The British Atlantic World, Summary Notes

The British Atlantic World 1607-1750

Colonies to Empire, 1607-1713

• England governed colonies haphazardly before 1660.
• Local elites managed affairs during the English Civil War.
• After monarchy restoration in 1660, bureaucrats imposed order and allied with Native Americans.

Self-Governing Colonies and New Elites, 1607-1660

• English Civil War (1642-1651) led to parliamentary rule, then Oliver Cromwell's personal rule.
• Charles I beheaded in 1649.
• Charles II restored to throne in 1660.
• Colonies managed affairs independently due to instability in England.
• Colonial elites developed own solutions to problems and established self-governance.

The Restoration Colonies and Imperial Expansion

• Charles II expanded English power in Asia and America.
• 1662: Married Portuguese princess, gaining Bombay.
• 1663: Authorized settlement of Carolina.
• 1664: Took New Netherland from Dutch, renamed New York.
• 1681: Granted Pennsylvania to William Penn.

From Mercantilism to Imperial Dominion

• Charles II's ministers implemented mercantilist policies to control colonial trade through Navigation Acts.
• Navigation Act of 1651: Goods carried on English/colonial ships.
• Revenue Act of 1673:imposed “plantation duty” on American exports.
• English navy drove Dutch from New Netherland.
• Colonists often violated Navigation Acts.

The Glorious Revolution in England and America

• James II wanted stricter control, forming the Dominion of New England in 1686.
• Dominion of New England consolidated colonies.
• James II overthrown in Glorious Revolution (1688-1689).
• William and Mary ascended throne, Whigs limited the crown’s power and created a constitutional monarchy.
• John Locke argued government legitimacy based on consent and natural rights.
• Rebellions in America: Massachusetts, Maryland, New York.

Imperial Wars and Native Peoples

• England committed to warfare after William of Orange took the throne.
• Imperial wars transformed North America and forced governments to arm themselves and form alliances with Native Americans.

Tribalization

• Tribalization: Adaptation of stateless people, to demands from neighboring states.
• New tribes formed from remnants of decimated groups.
• Iroquois used neutrality between French and English. New York alliance became Covenant Chain model.

Indian Goals

• Creeks aimed to dominate region, attacking pro-French Choctaws and Spanish Apalachees.
• Tuscaroras joined Iroquois after Carolina-supported Creek attacks.

The Imperial Slave Economy

• South Atlantic System: Agricultural and commercial order producing sugar, tobacco, rice using enslaved Africans for international market.

The South Atlantic System

• Centered in Brazil and West Indies, sugar production.
• European merchants, investors, planters profited.
• Atlantic slave trade made system run.
• British transported 2.5 million Africans (1700-1800).

Africa, Africans and the Slave Trade

• Atlantic slave trade (1550-1870) uprooted 11 million Africans, changing economic, religious, social dynamics.
• Warfare and slaving became tactics for ambitious kings and warlords.

Olaudah Equiano

• Claimed to be born in Igboland.
• Kidnapped at eleven and sold into slavery.
• Purchased his freedom in 1766 and published memoir in 1789.

Slavery in the Chesapeake and South Carolina

• West Indian-style slavery came to Virginia and Maryland after Bacon’s Rebellion.
• Africans made up 20% of Chesapeake population by 1720, 40% by 1740.
• Slavery defined in racial terms.
• Violence was common, but conditions better than West Indies, tobacco less strenuous.
• In South Carolina, rice production increased; slaves were imported, leading to African majority.
• Rice plantations dangerous and exhausting; high slave death rates.

An African American Community Emerges

• Slaves from various African groups gradually discovered common ground.
• Developed precarious family lives, built rudiments of slave communities.
• Kin groups passed on traditions, knowledge.
• Creole language emerged

The Rise of the Southern Gentry

• Planters used wealth to rule over white families; violence to exploit blacks.
• Made plantations self-sufficient, survived depressed tobacco market.

The Northern Maritime Economy

• New England supplied sugar islands with provisions.
• Economies of West Indies and New England interwoven.

The Urban Economy

• West Indian trade created American merchant fortunes, urban industries.
• Ports grew in size, complexity.
• South Atlantic System extended into the interior.

The New Politics of Empire, 1713-1750

The Rise of Colonial Assemblies

• Assemblies copied English Whigs, limiting crown officials' power. Legislatures controlled taxation and appointments.
• Assemblies responsive to popular pressure, resistant to British control."