Ch4 lessons 1-4

Native American Allies

As the conflict got underway, the French and the British both sought Native American help. The French had a big advantage. They already had many Native American allies. Native Americans generally distrusted the British and their hunger for land. In contrast, the French were more interested in fur trading than in land. French trappers and fur traders often married Native American women. French missionaries converted many Native Americans to Catholicism. For these reasons, Native Americans helped the French and raided British settlements. To counter the threat of the French and their Native American friends, the British colonists tried to make a treaty with the Iroquois. The Iroquois Confederacy was the most powerful group of Native Americans in eastern North America. At that time, the confederacy included six nations—the Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Tuscarora. Delegates—representatives— from seven colonies met with Iroquois leaders at Albany, New York, in June 1754. The Iroquois refused an alliance , or partnership, with the British. They did, however, promise to remain neutral—that is, to take no side. The Albany delegates also talked about how the colonies might work together more closely against the French. They decided to adopt Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of Union for a united colonial government. To form a colonial government, each colony would have to give up some of its powers. Not one colonial assembly was willing to do so. Disappointed, Franklin wrote, "Everybody cries, a Union is absolutely necessary; but when they come to the manner and form of the union, [they] are perfectly distracted." The Albany meeting failed to unify the colonists. Meanwhile, the conflict between the British and the French expanded into full-scale war—the French and Indian War.

English Economic Policies

Beginning in the 1600s, many European nations followed a theory known as mercantilism .Mercantilism holds that a country builds wealth and power by building its supplies of gold and silver. To achieve this goal, a country must export, or sell to other countries, more than it imports, or buys from other countries. A country must also seek colonies, which could supply raw materials and serve as a market for exports. The English followed a mercantilist policy. They looked to the American colonies for raw materials, such as tobacco, rice, indigo, wheat, lumber, fur, leather, fish, and whale products. They also wanted the colonists to buy English manufactured goods, such as tools, clothing, and furniture.

The Enlightenment

By the middle of the 1700s, many educated colonists were also influenced by the Enlightenment. This movement, which began in Europe, spread the idea that knowledge, reason, and science could improve society. In the colonies, the Enlightenment increased interest in science. People observed nature, staged experiments, and published their findings, much as Benjamin Franklin did. The Enlightenment also promoted freedom of thought and expression, a belief in equality, and the idea of popular government.

The Growth of slavery

By the time Europeans were sailing to the Americas, slavery was widely practiced in West Africa. Many West African kingdoms enslaved those they defeated in war. Slave traders from Arab lands bought some of these enslaved people. Others were forced to work in gold mines or farm fields. The arrival of Europeans in the Americas created a huge new demand for enslaved workers. Colonists needed a large labor force to work on their plantations. West African slave traders met this need. They sold captives they gained through wars and raids. Slavery and the slave trade became major parts of the colonial economy. For enslaved Africans, the voyage to America usually began with a march to a European fort on the West African coast. There, they were sold to Europeans, who loaded them on ships.

Civic Virtue

Colonists were beginning to form new ideas of freedom. They began thinking in terms of civic virtue—democratic ideas, practices, and values that form a truly free society. De Crèvecoeur was writing about these ideals when he described the spirit of the new American. Benjamin Franklin was a shining example of civic virtue at its best. Colonists would soon put their belief in civic virtue into action. These ideas and actions would become the building blocks of a new nation.

Ideas of Freedom

Freedom of the press became an important issue in colonial America. Newspapers in colonial cities, such as Boston and Philadelphia, carried political news and often faced government censorship. Censorship is the banning of printed materials because they contain unpopular or offensive ideas.

Sickness

Still, compared to today, life was fragile. For example, women often died in childbirth. Outbreaks of serious diseases such as smallpox were common. Many people died in epidemics, outbreaks that affect large numbers of people. In 1721, for example, a smallpox epidemic in the city of Boston killed about 850 people, or 15 percent of the city's population.

cash crop

crops that could be sold easily in markets in the colonies and overseas.

Subsistence farming

producing enough to meet the needs of their families, with little left over to sell or trade.

