American History - The Colonial Period

The following article lists some simple, informative tips				their own conscience. Perhaps most important, it led to
that will help you have a better experience with The				the proliferation of sects and denominations, which in
Colonial Period.				turn encouraged general acceptance of the principle of
The Colonial Period				religious toleration.
NEW PEOPLES				EMERGENCE OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT
Most settlers who came to America in the 17th				In all phases of colonial development, a striking feature
century were English, but there were also Dutch,				was the lack of controlling influence by the English
Swedes and Germans in the middle region, a few				government. All colonies except Georgia emerged as
French Huguenots in South Carolina and elsewhere,				companies of shareholders, or as feudal
slaves from Africa, primarily in the South, and a				proprietorships stemming from charters granted by the
scattering of Spaniards, Italians and Portuguese				Crown. The fact that the king had transferred his
throughout the colonies.				immediate sovereignty over the New World
After 1680 England ceased to be the chief source of				settlements to stock companies and proprietors did
immigration. Thousands of refugees fled continental				not, of course, mean that the colonists in America
Europe to escape the path of war. Many left their				were necessarily free of outside control. Under the
homelands to avoid the poverty induced by				terms of the Virginia Company charter, for example,
government oppression and absentee-landlordism.				full governmental authority was vested in the company
By 1690 the American population had risen to a				itself. Nevertheless, the crown expected that the
quarter of a million. From then on, it doubled every 25				company would be resident in England. Inhabitants of
years until, in 1775, it numbered more than 2.5 million.				Virginia, then, would have no more voice in their
Although a family could move from Massachusetts to				government than if the king himself had retained
Virginia or from South Carolina to Pennsylvania, without				absolute rule.
major readjustment, distinctions between individual				For their part, the colonies had never thought of
colonies were marked. They were even more so				themselves as subservient. Rather, they considered
between the three regional groupings of colonies				themselves chiefly as commonwealths or states,
NEW ENGLAND				much like England itself, having only a loose association
New England in the northeast has generally thin, stony				with the authorities in London. In one way or another,
soil, relatively little level land, and long winters, making it				exclusive rule from the outside withered away. The
difficult to make a living from farming. Turning to other				colonists -- inheritors of the traditions of the
pursuits, the New Englanders harnessed water power				Englishman's long struggle for political liberty --
and established grain mills and sawmills. Good stands				incorporated concepts of freedom into Virginia's first
of timber encouraged shipbuilding. Excellent harbors				charter. It provided that English colonists were to
promoted trade, and the sea became a source of				exercise all liberties, franchises and immunities "as if
great wealth. In Massachusetts, the cod industry alone				they had been abiding and born within this our Realm
quickly furnished a basis for prosperity.				of England." They were, then, to enjoy the benefits of
With the bulk of the early settlers living in villages and				the Magna Carta and the common law. In 1618 the
towns around the harbors, many New Englanders				Virginia Company issued instructions to its appointed
carried on some kind of trade or business. Common				governor providing that free inhabitants of the
pasture land and woodlots served the needs of				plantations should elect representatives to join with the
townspeople, who worked small farms nearby.				governor and an appointive council in passing
Compactness made possible the village school, the				ordinances for the welfare of the colony.
village church and the village or town hall, where				These measures proved to be some of the most
citizens met to discuss matters of common interest.				far-reaching in the entire colonial period. From then on, it
The Massachusetts Bay Colony continued to expand				was generally accepted that the colonists had a right
its commerce. From the middle of the 17th century				to participate in their own government. In most
onward it grew prosperous, and Boston became one				instances, the king, in making future grants, provided in
of America's greatest ports.				the charter that the free men of the colony should
Oak timber for ships' hulls, tall pines for spars and				have a voice in legislation affecting them. Thus,
masts, and pitch for the seams of ships came from				charters awarded to the Calverts in Maryland, William
the Northeastern forests. Building their own vessels				Penn in Pennsylvania, the proprietors in North and
and sailing them to ports all over the world, the ship				South Carolina and the proprietors in New Jersey
masters of Massachusetts Bay laid the foundation for				specified that legislation should be enacted with "the
a trade that was to grow steadily in importance. By				consent of the freemen."
