The Colonies Grow 1607–1770 Why It Matters Independence was a spirit that became evident early in the history of the American people. The spirit of independence contributed to the birth of a new nation, one with a new government and a culture that was distinct from those of other countries. The Impact Today Americans continue to value independence. For example: • The right to practice one’s own religion freely is safeguarded. • Americans value the right to express themselves freely and to make their own laws. The American Republic to 1877 Video The chapter 4 video, “Middle Passage: Voyages of the Slave Trade,” examines the beginnings of the slave trade, focusing on the Middle Passage. 1676 • Bacon’s Rebellion c. 1570 • Iroquois Confederacy 1651 formed • First Navigation Act regulates colonial trade 1550 1600 1650 1603 1610 1644 • Tokugawa Shogunate • Galileo observes • Qing Dynasty emerges in Japan planets and stars established in with telescope China 98 CHAPTER 4 The Colonies Grow Compare-Contrast Study Foldable Make the following (Venn diagram) foldable to compare and contrast the peoples involved in the French and Indian War. Step 1 Fold a sheet of paper from side to side, leaving a 2-inch tab uncovered along the side. Fold it so the left edge lies 2 inches from the right edge. Step 2 Turn the paper and fold into thirds. Step 3 Unfold and cut along the two inside fold lines. Cut along the two folds on the front flap to make 3 tabs. Step 4 Label the foldable as shown. The French and Indian War French British and Native Both and Americans Colonists The South Side of St. John’s Street by Joseph B. Smith This painting Reading and Writing As you read about the shows a quiet neighborhood in New York City during the late 1760s. participants of the war, write facts about them under the appropriate tabs of your foldable. 1700s • Enslaved Africans 1754 brought to America • French and Indian War begins c. 1740 • Great Awakening 1763 peaks • Proclamation of 1763 HISTORY Chapter Overview 1700 1750 Visit tarvol1.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 4— Chapter Overviews to pre- view chapter information. 1689 1690 1702 1748 • English Bill of • Locke’s Two • England and • Montesquieu’s The Rights signed Treatises of France at war Spirit of Laws Government CHAPTER 4 The Colonies Grow 99 Life in the Colonies Guide to Reading Main Idea Reading Strategy Read to Learn Each region developed a unique way Classifying Information As you read • what the triangular trade was and of life. Section 1, re-create the diagram how it affected American society. below and describe the differences in • how the regions in the colonies dif- Key Terms the economies of the New England, fered from one another. subsistence farming, triangular Middle, and Southern Colonies. • why the use of enslaved workers trade, cash crop, diversity, Tide- increased in the colonies. water, backcountry, overseer Economic Development New Middle Southern Section Theme England Colonies Colonies Economic Factors Ways of earning a living varied among the colonies. Preview of Events ✦1700 ✦1750 ✦1800 1700s 1750 c. 1760 Thousands of enslaved Africans South Carolina and Georgia have the New York City’s population are brought to America fastest-growing colonial economies reaches 18,000 In 1760 Englishman Andrew Burnaby traveled throughout the North American colonies, observing American life. He could not imagine that these colonies would ever join in union for they were as different from one another as “fire and water,” and each colony was jealous of the other. “In short, such is the difference of charac- Colonial ter, of manners, of religion, of interest, of the different colonies, that I think . were spinning wheel they left to themselves, there would soon be a civil war, from one end of the continent to the other.” New England Colonies Although Burnaby believed that the colonies would never unite, the colonies continued to grow. The number of people living in the colonies rose from about 250,000 in 1700 to approximately 2.5 million by the mid-1770s. The population of African Americans increased at an even faster rate—from about 28,000 to more than 500,000. 100 CHAPTER 4 The Colonies Grow Immigration was important to this growth. and thin, rocky soil made large-scale farming Between 1607 and 1775, almost a million peo- difficult. Farmers in New England practiced ple—an estimated 690,000 Europeans and subsistence farming, which means that they 278,000 Africans—came to live in the colonies. generally produced just enough to meet the By 1775 about 2,500 Jews lived in the colonies. needs of their families, with little left over to sell Most Jewish immigrants lived in the cities of or exchange. Most Northern farmers relied on New York, Philadelphia, Charles Town, Savan- their children for labor. Everyone in the family nah, and Newport, where they were allowed to worked—spinning yarn, preserving fruit, milk- worship as they pleased. ing cows, fencing in fields, and sowing and