O

ut of Many

A History of the American People Brief Sixth Edition Seventh Edition Chapter

5 The Cultures of Colonial North America 1700-1780

Out of Many: A History of the American People

, Brief Sixth Edition John Mack Faragher • Mari Jo Buhle • Daniel Czitrom • Susan H. Armitage Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved.

The Cultures of Colonial North America, 1700-1780

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North American Regions

Social and Political Patterns

The Cultural Transformation of British North America

Conclusion

The Old State House, historic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the late 1700s.

Chapter Focus Questions

• • What were the similarities and differences among eighteenth-century Spanish, French, and British colonies?

• What was the impact on British culture of increasing European immigration?

In what ways did Indian America change as a result of contact with European customs and life ways?

Chapter Focus Questions (cont'd)

• • What were the patterns of work and class in eighteenth-century North America?

How did tension between Enlightenment thought and traditional culture lead to the Great Awakening?

North America and Northampton, MA

The Revival of Religion and Community in Northampton

• • Preacher and revivalist Jonathan Edwards  Aimed at young disaffected adults Created conditions for Great Awakening  Religion, social conflict and cultural turmoil came together in the Awakening to challenge traditional values.

North American Regions

A portrait of the Delaware chief Tishcohan

North American Region

• British North America was a land of regions, both European and Native, with customs and traditions constantly adapting to each other.

A mounted Soldado de Cuera (Leather-Coated Soldier)

MAP 5.1 Regions in Eighteenth-Century North America

TABLE 5.1 Population of North America in 1750

MAP 5.2 Growing Use of the Horse by Plains Indians

Indian America

• Indians adapted to European culture and participated in trade, but became increasingly dependent on European commerce.

• Colonial expansion and native depopulation continued to threaten native communities.

• The introduction of the horse stimulated the rise of nomadic Plains culture.

The Church of San Xavier del Bac

The Spanish Borderlands

• Viceroyalty of New Spain largest, most prosperous European colony in North America • Northern borderlands considered a buffer zone of protection from other European colonies • Florida; Spanish alliances with Indians and runaway slaves create a multiracial society

The Spanish Borderlands (cont'd)

• New Mexico  Population expanded by developing ranches and farms along the Rio Grande River

The Spanish Borderlands (cont'd)

• • Rumors of Russian expansion  Increased Spanish presence along the Pacific coast • California: the mission system guided development in the 1770s The Catholic Church played a dominant role in community life.

The Spanish Borderlands (cont'd)

• Indians  Once joined; not allowed to leave  Needed food, clothing, tools

MAP 5.3 The French Crescent

The French Crescent

• • • Catholic Church  strong role in the French colonies French allied with Indian trading partners  line of military posts, settlements Quebec: Farming communities  Shipped wheat to Louisiana

The French Crescent (cont'd)

• France sent few colonists   Extensive but thinly populated

Métis

or mulatto households • Combined French and Indian elements in architecture, dress, family patterns

Enhanced satellite photograph of the Mississippi River near New Orleans.

New England

• Puritan congregations governed local communities with little distinction between church and state.

 Initially Puritans promoted religious freedom for themselves but not toleration of dissenters.

 Under English pressure, non-Puritans practiced their faiths openly by 1700.

New England (cont’d)

• • New England towns grew rapidly and the expanding population pressed against available land.

The few remaining Native Americans were driven onto reservations and excluded from English society.

The Middle Colonies

• • • New York  ethnically diverse populations —more “salad bowl” than “melting pot” New York City grew tremendously  immigration to rural areas lower than surrounding areas Pennsylvania Quakers  More diverse population —German and Scots Protestants.

The Middle Colonies (cont'd)

• • Property owners chose local officials Middle Colony communities more individualistic

View of the Philadelphia waterfront, painted about 1720

MAP 5.4 Spread of Settlement: Movement into the Backcountry, 1720–60

The Backcountry

• As settlement reached the mountains, backcountry population grew rapidly after 1720.

The Backcountry (cont'd)

• Backcountry was a distinctive region where rank was often of little concern.

  Most pioneers owned little or no land.

“Big men” held large tracts and dominated local communities.

 Men were warriors; women were domestic workers.

• Conflicts between settlers and Indians made the backcountry a violent region.

A Plan of an American New Cleared Farm

The South

• • • • The Chesapeake and lower South were  Triracial societies —Europeans, Africans, Indians Large plantation homes —Tidewater and coastal Lower South Small tobacco farms —Upper South.

