Unit 1 Chapter summaries APUSH

1.The Shaping of North America 1.Recorded history began 6,000 years ago. It was 500 years ago that Europeans set foot on the Americas to begin the era of 1.The Shaping of North America 1.Recorded history began 6,000 years ago. It was 500 years ago that Europeans set foot on the Americas to begin the era of accurately recorded history on the continent. 2.The theory of "Pangaea" exists suggesting that the continents were once nestled together into one mega-continent. The continents then spread out as drifting islands. 3.Geologic forces of continental plates created the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. 4.The Great Ice Age thrust down over North America and scoured the present day American Midwest. 2.Peopling the Americas 1.The "Land Bridge" theory... 1.As the Great Ice Age diminished, so did the glaciers over North America. 2.The theory holds that a "Land Bridge" emerged linking Asia & North America across what's today the Bering Sea. People were said to have walked across the "bridge" before the sea level rose and sealed it off and thus populated the Americas. 2.The Land Bridge is suggested as occurring an estimated 35,000 years ago. 3.Many peoples emerged... 1.Those groups that traversed the land bridge spread across North, Central, and South America. 2.Countless tribes emerged with an estimated 2,000 languages. Notably... 1.Incas - Peru, with elaborate network of roads and bridges linking their empire. 2.Mayas - Yucatan Peninsula, with their step pyramids. 3.Aztecs - Mexico, with step pyramids and huge sacrifices of conquered peoples. 3.The Earliest Americans 1.Development of corn or "maize" around 5,000 B.C. in Mexico was revolutionary in that... 1.Then, people didn't have to be hunter-gatherers, they could settle down and be farmers. 2.This fact gave rise to towns and then cities. 3.Corn arrived in the present day U.S. around 1,200 B.C. 2.Pueblo Indians 1.The Pueblos were the 1st American corn growers. 2.They lived in adobe houses (dried mud) and pueblos ("villages" in Spanish). Pueblos are villages of cubicle shaped adobe houses, stacked one on top the other and often beneath cliffs. 3.They had elaborate irrigation systems to draw water away from rivers to grown corn. 3.Mound Builders 1.These people built huge ceremonial and burial mounds and were located in the Ohio Valley. 2.Cahokia, near East St. Louis today, held 40,000 people. 4.Eastern Indians 1.Eastern Indians grew corn, beans, and squash in "three sister" farming... 1.Corn grew in a stalk providing a trellis for beans, beans grew up the stalk, squash's broad leaves kept the sun off the ground and thus kept the moisture in the soil. 2.This group likely had the best (most diverse) diet of all North American Indians and is typified by the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw (South) and Iroquois (North). 5.Iroquois Confederation 1.Hiawatha was the legendary leader of the group. 2.The Iroquois Confederation was a group of 5 tribes in New York state. 3.They were matrilineal as authority and possessions passed down through the female line. 4.Each tribe kept their independence, but met occasionally to discuss matters of common interest, like war/defense. 5.This was not the norm. Usually, Indians were scattered and separated (and thus weak). 6.Native Americans had a very different view of things as compared to Europeans. 1.Native Americans felt no man owned the land, the tribe died. (Europeans liked private property) 2.Indians felt nature was mixed with many spirits. (Europeans were Christian and monotheistic) 3.Indians felt nature was sacred. (Europeans believed nature and land was given to man by God in Genesis to be subdued and put to use). 4.Indians had little or no concept or interest in money. (Europeans loved money or gold) 4.Indirect Discoverers of the New World 1.The 1st Europeans to come to America were the Norse (Vikings from Norway). 1.Around 1,000 A.D., the Vikings landed, led by Erik the Red and Leif Erikson. 2.They landed in "Newfoundland" or "Vinland" (due to all of the vines). 3.However, these men left America and left no written record and therefore didn't get the credit. 4.The only record is found in Viking sagas or songs. 2.The Christian Crusaders of Middle Ages fought in Palestine to regain the Holy Land from Muslims. This mixing of East and West created a sweet-tooth where Europeans wanted the spices of the exotic East. 5.Europeans Enter Africa This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com 1.Marco Polo traveled to China and stirred up a storm of European interest. 2.Mixed with desire for spices, an East to West (Asia to Europe) trade flourished but had to be overland, at least in part. This initiated new exploration down around Africa in hopes of an easier (all water) route. 3.Portugal literally started a sailing school to find better ways to get to the "Spice Islands," eventually rounding Africa's southern Cape of Good Hope. 4.New developments emerged... 1.caravel - a ship with triangular sail that could better tack (zig-zag) ahead into the wind and thus return to Europe from the Africa coast. 2.compass - to determine direction. 3.astrolabe - a sextant gizmo that could tell a ship's latitude. 5.Slave trade begins 1.Slavery was initially race-independent. A slave was whoever lost in battle. Usually, slaves came from the Slavic regions of Europe, hence the name. 2.The first African slave trade was across the Sahara Desert. 3.Later, it was along the West African coast. Slave traders purposely busted up tribes and families in order to squelch any possible uprising. 4.Slaves wound up on sugar plantations the Portuguese had set up on the tropical islands off of Africa's coast. 5.Spain watched Portugal's success with exploration and slaving with envy and wanted a piece of the pie. 6.Columbus Comes upon a New World 1.Columbus convinced Isabella and Ferdinand to fund his expedition. 2.His goal was to reach the East (East Indies) by sailing west, thus bypassing the around-Africa route that Portugal monopolized. 3.He misjudged the size of the Earth though, thinking it 1/3 the size of what it was. 4.So, after 30 days or so at sea, when he struck land, he assumed he'd made it to the East Indies and therefore mistook the people as "Indians." 5.This spawned the following system... 1.Europe would provide the market, capital, technology. 2.Africa would provide the labor. 3.The New World would provide the raw materials of gold, soil, and lumber. 7.When Worlds Collide 1.Of huge importance was the biological flip-flop of Old and New Worlds. Simply put, it was a trade of life such as plants, foods, animals, germs. 2.From the New World (America) to the Old 1.corn, potatoes, tobacco, beans, peppers, manioc, pumpkin, squash, tomato, wild rice, etc. 2.also, syphilis 3.From Old World to the New 1.cows, pigs, horses, wheat, sugar cane, apples, cabbage, citrus, carrots, Kentucky bluegrass, etc. 2.devastating diseases - smallpox, yellow fever, malaria as Indians had no immunities. 1.The Indians had no immunities in their systems built up over generations. 2.An estimated 90% of all pre-Columbus Indians died, mostly due to disease. 8.The Spanish Conquistadores 1.Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 - Portugal and Spain feuded over who got what land. The Pope drew this line as he was respected by both. 1.The line ran North-South, and chopped off the Brazilian coast of South America 2.Portugal got everything east of the line (Brazil and land around/under Africa) 3.Spain got everything west of the line (which turned out to be much more, though they didn't know it at the time) 2.Conquistadores is Spanish "conquerors". 1.Vasco Balboa - "discovered" the Pacific Ocean across the isthmus of Panama. 2.Ferdinand Magellan - circumnavigated the globe (he was the first to do so). 3.Ponce de Leon - touches and names Florida looking for legendary "Fountain of Youth". 4.Hernando DeSoto - enters Florida, travels up into present day Southeastern U.S., dies and is "buried" in Mississippi River, 5.Francisco Pizarro - conquers Incan Empire of Peru and begins shipping tons of gold/silver back to Spain. This huge influx of precious metals made European prices skyrocket (inflation). 6.Francisco Coronado - ventured into current Southwest U.S. looking for legendary Cibola, city of gold. He found the Pueblo Indians. 3.Encomienda system established 1.Indians were "commended" or given to Spanish landlords 2.The idealistic theory of the encomienda was that Indians would work on the farm and be converted to Christianity. But it was basically just slavery on a sugar plantation guised as missionary work. 9.The Conquest of Mexico 1.Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztecs at Tenochtitlan. 2.Cortez went from Cuba to present day Vera Cruz, then marched over mountains to the Aztec capital. 3.Montezuma, the Aztec king, thought Cortez might be the god Quetzalcoatl who was due to re-appear that very year. Montezuma welcomed Cortez into Tenochtitlan. 4.The Spanish lust for gold led Montezuma to attack on the noche triste, sad night. Cortez and men fought their way out, but it was smallpox that eventually beat the Indians. 5.The Spanish then destroyed Tenochtitlan, building the Spanish capital (Mexico City) exactly on top of the Aztec city. 6.A new race of people emerged, mestizos, a mix of Spanish and Indian blood. 10.The Spread of Spanish America 1.Spanish society quickly spread through Peru and Mexico 2.A threat came from neighbors... 1.English - John Cabot (an Italian who sailed for England) touched the coast of the current U.S. 2.Italy - Giovanni de Verrazano also touched on the North American seaboard. 3.France - Jacques Cartier went into mouth of St. Lawrence River (Canada). 3.To oppose this, Spain set up forts (presidios) all over the California coast. Also cities, like St. Augustine in Florid # 4.Don Juan de Onate followed Coronado's old path into present day New Mexico. He conquered the Indians ruthlessly, maiming them by cutting off one foot of survivors just so they'd remember. 5.Despite mission efforts, the Pueblo Indians revolted in Pope's Rebellion. 6.Robert de LaSalle sailed down the Mississippi River for France claiming the whole region for their King Louis and naming the area "Louisiana" after his king. This started a slew of place-names for that area, from LaSalle, Illinois to "Louisville" and then on down to New Orleans (the American counter of Joan of Arc's famous victory at Orleans). 7."Black Legend" - The Black Legend was the notion that Spaniards only brought bad things (murder, disease, slavery); though true, they also brought good things such as law systems, architecture, Christianity, language, and civilization, so that the Black Legend is partly, but not entirely, accurate.

