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Chapter 4

Chapter 4. The Bonds of Empire 1660-1750. Introduction. 4 major questions: How did the Glorious Revolution shape relations between England and its North American colonies? What were the most important consequences of British mercantilism for the mainland colonies?

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Chapter 4

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  1. Chapter 4 The Bonds of Empire 1660-1750

  2. Introduction • 4 major questions: • How did the Glorious Revolution shape relations between England and its North American colonies? • What were the most important consequences of British mercantilism for the mainland colonies? • What factors explain the relative strengths of the British, French, and Spanish empires in North America

  3. Introduction (cont.) • What were the most significant results of the Enlightenment and Great Awakening in the British colonies?

  4. Rebellion and War, 1660-1713 • Introduction • Until the restoration of the Stuart kings in 1660, England made little effort to rule its overseas territories • With the accession of Charles II (ruled from 1660-1685) • England sought to expand its empire and trade • Impose royal authority on its colonies • Regulate their economic activities so as to benefit English commercial interests

  5. Royal Centralization, 1660-1688 • Stuart kings wanted to become absolute monarchs like Louis XIV • Rarely called parliament into session • Ignored the colonial legislatures • 1684=Charles II revoked Massachusetts’s charter • Between 1686 and 1688, James II consolidated all of the New England colonies, NY, and NJ into the Dominion of New England • Abolished their assemblies • Placed full power into the hands of his arbitrary and dictatorial royal governor (Sir Edmond Andros)

  6. Royal Centralization, 1660-1688 (cont.) • The colonists bitterly resented this denial of their rights • Tensions ran particularly high in Massachusetts and NY

  7. The Glorious Revolution, 1688-1689 • 1688-1689=James II’s high-handed, pro-Catholic actions led to the Glorious Revolution in England • He was forced into exile • The throne went to William and Mary • Agreed to a limited monarch and promised to summon Parliament annually and respect the civil liberties of English people

  8. The Glorious Revolution, 1688-1689 (cont.) • When news of the Glorious Revolution reached America in 1689, New Englanders rebelled against Andros and his councilors • Massachusetts and other colonies appealed to William and Mary for the return of their charters • The new monarchs dissolved the Dominion of New England and issued charters granting each colony the right to have a representative assembly

  9. The Glorious Revolution, 1688-1689 (cont.) • Massachusetts’s new charter did not give it as much independence as it had formerly enjoyed • Its governors would be appointed by the crown, not elected • It would have to tolerate and share power in the colony with Anglicans

  10. The Glorious Revolution, 1688-1689 (cont.) • Leisler’s Rebellion in New York and John Coode’s uprising in Maryland also were inspired by the Glorious Revolution

  11. A Generation of War, 1689-1713 • British and French fought against each other in 2 wars • King William’s War (War of the League of Augsburg) • Queen Anne’s War (War of the Spanish Succession) • Most of the fighting was done in Europe • Some fighting happened in North America

  12. A Generation of War, 1689-1713 (cont.) • Peace returned in 1713 • France still controlled the North American interior • English colonist felt a heightened sense of British identity and dependence on their mother country’s protection from their powerful neighbor

  13. Colonial Economics and Societies, 1660-1750 • Mercantilist Empires in America • Mercantilism=each nation’s power was measured by its wealth, especially in gold • Followed by Britain, France, and Spain • The country should produce within its own empire as much of what it needed as possible • Its exports to foreign competitors should exceed its imports

  14. Mercantilist Empires in America (cont.) • To achieve the goals of mercantilism • British Parliament passed a series of laws known as the Navigation Acts • 1651 to 1733 • Required all trade to be conducted on British-owned ships • Prohibited Americans from selling certain products (tobacco, rice, furs, indigo, and naval stores) to foreign countries unless they first passed through England

  15. Mercantilist Empires in America (cont.) • Navigation Acts (cont.) • Placed high taxes on products that Americans bought from outside the empire (i.e. molasses from French Caribbean) • Forbade colonials form competing with British clothing manufactures

  16. Mercantilist Empires in America (cont.) • Navigation Acts (cont.) • Parliament intended these laws to benefit only England, the acts in practice did not unduly hamper the colonists • The laws cut into the profits of rice and tobacco planters

  17. Mercantilist Empires in America (cont.) • Benefits of Navigation Acts • Shipping had to be done on British vessels and this stimulated the growth of America’s merchant marine, shipbuilding, and ports • Bounties paid to producers of hemp, lumber, and other items under the Navigation Acts encouraged the development of those industries in the colonies

