Chapter 4: Growth, Diversity, and Conflict, 1720-65
1. New England’s Freehold Society
A. Farm Families: Women in the Household Economy
B. Farm Prosperity: Inheritance
C. Freehold Society in Crisis
2. Diversity in the Middle Colonies
A. Economic Growth, Opportunity and Conflict
B. Cultural Diversity
C. Religion and Politics
3. Commerce, Culture, and Identity
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Transportation and the Print Revolution
The Enlightenment in America
American Pietism and the Great Awakening
Religious Upheaval in the North
Social and Religious Conflict in the South
4. Midcentury Challenge: War, Trade, & Social Conflict, 1750-1765
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
The French and Indian War
The Great War for Empire
British Industrial Growth and the Consumer Revolution
The Struggle for Land in the East
Western Rebels and Regulators
Part 1: New England’s Freehold Society
1A: Farm Families: Women in the
Household Economy
• New England was a yeoman society of relatively equal landowners
• Puritan women of all ages were expected to be subordinate
• Women had a dual of role of being a helpmate and rearing 6-7 kids
Part 1: New England’s Freehold Society
1B: Farm Property: Inheritance
• Settlers wanted farms to feed their families and leave an inheritance
• Marriage portions gave families leverage to arrange marriages
• Women had limited property rights in marriage and even death
Part 1: New England’s Freehold Society
1C: Freehold Society in Crisis
• Problems: rapid population growth (400% in 50 years), limited land
• Solutions: smaller families, greater productivity, use of frontier lands,
household production (swapping labor and goods)
• Results: livestock replaced grain farming, freehold society endured
Part 2: Diversity in the Middle Colonies
2A: Economic Growth, Opportunity, and Conflict
• Wheat, corn and flour along
with advertising fueled a surge
in immigrants to Mid-Atlantic
• ½ of all white farmers in the
mid-Atlantic were landless by
1760 (manors & numbers)
Part 2: Diversity in the Middle Colonies
2B: Cultural Diversity
• Most ethnic groups resisted assimilation and held on to their
culture and language by marrying within their ethnic group
• The middle colonies were very diverse (see chart below)
Estimated European Migration to the British Mainland Colonies, 1700-1780
Part 2: Diversity in the Middle Colonies
2C: Religion and Politics
• Freedom of religion led to diversity
and use of communal self-discipline
• By 1740, Quakers were 30% of PA
• Ethnic and religious diversity led to
ongoing tension in Middle Colonies
Part 3: Commerce, Culture, and Identity
3A: Transportation and the Print Revolution
• Increased shipping and road building expanded transportation, cut
travel times and led to more trade, mail, and communication
• Newspapers spread information throughout the colonies (37 by 1776)
Part 3: Commerce, Culture, and Identity
3B: The Enlightenment in America
• Enlightenment and scientific ideals spread among the more educated
• Reason began to replace folk wisdom and a belief that God
intervened directly and continuously in human affairs
• Deism and Ben Franklin exemplified Enlightenment’s influence
Pennsylvania Hospital (built by reformers)
Ben Franklin’s electricity experiment with a kite
Part 3: Commerce, Culture, and Identity
3C: American Pietism and the Great Awakening
• Pietism, stressing righteous behavior, came to Mid-Atlantic in 1720
• Jonathon Edwards started revivals in New England with his harsh
Puritan message while George Whitfield used many camp meetings
• The print revolution further spread the Great Awakening
Part 3: Commerce, Culture, and Identity
3D & 3E: Religious Upheaval in the North and South
• Great Awakening was the first
broad social movement in USA
Results of the Great Awakening:
• Split many “Old Light” churches
• Propelled new denominations
• Undermined pastoral authority
• Led to creation of new colleges
• Anglican church (in South) was
challenged as Baptists rejected
social distinctions and preached
to slaves