1.England's Imperial Stirrings 1.By the year 1607, Central and South America was largely controlled by Spain or Portugal, but North America was mostly unclaimed. 1.In North America, there were few Europeans. 1.Spain had established Santa Fe. 2.France had established Quebec. 3.Britain had just established Jamestown, and it was struggling. 2.In the 1500s, Britain had made only feeble efforts to colonize America. There was a rash of problems hinging on a mix of religion and politics... 1.King Henry VIII had broken with the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s, brining the Protestant Reformation to England and thus creating religious division. 2.When Elizabeth I became queen, England moved decidedly in the Protestant direction. This also meant Catholic Spain was an immediate rival. 3.And there was the "Irish problem." Catholic Ireland sought Spain's help in ousting Protestant England's control over the "Emerald" island of Ireland. 4.The end result of these events was a great deal of hatred between England and the Catholic nations. 2.Elizabeth Energizes England 1.Elizabeth I was a fiery red-headed queen with loads of ambition, gall, and the political shrewdness to get what she wanted. 2.Francis Drake was a "sea dog" who pirated Spanish ships for gold. On one occasion, he stole the gold, circumnavigated the earth, and then was rewarded by Elizabeth I knighting him on his ship. This brazen reward by the English queen infuriated the Spanish. 3.First attempts by the British to colonize the American coast failed miserably. 1.Sir Humphrey Gilbert died at sea. 2.Sir Walter Raleigh established the Roanoke Island Colony, later to become known as The Lost Colony. Raleigh returned to England and the colony vanished mysteriously. 4.Spain plotted revenge on England and in 1588 their Spanish Armada attacked England only to get themselves defeated. The turning point in history was a large one... 1.This stunning victory opened the door for Britain to cross the Atlantic and finally establish colonies. 2.England's victory also emboldened Britain and launched her golden age including... 1.For the next 300 years, the British navy would dominate the seas. (Around 1900, the U.S. would surpass British naval power.) 2.England enjoyed a strong government and a popular monarch 3.There was a greater deal of unity, both religiously and through a sense of national pride and purpose. 4.The golden age of literature ushered in thanks to William Shakespeare. 3.Britain and Spain signed a peace treaty in 1604. 3.England on the Eve of the Empire 1.By the mid 1500s, Britain's population was mushrooming. 2.Europe was going through the process know as enclosure (fencing in the land) for farming. 1.Enclosure meant there was less land or no land for the poor. 2.No land or no hopes for land, in turn, meant the poor wanted to leave and go to America. 3.The woolen districts of southern England fell upon hard times economically. This meant the workers lost jobs, and in turn, wanted to leave and go to America. 4.A tradition of "primogeniture" existed where the firstborn son inherits ALL of the father's land. Therefore, younger sons who were landless, wanted to leave and go to America. 5.By the 1600s, the joint-stock company was perfected. In this type of company, people invest money with hopes and expectations the company will do well. Thus the investor will make money as a share-owner. 1.The benefit of the joint-stock company is that they can generate large amounts of start-up money to get a company going. 2.The joint-stock company is the forerunner of today's corporation. 4.England Plants the Jamestown Seedling This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com 1.In 1606, King James I gave the Virginia Company a charter to establish a colony in America. 1.It was a joint-stock company, intended to make a quick profit during a short life span. 2.Joint-stock companies were built for the short term. The goal was to turn a quick profit to investors who'd sell out after a year or two. 3.The charter also guaranteed colonists the same rights as Englishmen. Ironically, it would later be this guarantee that would help fuel America's independence movement. 2.In May of 1607, about 100 English men established Jamestown, Virginia. 1.Troubles for the colony came early and often... 1.Forty would-be settlers died on the boat ride over. 2.Problems then emerged including (a) the swampy site of Jamestown meant poor drinking water and mosquitoes causing malaria and yellow fever, (b) "gentlemen" wasted time looking for gold rather than doing useful tasks (digging wells, building shelter, planting crops), and (c) there were zero women on the initial ship. 2.A supply ship bound for Jamestown in 1609 wrecked in the Bahamas. 3.Their fortune began to change in 1608 when Captain John Smith took control and instituted a strong measure of much-needed discipline. 1.According to legend, Smith was once kidnapped by local Chief Powhatan and then his life spared at the last moment thanks to his daughter Pocahontas. 2.This act may well have been staged, but was intended by Powhatan to show good intentions between Indian and the whites. 3.John Smith's main contribution was that he gave order and discipline, highlighted by his "no work, no food" policy. 4.Still, the Jamestown settlers died in droves, and resorted to eating "dogges, Catts, rats, and Myce." One fellow wrote of eating "powdered wife." 5.Understandably, this was known as the "starving time" in Virginia. 6.The colonists' next stroke of good fortune came when Lord De La Warr intercepted a ship of settlers who were abandoning the colony. He forced them to return, brought more discipline, and brought much-needed supplies. 4.By 1625, only 1,200 out of nearly 8,000 settlers had survived. 5.Cultural Clash in the Chesapeake 1.The whites and Powhatan held a Jekyll and Hyde relationship—they waffled between good relations and bad relations. They raided one another, traded with one another, and fought one another. 2.The First Anglo-Powhatan War ended in 1614. It was sealed by the marriage of Pocahontas to colonist John Rolfe. 1.Together, Pocahontas and Rolfe would develop a sweet tobacco. This would become the cash crop that would save Jamestown. 2.In 1622, the Indians struck again, killing 347 whites, included Rolfe ironically. 3.The Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1644-1646) saw the Indians defeated soundly. The results were... 1.The Indians were effectively banished from the Chesapeake. 2.The notion was born that Indians and whites cannot live together peaceably—the beginnings of the reservations system were brewing. 4.The Indians fell due to the "three D's": disease (smallpox was the worst), disorganization (since they were not united, the whites could fight one tribe at a time), and disposability (since the whites had no use for Indians, they were simply pushed out). 6.The Indians' New World 1.The Europeans' arrival in the New World shocked Native American and induced unprecedented changes. 1.Horses altered Indian lifestyles, especially the Sioux who used the horse expertly on buffalo hunts. 2.Disease was by far the greatest change. 1.Indian blood, since they'd never been exposed to such bacteria, lacked any natural resistence to the white's diseases. 2.Tribes were devastated. The Catawba of piedmont Carolina, for example, was formed out of remnants of several other tribes. 3.Native Americans wanted firearms, eventually got them, and thus heightened tensions with other tribes and with whites. 2.Indians tried to engage in the trans-Atlantic economy, but had little to no success. 3.Indians along the Atlantic coast were effectively pushed out by war and disease. Those further inland, traded space for time. 7.Virginia: Child of Tobacco 1.Jamestown's salvation was found in the form of tobacco. 1.John Rolfe's sweet tobacco was sought as a cash crop by Europe. Jamestown had finally found its gold. 2.Tobacco also had negative effects... 1.Its success caused settlers to scramble for more land to cultivate. It also encouraged "land butchery"—farmers would cultivate the land 'til it gave out, then just move on. 2.It boosted the plantation economy and created a demand for cheap labor. At first this labor was filled mostly by white indentured servants, and then as the 1600s turned into the 1700s, by black slaves. 3.It built Virginia's economy on a single item, tobacco. Their economy was thus susceptible to the whims of having "all their eggs in one basket." 2.Three major things happened in 1619... 1.Representative self-government came to America when Virginians created the House of Burgesses, a basic legislature to work out local issues. This set America on a pathway self-rule. 2.The first blacks were brought to America. It's unclear if they were slaves or indentured servants at this time. 3.A shipload of women arrived. They were young and came with the sole purpose of marrying. This brought Virginia stability and a sense of permanence. 