Rebecca Edwards Eric Hinderaker Robert O Self James
Rebecca Edwards • Eric Hinderaker • Robert O. Self • James A. Henretta America's History Ninth Edition CHAPTER 3 The British Atlantic World 1607– 1750 Copyright © 2018 by Bedford/St. Martin’s Distributed by Bedford/St. Martin's/Macmillan Higher Education strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713 A. Self-Governing Colonies and New Elites, 1607 -1660 1. English Civil War, 1642 -1651 - Charles I/royalists vs. Parliament/Cromwell 2. Charles II restores monarchy in 1660 after Cromwell’s 1658 death 3. Ended near-independence in the colonies - now, a stronger royal presence in North America instituted by monarchs interested in greater personal control over the empire and its colonies
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d B. The Restoration Colonies and Imperial Expansion 1. New York - New Netherland had been taken by the English, granted to Charles II’s brother James, Duke of…York, who ruled it by decree 2. The Carolinas - Charles II gave colonial control to aristocratic friends 3. The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina (1669) legally established the Church of England & prescribed a manorial system - very feudal 4. NCians refused to work like serfs/peasants, choosing instead small farm life and resisting the aristocrats’ taxation attempts 5. SC economy came to rely on rice production; by 1740, slave population was so high it made up 2/3 of the colony’s population
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d B. The Restoration Colonies and Imperial Expansion 1. Pennsylvania designed as a refuge for Quakers persecuted in England 2. Treaty w/ Natives in 1681 - they developed a pacifistic policy toward the Native Americans and became prosperous. 3. Quakers believed that people were imbued by God with an “inner light” of grace or understanding that opened salvation to everyone. 4. Wm. Penn’s Frame of Government (1681) guaranteed religious freedom for all Christians and allowed all property-owning men to vote and hold office. 5. Ethnic diversity, pacifism, and freedom of conscience 6. Pennsylvania the most open and democratic of the “Restoration” Colonies.
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d C. From Mercantilism to Imperial Dominion 1. Mercantilism: an economic theory that • accepts the idea that trade leads to wealth • that wealth in the world is static/zero sum • that wealth grows based on the accumulation of valuable basic resources (like staple crops and “currency” metals like gold and silver) • involves protectionist trading policies - ie, exporting more finished goods than you import and relying as little as possible on others for raw materials - to promote and protect a nation’s economy
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d C. From Mercantilism to Imperial Dominion, Cont’d 1. explains why European powers raced for colonial control of resource-rich “new world” 2. Mercantilism necessarily involves lots of government regulation, which naturally benefits those in charge of making these policy decisions (ie, the sovereign in an absolute or wannabe-absolute monarchists like Charles II & his heir, James II)
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d C. From Mercantilism to Imperial Dominion, cont’d 1. The Navigation Acts a. 1650 s: English government imposed mercantilism via the Navigation Acts, which regulated colonial commerce b. Required that colonial businesses could ship goods only on English-owned ships, export sugar and tobacco only to England, and import European goods only through England c. The Revenue Act of 1673 imposed a “plantation duty” on sugar and tobacco exports and created a staff of customs officials to enforce the mercantilist laws.
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d C. From Mercantilism to Imperial Dominion 1. The Navigation Acts, Cont’d a. In commercial wars between 1652 and 1674, the English drove the Dutch from New Netherland “took over” their West African slave trade. The English also dominated North Atlantic commerce. Lots of money to be made! b. Many Americans resisted the mercantilist laws as burdensome and intrusive re: their business activities c. To enforce the laws, the Lords of Trade pursued a punitive legal strategy which also served to “break” the powerful, largely independent Mass Bay Colony d. In 1679, they denied the claim of Mass Bay to New Hampshire’s territory, creating New Hampshire as a separate colony. In 1684, they annulled Massachusetts Bay’s charter.
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d C. From Mercantilism to Imperial Dominion 1. The Dominion of New England a. James II wanted to establish stricter control over the colonies b. Created a more centralized imperial system, targeted New England in particular for reform to make royal control easier c. In 1686, the Lords of Trade merged Connecticut and Rhode Island colonies with those of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth to form the Dominion of New England, a new royal province. d. Two years later, New York and New Jersey were added to the Dominion. e. Sir Edmund Andros, governor of the Dominion, had the authority to rule by decree. He abolished the existing legislative assemblies, advocated public worship in the Church of England, and invalidated all land titles
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d D. The Glorious Revolution in England America 1. In 1688, James II’s Spanish Catholic wife gave birth to a son = Catholic heir to the throne? 2. Protestant parliamentary leaders prevented this via “bloodless” coup: the Glorious Revolution 3. Dutch forces of William of Orange, husband of James’ daughter Mary Stuart, “invade” with assistance from protestant parliamentary factions 4. James II flees to Catholic France, and Mary & William become Queen Mary II and King William III, agreeing to rule jointly as constitutional monarchs 5. Their loyalty is to “the Protestant reformed religion” and they accept a bill of rights that limited royal prerogatives, increased the personal liberties of free Englishmen, and increased Parliament’s powers
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d D. The Glorious Revolution in England America—cont’d 5. Primary source: Locke’s Two Treatises on Government, 1690 6. Locke’s influence in America
