Consumption and Trade in the British Atlantic

• Translatlantic trade would reinforce the colonial feeling of commonality with British culture

• “Consumer revolution” would allow consumers to pay more for luxury goods making them everyday goods

• Colonists would create new forms of the trade from bartering, and standardizing a commodity, such as tobacco to creating new notes

• Paper money was limited by its acceptance and ability to be counterfeit

• Cheap consumption allowed Americans to appear rich but sink farther into debt

• Caribbean colonies relied on eh continental colonies for food, lumber, livestock, and slaves

• Carriaean colonies would also contribute sugar and mahogany

• Britain found it difficult to enforce taxes on merchant ships as it would cost them more than how much they brought in

• Sugar, Stamp, and Townshend Acts would cause tension in patriots who would resort to using domestic products

• Colonial cities would also grow due to consumerism, some organically (New York) or through planning (Philadelphia)

• Urban society was highly stratified: labouring, middle, merchant elite

• Enslaved people would become prominent in the North, especially in the maritime industry

Slavery, Antislavery, and the Atlantic Exchange

• Virginia would build large estates through primogeniture (given to oldest son) and entail (legality preventing the breakup of large estates)

• Tobacco would dominate the economy and gang systems were used to control the labour force

• Slave codes were used to protect the interests of slavers:

  • Children of enslaved women were enslaved

  • Conversion would not free slaves

  • Slaves had to be transported out of the colony to be free

  • Enslavers could not be convicted of murder for killing an enslaved person

  • Any black Virginian who struck a white Virginian would be whipped

• Georgia banned slavery in the beginning but it was legalized soon after

• South Carolina was a slave colony from the start and legalized slavery

  • Caribbean settlers would also bring their brutalist slave code with them

• Rice, a staple crop in Carolina, would allow enslaved people a level of freedom, as many elites would choose to live in the city to avoid malaria, which the enslaved people possessed an immunity for

• Many plantations would also utilize the task system, which mandated a certain number of things done and then allowed freedom, usually for gardening in an allotted plot

• Underground markets would also grant a degree of economic autonomy

• African culture would also remain prominent with languages arriving with new slaves from Africa and traditional African practices still being practiced

• Stono Rebellion (September 1739) - Enslaved people would set out for a free black Georgia Florida settlement, burning plantations and killing white settlers, which would ultimately fail with the militia crushing the rebellion

• Slavery was also important in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania where they were used to farm cereal grains

• The high diversity of Europeans and density of enslaved people in the North would contribute to rebellion (where poor white men and enslaved Africans would rebel together)

• Quakers would turn against slavery due to their belief in nonviolence and would expel anyone who had associations with it

• Slavery would never really take off in New England due to the absence of cash crops

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IV: Pursuing Political, Religious and Individual Freedom

• Democracy would split America and Europe, as Europe consisted mostly of high-class oligarchies while suffrage in America was far more widespread and the government reached further

• American society was less tightly controlled and political parties were less stable, with most disagreements being between the elected assembly and royal governor

• Provincial: King appointed all provincial governors, who could veto any decision made by the legislative assembly (ex: South Carolina and Georgia)

• Proprietary: Same as provincial, except the governor was appointed by Lord Proprietor, who had purchased the colony, and had more rights (ex: Pennsylvania and Delaware)

• Charter: Most complex, usually created by corporations or interest groups which drew up a chart, dealing the branches’ powers

• Colonial gov. would consist of the council (Governor’s cabinet) and the assembly (land-holding men who made sure colonial law abided with English law)

• An elected assembly was the idea of civic duty and most Americans believed in the idea of the social contract

• Sentimentalism would derive the idea of an emotionally fulfilling relationship rather than strictly an economic one

• Marriage would remain oppressive

  • Enslaved people would have no legal protections for marriage

  • Coverture would cause white married women to lose all political and economic rights

  • Elopement notices would highlight wives’ indecent manner and highlight husbands’ fits of rage

• Print culture is very important in American culture

• Government censorship of print would become widespread and would take many years for the circulation of books and printed materials to begin

• Print culture in New England was widely respected and its creators were rewarded for their works

• Philadelphia would overtake Boston as the center for colonial printing, with the arrival of Benjamin Franklin and waves of Germans who would create a demand for the German language press

• Debates about religious piety would begin in the 1710s stating that native-born colonists had been born into comfort and their faith had suffered

• Preachers would begin asking congregants to look into themselves and would abandon traditional sermons for outside meetings

• Whitefield would make popular the revivals of Edwards, through his dramatic tone of preaching

• Alienation would also become prominent with extremist practices

• Revivals would lead to the questioning of institutions and create a language of individualism

V: Seven Years War

• Between 1688 and 1775, Britain was at war with France and French-allied Native Americans for 37 years.

• American militiamen fought for Britain against French Catholics and their Native American allies.

• Warfare took a physical and spiritual toll on British colonists.

• British towns on the New England-New France border faced intermittent raiding by French-allied Native Americans.

• Raiding parties destroyed homes, burned crops, and took captives to French Quebec.

• Captives were either ransomed back or converted to Catholicism and stayed in New France.

• France and Britain had disputes over North American empire boundaries.

