Chapter 3: Society and Culture in Provincial America

What is indentured servitude?

Indentured servitude

Young men and women bound (legal obligation) themselves to masters for approximately 4 to 5 years.

Male indentures were to receive benefits at the end of their servitude (clothing, tools, and occasionally land).

Most indentured servants came to American voluntarily, others did not.

In 1617, the English government shipped convicts to America to be sold into servitude.

Indentured servants avoided the southern colonies.

Medicine in the Colonies

High death rates for women

Easy entrance into medical field with no or very little professional training.

Women established themselves as midwives.

Origins of Slavery

Tobacco cultivationLimited supply of African laborers during

17th centuryMiddle PassageUnclear status of black laborers in AmericaIn the 18th century, a clear distinction

between white slaves and black slaves had been established.

English assumptionsSlave codes

Changing Sources of European Immigration

English immigration began to decreaseOther European immigration on the rise:

French, Irish, German, Swiss, Welsh, Scottish, and Scandinavian

Germans

Southern Economy

Tobacco was the base of the economy.

South Carolina and Georgia

Rice was the staple crop

Dependent on African slaves

Indigo in South Carolina

Eliza Lucas

Northern Economy

Soil and ClimateMetal industry in

MassachusettsIron act of 1750Natural resource

industry

Plantation System

First systems emerged in Virginia and Maryland.

Charles Carroll of Maryland17th century colonial plantationsLarger plantations

Plantation Slavery

African slaves living conditions

Africans developed a strong family structure

Family was in jeopardy most of the time

Stono Rebellion

Witchcraft Phenomenon

1680’s-1690’sSalem, MassachusettsSalem witch trialsAdolescent girls

displayed unusual behavior.

Accused witches were middle-aged women, widowed, with few or no children.

“Independent” women challenged the norms of Puritan society.

The Pattern of Religions

o Roger Williamso Anti-Catholicism

o Jews

The Great Awakening

First great American revival1730’s-1740’sBreak from their past and start a new relationship

with godJonathan Edwards

The Enlightenment

Scientific and intellectual discoveries in Europe

Reason vs. faithSeek guidance within themselves17th century European giants: John Locke

and Francis Bacon.Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,

Thomas Paine, and James Madison