Notes for The Bonds of Empire, 1660–1750

Rebellion and War, 1660–1713

• Context: After the Restoration (1660), England sought to weld its colonies into a coherent empire and subordinate them to English commercial and political authority. This trajectory continued after the fall of the Stuart dynasty and amid a series of wars that followed.
• Royal Centralization, 1660–1688 (1660\text{--}1688)
  • Charles II avoided calling Parliament into session after 1674; James II (ruled 1685\text{--}1688) aimed for an “absolute” monarchy akin to France’s Louis XIV.
  • English governors in North America: around 1680, James II appointed former army officers to about 90\% of gubernatorial positions, reducing civilian accountability; by 1680, governors general ruled 60\% of American colonists.
  • Massachusetts and New England resisted crown control; Massachusetts charter revoked (1684) and New Hampshire carved out (~1689); Massachusetts became a royal colony.
  • New York’s James II-era governance: Catholics held political posts under the Duke of York; fear of betrayal to France rose as colonial defense weakened.
• Dominion of New England and Andros (late 1680s)
  • In 1686, a single administrative unit absorbed Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Plymouth with Boston as capital; added New York and the Jerseys in 1688.
  • Sir Edmund Andros governed the Dominion; he suppressed legislatures, limited town meetings, and enforced Anglican toleration and Navigation Acts; his catchphrase reportedly lamented the loss of privileges: “You have no more privileges left you, than not to be sold for slaves.”
  • Resistance brewed in Massachusetts and elsewhere; Andros’ authority provoked intense local opposition.
• Glorious Revolution and its colonial reverberations, 1688\text{--}1689
  • England’s Protestant leaders invited William of Orange to intervene; James II fled to France in a bloodless revolution that established a limited monarchy with William and Mary (Bill of Rights, 1689).
  • Colonial uprisings mirrored English change: Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland asserted loyalty to William and Mary (risking consequences if James returned).
  • The Dominion of New England was dismantled; governance returned to colonial assemblies, but Massachusetts retained a royal charter and a governor appointed by the crown; Plymouth and Maine reabsorbed.
  • Maryland’s Protestant Association (led by John Coode) secured William and Mary’s support; 1692 established the Church of England as the established church in Maryland; Catholics lost voting rights and many public offices; Maryland remained under royal control until 1715.
• Leisler’s Rebellion and New York, 1689–1691
  • New York militia, influenced by the Glorious Revolution, seized control in 1689; Captain Jacob Leisler led, later arrested by English troops; Leisler and his son-in-law Jacob Milborne convicted of treason and hanged.
• Rebellions in Maryland and Plymouth; Walking Purchase and Delaware (1737)
  • Maryland’s Protestant Association secured royal governance in 1691; deposed Catholics from office; the state remained under royal control.
  • The Walking Purchase (1737) in Pennsylvania: three men walked ~60 miles to claim additional land from the Delawares; contested by Delaware elders; land ceded under Iroquois supervision, fueling long-term land disputes.
• A Generation of War, 1689–1713
  • War of the League of Augsburg (King William’s War in the colonies) begins after the Glorious Revolution; English and New England forces invade New France (1690), but campaigns fail; border raids by English, French, and Native American allies escalate.
  • Iroquois Confederacy suffers heavy losses in 1691–1696; population declines by approximately 20\%, from about 8600 to 7000 over twelve years; shift to pro-English, pro-French, and neutral factions within the Five Nations.
  • Grand Settlement of 1701: Iroquois negotiate peace with France, gaining access to western furs while redefining allegiance to Britain; aims to stabilize the Northeast as a balance-of-power strategy.
  • Queen Anne’s War (War of the Spanish Succession) 1702\text{--}1713: English-France-Spain conflict intensifies; French and Indian raids devastate some New England towns; English gains include Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and Acadia; interior French and Indian hold remains intact; overall strategic outcomes favor Britain in the long term.
• Consequences for British identity and imperial loyalty
  • Imperial wars reinforced a Protestant, liberty-oriented British identity among colonists.
  • Colonists recognized dependence on the United Kingdom and the Royal Navy; loyalty to the Crown strengthened as the British Empire consolidated its maritime power.
  • The 1688–1689 revolutions redefined political legitimacy and established a groundwork for voluntary allegiance rather than distant administrative power.

