Time 2 (1607-1754) Chapter 3- north America in the Atlantic World (1640-1720)

Chapter 3 deals with events in the British colonies in North America from 1650 to 1720. But it is important to recognize the themes and interpretations offered in this chapter and to see the facts as evidence used to support those themes.

The theme of the interaction among different cultures, important in chapters 1 and 2, continues in chapter 3, but the focus shifts to the period 1650 to 1720. As in the previous chapters, it is not just the fact of interaction that is important, but what the participants bring to the interpretation (their frames of reference), the way in which the participants affected each other, and the way in which they change and are changed by each other.

Keeping that in mind, we deal with the impact of the English Civil War (1642-1649) and the Commonwealth period (1649-1660) on the relationship between England and its colonies. These periods of political turmoil were followed by the Stuart Restoration (1660-1685), which brought Charles II to the English throne. The return to political stability during Charles’ reign witnessed the founding of six new proprietary colonies, known as the Restoration colonies. Discussion of the reasons for the founding of these colonies; their political, social, and economic evolution; and the interaction of peoples within them demonstrates the emergence of an even more diverse and heterogeneous colonial society.

We then consider a second interaction theme: relations between Europeans and Native Americans. The subject is complex because of the variety of Native American cultures and because of their interaction with various European countries vying for power in North America. The discussion centers on the economic uses the Europeans made of Native American cultures. The dynamics of five specific white-Native relationships are discussed: (1) the French colonists in the areas of the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley and the Native Americans of those regions; (2) the Spanish and the Pueblos of New Mexico; (3) the colonists of the New England coastal region and the Native American tribes of that region; and (4) the colonists of Virginia and the Native Americans of that area; and (5) in the latter part of the section entitled “Slavery in North American and the Caribbean,” the colonists of North and South Carolina and the neighboring Native American peoples.

Another interaction theme, the emergence of chattel slavery in colonial America, is considered in the sections entitled “The Atlantic Trading System” and “Slavery in North America and the Caribbean.” We discuss the factors that led the English to enslave Africans, how the slave trade was organized and conducted, the emergence of slave societies and of “societies with slaves.” We also discuss the consequences of the interaction between English and Africans. These consequences include the impact of the interaction of (1) West Africa and Europe, and (2) enslaved Africans, and (3) the development of colonial society and of regional differences between North and South.

In the last section of the chapter, we return to the relationship between England and its colonies. In the discussion of the general political evolution of the colonies, we discover that England was no longer merely acting on its colonies but was beginning to react to colonies that were maturing socially, politically, and economically. As a consequence, those colonies became increasingly difficult to administer. In addition, the fact that England was engaged in a war with France- a war fought in Europe and in North America- was a complicating factor. At the end of the chapter, the impact of this complex set of inter-relationships on New England society is discussed through an analysis of the Salem Village witchcraft crisis.
I. Introduction

Between 1640 and 1720, the mainland colonies became increasingly involved in a network of trade and international contacts that led to territorial expansion and economic growth. The introduction of slavery, changing relations with England, and conflicts with their neighbors shaped development.

1. 
   Proprietorships
   

• 
  Six new proprietary colonies, known as the Restoration colonies, were founded during the reign of Charles II (1660-1685).
  

2. 
   New York
   

• 
  Charles gave his younger brother, the Duke of York, claim to the area the Dutch had previously settled (New Netherland).
  
  • 
    The Netherlands permanently ceded the colony to James in 1674.
    
• 
  The Duke’s Laws, proclaimed by the duke of York in 1664, tolerated the maintenance of Dutch legal practices and allowed each town in New York to decide which church to support with its tax revenues.
  
  • 
    However, no provision was made for a representative assembly.
    

3. 
   Founding of New Jersey
   

• 
  The Duke of York regranted much of his land to 2 friends, thereby limiting the geographical extent and economic growth of New York.
  
  • 
    To attract settlers, the proprietors of the Jerseys offered generous land grants, limited freedom of religion, and a representative assembly.
    

4. 
   Pennsylvania: A Quaker Haven
   

• 
  Charles II gave William Penn a grant in 1681 to repay a debt he owed Penn’s father.
  