the end of the colonial period, one-third of all vessels				In New England, for many years, there was even
under the British flag were built in New England. Fish,				more complete self-government than in the other
ship's stores and wooden ware swelled the exports.				colonies. Aboard the Mayflower, the Pilgrims adopted
New England shippers soon discovered, too, that rum				an instrument for government called the "Mayflower
and slaves were profitable commodities. One of the				Compact," to "combine ourselves together into a civil
most enterprising -- if unsavory -- trading practices of				body politic for our better ordering and
the time was the so-called "triangular trade." Merchants				preservation...and by virtue hereof [to] enact, constitute,
and shippers would purchase slaves off the coast of				and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts,
Africa for New England rum, then sell the slaves in the				constitutions, and offices...as shall be thought most
West Indies where they would buy molasses to bring				meet and convenient for the general good of the
home for sale to the local rum producers.				colony...."
THE MIDDLE COLONIES				Although there was no legal basis for the Pilgrims to
Society in the middle colonies was far more varied,				establish a system of self-government, the action was
cosmopolitan and tolerant than in New England. In				not contested and, under the compact, the Plymouth
many ways, Pennsylvania and Delaware owed their				settlers were able for many years to conduct their
initial success to William Penn.				own affairs without outside interference.
Under his guidance, Pennsylvania functioned smoothly				A similar situation developed in the Massachusetts Bay
and grew rapidly. By 1685 its population was almost				Company, which had been given the right to govern
9,000. The heart of the colony was Philadelphia, a city				itself. Thus, full authority rested in the hands of persons
soon to be known for its broad, tree-shaded streets,				residing in the colony. At first, the dozen or so original
substantial brick and stone houses, and busy docks. By				members of the company who had come to America
the end of the colonial period, nearly a century later,				attempted to rule autocratically. But the other colonists
30,000 people lived there, representing many				soon demanded a voice in public affairs and indicated
languages, creeds and trades. Their talent for				that refusal would lead to a mass migration.
successful business enterprise made the city one of				Faced with this threat, the company members yielded,
the thriving centers of colonial America.				and control of the government passed to elected
Though the Quakers dominated in Philadelphia,				representatives. Subsequently, other New England
elsewhere in Pennsylvania others were well				colonies -- such as Connecticut and Rhode Island --
represented. Germans became the colony's most				also succeeded in becoming self-governing simply by
skillful farmers. Important, too, were cottage industries				asserting that they were beyond any governmental
such as weaving, shoe making, cabinetmaking and				authority, and then setting up their own political system
other crafts.				modeled after that of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
Pennsylvania was also the principal gateway into the				In only two cases was the self-government provision
New World for the Scots-Irish, who moved into the				omitted. These were New York, which was granted to
colony in the early 18th century. "Bold and indigent				Charles II's brother, the Duke of York (later to become
strangers," as one Pennsylvania official called them,				King James II); and Georgia, which was granted to a
they hated the English and were suspicious of all				group of "trustees." In both instances the provisions for
government. The Scots-Irish tended to settle in the				governance were short-lived, for the colonists
back country, where they cleared land and lived by				demanded legislative representation so insistently that
hunting and subsistence farming.				the authorities soon yielded.
As mixed as the people were in Pennsylvania, New				Eventually most colonies became royal colonies, but in
York best illustrated the polyglot nature of America. By				the mid-17th century, the English were too distracted
1646 the population along the Hudson River included				by the Civil War (1642-1649) and Oliver Cromwell's
Dutch, French, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, English,				Puritan Commonwealth and Protectorate to pursue an
Scots, Irish, Germans, Poles, Bohemians, Portuguese				effective colonial policy. After the restoration of
and Italians -- the forerunners of millions to come.				Charles II and the Stuart dynasty in 1660, England had
The Dutch continued to exercise an important social				more opportunity to attend to colonial administration.
and economic influence on the New York region long				Even then, however, it was inefficient and lacked a
after the fall of New Netherlands and their integration				coherent plan, and the colonies were left largely to
into the British colonial system. Their sharp-stepped,				their own devices.
