Chapter 4: American Life in the Seventeenth Century (1607-1692)

Indentured Servants

Indentured Servants

Individuals who worked in labor contracts in the American colonies in 17th and 18th centuries

• after serving 4-7 years they can leave their contract

• most died early due to bad conditions for work

transportation, food, shelter

as an indentured servant, you would receive ?, ?, and ?

labor shortages

The colonies needed indentured servants since there were ?

freedom dues

after serving a full labor contract, indentured servants received ? which included

• land

• tools

• money

populating, bolstering

Indentured servants were pivotal in ? the colonies and ? the economy

Headright System

A land allocation policy which gave colonial settlers land for each person they took with them to the colonies in the 17th century

• typically 50 acres per person

• especially important in Virginia

populating, immigrants, investors, plantations

The Headright System was crucial in ? the colonies, attracting ? and ?

• directly helped facilitate the growth of ?

  • entrenched social and economic disparities in the population

Bacon’s Rebellion

A rebellion led by the wealthy planter Nathaniel Bacon against the Virginian governor William Berkeley in 17th century which was temporarily successful until Bacon died

• outrage at inactivity to protect civilians from Native Americans

• outrage at corruption in economics

• outrage at the social status of poor white farmers

Jamestown

Bacon’s Rebellion included the burning of ?

uprising, unfair

Bacon’s Rebellion is one of the earliest examples of an American ? against an ? British rule

Middle Passage

The transatlantic journey African slaves endured to reach the colonies from West Africa primarily during the 16th - 18th centuries

• a trip could last for 6-8 weeks

• 10-20% of captives usually died in a trip

inhumane, abuse

The Middle Passage was extremely ? as it inflicted heavy ? on the slaves taken

• physical violence

• high mortality rates

• immense psychological trauma

slave, economy

The Middle Passage was a critical route as it helped establish a ?-based economy and bolstered ?

Slave Codes

A series of laws in numerous parts of the colonies that institutionalized slaves as property and African-American abuse and racism which started in the 17th century

• limited African

  • assembly

  • education

  • freedom

property

Slaves codes made it legal to see slaves as ?

racism, lowest

Slave codes normalized ? against African slaves and cemented them as the ? in the hierarchy in the colonials

Half-Way Covenant

A New England Puritan Policy to try and counter the declining Church memberships during increasing secularization in the 17th century

baptized, parents, betrayal

The Half-Way Covenant let children and grandchildren be ? into partial Church membership even if their ? weren’t in a half-ah way to increase the Church’s power

• highly controversial as it was seen as a ? of the existing strict standards of Puritan Christianity

religious, weakening

Half-Way Covenant represented the shifting in the colonies away from their original ? craze and showed the ? power of the Church

Salem Witch Trials

A series of trials against witchcraft in the late 17th century in the Massachusetts town of Salem

• many women were persecuted

• mass hysteria

Native American, religious, rivalries

The Salem Witch Trials are a prime example of mass hysteria due to a multitude of factors pressuring the town of Salem

• ? attacks

• ? disagreement

• Local ?

William Philips

Hilariously, the Salem Witch Trials ended once the governor, ?, had his own wife accused of witchcraft

social, religious

The Salem Witch Trials exemplified the dangers of the ? and ? (specifically Puritan) tensions during the early colonial period

• further disagreement on how to be a good Christian in a strictly Puritan town pushed the townspeople into violence

Leisler’s Rebellion

A rebellion started by Jacob Leisler in New York against the unfair rule of the English-controlled colonial government in the late 17th century

• Leisler was a German immigrant and merchant

• Heavily disapproved by colonial elites

• ended with Jacob Leisler’s execution

Fort James

Jacob Leisler was able to capture ? during his uprising

Glorious Revolution

Jacob Leisler’s rebellion occurred in the aftermath of the ?

English, people’s, tensions

Leisler’s Rebellion was an early example of rebelling against ? rule and establishing a ? government

• exposed the ? between the people and the colonial government