Americans took part in most of the military actions of the war, and a number, including Peter Salem, were recognized for their bravery.

English Policy

Initially, at least in Massachusetts, the English and the Native Americans coexisted, traded, and shared ideas. The Native Americans taught the settlers how to grow new crops such as corn and showed them how to hunt in the forests. They traded various furs for an array of English manufactured goods, including iron tools and weapons. But peaceful relations soon gave way to conflict and open warfare. The English had no respect for Native American cultures, which they viewed as primitive or "savage." For their part, the Native Americans saw their way of life threatened as the English began to take more land to support their ever-increasing population.

Immediate effects of the war.

Its victory in the French and Indian War gave Great Britain unchallenged supremacy in North America and also estab- lished that country as the dominant naval power in the world. No longer did the American colonies face the threat of concerted attacks from the French, the Spanish, and their Native American allies. From the American point of view, no consequence of the war was more momentous than a fundamental change in the relationship between the colonies and the British government. Foremost was the change in how the British viewed the colonies and how the colonists viewed the home government.

Empires at War

Late in the 17th century, a war broke out involving Great Britain, France, and Spain. This was the first of a series of four wars that were worldwide in scope, being fought not only in Europe but also in India and North America. These wars occurred intermittently over a 74-year period from 1689 to 1763. The stakes were high, since the winner of the struggle stood to gain supremacy in the West Indies and Canada and to dominate the lucrative colonial trade.

Painting.

Many colonial painters were itinerant artists who wandered the countryside in search of families that wanted their portraits painted. Shortly before the Revolution, two American artists, Benjamin West and John Copley, went to England where they acquired the necessary training and financial support to establish themselves as prominent artists.

Repeal of the Townshend Acts.

Meanwhile, in London, there was an- other change in the king's ministers. Lord Frederick North as the new prime minister urged Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts because their effect was to damage trade and to generate only a disappointing amount of revenue. A small tax on tea was retained as a symbol of Parliament's right to tax the colonies. The repeal of the Townshend Acts in 1770 ended the colonial boycott and, except for an incident in Boston (the "massacre" described below), there was a three-year respite from political troubles as the colonies entered into a period of economic prosperity.

Virginia (Economic problems)

Meanwhile, the first of England's colonies, Virginia, struggled with a number of problems in the late 17th century, including a rebellion against the colonial government. Beginning in the 1660s, low tobacco prices, due largely to overproduction, brought hard times to the Chesapeake colonies, Maryland and Virginia. When Virginia's House of Burgesses attempted to raise tobacco prices, the merchants of London retaliated by raising their own prices on goods exported to Virginia.

Quakers.

Members of the Religious Society of Friends—popularly known as Quakers—believed in the equality of all men and women, nonvio- lence, and resistance to military service. They further believed that religious authority was found within each person's private soul and not in the Bible or any outside source. In the 17th century, such views seemed to pose a radical challenge to established authority. Therefore, the Quakers of England were widely persecuted and jailed for their beliefs.

Mercantilism and the Empire

Most European kingdoms in the 17th century adopted the economic policy of mercantilism, which looked upon trade, colonies, and the accumulation of wealth as the basis for a country's military and political strength. According to mercantilist doctrine, a government should regulate trade and production to enable it to become self-sufficient. Colonies were to provide raw materials to the parent country for the growth and profit of that country's industries. Colonies existed for one purpose only: to enrich the parent country. Mercantilist policies had guided both the Spanish and the French colonies from their inception. Mercantilism began to be applied to the English colonies, however, only after the turmoil of England's civil war had subsided.

Small settlements.

Most of the Native Americans lived in semi permanent settlements, each with a small population seldom exceeding 300. The men spent their time making tools and hunting for game, while the women grew crops such as corn, beans, and tobacco. Some tribes were more nomadic than others. On the Great Plains, for example, the Sioux and the Pawnee followed the buffalo herds.

Separation of Church and State

Most states adopted the principle of separation of church and state; in other words, they refused to give financial support to any religious group. The Anglican Church, which formerly had been closely tied to the king's govern- ment, was disestablished in the South (lost state support). Only in three New England states—New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts—did the Congregational Church continue to receive state support in the form of a religious tax. This practice was finally discontinued in New England early in the 19th century.

Impact on the colonies - Negative Effects

Negative effects. (1) Colonial manufacturing was severely limited. (2) Chesapeake farmers received low prices for their crops. (3) Colonists had to pay high prices for manufactured goods from England. In many respects, mercantilist regulations were unnecessary, since England would have been the colonies' primary trading partner in any case. Furthermore, whatever economic advantages were obtained from the Navigation Acts were more than offset by their negative political effects on British-colonial relations. Resentment slowly developed in the colonies against regulatory laws imposed by the distant government in London. Especially in New England, colonists would routinely defy the Navigation Acts by smuggling in French, Dutch, and other prohibited goods.

Restoration Colonies

New American colonies were founded in the late 17th century during a period in English history known as the Restoration. (The name refers to the restoration to power of an English monarch, Charles II, in 1660 following a brief period of Puritan rule under Oliver Cromwell.)

European Immigrants

Newcomers to the British colonies came not only from Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland) but also from other parts of Western and Central Europe, especially large numbers of Protestants from France and German-speaking people from various German kingdoms and principalities. Their motives for leaving Europe were many. Some came to escape religious persecution and wars. Others sought economic opportunity either by farming new land or setting up shop in a colonial town as an artisan or a merchant. Most immigrants settled in the middle colonies (Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware) and on the western frontier of the southern colonies (Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia). In the 18th century, fewer immigrants headed for New England because the lands in this region were both limited in extent and under Puritan control.

The Press

News and ideas circulated in the colonies principally by means of a postal system and local printing presses. Newspapers. In 1725 only five newspapers existed in the colonies, but by 1776 the number had grown to more than 40. Issued weekly, each newspaper consisted of a single sheet folded once to make four pages. It contained such items as month-old news from Europe, ads for goods and services and for the return of runaway indentured servants and slaves, and pious essays giving advice for better living. Illustrations were few or nonexistent. The first cartoon Colonial Society in the Eighteenth Century 51 appeared in the Philadelphia Gazette, placed there by (you guessed it) Ben Franklin.

The Zenger case.

Newspaper printers in colonial days ran the risk of being jailed for libel if any article offended the political authorities. In 1735, John Peter Zenger, a New York editor and publisher, was brought to trial on a charge of libelously criticizing New York's royal governor. Zenger's lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, argued that his client had printed the truth about the governor. According to English common law at the time, injuring a governor's reputation was considered a criminal act, no matter whether a printed statement was true or false. Ignoring the English law, the jury voted to acquit Zenger. While this case did not guarantee complete freedom of the press, it encouraged newspapers to take greater risks in criticizing a colony's government.