8.Maryland: Catholic Haven 1.Religious freedom was the initial motivation for Maryland. 1.Lord Baltimore founded Maryland in 1634. 2.Maryland was founded as a haven (safe place) for Catholics to avoid persecution from Protestants in Europe or in America. 3.Growth... 1.Lord Baltimore awarded huge estates to his wealthy, Catholic personal friends. 2.Others that settled were poor and usually Protestant. Tension ensued. 2.However, the sale of tobacco still caused Maryland to flourish. 3.Indentured servants bore most of the work load. 1.Black slaves began to replace white indentures as the 1600s turned into the 1700s. Notably, this trend was common in the South and especially in the Chesapeake. 2.The reasons for the switch from white-to-black... 1.The main reason boils down to the desire for a stable work force by plantation whites. 2.White indentures lusted for, and eventually got, land of their own to the west. 3.Black slaves were permanent workers, not seven year workers. 4.Due to Protestant—Catholic friction, Maryland passed the Act of Toleration, guaranteed religious toleration to all Christians, Protestant or Catholic. 3.Still, the death penalty was deemed for anyone denying the divinity of Jesus, namely Jews and atheists. 4.In sum, despite the fact above and Protestant—Catholic issues, Maryland was more religiously tolerant than intolerant. 9.The West Indies: Way Station to Mainland America 1.The West Indies (Caribbean Islands) had early-on been colonized by Spain, Portugal. France and England followed 1.Now with the decline of Spain and Portugal, the British sought to beef up their foothold in the islands. 2.England had several islands their, especially Jamaica by 1655. 2.Sugar was grown on the Caribbean plantations. 1.This was exactly what the Spanish and Portuguese had done. 2.These sugar plantations were brutal... 1.Sugar is a labor-intensive crop. 2.It was very hot and humid and unhealthy work. 3.The usual thing was to work a slave until death, then get another one. 3.The initial plan was to use Indian labor. That plan failed when disease killed an estimated 90% of Indians. Slavery then turned to Africans. 4.Since so many slaves were needed and brought in, the white—black ratio tilted more toward blacks than anywhere in the New World. This frightened the whites! 1.Due to fear, whites instituted strict "slave codes" or rules designed to keep slaves in control. Notable was the Barbados slave code of 1661 which saw its ideas channel up to South Carolina. 2.Also, punishment could be as cruel as anywhere on these plantations to keep order. 1.Typically, Africans were first brought to the West Indies to "be seasoned." This meant that any ideas of revolt from possible "trouble-makers" were beaten out of them. 2.From there, slaves either stayed in the West Indies or were distributed to South or North America. 10.Colonizing the Carolinas 1.England in the 1600s was a political rollercoaster ride. 1.King Charles I was beheaded. Oliver Cromwell ruled as a religious dictator for 10 years, then Charles II was placed on the throne in "The Restoration"—the kingdom was restored to England. 2.Simply put, after all the turmoil of a Civil War to oust a king, the Brits ironically just went back to a king. 1.Much of the chaos interrupted colonization, but with the restoration and stability again, Charles II was determined to return to the colonies with vigor. 2.Carolina was formally begun in 1670 and named after Charles II. 2.Carolina began to prosper due to ties to the West Indies, mainly due to the great natural harbor at Charleston. 1.The Barbados slave codes (strict rules to regulate slaves) were imported to Carolina. 2.The slave trade prospered as well. 1.Africans were shipped in from the West Indies. 2.Despite protests, Indians were shipped out to the West Indies and also to Rhode Island. For example, a Rhode Island town had 200 Indian slaves in 1730. 3.Tobacco could not be grown in Carolina, but rice could. Rice became the main crop there. 1.African slaves were sought to work the rice plantations, due to (a) their resistance to malaria and just as importantly, (b) their knowledge of and experience with rice. 4.Charleston flourished and quickly took on an aristocratic air. Prosperity brought something of a pompous flavor. This is one reason that the northern section of Carolina eventually split—they were much more down-to-the-earth folks. 5.Carolina had occasional trouble with nearby Florida. Florida was foreign land and held Indians and Spaniards—both enemies to the English. Still, Carolina held on. 11.The Emergence of North Carolina 1.As tobacco land in the Chesapeake (Virginia) began to run out, people just walked down into Carolina. 1.These farmers were "squatters"—they just took up the land and started farming it. 2.These North Carolinians began to develop their own sense of who they were... 1.They were independent-minded. This was typical of a small farmer who scratched his own living out of the soil. This was due to... 1.They were geographically isolated and on their own. 2.It's as though they asked, "Why would I want someone telling me how to run my life, I'm making my own life right out of the ground?!" 3.They resented the more established political figures along the East coast making rules and regulations for them. This is an important trend in the vein of Bacon's Rebellion and Shays' Rebellion. 3.Thus, two "flavors" of Carolinians developed: (a) the aristocratic and wealthier down south around Charleston and rice & indigo plantations, and (b) the strong-willed and independent-minded up north on small tobacco farms. 4.So in 1712, North and South Carolina were separated officially. 5.Indian—white troubles... 1.The Tuscarora Indians attacked in 1711. 1.The Carolinians successfully defended themselves. 2.The Indians were sold into slavery. 3.Others traveled north and eventually became the 6th nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. 2.By 1720, the Indians had been "cleared out" along the Atlantic seaboard. 1.A sad trend was clear by this time—as the frontier moved westward, the American Indians would continually be defeated, killed by disease, and/or dislodged from their homes. 2.The foothills and Appalachian Mountains would be the next Indian vs. white battlefield. 12.Late-Coming Georgia: The Buffer Colony 1.Georgia was established with the purpose that it would be a buffer zone or cushion between Spanish Florida and the British colonies along the Atlantic coast. 1.Florida was considered a wild, unpredictable, and dangerous land with Spaniards, runaway slaves, and Indians, all hostile to the American colonies. 2.James Oglethorpe founded Georgia in 1733 and named after King George II. 1.As well as being a buffer zone, Georgia held the goal of being a place where debtors could get a second chance. 2.It was also a dumping ground for English criminals. 3.Oglethorpe fended off Spanish attacks and saved the "Charity Colony." 3.Any Christian, except for Catholics, were permitted in Georgia. 1.Missionaries tried to convert the Indians to Christianity. 2.John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was the best known of these missionaries. 4.Georgia began humbly, and grew slowly, but it did survive. 13.The Plantation Colonies 1.Slavery took place in all of the plantation colonies down South. 2.Forests frequently stunted the growth of cities. 3.Schools and churches, and even towns, were often stunted since Southerners were so spread out. 4.Crops were grown as such: 1.Tobacco - in the Chesapeake region (Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina) 2.Rice and indigo - in the tidewater region of South Carolina and Georgia 5.As a general rule, the plantation South permitted a good deal of religious freedom. Southerners were more interested in making money and growing crops than worrying over church doctrine. 6.White vs. Indian conflicts were frequent. 14.Makers of America: The Iroquois 1.The Iroquois consisted of five tribes: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onandaga, Cayuga, and the Seneca. The tribes united into the "Iroquois Confederation" under the legendary leader Hiawatha. 1.The confederation was very strong and was a force when threatened by the whites. 2.Eventually, the whites' disease, whiskey, and weapons threatened the Iroquois' survival. 2.The Iroquois lived in "longhouses." The women held an unusually high rank—a man's prominence was linked to his mother's family. 3.The war's of colonial America ripped the Iroquois lifestyle apart. Many fled to Canada and others went to lives on reservations. 1.Like many Indians, reservation life was a pitiful mix of depression, alcoholism, poverty, and feuding. 2.A prophet named Handsome Lake had a vision. He then convinced his people to change their ways. His influence still lives in the "Longhouse" religion.

