AP U.S. History Chapter 3
How did colonial America react and act towards the poorest in the colonies?
The better-off colonists generally viewed the poor as lazy, shiftless, and responsible for their own plight. Both rural communities and cities did accept responsibility for assisting their own. But to minimize the burden on taxpayers, poor persons were frequently set to labor in workhouses, where they produced goods that reimbursed authorities for part of their upkeep. Their children were sent to work as apprentices in local homes or workshops. And most communities adopted stringent measures to "warn out" unemployed and propertyless newcomers who might become dependent on local poor relief. This involved town authorities either expelling the unwanted poor from an area or formally declaring certain persons ineligible for assistance
"the freedoms Pennsylvania offered to European immigrants contributed to the deterioration of freedom for others." What examples can you cite that prove that statement?
The colony's successful efforts to attract settlers would eventually come into conflict with Penn's benevolent Indian policy. And the opening of Pennsylvania led to an immediate decline in the number of indentured servants choosing to sail for Virginia and Maryland, a development that did much to shift those colonies toward reliance on slave labor.
Why was Philadelphia called "the capital of the New World?"
The financial, commercial, and cultural center of British America, its growth rested on economic integration with the rich agricultural region nearby. Philadelphia merchants organized the collection of farm goods, supplied rural storekeepers, and extended credit to consumers. They exported flour, bread, and meat to the West Indies and Europe.
What evidence does Foner cite to support his argument that "line between slavery and freedom was more permeable than it later would become" in the 1700s and beyond?
The first Africans, twenty in all, arrived in Virginia in 1619. Although the first black arrivals were almost certainly treated as slaves, it appears that at least some managed to become free after serving a term of years. To be sure, racial distinctions were enacted into law from the outset. - As early as the 1620s, the law barred blacks from serving in the Virginia militia. - The government punished sexual relations outside of marriage between Africans and Europeans more severely than the same acts involving two white persons. - In 1643, a poll tax (a tax levied on individuals) was imposed on African but not white women. - In both Virginia and Maryland, however, free blacks could sue and testify in court, and some even managed to acquire land and purchase white servants or African slaves Blacks and whites labored side by side in the tobacco fields, sometimes ran away together, and established intimate relationships.
What was Leisler's main fear after the Glorious Revolution?
The grisly manner of his death—Leisler was hanged and then had his head cut off and body cut into four parts—reflected the depths of hatred the rebellion had inspired
"Race and racism," argues Foner is a modern concept. What were the main lines of division within humanity according to Foner?
The main lines of division within humanity were thought to be civilization versus barbarism or Christianity versus heathenism, not color or race.
Compare the people and society in North America to the people and society in England.
The people and society of North America were quite diverse, from Pueblo villages of the Southwest to tobacco plantations of the Chesapeake, towns and small farms of New England, landholdings in the Hudson Valley that resembled feudal estates, and fur trading outposts of the northern and western frontier. Elites tied to imperial centers of power dominated the political and economic life of nearly every colony. But large numbers of colonists enjoyed far greater opportunities for freedom—access to the vote, prospects of acquiring land, the right to worship as they pleased, and an escape from oppressive government—than existed in Europe. Free colonists probably enjoyed the highest per capita income in the world. The colonies' economic growth contributed to a high birthrate, long life expectancy, and expanding demand for consumer goods. In the British colonies, writes one historian, lived "thousands of the freest individuals the Western world has ever known." Yet many others found themselves confined to the partial freedom of indentured servitude or to the complete absence of freedom in slavery.
How did slavery make Carolina a hierarchical society?
The proprietors instituted a rigorous legal code that promised slaveowners "absolute power and authority" over their human property and included imported slaves in the headright system. This allowed any persons who settled in Carolina and brought with them slaves, including planters from Barbados who resettled in the colony, instantly to acquire large new landholdings
How did the events in Salem discredited the tradition of prosecuting witches and change many colony's system of justice?
accelerated a commitment among prominent colonists to finding scientific explanations for natural events like comets and illnesses, rather than attributing them to magic
What were the immediate results of the lax enforcement of the Navigation Acts?
allowed smuggling to flourish.
What was the mercantile system?