gable roofs became a permanent part of the city's				The remoteness afforded by a vast ocean also made
architecture, and their merchants gave Manhattan				control of the colonies difficult. Added to this was the
much of its original bustling, commercial atmosphere.				character of life itself in early America. From countries
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES				limited in space and dotted with populous towns, the
In contrast to New England and the middle colonies				settlers had come to a land of seemingly unending
were the predominantly rural southern settlements:				reach. On such a continent, natural conditions promoted
Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, and				a tough individualism, as people became used to
Georgia.				making their own decisions. Government penetrated
By the late 17th century, Virginia's and Maryland's				the back country only slowly, and conditions of
economic and social structure rested on the great				anarchy often prevailed on the frontier.
planters and the yeoman farmers. The planters of the				Yet, the assumption of self-government in the colonies
tidewater region, supported by slave labor, held most				did not go entirely unchallenged. In the 1670s, the Lords
of the political power and the best land. They built				of Trade and Plantations, a royal committee
great houses, adopted an aristocratic way of life and				established to enforce the mercantile system on the
kept in touch as best they could with the world of				colonies, moved to annul the Massachusetts Bay
culture overseas.				charter, because the colony was resisting the
At the same time, yeoman farmers, who worked				government's economic policy. James II in 1685
smaller tracts of land, sat in popular assemblies and				approved a proposal to create a Dominion of New
found their way into political office. Their outspoken				England and place colonies south through New Jersey
independence was a constant warning to the oligarchy				under its jurisdiction, thereby tightening the Crown's
of planters not to encroach too far upon the rights of				control over the whole region. A royal governor, Sir
free men.				Edmund Andros, levied taxes by executive order,
Charleston, South Carolina, became the leading port				implemented a number of other harsh measures and
and trading center of the South. There the settlers				jailed those who resisted.
quickly learned to combine agriculture and commerce,				When news of the Glorious Revolution (1688-1689)
and the marketplace became a major source of				that deposed James II reached Boston, the population
prosperity. Dense forests also brought revenue: lumber,				rebelled and imprisoned Andros. Under a new charter,
tar and resin from the long leaf pine provided some of				Massachusetts and Plymouth were united for the first
the best shipbuilding materials in the world. Not bound				time in 1691 as the royal colony of Massachusetts Bay.
to a single crop as was Virginia, North and South				The other colonies that had come under the Dominion
Carolina also produced and exported rice and indigo, a				of New England quickly reinstalled their previous
blue dye obtained from native plants, which was used				governments.
in coloring fabric. By 1750 more than 100,000 people				The Glorious Revolution had other positive effects on
lived in the two colonies of North and South Carolina.				the colonies. The Bill of Rights and Toleration Act of
In the southern-most colonies, as everywhere else,				1689 affirmed freedom of worship for Christians and
population growth in the back country had special				enforced limits on the Crown. Equally important, John
significance. German immigrants and Scots-Irish,				Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690) set
unwilling to live in the original tidewater settlements				forth a theory of government based not on divine right
where English influence was strong, pushed inland.				but on contract, and contended that the people,
Those who could not secure fertile land along the				endowed with natural rights of life, liberty and property,
coast, or who had exhausted the lands they held,				had the right to rebel when governments violated
found the hills farther west a bountiful refuge. Although				these natural rights.
their hardships were enormous, restless settlers kept				Colonial politics in the early 18th century resembled
coming, and by the 1730s they were pouring into the				English politics in the 17th. The Glorious Revolution
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Soon the interior was				affirmed the supremacy of Parliament, but colonial
dotted with farms.				governors sought to exercise powers in the colonies
Living on the edge of the Indian country, frontier				that the king had lost in England. The colonial
families built cabins, cleared tracts in the wilderness and				assemblies, aware of events in England, attempted to
cultivated maize and wheat. The men wore leather				assert their "rights" and "liberties." By the early 18th
made from the skin of deer or sheep, known as				century, the colonial legislatures held two significant
buckskin; the women wore garments of cloth they				powers similar to those held by the English Parliament:
spun at home. Their food consisted of venison, wild				the right to vote on taxes and expenditures, and the
turkey and fish. They had their own amusements --				right to initiate legislation rather than merely act on
great barbecues, dances, housewarmings for newly				proposals of the governor.
