CHAPTER 3:
COLONIAL LIFE
The Big Picture: For more than 100 years,
England’s colonies in America grew steadily.
Over time, the colonies developed their own
economies, political systems, traditions of
local government, and sense of self -reliance.
But as time wore on, serious strains between
the colonists and Britain began to appear.
CHAPTER 3 SECTION 1:
POLITICAL LIFE IN THE
COLONIES
Main Idea: British mercantilist
policies and political issues helped
shape the development of the
American colonies.
Mercantilism
• Mercantilism: a nation’s
power is directly related to
its wealth and its ability to
maintain a favorable balance
a trade (exports exceed
imports)
• the purpose of colonies was
to advance mercantilism
through supplying raw
materials cheaply and serving
as a market for the mother
country
• Navigation Acts: series laws to control colonial trade
•
•
•
•
Only certain goods could be sold in England
ships had to be British with British crew
all goods had to pass through England to be taxed
merchants had to pay taxes to tax collectors
• The laws did increase revenue for England, but cost quite a bit
to enforce
• Colonists resented
English interference
with trade and began
smuggling with other
nations that offered
them better prices and
goods
The Glorious Revolution and
the English Bill of Rights
The Dominion of New England
• Under the Restoration, many Puritans in
the New England colonies refused to
recognize Charles II as their king
• New England was also more likely to
engage in smuggling and competition in
industries like ironworks
• To exert more control, the crown took
over New Hampshire and then made
Massachusetts a royal colony in 1684
• When Charles II died, his brother James II came to the throne and
created the Dominion of New England, a colony that included New
Jersey, New England, and New York
• Sir Edmund Andros was appointed governor; he treated the
colonists like children
Glorious Revolution & Reaction
• Catholic James II was unpopular in England too
• 1688- Parliament invited his Protestant daughter Mary and her
husband William to rule England
• Power transferred peacefully (known as the Glorious Revolution)
• Before being crowned, William and Mary signed the English Bill of
Rights placing limits on the power of the monarch and giving
Parliament free speech and the power of taxation
• In the colonies, Andros was arrested and sent back to England
• The Dominion of New England was ended; Massachusetts
remained a royal colony, but it and New York gained an elected
assembly
Government in the Colonies
Steps to Self-Rule
• Some colonists claimed the English Bill of Rights applied to
them too, but that was not true
• Some colonies like Massachusetts took small steps towards
self-rule by coining its own money
• 1643: New England Federation was formed in which each
member controlled its own internal affairs, but cooperated
in other matters like defense
Neglect By England
• Power shifted from the crown to Parliament with the
Glorious Revolution; they focused on domestic issues and
largely ignored the colonies (called salutary neglect)
• There was a Board of Trade that handled colonial affairs, but
they largely let colonial assemblies and governors take care
of day-to-day governance
Colonial governments in
the 1700s
• New England used town
meetings to handle colonial
issues
• Other colonies had a county
or parish government; most
colonists saw these local
governments as a basic right
• Most colonial assemblies
were bicameral with an
elected lower house and the
governor’s council as the
upper house (they were
appointed like the governor)
Chapter 3 Review
Write the Question and the Answer
Chapter 3 Section 1
1. Which benefited more from the Navigation ActsEngland or the Colonies? Why?
2. What is the significance of the English Bill of Rights?
3. How does salutary neglect benefit the Colonies?
CHAPTER 3 SECTION 2:
THE COLONIAL
ECONOMY
Main Idea: A commerce-based economy
developed in the northern colonies,
while the southern colonies developed
an agricultural economy.