Mercantilism and Colonial Economies, 1660–1750

• Mercantilist framework and Navigation Acts (late 17th\text{century})
  • Core idea: protect domestic production, limit foreign dependency, and accumulate gold/silver by exporting more than importing.
  • First Navigation Act (1651) required colonial trade to be carried on English or colonial ships; Dutch trade curtailed.
  • Acts of 1660 and 1663 barred colonial exports of key goods (e.g., sugar, tobacco) to non-English markets; imports restricted to English or colonial ships.
  • 1672 Act established enforcement machinery; the Molasses Act of 1733 taxed foreign molasses to protect British West Indian sugar producers.
• Four major effects on the colonies
  • Shipping and shipbuilding boom: American-owned ships grew to roughly 1/3 of British vessels by the 1750s; contributed to a robust colonial merchant marine and urbanization (docks, warehouses, repair shops in Philly, NY, Boston, Charles Town).
  • Enumerated exports and the imperial market: tobacco, rice, furs, indigo, and naval stores were restricted and required to pass through England; grain, livestock, fish, lumber, and rum faced fewer restrictions (
  • Tobacco and rice enjoyed monopolies or favorable handling; exports to British markets and beyond benefited colonial planters while maintaining profitability.
  • Economic diversification and protection: Parliament offered bounties (e.g., silk, iron, dyes, hemp, lumber) and used tariffs to raise prices on competing imports; colonial manufacturing of textiles faced limits, but other crafts thrived (iron production, etc.).
  • Consumer revolution and social change: growth of a consumer economy fueled demand for tea, Staffordshire pottery, and imported goods; increased urban growth and wealth concentration in port cities; while many colonists benefited, middle- and lower-class colonists experienced varied levels of prosperity.
• Colonial economics compared to France and Spain
  • Britain: heavily mercantilist and capital-based economy; strong naval power; Bank of England (1694) stabilized money supply and facilitated lending; per-capita income rose relative to Britain (0.6\% annual growth from 1650–1770).
  • France and Spain: wealth concentrated among monarchy, nobility, and the Catholic Church; private wealth primarily in land; imports and public spending less focused on private enterprise; private investment in colonies more limited than Britain’s.
  • Britain’s colonies differed: robust in shipping, finance, and manufacturing-related activities; the empire integrated into Atlantic commerce more deeply than French or Spanish colonial systems.
• Population growth, immigration, and diversity
  • Population growth: 1700 250000 non-Indians in English America; by 1750 about 1170000. France ~60000; Spain ~19000; Britain’s overall population growth outpaced others.
  • Immigration patterns and diversity: large influxes from Ireland (about 100000, Scots-Irish majority among Irish immigrants), Germany (≈ 125000), and other regions; many immigrants were indentured servants; convicts (≈ 30000) deported 1718--1783 with some becoming laborers or settling as farmers.
  • By 1755, non-English nationalities formed a substantial share in colonies: English & Welsh dropped from 80\% in 1700 to about 52\% by 1755; Germans and Scots-Irish rose sharply; Africans rose from 11\% to 20\%; other Europeans and Scots, Irish, Dutch, etc., increased as well.
• Slavery and demographics
  • Slave origins: virtually all enslaved people in the English mainland colonies came from West Africa (range: Senegambia to Angola) with maps showing origins across regions such as the Windward Coast, Gold Coast, Niger Valley/Benin, Congo Valley/Angola, and Mozambique.
  • Middle passage and conditions: horrific conditions aboard ships; high mortality; some slaves resisted by jumping overboard; Venture Smith’s account (1735 voyage) illustrates disease and high mortality aboard ships.
  • Population share and regional distribution: by 1750, enslaved people constituted about 20\% of the mainland population; in major slaveholding areas (Chesapeake tidewater, SC, GA) enslaved populations were large; New York City and Savannah, Charleston also had sizeable slave populations.
