Topic 2

Life in the English Colonies

A. The People of the English Colonies – Who Were They?

1. Down to the 1680s, vast majority were English, probably 90%

2. From the 1680s, this situation changed. Now, most were non-English. About the only Englishmen who came were convicted criminals.

3. Those who came later:

– The Germans – farmers

– The Scots-Irish – farmers

– French Huguenots – merchants and craftsmen

– Came by ship (the only way!) and many were indentured Servants – ½ - ⅔

– But not everyone in the English colonies was white…

4. Red and Black in English America

– The Indians

– Blacks

B. Commercial (that is, trade) Regulations

1. Economic thought dominated by mercantilism:

– A nation’s wealth determined by the amount of gold and silver it had

– To build up its wealth, a nation should have a favorable balance of trade

– Colonies should be used to help a country develop a favorable balance of trade. How?

• Producing raw materials for the mother country

• Providing new markets by buying the manufacturing goods of the mother country

– Very little done at first to regulate the trade of the English colonies – English leaders too busy at home.

– By the 1660s things had settled down a bit and now England began trying to regulate the trade of the colonies. The idea was to use the colonies to increase the wealth of England.

2. Navigation Act of 1660

– No goods could be brought into or shipped out of the English colonies except in English ships – Owned, captained and 3/4s of the crew.

– Certain goods produced in the colonies were to be shipped only to England or other English colonies. Enumerated articles: tobacco, sugar, cotton, ginger, and indigo.

3. Navigation Act of 1663

– Goods shipped from the continent of Europe to the English colonies first had to pass through England.

4. Lords of Trade – 1675 – Supervise the trade of the colonies and make sure they were obeying the laws.

5. Navigation Act of 1696

– Gave the governors of the colonies the authority to establish special courts know as Vice Admiralty Courts. Their job was to try people accused of violating the Navigation Acts.

– No juries!

6. Board of Trade – Replaced the Lords of Trade. Had the same job.

7. Molasses Act of 1733

– Tried to stop the English colonies from trading with the Spanish and French colonies.

– Imposed high tariff duties on goods brought into the English colonies from the colonies of other countries.

8. Colonial Reaction? Not too bad, really, for two reasons.

– For many years the laws were not rigidly enforced.

– Generally, the colonists recognized England’s right to regulate trade, and as long as that was all England was doing they did not complain too much.

– Trouble developed when England in the 1760s and 1770s moved from regulating trade and started trying to tax the colonies and force them to pay money into the treasury of the English government.

– As Mr. Lincoln would say, “that was the rub.”

C. The World of the Mind in the American Colonies

1. The Enlightenment - During 1700s, some fell under the influence of the Enlightenment. (Also known as the Age of Reason.)

– Definition: Intellectual movement that spread through Europe in the 17^th and 18^th centuries that was characterized by great faith in the power of human reason and by important changes in areas such as political theory and religion.

2. Out of the Enlightenment came at least three concepts that I want you to be familiar with:

– Natural laws - universe operated according to. Through the application of his intelligence man could discover these and by bringing his life into harmony with he could accomplish virtually anything.

– Natural rights - the idea that all people are entitled to certain natural rights such as life, liberty, and property, and no government can deprive them of these rights. .

– View of God that became known as Deism - great clockmaker. Did not interfere ….

3. In the colonies, some fell under the influence of; as in Europe; it was generally the upper classes. These were the people who had money to buy books and the time to read them.

– One work in particular that came out of the Enlightenment that had a great influence on American thought and history was Two Treatises of Government - John Locke. 1690.

– Two ideas had a great impact:

§ Natural rights

§ Contract theory of government

– In addition, some came to accept deism. Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, among others

4. To Sum up, we Americans are children of the Enlightenment: Many of the ideas that to this day are the foundation of our government and way of life come from the Enlightenment: the importance of reason; the rule of law; the equality of all people; the separation of church and state are all ideas passed down to us by the scholars of the Enlightenment.

Reading Assignment - The Great Awakening – Pp 106-109. (We area children of the Great Awakening, as well as the Enlightenment. The fiery, evangelical preaching that came out of the Great Awakening remains a part of American Christianity to the present day.)

Topic 2 Review

• Who were the Scots-Irish and where did they settle in the colonies?
• Who does the term “Pennsylvania Dutch” refer to?
• Who were the French Huguenots and where did they usually settle in the English colonies?
• Know the terms of:

– Navigation Act of 1660

– Navigation Act of 1663

– Navigation Act of 1663

– Navigation Act of 1696 – What were the special courts authorized by this law?

– Molasses Act – What trade was this law tying to stop?

• What was the Lords of Trade? Board of Trade?
• What was the Enlightenment?
• What was the Great Awakening?