The American Pageant Chapter 15 Outline

Chapter 5 Notes

Conquest by the Cradle
 Instead of 13 colonies there were actually 32 colonies.
 In 1700s the colonies contained 300,000 people 20,000 were black.
 By 1775 2.5million people inhabited the 13 colonies and 500,000 were black.
 Average age in 1775 was 16.
 In 1700 there were 20 English subjects for every colonist.
 1775 the ratio of English subject to colonist was only 3 to 1.
 Bulk of population was east of Alleghenies.
 1775 pioneers trickled into Tennessee and Kentucky.
 Most populous colonies:
ó Philadelphia
ó New York
ó Boston
ó Charleston
 90% of the population lived in rural areas.
A Mingling of the Races
 Colonies were a melting pot
ó Africans 20%
ó French Huguenots*
ó Jews*
ó German 7%
ó Dutch*
ó Welsh*
ó Swedes*
ó English 49%
ó Scots-Irish 5%
ó Scots Highlanders*
* 5% of the Population
 Because of the diversity not all the colonists had a deep-rooted loyalty to the crown.
 The Scot-Irish lived in Ireland but because they were Presbyterian they were rejected by the Irish.
 The Scot-Irish were touch and independent.
 The Scot-Irish were experienced settlers that settled along the Appalachian Mountains stretching from Penn. to Georgia.
 The Scot-Irish kept the Sabbath.
 South held 90% of Slaves.
 N.E. had the least racial diversity. The middle colonies had the most.
 The middle colonies laid the multicultural foundation for America.
 “Praying towns around Great Lakes”
The Structure of Colonial Society
 Almost all of the population was small farmers.
 Cities contained a small class of artisans.
 Going from “Rags to Riches” was easy in America.
 Some merchants made it big by selling weapons during the armed conflicts between 1690 and early 1700s
 Showed their wealth by buying English China and Shiny Silverware.
 By mid 1700s the richest 10% of Bostonians and Philadelphians owned nearly 2/3 of the taxable wealth in their cities.
 War created class of widows and orphans.
 Almshouses built in 1730 for poor.
 1750 the poor who were supported by public charity had to wear a large red “P” on their clothing.
 “Jayle Birds”- convicts and paupers dumped on the colonies.
 The poor:
ó Jayle Birds
ó Widows and orphans
ó Unlucky indentured servants
ó Poor
ó Slaves
Clerics, Physicians, and Jurists
 Most honored profession was clergy.
 Most physicians were poorly trained.
 Bleeding was a frequent but fatal remedy for sicknesses.
 First Medical school in 1765.
 Epidemics: Smallpox, Diphtheria.
 Study of Law was frowned upon.
Workday America
 Agriculture involved 90% of the colonists.
 Southern colonies- tobacco and sugar
 Middle Colonies- Wheat
 New England Colonies- Fishing, Ice, Lumber, Ship building, distilling.
 Triangle Trade: New England (Rum)  Africa (Slaves)  West indies (Molasses)  New England
New England (Tobacco, Fish, Lumber, Flour) England (Textiles)
 Beaver pelt hats.
 Manufacturing was second priority.
 Colonial Naval Stores: Tar, Pitch, Rosin, and Turpentine.
 The Naval store products were valued by the British, who wanted to rebuild and sustain their domination of the seas.
 Towering trees were marked with the king’s broad arrow and reserved for the King’s Navy. This shackle on free enterprise engendered considerable bitterness.
 Early 1730 American Exports > English Exports
 America began to seek foreign markets.
 Molasses act intended to stop the trade with French West Indies. Instead it encouraged smuggling
Horsepower and Sail Power
 The roads were bad and unreliable.
 The water option was unreliable but more comfortable.
 Taverns were built along roads and gossip was exchanged.
 Taverns- Cradle for democracy.
 There was a postal service. It was unreliable and privacy was a problem.
Dominant Denominations
 Two tax-supported churches: Anglican, congregational.
 A large amount of population didn’t worship in either.
 Anglican became the official faith in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Part of NY.
 Puritan church was established in all of NE except Rhode Island.
The Great Awakening
 Puritan church had elaborate theological doctrines and strict membership requirements.
 Jacobus Arminius challenged the Puritan belief of predestinations. He preached that individual free will, not divine decree, determined a person’s eternal fate.
 Great Awakening exploded in the 1730s to 1740s.
 Ignited in Northampton, Mass. By Jonathan Edwards. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
 Jonathan Edwards was more direct and convicting. Conveyed God as a ruthless ruler.
 1734 George Whitefield was a gifted orator and moved many people with his sermons.
 Whitefield trumpeted his message of human helplessness and divine omnipotence.
 “Old Lights” – Orthodox clergymen skeptical of the new emotional revivalists.
 “New Light” – Ministers that defended the Awakening for its role in revitalizing American religion.
 Made room for emotion in religion.
 Increased numbers and competitiveness of American churches.
 Encouraged missionary work among the natives and slaves.
Schools and Colleges
 Puritans interested in education because of religious reasons.
 The Puritans stressed the importance of the individual being able to read the bible.
Name Harvard William and Mary Yale Princeton Pennsylvania Columbia Brown Rutgers Dartmouth
Location MA VA CONN NJ Pa NY RI NJ NH
Founded 1636 1693 1701 1746 1751 1754 1764 1766 1769
Denomination Puritan Anglican Puritan Presbyterian Nonsectarian Anglican Baptist Dutch Ref. Puritan