har- Another reason for the growing population vesting grain. was that colonial women tended to marry early and have large families. In addition, America, $ Economics especially New England, turned out to be an unusually healthy place to live. Commerce in New England Most people in New England lived in well- New England also had many small busi- organized towns. In the center of the town stood nesses. Some people used the waterpower from the meetinghouse, a building used for both the streams on their land to run mills for grind- church services and town meetings. The meet- ing grain or sawing lumber. Women who made inghouse faced a piece of land called the green, cloth, garments, candles, or soap for their fami- or common, where cows grazed and the citizen lies sometimes made enough of these products army trained. Farmers lived in the town and to sell or trade. Large towns attracted skilled worked in fields on its outskirts. craftspeople who set themselves up as black- Farming was the main economic activity in all smiths, shoemakers, furniture makers, gun- the colonies, but New England farms were smiths, metalsmiths, and printers. smaller than those farther south. Long winters Shipbuilding was an important industry. The lumber for building ships came from the forests of New England and was transported down America’s Architecture rivers to the shipyards in coastal towns. A house design called a “salt box” became popular in many areas. The design featured a square or rectangu- lar house, often with an addition in the back that provided more living space. These houses were called salt boxes because they were similar in shape to the wooden box in which salt was kept in colonial kitchens. Where was the meetinghouse located in many towns? Pineapples symbol- ized hospitality in colonial America. CHAPTER 4 The Colonies Grow 101 The region also relied on fishing. New Eng- Many West African kingdoms enslaved those landers fished for cod, halibut, crabs, oysters, they defeated in war. Some of the enslaved were and lobsters. Some ventured far out to sea to sold to Arab slave traders. Others were forced to hunt whales for oil and whalebone. mine gold or work in farm fields. With the arrival of the Europeans, enslaved Africans also began to Colonial Trade be shipped to America in exchange for trade As the center of the shipping trade in Amer- goods. On the final leg of the route, the enslaved ica, northern coastal cities linked the northern Africans were taken to the West Indies where they colonies with the Southern Colonies, and linked were sold to planters. The profit was used to buy America to other parts of the world. New Eng- more molasses—and the process started over. land ships sailed south along the Atlantic coast, trading with the colonies and with islands in the The Middle Passage West Indies. They crossed the Atlantic carrying The inhumane part of the triangular trade, fish, furs, and fruit to trade for manufactured shipping enslaved Africans to the West Indies, goods in England and Europe. was known as the Middle Passage. Olaudah These colonial merchant ships followed many Equiano, a young African forced onto a ship to different trading routes. Some went directly to America, later described the voyage: England and back. Others followed routes that came to be called the triangular trade because the “I was soon put down under the decks, . The routes formed a triangle. On one leg of such a closeness of the place, and the heat of the route, ships brought sugar and molasses from the climate, added to the number in the ship, which West Indies to the New England colonies. In New was so crowded that each had scarcely room to England, the molasses would be made into rum. turn himself, almost suffocated us. The shrieks Next, the rum and other goods were shipped to of the women, and the groans of the dying, ren- West Africa and traded for enslaved Africans. dered [made] the whole a scene of horror. Slavery was widely practiced in West Africa. ” Slaves packed in a ship History A deck plan (above) reveals tightly packed ranks of slaves on a ship bound from Africa to the Americas. Once docked, the ship’s human cargo was replaced with rum or molasses. What does the term “Middle Passage” refer to? 102 CHAPTER 4 The Colonies Grow Triangular Trade Routes ° 60°N 0 60°W 30°W BRITAIN N E 30 W ° Trade routes N S rs , fu digo co, in BRITISH tobac I Rice, r COLONIES it o ru n f , 15 , s s d c ° e o N s l s o o a g ol t m ed h , r , s r a u w d g t Gulf of s u c o S a e e f AFRICA a Mexico o s u s n p G a a o l m , n WEST o th lo s INDIES M C Atlantic 0° Ocean C a rib Pacific be an Ocean Sea Ens Enslave lave d persons d pe TH rson Rum E M s, go , iron, tools ID ld, pep DLE per PAS SAGE 15 African Slave Trade ° S 1450–1870 Destination Total British America/United States 427,000 Mexico and Central America 224,000 West Indies 4,040,000 Triangular trade routes developed among the British colonies, Spanish South America 522,000 Africa, and the West Indies.