The Colonies Come of Age

The Colonies Come of Age

Colonies Come of Age

• Britain defeats France in North America.

Tensions grow between Britain and its colonists.

Colonial slavery becomes entrenched in

the South

Women planting corn in MA.

England & Its ColoniesEngland and its largely self governing colonies prosper under a mutually beneficial trade relationship

The 13 Colonies

When the Colonies were Founded

• Virginia (1607)• Massachusetts (1620)• New York (1626)• Maryland (1633)• Rhode Island (1636)• Connecticut (1636)• Delaware (1638)• New Hampshire (1638)• North Carolina (1653)• South Carolina (1663)• New Jersey (1664)• Pennsylvania (1682)• Georgia (1732)

Motivationsto settle in the colonies

• New England Colonies wanted to keep their family unit together and practice their own religion. They were used to doing many things themselves and not depending on other people for much. Some of these people came to New England to make money, but they were not the majority.

• Middle Colonies were looking to practice their own religion (Pennsylvania mainly) or to make money. Many of these people didn’t bring their families with them from England and were the perfect workers for the hard work required in ironwoods and shipyards.

• The founders of the Southern Colonies were, for the most part, out to make money. They brought their families, as did the New England colonists, and they kept their families together on the plantations. But their main motivation was to make the good money that was available in their new American market.

Economy• New England Colonies were largely farming and fishing communities. The people

made their own clothes and shoes. They grew much of their own food. Crops like corn and wheat grew in large numbers, and much was shipped to England. Foods that didn't grow in America were shipped from England. Boston was the major New England port.

• The Middle Colonies were part agriculture, part industrial. Wheat and other grains grew on farms in Pennsylvania and New York. Factories in Maryland produced iron, and factories in Pennsylvania produced paper and textiles. Trade with England was plentiful in these colonies as well.

• The Southern Colonies were almost entirely agricultural. The main feature was the plantation, a large plot of land that contained a great many acres of farmland and buildings in which lived the people who owned the land and the people who worked the land. (A large part of the workforce was African slaves, who first arrived in 1619.) – Southern plantations grew tobacco, rice, and indigo, which they sold to buyers

in England and elsewhere in America.

Farming in the 13 American Colonies • Farmers in the New England Colonies had a rough time of it. Much of the

soil wasn't good for growing crops, especially near the ocean. Also, the early and long-lasting winters killed many crops quickly. Still, New England farmers often grew enough food to feed their families and maybe even help feed other families. The main kind of food New Englanders contributed to the economy was fish.

• Farmers in the Middle Colonies were the most prosperous of all. They grew wheat, barley, oats, rye, and corn. The Middle Colonies were often called the "breadbasket" because they grew so much food. Wheat could be ground to make flour, and both wheat and flour could be sold in other colonies or in Europe.

• Farmers in the Southern Colonies grew several things. The most popular crop was tobacco. The Jamestown colonists had grown tobacco originally, and tobacco farms sprung up all over Virginia and North Carolina. The two southernmost states (South Carolina and Georgia) also grew indigo and rice.

Education in the 13 American Colonies

• In the New England colonies, parents believed that their children should learn about Christianity. To that end, parents taught their children to read so they could read the Bible. And once those kids knew how to read, they could read school books as well. New England villages having more than 100 families set up grammar schools, which taught boys Latin and math and other subjects needed to get into college. And although girls could read, they weren't allowed to go to grammar school or to college.

• Middle Colonies schools were also largely religious but taught the teachings of one religion. If you were a Catholic, you learned about the Catholic religion. Most schools were private. Students also learned other subjects so they could get into college. Again, girls weren't allowed to attend, unless they were Quakers.

• School-age kids in the Southern Colonies were taught at home, for the most part, by their parents or by private tutors. When these kids became teenagers, they would then go off to college or to Europe. As in the other colonies, Southern girls did not go to school

Religion and the Church in the 13 American Colonies

• The New England colonists were largely Puritans, who led very strict lives.

• The Middle colonists were a mixture of religions, including Quakers (led by William Penn), Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, and others.

