Notes on European and Native American Treatment; Mercantilism; Slavery; Colonial Society and the Great Awakening

European Treatment of Native Americans

• Spanish Policy
  • Spaniards encountered the Aztec and Inca empires in Mexico and Peru; even after devastating disease, millions remained as laborers in the empire. Disease and forced labor killed many natives; those who survived were used as laborers in a rigid colonial system. Few families came from Spain, so explorers and soldiers often intermarried with Native Americans and Africans. Africans were captured in Africa and transported to the Americas to provide slave labor. A rigid caste system developed, dominated by pure-blooded Spaniards.
  • Bartolomé de Las Casas: a Spanish priest who opposed most Europeans’ treatment of Native Americans. He had owned land and slaves and fought Indians, but later advocated for better treatment and persuaded the king to institute the New Laws of $1542$, which ended Indian slavery, halted forced Indian labor, and began to end the encomienda system.
  • Conservative Spaniards opposed the New Laws, pushing the king to repeal parts of them.
  • Valladolid Debate (the debate over Indians’ role in Spanish colonies) occurred in $1550-1551$ in Valladolid, Spain. Las Casas argued Indians were completely human and morally equal to Europeans; Sepúlveda argued Indians were less than human and thus fit for servitude within the encomienda system. Neither side clearly won, but Las Casas established the basic arguments for justice for Indians.
• English Policy
  • English colonial settlement largely occurred in areas without large native empires; many colonists came as families, making intermarriage with natives less common. In Massachusetts, early relations included coexistence, trade, and exchange of ideas. Native Americans taught crops (e.g., corn/maize) and forest survival, and fur trade supplied English goods.
  • Peaceful relations eventually gave way to conflict as English settlers took more land and displaced tribes. English viewed Native American cultures as primitive or “savage,” while Native Americans saw their way of life threatened by encroachment. Many tribes migrated inland or allied with one European power, seeking survival, while others resisted and fought.
• French Policy
  • The French viewed Native Americans as potential economic and military allies, focusing on fur trading and Catholic conversion. They built trading posts across the St. Lawrence Valley, the Great Lakes, and along the Mississippi River to exchange French goods for beaver pelts. Because the French had fewer colonists, farms, or towns, they posed less threat to native populations than the Spaniards or English.
  • French soldiers helped the Huron in conflicts against their traditional enemy, the Iroquois.
• Native American Reaction
  • North American tribes were diverse and did not perceive themselves as a single political body; European settlers rarely faced a unified Native American response.
  • Initially, Europeans’ goods (copper pots, guns) motivated interaction. After widespread disease and violence decimated populations, tribes adopted new survival strategies, including forming alliances with one or another European power and relocating to escape encroachment. Regardless, Native Americans could not return to life before 1492.