  • 
    A leading member of the Society of Friends, William Penn sought to establish a tolerant, humane, and dynamic colony.
    
    • 
      Penn attempted to treat Native Americans fairly, which in turn attracted many Native American immigrants to his colony.
      
      • 
        These newcomers often clashed with Europeans also attracted by Penn’s policies.
        

5. 
   Founding of Carolina
   

• 
  Charles II granted Carolina to a group of proprietors in 1663.
  
  • 
    The northern region remained linked to Virginia and developed differently than did the area around Charleston.
    

6. 
   Chesapeake
   

• 
  When immigration to the Chesapeake colonies resumed after the English Civil War, tobacco planters imported increasing numbers of English indentured servants and also began to acquire small numbers of slaves.
  

7. 
   New England
   

• 
  Natural increase was the major reason for the continued population growth of the Puritan colonies.
  
  • 
    The population increase in the New England area placed great pressure on available land.
    
    • 
      Witchcraft accusations and trials increased in older New England communities after about 1650.
      

8. 
   Colonial Political Structures
   

• 
  Each of the colonies had a governor and some form of council that advised the governor.
  
• 
  Each colony also had a judiciary, and local political institutions, such as town meetings or appointed magistrates, also emerged.
  

1. 
   New France and the Iroquois
   

• 
  The French claimed the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley.
  
  • 
    This expansion brought France into conflict with the Iroquois Confederacy, which had great influence in the northeast US.
    
    • 
      Competition for European trade sparked a series of wars in the region that lasted until 1701.
      

2. 
   French Expansion into the Mississippi Valley
   

• 
  After the French founded New Orleans in 1718, its posts along the Mississippi became the glue of empire.
  

3. 
   Pueblo People, the Spaniards, and Spain’s North American Possessions
   

• 
  Resentment over Spanish treatment led a shaman named Popé to lead a revolt among the Pueblo peoples in 1680.
  
  • 
    This uprising was the most successful Native American resistance in North America.
    
• 
  By establishing forts and missions, Spain expanded its holdings to include California and Texas.
  

4. 
   King Philip’s War
   

• 
  Concerned by the encroachment of English settlers, King Philip, chief of the Wampanoags, led a bloody war in New England in 1675-1676.
  
  • 
    The victory of the New Englanders broke the power of the southern coastal tribes.
    
• 
  Although the colonists were victorious, about one-tenth of the able-bodied white male population of New England was killed or wounded.
  

5. 
   Bacon’s Rebellion
   

• 
  Conflict between English settlers and Native Americans in Virginia turned into a political struggle between Nathaniel Bacon and Governor William Berkeley.
  

1. 
   Labor-Supply Problems in the Chesapeake
   

• 
  As fewer English men and women came to the Chesapeake as indentured servants, tobacco growers sought a new source of labor.
  

2. 
   Why African Slavery?
   

• 
  Slavery had been practiced in Europe (although not in England) for centuries.
  
• 
  European Christians also believed that enslaving heathen peoples was justifiable.
  

3. 
   Atlantic Slave Trade
   

• 
  The traffic in slaves became the linchpin of a complicated web of exchange that tied the peoples of the Atlantic world together.
  
• 
  Europeans benefited the most from the slave trade, and their economies shifted away from trade in Asia and the Mediterranean to the Atlantic trade.
  
  • 
    Furthermore, attempts to control the slave trade caused rivalries among European nations.
    

4. 
   West Africa and the Slave Trade
   

• 
  West Africa experienced profound democratic changes because of the slave trade.
  
• 
  Also, some African kings consolidated their political power as a result of the role they played in the commerce.
  

5. 
   New England and the Caribbean
   

• 
  The sale of New England foodstuffs and wood products to Caribbean sugar planters provided New Englanders with a major source of income.
  

6. 
   Slaving Voyages
   

• 
  The middle passage, the voyage that transported Africans to the Americas, provided particularly deadly, with high percentages of newly enslaved Africans and white sailors dying at sea.
  

22. 
    Slavery in North America and the Caribbean
    

1. 
   Slavery in Barbados
   

• 
  Barbados was America’s first “slave society.” The Barbadian slave code served as a model for later codes.
  

