Life in the American Colonies

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Life in the American Colonies

• 1680-1775

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• VA, MA, PA, NC and MD largest populations by
  1775.
• Since 1760, the overall population had increased
  by almost 1 million people largely because of a
  high birthrate.
• It was not uncommon for a man to go through
  several wives because they often died in
  childbirth.
• Most of this population lived in rural areas.

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Ethnic Composition of the Colonies

• English largest ethnic group
• Many Germans moved to Pennsylvania
• Large number of Scotch-Irish lived along the
  frontier
• Largest non-English group was African, most of
  whom were slaves. The vast majority of
  African-Americans lived in the South.

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Social Organization

• Aristocrats including merchants, officials and
  clergymen
• Lesser professionals
• Yeoman farmers
• Manual workers and hired hands
• Indentured servants and criminals
• African-American slaves

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A New England kitchen. A hundred years
agoDigital ID (digital file from bw film copy
neg.) cph 3a05604 http//hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3
a05604 Reproduction Number LC-USZ62-1857 (bw
film copy neg.) Repository Library of Congress
Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
20540 USA
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Sack Back Gown and Matching Petticoats. Brocaded
silk taffeta, linen bodice and sleeve linings,
made in England or Virginia by Elizabeth
Dandridge Aylett Henley.G1975-340.
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Mrs. Gavin Lawson (Susannah Rose) by John
Hesselius. Oil on Canvas. Virginia, dated 1770.
Mrs. Lawson wife of a planter and merchant of
Stafford County, Virginia, wears a satin gown
with stomacher front, fine lace, and pearls.
1954-262.
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Everyday Life

• Medicine Bleeding was a common practice. Barbers
  and physicians practiced medicine.
• Sanitation was poor. Smallpox was common. No
  running water or plumbing. Trash often thrown in
  the streets.
• Transportation Poor system of roads making long
  distance communication difficult. Taverns along
  roads were important places for gossip and
  information.
• Food was abundant. America provided fertile land
  and ample hunting grounds.
• Amusement House raisings, quilting bees and
  other work opportunities allowed people to
  gather. Religion was very important and provided
  another gathering place.

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Leeches could ingest ten times their weight in a
patient's blood.
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Instruments used for bloodletting were often
crude and unsanitary.
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The eighteenth-century version of the universal
cure was bloodletting. The genuine physician and
the quack alike resorted to it in cases from
brain fever to broken legs, colic to cancer.
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An early version of a hack saw was also used by a
surgeon.
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Work

• Most individuals were farmers. Land was cheap and
  abundant.
• Lumbering was most important manufacturing
  activity.
• Triangle Trade
• Source Florida Virtual School

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Religion
                                  

• Two established religions (1775) - Anglican and
  Congregational
• Roman Catholics were discriminated against.
• Salem Witch Trials occurred in 1692
• Great Awakening - This religious revival was
  America's first mass movement. Two clergymen who
  helped lead this mass wave of evangelism were
  Jonathan Edwards and Cotton Mather.

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Education

• New England Primary and secondary schools were
  established early so individuals could read their
  Bible.
• South Mass education not common. Wealthier
  families used tutors.
• New England College education important. Harvard
  University was founded in 1636 partially to train
  new clergy. Many families sent their children to
  England for study.

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Art and Literature

• Art was not a major concern in early America.
• Architecture was modeled after England.
• Literature was mainly theological in nature.
  Jonathan Edwards was one of the main authors.
• Benjamin Franklin wrote Poor Richard's Almanack
  that was known for its pithy sayings like Waste
  Not, Want Not.
• Franklin set up the first privately supported
  library in America.
• Printing presses and newspapers were common.

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Politics

• By the Revolution, eight colonies had royal
  governors, three had proprietors who chose
  governors, and two elected their own governors.
• Almost all colonies had a two-house legislative
  body.
• London did not spend a lot of time administering
  the colonies. This was known as 'salutary
  neglect.'
• Local government varied. In the South, counties
  ruled. In New England, the citizens participated
  in town meetings (direct democracy).
• A tradition of self-rule became grounded in the
  colonies.