A prevailing theory that the government should regulate economic activity so as to promote national power. It should encourage manufacturing and commerce by special bounties, monopolies, and other measures. Above all, trade should be controlled so that more gold and silver flowed into the country than left it. That is, export of goods, which generated revenue from abroad, should exceed imports, which required paying foreigners for their products. - role of colonies was the serve the interests of mother country by producing marketable raw materials and importing manufactured goods from home.
What factors led to a slave-based labor force in the West Indies in the 1600s?
A sense of Africans as alien and inferior made their enslavement by the English possible. With the Indian population having been wiped out by disease, and with the white indentured servants unwilling to do the back-breaking, monotonous work of sugar cultivation, the massive importation of slaves from Africa began.
How did many English justify Africans as "enslavable?"
Africans were seen as so alien—in color, religion, and social practices
What impact did the Glorious Revolution have in American colonies in religious toleration?
After the Glorious Revolution, Protestant domination was secured in most of the colonies, with the established churches of England (Anglican) and Scotland (Presbyterian) growing the fastest, while Catholics and Dissenters suffered various forms of discrimination. Despite the new regime's language of liberty, however, religious freedom was far more advanced in some American colonies, such as Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Carolina, than in England.
Among all of the English colonies, what was the overriding commonality in who was poor?
Although not considered by most colonists part of their society, the growing number of slaves lived in impoverished conditions. Among free Americans, poverty was hardly as widespread as in Britain, where in the early part of the century between one quarter and one-half of the people regularly required public assistance. With the supply of land limited, sons who could not hope to inherit farms were forced to move to other colonies or to try their hand at a trade in the region's towns.
What benefit did slave labor provide to Chesapeake planters (plantation owners)?
As Africans, they could not claim the protections of English common law. Slaves' terms of service never expired, and they therefore did not become a population of unruly landless men. Their children were slaves, and their skin color made it more difficult for them to escape into the surrounding society. African men, moreover, unlike their Native American counterparts, were accustomed to intensive agricultural labor, and they had encountered many diseases known in Europe and developed resistance to them, so were less likely to succumb to epidemics.
Besides Bacon's Rebellion, what other factors contributed to the switch from indenture servitude to slave labor?
As the death rate finally began to fall, it became more economical to purchase a laborer for life. Improving conditions in England reduced the number of transatlantic migrants, and the opening of Pennsylvania, where land was readily available, attracted those who still chose to leave for America. Finally, the ending of a monopoly on the English slave trade previously enjoyed by the Royal Africa Company opened the door to other traders and reduced the price of imported African slaves.
What is race?
"Race"—the idea that humanity is divided into well defined groups associated with skin color
What is racism?
"racism"—an ideology based on the belief that some races are inherently superior to others and entitled to rule over them.
Why was the Pennsylvania colony called a "holy experiment?" What liberties were extended to women, blacks and Indians?
- "a free colony for all mankind that should go hither." - He hoped that Pennsylvania could be governed according to Quaker principles, among them the equality of all persons (including women, blacks, and Indians) before God and the primacy of the individual conscience. - To Quakers, liberty was a universal entitlement, not the possession of any single people - Penn also treated Indians with a consideration by arranging to purchase land before reselling it to colonists and offering refuge to tribes driven out of other colonies by warfare. - Penn's Chain of Friendship appealed to the local Indians, promising protection from rival tribes who claimed domination over them.
What impact did King Philip's war have?
- Iroquois provided essentail military aid to the colonist to solidify their developing alliance with the government. -Metacom was captured and executed, Indian villages destroyed, and captives were killed or sold into slavery - Produced a broadening of freedom for white New Englanders by expanding their access to land and leave an image of Indians as bloodthirsty savages in their mind.
Although slavery existed in Greece, Rome, Africa, and to some degree among Native Americans, in what ways was New World slavery different than these other areas/times
- Labor on slave plantations was far more demanding than in the household slavery common in Africa, and the death rate among slaves much higher. - In the New World, slavery would come to be associated with race, a concept that drew a permanent line between whites and blacks. - Unlike in Africa, slaves who became free always carried with them in their skin color the mark of bondage—a visible sign of being considered unworthy of incorporation as equals into free society.
describe the economic and social orders Back Country Virginia and Carolinas
- The backcountry was the most rapidly growing region in North America. - In 1730, the only white residents in what was then called "Indian country" were the occasional hunter and trader. - Most were farm families raising grain and livestock, but slave owning planters, seeking fertile soil for tobacco farming, also entered the area.
describe the economic and social orders Older/Coastal Middle Colonies
- farmers were more oriented to commerce than on the frontier, growing grain both for their own use and for sale abroad and supplementing the work of family members by employing wage laborers, tenants, and in some instances slaves. - With its fertile soil, favorable climate, initially peaceful Indian relations, generous governmental land distribution policy, and rivers that facilitated long-distance trading, Pennsylvania came to be known as "the best poor man's country." Ordinary colonists there enjoyed a standard of living unimaginable in Europe.
