A.p. u.s. ch 4 p.p
- 2. THE UNHEALTHY CHESAPEAKE 1. How would you describe life in the American wilderness? 2. Life expectancies? 3. Describe the family characteristics in the wilderness. 4. What was the largest colony at the end of the 17th century?
- 3. THE TOBACCO ECONOMY Although unhealthy for human life, the Chesapeake was immensely hospitable to tobacco cultivation. The insatiable demand for virgin land pushed commercial growers further inland, creating friction with the Indians.
- 4. By the 1630’s, 1.5 million lbs of tobacco were shipped to Europe; by the end of the 17th century, the amount reached 40 million lbs.
- 5. More tobacco meant more labor, but where would it come from? Families procreated too slowly, Indians died too quickly on contact with whites, and African slaves cost too much money. But England still had a “surplus” of displaced farmers, desperate for employment. Many of them, as “indentured servants,” voluntarily mortgaged their bodies for several years to Chesapeake masters. In exchange, they received free passage to America and eventual “freedom dues.”
- 6. Explain the “headright” system employed by Virginia & Maryland to encourage the importation of servant workers. Describe the plight of the “white slave.”
- 8. FRUSTRATED FREEMEN and BACON’S REBELLION Explain the evolution of the rebellion (Nathaniel Bacon v. William Berkeley).
- 9. Who were the rebels? What was the outcome of the rebellion? Explain the rebellion’s significance.
- 11. COLONIAL SLAVERY Perhaps 10 million Africans were carried in chains to the New World in the 300 years after Columbus’s landing. Only about 400,000 ended up in North America.
- 13. Most of the slaves came from the west coast of Africa. They were captured by African coastal tribes, who traded them in crude markets on tropical beaches to European and American flesh merchants.
- 15. Upon arrival in colonial America, slave auction ads appeared throughout the colonies, both North and South.
- 16. Explain the purpose and specifics of the “slave codes.” Slavery might have begun in America for economic reasons (labor), but by the end of the 17th century, it was clear that racial discrimination also powerfully molded the American slave system.
- 17. The primary components of this racial discrimination were no legal or political rights and strict limitations on educational opportunities.
- 19. AFRICANS in AMERICA Contrast slave life in the deep South with slave life in the Chesapeake region.
- 20. Native-born African-Americans contributed to the growth of a stable & distinctive slave culture, a mixture of African and American elements of speech, religion, and folkways. Slaves also helped to build the country with their labor, both skilled and unskilled. The “fortunate” slave worked as a house servant.
- 23. SOUTHERN SOCIETY As slavery spread, the gaps in the South’s social structure widened. Identify and describethe southern social hierarchy.
- 25. THE NEW ENGLAND FAMILY Contrast life expectancies in New England versus the Chesapeake. Reasons? On average, how many pregnancies for a married New England woman? How did women view child birth? Contrast New England families with Chesapeake families.
- 26. LIFE in the NEW ENGLAND TOWNS Sturdy New Englanders evolved a tightly-knit society, the basis of which was small villages and farms. Geography and Puritanism made for unity of purpose. New England society grew in a more orderly fashion than elsewhere. Education was emphasized and villagers gathered regularly in their meetinghouses to elect their officials, appoint schoolmasters, and debate village matters.
- 27. THE HALF-WAY COVENANT And the SALEM WITCH TRIALS Explain the dilemma for Puritan clergymen as Puritan settlements grew? What was the Half-Way Covenant? What was the impact?
- 28. How did the infamous “witch hunts” reflect widening social stratification? What put an end to the witchcraft hysteria?
- 29. “Witch hunting” passed into the American vocabulary as a metaphor for the often dangerously irrational urge to find a scapegoat for social resentments.
- 31. THE EARLY SETTLER’S DAYS and WAYS The cycles of seasons and sun set the schedules of the settlers, especially since most of them were farmers. Most rose at dawn and went to bed at dusk.. They planted their crops in the spring, tended their crops in the summer, and harvested in the fall. They used the winter to prepare for the next spring. Explain the consistent division of labor. Contrast frontier life versus life in England. How did frontier life affect social stratification?