“Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation…, they had now no friends to welcome the, not inns to entertaine or refresh their weatherbeaten bodys, no houses or much less towns to repaire too, to seeke for succore.”
- William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1630
I. Setting the Stage
A. As the 17th C. unfolds…
II. The Unhealthy Chesapeake
A. Tough Times in the American Wilderness
B. Slow but Steady Growth
III. The Tobacco Economy
A. An Unhealthy Profit
B. The Need for Labor
C. The Headright System Enriches Masters
IV. Frustrated Freemen and Bacon’s Rebellion
A. Discontent Boils Over
B. Order Restored
V. Colonial Slavery
A. Slavery Seeps into the Colonies
B. Drastic Change of 1680s
C. The Slave Trade
VI. Africans in America
A. Desperate Conditions in the Deep South
B. Chesapeake Region
C. A New Culture Emerges
VII. Southern Society
A. Social Structures Develop
B. Plantation Life Dominates Region
VIII. The New England Family
A. “Enviable” Conditions
B. Family Life
C. Women’s Rights
IX. Life in the New England Towns
A. A Tight-Knit Society
B. A Democratic Beginning
X. The Half-Way Covenant and the Salem Witch Trials
A. Worried Plague the Pioneers
B. The Witch Hunt Ensues
XI. The New England Way of Life
A. Poor Soil Defines a Culture
B. “The Hub of the Universe”
XII. The Early Settlers’ Days and Ways
A. Colonial Occupations
B. Life Compared to Europe