How did they attract settlers in Carolina?
- the proprietors provided for an elected assembly and religious toleration - They also instituted a generous headright system, offering 150 acres for each member of an arriving family and 100 acres to male servants who completed their terms.
Why were the 1660s a turning point in the development of slavery in the Chesapeake?
As tobacco planting spread and the demand for labor increased, the condition of black and white servants diverged sharply. - A Virginia law of 1662 provided that in the case of a child one of whose parents was free and one slave, the status of the offspring followed that of the mother. - In 1667, the Virginia House of Burgesses decreed that religious conversion did not release a slave from bondage. Thus, Christians could own other Christians as slaves. - Moreover, authorities sought to prevent the growth of the free black population by defining all offspring of interracial relationships as illegitimate, severely punishing white women who begat children with black men, and prohibiting the freeing of any slave unless he or she were transported out of the colony.
Who was Myer Myers
Born in New York City in 1723,MyerMyers, a Jewish silversmith of Dutch ancestry, became one of the city's most prominent artisans. Myers produced jewelry, candlesticks, coffeepots, tableware, and other gold and silver objects for the colony's elite, as well as religious ornaments for both synagogues and Protestant churches in New York and nearby colonies. He used some of his profits to acquire land in New Hampshire and Connecticut. Myers's career reflected the opportunities colonial cities offered to skilled men of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.
What was the Navigation Law of 1651?
Certain "enumerated" goods (most valuable colonial products like sugar/tobacco) had to be transported in English ships and sold initially in English ports then be reexported to foreign markets. Similarly, most European goods imported into the colonies had to be shipped through England, where customs duties were paid
Who exceeded Dutch in trade?
During the eighteenth century, Great Britain eclipsed the Dutch as the leading producer and trader of inexpensive consumer goods
In what ways did English rule REDUCE freedom for New Yorkers?
English law ended the Dutch tradition by which married women conducted business in their own name and inherited some of the property acquired during marriage. The English also introduced more restrictive attitudes toward blacks. In a reversal of Dutch practice, expelled free blacks from many skilled jobs.
How did the relationship between the Iroquois and the English change between the mid 1670s and the turn of the century?
English rule also strengthened the position of the Iroquois Confederacy of upstate New York. After a complex series of negotiations in the mid-1670s, Sir Edmund Andros, who had been appointed governor of New York formed an alliance known as the Covenant Chain, in which the imperial ambitions of the English and Indians reinforced one another
What was the "Walking Purchase of 1737" and to what degree does it represent Anglo-Indian relations in the 1700s?
Farmers and planters viewed Indians as little more than an obstruction to their desire for land. They expected Indians to give way to white settlers. The infamous Walking Purchase of 1737 brought the fraudulent dealing so common in other colonies to Pennsylvania. The Lenni Lanape Indians agreed to an arrangement to cede a tract of land bounded by the distance a man could walk in thirty-six hours. To their amazement, Governor James Logan hired a team of swift runners, who marked out an area far in excess of what the Indians had anticipated. By 1760, when Pennsylvania's population, a mere 20,000 in 1700, had grown to 220,000, Indian-colonist relations, initially the most harmonious in British North America, had become poisoned by suspicion and hostility.
Describe the rights women had or didn't have in colonial America.
