Transcript Southern Colonies

Life in the Colonies
Chapter 4, Lesson 1
Intro
► An
Englishman by the name of Andrew Burnaby
traveled through the American Colonies in 1760.
► He observed the lifestyle of the colonist and
claimed that he could not see the colonist uniting
for a purpose.
 Claimed they were as different as “fire and
water”
 That Each colony was jealous of the other.
 Pretty much they were so different when it
came to character, manner, religion, and
interest that he sooner saw a civil war before a
union.
New England Colonies
► Although
he believed union would never happen the
colonies did continue to grow.
 Population grew from ~250,000 to 2.5 million b
the mid 1770s.
 African Americans increased from 28,000 –
500,000 (even faster!)
► Immigration was important to this growth.
 Between 1607 and 1775, 690,000 Europeans and
278,000 Africans came to the colonies.
 Jews also came and by 1775, 2,500 lived in the
colonies settling in New York, Philadelphia,
Charles Town, Savannah and New Port. (All areas
of religious freedom.)
New England Colonies
► Women
also married very young and had large
families.
► America, especially New England, turned out to be
an extremely healthy area to live in.
► New England town were well organized.
 In the center was a meeting house used for
both town meetings and church.
 It faced a land called the green, or common,
where cows grained and the citizen’s army
trained.
 Farmers lived in town and worked in fields
along the outskirts of town.
New England Colonies
► Though
farming was activity in all the colonies,
New England didn’t have large ones.
 Long winters, and thin-rocky soil were to blame.
► New England farmers practiced subsistence
farming.
 Just enough to meet the families needs with
very little to sell or trade.
► Most northern families relied on their children for
labor.
► Everyone in the family worked:
 Milking cows, preserving fruit, sowing or harvesting
grain, spinning yarn, etc.
Commerce in New England
► New
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England also had a lot of small businesses.
Some would use streams running through their
farms to grind grain or saw wood.
Some women made clothes, garments, candles,
or soap for their families and would sell the extra.
Large town attracted skilled craftspeople such as
blacksmiths, shoemakers, furniture makers,
gunsmiths, metalsmiths, and printers.
Shipbuilding was also a huge industry with wood
being provided from the forests of New England
and sent down stream to shipyards in coastal
towns.
Commerce in New England
► Region
also relied on fishing.
 Cod, halibut, crabs, oysters, and lobsters.
 Other went out into the sea to hunt whales for
oil and whalebone.
Colonial Trade
► The
center of shipping trade were the
northern coastal cities.
 Linked the northern colonies with the southern
colonies, and other parts of the world.
 New England ships sailed along the Atlantic
coast, trading with other colonies and island in
the West Indies.
 Also would cross the Atlantic with fish, furs, and
fruit to trade with manufactured goods in
England and Europe.
 Some went straight to England and back, but
others used a different route.
Colonial Trade
alternate route was known as the triangular
trade (it would form a triangle when completed).
 One leg came up from the the West indies
bringing sugar and molasses to New England.
(molasses would be made into rum.)
 The Rum was then shipped to West Africa in
exchange for slaves. (Widely practiced in West
Africa since West African Kingdoms would
enslave those defeated in war and sold to Arab
slave traders or worked in mines or farm fields)
 With the arrival of Europeans they will begin to
be shipped to America in exchange for trade
goods.
► This
The Middle Passage
► The
inhumane portion of the triangular
trade, shipping enslaved Africans to the
West Indies, was known as the Middle
Passage.
The Middle Passage
► New
England’s economy would flourish
thanks to trade, shipbuilding, and fishing.
► Even with a lack of good farmland, it’s
population would grow and towns and cities
developed.
The Middle Colonies
► The
Middle Colonies had fertile soil and a less
extreme climate than New England’s.
 They were able to produce a larger harvest
than New England.
 New York and Pennsylvania grew wheat and
other cash crops (crops sold easily in markets
in the colonies and overseas).
► Farmers sent cargoes of wheat and livestock to
New York City and Philadelphia for shipment, and
would become busy ports because of it.
 By the 1760s New York had a population of 18,000 and
Philadelphia had one of 24,000 people.
 They became the largest cities in the colonies.
Industries of the Middle Colonies
► The
Middle Colonies also had industries.