  • Family life and creoles: enslaved and creole populations formed complex family and labor structures; creoles (American-born slaves) often possessed higher autonomy and language alignment (English) than African-born slaves; in some regions (e.g., South Carolina rice country) slaves used the task system, which allowed more leisure time and private economic activity.
  • Labor regimes and economics: slaves often worked under the gang or task systems depending on crop and region; led to long-term plantation productivity yet entrenched racial hierarchies and social control measures (dress codes, curfews, slave patrols).
  • Slave resistance and urban slavery: urban slaves used informal networks and bargaining power; New York and other ports saw resistance and harsh punishments (e.g., 1712, 1741 executions following slave revolts and thefts).
• Rural life and the rise of colonial elites
  • White population and landholding: median farm sizes were around 180 acres in the South and 120 in the middle colonies; many families had to borrow or rent land and work off mortgage debt; inheritance practices spread property among all children, limiting early wealth accumulation for the eldest.
  • Family labor and gender roles: women contributed to subsistence, household production, and rural economies; widows owned & managed some property (8–10% of property in eighteenth-century Anglo-America); some women ran large estates (e.g., Eliza Pinckney in South Carolina).
  • The urban paradox: cities were engines of prosperity but suffered high poverty; urban growth outpaced job opportunities, leading to a growing underclass and new social tensions; Boston, Philadelphia, and New York saw rising poor populations and various relief needs (poor laws and alms).
  • Slavery’s wages: enslaved workers were costly to maintain, yet slaveholders invested in their health and productivity; enslaved people often worked beyond their early adulthood; urban enslaved populations varied in skill and status, from skilled coopers and shipwrights to unskilled laborers.
• Religion, literacy, and the public sphere in British America
  • Education and literacy: high literacy in New England (up to ~90\% of adult white men could sign documents; ~40\% of white women could sign) supported engagement with Enlightenment ideas and the transatlantic public sphere.
  • The Enlightenment and Benjamin Franklin
  • Franklin as exemplar: Philadelphia’s rapid growth, Junto club, Poor Richard’s Almanack (1732), and scientific experiments (e.g., kite experiment establishing electricity) exemplified Enlightenment ideals.
  • The American Philosophical Society (1743) promoted cross-colonial science and knowledge exchange; influenced by the Royal Society in London.
  • Locke’s epistemology and rational religion shaped colonial views on faith, reason, and religious tolerance; deism and rational religion gained adherents.
  • The Great Awakening (late 1730s--1740ss)
  • Key figures: George Whitefield (Anglican itinerant), Jonathan Edwards ( Northampton revival, 1735), Gilbert Tennent (Presbyterian), Theodore Frelinghuysen (Dutch Reformed), James Davenport (Boston).
  • Characteristics: emotional, revivalist preaching; critique of established clergy; direct appeals to emotion and personal salvation; emphasis on experiential piety over doctrinal fine points.
  • Divisions: New Lights (revivalists) vs Old Lights (established churches); major splits across Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans; Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island saw significant reform and new denominational alignments; New England’s Congregational establishment fractured; colleges founded to train New Lights (e.g., College of New Jersey/Princeton, 1746).
  • Social and political effects: broadened participation in religious life; encouraged new public identities and institutions; supported women’s religious involvement (e.g., some women preaching and organizing prayer meetings); promoted interdenominational cooperation and blurred boundaries between denominations.
  • Long-term impact: weakened established churches, spurred higher literacy and new colleges, and laid groundwork for a more participatory public sphere that influenced political activism in later decades.

