American Life in the Seventeenth Century

Stabilization of the American Colonies

By the 17th Century, early settlements transitioned into permanent settlements, leading to the development of distinct social, economic, and political systems. These systems were all shaped by the culture and ethnicity of the people living in each of the three regions of the American Colonies. Europeans, Africans, and Indians contributed to shaping America by adapting to the environment. 

As the 13 Original Colonies took shape, they faced challenges and were presented with opportunities that helped them develop unique characteristics and identities. However, each colony retained its ties to Great Britain and built its legal system on the principles of the British Constitution.

Although African Slavery existed in all three regions of the American Colonies, it was extensively used in the Southern Colonies, because of their Plantation System that produced rice, tobacco, indigo, and eventually cotton.

Each region in America contributed to Britain’s Mercantile System. America served as the source of many raw materials for British manufacturers, who turned around and sold finished products to colonists.

This system also led to the development of different Trade Networks. Colonial merchants traded with each other in Regional Trade Networks but also traded with Indians as part of the Fur Trade.

On a worldwide scale, the colonies participated in the Transatlantic Trade Network, including the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Britain controlled the Transatlantic routes, establishing the Triangular Trade System, and enabling the trade of goods between Europe, Africa, the West Indies, and America.

The emergence of the American Colonies as an economic power contributed to the prosperity of the British Empire. However, it also developed a sense of self-reliance and independence in America, which set the stage for the American Revolution.

The Unhealthy Chesapeake

Life in the Chesapeake Region during the early colonial period was harsh and unhealthy. Diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and typhoid were rampant, significantly lowering life expectancy. Few individuals lived beyond 40 or 50 years. The scarcity of women led to a severe gender imbalance, with a 6:1 male-to-female ratio. Many people did not know their grandparents due to high mortality rates. Premarital pregnancies were common, with one-third of brides in a Maryland county already pregnant before marriage. Despite these challenges, Virginia became the most populous colony with 59,000 inhabitants.

Harsh Conditions and Short Life Expectancy in Chesapeake Settlements

• Life for early Chesapeake settlers in the American wilderness was characterized by harsh conditions and high mortality rates.
• Diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and typhoid took a heavy toll on the population.
• Half the people born in early Virginia and Maryland did not live to the age of 20.
• Even among those who survived infancy, women rarely lived to 40, and men to 50.

Slow Growth and Demographics of Chesapeake Settlements

• Despite the promise of land and opportunity, the settlements in the Chesapeake Region experienced slow population growth during the 17th Century
• The majority of population growth occurred through the arrival of new immigrants immigration from England.
• Immigrants to the Chesapeake were predominantly single men in their late teens and early 20s.
• Many of them died, and those who survived competed with each other for the affections of the women.
• Women were scarce in the Chesapeake Colonies.
• In 1650, men outnumbered women nearly six to one, and by the end of the century, this ratio had slightly improved but still left men outnumbering women by three to two.
• The scarcity of women meant that they were highly sought after, and eligible women often did not remain single for long.

Challenges to Family Life in the Chesapeake Colonies

• Family life in the Chesapeake Colonies was challenging and fragile due to the harsh environment and high mortality rates.
• The scarcity of women meant that many men struggled to find wives.
• Marriages were often short-lived, with many being destroyed by the death of one partner within 7 years.
• Children often lived through the death of at least one parent.
• Pregnancy was not uncommon with young, unmarried girls.
• In one Maryland county, roughly one-third of brides were already pregnant when they married.

Adaptation and Resilience of Chesapeake Colonies

• Despite the formidable challenges they faced, the Chesapeake Colonies persisted and gradually adapted to their environment.
• Over time, native-born inhabitants developed immunity to the diseases that had devastated the original immigrants, helping stabilize the population.
• The increasing presence of women in the colonies helped establish more families, contributing to the growth of the Anglo-American population.
• By the end of the 17th Century, the Chesapeake Colonies started to experience population growth based on their own birthrate.
• Virginia emerged as the most populous colony in the early 18th Century, with approximately 59,000 inhabitants.
• Maryland, with around 30,000 residents, ranked as the 3rd-largest colony by population.

The Tobacco Economy

The Chesapeake Region was ideal for tobacco cultivation, with exports soaring from 1.5 million pounds in the 1630s to 40 million pounds by 1700. Increased availability caused prices to drop, yet farmers continued to produce more. The Headright System fueled growth, allowing aristocrats to acquire 50 acres of land for sponsoring an Indentured Servant’s passage. This system led to the wealthy acquiring most of the land, leaving little for the poor. Initially, labor was provided by indentured servants who faced harsh conditions but had the hope of freedom after seven years. However, as time passed, some owners extended servitude for minor infractions, prolonging their hardships.