1.The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism 1.1517, Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation when he nailed his "95 Theses" on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Luther had several challenges to the Roman church. The most basic of Luther's ideas were ... 1.The Bible or scripture alone was the source of God's word (not the Bible and the church or pope). 2.People are saved by grace alone from God (salvation comes as an undeserved gift from God, not by earning it or deciding to be saved). 3.People are saved simply by faith in Christ alone (not by any "good works" the person might've done). 2.John Calvin preached Calvinism that stressed "predestination" (those going to Heaven or hell has already been determined by God). 1.Basic Christian doctrine was outlined in a 1536 document "Institutes of the Christian Religion." 1.It said people were sinful. 2.It said only the predestined would go to Heaven. 2.A Calvinist expected to see signs of predestination in a person's life. The person was to have an outward conversion, recognized by others who'd been saved. 3.An odd irony was created: predestination was very clear about Heaven and hell. But, it created a question as to who's on what side? 1.The reasoning went: if a person lives a sinful life, then obviously he's predestined to hell. If he lives a pious life, then he's predestined to Heaven. 2.Calvinists are famous for working hard, dusk to dawn, to "prove" their worthiness. 3.The impact of Calvinism has been vividly stamped on the psyche of Americans, and been called the "Protestant Work Ethic." 3.For personal reasons, King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in the 1530s. He started the Protestant Church of England. 4.The Puritans vs. the Pilgrims 1.A group of English called Puritans were moved to reform ("purify") the Church of England. This is the point that separates Puritans from Pilgrims. 2.Believed that only "visible saints" should be admitted to church membership. 3.By contrast, the Pilgrims were Separatists. They vowed to break away from the Church of England (AKA the Anglican Church) because the "saints" would have to sit with the "damned." 1.King James I harassed the Separatists out of England. His reasoning was that if this group of people were willing to defy him as their spiritual leader, they might also defy him as their political leader. 2.King James I is the king for whom the King James Bible is named. 3.There's irony here in that the Separatists claimed King James' Church of England had strayed from the Bible, and they likely had. Yet the "King James Bible" quickly became accepted as being a very accurate translation, and still is considered so. 2.The Pilgrims End Their Pilgrimage at Plymouth 1.The Pilgrims, as Separatists, wanted to completely break away from the Church of England. 1.They first moved to Holland with intentions of simply living there. 2.Then they decided they'd have to move since their children were growing up Dutch. This was understandable, of course, but they wanted their kids to grow up English. 3.They sought a location with English traditions where they'd be free to worship in their own way—America was the logical place. 2.They struck a deal with the Virginia Company and set sail from Holland aboard the Mayflower. 1.One person was born on the trip and one died. 2.They were supposed to head to Virginia, but arrived off of the coast of New England in 1620. 3.Wisely, the Pilgrims carefully surveyed for possible sites. Plymouth was chosen. 4.Leadership and security against Indians would come to be provided by Captain Myles Standish, known as "Captain Shrimp." 3.Since they were in a land where they had no legal right to settle, steps had to be taken. 1.Before leaving the ship, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, where they agreed to make and live by new rules. 2.This was the first form of self-government in New England and laid the foundation that America would be run by Americans. 4.The winter of 1620-21 was brutal to the Pilgrims. By spring, only 44 out of the 102 were still alive. 5.Unlike the Jamestown settlers, who had a similar first winter and wanted to return to England in the spring, the Pilgrims were determined to stay. 1.They worked and prayed diligently the following year, gained some help and seeds from friendly Massasoit Indians, and grew a bountiful harvest—the first Thanksgiving. 2.William Bradford, was selected as governor of the Plymouth colony 30 times in annual elections. 6.Plymouth began humbly, but survived. 1.Its economy was based on fur trapping, fishing, and lumber. 2.Plymouth never grew large, and in 1691, it merged with the much larger Massachusetts Bay Colony. 3.The Bay Colony Bible Commonwealth 1.A group of Puritans were given a royal charter in 1629. This would become the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1.The charter was brought to America and used it like a constitution. 2.This was another first step toward self-government made in Massachusetts. 2.The Puritans came in much larger numbers than the Pilgrims—about 11,000 Puritans. 1.The Puritans were well-equipped and industrious people. 3.Similar to Plymouth, the Bay Colony enjoyed good leadership, stability, and growth. 1.There governor, John Winthrop, was elected for 19 years. 2.The colony thrived and grew with an economy based on fur trading, fishing, and shipbuilding. 4.Building the Bay Colony 1.The Bay Colony was a "Bible Commonwealth"—a democracy run on Biblical principles. 1.The franchise (right to vote) was quickly given to all "freemen." Freemen were adult men who were members of the congregation (later called the Congregational Church). 2.Non-church member men, and all women, were excluding from voting. 1.There was the belief that the common man was incapable of voting wisely. Governor Winthrop called democracy the "meanest and worst" form of government. 2.Puritans also wanted to retain government control in the hands of the church—hence the rule of church membership. Gaining church membership, by the way, only occurred when the church members voted you in. 3.All told, this meant that roughly 40% of adult men could vote. This number may seem low by today's standards (only 40% of men and 0% of women), but it still was larger than percentages back in Europe. 2.The most noteworthy Puritan preacher was John Cotton. He'd been educated at Cambridge, criticized the Church of England, and then emigrated to Massachusetts. 3.The Bible Commonwealth had its ways... 1.Sermons, like those by John Cotton, were stern but moving, and clearly drew the line of right and wrong, Heaven and hell, saints and sinners. 2.Local congregations could hire or fire their local pastor as they chose, (this is why they're called "Congregational)." 3.There was a strict moral code to uphold right and wrong. For example, one couple was fined 20 shillings for kissing in public. 4.The devil, sin, and hell were very real, very serious, easily fallen into, and had to be constantly guarded against. 1.Michael Wigglessorth wrote "Day of Doom" and sold one copy for every 20 people. 5.Trouble in the Bible Commonwealth This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com 1.In such a tightly strung society, tension quickly came to Massachusetts. 2.Quakers challenged Puritan authority and were given fines, floggings, or banishment. 3.Anne Hutchinson was an outspoken woman who challenged predestination. 1.Her theory, called antinomianism, argued that if there was predestination, then a person's actions were immaterial (because the saints and sinners were already determined). This was heresy. 2.This struck hard at the Puritans because... 1.This challenged political control—Why follow government rules/laws if it doesn't matter? 2.This challenged religious control—Why follow church rules/laws if it doesn't matter? 3.Women were not supposed to question authority and certainly not to speak out. 3.She was put on trial in 1638, and claimed to have received these revelations from God—even higher heresy. 4.Hutchinson was banished and moved to startup Rhode Island where religious freedom was new and favorable. 5.Hutchinson was eventually killed by Indians in New York. John Winthrop said that "God's hand" was involved in her death. 4.Roger Williams was a young, outspoken preacher who sought a clean break with the Church of England. His ideas quickly got him into trouble, including... 1.Questioning the Bay Colony charter's legality. 2.Questioning dealings with the Indians. 3.Questioning whether the church could run people's lives and the government. He had to go. 4.In 1635, he was banished for "newe & dangerous opinions." 6.The Rhode Island "Sewer" 1.Roger Williams' differing religious views got him into trouble in Massachusetts. So, he started Rhode Island. 2."Little Rhody" grew attractive to the "otherwise minded." That is, anyone that didn't fit into Massachusetts' tight-laced religious society. 3.Rhode Island thus attracted a variety of people with nothing in common except a desire for independence. This strain of independence became their point of unity. 4.The colony was officially chartered in 1644. 7.New England Spreads Out 1.A new colony was founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1635. 1.Reverend Thomas Hooker quickly led a group into Connecticut. This group was attracted as much by the Connecticut River's good farmland than by religious reasons. 2.In 1639, Connecticut settlers drew up the "Fundamental Orders," America's first written constitution. 1.This document later became a model for the U.S. Constitution. 3.In 1638, the colony of New Haven was established. It later joined Connecticut. 2.In 1623, Maine was annexed by Massachusetts. 1.Maine remained part of Massachusetts for nearly 150 years. 3.In 1641, New Hampshire was annexed by Massachusetts. 1.New Hampshire remained part of Massachusetts until 1679 when the king separated it. 8.Puritans Versus Indians 1.White diseases had made their mark even before the Pilgrims' arrival in 1620. Disease had then struck the Indians, killing an estimated ¾ of the population. 2.Initial relations with the natives were friendly. 1.A Wampanoag named Squanto befriended and helped the struggling settlers. 2.A white—Wampanoag peace agreement was signed. 3.This treaty, along with the first Thanksgiving, became the standard symbolic of good white—Indian relations and gave hope for good relations in the future. 3.In 1637, relations deteriorated when the Pequot War erupted. 1.Incidents began to ripple through New England as more and more English settlers moved in. 2.The war raged when whites wiped out a Pequot village on the Mystic River in Connecticut. 3.All told, the Pequots were nearly wiped out as a tribe. White—Indians relations had turned for the worse and would largely stay that way. 1.After criticism of the attack, Puritans attempted to convert Indians to Christianity. 4.Aside from disease, disunity was the Indians top weakness. 1.In 1675, Massasoit's son Metacom (known as King Philip by the English) attempted to unite local Indian tribes. 