I. Colonies to Empire, 1607– 1713—cont’d D. The Glorious Revolution in England America—cont’d 1. Rebellions in America - colonists rebel against royal goats in MA, MD, and NY 2. MA & NY rebellions = end of Dominion era & restoration of northern self-govt 3. 1689 - Puritan leaders ship Gov. Sir Edmund Andros back to England; Wm & Mary create a new royal colony of MA, granting religious freedom & enfranchising all male property owners (not just Puritans) 4. Primary source: The Declaration of the Gentlemen, Merchants and Inhabitants of Boston, and the Country Adjacent, 1689 5. MD rebellion = Protestants resented rising taxes/fees imposed by wealthy Catholic officials
II. Imperial Wars and Native Peoples A. Tribalization 1. Wars of Western European dominance - 1689 -1815 2. Britain vs. France; it spreads to their colonies over the course of many individual conflicts (Seven Years’ War, for ex. , = French & Indian War) 3. Native American warriors with European weapons - some natives take sides 4. Native American decline and political reorganization - Natives grapple with how to “hold their own” during this period 5. Iroquois Conederacy decides not to get involved in the hostilities, but traded with both sides. Lucrative. 6. The War of the Spanish Succession, 1702 -1713, pitted Britain against both France and Spain and prompted English settlers in the Carolinas to arm Creeks to attack Spanish FL as a combined force
II. Imperial Wars and Native Peoples —cont’d B. Indian Goals 1. The Creeks - used Carolinian alliance to dominate native politics in the region; even revolted against English allies in 1715 over debt payments 2. The Mohawks and the Catholic Abenakis join the French vs. Puritans of ME and MA, who fight with the British forces 3. The Treaty of Utrecht, 1713 - European victory leads to colonial gain; Britain gets portions of Hudson Bay region, Newfoundland, &c. from France - this brings peace to NA
III. The Imperial Slave Economy A. The South Atlantic System 1. England the West Indies - mercantilist system used to create a profitable “monopoly” of sugar production 2. Investors, merchants, and a small group of elite planters band together to provide the money, tools, ships, and slave labor to make LOTS of profit on sugar 3. Created ruthlessly-run slave-based plantation societies in the British West Indies (Barbados, &c. ) 4. The Impact on Britain: Navigation Acts meant lots of sugar (and tobacco from farther north) re-exported from England at high profit 5. Slave trade also now a booming business, as is shipbuilding, port construction, warehousing, and textile manufacture
III. The Imperial Slave Economy—cont’d C. Slavery in the Chesapeake and South Carolina 1. Virginia and Maryland - Planters took advantage of “South Atlantic System”’s development of the slave trade, importing thousands of slaves 2. Slavery defined by race - In VA, virtually all African residents were declared slaves 3. Legally justified violence - extreme punishment allowed, including branding runaways 4. Valuable “property” in MD & VA - relatively long lives
III. The Imperial Slave Economy—cont’d D. An African American Community Emerges 1. Building Community - hard, bc planters liked having slaves from different regions in W and Central Africa speaking different languages - deterred unity & rebellion 2. Slaves did not identify as Africans or black, but as members of specific families, clans, or people 3. Resistance and Accommodation - denied education and leisure time, punished for resistance, harsher conditions on larger slave-population plantations 4. The Stono Rebellion - 1739 - SC - largest slave uprising of the century, but a failure - resulted in harsher discipline
III. The Imperial Slave Economy—cont’d E. The Rise of the Southern Gentry 1. White identity and equality - Successful colonial planters =/= accepted into English society 2. 1720 s: Souther planters modeled themselves on the English aristocracy 3. They exploited both poor whites and blacks to gain more social, as well as economic, cache 4. Slaves, southern workers = American serfs/peasants 5. Poor whites got tax breaks to keep them from rebelling; some poor yeomen and tenant farmers could vote in exchange for electing planter elites to office 6. Great wealth gleaned in the South and West Indies from South Atlantic System used to create an educated, refined, and stable white ruling class
IV. The Northern Maritime Economy A. The Urban Economy 1. Bills of exchange - form of credit offered by London merchants, used by planters to buy slaves from Africa and to pay farmers and merchants from the north for needed goods 2. West Indian trade - industry grows - shipbuilding and rum distillation from West Indian sugar 3. Rapid growth in North America 4. Increase in commerce - European manufactured imports come to North America, too
V. The New Politics of Empire, 1713– 1750 A. The Rise of Colonial Assemblies 1. Triumph of the South Atlantic System - British content to rule the colonies very gently, and colonists were economically powerful enough to challenge the mercantilist system rules 2. House of Commons strengthened after Glorious Rev, at expense of the crown 3. American representative assemblies also wanted powers at the expense of the crown, gaining more local control over taxation and appointments 4. Creation of an elitist political system - all property-owning males could vote, but elites had the most power.
V. The New Politics of Empire, 1713– 1750—cont’d A. The Rise of Colonial Assemblies—cont’d 5. Limitations to elitist power - if voting populace felt exploited, they could act 6. Crowd actions - demonstrations, basically 7. Most colonies had political representation by the 1750 s - representative institutions that responded to popular pressure and were increasingly immune to British control
V. The New Politics of Empire, 1713– 1750—cont’d D. Mercantilism and the American Colonies 1. English laws limiting manufacturing in the colonies could not prevent American merchants from controlling transatlantic trade - they kinda did what they wanted 2. Salutary neglect became a de facto policy in the colonies — royal bureaucrats relaxed their supervision of internal colonial affairs, focusing instead on defense and trade 3. The Molasses Act of 1733 - high tariff on French molasses imports to protect British molasses. Wasn’t enforced because sugar prices rose and colonists didn’t want to lose money. 4. Rigorous imperial control by the 1740 s - British officials wanted to replace salutary neglect with more enforcement of laws, taxes, and tariffs
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