The Institution of Slavery

Of far greater importance than mercantilism was a colonial institution that became rooted in American society in the closing decades of the 17th century. That was the institution of slavery. The number of slaves grew rapidly, from only a few thousand in 1670 to tens of thousands in the early 18th century. By 1750, half of Virginia's population and two thirds of South Carolina's population were slaves.

Lawyers.

Often viewed as talkative troublemakers, lawyers were not commonly seen in the colonial courts of the 1600s. In that period, individuals would argue their own cases before a colonial magistrate. During the 1700s, however, as trade expanded and legal problems became more complex, the need for expert assistance in court became apparent. The most able lawyers formed a bar (committee or board), which set rules and standards for aspiring young lawyers. Lawyers gained further respect in the 1760s and 1770s when they argued for colonial rights. John Adams, James Otis, and Patrick Henry were three such lawyers whose legal arguments would ultimately provide the intellectual underpinnings of the American Revolution.

Lexington and Concord

On April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage, the commander of British troops in Boston, sent a large force to seize colonial military supplies in the town of Concord. Warned of the British march by two riders, Paul Revere and William Dawes, the militia (or Minutemen) of Lexington assembled on the village green to face the British. The Americans were forced to retreat under heavy British fire; eight of their number were killed in the brief encounter. Who fired the first shot of this first skirmish of the American Revolution? The evidence is ambiguous, and the answer will probably never be known. Continuing their march, the British entered Concord, where they destroyed some military supplies. On the return march to Boston, the long column of British soldiers was attacked by hundreds of militiamen firing at them from behind stone walls. The British suffered 250 casualties—and also considerable humiliation at being so badly mauled by "amateur" fighters.

The Plymouth Colony

One group of Puritans rejected the idea of simply reforming the Church of England. This group, known as the Separatists, wanted to organize a completely separate church, one that was independent of royal control. Several hundred Separatists left England in search of religious freedom. The Pilgrims, as they were called, first migrated to Holland. But economic hardship and cultural differences led many of the Pilgrims to seek another haven for their religion. They decided to settle in the new colony in America then operated by the Virginia Company of London. In 1620, a small group of Pilgrims set sail for Virginia aboard the Mayflower. Fewer than half of the 100 passengers on this ship were Separatists; the rest were people who had economic motives for making the voyage. After a hard and stormy voyage of 65 days, the Mayflower dropped anchor off the Massachusetts coast, a few hundred miles to the north of the intended destination in Virginia. Rather than going on to Jamestown, the Pilgrims decided to establish a new colony at Plymouth.

The Gaspee.

One incident frequently discussed in the committees' letters was that of the Gaspee. This British customs ship had been successful in catching a number of smugglers. In 1772, the ship ran aground off the shore of Rhode Island. Seizing their opportunity to destroy the hated vessel, a group of colonists disguised as Native Americans ordered the British crew ashore and then set fire to the ship. The British ordered a commission to investigate and bring guilty individuals to Britain for trial.

King Philip's War.

Only a few years before its demise, the confederation helped the New England colonists cope successfully with a dire threat. A chief of the Wampanoags named Metacom—known to the colonists as King Philip— united many tribes in southern New England against the English settlers, who were constantly encroaching on the Native Americans' lands. In a vicious war (1675-1676), thousands on both sides were killed, and dozens of towns and villages were burned. Eventually, the colonial forces managed to prevail, killing King Philip and virtually ending Native American resistance in New England.

Other Europeans.

Other immigrant groups included French Protestants (called Huguenots), the Dutch, and the Swedes. These groups made up 5 percent of the population of all the colonies in 1775.

Southern colonies (Education)

Parents gave their children whatever education they could. On plantations, tutors provided instruction for the owners' children.

The American Revolution and Confederation, 1774-1787

Parliament's passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774 intensified the conflict between the colonies and Great Britain. In the next two years, many Americans reached the conclusion—unthinkable only a few years earlier—that the only solution to their quarrel with the British government was to sever all ties with it. How did events from 1774 to 1776 lead ultimately to this revolutionary outcome?

"The Holy Experiment."

Penn wanted to test ideas he had developed based on his Quaker beliefs. He wanted his new colony to achieve three purposes: provide a religious refuge for Quakers and other persecuted people, enact liberal ideas in government, and generate income and profits for himself. He provided the colony with a Frame of Government (1682-1683), which guaranteed a representative assembly elected by landowners, and a written constitution, the Charter of Liberties (1701), which guaranteed freedom of worship for all and unrestricted immigration. Unlike other colonial proprietors, who governed from afar in England, Penn crossed the ocean to supervise the founding of a new town on the Delaware River named Philadelphia. He brought with him a plan for a grid pattern of streets, which was later imitated by other American cities. Also unusual was Penn's attempt to treat the Native Americans fairly and not to cheat them when purchasing their land. To attract settlers to his new land, Penn hired agents and published notices throughout Europe, which promised political and religious freedom and gener- ous land terms. Penn's lands along the Delaware River had previously been settled by several thousand Dutch and Swedish colonists, who eased the arrival of the newcomers attracted by Penn's promotion.

Protesting the Stamp Act.

People in every colony reacted with fury and indignation to news of the Stamp Act. A young Virginia lawyer named Patrick Henry expressed the sentiments of many when he stood up in the House of Burgesses to demand that the king's government recognize the rights of all citizens—including no taxation without representation. In Massachusetts, James Otis initiated a call for cooperative action among the colonies to protest the Stamp Act. Representatives from nine colonies met in New York in 1765 to form the so-called Stamp Act Congress. They resolved that only their own elected representatives had the legal authority to approve taxes. The protest against the stamp tax took a violent turn with the formation of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, a secret society organized for the purpose of intimidating tax agents. Members of this society sometimes tarred and feathered revenue officials and destroyed revenue stamps. Boycotts against British imports were the most effective form of protest. It became fashionable in the colonies in 1765 and 1766 for people not to purchase any article of British origin. Faced with a sharp drop in trade, London merchants put pressure on Parliament to repeal the controversial Stamp Act.

Impact on the colonies - Positive Effects

Positive effects. (1) New England shipbuilding prospered. (2) Chesapeake tobacco had a monopoly in England. (3) English military forces protected the colonies from potential attacks by the French and Spanish.

Ratification.

Ratification of the Articles was delayed by a dispute over the vast stretches of wilderness extending westward beyond the Alleghenies. Seaboard states like Rhode Island and Maryland insisted that such lands be placed under the jurisdiction of the new central government. When Virginia and New York finally agreed to give up their claims to western lands, the Articles were at last ratified in March 1781.

The Albany Plan of Union.

Recognizing the need for coordinating colo- nial defense, the British government called for representatives from several colonies to meet in a congress at Albany, New York, in 1754. The delegates from seven colonies adopted a plan—the Albany Plan of Union—developed by Benjamin Franklin that provided for an intercolonial government and a system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes from the various colonies for their common defense. (For an excerpt from the Albany Plan of Union, see pages 40-41.) Each colony was too jealous of its own taxation powers to accept the plan, however, and it never took effect. The Albany congress was significant, however, because it set a precedent for later, more revolutionary congresses in the 1770s.