  18. Mercantilist Empires in America (cont.) • The restrictions on large-scale manufacturing did little harm, since only home production and small workshops were economically feasible in America • http://www.usahistory.info/colonial/Navigation-Acts.html

  19. Mercantilist Empires in America (cont.) • French and Spanish colonies in North America did not develop nearly as robust economies as the British • New France • Main export was furs • By 18th century furs did not bring much profit • French govt. even underwrote the fur-trading with the Indians in order to keep on good terms with their Native American allies

  20. Mercantilist Empires in America (cont.) • Spanish colonies • Colonists smuggled British and French products • Did very little manufacturing • Mercantilist principles did not work well for France and Spain because they did not have the large merchant class with liquid assets to invest in the colonies and other commercial ventures • Great Britain could do this

  21. Population Growth and Diversity • French and Spanish colonies in NA lagged behind the British in population growth as well as economic development • 1750 • British North America had 1.1 million • New France had 60,000 • Spanish North America had 19,000

  22. Population Growth and Diversity (cont.) • Religion • British opened their colonies to all Europeans of whatever religion • French and Spanish barred non-Catholics and made no effort to attract settlers from countries other than their own • The steady growth of the British colonies outpaced not only their European rivals, but also Britain itself

  23. Population Growth and Diversity (cont.) • After 1700, British North America grew rapidly from both natural increase and the arrival of newcomers. • 18th century immigrants came less from England and more from other places (pg. 97) • Africans brought on slave ships • Scots-Irish, Irish, and Germans • Many of the Europeans came as indentured servants • English colonies became more racially and ethnically diverse (not always welcomed by all English colonist)

  24. Population Growth and Diversity (cont.) • Most 18th century white immigrants were too poor to buy land in the already developed coastal areas so they pushed into the Piedmont region • Eastern slope of the Appalachians • By 1750 1/3 of colonial population lived there • Map on page 98

  25. Population Growth and Diversity (cont.) • From 1713 to 1754, the importation of slaves to the mainland was greatly increased • Black colonial population rose from 11% to 20 % • Most slaves lived in the South • 15% were in the colonies north of MD • African American population also multiplied through natural increase

  26. Rural White Men and Women • Worked small farms • Depended on the labor of their sons • Supplemental production from wives and daughters • Clothing • Vegetables • Poultry • Few inherited land • Young couples at first • Worked for others • Borrow $$$$ to buy own farms

  27. Colonial Farmers and the Environment • Rapidly cut down the forests • Bring more land under cultivation • Uses of timber • Fences • Fuel • Buildings • Sold wood to townspeople

  28. Colonial Farmers and the Environment (cont.) • Results of deforestation • Drove away large game • Greater extremes in temperature • Less dependable water levels in streams • Reduced amount of fish • Dried and hardened the soil

  29. Colonial Farmers and the Environment (cont.) • Farmers grew tobacco and other soil-depleting plants • Did not use fertilizer • No crop rotation or letting field lie fallow • Land lost fertility • Yields seriously diminished

  30. The Urban Paradox • 1740--4% of colonists lived in cities • Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Charles Town (Charleston today) • Thriving ports • Shipped livestock, grain, and lumber that enriched the countryside • Escalating problems • Urban poverty, crowding, poor sanitation, periodic epidemics of contagious diseases

  31. The Urban Paradox (cont.) • Women in cities • Middle-class women ran complex households that included servants, slaves, and apprentices • sewing, knitting, daily trips to public market, family businesses, etc. • Most had at least 1 household servant • Help with cooking, cleaning, laundering

  32. Slavery • The economic progress of colonial America meant that most masters could afford to keep their slaves healthier. • For the slaves=meant heavier workloads and longer lives • Worked harder and longer and had lower standards of living than whites • Masters generally spent 60% more to maintain their white indentured servants than their black slaves

  33. Slavery (cont.) • The number of slaves residing in cities mounted • 20% of population in NYC • Majority of population in Charles Town and Savannah • urban racial tensions ran high • 1739 Stono Rebellion in South Carolina • 1712 and 1741 slave conspiracies in NY • Almost all rebellions by slaves were suppressed by frightened whites

  34. The Rise of the Colonial Elites • In the 18th century, class differences were becoming more apparent in America • Wealthy rural gentry and urban commercial elites attempted to imitate the fashions and lifestyles of the European upper class • Bought expensive chinaware • Learned formal dances • Studied foreign languages • Cultivated the manners of the gentry • Some even sent sons abroad to study • Growing taste for British consumer goods

