Chapter 3: Creating Anglo-America, 1660-1750

Global Competition and the Expansion of England’s Empire

• Focus Question: How did the English empire in America expand in the mid-seventeenth century?

• Expansion driver: Mercantilist policies, notably the Navigation Acts, propelled state economic hegemony and imperial consolidation.

• Key mechanism: Enforcement of Navigation Acts (e.g., in 1651, 1660, 1663) compelled colonial trade via English ships and ports, restricting Dutch commercial dominance.

• Outcome: Amplified English influence in North America amidst intense Anglo-Dutch, Franco-English, and Anglo-Spanish rivalries.

Entrenchment of American Slavery

• Focus Question: How was slavery established in the Western Atlantic world?

• Core idea: Chattel slavery solidified as an pervasive transatlantic institution, intrinsically linked to the Atlantic economy's demand for sugar and tobacco labor.

• Key points:

  • Codification of slavery through legal frameworks (e.g., Barbados Slave Code influencing mainland colonies).

  • The Middle Passage became a brutal transatlantic commerce, transporting enslaved Africans.

  • Proliferation of slave societies, particularly dominant in the Chesapeake and Caribbean.

• Notions of freedom: A racialized hierarchy intrinsically determined liberties, privileging whites over enslaved Africans. Free people of color and mixed-status families emerged, albeit with circumscribed rights.

• Related images/themes: Slavery, a foundational economic and social institution, fundamentally constrained notions of freedom for the enslaved.

Colonies in Crisis

• Focus Question: What major social and political crises rocked the colonies in the late seventeenth century?

• Major crises:

  • Repercussions of England's Glorious Revolution (1688) in the colonies.

  • Colonial insurrections like Leisler's Rebellion (NY), Coode's Rebellion (MD), and the overthrow of the Dominion of New England (MA).

• Other conflicts: King Philip’s War (1675-76), led by Metacom, escalated tensions with Native nations, alongside shifts in colonial governance.

• Witchcraft episode: The Salem witch trials (1692) exemplified profound social anxieties and governance fragilities.

The Growth of Colonial America

• Focus Question: What were the directions of social and economic change in the eighteenth-century colonies?

• Population dynamics: Rapid demographic expansion and heightened diversity attracted numerous settlers seeking opportunity.

• Migrant composition (1700-1775): total migrants $585{,}800$; enslaved $278{,}400$; indentured servants $103{,}600$; convicts $52{,}200$; free laborers $151{,}600$.

• Ethnic and regional diversification: Broadening European settlement, notably by Germans, Scots-Irish, English, Scottish, Dutch, and Africans, fostered cultural pluralism, particularly in regions like Pennsylvania.

Social Classes in the British Colonies

• Focus Question: How did patterns of class and gender roles change in eighteenth-century America?

• The Elite: A burgeoning colonial gentry and planter aristocracy, wielding substantial economic and political influence (e.g., the Byrd family). Gender roles for elite women often emphasized social graces and property management.

• The Middle Ranks: Ascendant merchants, skilled artisans, and independent farmers gained increasing leverage in local governance and the economy. Gender roles often involved complementary labor within household enterprises.

• Poverty: A persistent substratum of poorer classes and landless laborers faced economic precariousness. Gender roles within this class centered on survival and collective household effort.

• Women and the Household Economy: Women were integral to family labor and household management. Legal status was often defined by coverture, though feme sole status offered some independent legal standing for unmarried or widowed women.

North America at Mid-Century

• Focus Question: What was the extent of Native power across the continent by the mid-eighteenth century?

• General picture: A remarkable mélange of diverse Native peoples and polities (e.g., the Iroquois Confederacy) exerted significant influence and mounted tenacious resistance against colonial encroachment.

• Colonial opportunities: A substantial number of colonists experienced increased opportunities for freedom, although many still faced socioeconomic constraints.

• Overall trend: Continued colonial expansion and societal diversification, characterized by persistent Native–settler dynamics and pronounced regional variations.