Bellwork

1
Bellwork

• In an earlier lesson, we discussed that Virginia
  already began using indentured servants for
  labor. Do you think that using indentured
  servants may have affected the later use of
  slaves in the south? What do you think the
  difference between an indentured servant and
  slave is?

2
American History

• Section 5, Unit 2
• Southern Colonies

3
Objectives

• Map where the southern colonies are located
• Identify the cultural characteristics of these
  colonies
• Explain how agriculture became the main economic
  force in these southern colonies
• Identify why indentured servitude began to end
  and how slavery- along racial lines- formed after
  Bacons Rebellion.

4
The Chesapeake

• Within 25 years of Jamestowns founding, Virginia
  was a thriving colony with a population of 2,500.
  
• Tobacco fueled the colony, with production rising
  to about 50,000 lbs in 1618 to more than 1
  million lbs in the late 1630s.
• The promise of huge profits led many wealthy
  Englishmen to establish a colony in the
  Chesapeake the land surrounding the Chesapeake
  Bay.

5
Chesapeake Bay
6
House of Burgesses

• Within 25 years of Jamestown, the Virginia
  Company established the House of Burgesses. It
  was the first elected assembly of representatives
  in North America and its first meeting was in
  Jamestown.

7
House of Burgesses

• It was established to encourage English craftsmen
  to settle in North America and to make conditions
  more agreeable for its current inhabitants.
• Between the House and the beliefs of wealth,
  Virginia began to grow even more so overtime.

8
Cecilius Calvert

• Cecilius Calvert became the owner and proprietor
  of millions of acres of the upper Chesapeake Bay
  thanks to Charles I.
• He created a colony and named it Maryland, after
  Charles French wife, Henrietta Maria.
• As proprietor, Calvert was free to dispose of the
  land and to govern within guidelines as he
  wished.

9
Calvert's Goals

• Calvert wanted to create a haven for fellow Roman
  Catholics in a largely Protestant England and
  America.
• However, he also hoped to make money.
• Because there were not enough Catholic immigrants
  to America to make Maryland profitable, he opened
  his colony to Protestants.
• Overtime, Protestants outnumbered Catholics in
  this once Catholic-only colony.

Question How do you think too many Protestants
would affect the colony?
10
Toleration Acts

• In 1649, Calvert passed The Toleration Act of
  1649, which guaranteed religious freedom to all
  Christians.

...no person or persons...professing to believe
in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be anyways
troubled, Molested or discountenanced for or in
respect of his or her religion nor in the free
exercise thereof within this Province...
Maryland Toleration Act, 1649
11
Toleration Acts

• The Acts created the first legal limitations on
  hate speech in the world.
• It made it a crime for anyone to blaspheme the
  trinity or divinity of Jesus.
• It allowed for the freedom of worship, but
  punished anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus.
  

12
Toleration Acts

• The Toleration Act would set a precedent for
  future laws concerning Free Speech (such as the
  First Amendment) and separation of church and
  state.
• While the Toleration Acts did not secure
  religious freedom and while it included severe
  punishments it was the first law to predate the
  Enlightenment that guaranteed at least some form
  of religious freedom.

13
Population

• Catholic and Protestant settlers in Maryland
  began to follow Virginias lead and devoted much
  of their land to the production of tobacco.
• As a result, the cultures of the areas became
  quite distinct in the Chesapeake.

14
Population

• Most white colonists in the Chesapeake came as
  indentured servants.
• Many came because they could not find work in
  England.
• However, not all came willingly. Some people-
  including children- were kidnapped off the
  streets of London to meet the demand for labor.
• By the 1700s, England also sent almost
  30,000-50,000 convicts to work in the Chesapeake.

15
Population

• Of the colonists who came as indentured servants,
  some 75 were men or boys between 15-24 years
  old.
• In 1704, Maryland had a population of men that
  was three times as large as women. Because of the
  population differences, most men were never
  married.

Indentured servant cutting wood.
16
Death and Population

• High death rates also heavily affected the
  population. Throughout the 1600s, typhoid,
  malaria, and other diseases ravaged the colonies.
  Up to 55 of those born in the Chesapeake died
  before age 20.
• However, life expectancy improved near the 18th
  century as the number of native-born colonists-
  with better immunity- began to increase.

17
Effects of high death rates

• Question What effect might high death rates have
  on marriage in the Chesapeake?
• The high death rates gave rise to family patterns
  very different than those in New England. New
  England had low death rates, meaning that most
  people only married once.