Free women were expected to devote their lives to being good wives and mothers. As colonial society became more structured, opportunities that had existed for women in the early period receded. In Connecticut, for example, the courts were informal and unorganized in the seventeenth century, and women often represented themselves. In the eighteenth century, it became necessary to hire a lawyer as one's spokesman in court. Women, barred from practicing as attorneys, disappeared from judicial proceedings. Because of the desperate need for labor, men and women in the seventeenth century both did various kinds of work. In the eighteenth century, the division of labor along gender lines solidified. Women's work was clearly defined, including cooking, cleaning, sewing, making butter, and assisting with agricultural chores. The work of farmers' wives and daughters often spelled the difference between a family's self-sufficiency and poverty. "Women's work is never done." This popular adage was literally true. Even as the consumer revolution reduced the demands on many women by making available store-bought goods previously produced at home, women's work seemed to increase. Lower infant mortality meant more time spent in child care and domestic chores. The demand for new goods increased the need for all family members to contribute to family income.
What factors spurred on German migration to England's colonies?
Germany was divided into numerous small states, each with a ruling prince who determined the official religion. Those who found themselves worshiping the "wrong" religion faced persecution. Many decided to emigrate. Other migrants were motivated by persistent agricultural crises and the difficulty of acquiring land
Describe the seeds of discontent among the poor, landless whites that led to Bacon's Rebellion
Governor William Berkeley had for thirty years run a corrupt regime in alliance with an inner circle of the colony's wealthiest tobacco planters. He rewarded his followers with land grants and lucrative offices, leaving freed servants (a growing population, since Virginia's death rate was finally falling) with no options but to work as tenants or to move to the frontier. Governor Berkeley maintained peaceful relations with Virginia's remaining native population. His refusal to allow white settlement in areas reserved for Indians angered many land-hungry colonists. - Settlers now demanded that the governor authorize the extermination or removal of the colony's Indians, to open more land for whites.
What large change happened that caused the "demise of the New England way?"
In 1691, the crown issued a new charter that absorbed Plymouth into Massachusetts and transformed the political structure of the Bible Commonwealth. Town government remained intact, but henceforth property ownership, not church membership, would be the requirement to vote in elections for the General Court. The governor was now appointed in London rather than elected. Thus, Massachusetts became a royal colony, the majority ofwhose voters were no longer Puritan "saints." Moreover, it was required to abide by the English Toleration Act of 1690—that is, to allow all Protestants to worship freely
What allowed a wealthy merchant class to form in the English colonies?
In New England and the Middle Colonies, expanding trade made possible the emergence of a powerful upper class of merchants, often linked by family or commercial ties to great trading firms in London. There were no banks in colonial America. Credit and money were in short supply, and mercantile success depended on personal connections as much as business talent. By 1750, the colonies of the Chesapeake and Lower South were dominated by slave plantations producing staple crops, especially tobacco and rice, for the world market. Here great planters accumulated enormous wealth. The colonial elite also included the rulers of proprietary colonies like Pennsylvania and Maryland.
What was the "cousinocracy" and what does it tell you about life in the English colonies?
In Virginia, the upper class was so tightknit and intermarried so often that the colony was said to be governed by a "cousinocracy."
Define "Primogeniture"
In several colonies, the law mandated primogeniture— meaning that estates must be passed intact to the oldest son
What actions did England take to reduce colonial autonomy and assert control before 1689 and the Glorious Revolution?
In the 1680s, England moved to reduce colonial autonomy. James II between 1686 and 1688 combined Connecticut, Plymouth, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and East and West Jersey into a single super-colony, the Dominion of New England. It was ruled by the former New York governor Sir Edmund Andros, who did not have to answer to an elected assembly. He appointed local officials in place of elected ones, imposed taxes without the approval of elected representatives, declared earlier land grants void unless approved by him, and enforced religious toleration for all Protestants. His rule threatened both English liberties and the church-state relationship at the heart of the Puritan order.
What changes occurred in Native American communities in the 1700s as a result of contact with Europeans?
Indian communities were well integrated into the British imperial system. Indian warriors did much of the fighting in the century's imperial wars. Their cultures were now quite different from what they had been at the time of first contact. Indian societies that had existed for centuries had disappeared, the victims of disease and warfare. New tribes, like the Catawba of South Carolina and the Creek Confederacy, which united dozens of Indian towns in South Carolina and Georgia, had been created from their remnants. Few Indians chose to live among whites rather than in their own communities. But they had become well accustomed to using European products like knives, hatchets, needles, kettles, and firearms. Alcohol introduced by traders created social chaos in many Indian communities.
In what ways did the slave island of Barbados impact the early development of Carolina?
It began as an offshoot of the tiny island of Barbados. In the mid-seventeenth century, Barbados was the Caribbean's richest plantation economy, but a shortage of available land led wealthy planters to seek opportunities in Carolina for their sons.
