Transcript 5: The Cultures of Colonial North America, 1700-1780

5: The Cultures of Colonial
North America, 1700-1780
"The latent causes of faction are thus
sown in the nature of man; and we see
them everywhere brought into different
degrees of activity, according to the
different circumstances of civil society."
James Madison, Federalist #10
Chapter Review Questions
1. What were the principal colonial regions of North
America? Discuss their similarities and differences.
Contrast the development of their political systems.
2. Why did the Spanish and the French close their colonies
to immigration? Why did the British open theirs? How do
you explain the ethnic homogeneity of New England and
the ethnic pluralism of New York and Pennsylvania?
3. What were the principal trends in the history of Indian
America in the eighteenth century?
4. Discuss the development of class differences in the
Spanish, French, and British colonies in the eighteenth
century.
5. Discuss the effects of the Great Awakening on the
subsequent history of the British colonies.
“Annotated” Bibliography
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Richard Hofstadter, America at 1750: A Social Portrait
(1971). A well written description of America’s peoples
and region’s that suggests that the Great Awakening
made a middle-class society even more so.
Rhys Isaac, The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790
(1982). A magnificent description of the different
cultures of Virginia’s Elite and poor, showing religious
revivals changed them forever.
Gary B. Nash, The Urban Crucible: Social Change,
Political Consciousness, and the Origin of the American
Revolution (1979). Detailed, comprehensive, and
indispensable for understanding the social and political
world of urban workingmen.
Bibliography
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Frances Calderón de la Barca, Life in Mexico (1843)
Bernard Bailyn, The Peopling of British North America: An
Introduction (1986)
David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed (1990)
Ben Franklin, The Autobiography and Other Writings (1790)
Maynard Geiger, O.F.M., Mission Santa Barbara 1782-1965 (1965)
Richard Hofstadter, America at 1750 (1971) [consensus school of
history]
James Kirby Martin, editor, Interpreting Colonial America (1973)
Malachi Martin, The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal
of the Roman Catholic Church (1987)
Gary Nash, The Urban Crucible (1979)
Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., editor, A History of America Life (1948)
Laurel T. Ulrich, Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of
Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750 (1982)
David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America (1992)
Chronology
1636
1644
1662
1674
1680s
Harvard College founded
Roger Williams's Bloudy Tenent of Persecution
Half-Way Covenant in New England
Bishopric of Quebec established
William Penn begins recruiting settlers from the European
Continent
1682 Mary Rowlandson's Sovereignty & Goodness of God
1689 Toleration Act passed by Parliament
1690s Beginnings of Jesuit missions in Arizona
1693 College of William and Mary founded
1700s Plains Indians domesticate the horse
1701 Yale College founded; Iroquois sign treaty of neutrality with
France
1704 Deerfield raid
1708 Saybrook Platform in Connecticut
1716
1718
1730s
1732
1733
1734
1735
1738
1740s
1740
1746
1760s
1769
1773
1775
1776
1781
Spanish begin Texas missions
French found New Orleans
French decimate the Natchez and defeat the Fox Indians
Ben Franklin begins publishing Poor Richard's Almanac
Georgia founded
Great Awakening begins
John Peter Zenger acquitted from libeling New York’s governor
George Whitefield first tours the colonies
Great Awakening gets under way in the Northwest
Parliament passes a naturalization law for the colonies
College of New Jersey (Princeton) founded
Great Awakening - full impact in South
Spanish colonization of CA begins (Father Junípero Serra)
Pope Clement XIV abolished Society of Jesus (resurrected
Pope Pius VII, 1814)
Indian revolt at San Diego
San Francisco founded
Los Angeles founded
Crossing Cultural Boundaries
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In 1704, Indians attacked the town of Deerfield,
Massachusetts.
Dozens of captives were delivered to the French
allies of the Indians, including Eunice Williams,
the daughter of John and Eunice Williams.
Eunice refused to return to her family and
stayed at Kahnawake, a Catholic Indian
community near Montreal, becoming part of that
community.
Only 36 years later did Eunice, under her
Iroquois name A'ongonte, return to Deerfield
with her Iroquois family.
C: North American
Regions
From Deerfield to Kahnawake
Crossing Cultural Boundaries
Indian America
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Participation in the fur trade showed the remarkable
ability of Indians to change and adapt to new conditions
by:
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participating in the commercial economy;
using metal tools; and
building homes of logs as frontier settlers did.
Indians became dependent on European trade goods.
Diplomatically, Indians played colonial powers off against
each other.
The major concern of Indians was the phenomenal
growth of the colonial population in the British coastal
communities.
Simultaneously, Indian populations continued to decline.
The Introduction of the Horse
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The introduction of the horse stimulated
the rise of nomadic Plains culture.
The Spanish Borderlands
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The viceroyalty of New Spain was the largest and most
prosperous European colony in North America.
The northern borderlands of New Spain were considered
a buffer zone of protection from other European
colonies.
In Florida, the colonial presence was weak causing the
Spanish to form alliances with Indians and runaway
slaves to create a multiracial society.
In New Mexico, the population expanded by developing
ranches and farms along the Rio Grande River.
The Mission System
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In California, the mission system guided
development in the 1770s.
As shown by the mission system, the
Catholic Church played a dominant role in
community life.