Puritan Colonies

Religious motivation, not the search for wealth, was the principal force behind the settlement of two other English colonies on North America's Atlantic Coast. The first such colony was Plymouth; the second, Massachusetts Bay. Both were settled by English Protestants who were influenced by John Calvin's teachings, including that of predestination, the belief that God guides those who are to be saved. Founded by Henry VIII in the early 1500s, the Church of England, or Anglican Church, was Protestant in that it was under the control of the English monarch, not the pope in Rome. Its rituals, however, resembled those of the Roman Catholic Church. In the early 1600s, during the reign of James I, many people wanted to change both the ceremonies and the hierarchy (governing structure) of the Church of England. Because these religious reformers said they wanted to "purify" their church of Catholic influences, they became known as Puritans. James viewed the Puritans as a threat to both his religious and political authority and ordered some of them arrested and jailed.

Middle colonies.

Rich soil attracted farmers from Europe and produced an abundance of wheat and corn for export to Europe and the West Indies. Farms of up to 200 acres were common. Often, indentured servants and hired laborers worked with the farm family. A variety of small manufacturing efforts developed, including iron-making. Trading led to the growth of such cities as Philadelphia and New York.

Rhode Island.

Roger Williams went to Boston in 1631 as a respected Puritan minister. He believed, however, that the individual's conscience was beyond the control of any civil or church authority. His teachings on this point placed him in conflict with other Puritan leaders, who ordered his banishment from the Bay colony. Leaving Boston, Williams fled southward to Narragansett Bay, where he and a few followers founded the settlement of Providence in 1636. The new colony was unique in two respects. First, it recognized the rights of the Native Americans and paid them for the use of their land. Second, Williams' government provided for complete religious toleration by allowing Catholics, Quakers, and Jews to worship freely. (In addition to founding Provi- dence and later Rhode Island, Williams also founded one of the first Baptist churches in America.) Another dissident who questioned the doctrines of the Puritan authorities was Anne Hutchinson. She believed in antinomianism—the idea that faith alone, not deeds, is necessary for salvation. Banished from the Bay colony, Hutchinson and a group of followers founded the colony of Portsmouth in 1638, not far from Williams' colony of Providence. A few years later, Hutchin- son migrated to Long Island and was killed in an Indian uprising. In 1644, Roger Williams was granted a charter from the English Parliament, which joined Providence and Portsmouth into a single colony, Rhode Island. Because this colony offered religious freedom for all, it served as a refuge for people of various faiths.

New Mexico. (Spanish Settlements)

Santa Fe was established as the capital of New Mexico in 1609. Harsh efforts to Christianize the Native Americans caused the Pueblo people to revolt in 1680. The Spanish were driven from the area until the early 1700s.

Middle colonies. (Education)

Schools were either church-sponsored or private. Often, teachers lived with the families of their students.

Political problems and Bacon's Rebellion.

Sir William Berkeley, the royal governor of Virginia (1641-1652; 1660-1677), adopted policies that favored the large planters and used dictatorial powers to govern on their behalf. He antagonized backwoods farmers on Virginia's western frontier because he failed to protect their settlements from Indian attacks. Nathaniel Bacon, an impoverished gentleman farmer newly arrived from England, seized upon the grievances of the western farmers to lead a rebellion against Berkeley's government. Bacon and others resented the economic and political control exercised by a few large planters in the Chesapeake area. He raised an army of volunteers and, in 1676, conducted a series of raids and massacres against Indian villages on the Virginia frontier. Berkeley's govern- ment in Jamestown accused Bacon of rebelling against royal authority. Bacon's army succeeded in defeating the governor's forces and even burned the James- town settlement. Soon afterward, however, Bacon died of dysentery and the rebel army collapsed. Governor Berkeley brutally suppressed the remnants of the insurrection.

The Second Continental Congress

Soon after the fighting broke out in Massachusetts, delegates to the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in May 1775. The congress was divided between one group of delegates, mainly from New England, who thought the colonies should declare their independence, and another group, mainly from the middle colonies, who hoped the conflict could be resolved by negotiating a new relationship with Great Britain.

Dividing the New World

Spain and Portugal were the first kingdoms to lay claim to territories in the New World. The Catholic monarchs of both countries turned to the pope in Rome to help settle their dispute over the ownership of newly discovered lands. In 1493, the pope drew a vertical, north-south line on a world map, giving Spain all lands to the west of the line and Portugal all lands to the east. In 1494, the two disputing kingdoms signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which moved the line a few degrees to the west. It was later discovered that the line passed through what is now the country of Brazil, and this, together with Portuguese explorations, established Portugal's claim to Brazil. Spain claimed the rest of the Americas. (Other European countries, however, were soon to challenge these claims.)

Spanish Exploration and Conquest

Spanish dominance in the Americas was based on more than a treaty and a papal line of demarcation. Spain owed its power in the New World to the efforts of explorers and conquerors (or conquistadores). Feats such as the journey across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nu ́n ̃ez de Balboa, the circumnavigation of the world by one of Ferdinand Magellan's ships, and the conquests of the Aztecs in Mexico by Hernan Corte ́s and of the Incas in Peru by Francisco Pizzaro secured Spain's initial supremacy in the New World. The conquistadores sent ships loaded with gold and silver back to Spain from the New World. They increased the gold supply by over 500 percent, making Spain the richest and most powerful nation in Europe. Other nations were encouraged to turn to the Americas in search of wealth and power. After seizing the wealth of the Indian empires, the Spanish turned to an encomienda system, with the king of Spain giving grants of land and Indians (Native Americans) to individual Spaniards. These Indians had to farm or work in the mines. The fruits of their labors went to their Spanish masters, who in turn had to "care" for them. When Europeans' brutality and diseases reduced the Native American population, the Spanish brought slaves from West Africa under the asiento system. This required the Spanish to pay a tax to their king on each slave they imported to the Americas.

Abolition of Aristocratic Titles

State constitutions and laws abolished old institutions that had originated in medieval Europe. No legislature could grant titles of nobility, nor could any court recognize the feudal practice of primogeniture (the first born son's right to inherit his parents' property). Whatever aristocracy existed in colonial America was further weakened by the confiscation of large estates owned by Loyalists. Many such estates were subdivided and sold to raise money for the war.

Development of New England

Strong religious convictions helped sustain the Puritans in their struggle to establish the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies. At the same time, Puritan leaders tended to be intolerant of anyone who questioned their religious teachings. A common method for dealing with dissidents was to banish them from the Bay colony. These dissidents formed the nucleus for the founding of several colonies in New England, which would ultimately develop into Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Problems with the articles.