What was the most striking characteristic of colonial America in the 18th century?
It' sheer diversity - In the eighteenth century, African and non-English European arrivals skyrocketed, while the number emigrating from England declined
What was William Penn's most fundamental principle? Did this principle extend to the private sphere too?
Religious freedom was Penn's most fundamental principle. He condemned attempts to enforce "religious Uniformity" for it depriving "free inhabitants" of England of the right to worship as they desired. His Charter of Liberty offered "Christian liberty" to all who affirmed a belief in God and did not use their freedom to promote "licentiousness." There was no established church in Pennsylvania, and attendance at religious services was entirely voluntary, although Jews were barred from office by a required oath affirming belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ. - Private religious belief may not have been enforced by the government, but moral public behavior certainly was. Not religious uniformity but a virtuous citizenry would be the foundation of Penn's social order.
Describe Old World slavery
Slavery has existed for nearly the entire span ofhuman history. It was central to the societies of ancient Greece and Rome in which Germans, Vikings, and Anglo-Saxons all held slaves. Slavery persisted even longer in the Mediterranean world, where a slave trade in Slavic peoples survived into the fifteenth century. (The English word "slavery" derives from "Slav.") Pirates from the Barbary Coast of North Africa regularly seized Christians from ships and enslaved them.
Why did slavery develop MUCH more slowly in the Chesapeake than in the West Indies?
Slaves cost more than indentured servants, and the high death rate among tobacco workers made it economically unappealing to pay for a lifetime of labor.
Why could it be said that the year 1705 was the turning point where Virginia ceased to be a "society with slaves" and became a "slave society?" What's the difference between the two?
Slaves were property, completely subject to the will of their masters and, more generally, of the white community. They could be bought and sold, leased, fought over in court, and passed on to one's descendants. Henceforth, blacks and whites were tried in separate courts. No black, free or slave, could own arms, strike a white man, or employ a white servant. Any white person could apprehend any black to demand a certificate of freedom or a pass from the owner giving permission to be off the plantation
describe the economic and social orders in New England
Small farms tilled by family labor and geared primarily to production for local consumption predominated in New England
What role did sugar play in the development of slavery in the West Indies?
Sugar was the first crop to be mass-marketed to consumers in Europe. Before its emergence, international trade consisted largely of precious metals like gold and silver, and luxury goods aimed at an elite market, like the spices and silks imported from Asia. Sugar was by far the most important product of the British, French, and Portugese empires, and New World sugar plantations produced immense profits for planters, merchants, and imperial governments
What evidence does Foner give to support his argument that "people, ideas, and goods flowed back and forth across the Atlantic knitting together the empire at its diverse populations?
Sugar, tobacco, and other products of the Western Hemisphere were marketed as far away as eastern Europe. London bankers financed the slave trade between Africa and Portugese Brazil. Spain spent its gold and silver importing goods from other countries. As trade expanded, the North American and West Indian colonies became the major overseas market for British manufactured goods.
What was the Charter of liberties and privileges?
The Charter required that elections be held every three years among male property owners and the freemen of New York City; it also reaffirmed traditional English rights such as trial by jury and security of property, as well as religious toleration for all Protestants.
How did the English view alien people?
The English had long viewed alien peoples with disdain, including the Irish, Native Americans, and Africans. They described these strangers in remarkably similar language as savage, pagan, and uncivilized, often comparing them to animals.
What was the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina?
The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, issued by the proprietors in 1669, proposed to establish a feudal society with a hereditary nobility (with strange titles like landgraves and caciques), serfs, and slaves.
Along what lines did were New Yorkers divided during Leisler's Rebellion?
The German-born Leisler, one of the wealthiest merchants in the city, was a fervent Calvinist who feared that James II intended to reduce England and its empire to "popery and slavery." Although it was not his intention, Leisler's regime divided the colony along ethnic and economic lines. Members of the Dutch majority seized the opportunity to reclaim local power after more than two decades of English rule, while bands of rebels ransacked the homes of wealthy New Yorkers. Prominent English colonists, joined by some wealthy Dutch merchants and fur traders, protested to London that Leisler was a tyrant.
How did the book American Husbandry describe the conditions of the Middle Ranks?