  35. Competing for a Continent, 1713-1750 • France and the American Heartland • After 1713, France resumed building its empire in North America • 1718=founded New Orleans • Made it the capital of Louisiana province • Farming, hunting, fishing, trading with Indians • Alliances with the Choctaws in LA • Tried to win over Native American trading partners in the Ohio Valley and Great Plains

  36. France and the American Heartland (cont.) • Several French posts in the Ohio Valley became sizable villages housing Indians, French, and mixed-ancestry metis • Generally more successful in getting along with the Indians than the British, the French also crushed tribes that stood in their way such as the Natchez

  37. Native Americans and British Expansion • The Carolinians met resistance from the Indian tribes on whose lands they were encroaching, culminating in the Tuscarora (1711-1713) and Yamasee (1715) wars • Those tribes were driven from the area • Tuscarora moved to upstate New York and joined the Iroquois Confederacy

  38. Native Americans and British Expansion (cont.) • Covenant Chain • Series of treaties • Aided the colonists’ fight for lands • Solidifying Iroquois power among Native Americans throughout the Northeast • http://www.iroquoisdemocracy.pdx.edu/html/covenantchain.htm

  39. Native Americans and British Expansion (cont.) • Pennsylvania coerced the Delaware Indians into ceding their lands and moving into territory adjacent to that of the Iroquois • Other eastern tribes also were pushed westward • they were used by the Iroquois as buffer between themselves and the aggressive English

  40. British Expansion in the South: Georgia • Georgia was the last of the original 13 colonies to be established on the North American mainland • Only one to received some financial support from the British govt. • James Oglethorpe founder • Haven for English debtors • Outpost protecting the Carolinas from the Spanish empire to the south

  41. British Expansion in the South: Georgia (cont.) • 1733=Savannah was established • 1740=2,800 settlers there • Most were not English debtors • 1/2 were not English • German, Swiss, Scottish, Jewish • Society of industrious small farmers • Able to defend themselves from attack • Banned African slavery • Limited size of landholdings

  42. British Expansion in the South: Georgia (cont.) • Settlers switched to rice cultivation to make a profit • Needed large farms and slaves • 1750 restrictions were dropped • Attracted more settles and developed a booming plantation-slave economy

  43. Spain’s Borderlands • Spain spread its empire throughout the Southwest and part of the Southeast • European population in New Mexico grew very slowly • Navajo and Apache raids ceased • Those tribes made an alliance with the Spanish against the Utes and Comanches

  44. Spain’s Borderlands (cont.) • Texas • Spanish established outposts and missions (including the Alamo) • Indians in Texas traded more with the French • Did not like to farm for the Spanish • Periodic raids on the province by the French and Comanches discouraged Hispanic settlement in Texas • As late as 1760, only 1,200 Spaniards lived there

  45. Spain’s Borderlands (cont.) • The Spanish attempted to weaken the British Carolinas and Georgia by offering freedom to English-owned slaves who fled to their colony of Florida

  46. The Return of War, 1739-1748 • War among the imperial rivals for North America resumed in 1739 • First war was between British and Spanish over the Florida-Georgia border • This war merged with the larger War of the Austrian Succession (King George’s War) (1740-1748) • Only one battle on North American soil during King George’s War • Battle of Louisbourg which was on the St. Lawrence

  47. The Return of War, 1739-1748 (cont.) • New Englanders seized Louisbourg from the French • In the peace treaty (Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle) the British returned Louisbourg for an outpost the French had taken in India • Many Americans felt lingering resentment over how little England appreciated the lives they had sacrificed to gain Louisbourg

  48. Public Life in British America, 1689-1750 • Colonial Politics • Shift from royal governors and appointed officials to the representative colonial assemblies • Most important political result of the Glorious Revolution and the adoption of the English Bill of Rights in British America • These legislative bodies exercised influence over the governors by controlling their salaries, authorized spending, imposed taxes, etc. • America (at least the upper class) became more and more self-governing (except for trade regulations, restrictions on printing money, and declaring war)

  49. Colonial Politics (cont.) • Wealthy elites dominated colonial politics • Elected to the colonial assemblies • Appointed to the governor’s councils • Appointed to judgeships in the courts • Women, blacks, Indians could NOT vote or hold office • Property qualifications excluded about 40% of white males from voting and holding office • Proportion of men who did have the vote was higher than in England and Ireland during the same time period

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