American Life in the 17th Century

Permanent Settlements in the New World and the

Development of Regions

The Chesapeake Colonists struggled

with… high death rates short life expectancy more men than women diseases like malaria

and typhoid.

Mostly young men from England, no stable family structure

Tobacco

Cultivation of tobacco is profitable for the planters but exhausts the soil, creating a demand for even more land.

Taking more land leads to Indian attacks.

Need for more labor (originally indentured servants) becomes slave labor.

Bacon’s Rebellion

Single/young men who were landless former indentured servants became discontent. Triggered by land shortages and Indian policies.

1,000 Virginians broke out of control; attacked Native Americans and burned VA capital.

Slavery in the American Colonies Virginia 1662: slavery

formally for black people Slave Codes: blacks

and their children property of white masters, crime to teach a slave to read or write, do not qualify for freedom even if they convert to Christianity.

Southern Society Changes as Slavery Grows

Hierarchy of wealth and status.Plantation owners/Hundreds of slaves/large tracts of land/Most power

Small farmers/1-2 slaves/LARGEST group/very little power

Landless whites/former servants/no power Few Cities develop in colonial South Waterways provide transportation

Primary Source Analysis

Servants and Slaves in Virginia (1705)• One paper per partner group

• Take turns reading the paragraphs

• Pause after each paragraph and annotate the text as needed.

• Discuss answers before writing them down

New England Society Clean water, cooler

temperatures = less disease. Longer life expectancy than

colonists in the Chesapeake. Live about as long as Americans today!

More families migrated together than in the Chesapeake region.

Soil NOT as fertile though! Rocky, difficult to grow crops.

Economy based on logging, fishing, shipping

Importance of Family in New England

Women give up property rights when they marry unlike women in the Chesapeake who retained rights in case of their husband’s deaths.

Women were considered morally weaker than men.

Divorce was extremely rare. Adulterers were whipped in

public and forced to wear the letter “A” on their clothes.

New England Towns

More equal land distribution than their southern counterparts.

Tight knit communities with common places for worship and town meetings.

Concerned about the moral health of the community. Widespread education…Harvard College