 Carpentry, flour making were some done from
home.
 Lumbering, mining, and small scale
manufacturing were larger scale.
► An
iron mill in northern New Jersey
employed several hundred workers, (most
of which were German)
 Other ironworks existed in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania.
German Immigrants
► Most
of 100,000 German immigrants who came to
America settled in Pennsylvania.
 Using agricultural methods developed in
Europe, they became successful farmers.
► They were a part of many other Protestant
groups.
► Along with the Dutch, Swedish, and other nonEnglish immigrants, they made the Middle
Colonies very diverse. (As opposed, to New
England.)
 This diversity provided tolerance for religious
and cultural differences.
Southern Colonies
► The
Southern Colonies had rich soil and
warm climate.
 Making it well suited for certain types of
farming.
 Cultivated large areas of land and produce
plenty of cash crops.
 Since their living was made mostly from farming
they really didn’t develop commerce or industry.
 London merchants managed trading in the
South than the colonist did.
Tobacco and Rice
► Tobacco
was the principal cash crop of Maryland
and Virginia.
 Most tobacco was sold in Europe where it had a
higher demand.
 Required a lot of work to grow tobacco so
indentured servants were needed.
 When indentured servants began lacking, they
used African slaves instead.
► Slaveholders with large properties became rich using
tobacco.
 When a surplus occurred though their profits
would suffer and would begin to grow other crops
like corn or wheat to make up for the loss
Tobacco and Rice
►
Rice was the main cash crop of South Carolina and
Georgia.
 In low-lying areas planters built dams to create rice
fields called patties.
 The field was flooded when the rice was young and
drained when it was ready to harvest.
 It was rough considering you were knee-deep in mud
with no protection from the sun or the insect bites.
 It was because of this difficult labor that slaves were
used and proved to be more profitable than tobacco.
 As it became more popular in southern Europe, the
price of rice increased and by the 1750s Georgia and
South Carolina had the fastest growing economies in
the colonies.
Tidewater and Backcountry
► Most
Southern plantations were located in the
Tidewater.
 Region of flat, low-lying plains along the sea coast.
 Plantations were self-contained communities with
field stretching out around a cluster of buildings.
 The planter’s wife supervised the main house and
household servants.
 Other buildings included slave cabins, barns and
stables, and outbuildings (carpenter, blacksmith
and storerooms)
 Kitchens were sometimes in separate buildings.
 Some plantations had schools and its own chapel.
Tidewater and Backcountry
► West
of Tidewater was an area known as
backcountry.
 Region of hills and forest climbing up towards the
Appalachian Mountains.
 Settled in part by hardy newcomers.
 They grew corn and tobacco on small farms.
 Usually worked alone or with their families and had
few slaves if any (no more than 1 or 2.)
► These small farms outnumbered the plantations.
 Plantation owners had more wealth and influence,
though.
 Plantations controlled economic and political life of
the region.
Slavery
► Most
slaves lived on planations.
 Some did housework, but most worked in fields
and suffered great cruelty.
 Overseers, or bosses, were hired to make sure
the slaves were working hard.
► By 1700s Slave codes were a thing (strict rules
governing behavior and punishment of slaves.
 Some codes prevented slaves from leaving
plantations without written permission from the
master.
 Some codes prevented slaves from learning to
read or write.
Slavery
► Slave
punishment was usually being
whipped for minor offenses.
 However, they could be hanged or burned to
death for serious crimes.
 Slaves who ran away were often caught and
punished severely.
African Traditions
► Even
though African slaves had strong family ties
they were often torn apart
 Family members were sold to another
slaveholder.
 Looked for strength in their African roots.
 Developed a culture based on language and
customs from their West African homelands.
► Some enslaved African learned trade such as
carpentry, blacksmithing, or weaving.
 Skilled workers could sometimes set up shop and
share profits with slaveholders.
 Those who were lucky could eventually
sometimes buy their freedom.
Criticism of Slavery
► The
majority of white Southerners were not
slaveholders.
► Slavery still played an important role to the
economic success of Southern Colonies.
 Built on the idea that one man could own
another.
► Many colonist did not believe in slavery.
 Puritans refused to have slaves.
 Quakers and Mennonites condemned slavery.
► In the future this debate would erupt into a bloody
war between the North and the South.