2.Metacom and his warriors attacked English villages, usually on the frontier. 1.The so-called King Philip's War lasted two years and was very bloody and destructive. 2.His wife and son were sold into slavery. 3.He finally suffered a complete defeat when his village was surrounded and destroyed. He was beheaded and drawn-and-quartered. His head rested on a pike in Plymouth, on display for years. 9.Seeds of Colonial Unity and Independence 1.In 1643, the New England Confederation was set up. 1.It consisted of 4 colonies and held the main goal of defense. 2.The colonies were Puritan only (Bay Colony, Plymouth, New Haven, and scattered Connecticut settlements). 3.The confederation was weak but noteworthy in that it was a large step toward American unity. 2.The colonies were basically allowed to be semi-autonomous commonwealths. 3.Charles II, after being restored to the British throne, intended to tighten his control over the colonies. 1.He was surprised to find how deeply independence had begun to run in the American colonies, especially in Massachusetts. 2.As a slap-in-the-face to Massachusetts, the king gave Connecticut a sea-to-sea charter in 1662; then also charted lowly Rhode Island in 1663. 3.Even more embarrassingly, Massachusetts' charter was revoked in 1684. 10.Andros Promotes the First American Revolution 1.In 1686, the Dominion of New England was created as an arm of the king. It's goals were to (a) to strengthen colonial defense against the Indians and, more importantly, (b) to regain control by England over America by enforcing the Navigation Acts. 1.The Navigation Acts limited American trade to within the British Empire exclusively. 2.Resultant, smuggling flourished. 3.Sir Edmund Andros headed the Dominion. 1.He established headquarters in the "trouble-area" of Boston. 2.He was openly associated with the Church of England—much despised by the Puritans. 3.His soldiers spoke profanities and drank heavily. Puritanical Boston was nonplussed. 4.Andros was quick to lay the law: he curbed town meetings, placed restrictions on courts the press, and schools. He revoked land titles. He rid the local assemblies and taxed the people without any representation. 5.At this time, William and Mary were handed the British throne in the Glorious Revolution. 1.This effectively pulled the rug out from underneath Andros and the Dominion. 2.The Dominion of New England fell apart. 3.Andros dressed like a woman and tried to sneak away, but his boots betrayed him beneath his dress. 2.Changed did come, though not as the Puritans had hoped. 1.Massachusetts gained a new charter, but their pride had been stung. 2.With the new charter, all male property owners could vote, not church members exclusively, as it had been. This was a step for democracy, but a step backward for the "Bible Commonwealth." 11.Old Netherlanders at New Netherland 1.In the late 1500s, the Netherlands rebelled and, with British help, won her independence from Spain. 2.The 1600s were the Golden Age for the Dutch. They set out to make themselves a world power, not military so much as economically. 3.They set up the Dutch East India Company to trade with the world and rival the British. 1.For protection, the company built army of 10,000 men and a fleet of 190 ships. 40 of these ships were men-of-war. 2.The East India Company did most of its business in the Spice Islands of Indonesia (the East Indies). 4.The Dutch West India Company operated in the Caribbean (the West Indies). 1.The West India Company was much smaller and weaker. 2.They found it easier and profitable to do as much raiding as trading. 5.Explorer Henry Hudson sought new areas. He sailed into Delaware Bay and then New York Bay, then up the Hudson River. He claimed the area for the Dutch. New Netherland was born. 1.The Dutch West India Company bought the island of Manhattan from local Indians in exchange for a few trinkets. 2.New Amsterdam was set up as a company town—a trading post at the mouth of the Hudson River. It's goal was to trade, turn a profit, and benefit stockholders. 6.To encourage settlement, patroonships (large tracts of land) were awarded to promoters who'd settle 50 people in the colony. 1.As a result of these large patroonships, New Amsterdam developed an aristocratic flavor. 7.New Amsterdam attracted a mix of people (unlike Massachusetts). 1.A French Jesuit missionary recorded 18 different languages being spoken in the city. 12.Friction with English and Swedish Neighbors 1.The Dutch were cruel to the Indians and the Indians fought back. 1.A wall was built across the northern edge of the post to fend off Indians. The street along the wall became Wall Street. 2.New England also didn't like the Dutch settlers, considering them trespassers. 3.The Dutch, in turn, considered the Swedes trespassers when New Sweden was established on the Delaware River. It never amounted to much. 1.The Dutch sent Peter Stuyvesant down to get rid of the Swedes. The one-legged Stuyvesant's took the main Swedish fort without bloodshed. New Sweden had ended barely after it'd begun. 2.New Sweden left its mark in the form of place names, the log cabin, and a mix of some Swedish blood. 13.Dutch Residues in New York 1.In 1664, the Duke of York, Charles II's brother, was granted the area New Netherland area. 1.To solidify the claim, a British fleet appeared off of New Amsterdam and Peter Stuyvesant was forced to surrender without a shot. 2.New Netherland was over. 2.New York was the new name for New Amsterdam. 3.The Dutch left their mark in the forms of... 1.The aristocratic flavor of New Netherland/New York. 2.Place names such as Harlem (Haarlem), Brooklyn (Breuckelen), and Hell Gate (Hellegat). 3.'Gambrel' architecture (a barn shaped roof, modeled after the gambrel or back leg of a horse). 4.And also, the Dutch left the traditions of Easter eggs, Santa Claus, waffles, sauerkraut, bowling, sleighing, skating, and golf (kolf). 14.Penn's Holy Experiment in Pennsylvania 1.The Quakers 1.They're called "Quakers" because they shook or quaked when moved by religious emotion. 2.They clashed with religious and civil rule because they refused to pay taxes that would go to the Church of England. 3.They met in simple meeting houses without a formal preacher, and simply spoke up when so moved. 4.They called one another as "thee" or "thou," like the King James Bible. 1.They'd take no oaths since Jesus instructed, "Swear not at all." This posed problems since people were supposed to swear to "test oaths" that they weren't Roman Catholic. 5.They were peaceful people who despised war and would "turn the other cheek" to violence. 6.To some they appeared stubborn; perhaps they were, but they were devoted to their faith. 2.William Penn was a well-born Englishman attracted to the Quaker faith.. 1.In 1681, he was awarded a large tract of land by the king. 2.The tract would come to be "Pennsylvania" meaning "Penn's woodland." Being modest, he disliked this name, but it stuck. 3.Pennsylvania was the best-advertised colony. It attracted many people and prospered. 15.Quaker Pennsylvania and Its Neighbors 1.The colony officially began in 1681, but there were already thousands of squatters on the land. 2.Philadelphia, the "city of brotherly love," was carefully planned out, which was unusual. It enjoyed wide boulevards and planned streets. 3.Penn tried to deal justly with the Indians. He bought large tracts from Chief Tammany, patron saint of the later Tammany Hall. 1.Penn's Indian relations were so good that Quakers could walk unarmed through Indian territory. 2.But, Quaker good-will would be taken advantage of. Less-idealistic folks treated the Indians as savages, most notably, the rough Scots-Irish. 4.There were good reasons for the appeal of Pennsylvania... 1.Freedom of religion was allowed to all except Jews and Catholics. 2.The death penalty was allowed only for murder or treason. 3.The Quakers didn't like slavery. They were the first group to formally take a stand against slavery. 4.Immigration was unrestricted and naturalization was easy. 1.Combined with good land, a friendly attitude, free religion, etc., Pennsylvania was very attractive to a wide variety of people. 2.Virginia was the only colony with more people and more money by 1700. 5.Penn himself was not much appreciated in Pennsylvania. 1.His friendliness toward the deposed Catholic king James II made him unpopular with Americans. 2.He was at times jailed for treason or debt. 3.He suffered a stroke and died a paralytic, full of sorrow. 6.Next-door neighbors New Jersey and Delaware also prospered. 16.The Middle Way in the Middle Colonies 1.The Middle Colonies consisted of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. 2.They all held fertile soil and large tracts of land. 3.They all, excepting Delaware, exported grain and thus were known as the "bread colonies." 4.Useful rivers tapped into the heart of the colonies...the Susquehanna, Delaware, and Hudson reached into fur lands. 5.The Middle Colonies held a mix of New England and Southern colonies. 1.They were, of course, geographically in the middle. 2.Landholdings were of the midsize range—smaller than the South but bigger than New England. 3.They were more ethnically mixed than other colonies—more mixed than the South and much more than New England. 4.They had a mixed economy—agriculture like the South, and the beginnings of industry and trade as in the North. 6.Benjamin Franklin, became the premier child of Philadelphia, and America. He'd come to Philly at 17, immediately felt at home, and through hard work and diligence, began to work his way up. 1.Franklin's story of rags-to-riches became symbolic of America. 2.Americans began to realize they weren't just surviving, but thriving. 17.Makers of America: The English 1.The population of England was mushrooming in the 1600s. People had to move somewhere. 2.¾ of the English came as indentured servants. Mostly young men from the "middling classes." They largely came to the Chesapeake to work on the plantations. 1.Some came due to the decline in the wool trade. 2.Some came after being forced out by "enclosure" of the land. 3.An estimated 40% died before the end of their servitude—unhealthy conditions being the culprit 4.By the late 1600s, a switch began from white indentured servant labor to black slave labor. The idea was that slave labor, being permanent, was more economically sound. 5.Late in the 17th century, as the supply of indentured servants slowly ran out, the southerners resolved to employ black slaves. 6.In New England, mostly during the 1630s, Puritans swarmed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1.The Puritans came as family units, not so much as single men. 2.They brought with them the traditions or varied the flavor of their local communities, which could vary substantially. 1.For instance, Marblehead, MA became an exclusive fishing village. 2.Rowley, MA became a textile town (as had been their village back in England). 3.Ipswich, MA saw leaders rule with an iron hand whereas Newbury, MA saw leaders rarely win a reelection.