18
Death rates

• In the Chesapeake, however, one partner in most
  marriages died within 7 or 8 years of marrying
  and, most of the time, the surviving partner
  remarried.
• As a result, most families included stepparents,
  stepsiblings, half siblings, and even orphans of
  dead relatives, which was very different from the
  New England-style family.

19
Rural Society

• The vast majority of colonists in the Chesapeake
  lived on widely scattered farms and plantations.
• They produced tobacco for export and grew or made
  many of the things they needed.
• Away from the coasts, poor settlers mostly grew
  corn and vegetables, kept a some domestic
  animals, and hunted.

20
Society

• Most large plantations were near the many rivers
  that flow into the Chesapeake Bay.
• Originally, English trading ships stopped at the
  planters docks to collect tobacco and deliver
  goods.
• However, Scottish traders began to set up stores
  elsewhere and would trade tobacco.

21
Towns

• Because most traders/planters did not have to go
  to a central location to trade, towns did not
  grow as large.
• By 1750, the only large town was Baltimore,
  Maryland.
• Without towns, the Chesapeake was slow to develop
  a substantial class of independent artisans and
  shopkeepers.

22
Education

• Because of the lack of towns, education was
  hindered.
• Education was left to individual families who
  either taught their own children or hired tutors.
  
• Wealthy families ensured their children were
  educated, but did not help support schooling for
  others.

William Berkeley
23
Education (cont.)

• However, the culture of the Chesapeake may have
  had a role to play as well. In fact, in 1671,
  Virginia Governor William Berkley proudly claimed
  to English government that Virginia had no free
  schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not
  have these for a hundreds years.
• Many of those in the Chesapeake believed that
  schools made ordinary people unfit for their
  station in life

24
Question

• Who are indentured servants?
• Did all indentured servants come to America
  willingly?

25
Free indentured Servants

• A lack of schooling, however, did not stop
  colonists from questioning authority.
• Virginia was home to an increasing number of free
  indentured servants, who would soon struggle to
  afford to live in the colonies.

26
Tobacco Prices stumble

• In 1660, the prices of tobacco fell sharply and,
  because tobacco sold so low, most free indentured
  servants could not afford to buy their own land.
• Many of them were forced to rent land or work as
  wage laborers for wealthy planters.
• Landless laborers and small landowners grew
  increasingly discontented.

27
Violence

• The workers were in debt, taxes were high, and
  they saw their legislature doing nothing to help
  them.
• This discontent erupted in violence in 1675.
• Many poor farmers and laborers, believing more
  land will help solve their problems, moved
  westward in Virginia to gain more land.
• However, this land was guaranteed to the
  Powhatans in a 1646 treaty. However, the treaty
  did not stop settlers from moving onto Native
  lands.

28
Violence (cont.)

• When the settlers moved onto Native lands, they
  killed a group of friendly Susquehannocks and,
  when no compensation was made, the Susquehannocks
  attacked outlying plantations.
• The colonists made a call to Virginia Governor
  Berkeley and the House of Burgesses to go to war
  with the Natives.

29
Tension grows

• When Berkeley refused to go to war with the
  Natives, farmers gathered around at the report of
  a new raiding party (a group who would attack the
  Natives).
• They would soon be led to action by a man named
  Nathaniel Bacon.

30
Nathaniel Bacon

• Nathaniel Bacon, a young planter and part of the
  governors council, believed it was necessary to
  attack the Natives in retaliation.
• He formed a following and small militia, mostly
  made up of indentured servants, discontented
  laborers, and enslaved Africans.

31
Bacons Rebellion

• Although Berkeley ordered that no one attack the
  Natives, Bacons group moved south and attacked
  the Susquehannock. They killed most of the
  villagers and burned the village.

32
Bacons Rebellion

• When the group returned to Jamestown, they
  discovered that Berkeley had called for new
  elections in the Burgesses to better solve the
  Native problem.
• The house had enacted a few new reforms (which
  Bacon did not attend), which limited the powers
  of the governor and restored suffrage rights to
  landless freemen (voting rights). However, the
  reforms did not quell Bacon and his men, who
  wanted more action against the Natives.

33
Bacons Rebellion (cont.)

• After the passage of these laws, Bacon arrived
  with 500 followers to Jamestown to demand that he
  be allowed to lead a militia against the Native
  Americans.
• The governor continued to refuse to yield.
• When Bacon had his men aim their weapons at
  Berkeley, Berkeley bared his breast to Bacon
  and told Bacon to shoot him himself.