White males dominated

The South (cont'd)

• • Upper South: Well-developed neighborhoods —community and white solidarity Communities weaker in plantation centered Lower South

Social and Political Patterns

A spinner and potter from

The Book of Trades

The Persistence of Traditional Culture in the New World

• • • • Family, kinship, church, local community Regional cultures via oral transmission Community over individual • Rural Americans  Self-sufficient farmers, diverse agriculture, crafts on the side Cities  Artisans

The Persistence of Traditional Culture in the New World (cont'd)

• Women few career opportunities  Widows’ dower rights

The Frontier Heritage

• • • Land in America was abundant and cheap but did not lead to a democratic society.

Forced labor was common and often the landowner’s only means of securing workers.

More than half of eighteenth century immigrants to British America arrived as indentured servants.

The Frontier Heritage (cont'd)

• Indentured servants’ prospects after completing their indentures improved in the eighteenth century due to rising prosperity.

FIGURE 5.1 Estimated Total Population of New Spain, New France, and the British North American Colonies, 1700–1800

Growth and Immigration

• • • In 1700, 290,000 colonists lived north of Mexico; by 1750, almost 1.3 million.

High fertility and low mortality played important roles in population growth, as did abundant food.

Britain alone encouraged immigration of foreign nationals, making her colonies the most diverse.

Growth and Immigration (cont'd)

• While not as harsh as slaves’ “middle passage,” immigrants found the Atlantic voyage harrowing.

MAP 5.5 Ethnic Groups in Eighteenth- Century British North America

FIGURE 5.2 The Ancestry of the British Colonial Population

Social Class

• • • Not aristocratic, but had social hierarchy New Spain: Racial purity New France and New Spain  Hereditary ranks and styles from the Old World prevailed.

Social Class (cont'd)

• British colonies: Elite was open, based on wealth   Social mobility present, common Large middle class: New with higher standard of living than most Europeans  Large lower class

An eighteenth century genre painting from New Spain showing various racial castas, the result of ethnic mixing.

TABLE 5.2 Wealth Held by Richest 10 Percent of Population in British Colonial America, 1770

Economic Growth and Increasing Inequality

• • French and Spanish colonies were economically stagnant compared to the booming British colonies, and more bound by race and caste.

Over time in the British colonies, the gap between rich and poor increased, especially in cities and commercial farming regions.

Economic Growth and Increasing Inequality (cont'd)

• In older regions, land shortage created a population of “strolling poor.”

Colonial Politics

• • British decentralized government Royal governors, locally elected assemblies • • White male property owners could vote.

Colonial politics: Deference rather than democracy • Leadership was entrusted to men of high rank and wealth.

Colonial Politics (cont'd)

• Most colonial assemblies had considerable power over local affairs because they controlled finances, often overshadowing royal governors.

The Cultural Transformation of British North America

The Cultural Transformation of British North America

• The British colonies were more open to intellectual and religious challenges than the French and Spanish.

• Literacy was widespread in British colonies.

• British colonial officials made little attempt at cultural censorship.

The Enlightenment Challenge

• Enlightenment ideas emphasized rationality, harmony, and order.  The state existed to provide for happiness and security, people endowed with rights of life, liberty, and property   Traditional views with strong popular appeal Colleges: traditional and enlightened views

The Enlightenment Challenge (cont'd)

• Enlightenment ideas emphasized rationality, harmony, and order.  The Boston Inoculation Controversy of 1721 highlighted the tensions between traditional beliefs and Enlightenment thought.

A Decline in Religious Devotion

• • • The spread of new ideas occurred during a period of religious decline.

The Puritan Church experienced falling membership and attendance at services.

Strict Calvinist ideas were questioned by many.

A Decline in Religious Devotion (cont'd)

• Enlightenment ideas were most attractive to the socially and economically mobile but were opposed by many in traditional communities in the countryside.

The Great Awakening

• 1730s: Great Awakening with Jonathan Edwards calling for return to Puritan traditions  Thousands of people experienced conversions.

• • 1738: George Whitefield toured America Conflicts developed between Old and New Lights.

The Great Awakening (cont'd)

• • In the South, the Great Awakening introduced Christianity to slaves.

The Great Awakening increased church membership, especially among young people.

The Politics of Revivalism

• • Political implications Awakening’s greatest appeal was among those who felt bypassed by eighteenth century economic, cultural change • Offered people the first chance to participate in public debate • Empowered ordinary people to challenge their leaders

The Politics of Revivalism (cont'd)

• New Light politicians would provide much of the leadership of the Revolution in Connecticut and elsewhere.

Conclusion

Baptism by Full Immersion in the Schuylkill River of Pennsylvania

, an engraving by Henry Dawkins

The Cultures of Colonial North America, 1700–1780

• • By the middle of the eighteenth century, distinct colonial regions had developed in British North America.

While British colonial society diverged from French and Spanish societies, they became less traditional, more pluralistic and open to change.

Chronology