A Provincial Culture
 Art in culture in America was still similar to the old world’s.
 “Connecticut is not Athens”
 Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827)
ó Portraits of George Washington
ó Ran a museum
ó Stuffed birds
ó Dentist
 Benjamin West (1783-1820) went to England to complete training in painting.
 John Singleton Copley (1738-1815)
ó Went to England to complete training in painting.
ó Was regarded as loyalist
ó Good friend of George III
 Architecture was imported from the old world.
 Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
ó Was a slave girl.
ó Went to England at age of 20.
ó Published a book of verse and wrote other poems.
ó Influenced by Alexander Pope.
 Benjamin Franklin
ó “the first civilized American”
ó Poor Richard’s Almanack (1732-1758)
ó Had a great influence in shaping the American Character.
ó The only first-rank scientist in America.
Pioneer Presses
 Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia, established the first privately supported circulating library in America.
 1776- Fifty Public Libraries.
 Hand operated printing press cranked out pamphlets, leaflets, newspapers, and journals.
 Newspaper was a great influence in the American Revolution.
 Case of John peter Zenger (1734-1735)
ó Printed newspaper assailing a corrupt governor.
ó Charged with seditious libel.
ó Defended by Andrew Hamilton, former indentured servant.
ó Hamilton, “the very liberty of both exposing and opposing arbitrary power”
ó Innocent.
 The trial brought America closer to democracy.
 Inadvertently introduced freedom of the press.
The Great Game of Politics
 1775- Eight colonies- Royal governors
 Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware- Proprietors chose the governors.
 Connecticut, Rhode Island- Elected own governor.
 Every colony utilized a two-house legislative.
 Upper House- Appointed by crown.
 Lower House- Appointed by the People.
 Backcountry people were seriously underrepresented.
 Self-taxation through representation was cherished.
 Governors were poorly administered and easily manipulated by colonists.
 America not yet true democracy.
Colonial Folkways
 Worked from dawn to dusk.
 Food was plentiful.
 The colonies lacked the basic comforts:
ó Heat
ó Running Water
ó Garbage disposal
 Amusement was found in “musters” (several days of drilling) interspersed with merry making and flirting.
 Pleasure was combined w/ work.
 A lot of liquor was drunk.
 Lottery was allowed
 There were stage plays but were frowned upon by the clergy.
 There were many opportunities to have social gatherings.
Chronology
1693- College of William and Mary founded
1701- Yale College founded
1721- Smallpox inoculation introduced
1732- First edition of Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack
1734- Jonathan Edwards begins Great Awakening
1734-1735- Zenger free-press trial in New York
1738- George Whitefield spreads Great Awakening
1746- Princeton College founded
1760- Britain vetoes South Carolina anti-slave trade measures
1764- Paxton Boys march on Philadelphia
Brown College founded
1766- Rutgers College founded
1768-1771- Regulator Protests
1769-Harvard College founded