Chapter 4: Colonial Society

Consumption and Trade in the British Atlantic

• Transatlantic trade enriched Britain but it also created high standards of living for North-American colonists

• Colonists were able to purchase more consumer goods due to improvements in manufacturing, transportation, and the availability of credit

• Reinforced the colonial feeling of commonality with British culture

• Colonists only began to question these ties in the 1760s when trade relations became strained

The Caribbean

• The sugar-producing Caribbean colonies (Jamaica, Barbados, the Leeward Islands, Grenada, St. Vincent, and Dominica) were more important to the British Crown
• Dedicated nearly all their land to the profitable crop that is sugarcane
• Connections between the Caribbean and North America benefited both sides
• Those living on the continent craved sugar and other goods produced in the Caribbean
• British colonists had control of lucrative products

Taxes

• Beginning with the Sugar Act in 1764, and continuing with the Stamp Act and the Townshend Act, Parliament levied taxes on sugar, paper, lead, glass, and tea, all products that contributed to colonist’s sense of gentility
• In response, patriots organized nonimportation agreements and reverted to domestic products

Slavery, Anti-Slavery, and Atlantic Exchange

• Slavery was a transatlantic institution, but it developed distinct characteristics in British North America
• There were distinct colonial variants of slavery
• Local conditions would create different systems, usually in the favor of enslavers
  • Some places had less oversight and others had more
• The Stono Rebellion comprised a group of 80 enslaved people who set out for Spanish Florida under a banner that said “Liberty!” (burning plantations and killing white settlers along the way)
• They were defeated, captured, and executed by the local militia

Pursuing Political, Religious, and Individual Freedom

• Politics and government split the colonies and Great Britain apart
• Democracy in Europe resembled oligarchies rather than republics, with only elite members of society eligible to serve in elected positions, and only a tiny portion of males could vote
• In the North American colonies, white male suffrage was far more widespread, and the government had more power in a variety of areas
  • Therefore less tightly controlled than European society
• There were three political structures:
  • Provincial colonies were the most tightly controlled by the Crown with all governors appointed by the King
  • Proprietary colonies had a similar structure to provincial ones, but governors were appointed by a lord proprietor
  • Lord proprietor: an individual who had purchased or received the rights to a colony from the Crown
  • Charter colonies had the most complex governmental systems, they were formed by political corporations or interest groups and elected their own governors among the men in the colony

Seven Year’s War

• In the time between the Glorious Revolution (1688) and the American Revolution (1775), Britain was at war with France
• In the conflict, American militiamen fought against French-allied Native Americans over the boundaries of their empires
• It caused the already existing tensions in the colonies to increase since they were fighting a war they did not start

Pontiac’s War

• A prophet (Neolin) received a vision telling him that the only way to enter the afterlife would be to cast away the corrupting influence of Europeans by expelling the British
• He preached the avoidance of alcohol, a return to traditional rituals, and unity among Indigenous people to his disciples
• Pontiac, an Ottawa leader, took his words to heart and sparked what would become known as Pontiac’s War
• Pontiac and 300 warriors sought to take Fort Detroit and failed, but they inspired more attacks on British forts and settlers

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