Mercantilism and the Empire

• Mercantilism basics
  • In the $17th$ century, most European kingdoms adopted mercantilism: trade, colonies, and accumulated wealth were foundations of military and political power. A government should regulate trade and production to achieve self-sufficiency. Colonies existed to provide raw materials to the parent country to enrich its industries.
  • Mercantilist policies guided Spanish and French colonial systems from the start; English colonial policy adopted mercantilism after England’s civil wars.
• Acts of Trade and Navigation (Navigational Acts)
  • A series of Acts between $1650$ and $1673$ established three trade rules:
  • 1) Trade to and from the colonies could be carried only by English or colonial-built ships, with crews that were English or colonial.
  • 2) All non-perishable goods imported into the colonies had to pass through ports in England.
  • 3) Specified or enumerated goods from the colonies could be exported to England only; tobacco was the original enumerated good, later expanded.
• Impact on the colonies
  • Mixed effects: New England shipbuilding prospered; Chesapeake tobacco enjoyed a monopoly in England; English military protection aided coastal colonies against French/Spanish threats.
  • Negative effects included limited colonial manufacturing, depressed crop prices for farmers, and higher prices for English-manufactured goods.
  • Some regulations were unnecessary given trade partners, and enforcement was often lax; corruption among colonial agents was common.
  • In $1684$, Massachusetts Bay Charter was revoked due to heavy smuggling activity.
• The Dominion of New England
  • In $1685$, James II ascended to the throne and sought to centralize control by merging New York, New Jersey, and New England colonies into the Dominion of New England; Sir Edmund Andros governed.
  • Andros imposed taxes, restricted town meetings, and revoked land titles, triggering unpopularity.
  • The Glorious Revolution of $1688$ ousted James II and ended the dominion; colonies returned to separate charters.
• Permanent restrictions
  • Despite the Glorious Revolution, mercantilist policies persisted into the $18th$ century, with more English officials in the colonies and persistent but uneven regulation and resentment.
• The Institution of Slavery
  • Slavery grew to be a central economic and social institution in the $18th$ century, with profound demographic consequences.
  • By $1750$, roughly $frac{1}{2}$ of Virginia’s population and $frac{2}{3}$ of South Carolina’s population were enslaved.
• Increased Demand for Slaves (causes)
  • Reduced migration from England increased reliance on enslaved labor.
  • Large plantation owners sought a dependable workforce under their control, especially after Bacon’s Rebellion and to support labor-demanding crops.
  • Shift to labor-intensive crops like rice and indigo expanded the need for enslaved labor.
• Slave Laws and Inheritance
  • Slavery codified as a lifelong status with inheritance rules:
  • In $1641$, Massachusetts recognized enslaved status for Africans; first legal acknowledgment of “lawful” captivity.
  • In $1661$, Virginia law stated that children inherited their enslaved status from their mother (hereditary slavery).
  • By $1664$, Maryland declared that baptism did not change an enslaved person’s status and prohibited white women from marrying African men.
  • These laws reinforced racial caste and made slavery central to social order.
• Triangular Trade
  • English merchants dominated the triangular trade after the Royal African Company’s monopoly expired.
  • Route: New England ports (e.g., Boston) sailed to West Africa to trade rum for Africans; Africans were transported via the Middle Passage to the West Indies for sugar; sugar returned to New England to make rum, completing the triangle and yielding profits for merchants.
  • The cycle repeated, with substantial profits often realized by slave-trading entrepreneurs.

The Structure of Colonial Society (The Colonial World, c. 1607–1760s)