married couples, shooting matches and contests for				The legislatures used these rights to check the power
making quilted blankets. Quilts remain an American				of royal governors and to pass other measures to
tradition today.				expand their power and influence. The recurring
SOCIETY, SCHOOLS AND CULTURE				clashes between governor and assembly worked
A significant factor deterring the emergence of a				increasingly to awaken the colonists to the divergence
powerful aristocratic or gentry class in the colonies				between American and English interests. In many
was the fact that anyone in an established colony				cases, the royal authorities did not understand the
could choose to find a new home on the frontier. Thus,				importance of what the colonial assemblies were doing
time after time, dominant tidewater figures were				and simply neglected them. However, these acts
obliged, by the threat of a mass exodus to the frontier,				established precedents and principles and eventually
to liberalize political policies, land-grant requirements and				became part of the "constitution" of the colonies.
religious practices. This movement into the foothills was				In this way, the colonial legislatures established the right
of tremendous import for the future of America.				of self- government. In time, the center of colonial
Of equal significance for the future were the				administration shifted from London to the provincial
foundations of American education and culture				capitals.
established during the colonial period. Harvard College				THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
was founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.				France and Britain engaged in a succession of wars in
Near the end of the century, the College of William and				Europe and the Caribbean at several intervals in the
Mary was established in Virginia. A few years later, the				18th century. Though Britain secured certain
Collegiate School of Connecticut, later to become Yale				advantages from them -- primarily in the sugar-rich
College, was chartered. But even more noteworthy				islands of the Caribbean -- the struggles were
was the growth of a school system maintained by				generally indecisive, and France remained in a powerful
governmental authority. The Puritan emphasis on				position in North America at the beginning of the Seven
reading directly from the Scriptures underscored the				Years War in 1754.
importance of literacy.				By that time France had established a strong
In 1647 the Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted the				relationship with a number of Indian tribes in Canada
"ye olde deluder Satan" Act, requiring every town				and along the Great Lakes, taken possession of the
having more than 50 families to establish a grammar				Mississippi River and, by establishing a line of forts and
school (a Latin school to prepare students for college).				trading posts, marked out a great crescent-shaped
Shortly thereafter, all the other New England colonies,				empire stretching from Quebec to New Orleans. Thus,
except Rhode Island, followed its example.				the British were confined to the narrow belt east of
The first immigrants in New England brought their own				the Appalachian Mountains. The French threatened not
little libraries and continued to import books from				only the British Empire but the American colonists
London. And as early as the 1680s, Boston booksellers				themselves, for in holding the Mississippi Valley, France
were doing a thriving business in works of classical				could limit their westward expansion.
literature, history, politics, philosophy, science, theology				An armed clash took place in 1754 at Fort Duquesne,
and belles-letters. In 1639 the first printing press in the				the site where Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is now located,
English colonies and the second in North America was				between a band of French regulars and Virginia
installed at Harvard College.				militiamen under the command of 22-year-old George
The first school in Pennsylvania was begun in 1683. It				Washington, a Virginia planter and surveyor.
taught reading, writing and keeping of accounts.				In London, the Board of Trade attempted to deal with
Thereafter, in some fashion, every Quaker community				the conflict by calling a meeting of representatives
provided for the elementary teaching of its children.				from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and the New
More advanced training -- in classical languages, history				England colonies. From June 19 to July 10, the Albany
and literature -- was offered at the Friends Public				Congress, as it came to be known, met with the
School, which still operates in Philadelphia as the William				Iroquois at Albany, New York, in order to improve
Penn Charter School. The school was free to the				relations with them and secure their loyalty to the
poor, but parents who could were required to pay				British.