The 13 states intended the central government to be weak—and it was. Making such a government work presented three kinds of problems: 1. Financial. Most war debts were unpaid. Individual states as well as the congress issued worthless paper money. The underlying problem was that the congress had no taxing power and could only request that the states donate money for national needs. 2.Foreign. European nations had little respect for a new nation that could neither pay its debts nor take effective and united action in a crisis. Britain and Spain threatened to take advantage of U.S. weakness by expanding their interests in the western lands soon after the war ended. 3. Domestic. In the summer of 1786, Captain Daniel Shays, a Massachusetts farmer and Revolutionary War veteran, led other farmers in an uprising against high state taxes, imprisonment for debt, and lack of paper money. The rebel farmers stopped the collection of taxes and forced the closing of debtors' courts. In January 1787, when Shays and his followers attempted to seize weapons from the Springfield armory, the state militia of Massachusetts broke Shays' Rebellion.

Structure of government.

The Articles established a central government that consisted of just one body, a congress. In this unicameral (one-house) legislature, each state was given one vote, with at least nine votes out of 13 required to pass important laws. To amend the Articles, a unanimous vote was required. A Committee of States, with one representative from each state, could make minor decisions when the full congress was not in session.

Powers.

The Articles gave the congress the power to wage war, make treaties, send diplomatic representatives, and borrow money. Certain important powers not given to the Congress were the power to regulate commerce or to collect taxes. (To finance any of its decisions, the congress had to rely upon taxes voted by each state.) Neither did the congress have any executive power to enforce its own laws.

The British view.

The British came away from the war with a generally low opinion of the colonial military effort. They held the American militia in contempt as a poorly trained, disorderly rabble. Furthermore, they noted that some of the colonies had refused to contribute either troops or money to the war effort. The British who took this view were convinced that the colonists were both unable and unwilling to defend the new frontiers of the vastly expanded British empire.

Enforcement of the acts.

The British government was often lax in enforcing the acts, and its agents in the colonies were known for their corruption. Occasionally, however, the crown would attempt to overcome colonial resist- ance to its trade laws. In 1684, it revoked the charter of Massachusetts Bay because that colony had been the center of smuggling activity.

Labor Shortages

The Chesapeake colonies grew slowly. Retarding their growth in the early decades were an unhealthy climate and a high death rate due both to disease and Indian attacks. Another factor slowing the development of families was an imbalance between the number of men and women. Most of the early settlers were men brought from England and Scotland to work in the tobacco fields. The tobacco industry required extensive labor which initially was not available. To solve the labor shortage, various methods were attempted. Chief among them were indentured servitude, the headright system, and slavery.

French Claims

The French monarchy first showed interest in exploration in 1524 when it sponsored a voyage by an Italian navigator, Giovanni da Verrazano. Hoping to find a northwest passage leading through the Americas to Asia, Verrazano explored part of North America's eastern coast, including New York harbor. French claims to American territory were also based on the voyages of Jacques Cartier (1534-1542), who explored the St. Lawrence River extensively. Like the English, the French were slow to develop colonies in the New World. During the 1500s, the French monarchy was preoccupied with European wars as well as with internal religious conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestant Huguenots. Only in the next century did France develop a strong interest in following up its claims to North American land. The first permanent French settlement in America was established by Samuel de Champlain in 1608 at Quebec, a fortified village on the St. Lawrence River. Champlain was later regarded as the "Father of New France" because of his strong leadership in establishing the colony. In time, other explorers extended French claims across a vast territory. In 1673, Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette explored the upper Mississippi River, and in 1682, Robert de La Salle explored the Mississippi basin, which he named Louisiana (after the French king, Louis XIV).

Colonial Society In The Eighteenth Century

The Frenchman who wrote the above description of Americans in 1782 ob- served a very different society from the struggling and undeveloped colonial villages that had existed in the 1600s. Over the course of a century, the British colonies had grown and matured, and their inhabitants had slowly evolved a distinct culture different from any that existed in Europe. This chapter describes the colonies in their mature stage and poses the question: If Americans in the 1760s constituted a new kind of society, what were its characteristics and what forces went into shaping its "new people"?

Religious impact.

The Great Awakening had a profound effect on reli- gious practice in the colonies. As sinners tearfully confessed their guilt and then joyously exulted in being "saved," emotionalism became a common part of Protestant services. Ministers lost some of their former authority among those who now studied the Bible in their own homes. The Great Awakening also caused a major division within churches such as the Congregational and Presbyterian, between those supporting its teachings ("New Lights") and those condemning them ("Old Lights"). More evangelical sects such as the Baptists and Methodists attracted large numbers. As a result, there was greater competition to attract followers, increased religious diversity, and a call for separation of church and state.

Impact on the colonies.

The Navigation Acts had both positive and negative effects on the colonies.

British Actions and Colonial Reactions

The Proclamation of 1763 was the first of a series of acts by the British government that were met with anger and resistance in the colonies. From the British point of view, each act was justified as a proper method for protecting its colonial empire and making the colonies pay their share of costs for such protection. From the colonists' point of view, each act represented an alarming threat to their cherished liberties and long-established practice of representa- tive government.

New England. (Education)

The Puritans' emphasis on learning the Bible led them to create the first tax-supported schools. A Massachusetts law in 1647 required towns with over fifty families to establish primary schools for boys, and towns with over a hundred families to establish grammar schools to prepare boys for college.

Tories (Loyalists)

The Revolutionary War was in some respects a civil war in which anti-British Patriots fought pro-British Loyalists. Those who maintained their allegiance to the king were also called Tories (after the majority party in Parliament). Almost 60,000 American Tories fought and died next to British soldiers, supplied them with arms and food, and joined in raiding parties that pillaged Patriot homes and farms. Members of the same family sometimes joined opposite sides. While Benjamin Franklin was a leading patriot, for example, his son William Franklin joined the Tories and served during the war as the last royal governor of New Jersey. How many American Tories were there? Estimates range from 520,000- 780,000 people. In New York, New Jersey, and Georgia, they were probably in the majority. Toward the end of the war, about 80,000 Loyalists emigrated from the states to settle in Canada or Britain rather than face persecution at the hands of the victorious Patriots.

Representative government at Jamestown.

The Virginia Company sought to encourage settlement in Jamestown by guaranteeing colonists the same rights that they had had in England, including the right to be represented in the lawmaking process. In 1619, just 12 years after the founding of Jamestown, Virginia's colonists organized the first representative assembly in America, the House of Burgesses.

Women.

The average colonial wife bore eight children and performed a wide range of tasks. Household work included cooking, cleaning, clothes- making, and medical care. Women also educated the children. A woman usually worked next to her husband in the shop, on the plantation, or on the farm. Divorce was legal but rare, and women had limited legal and political rights. Yet the shared labors and mutual dependence with their husbands gave most women protection from abuse and an active role in decision-making.

Boston Tea Party.