34
Bacons Rebellion (cont.)

• Because the governor could not be moved, Bacon
  instead had his men aim their guns at the
  assembled burgesses, who quickly granted Bacon
  the right to have his militia.
• By 1676, Bacon and his army of settlers had begun
  to randomly attack Natives on the frontier land,
  but were still not fully satisfied.

35
Bacons Rebellion

• In 1676, Bacon and his army issues the
  Declaration of the People of Virginia, which
  criticized Berkeleys administration in detail
  and accused him of
• Levying unfair taxes
• Appointing friends to high positions
• And failing to protect frontier settlers from
  Natives
• In response, Bacon began to attack Natives,
  wealthy plantations, and those who assisted the
  Natives.

36
Bacons Rebellion

• After months of conflict with Berkeleys
  administration (and the English militia that was
  there), Bacons forces of 300-500 men moved to
  Jamestown.
• They burned the colonial capital in late-1676.
• Berkeley attempted to retaliate, but being
  outnumbered, Berkeley retreated across the river.

37
Bacons Rebellion

• The English eventually sent extra forces to quell
  Bacons Rebellion, but by the time they arrived,
  the rebellion had ended with the death of Bacon,
  who died of dysentery a month after burning
  Jamestown.
• The English would stem any further rebellion and
  ultimately ordered Berkeley to return to England.

38
Causes and Effects of Bacons Rebellion

• Causes

• Effects

• High taxes
• Unfair social standings (laborers and indentured
  servants could not pay off debts)
• Low tobacco prices made paying off debts
  difficult
• Reluctance of Virginias government to attack the
  Natives and expand westward

• The House of Burgesses would quietly cut taxes
  and open Indian lands to colonists
• Bacons Rebellion may have caused a hardening of
  racial tensions between whites and blacks.

39
Slavery

• While Bacons Rebellion was short-lived, it had
  one far reaching effect it strengthened the move
  from indentured labor to slave labor.
• More indentured servants ultimately meant more
  discounted freed servants (once they paid their
  debts).

40
Slavery

• Slaves, however, did not pose this problem.
• Slaves were property and could be freely traded
  between owners.
• Slave status was also hereditary, meaning that
  the children of slaves were also slaves.
• Unless a owner released their slaves (or a slave
  ran away), they normally could not become free.

41
Slavery

• Slaves were becoming more plentiful around the
  late 17th century and they were cheaper than
  indentured servants.
• As employment opportunities increased in England,
  fewer people were willing to become indentured
  servants.
• However, slaves would soon replace the need for
  those servants.

42
Effect of Bacons Rebellion

• The rebellion most likely hastened the hardening
  of racial lines associated with slavery.
• The belief among planters at the time was that
  they may not be able to control poor white
  people, but they may be able to control poor
  blacks more easily.

43
Growth of Racism

• This belief system would, overtime, soon turn
  into a full-fledged racist belief system of white
  superiority.
• Consider this when you dehumanize a group long
  enough, it becomes easy to see how another group
  could see themselves as superior.
• In another words, they might be slaves because
  they deserve it or are simply lesser.

44
Brief History of Slavery

• The first Africans brought to the Chesapeake were
  indentured servants and, after they paid their
  debt, where free to work for themselves.
• However, by 1640, some Africans were now becoming
  slaves rather than servants.
• This trend would only increase overtime.

45
The Atlantic Slave Trade

• During the early years of the slave trade,
  African traders sold criminals and war captives
  to European colonists.
• However, as the demand for plantation workers, in
  both Spanish America and British America
  increased, African raiders moved farther inland
  to capture slaves.
• They would raid entire villages and move them
  from farther inland Africa to the western
  seaboard.

46
The Atlantic Slave Trade

• Between 1500-1600, the Atlantic Slave Trade
  became a massive enterprise that transported
  nearly 300,000 slaves to the Americas. By 1870,
  that number rose to 9.5 million Africans shipped
  to the Americas.
• Only about 5 of all slaves traded ended up in
  the United States.
• Video Crash Course history on the Atlantic Slave
  Trade
• Questions How did slavery change over time? How
  did Europeans begin to base slavery on skin
  color?

47
Middle Passage

• African slave trading occurred in a triangular
  fashion.
• The main leg of the trade, the Middle Passage,
  was the direct route of slaves to the Americas,
  primarily to the West Indies and the Chesapeake
  area.