• The Southern colonists had a mixture of religions as well, including Baptists and Anglicans.

Political Life in the Colonies

Main IdeaBritish mercantilist policies and political issues helped shape

the development of the American colonies.

Reading Focus• What is mercantilism?• How did the Glorious Revolution and the English Bill of

Rights affect political developments in the colonies?• How did government in the colonies change under the

policy of salutary neglect?

MercantilismEngland prevented its colonies from trading with other nations to maintain balance of trade. England only wanted certain American products, such as fur and timber.Colonists produced other products like wheat and fish that the English did not want.Colonists often could get higher prices for their goods from the French, Spanish, or Dutch.

Mercantilism

• Colonists smuggled goods because they felt England was taxing them unfairly.

• The English felt taxing was fair because profit was the major incentive for colonizing America.

• Mercantilism: a nation’s power was directly related to its wealth

• Balance of Trade: a goal of mercantilism; the colonists could supply raw materials to England and could buy English goods

Mercantilism & the Navigation Acts

• Increased English profits, but also increased law enforcement in America

• Lumber and shipbuilding business was up in the colonies; England needed more ships for trade.

• Many colonists ignored the laws and smuggled.

NavigationActs

English laws passed to control colonial trade*1651 Parliament passes Navigation Acts: laws restrict colonial

trade• Only English ships with English crews could take goods

to England.• Limited the products that could be shipped to England

or English colony• All shipments to colonies had to go through England.• Merchants had to pay a tax on certain goods; tax

collectors were sent to the colonies.

Effects

Crackdown in Massachusetts• Some colonists resent Navigation Acts;

still smuggle goods abroad• In 1684 King Charles revokes corporate

charter; creates royal colony

Tensions Emerge

The Dominion of New England• In 1685, King James creates

Dominion of New England- land from southern Maine to New Jersey united into one colony- to make colony more obedient, Dominion placed under single ruler

• Governor Sir Edmund Andros antagonizes Puritans, merchants

The Glorious Revolution and the English Bill of Rights

• New England colonists did not want to be governed in such a way that it hurt their own economies.

• Their industries began to compete with those in England.

• When Massachusetts refused to enforce Navigation Acts, the king made it a royal colony.

The Glorious Revolution and The English Bill of Rights

Dominion ofNew England

• King James created a supercolony of New England, New York, and New Jersey

• Sir Edmund Andros was governor.

• He wanted colonial charters returned.

• There was no elected assembly.

• Andros enforced Navigation Acts.

Glorious Revolution

• King James II was

unpopular in England.

• James’s daughter, Mary, and her husband, William, took over the crown.

• This change of leadership—the Glorious Revolution

• William and Mary accepted the English Bill of Rights that limited the monarchs’ powers.

Colonists’Reactions

Boston:• Andros and his

government were arrested and sent to England.

New York:• Rebellion broke

out• Royal rule

returned to New York, but it was granted an elected assembly.

Government in the Colonies

Toward Self-rule• During the English Civil War, colonists

took small steps toward self-government.

• In 1643 several colonies joined forces in the United Colonies of New England.

• Though Parliament had more power since Glorious Revolution, it dealt mainly with mainland England.

• The monarchs and their officials made most colonial policy.

• When war with Spain broke out, colonial governments gained some independence.

• Salutary neglect: referred to the fact that many English officials made colonial policies, but they did not rule the colonies very strictly.

Colonial Governments in 1700s

• Local governments more influential in colonists’ lives

• Colonial assemblies were bicameral like Parliament.

• Governor’s council was the upper house.

• Elected Assembly was lower house like Parliament.

• Each colony had a governor.

England Loosens the ReinsSalutary Neglect• Smuggling trials in

admiralty courts with English judges, no juries

• Board of Trade has broad powers to monitor colonial trade

• England’s salutary neglect—does not enforce laws if economic loyalty

NEXT

The Seeds of Self-Government

• Governor: calls, disbands assembly; appoints judges; oversees trade

• Colonial assembly influences governor because they pay his salary

• Colonists still consider themselves British but want self-government