tuition.				The delegates also declared a union of the American
In Philadelphia, numerous private schools with no				colonies "absolutely necessary for their preservation,"
religious affiliation taught languages, mathematics and				and adopted the Albany Plan of Union. Drafted by
natural science; there were also night schools for				Benjamin Franklin, the plan provided that a president
adults. Women were not entirely overlooked, but their				appointed by the king act with a grand council of
educational opportunities were limited to training in				delegates chosen by the assemblies, with each colony
activities that could be conducted in the home. Private				to be represented in proportion to its financial
teachers instructed the daughters of prosperous				contributions to the general treasury. This organ would
Philadelphians in French, music, dancing, painting, singing,				have charge of defense, Indian relations, and trade and
grammar and sometimes even bookkeeping.				settlement of the west, as well as having the power to
In the 18th century, the intellectual and cultural				levy taxes. But none of the colonies accepted
development of Pennsylvania reflected, in large				Franklin's plan, for none wished to surrender either the
measure, the vigorous personalities of two men:				power of taxation or control over the development of
James Logan and Benjamin Franklin. Logan was				the western lands to a central authority.
secretary of the colony, and it was in his fine library				England's superior strategic position and her competent
that young Franklin found the latest scientific works. In				leadership ultimately brought victory in the Seven
1745 Logan erected a building for his collection and				Years' War, only a modest portion of which was
bequeathed both building and books to the city.				fought in the Western Hemisphere.
Franklin contributed even more to the intellectual				In the Peace of Paris, signed in 1763, France
activity of Philadelphia. He formed a debating club that				relinquished all of Canada, the Great Lakes and the
became the embryo of the American Philosophical				upper Mississippi Valley to the British. The dream of a
Society. His endeavors also led to the founding of a				French empire in North America was over. Having
public academy that later developed into the University				triumphed over France, Britain was now compelled to
of Pennsylvania. He was a prime mover in the				face a problem that it had hitherto neglected -- the
establishment of a subscription library, which he called				governance of its empire. It was essential that London
"the mother of all North American subscription libraries."				organize its now vast possessions to facilitate
In the Southern colonies, wealthy planters and				defense, reconcile the divergent interests of different
merchants imported private tutors from Ireland or				areas and peoples, and distribute more evenly the cost
Scotland to teach their children. Others sent their				of imperial administration.
children to school in England. Having these other				In North America alone, British territories had more than
opportunities, the upper classes in the Tidewater were				doubled. To the narrow strip along the Atlantic coast
not interested in supporting public education. In addition,				had been added the vast expanse of Canada and the
the diffusion of farms and plantations made the				territory between the Mississippi River and the
formation of community schools difficult. There were a				Allegheny Mountains, an empire in itself. A population
few endowed free schools in Virginia; the Syms				that had been predominantly Protestant and English
School was founded in 1647 and the Eaton School				now included French-speaking Catholics from Quebec,
emerged in 1659.				and large numbers of partly Christianized Indians.
The desire for learning did not stop at the borders of				Defense and administration of the new territories, as
established communities, however. On the frontier, the				well as of the old, would require huge sums of money
Scots-Irish, though living in primitive cabins, were firm				and increased personnel. The old colonial system was
devotees of scholarship, and they made great efforts				obviously inadequate to these tasks.
to attract learned ministers to their settlements.				SIDEBAR: THE WITCHES OF SALEM
Literary production in the colonies was largely confined				In 1692 a group of adolescent girls in Salem Village,
to New England. Here attention concentrated on				Massachusetts, became subject to strange fits after
religious subjects. Sermons were the most common				hearing tales told by a West Indian slave. When they
products of the press. A famous Puritan minister, the				were questioned, they accused several women of
Reverend Cotton Mather, wrote some 400 works. His				being witches who were tormenting them. The
masterpiece, Magnalia Christi Americana, presented				townspeople were appalled but not surprised: belief in
the pageant of New England's history. But the most				witchcraft was widespread throughout 17th-century
popular single work of the day was the Reverend				America and Europe.
Michael Wigglesworth's long poem, "The Day of				What happened next -- although an isolated event in
Doom," which described the last judgment in terrifying				American history -- provides a vivid window into the
terms.				social and psychological world of Puritan New England.