1.The Unhealthy Chesapeake 1.Life in America was brutal , especially in the Chesapeake (Virginia/Maryland). 1.The work there was hard and the climate was muggy. 2.Diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and typhoid took their deadly toll. 3.Thus, life spans in the Chesapeake were only to 40 or 50. 2.Family-life suffered. 1.Men outnumbered women and had to compete to win a woman's heart. The ratio was 6:1(men-to-women) in 1650. 2.Grandparents were unknown since lives were often cut short. 3.1/3 of new brides in one Maryland county were pregnant on their wedding day. 3.Still, Virginia persisted and grew to be the most populous colony with 59,000 people. 2.The Tobacco Economy 1.Though hard on people, the Chesapeake was ideal for cultivation of tobacco. 1.Exports rose from 1.5 million pounds of tobacco annually in the 1630s to 40 million pounds in 1700. 2.Increased production/supply meant prices fell. The solution was to simply plant and grow, even more tobacco. 2.The "headright system" encouraged growth of the Chesapeake. Under this system, if an aristocrat sponsored an indentured servant's passage to America, the aristocrat earned the right to purchase 50 acres land, undoubtedly at a cheap price. This meant land was being gobbled by the rich, and running out for the poor. 3.Initially, indentured servitude provided the labor for the tobacco. 1.Life for an indentured servant was tough, but they had had of freedom and their own land when their seven years of service were done. 2.As time wore on and labor became a premium, masters became intent on extending contracts or less willing to award a servant a plot of land. This would be the beginnings of race-based slavery—as indentured servants decreased, slavery went on the rise. 3.Frustrated Freemen and Bacon's Rebellion 1.By the late 17th century (1600s), the Chesapeake had grown a generation of angry young men. 1.These men were young, white, landless, jobless, womanless and frustrated. 2.Essentially, their goal was to get land and get married. 2.Nathaniel Bacon typified these men in what came to be called Bacon's Rebellion. 1.In 1676, Bacon led about 1,000 men in a revolt. 2.Many of these men had settled on the frontier where Indian attacks were frequent. 3.Their ambition was to get Gov. William Berkeley to crack down on the Indians rather than continue his Indian-friendly fur trading. The poor men wanted land from the Indians. 4.After some riotous success, Bacon suddenly died of disease. With the leader gone, Berkeley struck back and crushed the rebellion. 5.Bacon's legacy was to leave a lingering fear of revolt and lawlessness in the minds of the upper class. 4.Colonial Slavery 1.In 3 centuries following Columbus' landing, 10,000 million African slaves were brought to America. Only 400,000 were brought to North America. 2.Things were changing in the late 1600s however, as indentured servitude was being replaced by black slaves. 1.In 1670, black slaves made up on 7% of the Southern population. 2.By 1680, the circumstances reached the tipping point. 1.Wages in England went up, so fewer young men came to America. 2.Americans were fearful of another Bacon-like revolt. 3.In the mid-1680s, black slaves coming to America outnumbered white immigrants for the first time. 4.Simply put, in the 1680s, the African slave trade quickened considerably. 3.By 1750, black slaves made up almost ½ the population of Virginia. 4.Most slaves came from the coast of West Africa. 1.They were usually captured by African tribes, shipped over on crammed boats on the grisly "Middle Passage" from Africa to the West Indies. Death rates have been estimated at 20%. There they were "seasoned" there in the islands. 2.Lastly, they were distributed to North, Central, and South America or the islands. In the modern day U.S., Charleston, SC and Newport, RI were large slave import cities. 3.A few of he earliest slaves gained freedom, some even owned slaves themselves. Eventually, the chances of freedom dwindled. 4.As time wore, questions of slave ownership arose. So, it was decided that slaves and their children would be made property (or "chattels") to their owners for life. 5.Some colonies made it a crime to teach slaves to read (for fear of an organized revolt or of reading liberating ideas). 6.Conversion to Christianity didn't qualify a slave for freedom either. 5.Africans in America 1.Life for a slave in the Deep South was harsh. Health conditions and labor drained life. 1.Rice and indigo plantations, such as in South Carolina, were even more brutal than tobacco. 2.Despite hardship, a unique African-American culture emerged as a mix of African-and-white cultures. 1.Blacks evolved their languages, for example Gullah (a variation of Angola). Certain words joined English: goober (peanut), gumbo (okra), and voodoo (witchcraft). 2.Music was unique too with rhythmic beats, the banjo, and bongo drums. These were the ancestors of jazz. 3.Some slaves became exceptionally skilled in their trade such as carpentry, bricklaying, or tanning leather. Most slaves were simply hard laborers in the fields though. 4.Desiring freedom, blacks rose in revolt on occasion. 1.In New York City, 1712, a slave revolt killed a dozen whites. 21 blacks were executed. 2.In 1739, along the Stono River in South Carolina, 50 blacks rose up and tried to escape slavery by walking to Spanish Florida. But, they were intercepted by the militia. 3.Overall, these revolts were rather small, scattered, and controlled. They were certainly smaller than Bacon's Rebellion with 1,000 men. 6.Southern Society 1.As time wore on, a rich—poor gap emerged and was widening in the South. 2.A social hierarchy had developed in the South. 1.Virginia was being run by a "planter aristocracy" or families of the privileged, like the Fitzhughs, Lees, and Washingtons. 1.Such families owned huge tracts of land and dominated politics in the House of Burgesses. 2.They were known as the "FFVs" or "First Families of Virginia." 3.They were aristocratic, but they were also hard-working businessmen. Running a plantation had endless problems and issues to deal with on a daily basis. 2.Beneath the FFVs were the small farmers (AKA "yeomen" farmers). 1.They were the largest social group in number. 2.They held small plots of land and, maybe if they had a bit of money, 1 or 2 slaves. 3.Next on the social scale were the landless whites. 1.These hapless folks were often freed indentured servants. Their numbers were dwindling. 4.At the bottom of the social scale were the slaves. They had no rights and no hope of gaining any. 3.Cities were few and far between in the South. Schools and churches were also rare. This was mainly due to the plantations and farms being so spread out. 7.The New England Family This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com 1.The climate and conditions in New England were much healthier than in the South. Water was clean and temperatures cooler. 2.Life expectancies there reached to over 70 years old. It's said New Englanders "invented" grandparents. 3.Families immigrated to New England (unlike single people in the Chesapeake). This made for stability. 4.Women married in their early twenties, then gave birth about every 2 years until menopause. 1.An average woman would give birth to 10 children and expect to raise 8 of them; the other 2 would die at birth or infancy. 5.Women wielded little power outside of the home. 1.In the South, women often had it a bit better because (a) the male—female ratio favored the ladies, and (b) men often died young and the woman could inherit the money. 2.New England women were dominated by the men. 1.A widow did not inherit her husband's land or money (this might undercut the stability of family, so she was expected to remarry). 2.Women could not participate in the church as leaders or voters in the congregation (the Bible instructs that men run the church, not both genders). 3.Life in New England's "Bible Commonwealth" was stern. 1.The top priority was to protect the institutions of marriage and the family. 2.This was illustrated in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter where the heroine is forced to wear a bright red "A" on her bosom to announce her sin of adultery. 8.Life in the New England Towns 1.In keeping with the Puritan ways toward order, town life was very structured. 1.A new town was first formally chartered by authorities (rather than just plopping into existence). 2.Towns were laid out in and orderly manner—a town square (or common or "village green") in the middle surrounded by homes, shops, and the church. 2.Education was valued by New Englanders. 1.Towns of at least 50 families built primary schools. Towns of 100 families built secondary schools. 2.Harvard College was established in 1636, the nation's first. It's motivation was to train men for the ministry. 1.Notably, Virginia's first college was William and Mary, est. 1693. 3.Puritan churches were run by the local congregation (hence the later name of "Congregational Church"). 4.The self-ruling church found it easy to become a self-ruling democratic government. 9.The Half-Way Covenant and the Salem Witch Trials 1.Puritan leaders grew worried that their religious passion was dying down. So, they stepped up the preaching and "jeremiads" boomed from the pulpit. 