US History

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

Bacon’s Rebellion

Bacon’s Rebellion, 1676• Western farmers

• Problems with Natives in western VA• Upset they weren’t adequately represented in the House of

Burgesses• Governor Berkeley wouldn’t help• Bacon & other farmers attacked Williamsburg• Berkeley fled to ESVA• Williamsburg burned• 1st colonial rebellion against government

Nathaniel Bacon Gov. William Berkeley

Maryland• Charles I gave Sir George Calvert (the first Lord Baltimore), a portion of Virginia for Catholic haven and profit.

• Maryland Act of Toleration (1649)• Said all Christians (Catholics & Protestants) had religious

freedom• Is this really free?

The Carolinas• Impact of the British west Indies

• Interruption of English Civil War

• New colonies formed after Restoration (Charles II)

• Restoration colonies: Carolinas, New York, PA

• Carolina: 1670• Goals• Charles Town (Charleston)

North Carolina• Split off in 1712• Haven for poor whites and religious dissenters from Carolina and VA

• Most democratic, independent, least aristocratic of all colonies (similar to Rhode Island)

• Exception – Amerindians (treated ruthlessly, sold into slavery)

Georgia• Last British American colony• Founded by John Oglethorpe (1733)• 2 purposes

• Buffer State• Haven for British prisoners/debtors

Colonial Slavery• West Africa• Originally captured by African coastal tribes who traded them to European and American buyers.

• About 40% of slaves captured by Africans in interior died en route to coast.

• About 50 million Africans died or became slaves during 17th & 18th century

Slave Trade• Of  about 10-15 million Africans sent into slavery in New World, 400,000 (2%) came to North America. (Majority sent to Spanish & Portuguese colonies in the Caribbean and South America)

• Between 20% to 1/3 of slaves died during the “Middle Passage”

• Clip from the Amistad

Slave Trade• Horrific conditions:

• Slaves often chained by neck and extremities to deck floor • Packed into spaces about the size of a coffin; lay in own

excrement • In some cases, next deck only 18” above deck floor; slaves

could not turn over; lay on their back the entire voyage. • Survivors  eventually sold at auction blocks at ports like

Newport, RI, or Charleston, SC (giant slave market)

Colonial Slavery• Some came to Jamestown as early as 1619 but only 2,000 in Virginia in 1670 • Accounted for about 7% of southern plantation population in

mid-17th century • Rising wages in England in 1680's reduced immigration to America.• By 1680's, black slaves outnumbered white servants• Largest populations in Virginia & South Carolina

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

1607 1630 1650 1670 1690

WhiteBlack

17th C. Virginia Population

Colonial Slavery• A few slaves gained their freedom & some even became slave owners.• Still, a miniscule portion of the African population in British

America• By 1860, there were about 500,000 free African Americans

(mostly in Upper South), 4,000 of which were slave owners• Distribution of Slaves Chart

Slave Codes• As Africans grew in numbers, threatened whites passed laws to severely control the slave population.

• Most common codes stated: • blacks and their children were property for life of white

masters. • it was a crime to teach literacy to slaves. • conversion to Christianity was not grounds for freedom.

• South Carolina’s inherited Barbados slave codes influenced codes in other colonies.

Racism• Slavery became the root of racism in America as a distinct color line was drawn

• The notion of inferiority based on skin color embedded in U.S. law until 1960s!

Slave Life• Harshest on big rice and indigo plantations of lower South (SC)• Brutal conditions;

deadly• Led to need for more

slaves• Less harsh on tobacco farms (often closer together; more communication bw slaves)

• Least harsh in Middle Colonies

Slave Culture• Mix of British American and African folkways

• Gullah language evolved on islands off South Carolina coast. (Blended English with several African languages)

• Banjo and bongo drum imported from Africa

• Religion: Christianity + African rituals • A free afterlife became

a beacon of hope; Book of Exodus very appealing

Southern Society by Class (not #s)

The American South• Tobacco and rice were biggest cash crops• Slow to have cities, churches, and schools due to isolation of plantations and farms

• Mostly supported the Church of England (Anglican)• Had continued conflicts with Native Americans