1. 
   African Enslavement in the Chesapeake
   

• 
  Slaves lived in quarters on Chesapeake plantations and their lives were filled with toil and loneliness.
  
• 
  The transition from indentured to enslaves labor increased the distance between richer and poorer planters.
  
  • 
    Over time, Chesapeake society became more and more stratified.
    
• 
  By 1710, Africans made up 20% of the population of the Chesapeake.
  
  • 
    In the early English colonies, residents of African descent varied in status.
    
    • 
      These early mainland colonies have been characterized as “societies with slaves” as opposed to “slave societies.”
      
• 
  Mainland colonists began the large-scale importation of Africans in the 1670s, at first bringing slaves in from the Caribbean islands but eventually carrying them directly from Africa.
  

1. 
   African Enslavement in South Carolina
   

• 
  Beginning in 1670, Africans were brought by their masters from Barbados to South Carolina.
  
  • 
    These slaves brought many skills with them that were useful in the South Carolina environment.
    
• 
  The large number of slaves in South Carolina, along with similarities in the climates of West Africa and the colony, helped ensure the survival of African culture.
  

1. 
   Ride and Indigo
   

• 
  South Carolina developed a rice economy based mostly on skills brought in by enslaved Africans.
  
  • 
    Indigo, too, flourished because of knowledge brought by slaves from the Caribbean.
    

1. 
   Native American Enslavement in North and South Carolina
   

• 
  Native Americans were among the many people held in slavery in both the Carolinas.
  
  • 
    Bitterness over the trade in Native American slaves caused the Tuscarora War.
    
    • 
      The abuses associated with the trade in Native American slaves also led to the Yamasee War in South Carolina.
      

1. 
   Slaves in Spanish and French North America
   

• 
  Spanish authorities in Florida in 1693 offered freedom to runaway slaves who would convert to Catholicism.
  
• 
  Both Africans and Native Americans were held as slaves in French Louisiana, but Louisiana remained a society with slaves rather than a slave society.
  

1. 
   Enslavement in the North
   

• 
  Involvement of the northern colonies in the slave trade ensured that many people of African descent lived in that region.
  

1. 
   Slave Resistance
   

• 
  Slaves most commonly resisted their owner by pretending to be ill or running away.
  
• 
  Occasionally slaves planned rebellions.
  
  • 
    There were seven major revolts in the English Caribbean before 1713. In 1712 New York was the site of the first slave revolt on the mainland.
    

1. 
   Mercantilism and Navigation Acts
   

• 
  England used its colonies in an attempt to become self-sufficient while maintaining a favorable balance of trade with other countries.
  
  • 
    Parliament sought to advance its mercantilist policies through a series of trade laws passed between 1651 and 1673.
    
    • 
      These acts, which made England the center of all trade, met with resistance in North America.
      

2. 
   Colonial Autonomy Challenged
   

• 
  James II and his successors attempted to tighten the reins of government by reducing the colonies’ political autonomy.
  
  • 
    James II attempted to strengthen royal control over all the colonies from New Jersey to Maine by creating the Dominion of New England in 1686.
    

3. 
   Glorious Revolution in America
   

• 
  News of the Glorious Revolution encouraged New Englanders to overthrow Governor Edmund Andros.
  
  • 
    The government of Maryland was overthrown by the Maryland Protestant Association.
    
  • 
    In New York, Jacob Leisler gained control of the government.
    
• 
  William and Mary, like James II, believed England should have more royal control over its American colonies.
  
  • 
    Only in Maryland did the rebellion receive royal approval.
    
    • 
      Leisler was hanged for treason.
      
  • 
    Massachusetts became a royal colony.
    

4. 
   King William’s War
   

• 
  A war with the French and their Algonquian allies added to New England’s problems.
  

5. 
   The 1692 Witchcraft Crisis
   

• 
  A witch hunt broke out in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692.
  
  • 
    The intense but short-lived incident reflected the social and political stresses of the day.
    

6. 
   New Imperial Measures
   ● In 1615, Parliament hoped to improve its administration over the colonies when it established the Board of trade and