John Peter Zenger

In 1733 publisher John Peter Zenger, in his newspaper the New-York Weekly Journal, accused New York's governor of corruption. For criticizing the governor, officials charged Zenger with a crime and threw him in jail. Zenger argued that the statements written about the governor were true. Therefore, he claimed, he had the right to publish them. Zenger's lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, made a stirring defense:The jury found Zenger not guilty. The case is seen as a key step in the development of a free press in this country.

New England colonies

In New England, long winters and thin, rocky soil made large-scale farming difficult.New England farmers often depended on their children for labor. Everyone in the family worked—spinning yarn, milking cows, fencing fields, and sowing and harvesting crops. Women made cloth, garments, candles, and soaps for their families. Throughout New England were many small businesses. Nearly every town had a mill for grinding grain or sawing lumber. People used waterpower from streams to run the mills. Large towns attracted skilled craftspeople. Among them were blacksmiths, shoemakers, furniture makers, and gunsmiths. Shipbuilding was an important New England industry. The lumber for building ships came from the region's forests. Workers floated the lumber down rivers to shipyards in coastal towns. The Northern coastal cities served as centers of the colonial shipping trade, linking the Northern Colonies with the Southern Colonies—and America with other parts of the world. Fishing was also important. Some New Englanders ventured far out to sea to hunt whales for oil and whalebone.

Virginia militia

In spring 1754, the governor of Virginia sent a militia —a military force made up of ordinary citizens—to drive out the French. Leading this force was a young Virginian. His name was George Washington. After marching to Fort Duquesne, Washington set up a small fort of his own nearby. He called it Fort Necessity. Washington's outpost soon came under attack by the French and their Native American allies. This combined army won the battle and forced Washington's soldiers to surrender. The French later released the soldiers, who returned to Virginia.

Rivalry between The French and English

In the 1700s, Britain and France were leading European powers. They competed for wealth and empire in different parts of the world. In North America, their rivalry was very strong. This rivalry turned especially bitter in the mid-1700s. The British began to show interest in the Ohio River valley. This vast land beyond the Appalachian Mountains was rich in resources. The British believed they had a right to this land. The French also viewed the valley as theirs. The French enjoyed a thriving fur trade with the Native Americans of the region. They did not want to share this business with British settlers. To protect their claims in the valley, the French built a chain of forts from Lake Ontario south to the Ohio River. The British responded by starting to build a fort in what is now western Pennsylvania. Before they could finish, the French seized the site. On it, they built their own fort, calling it Fort Duquesne

Parliament vs The King

In the mid-1600s, Parliament and King James II began a struggle for power. In 1688, Parliament removed King James II from power and crowned William and Mary to rule. William and Mary promised to govern England according to the "statutes [laws] in Parliament agreed upon, and the laws and customs of the same." The English called this peaceful transfer of power the Glorious Revolution. It brought a major change in the idea of government in England. From that time forward, no ruler would have more power than the legislature

Family Roles

Men were the formal heads of the households. They managed the farm or business and represented the family in the community. On the farm, men worked in the fields and built barns, houses, and fences. Sons might work as indentured servants for local farmers or become apprentices. An apprentice agrees to work with a skilled craftsperson as a way of learning a trade. Women ran their households and cared for children. Many worked in the fields with their husbands. Married women had few rights. Unmarried women might work as maids or cooks. Widows and older women who never married might work as teachers, nurses, or seamstresses. They could run businesses and own property, but they could not vote. Even children as young as four or five often had jobs. When they played, they enjoyed simple games, such as hopscotch or leap frog. Their toys were usually made from common objects.

Colonial Education

Most colonists valued education. Parents often taught their children to read and write at home. In New England and Pennsylvania, in particular, people set up schools to make sure everyone could read and study the Bible. In 1647 the Massachusetts Puritans passed a public education law requiring communities with 50 or more homes to have a public school. The result was a high level of literacy in New England. By 1750, about 85 percent of the men and about half of the women were able to read. Many learned from The New England Primer. Most schools in the Middle Colonies were private. Widows or unmarried women ran many of those schools. Quakers and other religious groups ran others. In towns and cities, craftspeople often set up night schools for their apprentices. The earliest colleges in the colonies were founded to train ministers.