1834 Desecularization
The French Crescent
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The French empire in North America was
founded on a series of alliances and trade
relations that linked a large crescent of
colonies and settlements from the mouth
of the St. Lawrence River down through
the Great Lakes and along the Mississippi
River to the Gulf of Mexico.
The French Colonies
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The Catholic Church played a strong role in the
French colonies.
For defensive reasons, the French allied with
Indian trading partners set up a line of military
posts and settlements.
Throughout Quebec, the French establish
farming communities that ship wheat to
Louisiana plantations.
French communities combine French and Indian
elements in architecture, dress, and family
patterns.
New England
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Puritan congregations governed local
communities.
Attempts to introduce religious toleration
failed as other denominations practiced
their faith openly by 1700.
New England towns grew rapidly and the
expanding population pressed against
available land.
The Middle Colonies
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New York had one of the most ethnically diverse
populations in North America.
New York City grew tremendously but
immigration to rural areas was lower than
surrounding areas.
Pennsylvania Quakers accept a more diverse
population.
Government institutions were pillars of
community organization.
Middle Colony communities were more
individualistic than the tightly controlled New
England communities.
The Backcountry
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Backcountry was a distinctive region
where rank was often of little concern.
Conflicts between settlers and Indians
made the backcountry a violent region.
The South
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The South was a tri-racial society of Europeans,
Africans, and Indians.
Large plantation house dominate Upper and
Lower South.
Small tobacco farms were widely found in the
Upper South.
White males dominated southern society.
The Anglican Church was present in the South
but had little power.
In the Upper South, well-developed
neighborhoods created a sense of community
and white solidarity.
Traditional Culture in the
New World
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In the colonies, everyday life revolved around
the family and kinship, the church, and the local
community.
Americans were attached to their regional
cultures that were based on oral transmission.
Community needs outweighed those of the
individual.
The majority of rural Americans were selfsufficient farmers who practiced diverse
agriculture and engaged in crafts as sidelines.
Work and trades
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In cities, artisans were organized
according to the European craft system.
Women had few career opportunities.
Land and Opportunity
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Land in America was abundant and cheap
but did not lead to a democratic society.
Forced labor was common and few
indentured servants won freedom and
prosperity.
The demand for land caused wars with
Indians.
D: Diverging Social
and Political Patterns
Population Growth and
Immigration
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In 1700, 290,000 colonists lived north of
Mexico.
In 1750, the colonial population had
grown to almost 1.3 million.
The Ancestry of the British
Colonial Population
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Only the British colonies encouraged
immigration.
The Spanish feared depleting their population at
home.
The French blocked Protestant Huguenot
immigration.
Social Class
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Colonial America was more egalitarian than
Europe.
In New Spain and New France, hereditary elites
held privileges more in theory than practice.
In the British colonies, the elite was open and
based on wealth.
The British colonies included a large middle and
poor and unfree classes.
Economic Growth and
Increasing Inequality
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French and Spanish colonies were economically
stagnant compared to the booming British
colonies.
Over time in the British colonies, the gap
between rich and poor increased, especially in
cities and commercial farming regions.
In older regions, land shortage created a
population of "strolling poor."
Contrasts in Colonial Politics
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Unlike the French and Spanish, the British used
a decentralized form of government.
Royal governors and locally elected assemblies
governed.
Most adult white males could vote.
Colonial politics were characterized by deference
rather than democracy.
Leadership was entrusted to men of high rank
and wealth.
Most colonial assemblies had considerable power
over local affairs because they controlled
finances.
E: The Cultural
Transformation of British
North America
The Enlightenment Challenge
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The British colonies were more open to
intellectual and religious challenges than the
French and Spanish.
Enlightenment ideas emphasizing that scientific
principle should be applies to create more
human happiness took hold in the growing
number of American colleges.
Widespread literacy helped spread
Enlightenment ideas.
Traditional views also had strong popular appeal.
A Decline in Religious Devotion
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The spread of new ideas occurred during a
period of religious decline.
The Puritan Church experienced falling
membership and attendance at services.
The change from a congregational to an
established church contributed to the Puritan
decline.
The belief in predestination was weakening as
Arminianism became more popular.
The Great Awakening
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In the 1630s, the Great Awakening began with
Jonathan Edwards calling for a return to Puritan
traditions that appealed to dissatisfied young people.
The movement spread as thousands of people
experienced emotional conversions.
In 1738, George Whitefield toured America, further
fueling the movement.
Conflicts developed between Old and New Lights.
In the South, the Great Awakening introduced
Christianity to slaves.
The Great Awakening:
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greatly increased church membership;
led to the growth of the Methodist and Baptist churches; and
laid the way for future political change.
Acrostic, by Benjamin Franklin
B-e to thy parents an obedient son,
E-ach day let duty constantly be done.
N-ever give way to sloth or lust or pride,
I-f free you'd be from thousand ills beside;
A-bove all ills, be sure avoid the shelf'
M-an's danger lies in Satan, sin, and self.
I-n virtue, learning, wisdom progress make,
N-e'er shrink at surrendering for thy Saviour's sake.
F-raud and all falsehood in thy dealings flee,
R-eligious always in thy station be,
A-dore the maker of thy inward part.
N-ow's the accepted time; give God thy heart
K-eep a good conscience, 'tis a constant friend;
L-ike a judge and witness this thy act attend.
I-n heart, with bended knee, alone, adore
N-one but the Three-in-One forevermore.