1.A jeremiad was a stern, old-fashioned scolding, like the sermons that the prophet Jeremiah preached to the Israelites. 2.The ambition was to corral straying souls and return them to the "straight-and-narrow." 2.Paradoxically, church leaders also eased the qualifications for joining the church with what was called the "Half-Way Covenant." 1.In this covenant, some people could receive a sort of "half-status" in the church. 2.This meant that the "elect" or the "visible saints" had to mix with the "half-wayers," which was not always smooth. 3.In 17th century New England, all aspects of life were seen through religious eyes. The Salem Witch Trials is an example. 1.In 1692, a few girls claimed to have been bewitched by a Caribbean woman practicing voodoo. 2.Names were named, rumors spread, and innocent people were accused of being witches. Hysteria took hold and twenty people were executed. 3.By 1693, the Salem residents saw the recklessness for what it was and called it off. 4.Notably, this type of witch-hunting had been done on a much larger scale back in Europe. 10.The New England Way of Life 1.The New England soil was thin and rocky, so they turned less to agriculture and more toward trade. 1.The agriculture that was present was small-scale and diverse (it was not plantation agriculture like the South). 2.Slavery was tried, but since it wasn't really needed, it fizzled out. 3.As a result, New England was less ethnically diverse than the Southern or Middle Colonies. 2.Rivers ran short and fast in New England. This would later prove useful to industry to power water mills. 3.White New Englanders felt they were destined to use the land to their benefit. Whereas the Indians lived off the land, New Englanders wished to clear and farm the land. 4.Fishing became a major industry. New England is said to have been founded on "God and cod." 11.The Early Settlers' Days and Ways 1.Colonial farmers worked from sunup to sundown, from "dusk 'til dawn." 1.Having only fire as light, little was down beyond sundown unless it was "worth the candle." 2.Most people who'd emigrated Europe for America were from the middle or lower-middle class and came looking for a better life. 1.They found life in America to be simple and practical. 2.Despite having to work hard for a simple life, their lives were still likely better than in Europe. 12.Makers of America: From African to African-American 1.Africans brought much of their culture across the ocean—language, music, food. 2.Africans worked in the rice fields of South Carolina due to (a) their knowledge of the crop and (b) their resistance to disease (as compared to Indians). 3.Early African slaves to America were men and sometimes gained their freedom (similar to indentured servants). 4.By the 1740s, slavery had been institutionalized and freedom was uncommon. 1.Men worked in the fields. 2.Women also worked in the fields, as well as domestic jobs like weaving, spinning, sewing, and cooking. 5.Slaves usually became Christian, but mixed parts of their native African religion in. 6.African-American culture influenced the arts. 1.The 1920s popular dance has African-American roots. 2.Christian songs with themes of liberation were especially popular. They could sometimes be a code to mark the arrival of a guide to freedom. 3.The best example of African-American influence of music is seen in jazz.

1.Conquest by the Cradle 1.In 1775, there were 32 British colonies in North America. 1.Only 13 of these colonies revolted in the "American Revolution." 2.Canada and Jamaica were wealthier than the "original 13." 3.All of the colonies were growing like weeds. 2.In 1775, there were 2.5 million people in the 13 colonies. 3.Their average age was about 16 (due mainly to having several children). 4.The vast majority (95%) of the Americans were crammed east of the Allegheny Mountains. By 1775, a few had settled in Tennessee and Kentucky. 5.90% of the Americans lived in rural areas and were therefore mostly farmers. 2.A Mingling of the Races 1.Colonial America was mostly English by origin, but other ethnicities were also present. 2.Germans made up 6% of the population (150,000 in number by 1775). 1.The Germans were mostly Protestant (usually Lutheran). 2.They were called "Pennsylvania Dutch"...a perversion of "Deutsch" or "German." 3.Scots-Irish made up 7% of the population (175,000 in number). 1.Back across the ocean, these strong-willed folks had been transplanted into Northern Ireland. But, they banged heads with the Catholic Irish there and never felt at home. So, they emigrated to America. 2.They typically moved inland in America up to the Appalachian foothills. They squatted on the land and bickered with Indians and whites over ownership. 3.The "Paxton Boys" led a march/revolt in 1764. Like Nathaniel Bacon of 100 years prior, they were frustrated over not being able to get land. 4.The Scots-Irish were a hot-headed, but hardy people. 5.When the War for Independence began, many became revolutionaries. 4.5% were from various European ethnicities: French Huguenots, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Jews, Irish, the Swiss, or Scots-Highlanders. 1.Even early on, the Americans were taking on a mosaic of races and ethnicities. Therefore, other nations had a hard time pinning down exactly what it meant to be "an American." 3.The Structure of the Colonial Society 1.Unlike Europe, where the classes were locked, America was a land of opportunity. 1.Hard work might see anyone rise from "rags to riches." 2.Despite opportunity in America, class differences did emerge with wealthy planter-farmers, clergymen, government officials, and merchants wielding most of the authority. 2.Wars brought more riches to merchants. 1.As well as creating riches, these wars created widows and orphans who eventually turned to charity for support. 3.In the South, a firm social pyramid emerged containing... 1.The immensely rich plantation owners ("planters") had many slaves (though these were few). 2."Yeoman" farmers, or small farmers, owned their land and, maybe, a few slaves. 3.Landless whites who owned no land and either worked for a landowner or rented land to farm. 4.Indentured servants of America were the paupers and the criminals sent to the New World. Some of them were actually unfortunate victims of Britain's unfair laws and did become respectable citizens. This group was dwindling though by the 1700s, thanks to Bacon's Rebellion and the move away from indentured servant labor and toward slavery. 5.Black slaves were at the bottom of the social ladder with no rights or hopes up moving up or even gaining freedom. Slavery became a divisive issue because some colonies didn't want slaves while others needed them, and therefore vetoed any bill banning the importation of slaves. 4.Clerics, Physicians, and Jurists 1.The clergy (or priests) were the most respected group in colonial days. They had less power in 1775 than in earlier days, but still held high esteem. 2.Physicians (or doctors) were usually not looked upon with much respect. Many were little more than "witch-doctors" as the science of the day was little or nothing. 1.A favorite treatment was bleeding—thought to let out the "bad blood." 2.Plagues were common and deadly. 1.Smallpox struck 1 in 5 people (including George Washington) even though a basic inoculation had been formed in 1721. 2.The clergy and doctors sometimes chose to not intervene with smallpox treatment—to do so would be to intervene in God's will. 3.Lawyers were looked upon with scorn—as being hucksters or scoundrels. 1.Criminals often would represent themselves in court rather than get a lawyer. 2.As the revolution neared, the usefulness of lawyers to get things done started to become apparent. 5.Workaday America This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com 1.Agriculture was the dominant industry, by far, in colonial America. 1.In the Chesapeake of Maryland and Virginia, tobacco was the staple. 2.In the Middle Colonies ("bread colonies"), wheat was the staple. New York exported 80,000 barrels of flour annually. 2.Fishing (and whaling) was prosperous, especially in New England. The Grand Banks off Newfoundland had immense numbers of cod. 3.Trade began to flourish. 1.Yankee merchants were active and known as hard dealers. 2.The "Triangular Trade" was in operation. In it, a ship would depart (1) New England with rum and go to the (2) west coast of Africa and trade the rum for African slaves. Then, it would go to (3) the West Indies and exchange the slaves for molasses (for rum), which it'd sell to New England once it returned there. 4.Manufacturing was not as important. There were a wide variety of small enterprises though. 1.Good laborers were hard to find and prized once they were found. 2.Lumbering was probably the top manufacturing industry. 3.Naval stores, (or turpentine, pine tar, and pitch) were used to build and repair the British navy. The British crown sometimes reserved the best American trees to be used as British masts—even though there were countless other trees, this bothered the Americans. 5.The Molasses Act, 1733, a tax on West Indies molasses was a shock to Americans. This would've undercut the prosperity of the Triangular Trade (rum being made from molasses). 