The colonists continued their refusal to buy British tea because the British insisted on their right to collect the tax. Hoping to help the British East India Company out of its financial problems, Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773, which made the price of the company's tea—even with the tax included—cheaper than that of smuggled Dutch tea. Many Americans refused to buy the cheaper tea because to do so would, in effect, recognize Parliament's right to tax the colonies. A shipment of the East India Company's tea arrived in Boston harbor, but there were no buyers. Before the royal governor could arrange to bring the tea ashore, a group of Bostonians disguised themselves as Native Americans, boarded the British ships, and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. Colonial reaction to this incident (December 1773) was mixed. While many applauded the Boston Tea Party as a justifiable defense of liberty, others thought the destruction of private property was far too radical.

The colonial view.

The colonists took an opposite view of their military performance. They were proud of their record in all four wars and developed confidence that they could successfully provide for their own defense. They were not impressed with British troops or their leadership, whose methods of warfare seemed badly suited to America's densely wooded terrain.

American Anger.

The colonists viewed the Quebec Act as a direct attack on the American colonies because it took away lands that they claimed along the Ohio River. They also feared that the British would attempt to enact similar laws in America to take away their representative government. The predominantly Protestant Americans also resented the recognition given to Catholicism. Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution For Americans, especially those who were in positions of leadership, there was a long tradition of loyalty to the king and England. As the differences between them grew, many Americans searched for an explanation and justification for this changing relationship.

Emergence of a National Character

The colonists' motivations for leaving Europe, the political heritage of the English majority, and the influence of the American natural environment combined to bring about a distinctly American viewpoint and way of life. Especially among white male property owners, the colonists exercised the rights of free speech and a free press, became accustomed to electing representatives to colonial assemblies, and tolerated a variety of religions. English travelers in the colonies remarked that Americans were restless, enterprising, practical, and forever seeking to improve their circumstances.

Military Actions

The congress adopted a Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms and called on the colonies to provide troops. George Washing- ton was appointed the commander-in-chief of a new colonial army and sent to Boston to lead the Massachusetts militia and volunteer units from other colonies. Congress also authorized a force under Benedict Arnold to raid Quebec in order to draw Canada away from the British empire. An American navy and marine corps was organized in the fall of 1775 for the purpose of attacking British shipping.

Actions of the Congress

The delegates voted on a series of proposed measures, each of which was intended to change British policy without offending moderate and conservative opinion in the colonies. Joseph Galloway proposed a plan, similar to the Albany Plan of 1754, that would have reordered relations with Parliament and formed a union of the colonies within the British empire. By only one vote, Galloway's plan failed to pass. The following measures were adopted: 1. Originally enacted in Massachusetts, the Suffolk Resolves rejected the Intolerable Acts and called for their immediate repeal. The measure urged the various colonies to resist the Intolerable Acts by making military preparations and applying economic sanctions (boycott) against Great Britain. 2. Backed by moderate delegates, the Declaration of Rights and Griev- ances was a petition to the king urging him to redress (make right) colonial grievances and restore colonial rights. In a conciliatory gesture, the document recognized Parliament's authority to regulate commerce. 3. A third measure, the Association, urged the creation of committees in every town to enforce the economic sanctions of the Suffolk Resolves. 4. If colonial rights were not recognized, a final measure called for the meeting of a second congress in May 1775.

The Delegates

The delegates were a diverse group, whose views about the crisis ranged from radical to conservative. Leading the radical faction—those demanding the greatest concessions from Britain—were Patrick Henry of Virginia and Samuel Adams and John Adams of Massachusetts. The moderates included George Washington of Virginia and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. The conservative delegates—those who favored a mild statement of protest—in- cluded John Jay of New York and Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania. Unrepresented was the viewpoint of loyal colonists, who would not challenge the king's government in any way.

Other ideas of the Enlightenment.

The era of the Enlightenment was at its peak in the mid-18th century—the very years that future leaders of the American Revolution (Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams) were coming to maturity. Many of these Enlightenment thinkers in Europe and America were Deists, who believed that God had established natural laws in creating the universe, but that the role of divine intervention in human affairs was minimal. They believed in rationalism and trusted human reason to solve the many problems of life and society, and emphasized reason, science, and respect for humanity. Their political philosophy, derived from Locke and devel- oped further by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, had a profound influence on educated Americans in the 1760s and 1770s—the decades of revolu- tionary thought and action that finally culminated in the American Revolution.

The Family

The family was the economic and social center of colonial life. With an expanding economy and ample food supply, people were marrying at a young age and rearing more children. Over 90 percent of the people lived on farms. While life in the coastal communities and on the frontier was not easy, it did provide a higher standard of living than in Europe.

Alliance With France

The few American military achievements early in the war had little impact on other nations. The turning point for the American revolutionaries came with a victory at Saratoga in upstate New York in October 1777. British forces under General John Burgoyne had marched from Canada in an ambitious effort to link up with other forces marching from the west and south. Their objective was to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies (or states). But Burgoyne's troops were attacked at Saratoga by troops commanded by American generals Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. The British army was forced to surrender. The diplomatic outcome of the Battle of Saratoga was even more important than the military result. News of the surprising American victory persuaded France to join in the war against Britain. An absolute monarch, with all political power, Louis XVI had no interest in aiding a revolutionary movement. Neverthe- less, the French king believed that he could weaken his country's traditional foe, Great Britain, by helping to undermine its colonial empire. France had secretly extended aid to the American revolutionaries as early as 1775, giving both money and supplies. After Saratoga, in 1778, France openly allied itself with the Americans. (A year later, Spain and Holland also entered the war against Britain.) The French alliance proved a decisive factor in the American struggle for independence because it widened the war and forced the British to divert military resources away from America.

Slavery.

The first Africans to come to Virginia arrived in 1619 aboard a slave ship operated by a Dutch trader. At first, Africans were not held as slaves for life but had roughly the same status as white indentured servants. Moreover, the early colonists were struggling to survive and too poor to purchase the Africans who were being imported to provide slave labor for sugar plantations in the West Indies. By 1650, there were only about 400 African laborers in Virginia, and not all of them were held in permanent bondage. In the 1660s, however, the Virginia House of Burgesses enacted laws that discriminated between blacks and whites. Africans and their offspring were to be treated as lifelong slaves, whereas white laborers were to be set free after a certain period.

Pontiac's rebellion.

The first major test of the new British imperial policy came in 1763 when Chief Pontiac led a major attack against colonial settlements on the western frontier. The Native Americans were angered by the growing westward movement of European settlers and by the British refusal to offer gifts as the French had done. Pontiac's alliance of Native Americans in the Ohio Valley destroyed forts and settlements from New York to Virginia. Rather than relying on colonial forces to retaliate, the British sent regular troops to deal with the "rebellion."

Early problems.

The first settlers of Jamestown suffered great hardships from Indian attacks, famine, and disease—and their own mistakes. The settle- ment's location in a swampy area along the James River resulted in outbreaks of dysentery and malaria, diseases that were fatal to many. Moreover, many of the settlers were gentlemen unaccustomed to physical work. Others were gold-seeking adventurers who refused to hunt or farm. Thus, food supplies dwindled to almost nothing, and the colonists nearly starved.

