Colonial Society in the 18th Century

Characterization of the Eighteenth-Century American

• Conceptualization of the "New Man": In 1782, J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur, in his Letters from an American Farmer, described the American as an individual who acts upon new principles, entertains new ideas, and forms new opinions.
• Shift in Labor and Status: The American transitioned from "involuntary idleness, servile dependence, and useless labor" in Europe to toils of a different nature that were rewarded by "ample subsistence."
• Cultural Evolution: By the 1760s, the British colonies had evolved a culture distinct from any in Europe, moving far beyond the struggling villages of the 17th century.

Population Growth and Ethnic Composition

• Demographic Explosion:
  • In $1701$, the English colonies on the Atlantic Coast had a population of approximately $250,000$ Europeans and Africans.
  • By $1775$, this figure grew to $2,500,000$, representing a tenfold increase within a single lifetime.
  • The African American population grew from $28,000$ in $1701$ to $500,000$ in $1775$.
• Drivers of Growth:
  • Immigration: Almost one million people arrived during this period.
  • Natural Increase: High birthrates among colonial families were supported by an abundance of fertile land and a dependable food supply.
• European Immigrant Groups:
  • English: Continued to arrive, but their numbers were smaller relative to other groups because of fewer problems at home.
  • Germans (6 percent of population): Settled mainly on rich farmlands west of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania Dutch country). They maintained their language, customs, and religions (Lutheran, Amish, Brethren, Mennonite). They obeyed colonial laws but showed little interest in English politics.
  • Scotch-Irish (7 percent of population): English-speaking emigrants from northern Ireland whose ancestors were from Scotland. They had little respect for the British government and settled along the western frontiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia.
  • Other Europeans (5 percent of population): Included French Protestants (Huguenots), the Dutch, and the Swedes.
• African Population:
  • The largest group of non-English immigrants, arriving primarily as captive enslaved laborers for southern plantations.
  • By $1775$, African Americans (free and enslaved) made up $20$ percent of the total population.
  • Approximately $90$ percent lived in the southern colonies. In South Carolina and Georgia, they formed the majority of the population.
  • Legal structures in every colony, from New Hampshire to Georgia, passed discriminatory laws limiting their rights.

Structure of Colonial Society

• Commonalities Among the Thirteen Colonies:
  • English Influence: Most of the population was English in origin, language, and tradition, though modified by African and non-English European influences.
  • Self-government: Each colony featured a representative assembly elected by eligible voters (white male property owners). Only Rhode Island and Connecticut elected their own governors; elsewhere, governors were appointed by the crown or a proprietor.
  • Religious Toleration: All colonies permitted different religions with varying degrees of freedom. Massachusetts was the most conservative (accepting several Protestant types but excluding non-Christians and Catholics), while Rhode Island and Pennsylvania were the most liberal.
  • No Hereditary Aristocracy: The rigid European class system was absent. A narrower system based on economics developed, with wealthy landowners at the top and craft workers/small farmers forming the majority.
  • Social Mobility: Except for African Americans, individuals had the opportunity to improve their standard of living and social status through hard work.

The Family Unit in Colonial Life

• Economic and Social Hub: The family was the center of life. Economic expansion led to younger marriage ages and more children compared to Europe. More than $90$ percent of colonists lived on farms.
• Gender Roles:
  • Men: Dominated politics and landowning. English law granted husbands nearly unlimited power at home, including the right to beat their wives.
  • Women: The average wife bore eight children. Duties included cooking, cleaning, making clothes, medical care, and educating children. Women often worked alongside husbands in shops or on farms. While divorce was legal but rare, the mutual dependence of farm life often gave women an active role in decision-making.

Regional Economic Patterns

• Mercantilism and Industry: British policy restricted colonial manufacturing (e.g., textiles) that competed with English industries but permitted limited endeavors like flour and rum production.
• New England: characterized by rocky soil and long winters. Farming was limited to subsistence (farms under $100$ acres). Major industries included logging, shipbuilding, fishing, trading, and rum-distilling.
• Middle Colonies: Rich soil produced wheat and corn for export. Farms up to $200$ acres were common, often using indentured servants. Small manufacturing, such as iron-making, developed here.
• Southern Colonies: Geography determined agriculture. Many had small subsistence farms with no slaves. A few had plantations exceeding $2,000$ acres relying on slave labor.
  • Chesapeake and North Carolina: Tobacco.
  • The Carolinas: Timber and naval stores (tar/pitch).
  • South Carolina and Georgia: Rice and indigo.
• Monetary System: Britain limited hard currency ($gold$ and $silver$) to ensure it flowed back to England for imports. Colonies issued paper money for domestic trade, which often led to inflation.
• Transportation: Water travel was the primary mode of commerce, leading to the growth of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. Overland travel by horse and stage became more common in the 18th century. Taverns served as social and political hubs.