The Middle colonies

Most people in the Middle Colonies were farmers. This region enjoyed more fertile soil and a slightly milder climate than New England. Farmers here plowed and planted larger areas of land and produced bigger harvests than did New Englanders. In New York and Pennsylvania, farmers grew large quantities of wheat (called the Bread basket)Farmers sent wheat and livestock for shipment to New York City and Philadelphia, which became busy ports. By 1760, New York, with 14,000 people, and Philadelphia, with 19,000 people, were two of the largest cities in the American colonies. Like the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies also had industries. Some were home-based crafts, such as carpentry and flour making. Others were larger businesses—lumber mills, mines, ironworks, small-scale manufacturing, and so on. The Middle Colonies attracted many Scotch-Irish, German, Dutch, and Swedish settlers. Using agricultural methods developed in Europe, these immigrants became successful farmers

Critics of Slavery

Not all colonists believed in slavery. Many Puritans, for example, refused to hold enslaved people. In Pennsylvania, Quakers and Mennonites condemned slavery. Eventually, the debate over slavery would spark a bloody war between North and South.

Local Government in the Colonies

Over time, townspeople began discussing local issues at town meetings. These developed into local governments, with landowners holding the right to vote and pass laws. Because colonists in many areas took part in local government, they developed a strong belief in their right to govern themselves. Town meetings helped set the stage for the American Revolution.

The Great Awakening

Religion had a strong influence in colonial life. In the 1730s and 1740s, a religious revival called the Great Awakening swept through the colonies. In New England and the Middle Colonies, ministers called for "a new birth," a return to the strong faith of earlier days. One of these was Jonathan Edwards of Massachusetts, who gave powerful and convincing sermons. George Whitefield, an English preacher who arrived in the colonies in 1739, inspired worshipers in churches and open fields from New England to Georgia. The Great Awakening inspired greater religious freedom. It led to the formation of many new types of churches. The new churches placed an emphasis on having personal faith rather than on church rituals. More colonists began choosing their own faiths, and the strength of established official churches declined. As a Baptist preacher noted soon after the Great Awakening, "The common people now claim as good a right to judge and act in matters of religion as civil rulers or the learned clergy."

The Life of a Slave

Some enslaved Africans on plantations did housework, but most worked in the fields. Many enslaved workers suffered great cruelty. Owners of large plantations hired overseers, or bosses, to keep the enslaved Africans working hard. Many colonies had slave codes, rules governing the behavior and punishment of enslaved people. Some did not allow enslaved workers to leave the plantation without the slaveholder's written permission. Some made it illegal to teach enslaved people to read or write. Enslaved people were seldom allowed to move about freely or gather in large groups. Punishments ranged from whipping for even minor misdeeds to hanging or burning to death for more serious crimes. Enslaved workers who ran away were punished severely when caught. Although enslaved Africans had strong family ties, their families were often torn apart when a slaveholder sold a spouse, parent, or child. Many of the enslaved found strength in their African roots. They developed a culture that drew on the languages, customs, and religions of their African homelands. Some enslaved Africans learned trades, such as carpentry, blacksmithing, or weaving. Skilled workers could sometimes set up shops, sharing their profits with the slaveholders. Those lucky enough to be able to buy their freedom joined the small population of free African Americans.

Parliament

The English Parliament was a representative assembly. It had the power to legislate, or make laws. Parliament had two chambers, or houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Only the eldest sons of England's aristocracy—the upper, ruling class—could sit in the House of Lords. The House of Commons included commoners—mostly merchants or property owners elected by other property owners. American legislatures grew in part from this English model.