The French and Indian War

The first three wars between England and France focused primarily on battles in Europe and only secondarily on conflict in the colonies. The European powers saw little value in committing regular troops to America. In the fourth and final war in the series, however, the fighting actually began in the colonies and then spread to Europe. Moreover, England and France now recognized the full importance of their colonies and shipped large numbers of troops overseas to North America rather than rely on "amateur" colonial forces. This fourth and most decisive war was known in the colonies as the French and Indian War (in Europe, it was called the Seven Years' War).

The First Three Wars

The first three wars were named after the king or queen under whose reign they occurred. In both King William's War (1689-1697) and Queen Anne's War (1702-1713), the English launched expeditions to capture Quebec, but their efforts failed. Native Americans supported by the French burned English frontier settlements. Ultimately, the English forces prevailed in Queen Anne's War and gained both Nova Scotia from France and trading rights in Spanish America. A third war was fought during the reign of George II: King George's War (1744-1748). Once again, the British colonies were under attack from their perennial rivals, the French and the Spanish. In Georgia, James Oglethorpe led a colonial army that managed to repulse Spanish attacks. To the north, a force of New Englanders captured Louisbourg, a major French fortress, on Cape Breton Island, controlling access to the St. Lawrence River. In the peace treaty ending the war, however, Britain agreed to give Louisbourg back to the French in exchange for political and economic gains in India. New Englanders were furious about the loss of a fort that they had fought so hard to win.

Initial American Losses and Hardships

The first three years of the war, 1775 to 1777, went badly for Washington's poorly trained and equipped revolutionary army. It barely escaped complete disaster in a battle for New York City in 1776, in which Washington's forces were routed by the British. By the end of 1777, the British occupied both New York and Philadelphia. After losing Philadelphia, Washington's demoralized troops suffered through the severe winter of 1777-1778 camped at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. Economic troubles added to the Patriots' bleak prospects. British occupa- tion of American ports resulted in a 95 percent decline in trade between 1775 and 1777. Goods were scarce, and inflation was rampant. The paper money issued by Congress, known as Continentals, became almost worthless.

Increased demand for slaves.

The following factors explain why slavery became increasingly important, especially in the southern colonies: 1. Reduced migration: Increases in wages in England reduced the supply of immigrants to the colonies. 2. Dependable work force: Large-plantation owners were disturbed by the political demands of small farmers and indentured servants and by the disorders of Bacon's Rebellion (see page 25). They thought that slavery would provide a stable labor force totally under their control. 3. Cheap labor: As tobacco prices fell, rice and indigo became the most profitable crops. To grow such crops successfully required both a large land area and a large number of inexpensive, relatively unskilled field hands.

Self-government.

The government of each colony had a representative assembly that was elected by eligible voters (limited to white male property owners). Only in two colonies, Rhode Island and Connecticut, was the governor also elected by the people. The governors of the other colonies were either appointed by the crown (for example, New York and Virginia) or by a proprietor (Pennsylvania and Maryland). Religious toleration. All of the colonies permitted the practice of differ- ent religions, but with varying degrees of freedom. Massachusetts, the least tolerant, excluded non-Christians and Catholics, although it accepted a number of Protestant denominations. Rhode Island and Pennsylvania were the most liberal.

General Characteristics Dominance of English culture.

The great majority of the population were English in origin, language, and tradition. At the same time, however, both Africans and European immigrants were creating a diversity of culture that would gradually modify the culture of the majority in significant ways.

The First Continental Congress

The harsh and punitive nature of the Intolerable Acts drove all the colonies except Georgia to send delegates to a convention in Philadelphia in September 1774. The purpose of the convention—later known as the First Continental Congress—was to determine how the colonies should react to what, from their viewpoint, seemed to pose an alarming threat to their rights and liberties. At this time, most Americans had no desire for independence. They simply wanted to protest parliamentary intrusions on their rights and restore the relationship with the crown that had existed before the French and Indian War.

Slavery

The institution of slavery contradicted the spirit of the Revolution and the idea that "all men are created equal." For a time, the leaders of the Revolution recognized this fact and took some steps toward corrective action. The Continental Congress voted to abolish the importation of slaves, and most states went along with the prohibition. Most northern states ended slavery, while in the South, some owners voluntarily freed their slaves. Soon after the Revolutionary War, however, a majority of southern slaveowners came to believe that slave labor was essential to their economy. As we shall see in later chapters, they developed a rationale for slavery that gave religious and political justification for continuing to hold human beings in lifelong bondage.

Maryland

The king decided to establish proprietorships rather than granting more colonial charters to joint-stock companies because he believed the new arrange- ment would give him almost total control. It was hoped that a loyal proprietor like Lord Baltimore could be trusted to faithfully carry out the king's policies and wishes. The first Lord Baltimore died before he could fulfill his twin ambitions of achieving great wealth in his colony while also providing a haven for his fellow Catholics. Control of the Maryland proprietorship passed in 1632 to his son, Cecil Calvert—the second Lord Baltimore—who set about implementing his father's plan in 1634.

Patriots

The largest number of Patriots were from the New England states and Virginia. Most of the soldiers were reluctant to travel outside their own region. They would serve in local militia units for short periods, leave to work their farms, and then return to duty. Thus, even though several hundred thousand people fought on the Patriot side in the war, General Washington never had more than 20,000 regular troops under his command at one time. His army was chronically short of supplies, poorly equipped, and rarely paid.

New Hampshire.

The last colony to be founded in New England was New Hampshire. Originally part of Massachusetts Bay, it consisted of a few settlements north of Boston. Hoping to increase royal control over the colonies, King Charles II separated New Hampshire from the Bay colony in 1679 and made it a royal colony, subject to the authority of an appointed governor.

Religious Conflict

The later years of the Renaissance were a time of intense religious zeal and conflict. The Roman Catholic Church that had once dominated the culture of Western Europe was threatened from without by Ottoman Turks (followers of Islam) and from within by a Protestant revolt against the pope's authority.

Rural Folkways

The majority of colonists rarely saw a newspaper or read any book other than the Bible. As farmers on the frontier or even within a few miles of the coast, they worked from first daylight to sundown. The farmer's year was divided into four ever-recurring seasons: spring planting, summer growing, fall harvesting, and winter preparations for the next cycle. Food was usually plenti- ful, but light and heat in the colonial farmhouse were limited to the kitchen fireplace and a few well-placed candles. Entertainment for the well-to-do con- sisted chiefly of cardplaying and horse-racing in the South, theatergoing in the middle colonies, and attending religious lectures in Puritan New England.

North Carolina.

The northern part of the Carolinas developed differently. There, farmers from Virginia and New England established small, self-sufficient tobacco farms. The region had few good harbors and poor transportation; therefore, compared to South Carolina, there were fewer large plantations and less reliance on slavery. North Carolina in the 18th century earned a reputation for democratic views and autonomy from British control.