The anonymous author of the book American Husbandry, published in 1775, reported that "little freeholders who live upon their own property" made up "the most considerable part" of the people, especially in the northern colonies and the nonplantation parts of the South. Altogether, perhaps two-thirds of the free male population were farmers who owned their own land
What was a social precondition of freedom for the according to the Middle Ranks?
colonial farm families viewed landownership almost as a right, the social precondition of freedom. They strongly resented efforts, whether by Native Americans, great landlords, or colonial governments, to limit their access to land. A dislike of personal dependence and an understanding of freedom as not relying on others for a livelihood sank deep roots in British North America.
What factors attracted various groups of settlers from Europe to England's colonies?
the government in London remained convinced that colonial development enhanced the nation's power and wealth. To bolster the Chesapeake labor force, nearly 50,000 convicts (a group not desired in Britain) were sent to work in the tobacco fields. Officials also actively encouraged Protestant immigration from the non-English (and less prosperous) parts of the British Isles and from the European continent, promising newcomers easy access to land and the right to worship freely. A law of 1740 even offered European immigrants British citizenship after seven years of residence, something that in the mother country could only be obtained by a special act of Parliament. The widely publicized image of America as an asylum for those "whom bigots chase from foreign lands," in the words of a 1735 poem, was in many ways a byproduct of Britain's efforts to attract settlers from non English areas to its colonies.
By what factor did the population of England's colonies grow?
the hazards of disease among colonists diminished, agricultural settlement pressed westward, and hundreds of thousands of newcomers arrived from the Old World. Thanks to a high birthrate and continuing immigration, the population of England's mainland colonies, 265,000 in 1700, grew nearly tenfold, to over 2.3 million seventy years later.
What impact did the Glorious Revolution have on notions of liberty in England and the colonies?
the overthrow of James II entrenched more firmly than ever the notion that liberty was the birthright of all Englishmen and that the king was subject to the rule of law. To justify the ouster of James II, Parliament in 1689 enacted a Bill of Rights.
How did New Netherlands (now New York) change as it switched hands from Dutch to English control?
transformed this minor military base into an important imperial outpost, a seaport trading with the Caribbean and Europe, and a launching pad for military operations against the French.
What group of people was most likely to be accused of being a witch? (Give me more than just "women...")? Why would this group of people be most likely to be accused of being a witch
Witches were individuals, usually women, who were accused of having entered into a pact with the devil to obtain supernatural powers, which they used to harm others or to interfere with natural processes. Native Americans were most likely to be accused of being a witch especially shamans and medicine men. - God's will and the standing of men as heads of family and rulers of society
What was the Glorious Revolution?
the bloodless overthrow of the English king James II and his replacement by William Orange and Mary
What steps were taken in the 1650s to 1660s to create a mercantilist system so that "the English should enjoy the profits arising from the English empire?"
Parliament passed in 1651 the 1st Navigation acts which aimed to wrest control of trade from the Dutch.
What group of people were given power in Pennsylvania's government?
Penn established an appointed council to originate legislation and an assembly elected by male taxpayers and "freemen" (owners of 100 acres of land for free immigrants and 50 acres for former indentured servants)
What factors allowed wealthy Virginians to pass down their wealth to the next generation in the 18th century?
Planters could expect to pass their wealth down to the next generation, providing estates for their sons and establishing family dynasties. Nearly every Virginian of note achieved prominence through family connections. The days when self-made men could rise into the Virginia gentry were long gone; by 1770, nearly all upper-class Virginians had inherited their wealth.
Describe the process of "Anglicization."
Rather than thinking of themselves as distinctively American, they became more and more English—a process historians call "Anglicization." Wealthy Americans tried to model their lives on British etiquette and behavior. They sought to demonstrate their status and legitimacy by importing the latest London fashions and literature, sending their sons to Britain for education, and building homes equipped with fashionable furnishings modeled on the country estates and town houses of the English gentry. Their residences included large rooms for entertainment, display cases for imported luxury goods, and elaborate formal gardens. Some members of the colonial elite, like George Washington, even had coats of arms designed for their families, in imitation of English upper-class practice.
Discuss the concept of "liberty" in the eyes of the aristocracy?