1.Americans turned to bribes smuggling to work around the act. So, the Molasses Act wasn't a big problem after all. 6.However, it did foreshadow more taxes and more troubles to come, later in the 1760s. 6.Horsepower and Sailpower 1.Roads were scarce and pitifully poor. Until the 1700s, they didn't even connect major cities. Thus, travel was sluggish. 1.Roads were dust bowls in the summer and mud bogs in the winter. 2.For example, it took Ben Franklin 9 days to go from Boston to Philadelphia while traveling by sailboat, rowboat, and foot. 2.Travel by water, either along the coast or via rivers, was common and useful. 3.Taverns sprang up along roadways and any intersections. They served multiple uses: inns for a night's sleep, places to hear news/gossip from out-of-town, and a place to get a refreshing beverage, of course. 4.A crude mail system emerged. The mail traveled slowly, and sometimes was read by bored or curious letter carriers. 7.Dominant Denominations 1.In 1775, there were 2 "established churches" or churches that received tax money: the Anglican and the Congregational. Surprisingly, a large portion of Americans didn't worship in a church, however. 2.The Anglican Church (the Church of England) became the official faith in Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and part of New York. 1.The Anglican brand of religion was more worldly than Puritanical New England. 2.Sermons were shorter and hellfire was less hot. 3.The College of William and Mary was founded to train clergy in 1693. 4.Anglicans did not have an American bishop to ordain the American clergymen. The idea of starting an American bishopric was violently opposed by non-Anglicans as the Revolution drew close. 3.The Congregational Church grew out of the Puritan church. It was established in each New England colony except Rhode Island. 1.Presbyterianism, a kin of Congregationalism, was common but never an official religion. 2.Religion, which used to be the burning issue in New England, was beginning to take a backseat to politics. 8.The Great Awakening 1.As religious passion began to decline and new, liberal ideas began to water down "old time religion," many felt it was time for a revival—the Great Awakening. This was America's 1st big religious movement. It tried to bring the people back to fundamental Christianity and save souls. 2.Jonathan Edwards was a leading preacher. 1.He said salvation comes not through good works, but through God's grace (what you don't earn). 2.He painted vivid pictures of hell. His most famous sermon was "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and preached that hell was "paved with the skulls of unbaptized children." 3.George Whitefield was another great preacher during the Awakening. 1.Whitefield was an amazing speaker—he brought people to tears, cheers, convulsions, and to the offering plates. 2.His style of preaching was to strike the emotions, to "hit 'em in the heart, rather than in the head" so to speak. 3.His goal was to strike at sinners, have them repent (ask forgiveness), and turn their faith to Christ. 4.These preachers were called the "New Lights." The "Old Lights" (Anglicans, and traditional Congregationalists and Presbyterians) didn't like the drama in this style. 1.The Baptist faith grew in numbers, however, as they embraced the New Light style of preaching. 2.New Light universities sprang up: Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, and Dartmouth. 3.New Lights encouraged a new wave of missionary work amongst the Indians. 5.The Great Awakening was America's first mass movement. It brought Americans together largely without regard to class and united them with a common history and experience. 9.Schools and Colleges 1.New England placed the most value on education. This was the case since colleges trained the clergymen. 1.In the other colonies, time was spent farming and working, not wasted on schooling. 2.Still, there were fairly good elementary and secondary schools in all of the colonies. These schools were for the rich, and mostly for boys. 2.The topics of study: the classics (Greek and Latin) and religion. Reason was out, dogma was in. 3.The mood at school was serious and somber. Discipline was fast and harsh. 4.The influences of the church was considerable, but waning... 1.In New England, the top priority of colleges was still to train men for the ministry. 2.By 1750, there was a movement from "dead" to "live" languages. 3.Ben Franklin helped start the University of Pennsylvania, the first non-denominational university. 10.Provincial Culture 1.Work and worry (farming and fear of Indians) left little time for recreation. What little time was leftover, was spent on religion, not wasted on arts and literature. 2.Painting was looked upon as a waste of time. 1.John Trumbull was discouraged in painting by his father. He still went to Europe to be trained in art. 2.Charles Willson Peale became best-known for portraits of George Washington. He also was curator of a museum, a taxidermist of birds, and a dentist. 3.Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley traveled to Europe where artists were respected and could make a living (unlike in America). 3.Architecture in America was (a) transplanted from Europe and (b) focused on the practical rather than stylish. 1.The log cabin (from Sweden) was simple, frontier-friendly, cheap, and cozy. 2.The Georgian style began around 1720 and became popular in towns with its red bricks—solid and well insulated. 4.Colonial literature was sparse. Americans wasted little time writing and focused on working. 1.Phillis Wheatley's poetry was notable. She was a slave girl with no formal education. But, she did travel to England and get a book of poetry published. These accomplishments were amazing considering her many obstacles. 2.Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack was immensely popular—read more than anything except the Bible. It tells something about Americans—they frowned on literature but loved the practical sayings and advice of an almanac. 1.Franklin's exploits with experiments (like the kite flying incident) and his acute observations helped further the budding sciences. 11.Pioneer Presses 1.Reading wasn't common in colonial America—books were too expensive, thus, libraries were scarce. 2.Pamphlets were more common. As the revolution drew near, printers hand-cranked pamphlets. These were popular ways to keep on top of current events. 3.John Peter Zenger was a printer in New York. 1.He printed unflattering things about the governor of New York. Zenger was arrested for seditious libel. 2.But, his lawyer Andrew Hamilton argued, what he'd printed was true, and therefore, not libel. 3.Zenger won, but more importantly, it was a landmark case for the freedom of the press. 12.The Great Game of Politics 1.By 1775, eight colonies had royal governors who'd been appointed by the king. Three colonies had governors selected by proprietors. 2.Nearly each colony had a two-house legislature. 1.The upper house was chosen by either royal officials or by the colony's proprietor. 2.The lower house was filled by election by the people. 3.Most governors were effective. 1.A few were corrupt. One Lord Cornbury, Queen Anne's cousin, was named the New York and New Jersey governor. He was a drunkard, spendthrift, grafter, embezzler, religious bigot, and cross-dressing fool. 4.The right to vote was expanding. 1.It was still limited to white males only, but to more white males. 2.But, the land requirement was gone. Land was so plentiful that it didn't really limit voters anyway. 13.Colonial Folkways 1.Life for most Americans was tough, with few comforts. 1.Churches had no heat (no fireplace). 2.Homes didn't have running water or indoor plumbing (wells and outhouses were used). 3.There was no garbage disposal system. 2.Still, Americans weren't without amusements. 1.Work and play mixed during house or barn-raisings, quilting bees, husking bees, flaxing bees, apple parings, and the like. 2.Southerners enjoyed stage plays, card playing, horse racing, cockfighting, and fox hunting. 3.Lotteries were accepted, even by the clergy, because they were used to raise money for the church or colleges. 4.Holidays were celebrated across the colonies. New Englanders frowned on Christmas, however, as being too aligned with the Pope. 14.Makers of America: The Scots-Irish 1.The Scots had a hard time back in Britain. They were poor but heavily taxed by the English. This added to a long list of reasons the Scots disliked the English. 2.Fed up, the Scots moved to Ulster, in Ireland. But, the Irish didn't want the Scots there either. So, the Scots packed up and moved to America. 3.As if they wanted to distance themselves from Britain as far as possible, the Scots moved into and spread along the Appalachian piedmont region. 1.Pennsylvania was a hot spot since tolerance was high there. 4.The Scots-Irish were tough, independent, ruddy people—perfect for frontier life, blazing new lands, and building America out of the forests. 5.Though independent-minded, religion tied the Scots-Irish together. They were Protestant, usually of the Presbyterian denomination. 6.Their disdain for England also bonded them. This fact became of great use when the Revolution broke out. The Scots-Irish were passionately against England and for independence.