New British Policies

The French defeat was a blow to Native Americans in the Ohio River Valley. They had lost their French allies and trading partners and now had to deal with the British. The British raised the prices of their goods. Unlike the French, the British refused to pay Native Americans to use their land. Worst of all, more colonists began settling in Native American lands. Many Native Americans saw the settlers as a threat to their way of life. One of these was Pontiac, the chief of an Ottawa village near Detroit. In 1763, Pontiac and his forces captured the British fort at Detroit and other British outposts. During Pontiac's War, Native Americans killed settlers along the Pennsylvania and Virginia frontiers. The same year as Pontiac's War began, Britain's King George declared that colonists were not to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. To enforce the new rule, the British planned to keep 10,000 troops in America. The Proclamation of 1763 helped removed a source of conflict with Native Americans. It also kept colonists on the coast—where the British could control them. Colonists believed the proclamation limited their freedom of movement. They feared that the large number of British troops might interfere with their liberties. As a result, distrust began to grow between Britain and its American colonies. Britain's financial problems also led to trouble. Deeply in debt as a result of the war with France, the British government made plans to tax the colonies and tighten trade rules. These efforts would lead to conflict—and eventually revolution.

Life in the Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies had rich soil and a warm climate well suited to certain kinds of farming. Southern farmers could plant large areas and produce harvests of cash crops, such as tobacco or rice. Most settlers in the Southern Colonies made their living from farming. Little commerce or industry developed there. For the most part, London merchants rather than local merchants from the colonies managed Southern trade. Most large plantations were located in the Tidewater, a region of flat, low-lying plains along the seacoast. Planters built their plantations on rivers so they could ship their crops to market by boat. A plantation was like a small village. It had fields stretching out around a cluster of buildings, including cabins, barns, and stables, as well as carpenter and blacksmith shops, storerooms, and kitchens. A large plantation might have its own chapel and school. Small plantations often had fewer than 50 enslaved workers. Large ones typically had 200 or more.

The French and Indian War

The French enjoyed early success in the war. They captured several British forts. Meanwhile, their Native American allies carried out raids on the frontier, or edges, of the colonies. They killed colonists, burned farmhouses and crops, and drove many families back toward the coast. The turning point came in 1757, when William Pitt became prime minister, the head of the British government. Pitt was a great military planner. He sent more trained British troops to fight in North America. To stop colonial complaints about the cost of the war, Pitt decided that Britain would pay for it. He knew that, after the war, the British would raise colonists' taxes to help pay the large bill. Pitt had only delayed the time when the colonists would have to pay their share of the military costs. Pitt's goal was not just to open the Ohio River valley. He also wanted to conquer French Canada. In 1758 British forces won a key victory at Fort Louisbourg, in present-day Nova Scotia. The same year a British force, made up mostly of New York and New England militia, captured Fort Frontenac at Lake Ontario. Another British force finally took Fort Duquesne. The British renamed it Fort Pitt. Quebec, the capital of New France, sat on a cliff above the St. Lawrence River. Because of its position, Quebec was thought to be impossible to attack. In September 1759, British scouts spotted a poorly guarded path along the back of the cliff. At night, Wolfe's soldiers overwhelmed the French guards and scrambled up the path. The British troops then surprised and defeated the French army on a field called the Plains of Abraham. The fall of Quebec and of Montreal the next year marked the defeat of France in North America. The war in Europe finally ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1763. This treaty forced France to give Canada and most of its lands east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain. Great Britain also received Florida from France's ally, Spain. Spain acquired French lands west of the Mississippi River—called Louisiana— as well as the port of New Orleans.

Protected Rights

The colonists believed that government must respect civil liberties, or rights. In fact, the protection of people's rights was a central idea in the English system of government. It first appeared in the Magna Carta, or Great Charter, which King John signed on June 15, 1215. This document gave English people protection against unjust treatment or punishment. For the English, even kings and queens were bound by the law.

Government in America

The thirteen colonies began as either charter or proprietary colonies. Charter colonies were based on a charter, a grant of rights by the English monarch to a company. Massachusetts was a charter colony. Proprietary colonies were the property of an owner or group of owners. These proprietors ruled more or less as they wished. For example, they named their own governors and many other colonial officials. Pennsylvania was a proprietary colony. Some colonies later became royal colonies, under direct English control. Virginia became the first royal colony in 1624. In a royal colony, Parliament appointed a governor and council, known as the upper house. The colonists selected an assembly, or lower house. The governor and council usually did as the English king and Parliament told them. This often led to conflicts with the assembly. For example, colonists got angry when officials enforced tax or trade laws. Not all colonists had a voice in government. In general, only white men who owned property could vote. Most women, indentured servants, landless poor, and African Americans could not vote. Still, compared to Europe, the share of the colonial population taking part in government was large. This training proved valuable when the colonies became independent.