Liberty, in their eyes, meant, in part, the power to rule—the right of those blessed with wealth and prominence to dominate over others. They viewed society as a hierarchical structure in which some men were endowed with greater talents than others and destined to rule. The social order, they believed, was held together by webs of influence that linked patrons and those dependent on them. Each place in the hierarchy carried with it different responsibilities, and one's status was revealed in dress, manners, and the splendor of one's home. "Superiority" and "dependence," as one colonial newspaper put it, were natural elements of any society. An image of refinement served to legitimate wealth and political power. Colonial elites prided themselves on developing aristocratic manners, cultivating the arts, and making productive use of leisure. Indeed, on both sides of the Atlantic, elites viewed work as something reserved for common folk and slaves. Freedom from labor was the mark of the gentleman.
How did the duke of York respond to increased calls for self-government?
Many colonists, meanwhile, began to complain that they were being denied the "liberties of Englishmen," especially the right to consent to taxation. In 1683, the duke agreed to call an elected assembly, whose first act was to draft a Charter of Liberties and Privileges
How did the Glorious Revolution impact religious liberty in Maryland?
Maryland's Protestant Association overthrew the government of the colony's Catholic proprietor, Lord Baltimore. Concluding that Lord Baltimore had mismanaged the colony, William revoked his charter (although the proprietor retained his land and rents) and established anew, Protestant-dominated government. Catholics retained the right to practice their religion but were barred from voting and holding office. But the events of 1689 transformed the ruling group in Maryland and put an end to the colony's unique history of religious toleration.
Who was the Wampanoag leader?
Metacom (known as King Philip) who was the uprising mastermind in attack on southern new england
What areas saw the largest amount of German migration?
Most settled in frontier areas— rural New York, western Pennsylvania, and the southern backcountry— where they formed tightly knit farming communities in which German for many years remained the dominant language.
What evidence does Foner use to support his claim that "the family was the center of economic life?"
Most work revolved around the home, and all members—men, women, and children—contributed to the family's livelihood. The independence of the small farmer depended in considerable measure on the labor of dependent women and children.
What factors attracted a host of religious diversity in England's colonies?
Nearly every colony levied taxes to pay the salaries of ministers of an established church, and most barred Catholics and Jews from voting and holding public office. But increasingly, de facto toleration among Protestant denominations flourished, fueled by the establishment of new churches by immigrants, as well as new Baptist, Methodist, and other congregations created as a result of the Great Awakening, a religious revival. By the mid-18th century, dissenting Protestants in most colonies had gained the right to worship as they pleased and own their churches, although many places still barred them from holding public office and taxed them to support the official church.
What was the goal of the Navigation Acts from the British perspective?
North Americans shipped farm products to Britain, the West Indies, and with the exception of goods like tobacco "enumerated" under the Navigation Acts, outside the empire. Virtually the entire Chesapeake tobacco crop was marketed in Britain, with most of it then re-exported to Europe by British merchants. Most of the bread and flour exported from the colonies was destined for the West Indies. African slaves there grew sugar that could be distilled into rum, a product increasingly popular among both North American colonists and Indians, who obtained it by trading furs and deerskins that were then shipped to Europe. The mainland colonies carried on a flourishing trade in fish and grains with southern Europe. Ships built in New England made up one-third of the British empire's trading fleet.
How did the per capita wealth in 1774 in South Carolina compare to other English colonies?
The richest group of mainland colonists were South Carolina planters (although planters in Jamaica far outstripped them in wealth). Elite South Carolinians often traveled north to enjoy summer vacations in the cooler climate of Newport, Rhode Island, and they spent much of the remainder of their time in Charleston, the only real urban center south of Philadelphia and the richest city in British North America. Here aristocratic social life flourished, centered on theaters, literary societies, and social events. Like their Virginia counterparts, South Carolina grandees lived a lavish lifestyle amid imported furniture, fine wines, silk clothing, and other items from England. They surrounded themselves with house slaves dressed in specially designed uniforms. In 1774, the per capita wealth in the Charleston District was £2,300, more than four times that of tobacco areas in Virginia and eight times the figure for Philadelphia or Boston. But wealth in South Carolina was highly concentrated. The richest 10 percent of the colony owned half the wealth in 1770, the poorest quarter less than 2 percent.
Describe the nature of work for the colonial artisan. What did their job look like and where did it put them of the social scale?