Public Life and Politics in British America, 1689–1750

• Political restructuring after the Glorious Revolution
  • The Bill of Rights (1689) anchored parliamentary supremacy and civil liberties; colonists adopted reverence for representative government.
  • Assemblies as the most significant political bodies: governors and councils often controlled by the crown or proprietors before 1689; post-1689 assemblies gained power, especially over taxes and budgets, and served as a check on executive authority.
  • The “power of the purse”: assemblies could withhold salaries or funding to coerce governors; governors still retained veto and appointment powers, but salaries depended on assemblies’ funding.
  • The Board of Trade (1696) could influence colonial law through royal authorization, but rarely did so before midcentury; a largely liberal framework allowed self-government in many respects, aside from trade regulations, currency issues, and declarations of war.
• The social composition of political power
  • The elite dominated politics: wealthier planters, merchants, and lawyers comprised the upper class; entry into office was tied to property ownership and social status (e.g., approx. 40% of free white men could not meet landholding requirements in some colonies; many offices reserved for the gentry).
  • Voter qualifications varied by colony; in most colonies, 80% of white men could not run for office due to property requirements; urban areas encouraged more competitive politics, especially in northern ports.
  • Rural politics and participation: rural voters increasingly engaged in local politics through town meetings and county elections; though turnout in rural areas could be conservative, evolving forms of political expression emerged.
• The Zenger trial and the press
  • In New York (1734–1735), John Peter Zenger’s trial exposed political corruption and expanded public discourse; his acquittal established a precedent that truth could be a defense against libel, expanding nonelite participation in political life through the press and juries.
• The Enlightenment and the public sphere
  • Literacy and access to printed material allowed broader public engagement with ideas; Franklin’s and others’ activities in Philadelphia reflected the interconnected transatlantic exchange of scientific and political thought.
  • The Enlightenment contributed to shifting political attitudes toward inquiry, skepticism of arbitrary authority, and rational religious practice, influencing later revolutionary ideas.
• The Great Awakening and the public sphere
  • The revival movement drew large audiences and created new networks of communication and assembly; these networks often crossed class and denominational lines, contributing to a more pluralistic religious landscape and a broader public discourse.
• Colonial elites and urban growth
  • Wealth concentrated among a small elite: the wealthy 2 percent owned a large share of property; the next tier (2–10%) also owned substantial property and controlled political influence; the growing middle class and urban poor formed new social categories that began to influence political life.
  • The urban centers (Boston, New York, Philadelphia) became focal points for political contention, religious movements, and the exchange of ideas; New York’s 1733–1735 press freedom case (Zenger) sparked debates about liberty of the press and the role of juries in public life.
• Immigration, diversity, and social mobility
  • Despite elite control, the colonies’ political life increasingly reflected a mix of social groups (merchants, artisans, laborers) who sought influence within the colonial system.
  • The presence of diverse immigrant groups (Irish, Germans, Scots-Irish, Dutch, Jews) contributed to the political and cultural pluralism that shaped public life.