Exploration, Discovery, and Settlement, 1492-1700

The original exploration, discovery, and settlement of North and South America occurred thousands of years before Christopher Columbus was born. In fact, many archeologists now believe that the first people to settle North America arrived as much as 40,000 years ago. At that time, waves of migrants from Asia may have crossed a land bridge that then connected Siberia and Alaska (a bridge now submerged under the Bering Sea). Over a long period of time, successive generations migrated southward from the Arctic Circle to the southern tip of South America. The first Americans—or Native Americans— adapted to the varied environments of the regions that they found. They divided into hundreds of tribes, spoke different languages, and practiced different cultures. Estimates of the Native population in the Americas in the 1490s vary from 50 to 75 million persons.

Boston Massacre.

The people of Boston generally resented the British troops who had been quartered in their city to protect customs officials from being attacked by the Sons of Liberty. On a snowy day in March 1770, a crowd of colonists harassed the guards near the customs house. The guards fired into the crowd, killing five people including an African American, Crispus Attucks. At their trial for murder, the soldiers were defended by colonial lawyer John Adams and acquitted. Adams' more radical cousin, Samuel Adams, angrily denounced the shooting incident as a "massacre." Later, the episode was often used by colonial leaders to inflame anti-British feeling.

Voting.

The right to vote was extended to all white males who owned some property. The property requirement, usually for a minimal amount of land or money, was based on the assumption that property-owners had a larger stake in government than did the poor and propertyless.

No hereditary aristocracy.

The social extremes of Europe, with a nobility that inherited special privileges and masses of hungry poor, were missing in the colonies. A narrower class system, based on economics, was developing. Wealthy landowners were at the top; craftspeople and small farmers made up the majority of the common people. Social mobility. With the major exception of the African Americans, everybody in colonial society had an opportunity to improve their standard of living and social status by hard work.

European Treatment of Native Americans

The various nations that colonized North and South America used a variety of approaches for controlling or subjugating Native Americans. The Spanish approach was to conquer, rule, and intermarry with the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas. The English, on the other hand, occupied the land and forced the small, scattered tribes they encountered to move away from the coast to inland territo- ries. The French, looking for furs and converts to Catholicism, tended to treat the Native Americans as economic and military allies. In general, Europeans of all nationalities viewed Native Americans as inferiors who could be exploited for economic, political, and religious gain. Two long-term effects of European colonization were (1) the destruction by disease and war of large segments of the Native American population and (2) the establishment of a permanent legacy of subjugation.

Structure of Government

There were eight royal colonies with governors appointed by the king (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia). In the three proprietary colonies (Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware), governors were appointed by the proprietors. The governors in only two of the colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island, were elected by popular vote. In every colony, the legislature consisted of two houses. The lower house, or assembly, elected by the eligible voters, voted for or against new taxes. Colonists thus became accustomed to paying taxes only if their chosen represen- tatives approved. (Their unwillingness to surrender any part of this privilege would become a cause for revolt in the 1770s.) In the royal and proprietary colonies, members of the legislature's upper house—or council—were ap- pointed by the king or the proprietor. In the two self-governing colonies, both the upper and lower houses were elective bodies.

The Coercive Acts (1774).

There were four Coercive Acts, directed mainly at punishing the people of Boston and Massachusetts and bringing the dissidents under control. 1. The Port Act closed the port of Boston, prohibiting trade in and out of the harbor until the destroyed tea was paid for. 2. The Massachusetts Government Act reduced the power of the Massachusetts legislature while increasing the power of the royal governor. 3. The Administration of Justice Act allowed royal officials accused of crimes to be tried in England instead of in the colonies. 4. A fourth law expanded the Quartering Act to enable British troops to be quartered in private homes. It applied to all colonies.

Sugar Act.

This act (also known as the Revenue Act of 1764) placed duties on foreign sugar and certain luxuries. Its chief purpose was to raise money for the crown, and a companion law also provided for stricter enforcement of the Navigation Acts to stop smuggling. Those accused of smuggling were to be tried in admiralty courts by crown-appointed judges without juries.

Quartering Act.

This act required the colonists to provide food and living quarters for British soldiers stationed in the colonies.

Scotch-Irish.

This group of English-speaking people emigrated from northern Ireland. Originally, their ancestors had moved to Ireland from Scotland, and they were thus commonly known as the Scotch-Irish. Scotch-Irish immi- grants had little respect for the British government, which had pressured them into leaving Ireland. They settled along the frontier in the western parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. By 1775, they comprised 7 percent of the population.

Germans.

This group of non-English immigrants settled chiefly on the rich farmlands west of Philadelphia, an area that became known as Pennsylvania Dutch country. They maintained their German language, customs, and religion (Lutheran) and, while obeying colonial laws, showed little interest in English politics. By 1775, people of German stock comprised 6 percent of the colo- nial population.

Office-holding.

Those seeking elected office were usually held to a higher property qualification than the voters.

Tobacco prosperity.

Through the forceful leadership of Captain John Smith and the establishment of a tobacco industry by John Rolfe, the Jamestown colony survived. Rolfe and his Indian wife, Pocahontas, developed a new variety of tobacco, which became very popular in Europe and brought financial prosperity to the colony. The growing of tobacco on Jamestown's plantations required a large labor force. At first, the Virginia Company hoped to meet the need for labor by sending indentured servants to the colony. An indentured servant was often a person (usually a young man) who, in exchange for free transportation to a colony, was obligated to work on a plantation for a certain number of years. After the arrival in Jamestown in 1619 of a few Africans who became indentured servants, the Virginia tobacco growers began to employ a combination of both forced labor (slavery) and free labor (indentured servitude).

Act of Toleration (Maryland)

To avoid the intolerance and persecution of their Puritan enemies, a number of wealthy English Catholics emigrated to Maryland and established large colonial plantations. They were quickly outnumbered, however, by Protestant farmers. Protestants therefore held a majority in Mary- land's representative assembly. In 1649, Calvert persuaded the assembly to adopt the Act of Toleration, the first colonial statute granting religious freedom to all Christians. However, the statute also called for the death of anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus.

Pennsylvania and Delaware

To the west of New Jersey lay a broad expanse of forested land that was originally settled by a peace-loving Christian sect, the Quakers.

Connecticut.

To the west of Rhode Island, the fertile Connecticut River Valley attracted other settlers who were unhappy with the Massachusetts author- ities. The Reverend Thomas Hooker led a large group of Boston Puritans into the valley and founded the colony of Hartford in 1636. The Hartford settlers then drew up the first written constitution in American history, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639). It established a representative government con- sisting of a legislature elected by popular vote and a governor chosen by that legislature. South of Hartford, a second settlement in the Connecticut Valley was started by John Davenport in 1637 and given the name New Haven. In 1665, New Haven joined with the more democratic Hartford settlers to form the colony of Connecticut. The royal charter for Connecticut granted it a limited degree of self-government, including election of the governor.

Transportation.

