Notes on Colonization, Salem Witch Trials, and Mercantilism in Early America
Colonization, Salem, and the Making of an American Identity
Opening context: Last time’s topics included colonization foundations (Virginia and Massachusetts Bay) and the broader question of how Europeans became Americans through colonization, adaptation to the New World, and evolving society.
Central thread: The early colonial world is about transformation—economic, social, religious, and demographic changes that set the stage for an American identity, not a single, deliberate founding moment.
Slavery in Virginia: From Indentured Servants to Chattel Slavery
Early labor system: Virginia began with white indentured servants.
Transition: The colony shifts from indentured servitude to chattel slavery.
Acceleration: This shift begins before the Bacon’s Rebellion but Bacon’s Rebellion accelerates it.
Significance: The transition to racialized slavery becomes a foundational, enduring feature of the Chesapeake economy and society, shaping race relations and labor practices for centuries.
New England: Salem, Puritan Society, and Religious-Social Change
Ideal of a godly commonwealth: Puritans sought a "city on a hill"—a model Christian society whose failure would be seen as God withdrawing support.
Evolution vs. ideal: As life evolves, some Northeast communities drift from those early ideals; by the 1690s, anxiety rises about whether they are living up to their mission.
King Philip’s War and disease outbreaks: In the 1670s–1680s, outbreaks and conflicts prompt some to view events as divine punishment for drifting from the original mission.
The Halfway Covenant (1660s): A new covenant allowing partial church membership to address declining church membership and sustained religious influence.
English Civil War and its effects: Civil war disrupts trade; New England merchants organize the carrying trade (e.g., fisheries to England), increasing trade and shipbuilding.
Land settlement and transfer patterns: Early Puritan land distribution limited to usable land; by the 1660s–1680s, land transfers become more speculative as generations advance.
Inheritance and land division: In earlier generations, fathers could grant farms to multiple sons; by 1660s–1680s, land is subdivided so that only the oldest or youngest inherit, while other sons seek land on the frontier or enter trades.
Modernizing forces vs. traditional fears: The rise of frontier life, cities, and commerce spurs modernization and individualism but also prompts fears about family power and social stability.
Salem witchcraft crisis (1692): A cascade of accusations by young women, often orphans from Maine, accusing others of witchcraft, leading to widespread hysteria.
Social dynamics of the Salem crisis:
Witchcraft accusations targeted women initially, especially those with little power in Puritan society (older, poor).
Accusations spread to include men when connected to women who were accused.
Prison conditions: Jails were harsh; some died from exposure.
Executions: 19 people were hanged and 1 was pressed to death; overall, 20 were executed as witches, with hundreds accused and dozens jailed.
Why the hysteria ended:
The leaders halted it by attributing the girls’ accusations to the Devil leading them astray rather than admitting-liars.
The crisis reflects a mix of scapegoating, social tension, and genuine belief in witchcraft.
Scholarly interpretation: Boyer and Nissenbaum’s Salem Possessed emphasized economic factors (e.g., power struggles and scapegoating), while acknowledging that many Puritans in the 1690s genuinely believed in witches. The historian’s challenge is balancing economic/power dynamics with contemporary religious belief.
Contemporary relevance: The class discusses how modern readers might interpret 1692—people in Salem interpreted events through their worldview (e.g., witchcraft as a real cause) just as people today interpret events (e.g., technological or scientific explanations) through their own frameworks.
Lesson on historical perspective: People in the past can be both like and unlike us. While they can anticipate change, they may not foresee revolutions; they interpret events through the lens of their worldview. This helps explain why early modern societies appear both archaic and foundational in later American identity.
Witchcraft aside as a learning moment:
Witches were culturally seen as women who made a deal with the Devil to gain power or bring harm.
The crisis illustrates how beliefs, social fear, and power dynamics interact under stress.
Between Social Change and Economic Realignment: The Atlantic World and Settlement Patterns
The larger arc: Changes in New England foreshadow revolution through evolving ideas about democracy, individualism, and commerce, even as many Puritans perceive a decline in family and religious order.
Material and social modernization: The period sees shifts that will later become part of the American character (democracy, capitalism, individualism), but the Puritan worldview constrains how these changes are perceived at the time.
Mercantilism and the Proprietary Colonies
Mercantilism overview (three core ideas):
There is a finite amount of wealth in the world, so nations compete for it.
Colonies exist to send treasure back to the mother country.
Government should protect and regulate trade to maximize national wealth.
Royal control and land grants: The crown grants large tracts of land in the New World to proprietors who act as royal representatives, increasing royal control over colonial governance.
Middle Colonies as proprietary strongholds: The Middle Colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and later Delaware) were primarily proprietary colonies, populated by a diverse European set of settlers beyond the English.
Population and recruitment under proprietary governance:
Proprietors actively recruited settlers, bringing in many non-English groups, notably Germans, to these colonies.
The influx produced a more diverse European population in the Middle Colonies compared to the more English-dominated New England and Chesapeake.
Maryland as an early example (1630) but the prototype era extends to the 1660s–1680s with more proprietary colonies like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Carolinas, and Georgia.
William Penn and Pennsylvania:
Penn was granted a vast tract in 1681 by Charles II as a reward to the Penn family for supporting the restoration of the monarchy.
Penn was a Quaker, a radical religious movement that emerged in the Civil War era and emphasized inner light and equality (the belief that all had an inner, divine spark).
Quaker beliefs included pacifism and radical equality; they used language like "thee" and "thou" to express equality before God.
Despite being Quakers, Penn was loyal to the crown and thus a royal proprietor, illustrating the practical tensions between religious beliefs and political allegiance.
