Chapter 4

The Colonies Grow

Section 1

LIFE IN THE COLONIES

LIFE IN THE COLONIES Population Growth: Between 1607 and

1790: 600,000 Europeans and 300,000 Slaves came to America

Traveler of the colonies suggests that the colonies were “as different as fire and water,” and would never be able to unite.

LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND Thin, rocky soil made large scale farming impossible.

New England farmers had small farms that practiced subsistence farming

Shipbuilding and fishing were major economic factors (ways to make money).

Ships from New England would trade goods (furs, fruit, and fish) to the Southern Colonies and to the West Indies.

producing just enough food to meet the needs of their families, with little left over to sell/exchange

TRIANGULAR TRADE The trade route to different countries formed the

triangular trade. They crossed the Atlantic to trade fish, fur, and

fruit for manufactured goods in England and Europe.

They would also trade with colonies and islands in the West Indies, bringing sugar and molasses to the New England colonies.

In the colonies, the molasses would be made into rum. The rum was used to be traded to Africa, in return for slaves that had been captured.

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

The Middle Passage is the route enslaved Africans took to the West Indies

It was a horrific voyage filled with disease, torture, heat, and death

The people were treated as cargo, and at times chained in the lower galleys of ships for the journey.

LIFE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES

Farming was better here than in New England due to fertile soil and a slightly milder climate.

Farmers grew large quantities of wheat and other Cash Crops

NYC and Philadelphia became busy ports, importing and exporting products

crops that could be sold easily in markets in the colonies and overseas

100,000 Germans settled in Pennsylvania during this time. They became successful farmers.

Together with the Dutch, Swedish and other non-English immigrants, they gave the Middle Colonies cultural diversity that was not found in New England.

With the diversity came tolerance for religious and cultural differences.

variety

LIFE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES

SOUTHERN COLONIES With their rich soil and warm climate, the

Southern Colonies were well suited to certain kinds of farming.

They had no need to develop trade or industry because their farming was going so well.

Maryland and Virginia - tobacco

SOUTHERN COLONIES South Carolina and Georgia – rice

Rice paddies required strenuous work so growers relied on slave labor.

Tidewater was a region of flat low-lying plains along the seacoast which was home to most of the large Southern plantations.

low-lying areas along the coast where damns were built to crate rice fields

SOUTHERN COLONIES Plantations were located around rivers so the crops

could be sent to the ports quickly.

They often had slave cabins, barns, and stables. Some plantations were large enough to have their own blacksmith shops and storerooms

They might have their own kitchen, church, or school.

large farms

SOUTHERN COLONIES West of the Tidewater lay a region of hills

and forest climbing up toward the Appalachian Mountains which was known as the backcountry.

It was settled by newcomers with small farms.

SLAVES Large plantation owners hired overseers to keep

the slaves working hard.

By the early 1700s, many colonies had issued slave codes

Slaves were whipped for minor offenses and burned or hanged for serious crimes.

Those who ran away were often caught and punished severely

bosses

strict rules governing the behavior & punishment of enslaved Africans

CRITICISM OF SLAVERY Slavery was the main reason for economic

success of South Carolina

Not everyone believed in slavery

Puritans refused to hold enslaved people

Quakers did not allow slavery

Section 2

Government Religion and Culture

ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS

Signed in 1689

Guaranteed certain basic rights to all citizens

MAKING MONEY Mercantilism is a theory that states as a

nation’s trade grows, its gold reserves increase, and the nation become more powerful.

England viewed its North American colonies as an economic resource by receiving its raw materials, using them to produce finished goods, and then selling them back to the colonists.

MAKING MONEY

To make money, a country had to export more goods than it imported from foreign markets. sell abroad

buy from other countries

NAVIGATION ACTS Navigation Acts

Controlled the trade of goods between England and the colonies

Forced colonies to use English ships, and NOT foreign ships.

Even if those foreign ships offered cheaper rates

trading illegally with other nations

Some colonists ignored the laws and started smuggling goods to Europe or the West Indies

3 TYPES OF COLONIES Charter Colonies were established by settlers

who had been given rights and privileges (CT, RI)

Proprietary Colonies – were ruled by individuals who Britain had granted land. (DE, MD, PA)

Royal Colonies were directly ruled by England. (GA, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, VA)

GOV’T IN THE ROYAL COLONIES Parliament (The English Government) appointed

a governor for each colony known as the upper house

The colonists elected the lower house

Conflicts would happen when laws like taxes came from England

Only white men who owned land could vote

THE GREAT AWAKENING In the 1730’s and 1740’s, preachers believed that a

“new birth,” a return to the strong faith of earlier days.

Preachers such as Jonathan Edwards of Massachusetts were very convincing in their sermons.

The great awakening led to: Emphasis on education Formation of new churches

A NEW COLONIAL CULTURE All members of the families

worked on the farm (including children and women)

Children would work as apprentices (learning assistants) and learn a trade

WOMEN Married women were

considered subject to their husbands authority.

Unmarried women might work as maids, cooks, and nurses. They could not vote.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT Began in Europe

A movement that spread the idea that knowledge, reason, and science could improve society

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 1735 John Peter Zenger

New York Weekly JournalFaced libel charges for printing a critical

report about the royal governor of NY Andrew Hamilton argued in his defense

that free speech was a basic right of English people

Decision based on truth not offensiveness

Section 3

France and Britain Clash in America

FRANCE VS. BRITAIN British colonists set out to explore the Ohio

River Valley, however that land belonged to the French.