• The dispute escalated in 1754 when British colonists, led by George Washington, killed a French diplomat. This incident led to the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War).

• Early in the war, the French achieved victories, attacking and burning British outposts like Fort William Henry in 1757.

• French victories included defeating British attacks such as General Braddock’s at Fort Duquesne and General Abercrombie’s at Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) in 1758.

• Many French victories were aided by alliances with Native Americans.

• The European phase of the Seven Years' War began in 1756 when Frederick II of Prussia invaded Saxony.

• France, Austria, Russia, and Sweden formed a coalition against Prussia and its German allies.

• Austria’s Maria Theresa aimed to conquer Silesia, lost to Prussia previously.

• Britain supported Prussia and minor German states (Hesse-Kassel and Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel) with monetary subsidies.

• Early in the European war, the French defeated Britain’s German allies at the Battle of Hastenbeck (1757).

• Austria defeated Prussia at the Battle of Kolín (1757), but Frederick of Prussia defeated the French at the Battle of Rossbach.

• Frederick reclaimed Silesia by defeating Austria at the Battle of Leuthen (1757).

• In India and globally, British victories included the Battle of Plassey (1757) led by Robert Clive.

• British naval dominance allowed reinforcements to North America.

• British victories included the capture of Louisbourg (1758) and defeating French generals at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759) and the Battle of Minden (1759).

• The fall of French Canada concluded with the capture of Montreal (1760).

• The British fought against Spain (entered the war in 1762) and conquered Cuba and the Philippines, but failed to capture Nicaragua.

• The war ended with the treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg (1763), granting Britain Canada and North America, and Prussia retaining Silesia.

• The British empire’s expansion led to internal tensions and divisions, contributing to revolutionary sentiments.

• American colonists felt secure with the defeat of Catholic France and a reduced Catholic threat in Quebec.

• Despite religious pluralism in some American colonies, anti-Catholic sentiment persisted.

• Constant conflict with Catholic France intensified British and American Protestant identity.

• British ministers called for a coalition against French and Catholic powers.

• Missionary organizations like the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Society for the Propagation of the Gospel aimed to evangelize Native Americans and counter Jesuit efforts.

• The Great Awakening (1730s-1740s) fostered Protestant unity and promoted Atlantic trade and religious connections.

VI: Pontiac’s War

• In 1761, Neolin, a prophet, received a vision from the Master of Life urging Native Americans to expel the British and reject European influence.

• Neolin’s message included avoiding alcohol, returning to traditional rituals, and unity among Indigenous peoples.

• Pontiac, an Ottawa leader, adopted Neolin’s message and led Pontiac’s War, which involved Native peoples from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River.

• Pontiac’s attempt to capture Fort Detroit in May 1763 failed, leading to a six-month siege.

• Native Americans captured Forts Sandusky, St. Joseph, Miami, and Fort Michilimackinac using surprise tactics.

• The war was fueled by practical issues as well as Neolin’s religious message, including British policies like regulating the trade of firearms and ammunition.

• Pontiac’s War lasted until 1766, with Native Americans killing up to 400 soldiers and 2,000 settlers.

• The British recognized the need for royal protection of Native American lands and regulated Anglo-American trade, leading to the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

• The proclamation established the Appalachian Mountains as the boundary between British colonies and Native American lands.

• Pontiac’s War demonstrated that coercion was ineffective for imperial control, though Britain continued such strategies through various acts.

• The prohibition of settlement in Native American territory, especially the Ohio River Valley, led to colonial discontent.

• Michel-Guillaume-Saint-Jean de Crèvecoeur’s 1782 Letters from an American Farmer questioned the identity of Americans and highlighted a self-reliant, independent new nation.

• The Seven Years' War fostered greater political and cultural unity among the thirteen American colonies.

• Benjamin Franklin’s 1754 Albany Congress proposed a plan of union to coordinate the defence.

• At the French surrender in 1760, 11,000 British soldiers and 6,500 colonial militias were involved.

• The war was portrayed as a struggle between liberty-loving Britons and tyrannical Frenchmen with savage Indigenous people.

• American colonists saw the newly acquired lands west of the Appalachian Mountains as a reward for their collective victory.

• The Seven Years’ War was costly for Britain, spending over £140 million and incurring ongoing expenses for new territories.

• To recover costs, Britain sought to make the colonies share the burden of their security, leading to unprecedented parliamentary legislation over the colonies.

• Colonists began to view themselves as a collective group rather than separate entities.

• Between 1763 and 1774, Britain imposed various taxes on items like tea, paper, molasses, and stamps, threatening colonial trade and consumption.

• Britain enforced these taxes with increasingly restrictive policies, impacting civil liberties such as protection from unlawful searches and jury trials.

• The rise of the antislavery movement and the moratorium on new Western settlements added to colonial discontent.

• By 1763, Americans were united but felt they were not considered full British subjects.

• Imperial reforms were viewed as threats to the British liberties that colonists believed were their birthright.

• The Stamp Act Congress of 1765 marked a significant cooperative effort against parliamentary taxes.

• Boycotts of British goods created a shared narrative of sacrifice, resistance, and political identity, leading towards rebellion.