In 1704 Cambridge, Massachusetts, launched the				Town officials convened a court to hear the charges
colonies' first successful newspaper. By 1745 there				of witchcraft, and swiftly convicted and executed a
were 22 newspapers being published throughout the				tavernkeeper, Bridget Bishop. Within a month, five other
colonies.				women had been convicted and hanged.
How can you put a limit on learning more? The next				Nevertheless, the hysteria grew, in large measure
section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that				because the court permitted witnesses to testify that
changes everything.				they had seen the accused as spirits or in visions. By
In New York, an important step in establishing the				its very nature, such "spectral evidence" was
principle of freedom of the press took place with the				especially dangerous, because it could be neither
case of Johann Peter Zenger, whose New York				verified nor subject to objective examination. By the
Weekly Journal begun in 1733, represented the				fall of 1692, more than 20 victims, including several men,
opposition to the government. After two years of				had been executed, and more than 100 others were in
publication, the colonial governor could no longer				jail -- among them some of the town's most prominent
tolerate Zenger's satirical barbs, and had him thrown				citizens. But now the hysteria threatened to spread
into prison on a charge of seditious libel. Zenger				beyond Salem, and ministers throughout the colony
continued to edit his paper from jail during his				called for an end to the trials. The governor of the
nine-month trial, which excited intense interest				colony agreed and dismissed the court. Those still in jail
throughout the colonies. Andrew Hamilton, the				were later acquitted or given reprieves.
prominent lawyer who defended Zenger, argued that				The Salem witch trials have long fascinated
the charges printed by Zenger were true and hence				Americans. On a psychological level, most historians
not libelous. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty,				agree that Salem Village in 1692 was seized by a kind
and Zenger went free.				of public hysteria, fueled by a genuine belief in the
The prosperity of the towns, which prompted fears				existence of witchcraft. They point out that, while
that the devil was luring society into pursuit of worldly				some of the girls may have been acting, many
gain, produced a religious reaction in the 1730s that				responsible adults became caught up in the frenzy as
came to be known as the Great Awakening. Its				well.
inspiration came from two sources: George Whitefield,				But even more revealing is a closer analysis of the
a Wesleyan revivalist who arrived from England in				identities of the accused and the accusers. Salem
1739, and Jonathan Edwards, who originally served in				Village, like much of colonial New England at that time,
the Congregational Church in Northampton,				was undergoing an economic and political transition
Massachusetts.				from a largely agrarian, Puritan-dominated community
Whitefield began a religious revival in Philadelphia and				to a more commercial, secular society. Many of the
then moved on to New England. He enthralled				accusers were representatives of a traditional way of
audiences of up to 20,000 people at a time with				life tied to farming and the church, whereas a number
histrionic displays, gestures and emotional oratory.				of the accused witches were members of the rising
Religious turmoil swept throughout New England and				commercial class of small shopkeepers and
the middle colonies as ministers left established				tradesmen. Salem's obscure struggle for social and
churches to preach the revival.				political power between older traditional groups and a
Among those influenced by Whitefield was Edwards,				newer commercial class was one repeated in
and the Great Awakening reached its culmination in				communities throughout American history . But it took a
1741 with his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an				bizarre and deadly detour when its citizens were
Angry God." Edwards did not engage in theatrics, but				swept up by the conviction that the devil was loose in
delivered his sermons in a quiet, thoughtful manner. He				their homes.
stressed that the established churches sought to				The Salem witch trials also serve as a dramatic
deprive Christianity of its emotional content. His				parable of the deadly consequences of making
magnum opus, Of Freedom of Will (1754), attempted				sensational, but false, charges. Indeed, a frequent term
to reconcile Calvinism with the Enlightenment.				in political debate for making false accusations against
The Great Awakening gave rise to evangelical				a large number of people is "witch hunt."
denominations and the spirit of revivalism, which				It never hurts to be well-informed with the latest on
continue to play significant roles in American religious				The Colonial Period. Compare what you've learned
and cultural life. It weakened the status of the				here to future articles so that you can stay alert to
established clergy and provoked believers to rely on				changes in the area of The Colonial Period.

Arunchemi

American History - The Colonial Period

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