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Slavery, religion & Education in the colonies. Chapter 4. Life for african americans. By the early 1700s, enslaved Africans lived in all 13 English colonies. Even Benjamin Franklin (one of the Founding Fathers of the U.S.) owned slaves for a time. Slavery spreads south.
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Life for african americans • By the early 1700s, enslaved Africans lived in all 13 English colonies. • Even Benjamin Franklin (one of the Founding Fathers of the U.S.) owned slaves for a time.
Slavery spreads south • Most people in the Northern colonies found that hiring workers when needed cost less than owning slaves. • However, in the Southern colonies, slavery expanded rapidly from Virginia to Georgia.
Atlantic slave trade • Most slaves came from West Africa. Year after year, slave ships filled with cloth, guns & rum headed there to trade those goods for Africans. • Slaves were then packed into slave ships to cross the Atlantic Ocean on the “Middle Passage”.
Religion in the colonies • In Puritan New England, the sound of a drum, or horn called people to worship on Sunday morning. • “Captains of the Watch” made sure everyone was a “Sabbath-keeper” by searching homes to make sure everyone was in church.
Puritan church services • Puritan church services could last as long as 5 hours. • At noon, the people would go to “noon-houses” near the church to eat & socialize. • Then, they returned to church for the long afternoon sermon.
First great awakening • In the 1730s, the First Great Awakening swept through the colonies to revive people’s religious faith & passion. • Preachers traveled from town to town holding outdoor “revival” meetings where they declared that all they need is an open heart to know God. • This movement spread the idea that all people are equal in the eyes of God.
Education in the colonies • Neither the Middle Colonies nor the Southern Colonies had public schools. • In New England, Puritans supported education so their children could be able to read the Bible.
Public schools • To encourage education, Massachusetts passed a law in 1647 that required every town with over 50 families to hire a teacher. • Towns with over 100 families were required to build a school.
Public schools • Schools were 1-room buildings with a chimney & fireplace in the center. • Paper & pencils were rare & students wrote math problems with ink on pieces of bark. • There was only 1 book, the New England Primer, that was used to teach the alphabet, syllables & prayers.
