American History
Chapter 3 p. 65-96
Society and Culture in Provincial America
Colonial North America, 1690-1754
Chapter Summary
After the turmoil of the late seventeenth century had subsided, it became evident that the English-American colonies and the colonists who populated them were beginning to develop characteristics that were distinctly "American." Although still essentially transplanted English subjects and still greatly influenced by European ideas and institutions, the colonists were also diverse, aggressive, and as concerned with their own success as with that of the empire of which they were part. New sources of wealth and new patterns of trade shaped the growth of the colonies, new technologies appeared, and new immigrants, not always from England, added a dimension unknown in the mother country. Although differences in geography, economy, and population gave each colony its own character and problems, there remained many common concerns¾not the least of which was how to deal with or avoid dealing with British mercantile restrictions. In short, between 1700 and 1750, Britain's North American colonies began to show signs of being both English and American; they were indeed "different," and it is this difference that Chapter 3 explores.
Chapter Three Main Themes
Ø The growth and diversification of the colonial population
Ø The expansion and diversification of the colonial economy to meet the needs of this rapidly growing population.
Ø The rise of slavery as the labor system of choice in British North America.
Ø The social and political life of English colonists in the various colonies.
Ø The emergence of a particularly American "mind and spirit" in literature, philosophy, science, education, and law.
Analytical Journal
Cotton Mather Covenant George Whitefield
Great Awakening Gullah Huguenots
Indentured servitude Indigo Jeremiad
John and Charles Wesley John Peter Zenger Jonathan Edwards
Middle passage Primogeniture Saugus ironworks
Scots-Irish Slave codes Stono Rebellion
Triangular trade The Enlightenment
Defining the chapter terms in your journals will help you better understand:
· The disagreement among historians concerning the origins of slavery.
· The sources of colonial labor, including indentured servants, women, and imported Africans.
· Immigration patterns and their effect on colonial development.
· The ways in which factors of soil and climate determined the commercial and agricultural development of the colonies.
· The emergence of the plantation system, and its impact on southern society.
· The New England witchcraft episode as a reflection of the Puritan society.
· The reasons for the appearance of a variety of religious sects in the colonies, and the effect of the Great Awakening on the colonists.
· The beginnings of colonial industry and commerce, and the early attempts at regulation by Parliament.
Each of the terms above contributes to a comprehensive understanding of how a distinct American society and culture began to develop in the British colonies. As you define these terms, demonstrate why each person, event, concept, or issue is important to a thorough understanding of this chapter. Students must be able to analyze and synthesize their understanding of these terms in two ways:
Long Essay Questions
1. Although New England and the Chesapeake regions were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Analyze the ways in which this development occurred. (Adapted from the 1993 AP United States History DBQ)
Possible thesis statement: Although two very different types of communities emerged in the New England and Chesapeake colonies, both societies were distinctly American in character and both reflected the realities of the distinctly American environment.
Discuss
· New England
· Chesapeake
Possible conclusion: While the colonial regions developed differently, the people who lived in each region shared much in common. Indeed, most Euro-American colonists dealt with the geographical realities of the region and with Indian nations that gradually became more hostile to white encroachment on their lands; created governmental institutions that acted more or less independently of Parliament; developed a set of assumptions and expectations about their rights within the British empire; shared common assumptions about racial inequality and about the enslavement of Africans; and shared deeply religious convictions.
2. Was American society becoming more “democratic” in the period from 1750’s
to the 1780’s? Discuss with reference to property distribution, social structure,
politics, and religion. (1976 AP U.S. History DBQ)
Possible thesis statement: Between the 1750s and 1780s, colonial America was becoming both more and less democratic.
Discuss
· Property distribution was less democratic
· Social structure was less democratic
· Politics were more democratic
· Religion was more democratic
Possible conclusion: In terms of social structure and property distribution, colonial America was becoming less democratic. A small percentage of the very wealthy owned and controlled a huge percentage of taxable wealth in all the colonies and the gap between the rich and the poor continued to grow. In politics and religion, society was becoming more democratic. Greater involvement in politics occurred in the 18th century, as did a heightened tolerance for Protestant faiths.
Long Essay Tips
Questions focusing on this period often look at ties between society, culture, and economics, and the political changes taking place over the period. The establishment of new colonies with more heterogeneous populations, the Great Awakening and its tumultuous consequences for the colonies, the development of slavery, and the integration of the American colonies into the Atlantic economy all combined to shape politics within the colonies and the relationships between the colonies and England.
Historians, Historical Detection, and DBQs
Questions from this period most typically venture into the pre-revolutionary era and consider the issues of American identity, unity, politics, and economy.