Northern Colonial Economies
Farming and Natural Resources
• Soil in New England was thin and rocky with short growing
seasons
• Most colonists practiced subsistence farming: producing
enough to feed their family only
• Farming was more successful in the middle colonies where
they focused on grain and livestock production
• Major natural resource was timber used in the shipbuilding
industry (major part of NC: where the nickname ‘Tarheel
State’ comes from)
• Shipbuilding had the single largest workforce
• Whaling and fishing were also big industries
Industry, trade, and commerce
• Colonial industry was not supposed to compete with English
goods, but they were expensive, so colonists began making
their own goods but industry remained small
• Trade was more lucrative with ports in Boson, NYC and
Philadelphia flourishing
• Most famous trade route was the triangular trade between
Africa (slaves), American islands (molasses), and England
(rum)
• Middle Passage: journey made by slaves transported from
West Africa to the West Indies
• Trade was more complex than the simple ‘triangle’ with
many markets and goods being shipped across the Atlantic
Triangular Trade and
Middle Passage
Southern Colonial Economies
The Plantation System
• Southern colonies focused on cash
crops: products grown to be sold; they
included tobacco, indigo, and rice
• NC in particular focused on tobacco
and naval stores (rope, tar, turpentine)
• As tobacco grew in importance, it led
to the development of the plantation
system in VA and MD (large farm
focused on one crop with a large
unskilled workforce- usually slave)
• Most farms had workforces of less than
30 (plantations were rare)
Rice, Indigo, and small farms
• Rice and indigo flourished in SC
• Cultivating rice was done in swampy
fields, which made it difficult and
dangerous (mosquito-born illness)
• It was done almost exclusively with
slave labor, especially since rice
cultivation had been done in West
Africa
• Indigo was a blue dye used in
military uniforms and men’s coats
• Plantations formed the basis of the
Southern economy but most
Southerners were small famers
called yeoman who grew smaller
scale crops (tobacco, corn, wheat,
vegetables) and may own 1-2 slaves
The Impact of Slavery
The African Slave Trade
• By the 1600s, attempts to enslave Native Americans and the
use of indentured servants were abandoned to focus on
African slavery
• Most slaves were sent to the Caribbean and South America
(only 5% came to North America)
• Conditions on slave ships were horrific (people were packed
into tight spaces with no food, water, or bathroom)
• Most increase in slave numbers in America came through
birth (1760: 250,000 slave in America)
• In the North, numbers were small and concentrated in cities
• In the South, numbers were larger and concentrated on
plantations (actually outnumbered whites in SC by mid 1700s)
Continuing and Resisting Slavery
• Most American colonists felt they
were superior to Africans and
slavery was seen to be life-long;
children born to slaves were
automatically slaves
• Some were able to earn money to
buy their freedom, but this was rare
(usually only an option for skilled
workers)
• Slavery was cheaper than hiring
servants and was justified through
the existence of slavery in Africa
• Slaves were portrayed as happy
servants but often engaged in revolt
and sabotage
• Largest slave revolt of the colonial
era was the Stono Rebellion: 1739,
100 slaves in SC seized weapons and
killed several before being captured
Chapter 3 Review
Write the Question and the Answer
Chapter 3 Section 2
4. In what ways was the ocean valuable to economies
in the northern colonies?
5. Why did southern economies remain rural and
agricultural?
CHAPTER 3 SECTION 3:
AMERICA’S EMERGING
CULTURE
Main Idea: Enlightenment ideas and the
Great Awakening brought new ways of
thinking to the colonists, and a unique
American culture developed.
The Enlightenment and
the American Colonies
Enlightenment and the Scientific
Revolution
• Enlightenment: philosophical
movement that focused on a search
for knowledge and the use of
reason
• Scientific Revolution: use of the scientific method to observe
and experiment with the natural world
• Newton discovers several laws of gravity and Linnaeus
develops a method for classifying plants and animals
• Thinkers wanted to transfer the scientific method approach
to other aspects of life like society, law and government
The Enlightenment in Europe and America
• John Locke writes Two Treatises of Government (1690)
arguing that all people have natural rights, that a
government is bound to protect (life, liberty, property)
• He claimed that people entered a social contract with their
government and that if the government did not protect their
rights, the people had the right to revolution
• Montesquieu proposed dividing government into branches
to prevent abuse of power
• Thomas Jefferson was deeply influenced by Locke
• many of his ideas were used in the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution
The Great Awakening
Changes in Religious
Attitudes
• Many Enlightenment thinkers
were deists: they believed in
God but not traditional
Christianity
• Christianity taught that humans
were basically sinful, but
Enlightenment argued that
people were basically good
• Puritans became concerned at
a decline in religious
participation and fervor and an
increased focus on material
wealth
A revival of religion
• To bring people back to the church,
clergy launched the Great Awakening in
the 1720s and 30s in New England
• Jonathan Edwards was a revival preacher
who used reason and rational thought to
emphasize a personal relationship with
God and the coming suffering for those
who did not accept Christ (‘Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God’)
• George Whitfield was a traveling
preacher who held open-air meetings to
appeal to emotion and emphasizing
God’s love
• Church membership increased, linked
colonies together and encouraged the
creation of Princeton, Brown, Rutgers,
and Dartmouth Colleges
The Colonies Become More Diverse
Non-English Colonists
• New York and Pennsylvania were very diverse
• Early 1700s, Scots and Scots-Irish emigrated to
the middle colonies and the Carolinas (tended to
be Presbyterian and distrust the English
government)
• Religious unrest led to large numbers of German,
Jewish, and Huguenot (from France) immigrants
• Many German immigrants were skilled artisans
who settled in cities and ran farms
The New American
• Crevecoeur claimed in Letters from an American
Farmer that coming to America made immigrants
new people, not merely Europeans living in
America
Life in Colonial America
Cities and Popular Culture
• Cities were centers of culture
with libraries, plays, concerts,
and mail services
• Life was easier for women in
cities than in rural areas (usually
ran homes and had more time for
writing letters and reading)
• Work was done in social setting
(quilting bees, barn raisings)
• Visiting neighbors for music,
dancing and talk was common in
all of the colonies
Communications and African-American
Culture
• Printers served as publishers for newspapers,
books, and pamphlets
• Benjamin Franklin improved the mail system to
encourage the flow of printed ideas
• Newspapers were the most popular and common
way to spread ideas and news throughout the
colonies
• many were careful not to disagree with royal
officials, but some were bolder
• John Peter Zenger: (1764) was arrested for
criticizing the governor of NY in his paper
• won his case in a big victory for freedom of the press
• Enslaved Africans developed their own culture,
especially on plantations, based on oral tradition
and Christian beliefs
Chapter 3 Review
Write the Question and the Answer
Chapter 6 Section 3
6. What was John Locke’s view of the relationship
between people and government?