The Middle Passage

The trip across the ocean was called the "Middle Passage." This name came from the fact that it was often the second, or middle, leg of the three-part route known as the triangular trade . People called this route "triangular" because, as the ships traveled between their destinations, their paths formed the three sides of a triangle. The Middle Passage was a terrible ordeal. Chained together for more than a month, prisoners could hardly sit or stand. They received little food or water. Africans who died or became sick were thrown overboard. Those who refused to eat were whipped. Those who survived the Middle Passage faced another terror when they reached American ports—the slave market. There they were put up for sale as laborers to plantation owners.

Navigation Act

To control this trade, England began passing a series of laws called Navigation Acts in the 1650s. The laws forced colonists to sell their raw materials to England even if they could get a better price elsewhere. Goods bought by the colonies from other countries in Europe had to go to England first and be taxed. All trade goods had to be carried on ships built in England or the colonies. The crews on the ships had to be English as well. The colonists at first accepted the Navigation Acts because the laws guaranteed them a place to sell their raw materials. Later, the colonists came to resent English restrictions. With their population growing, colonists wanted to manufacture their own goods rather than import them from England. They also wanted to sell their products to buyers other than England. Colonial merchants began smuggling, or shipping goods without government permission or payment of taxes. Controls on trade would later cause conflict between the American colonies and England.

The English Bill of Rights

To set clear limits on a ruler's powers, Parliament drew up the English Bill of Rights in 1689. The Bill of Rights stated that the ruler could not suspend Parliament's laws, impose taxes, or raise an army without Parliament's consent. Members of Parliament had to be freely elected. Citizens of England had the right to a fair trial by jury in court cases. The Bill of Rights also banned cruel and unusual punishments.

Tobacco and Rice

Tobacco was the principal cash crop in Maryland and Virginia. Growing tobacco and preparing it for sale required a lot of labor. At first, planters used indentured servants to work in the fields. These servants worked for a time and then went free. When indentured servants became scarce and expensive, Southern planters began using enslaved Africans instead. Slaveholders with large farms grew wealthy by growing tobacco. They sold most of it in Europe. Sometimes, though, there was too much tobacco on the market—more than buyers wanted. To sell the extra tobacco, planters had to lower their prices. As a result, their profits fell. Some planters switched to other crops, such as corn and wheat. The geography of South Carolina and Georgia helped make rice the main cash crop there. In low-lying areas along the coast, planters built dams to create rice fields, called paddies. Planters flooded the fields when the rice was young and drained them when the rice was ready to harvest. Work in the rice paddies was very hard. It involved standing knee-deep in the mud with no protection from the blazing sun or biting insects. To do this hard work, rice growers relied on slave labor. Rice proved to be an even more profitable crop than tobacco. Prices rose steadily as rice became popular in Europe. By the 1750s, South Carolina and Georgia had the fastest-growing economies in the colonies.

English Principles of Government

When English colonists came to North America, they brought with them English ideas about government. These ideas had been developing in England over hundreds of years. By the 1600s, the English people had won political liberties, such as trial by jury, that were largely unknown elsewhere. At the heart of the English system were two principles of government—protected rights and representative legislatures. These two principles greatly influenced the development of the United States and are important parts of the U.S. Constitution.

Immigration

the permanent moving of people into one country from other countries—was important to this growth. Between 1607 and 1775, an estimated 690,000 Europeans came to the colonies. Also during this time, traders brought in 278,000 enslaved Africans to the colonies. There was another reason for the growing population. Colonial women tended to marry early and have large families. In addition, the colonies—especially New England—turned out to be a very healthy place to live compared to other parts of the world.

representative government

which people elect delegates to make laws and conduct government.