The typical artisan owned his own tools and labored in a small workshop, often his home, assisted by family members and young journeymen and apprentices learning the trade. The artisan's skill, which set him apart from the common laborers below him in the social scale, was the key to his existence, and it gave him a far greater degree of economic freedom than those dependent on others for a livelihood.
What 3 major European powers were competing for wealth and power at this time in North America?
The urban-based Spanish empire, with a small settler elite and growing mestizo population directing the labor of a large Indian population, still relied for wealth primarily on the gold and silver mines of Mexico and South America. -The French empire centered on Saint Domingue, Martinique, and Guadeloupe, plantation islands of the West Indies. On the mainland, it consisted of a thinly settled string of farms and trading posts in the St. Lawrence Valley. -In North America north of the Rio Grande, the English colonies had far outstripped their rivals in population and trade.
How did slaves show their "desire for liberty?" in Virginia in the late 1600s?
These notices described the appearance and skills ofthe fugitive and included such comments as "ran away without any cause" or "he has great notions of freedom." Familiar with European culture and fluent in English, they turned to the colonial legal system in their quest for freedom. Throughout the seventeenth century, blacks appeared in court claiming their liberty, at first on the basis of conversion to Christianity or having a white father.
What factors caused the accusations of witchcraft to spread beyond the normal group of people?
Until 1692, the prosecution of witches had been local and sporadic. But in the heightened anxiety of that year, a series of trials and executions took place in the town of Salem that made its name to this day a byword for fanaticism and persecution. The crisis began late in 1691 when several young girls began to suffer fits and nightmares, attributed by their elders to witchcraft. Soon, three witches had been named, including Tituba, an Indian from the Caribbean who was a slave in the home of one of the girls. Since the only way to avoid prosecution was to confess and name others, accusations of witchcraft began to snowball. By the middle of 1692, hundreds of residents of Salem had come forward to accuse their neighbor. Local authorities took legal action against nearly 150 persons, the large majority of them women. Many confessed to save their lives, but fourteen women and five men were hanged, protesting their innocence to the end.
Describe the response of Virginia's ruling elite after Bacon burned Jamestown and the rebellion was finally put down. Was Bacon's Rebellion a success?
Virginia's ruling elite took dramatic steps to consolidate their power and improve their image. - They restored property qualifications for voting, which Bacon had rescinded. - the authorities reduced taxes and adopted a more aggressive Indian policy, opening western areas to small farmers - To avert the further rise of a rebellious population of landless former indentured servants, Virginia's authorities accelerated the shift to slaves (who would never become free) on the tobacco plantations.
How did life for the average colonist change as a result of consumerism?
most colonists had lived in a pioneer world of homespun clothing and homemade goods. Now, even modest farmers and artisans owned books, ceramic plates, metal cutlery, and items made of imported silk and cotton. Tea, once a luxury enjoyed only by the wealthy, became virtually a necessity of life.
Although 40% of all migrants to England's colonies were indentured servants, what groups of people decided to join in on the economic prosperity prompting England to rethink their emigration policies?
poor indentured migrants were increasingly joined by professionals and skilled craftsmen—teachers, ministers, weavers, carpenters—whom England could ill afford to lose.
What was the stable crop of the Carolina's?
rice
What was the Bill of Rights?
rights of individuals, including trial by jury. These were the "ancient" and "undoubted . . . rights and liberties" of all Englishmen
Benefits of Navigation Law of 1651
enabled English merchants, manufacturers, shipbuilders, and sailors to reap the benefits of colonial trade, and the government to enjoy added income from taxes.
Briefly describe William Penn's vision for Pennsylvania.
envisioned it as a place where those facing religious persecution in Europe could enjoy spiritual freedom, and colonists and Indians would coexist in harmony. He was concerned with establishing a refuge for his coreligionists, who faced increasing persecution in England.
In what ways did English rule EXPAND freedom for New Yorkers?
guaranteed that the English would respect the religious toleration and property holdings of the colony's many ethnic communities
What was the most bloodiest and bitter conflict in southern New England?
in 1675 an Indian alliance launched attacks on English farms and settlements. It was the most dramatic and violent warfare in the region in the entire seventeenth century. By 1676, Indian forces had attacked nearly half of New England's ninety towns. As refugees fled eastward the line of settlement was pushed back almost to the Atlantic coast.