Penn promoted religious toleration and permissive governance, contributing to a comparatively freer environment for worship and trade in Pennsylvania.
The Acts of Trade and Navigation (Navigation Acts):
Enactments that created a closed mercantile system: colonies could ship enumerated goods only to England or other British colonies, and required ships to be English or colonial vessels.
Enumerated commodities: Tobacco and sugar were explicitly enumerated; flour was not enumerated until near the era of the American Revolution, reflecting economic and diplomatic considerations.
The Acts aimed to protect English shipping interests and maintain a favorable balance of trade for the mother country.
In practice, the Acts produced some cracks in the system, especially as some colonies, like Pennsylvania, found economic opportunities through cheap land and diverse shipping routes.
Pennsylvania’s economic success and religious toleration:
Pennsylvania grew wealthy quickly due to fertile land and the arrival of German farmers and other groups.
The colony’s religious toleration created a more diverse and prosperous society relative to other colonies.
Summary of impact: Proprietary colonies facilitated mass immigration from continental Europe and varied religious practices, and the mercantile system shaped colonial governance, trade, and economic structure, even as it created tensions between colonial autonomy and imperial control.
Population, Demographics, and Cultural Shifts in the Eighteenth Century
Population growth: Roughly in 1700 to roughly by 1770 (about sevenfold increase).
Composition (circa 1770):
English: 50 ext{%}
Scots and Scotts-Irish: 10 ext{%}
African descent: 20 ext{%}
Other European descent: 20 ext{%} (largest group among these is German)
German presence: By 1770, Germans were about a third of Pennsylvania’s population, illustrating the colony’s ethnic diversity.
Proportions at revolution: Around the time of the American Revolution, population views were mixed:
Revolutionary: 40 ext{%}
Loyalist: 20 ext{%}
On the fence: 40 ext{%} (includes various non-English groups like Germans and Scots-Irish)
The geographic and demographic mix helped create a population with diverse loyalties and identities, contributing to the complexity of the colonial push toward independence.
Population trends and living standards:
Birth rates were roughly double those in Europe, and life expectancy was higher than in England due to better living conditions and food supply.
The population growth rate was substantial: the population roughly doubled every 25 years during the eighteenth century.
Household and frontier life witnessed shifts: English buildings typically used thatch; in America, shingles became common due to abundant timber; and Germans popularized log cabins.
Diet and livelihoods changed: corn and squash became staples; stews and boiled meats were common; molasses and rum became beverages instead of beer.
Economic and social implications:
The population growth and immigration shifted the cultural and social landscape, enabling new forms of community organization, trade, and economic development.
The evolving labor system, land distribution, and frontier expansion contributed to a more pluralistic and commercially oriented society that would influence later political developments.
Becoming American: The Bigger Narrative and the Revolution Ahead
Key theme: Over five weeks, the course emphasizes how colonists became Americans without realizing it, as they adopted practices of democracy, individualism, and commerce that would later define the United States.
The 18th-century paradox: By 1750, people identified primarily with their English, Scottish, German, Dutch, French, or African descent rather than an American identity; the term "American" did not yet exist as a self-identifier.
The path to independence: By 1775–1783, separate colonial identities coalesced into a common American identity, shaped by a shared experience of colonization, governance, and resistance to imperial controls.
Language about representation: Colonists sought what they defined as rights in England, but they defined representation differently, leading to fundamental political tensions and misunderstandings between colonists and the Crown.
Big picture: The colonists’ evolution into Americans involved demographic shifts, economic changes, religious movements, and the gradual consolidation of a distinct political culture—an identity emerging before the actual birth of a United States.
Side Notes: Classroom Questions, Clarifications, and Contextual Points
About the Salem witch trials: The question of whether the youngest or oldest witches were more commonly executed doesn't have a simple answer; it depended on the particular case and social standing.
Proprietary colonies recap: The main proprietary colonies were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia (with Maryland sometimes treated as an outlier in transitional periods).
Civil war and domestic politics: The English Civil War (1640–1660) deeply influenced colonial religious movements and political alignments, particularly among Puritans and Quakers.
Final teaching point: The curriculum stresses the discontinuities and continuities between early colonial life and the later American Republic, encouraging students to see the 17th–18th centuries as a continuum rather than a single break.
Quick Reference: Key Dates, Figures, and Terms
1692: Salem witch trials begin; 19 executed by hanging; 1 pressed to death; ~20 executed total; hundreds accused; dozens jailed.
1660s–1680s: Halfway Covenant adopted; trade disruptions from English Civil War; expansion of carrying trade.
1630: Maryland designated as an early proprietary colony.
1681: William Penn receives large land grant to establish Pennsylvania.
1680s–1700s: Shift toward land speculation and broader land transfers in New England; growth of land markets.
1700: Colonial population ~.
1770: Colonial population ~; PA has a large German immigrant presence; PA's population has a significant German share.
1750–1770: Population grows rapidly; Europe experiences economic depression, war, and religious/political repression, driving immigration to the colonies.
Enumerated items under Navigation Acts: Tobacco, Sugar (and later flour as a notable exception). These items were restricted to shipping to England or other British colonies.
Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance
Economic and political theory: Mercantilism framed colonial governance and trade, illustrating how imperial policy can shape domestic colonial economies and social structures.
Demographic shifts and identity: The rise of a multiracial, multiethnic colonial society laid groundwork for a distinct American identity rooted in pluralism, property rights, and evolving political norms.
Religious and social reform: The Puritan experiment in New England shows the tension between religious idealism and the pragmatic needs of a growing, diverse population.
Lessons for today: History demonstrates how people interpret major changes through their own worldview, a pattern visible in debates about technology, AI, and social change in contemporary society.