7. What influence did the Great Awakening have on
colonial religion?
8. What is the significance of printed materials in the
colonies?
CHAPTER 3 SECTION 4:
THE FRENCH AND
INDIAN WAR
Main Idea: The French and Indian
War established British dominance
in North America but put a strain on
the relationship with the colonists.
France in North America
• first permanent settlers from
France were fur traders in
Quebec
• They also claimed the Mississippi
River basin and named it
Louisiana after King Louis XIV
• France developed alliances with
the Algonquians and Hurons and
helped fight their enemy, the
Iroquois Mohawks
• They had forts and outposts
throughout the interior
• France and England fight for
control of the interior
Spain and England Clash
• Spain and England clash over
control of La Florida
(includes modern GA and
parts of SC)
• English settlers push further
south expanding plantations
• By 1700, Spanish control was
centered around St.
Augustine and Pensacola
The French and Indian War
Iroquois League
• Lasted from 1754-1763 between
France and Britain over control
of North America (part of the
larger Seven Years’ War in
Europe)
• Native Americans fought on
both sides; the Iroquois
League sided with the British
(6 united tribes centered
around New York)
The Albany Plan
• Fighting breaks out over control
of Fort Duquesne; George
Washington and his militia are
unable to take the fort
• Later representatives from New
England, NY, PA, and MD meet
in Albany to gain support from
the Iroquois and achieve unity
• Benjamin Franklin’s Albany Plan
of Union was the first attempt
to unite the colonies (was not
approved)
• Would have dealt with military
and Native American issues
The War Continues
• Early on the war goes badly for the British
• Washington becomes a hero despite few wins
• William Pitt becomes British secretary of state in 1757 and
takes control of directing the war
• British force colonials to fight, seized supplies, and put
soldiers in civilian homes
• Many colonists resented their treatment by the British
government
• Eventually the British were able to prevail in the war
• Treaty of Paris (1763) ends both wars; Britain gets all French
land east of the Mississippi, including Canada; they also get
Florida from Spain
• Spain gets control of Louisiana and its port at New Orleans
Effects of the War
Colonial Benefits/Costs
• Colonists experience economic boom from producing war
supplies
• Colonists learn to work together
• War was very expensive; King George III takes the throne in
1760; he and his Prime Minister Grenville decide colonists
should help pay the debt
Pontiac’s Rebellion
• Natives resisted British take over of the Great Lakes region
• 1762 tribes united under Pontiac attempted to take over
British forts and settlements to drive the British out but it
failed when the French refused to help
• The rebellion ended in 1766
The Proclamation of 1763
• Americans began flooding into
the Ohio Valley after the war
• To avoid conflicts with Native
Americans, the British
government drew a line down the
Appalachian Mountains and
forbid settlement west of them
in the Proclamation of 1763
Effects on Native Americans
• Native Americans on both sides
of the conflict suffered and lost
land
• The British felt their allies hadn’t
helped enough and did little to
help them after the war
Chapter 3 Review
Write the Question and the Answer
Chapter 3 Section 4
9. What was the central conflict of the French and
Indian War?
10. What were the terms of the Treaty of Paris?
11. How might the Proclamation of 1763 upset the
colonists?
Chapter 3 Review
Write the Question and the Answer
John Adams wrote the following passage in 1775, recalling the
colonial rebellion against Governor Edmund Andros.
“It ought to be remembered that there was a revolution
here as well as in England, and that we, as well as the
people of England, made an original express contract with
King William.”
~ John Adams, Novanglus Letters, 1775
12. What was the contract between the American colonies
and King William?
13. In 1775 America was on the brink of revolution against
Great Britain. Why was Adams referring back to the
Governor Andros incident, which had happened a century
earlier?
Chapter 3 Review
Write the Question and the Answer
Read the passage in Section 4 that begins with the
heading “The Albany Plan” and study the political
cartoon (page 92). Then answer the questions that
follow.
14. The Albany Plan for Union was the idea of...
A.
B.
C.
D.
Benjamin Franklin.
George Washington.
the Iroquois League.
Great Britain.
Chapter 3 Review
Write the Question and the Answer
15. The passage and the political cartoon suggest that
uniting the colonies was important because...
A.
B.
C.
D.
they shared one constitution.
they were stronger together than they were apart.
there was too much distance between the colonies.
one colony had all the power.
16. The Albany Plan of Union was significant because...
A. it formed the framework for the Constitution.
B. it was approved by the British and all the colonial
assemblies.
C. it was the first attempt to unite the colonies.
D. it helped the colonists defeat the British.