Lesson One: What were the British colonies in America like in the 1770s?

1. Lesson One: What were the British colonies in America like in the 1770s? Unit One

2. TERMS TO UNDERSTAND • Founders • Government • Indentured servants • Self-sufficient • Subject

3. subject

4. subject • Being under the rule of a monarch or leader

5. government

6. government • The people and institutions with authority to make and enforce the laws and manage disputes about laws

7. self-sufficient

8. self-sufficient • People had to provide for their own needs (food, clothing, medicines, furniture and tools)

9. indentured servants

10. indentured servants • Men and women who sold their labor in exchange for the cost of the trip from Europe to the colonies.

11. Founders

12. Founders • The political leaders of the colonies

13. 3-2-1 Activity • In your spiral, clearly write “Lesson 1” at the top of your paper. • List 3 facts you remember about Colonial Life (prior to the Revolutionary War). Think about who, what, why, when, where, and how. Here are some suggestions: • Who settled? • What was their daily life like? • Why did they settle? • When did they settle? • Where did they settle? • How did they earn a living?

14. 3-2-1 Activity Cont. • As we proceed, check your knowledge – is your memory correct? • Add/Change/Delete as necessary

15. Why study the British colonies in North America? • 13 British colonies • In 1770, King George III was the ruler • Our nation did not yet exist • Learning about the way the colonists lived helps us understand why they developed certain ideas about government that still affect our lives today

16. How did American Indians live before the Europeans came? • Along the eastern seacoast, the native Indian people lived in well-organized tribes • Known as the Eastern Woodland tribes • Fished, hunted, gathered wild plants, tended small crops of corn • The Native peoples maintained loose political ties • The best known league was the Iroquois League • Made up of five tribes in what today is the state of New York

17. Where did the British colonists settle? • 1200 miles along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean • Two hundred miles inland • Great Britain was only slightly larger than the colony of New York • In 1790 the population was almost 4 million • More than 300 million today

18. How did people in the colonies earn a living? • People in cities or towns worked in professions, trades, crafts, or small factories • Most colonists lived in small communities or villages or farms • 90% of colonists were farmers • Farms usually were between 90-160 acres • Traded with neighbors, were self-sufficient • Most included a hired laborer or indentured servant or slave labor (slaves mostly in the South) • Some colonists worked as hired laborers

19. How did people in the colonies earn a living? • A typical colonial family in the 1770s • Worked hard • Had the highest standard of living • Had good diets, thus healthier people • Better educated than most Europeans • Four times as many newspapers were published in the colonies than in France

20. How did people in the colonies earn a living? • Not everyone lived as well as families on the family farms • One-fifth of the population was held in slavery • Slavery was permitted in all the colonies, North and South

21. How were the people living in the colonies different from one another? • Most colonists were British or Irish • As a result, most spoke English • Settlers also came from • France • Germany • The Netherlands • Spain • Sweden • And other countries • Different religious beliefs • Many different groups of Protestants • Catholics • Jews • Compared to most nations of the time the colonies were very diverse

22. Why were class differences not important in the colonies? • Not divided into a large group of poor with only a few rich bossing everyone around • No royalty (king, queen, etc.) • The difference between wealthy and poor was less important in colonial society • A poor person could become wealthy by using knowledge, skills, and opportunities

23. Whose Opportunities were Limited? • Everyone but adult white men • Women • Native peoples • African slaves • Non-land-owning white men

24. What rights did the colonists value? • Freedom • Virtuous • Hardworking • Simplicity • Sensitive to British government limiting colonial rights

25. Who were the Founders? • Political leaders of the colonies • Led the fight to free the American colonies from British rule • Helped created the state governments • Ideas influenced the writing of the Constitution • John and Abigail Adams, Ben Franklin, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Mercy Otis Warren, George Washington

26. 3-2-1 Activity Continued • Were your “3” recollections correct? • List “2” NEW facts you learned from this PowerPoint • Write your “1” either a question you still have *OR* something you find interesting about this chapter in American history.

27. You Need to Know • Terms to Understand • How “class” worked in the Colonies • Colonial values • Founders

28. Lesson One assignment • P.12 “LESSON REVIEW” #1-5 • Complete sentences that restate the question in your answer