Competing for a Continent, 1713–1750

• French imperial strategy: Louisiana and the Ohio Valley
  • Louisiana founded (1718), with New Orleans as its capital; Choctaw alliances formed to counter Carolina’s traders and Spanish influence in Florida; by the 1730s Choctaws split into pro-English and pro-French factions.
  • Interior and frontier life: Louisiana’s economy struggled; many settlers relied on mixed subsistence activities (hunting, farming, trade) and depended on Native American and African labor; the Illinois country (Upper Louisiana) resembled Pennsylvania in agriculture but remained precarious due to distance and governance.
  • Great Plains and Great Lakes trade networks expanded; French traders traveled to North Dakota and Colorado; beaver pelts and Indian slaves moved across the continent; European goods spread via Indigenous networks.
  • French strategic emphasis on alliances and trade with Native Americans; heavy emphasis on forts and missions to secure control over fur trade and settlement.
• British expansion and Native diplomacy
  • Covenant Chain: Iroquois Confederacy allied with English to subdue competing Indian groups and manage colonial expansion; the chain grew with Pennsylvania’s entry (1737).
  • Carolina and English traders forged relationships with various tribes (e.g., Catawbans) to secure trade and maintain influence; land acquisitions and treaties (e.g., Walking Purchase of the Delawares) generated lasting tensions with Native peoples.
  • Georgia’s expansion (1732) under Oglethorpe as a direct royal colonization effort; initial ban on slavery and landholdings capped population growth but eventually slavery and larger land grants were allowed (by 1750) leading to plantation-style expansion.
• Spanish and English competition in the Southeast and Southwest
  • Florida remained a contested borderland; Mose (1738) created as a Black settlement of freed Africans under Spanish protection; free black communities formed in St. Augustine’s environs; in 1740 Mose was attacked and captured by British forces; many residents later resettled elsewhere (e.g., Havana).
  • Texas and New Mexico: Spaniards built presidos and missions (e.g., San Antonio de Béxar) to counter French incursions, with the Alamo later rising from these missionary-adjacent settlements; population and security remained limited due to periodic Indian raids and distance from supply networks.
  • The Spanish in Florida offered freedom to enslaved people who escaped English plantations; in times of war, this policy drew escaped slaves to Florida’s towns, complicating English efforts to sustain control in the Southeast.
• The War of Jenkins’ Ear and King George’s War (1740–1748)
  • Jenkins’ Ear (1739) provided a pretext for war with Spain; Oglethorpe’s 1740 expedition against Florida failed to capture St. Augustine but repelled a counterattack with a British-led coalition, including Indian allies.
  • Cartagena expedition: 3,500 colonists participated; high casualties due to disease and Spanish resistance.
  • King George’s War (War of the Austrian Succession in Europe) (1740–1748): limited large-scale battles; Louisbourg (1745) fell to New Englanders after a siege led by William Pepperell; the siege raised colonial morale but the 1748 peace (Aix-la-Chapelle) returned Louisbourg to France, underscoring the limits of colonial gains.
• Territorial and imperial outcomes by mid-century
  • By 1750, British expansion had created a more densely settled Atlantic seaboard with growing metropolitan economies, while France and Spain retained vast but sparsely populated territories and relied on Native American alliances for security.
  • Britain’s mainland colonies were more integrated into a continental economy and increasingly tied to British imperial policy; France’s and Spain’s empires remained dependent on costly forts, missions, and Native alliances to maintain influence.

Public Life in British America, 1689–1750

• Intertwining of Empire, Enlightenment, and Revival
  • The Glorious Revolution provided a political model of restrained monarchy and parliamentary authority that colonists could emulate.
  • The Enlightenment and Great Awakening created a broad public sphere in which colonists debated religion, science, and governance; the two movements reinforced each other in shaping a more engaged and literate society.
• The public sphere and expansion of political participation
  • Assemblies emerged as a key instrument of colonial governance; they asserted control over budgets and taxation and acted as a check on governors.
  • Property, literacy, and social status determined eligibility for office and political influence; voting rights were extended to many but excluded women and nonwhites; property requirements varied by colony (about 40% of free white men unable to meet these requirements in some colonies).
  • In rural areas, voting remained limited and often noncompetitive; in urban centers, politics became more factional and publicly contested (e.g., New York’s 1733–1735 clashes between Cosby and Morris, culminating in the Zenger trial).
• The Zenger case and the growth of a free press
  • The Zenger trial (1735) elevated the idea that truth could be a defense against libel and encouraged broader public debate, helping lay the groundwork for an empowered citizenry.
• The Enlightenment in practice: education, science, and civic virtue
  • Education and literacy enabled broader participation in the Atlantic knowledge economy; the colonial elite supported institutions of higher learning and scientific inquiry (Franklin and his circles).
  • Franklin’s experiments and philosophy linked practical virtue to scientific progress; his philanthropy and civic projects (libraries, hospitals) helped anchor a culture of public obligation.
• The Great Awakening and social change
  • The Awakening fractured established denominations (Old Lights vs New Lights) and expanded religious pluralism; this religious diversification fed broader questions about authority, social order, and personal responsibility.
  • New colleges established to accommodate new denominations (Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth) encouraged access to higher education beyond traditional elites.
  • The Awakening reached beyond white society, incorporating Black and Native American participants in expanded religious life; some African American preachers influenced by revivalism emerged, while others faced continued discrimination.
• Women in public life
  • The revivals elevated the religious roles of women and expanded opportunities for leadership within some congregations; women like Sarah Osborn helped lead prayer‑based movements and engaged in public religious life.
• Implications for later political development
  • The ferment of public life, the Zenger case, and the growth of a literate, engaged citizenry contributed to a climate conducive to political revolution in the subsequent decades.

