Colonial Society on the Eve of the Revolution

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Colonial Society on the Eve of the Revolution
1700 1775

• Chapter 5

By Melissa Oguamanam
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Conquest by the Cradle

• By 1775
• 32 British colonies in North America
• Population 2.5 million people
• 90 of them live in rural lands
• Mostly on east coast
• Average age 16 years old

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A Mingling of the Races

• America was made up of many races
• Main Groups
• German
• 6 of population (150,000 people)
• Lutheran (Pennsylvania Dutch)
• Scots-Irish
• 7 of population (175,000 people)
• Other European groups
• French, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Jews, Swiss

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The Structure of the Colonial Society

• Hard work rags to riches
• Power was in hands of clergyman, lawyers, and
  farmers
• Rich farmers in South owned many slaves
• Slaves were positioned behind indentured servants
  and criminals in social ranking

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Clerics, Physicians, and Jurists

• Clergy most honored profession
• Physicians least honored profession
• Cured most patients by letting them bleed
• Lawyers gained high status
• Plagues
• 1/5 people affected by smallpox
• Some did not want to mess with Gods Will

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Workaday America

• Largest Industry Agriculture
• Staple Crops
• Maryland and Virginia Tobacco
• New York Flour
• New England depended heavily on fishing
• Smallest Industry Manufacturing

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Triangular Trade

• New England boat with rum goes to -gt
• Africa trades it for slaves -gt
• Slaves traded for molasses in West Indies -gt
• Molasses traded for rum in New England

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Triangular Trade
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Molasses Act

• Passed by Parliament in 1733
• Prohibited American trade with French West Indies
• Americans smuggled to get what they needed

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Horsepower and Sail power

• Roads were horrible
• Families signed wills before trips
• Towns built around slow moving rivers
• Inter-colonial postal system created
• Travelers went to bars and taverns for
  entertainment

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Dominant Denominations

• Anglican
• Church of England
• Religion in Georgia, Virginia, Maryland,
  Carolinas, and some of New York
• Had shorter masses and allowed more freedom

• Congressional
• Based on Puritan beliefs
• Religion in New England colonies except Rhode
  Island
• Wanted followers to be more devout to church

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The Great Awakening

• Jonathan Edwards Preached members to tears with
  passionate sermons on salvation
• George Whitefield a stronger preacher than
  Edwards
• Orthodox clergyman scorned the new preachers for
  their emotional style

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Schools and Colleges

• Education was highly regarded in New England
• Schools focused on the humanities such as
  religion, literature, and classical languages
• Farming was more important in the South than
  schooling

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Culture Art and Architecture

• Free time dealt with church
• Art was not encouraged
• Artists
• John Trumbull
• Charles Peale George Washington portraits
• Benjamin West
• John Copley
• Architecture
• Swedish log cabins
• Georgian red brick houses

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Culture - Literature

• Phillis Wheatley
• Former slave
• Moved to England
• Wrote book of poems
• Exposed power of Alexander Pope

• Ben Franklin
• Wrote Poor Richards Almanac
• Had famous proverbs
• Popular both in Europe and America
• Experimented with science

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Pioneer Presses

• Libraries were scarce
• The creation of journals pamphlets arose as the
  revolution grew near
• John Peter Zenger accused of seditious libel
• Freedom of Press promised after this case

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The Great Game of Politics

• Royal governors in 8 colonies
• Proprietor governors in 3 colonies
• Two house legislative body
• Upper house Proprietors appoint them
• Lower house People elect them
• Taxation with representation privilege
• Suffrage belonged to whites who owned land

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Makers of America The Scots-Irish

• Scots suffered in Britain
• Poor
• Taxed by British
• Moved to America
• Mostly lived in Pennsylvania (open-minded)
• Bonded together by religion
• Highly supported Revolution from their hatred of
  Britain

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Colonial Folkways

• Early sufferings in America
• Homes had no plumbing
• Homes had no running water
• Churches had no heat
• Garbage removed had not been advanced

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What they did for fun

• Playing cards
• Hunting fox
• Racing horses
• Theatre
• Quilting

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The End