• General Characteristics
  • Majority of the population traced their origins to England (language, culture, and traditions); Africans and non-English immigrants contributed diverse influences.
  • Self-government: Each colony had a representative assembly elected by eligible voters (limited to white male property owners). In only Rhode Island and Connecticut was the governor elected by the people; other colonies had governors appointed by the Crown or by a proprietor.
  • Religious toleration existed across colonies but with varying degrees of freedom; Massachusetts was the most conservative; Rhode Island and Pennsylvania were among the most liberal.
  • No hereditary aristocracy: Wealthy landowners topped the social hierarchy, with craft workers and small farmers making up most of the population.
  • Social mobility: With some exceptions (notably African Americans), people could improve their status through hard work.
• The Family
  • Family was the economic and social center of colonial life.
  • High fertility: marriages occurred young; families typically had many children; more than 90% of people lived on farms.
  • Living conditions varied between coastal/frontier regions, but overall standard of living in many colonies exceeded that of most Europeans.
• The Economy
  • By the $1760s$, almost half of Britain’s world trade occurred with its American colonies.
  • The British government allowed limited colonial manufacturing (e.g., flour or rum) and restricted others that competed with English industries (e.g., textiles).
  • The colonies largely engaged in agriculture due to rich land and mercantile policy; as prosperity rose, more colonists became ministers, lawyers, doctors, and teachers; land ownership remained the quickest path to wealth.
• Regional Economies
  • New England
  • Rocky soil and long winters limited farming to subsistence; farms typically under $100$ acres; family labor and occasional hires were common.
  • Industries included logging, shipbuilding, fishing, trading, and rum-distilling.
  • Middle Colonies
  • Fertile soil supported abundant wheat and corn; farms often up to $200$ acres; indentured servants and hired laborers common; iron-making and other manufacturing developed; cities like Philadelphia and New York grew from trade.
  • Southern Colonies
  • Geography and climate produced diverse agriculture; most people lived on small family farms; a minority lived on large plantations (often > $2{,}000$ acres) relying on enslaved labor.
  • Main exports: tobacco (Chesapeake and North Carolina); timber and naval stores (tar/pitch) in the Carolinas; rice and indigo in South Carolina and Georgia.
  • Plantations were often river-based for direct export to Europe.
• Monetary System
  • The British controlled colonial money supply by restricting hard currency (gold and silver) use for imports; colonies issued paper money to facilitate domestic trade, which often led to inflation.
  • The Crown vetoed colonial laws that could harm British merchants.
• Transportation
  • Water transport was cheaper and more efficient than land routes; major trading centers were along harbors and navigable rivers (e.g., Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston).
  • Overland routes grew in the $18th$ century; taverns served as travel hubs, exchange centers, and informal political forums.
  • A formal postal system existed via overland routes and waterways by the mid-$18th$ century.
• Religion
  • Most colonists were Protestants, with significant regional variation: Congregationalists and Presbyterians in New England; Reformed Church among Dutch in New York; Anglican/Episcopalian influence in the South; Lutherans, Mennonites, and Quakers in Pennsylvania; Anglicans in Virginia and parts of the South.
  • Discrimination and persecution affected Jews, Catholics, and Quakers most severely; Congregationalist ministers faced criticism from other Protestants for doctrinal complexity and domineering leadership.
  • Established churches (tax-supported by governments) varied: Virginia’s Church of England; Massachusetts’ Congregational Church; by the Revolution, tax support for established churches waned, though some direct tax support persisted until the 1830s.
• The Great Awakening (religious revival, $1730s-1740s$)
  • A dramatic religious revival marked by emotional expressions of faith and a shift toward personal salvation.
  • Jonathan Edwards: Congregational minister in Northampton, MA; famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" ($1741$) emphasizing human sinfulness and divine wrath, with salvation through personal penitence and grace.
  • George Whitefield: English evangelist who arrived in $1739$ and drew mass audiences (up to 10,000) in barns, tents, and fields; preached that God was all-powerful and that salvation came through professed faith in Jesus Christ.
  • Impact on religious practice: increased emotionalism in services; diminished ministerial authority as laypeople studied the Bible at home.
  • Divisions within churches: New Lights (supporters of the revival) vs Old Lights (opponents); rise of evangelical denominations such as Baptists and Methodists.
  • Political impact: fostered a shared colonial experience and a sense of American identity; promoted democratization of religious authority, which foreshadowed later attitudes toward political authority and governance.
• Connections and implications
  • The Great Awakening helped to weaken traditional power structures (church leaders and landowners) and contributed to a broader sense of common American identity across ethnic groups, setting some groundwork for later political changes.
  • The growth of slavery and the codification of race-based laws reinforced a rigid social hierarchy that would influence colonial life and future American society.
• Key dates and figures to remember (summary)
  • New Laws of $1542$; Valladolid Debate in $1550-1551$; James II’s Dominion of New England in $1686$; Glorious Revolution in $1688$; Massachusetts charter revoked in $1684$.
  • By $1750$: slavery demographics in Virginia and South Carolina as noted above; the rise of the transatlantic slave trade and the triangular trade pattern (3-part route).
  • Great Awakening: $1730s-1740s$; Edwards’ $1741$ sermon; Whitefield’s arrival in $1739$.

Note: All numerical references are presented in LaTeX-style formatting as $…$ where applicable, and dates are cited to mirror their historical context from the provided transcript.