48
Slave Experience

• Many captives killed themselves before actually
  being shipped off.
• For those who did not, they often suffocated,
  died of disease, or experienced violence on the
  ships they were on
• Conditions were generally horrific, as people
  were stacked on top of one another and could
  barely move during the entire trip.

49
Olaudah Equiano

• Olaudah Equiano was a kidnapped African who
  experienced first hand the Middle Passage and
  its horrors.
• (we will see this on the next slide)
• Overtime, he did earn his freedom and became an
  early abolitionist of slavery.

50
Description of the Middle Passage

• There I received such a salutation in my
  nostrils as I had never experienced in my life.
  With the loathesomeness of the stench and the
  crying together, I became so sick and low that I
  was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire
  to taste anything. I now wished for the last
  friend, Death, to relieve me Soon, to my grief,
  two of the white men offered me eatables and on
  my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by
  the hands and laid me across the windlass and
  tied my feet while the other flogged me severely.
  I had never experienced anything of this kind
  before. If I could have gotten over the nettings,
  I would have jumped over the side, but I could
  not. The crew used to watch very closely those of
  us who were not chained down to the decks, lest
  we should leap into the water. I have seen some
  of these poor African prisoners most severely cut
  for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for
  not eating.-- Equiano

51
Question

• How would the cruelty of the Middle Passage been
  preparing captives for the life of slavery in the
  Americas?

52
Abolitionists

• Equiano was not the only person to speak out
  against slavery.
• Other blacks and some white colonists denounced
  slavery these people were referred to as
  Abolitionists (because they wanted slavery
  abolished).

53
Quakers

• The abolitionist movement did not become a force
  until a sect of protestants- the Quakers (or
  Religious Society of Friends)- took a public
  stand against slavery in 1688.
• They published an anti-slavery pamphlet called
  The Selling of Joseph, in which they described
  all men as equal, being the Sons of Adam.

54
Quakers

• By the mid-1700s, most Quakers condemned
  slavery.
• Quakers even urged that those who do not agree
  with slavery to no longer buy products made by
  slaves.
• The belief was that with enough economic
  incentive, slaveholders would eventually stop
  using slave labor.

55
Slave Codes

• Despite the protests, slavery was practiced in
  all English colonies.
• As Africans became more numerous after 1660, they
  were required by law to be treated inferior to
  whites.
• These would be known as the slave codes.

56
Purpose of Slave Codes

• The slave codes were designed to prevent escape
  and discourage revolt.
• The codes forbade slaves to meet together, leave
  the plantation, learn to read or write, or own
  weapons.
• The codes even protected slave masters that
  killed a slave while correcting their behavior.

57
Effective of the Codes

• The harsh rules did not entirely prevent
  rebellion
• New slaves often ran away and there were some
  uprisings
• In 1739, slaves killed some 30 whites before a
  militia quelled the uprising. The slaves who
  survived were put to death in harsh ways.
• Uprsings often lead to harsher conditions for
  slaves and new methods of controlling the slaves.

58
The Colonies

• Slavery would continue to be a issue surrounding
  the southern colonies for another century.
• However, overtime, many colonies would soon
  become less dependent on slavery as their
  economies grew out of requiring agricultural work
  and instead focus on trade.

59
Review Objectives

• Map where the southern colonies are located
• Identify the cultural characteristics of these
  colonies
• Explain how agriculture became the main economic
  force in these southern colonies
• Identify why indentured servitude began to end
  and how slavery- along racial lines- formed after
  Bacons Rebellion.

60
Questions

• If you have any questions, please ask now.

61
Next Lesson

• In the next lesson, we are going to discuss
  post-restoration colonies.

62
Review

1. What was the effect of Bacons Rebellion on
   slavery and racial tensions?
2. What were conditions like for slaves while they
   were being transported to the Americas? Describe
   them.
3. If the Chesapeake had more towns and required
   less agricultural labor, do you think they would
   still require slaves? Why or why not?
4. Why did Bacons rebellion occur what were the
   protesters upset about?
5. Name at least two benefits of slave labor that
   made it more feasible than indentured servitude.
   Explain each benefit.
6. Why did the population of the Chesapeake have
   little formal education? How did wealthy families
   solve this for themselves?
7. Why did the Quakers oppose slavery? What were the
   people who opposed slavery called as a whole?