American Life in the 17 th Century

1. American Life in the 17th Century Chapter 4

2. Colony Groups • Southern • Georgia • South Carolina • North Carolina • Chesapeake • Virginia • Maryland • Middle • New Jersey • Pennsylvania • New York • Delaware • Northern (New England) • Massachusetts Bay • Connecticut • Rhode Island • New Hampshire

3. The Unhealthy Chesapeake • Life in the Chesapeake = difficult • Disease • Few females and families • Life expectancy 20 years less than New England colonists • Men – 48 years • Women – 44 years • First colonial government: House of Burgesses • First order of business: set price for tobacco • Bicameral by 1650s • First representative government in New World • Economy based on farming tobacco • Supply and demand • So dependent on tobacco that 50 year recession occurred when price dropped • Headright system led to plantations

4. Bacon’s Rebellion • Nathaniel Bacon • wealthy well educated, immigrated to VA, 1674 • appointed to Council by Governor Berkley (a relative) • Indian conflict • VA, 1675 - 4000 Indians, 40,000 whites around them • western frontier Indians pushed further west • Governor partner in fur monopoly, depended on friendly Indian relations • Frontier settlers resent Indians and Governor • 1675 - Indians killed by frontiersmen and Militia • Berkley’s plan • expensive chain of frontier forts • farmers preferred Indian genocide • Berkley (Gov) orders no action, settlers elect Bacon to lead • Bacon massacres Indians whenever he finds them

5. Bacon’s Rebellion (cont.) • Bacon, popular, finally granted permission to strike any Indians leaving their villages w/o permission • all Indian property forfeit to militia, many join • Berkley tries to stop slaughter, pillaging • Bacon marches to Jamestown, burns capitol, looted plantations, Governor flees across the bay • Bacon dies of dysentery • Summary • caused by tobacco depression, low availability of land, social stratification • availability of Indian land made them easy targets • Result • some see class conflict as due to indentured servants • 1619 - first Africans to Jamestown, racially discriminated against, but not all sold as slaves

6. The Peculiar Institution • Practiced for centuries in most societies throughout the world • Generally war prisoners, non-believers of the religion of their conquerors, and poor people who indentured themselves to get out of debt • Slavery in the Americas differed in that earlier forms of slavery were not permanent, involving multiple generations, denying education, marriage, parenthood, and did not degrade slaves to sub-human status. • It also had not been primarily race-based • Attempts to enslave Native Americans failed for both Spanish and British • Indentured servants were cheaper, but not cost effective in the long run • Slaves more expensive initially, but more cost effective over time • Why Africans? • Many saw Africans’ black skin as sign of inferiority • Distance of Africa to “New World” tended to make Africans feel disconnected and more difficult to try to get home; unfamiliar with terrain if they did escape • Whites, as Christians, felt “obligation” to convert blacks to Christianity from their Muslim faith

7. New England Life • Community life • Central commons, open grazing • Meetinghouse central, house/lots nearby • Close settled, social reciprocity conducive • Puritan families • male dominant • wife subject to husband • marriage civil rite, not sacrament • divorce still rare • woman’s status - better than England, but still... • no independent property rights • Limited rights as widow • better protection against domestic violence (than English counterparts) • Relatively long lives • better climate than Va. • Hard winters killed mosquitoes, other sources of infectious disease • Children • subject to Father’s control the “little commonwealth” with father as despot • dependent on inheritance for land • males stayed home, worked family farm well into 20s

8. Chesapeake Life • First Families • Early gentry return to England (life too hard) • Hard to find Social elite willing to serve • 1636-60 • middle class entrepreneurs gain power • dominate Governor’s council, accumulate land, wealth, power • 1660s and beyond • “Planter Class” emerges • most from England • some self made • many came wealthy, educated, and ambitious became wealthier, more influential • Beginnings of the “First Families of VA” • names like Lee, Taylor, Harrison, Randolph • dominate VA politics for next 200 years • ancestors of four of first five Presidents • Maryland • Women • better fate as widows than elsewhere • often willed total control of property to insure children would inherit • slow population growth

9. Back to Basics • Demographic Differences • Life expectancies higher farther North • Ratio of men to women highest in plantation areas [harder to find a wife!] • Northern colonies healthier than South or Europe • Elite in plantation colonies decades younger than farther North • Race, Ethnicity, Economy • West Indies majority African slaves • As plantation economy expands, African slave population grows • English minority Europeans in mid-Atlantic • New England dominated by English • Farther North = less diverse • Farther South = more diverse • Religion and Education • Religious fervor and education level varied in same pattern as diversity • Most slaves kept illiterate • College of William and Mary (VA – 1693) • Massachusetts • Harvard College (1636) • Public school required in every town (1642) • Piety, public support for clergy, literacy, education, and moral standards stronger from South to North

10. Bridget Bishop — hanged June 10, 1692 • The Rev. George Burroughs — hanged August 19, 1692 • Martha Carrier — hanged August 19, 1692 • Martha Corey — hanged September 22, 1692 • Giles Corey — pressed to death September 19, 1692 • Mary Easty — hanged September 22, 1692 • Sarah Good — hanged June 19, 1692 • Elizabeth Howe — hanged June 19, 1692 • George Jacobs, Sr. — hanged August 19, 1692 • Susannah Martin — hanged June 19, 1692 • Rebecca Nurse — hanged June 19, 1692 • Alice Parker — hanged September 22, 1692 • Mary Parker — hanged September 22, 1692 • John Proctor — hanged August 19, 1692 • Ann Pudeator — hanged September 22, 1692 • WilmottRedd — hanged September 22, 1692 • Margaret Scott — hanged September 22, 1692 • Samuel Wardwell — hanged September 22, 1692 • Sarah Wildes — hanged June 19, 1692 • John Willard — hanged August 19, 1692

12. The Salem Witch Trials • Charges of witchcraft levied by (usually) young girls • most charged were from wealthier, eastern part of town • many Porter family • most assertive women, many of these widows who would inherit • convenient targets, opportunity for clergy to condemn “uppity” women • Accusers • many Putnam family members • usually (2/3 of all accusers) 11-20 yr old females who had lost relatives to Indians, were now domestic servants • chance to feel important • chance to “get back” at wealthy, stable women they accused • “spectral” evidence allowed - accusers could say they had seen a “spirit”, in the form of the accused, tormenting them

13. The Case of Giles Corey • Corey, accused of being wizard, did not enter a plea • Many believe because the state would have confiscated property if found guilty • He was convicted of witchcraft and (due to plea refusal)was sentenced to die by “peineforte et dure” (a procedure where the convicted is executed by pressing weight on them to suffocate them) • As the stones were piled on him, he was asked if he wished to enter a plea, his reply was“More weight”. • Two days later he died.

14. Explanations • Various causes for the“hysteria” leading to the Salem Witch Trials have been developed by historians and scholars, but no concrete explanation has been agreed on. • The major theories include: • Puritans strong beliefs led to mass hysteria • Child abuse caused it • Mass consumption of a hallucinogenic fungus • Frequent Indian attacks put everyone on edge

15. The Results • Many residents who could fled Salem before they were accused • Ministers begin to doubt validity of trials by late 1692 • The local economy suffered • crops and livestock went untended • Commerce suffered as many stopped business to watch trials and hangings • The Puritans lost much influence in New England because of nature of the accusations and trials • Because of the case of Giles Corey, the institution of“innocent until proven guilty” became part of the American judicial system • Reflected growing economic gap, social gap • Clash of values (agricultural vs trade)