The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment: Intersections and Tensions

• The Enlightenment and religious experience
  • Thinkers like Isaac Newton and John Locke provided a framework that valued reason, natural law, and skepticism toward superstition; deists (e.g., some Franklin-era thinkers) argued that God’s creation operates through natural law rather than miracles.
  • Many colonists identified as Christians and attended churches, but they balanced rational religion with emotional religious experiences, fearing fanaticism.
• The Great Awakening’s long-term impacts
  • Weakened established churches (Anglican, Congregational) and promoted Presbyterians and Baptists; led to new colleges and a more diverse denominational landscape.
  • Encouraged cross-denominational collaboration and a broader sense of American identity beyond strict sectarian lines.
  • Opened space for some nonelite participation in religious and civic life; helped cultivate a public sphere that would influence political thought in the Revolutionary era.

Conclusion

• By 1750, Britain’s mainland colonies displayed a distinctive, prosperous, and rapidly growing society tied to a global empire, yet riven by deep social, religious, and economic tensions.
• Mercantilist policies created a robust Atlantic economy, but also led to urban poverty, wealth concentration, and social friction.
• The Glorious Revolution established a political culture of limited government and representative institutions that shaped colonial governance and public life.
• The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening helped form a highly literate, civically engaged, and ideologically diverse colonial society; these currents prepared the ground for eventual American self-government and independence.
• In comparing empires, Britain’s system integrated commerce, finance, and colonial labor more deeply into Atlantic networks, while France and Spain relied more on centralized state control, heavy missionary activity, and military force to maintain influence.
• Throughout, Native Americans and Africans navigated, resisted, and exchanged within these imperial systems, shaping borders, networks, and livelihoods across the continent.

Chronology highlights (selected anchors)

• 1651 ext{, }1660 ext{, }1663: Navigation Acts establish mercantilist framework; trade restricted to English/colonial ships; enumerated goods and penalties enacted.
• 1672 o1684: Administrative enforcement expands; Dominion building blocks appear; Massachusetts charter revoked; colonial governance restructured.
• 1688 ext{--}1689: Glorious Revolution reshapes monarchy and colonial loyalties; William and Mary assume the throne; Dominion dismantled.
• 1689 ext{--}1713: King William’s War and intercolonial conflict; Iroquois Grand Settlement (1701) stabilizes Northeast; War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War).
• 1730s o1740s: Great Awakening spreads; Zenger trial (1735) advances ideas of liberty of the press; Walking Purchase (1737) reshapes Delaware land relations; Mose (1738–1740) reflects Spain’s countervailing efforts in Florida.
• 1740 ext{--}1748: King George’s War; Louisbourg siege (1745); Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) peace temporarily stabilizes imperial conflicts.
• 1750: Slavery legalized in Georgia; demographic shifts toward greater ethnic and religious diversity; urban growth continues in northern ports; colonial public life increasingly complex and dynamic.

// Key terms to study

• Dominion of New England, Leisler’s Rebellion, Walking Purchase, Stono Rebellion, Covenant Chain, New Lights vs Old Lights, Zenger trial, Great Awakening, Enlightenment, Navigation Acts, Molasses Act, enumerated goods, mercantilism, consumer revolution, Piedmont settlement, Mose (Florida), Louisbourg, King George’s War, Aix-la-Chapelle, Walking Purchase, Jh