The French were angry, because they felt the English were taking their fur trading lands.

The result was the French building forts on one side of the border and English Colonists building forts on the other side.

A RIGHT HOOK BY FRANCE The colonists of both countries joined the rivalry

that France and Great Britain have had for years.

France attacked Nova Scotia (Canada) in the 1740’s. England responded by taking an important fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, North of Nova Scotia

The British colonists felt surrounded by all the French settlements.

NATIVE AMERICANS TAKE SIDES

Native Americans favored the French because they treated them better. They would often help the French by raiding British settlements.

The Iroquois traded with both colonists, and took advantage of the situation.

However, as English colonists moved west toward Ohio, they came under pressure and eventually allied with the British against the French.

AMERICAN COLONISTS TAKE ACTION A group of Virginians wanted to

settle in Ohio and they sent a young George Washington to the territory.

He delivered a message to the French to leave English land, but France did not move.

In spring of 1754, he was named lieutenant colonel and was sent back to Ohio with a militia of 150 men.

a civilian army

BUILDING FORTS Washington established Fort Necessity

near the French fort, Fort Duquesne.

The French surrounded Washington and his soldiers, and forced them to surrender.

They were later released and sent back to Virginia. In spite of defeat, English colonists saw Washington as the man who struck the first blow against the French.

BACK IN ALBANY, NY Representatives in NY, New England, PA, and MD

talked about war.

They prepared for a war with France.

They tried to get the Natives on their side.

FAILURE Ben Franklin suggested what would be known as

the Albany Plan of Union.

It proposed the power to: Establish an elected legislature

Collect taxes Raise troops Regulate trade

Not a single colonial assembly passed Franklin’s idea

A disappointed Franklin wrote, “Everyone cries, a union is necessary, but when they come to the manner and form of the Union their weak noodles are perfectly distracted.”

Section 4

The French and Indian War

PLANS PREPARING FOR WAR Some natives fought on the side of the

British. Many others fought against the British. The French formed alliances with Native

Americans.a civilian army

ENGLISH GOV’T GET INVOLVED Previously, the conflict was about the colonists

NOT England.

In 1754, England appointed General Edward Braddock commander in chief of the British forces in America and sent him to drive the French out of the Ohio Valley.

It took Braddock and his army several weeks to go through the forest. He spent time building roads and bridges

George Washington served as one of his aides.He informed Braddock that the army’s style of

marching was not well suited to fighting in frontier country.

It made them easy targets.

POOR DECISIONS

On July, 9th Native Americans fought from behind trees and hills, and fired at the bright red uniforms.

The British could not see their attackers.

Braddock ordered an orderly retreat, but the

opposite happened, and the troops panicked. Braddock was killed, and the battle was a bitter

defeat.

FULL SCALE WAR Washington led the survivors back to

Virginia and word got back to England about Braddock.

Britain officially declared war on France.Marking the beginning of the Seven Years’

War.

SEVEN YEARS’ WAR In Europe, the French and Indian War was

called the Seven Years’ War. The first years were disastrous for colonists.

Native Americans used roads that General Braddock built on his way through Ohio against them.

They killed settlers, burned farmhouses and crops, and drove families back to the coast.

NEW PRIME MINISTER William Pitt came to power as England’s

Secretary of State and then as Prime Minister. He was an outstanding military planner. He chose skilled commanders.

To avoid colonists’ complaints about the cost of the war, he decided Great Britain would pay the full cost. He delayed the moment colonists would have to pay

for the war Britain raised colonists’ taxes after the war.

THE TIDE TURNS In Pitt’s quest to conquer French Canada, he

sent energetic officers Jeffrey Amherst and James Wolfe to North America.

In 1758, they led a British assault that recaptured the fortress at Louisbourg

A group of New Englanders captured Fort Frontenacc at Lake Ontario

Another British assault forced the French to abandon Fort Duquesne then renamed Fort Pitt.

Quebec, the capital of New France, was thought to be impossible to attack.

One of Wolfe’s scouts found a poorly guarded path up the back of a cliff at night.

They defeated the guards and surprised and defeated the French capital. Wolfe died in battle.

TREATY OF PARIS 1763 The fall of Quebec and General Amherst’s

capture of Montreal brought the fighting to an end.

The Treaty of Paris Was a peace treaty Let France keep the West Indies Forced to give up Canada and most of its lands east

of the Mississippi River Took Florida from Spain and gave it to Great Britain Gave Spain French lands west of the Mississippi

River and the port of New Orleans France lost all power in North America

TROUBLE ON THE FRONTIER Britain’s win dealt a blow to Native

Americans on the Ohio River valley. They continued to trade with the British even

though they considered them their enemies. Why?

They lost their French allies/trading partnersThey no longer got paid for the use of their landBritish settlers began moving into the valleys of

western PA

NEW BOUNDARIES

To prevent more fighting, Britain called a halt to the settlers’ westward expansion.

In the Proclamation of 1763, King George III declared that the Appalachian Mountains were the temporary western boundary for the colonies.

It angered many people especially speculators who had already bought land west of the mountains. They were furious that Britain ignored their land claims.

The war brought peace, but the proclamation created friction that would bring more conflicts between Britain and the colonists in North America.

investors