Religion and The Great Awakening

• Established Churches: Churches financed through government taxes. Examples include the Church of England in Virginia and the Congregational Church in Massachusetts Bay.
• Religious Diversity: New England (Congregationalists, Presbyterians), New York (Reformed Church, Anglicans), Pennsylvania (Lutherans, Mennonites, Quakers), and the South (Anglicans).
• The Great Awakening (1730s–1740s): A movement of fervent religious feeling.
  • Jonathan Edwards: Delivered the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" ($1741$). He argued that God was rightfully angry with human sinfulness and that salvation required deep penitence.
  • George Whitefield: Spread the movement throughout the colonies, teaching that ordinary people could understand the gospels without depending on ministers.
• Impact of the Awakening:
  • Religious: Emotionalism became common; ministers lost some authority to individual Bible study; a split emerged between "New Lights" (supporters) and "Old Lights" (opponents).
  • Political: As a common experience shared across colonies and classes, it had a democratizing effect, suggesting that if people could make religious decisions, they could also make political ones independently of established authorities.

Cultural Life and Education

• Architecture: In the $1740$s and $1750$s, the Georgian style of London—characterized by symmetrical windows, dormers, and spacious center halls—was imitated in brick and stucco homes near the eastern seaboard.
• Painting: Itinerant artists painted portraits. Prominent American artists like Benjamin West and John Copley eventually trained in England.
• Literature: Focused on religion and politics. Major authors included Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards, and political writers like John Adams, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson.
  • Phillis Wheatley: Noteworthy for her triumph over slavery and her poetry.
  • Benjamin Franklin: The most successful 18th-century writer, famous for Poor Richard's Almanack ($1732$–$1757$).
• Science: Benjamin Franklin's work with electricity and inventions (bifocal eyeglasses, Franklin stove) gained international fame.
• Education:
  • New England: A $1647$ Massachusetts law required towns with over $50$ families to have primary schools and towns with over $100$ families to have grammar schools to prepare boys for college.
  • Higher Education: Early colleges were sectarian (Harvard—Puritan $1636$, William and Mary—Anglican $1694$, Yale—Congregationalist $1701$). The Great Awakening spurred the creation of Princeton ($1746$, Presbyterian), Columbia ($1754$, Anglican), Brown ($1764$, Baptist), Rutgers ($1766$, Reformed), and Dartmouth ($1769$, Congregationalist). The College of Philadelphia ($1765$) was the only nonsectarian college.

The Legal Profession and the Press

• Physicians: Early medical training relied on apprenticeships. Practice often included "cures" like bleeding with leeches.
• Lawyers: Gained respect in the $1700$s as trade complexity grew. Lawyers like Patrick Henry and John Adams provided the intellectual underpinnings of the Revolution.
• Newspapers: Grew from five in $1725$ to over $40$ by $1776$.
• The Zenger Case (1735): John Peter Zenger was tried for libel after criticizing New York's royal governor. His lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, argued that the truth should not be considered libelous. Despite English common law, the jury acquitted Zenger, encouraging the press to criticize the government.

Enlightenment and Politics

• The Enlightenment: Movement focused on human reason.
• John Locke: His Two Treatises of Government argued for "natural laws" and rights people have as humans. He posited that sovereignty resides with the people and they have an obligation to revolt against governments that fail to protect their rights.
• Colonial Governance: By $1750$, colonies had similar structures: a governor (chief executive) and a two-house legislature.
  • The Lower House (Assembly) was elected by voters and controlled taxes.
  • The Upper House (Council) was appointed by the king or proprietor (except RI and CT).
• Local Government:
  • New England: Centered on the town meeting, a form of direct democracy.
  • Southern Colonies: Centered on the county and enforced by a sheriff.
• Democratic Limitations: Participation was restricted to white male property owners. Significant portions of the population—women, the poor, slaves, and free blacks—were excluded, though religious restrictions on voting began to lift in the 18th century.

Questions & Discussion

• What defined the topic of 18th-century colonial writing? Most writing was centered on politics and religion, as seen in the works of John Locke and various ministers.
• Who was most influenced by Locke's writings? The leaders and participants of the American Revolution derived much of their rationale from Locke's social contract and natural rights theories.
• Who would be critical of Locke? Groupings that benefited from rigid social or labor control, such as slave owners, would find his ideas on natural freedom and universal rights problematic.
• What was the long-term effect of the Zenger decision? It fostered a colonial press that was increasingly willing to criticize British authorities and policies.
• What was the context of Jonathan Mayhew's 1750 sermons? Mayhew wrote during a time when democratic practices were slowly increasing and Enlightenment ideas were beginning to suggest the legitimacy of resisting reaching a "prince" or ruler who abused power.