Transporting goods by water was much easier than at- tempting to carry them overland on rough and narrow roads or trails. Therefore, trading centers like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston were located on the sites of good harbors and navigable rivers. Despite the difficulty and expense of maintaining roads and bridges, overland travel by horse and stage became more common in the 18th century. Taverns not only provided food and lodging for travelers but also served as social centers where news was exchanged and politics discussed. A postal system using horses on overland routes and small ships on water routes was operating both within and between the colonies by the mid-18th century.

Bunker Hill

Two months later, on June 17, 1775, a true battle was fought between opposing armies on the outskirts of Boston. A colonial militia of Massachusetts farmers fortified Breed's Hill, next to Bunker Hill, for which the ensuing battle was wrongly named. A British force attacked the colonists' position and managed to take the hill, suffering over a thousand casualties. Americans claimed a victory of sorts, having succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on the attacking British army.

Indentured servants.

Under contract with a master or landowner who paid for their passage, young people from the British Isles agreed to work for a specified period—usually between four to seven years—in return for room and board. In effect, indentured servants were under the absolute rule of their masters until the end of their work period. At the expiration of that period, they gained their freedom and either worked for wages or obtained land of their own to farm.

French Policy

Unlike the Spaniards and the English, the French maintained relatively good relations with the Native American tribes who occupied the St. Lawrence Valley and the Great Lakes region. Seeking to control the fur trade, French soldiers assisted the Huron people in fighting their traditional enemy, the Iro- quois. French traders built trading posts along the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River, where they exchanged French goods for Indian furs. Because the French had few colonists, farms, or towns, they posed little threat to the native population.

Europe Moves Toward Exploration

Until the late 1400s, Americans had no knowledge of the continents on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Neither did Europeans or Asians know of the existence of the two American continents (North and South America). Voyages and settlements such as those of the Vikings around the year 1000 to Greenland and North America had no lasting impact. As you know, Columbus' voyages of exploration finally brought Europe and the Americas into contact. But why was an oceanic crossing and exploration accomplished in the late 15th century and not before?

IMPERIAL WARS AND COLONIAL PROTEST, 1754-1774

What caused American colonists in the 1760s to become, as John Adams expressed it, "more attentive to their liberties"? The chief reason for their discontent in these years was a dramatic change in Britain's colonial policy. Britain began to assert its power in the colonies and to collect taxes and enforce trade laws much more boldly and aggressively than in the past. To explain why Britain took this fateful step, we must study the effects of its various wars for empire.

Quebec Act (1774).

When it passed the Coercive Acts, the British government also passed a law organizing the Canadian lands gained from France. This plan was accepted by most French Canadians, but it was resented by many in the 13 colonies. Provisions. The Quebec Act established Roman Catholicism as the official religion of Quebec, set up a government without a representative assembly, and extended Quebec's boundary to the Ohio River.

Limited nature of colonial democracy.

While some of the English colonies were partly democratic, a sizable part of the colonial population was excluded from the political process. Only male property owners could vote for representatives. Those who were either female or landless had few rights; slaves and indentured servants had practically none at all. Also, many colonial governors ruled with autocratic or unlimited powers, answering only to the king or others in England who provided the colonies' financial support. Thus, the gradual development of democratic ideas in the colonies coexisted with antidemocratic practices such as slavery and the widespread mistreatment of Native Americans.

Organization of New Governments

While the Revolutionary War was being fought, leaders of the 13 colonies worked to change them into independently governed states, each with its own constitution (written plan of government). At the same time, the revolutionary Congress that originally met in Philadelphia tried to define the powers of a new central government for the nation that was coming into being.

Cultures of Central and South America

While the exact population of Native Americans in this region in the 1490s is unknown, most historians agree that it was greater than that of North America. The great majority of Native Americans—estimates vary widely, to as many as 25 million people—lived in Central and South America. Three peoples in this region developed complex civilizations. Between A.D. 300 and 800, the Mayas built remarkable cities in the rain forests of the Yucata ́n Peninsula (present-day Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico). Centuries later, the Aztecs in central Mexico and the Incas in Peru ruled over vast empires. All three civilizations developed highly organized societies, carried on an extensive trade, and created calendars that were based on accurate scientific observations. The Aztecs' capital of Tenochtitla ́n was equivalent in size and population to the largest cities of Europe.

Men.

While wealth was increasingly being concentrated in the hands of a few, most men did work. Landowning was primarily reserved to men, who also dominated politics. English law gave the husband almost unlimited power in the home, including the right to beat his wife.

William Penn.

William Penn was a young convert to the Quaker faith. His father had been a victorious admiral in the service of the king. Although the elder Penn opposed his son's religious beliefs, he respected his sincerity and upon his death he left his son considerable wealth. In addition, the royal family owed the father a large debt, which was paid to William Penn in 1681 in the form of a grant of land in the Americas for a colony which he called Pennsylvania, or Penn's woods.

Separation of powers.

With a few exceptions, the powers of state government were given to three separate branches: (1) legislative powers to an elected two-house legislature, (2) executive powers to an elected governor, and (3) judicial powers to a system of courts. The principle of separation of powers was intended to be a safeguard against tyranny—especially against the tyranny of an overpowerful executive.

Literature.

With limited resources available, most authors wrote on seri- ous subjects, chiefly religion and politics. There were, for example, widely read religious tracts by two Massachusetts ministers, Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards. In the years preceding the American Revolution, a large number of political essays and treatises attempted to draw a line between American rights and English authority. Writers of this important literature included John Adams, James Otis, John Dickinson, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson. By far the most popular and successful American writer of the 18th century was that remarkable jack-of-all-trades, Benjamin Franklin. His witty aphorisms and advice were collected in Poor Richard's Almanack, a best-selling book that was annually revised from 1732 to 1757. The lack of support for literature did not stop everyone. The poetry of Phillis Wheatley is noteworthy both for her triumph over slavery and the quality of her verse. Science. Most scientists, such as the botanist John Bartram of Philadel- phia, were self-taught. Benjamin Franklin's pioneering work with electricity and his more practical developments of bifocal eyeglasses and the Franklin stove brought him international fame.

New England.

With rocky soil and long winters, farming was limited to subsistence levels that provided just enough for the farm family. Most farms were small—under 100 acres—and most work was done by family members and an occasional hired laborer. The industrious descendants of the Puritans profited from logging, shipbuilding, fishing, trading, and rum-distilling.

THE CONSTITUTION AND THE NEW REPUBLIC, 1787-1800

With these words, Franklin, the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Conven- tion in Philadelphia, attempted to overcome the skepticism of other delegates about the document that they had created. Would the new document, the Constitution, establish a central government strong enough to hold 13 states together in a union that could prosper and endure? In September 1787, when Franklin, Washington, and other delegates signed the Constitution that they had drafted, their young country was in a troubled state. This chapter will summarize the problems leading to the Constitutional Convention, the debates in the various states on whether to ratify the new plan of government, and the struggles of two presidents, Washington and Adams, to meet the domestic and international challenges of the 1790s.