Tobacco Cultivation

• Despite the inhospitable conditions for human life, the Chesapeake Region proved highly conducive to tobacco cultivation, becoming a lucrative enterprise for settlers.
• Profit-driven settlers prioritized planting tobacco for export over growing food crops such as corn for sustenance.
• Tobacco cultivation led to the rapid depletion of soil fertility, creating a constant demand for fresh, virgin land to maintain crop yields.
• The pursuit of new land for tobacco cultivation provoked conflicts with Native American Indians, as settlers encroached further into their territories.

Rise of Tobacco Production

• Tobacco production in the Chesapeake soared over the 17th Century, with exports increasing from around 1.5 million pounds annually in the 1630s to nearly 40 million pounds per year by the end of the century.
• The substantial increase created a surplus in the market, causing prices to decline.
• Planters responded by planting even more acres of tobacco to compensate.
• This cycle of overproduction and increased planting increased the strain on the land and perpetuated the need for further expansion into new territories for cultivation.

Labor Shortages and the Role of Indentured Servants

• The expansion of tobacco cultivation created a demand for labor that could not be met through natural population growth or by relying on Indians for labor.
• African slaves were deemed too expensive for many settlers, leading plantation owners to turn to England for a solution to their labor shortages.
• England, which was experiencing a surplus of displaced farmers seeking employment, provided a steady stream of Indentured Servants — people willing to work in exchange for passage to the colonies and the promise of a new life and, potentially, land ownership.
• Indentured Servants willingly offered to work for people in the Chesapeake Region in exchange for passage to the New World.

The Headright System and Rise of Merchant-Planters

• Both Virginia and Maryland implemented the Headright System to incentivize the importation of Indentured Servants, whereby employers who paid for the passage of a laborer gained the right to acquire 50 acres of land (known as a “headright”).
• Plantation owners benefited from landownership through the system, leading to the concentration of land and wealth in the hands of the owners of larger plantations.
• Some plantation owners, particularly those with existing financial resources, leveraged their investments in servants to amass vast estates, becoming known as Merchant Planters.
• Merchant Planters had significant influence over the economy and politics of the Southern Colonies, dominating agriculture and commerce through their large plantations.
• The Headright System led to the influx of approximately 100,000 Indentured Servants to the Chesapeake Region by 1700, comprising the majority of European immigrants to Virginia and Maryland during the 17th Century.

Life of Indentured Servants and Shift in Circumstances

• Indentured Servants initially led a challenging but hopeful life in the early Chesapeake settlements, anticipating freedom and land ownership upon completion of their terms of service.
• Over time, prime land became scarce and Merchant Planters grew resistant to giving land grants as part of “freedom dues,” affecting the prospects for Indentured Servants.
• Merchant Planters imposed harsher punishments and extended terms of service for perceived misbehavior.
• Even after receiving formal freedom, many indentured servants found themselves impoverished and reliant on their former masters for employment, often forced to accept low wages in exchange for labor.

Frustrated Freemen and Bacon’s Rebellion

By the late 1600s, many free men in the Chesapeake Region were poor, single, and frustrated by their lack of opportunities. Many of them were former Indentured Servants. In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led an uprising of a few thousand men against the harsh conditions and Governor William Berkeley’s policies that favored his business arrangements with Indians. Upset over Berkeley’s refusal to retaliate against Indian attacks, Bacon and his army attacked Indian settlements and eventually took control of Virginia. Bacon’s sudden death from disease led to the rebellion’s collapse, and Berkeley suppressed the uprising. In the aftermath, plantation owners shifted from using Indentured Servants for their labor force to African slaves.

Emergence of Discontented Freemen in the Chesapeake

• By the late 17th Century, a large number of poor Freemen were moving throughout the Chesapeake Region.
• Mostly single young men — both black and white — were frustrated by their situation.

Poor Freemen in Virginia

• The increasing numbers of these Freemen, lacking land and economic stability, posed a threat to the established Merchant Planters in the region.
• The Virginia Assembly responded to this growing population by disenfranchising many landless individuals, accusing them of having little interest in the country and causing disturbances during elections.
• Governor William Berkeley of Virginia expressed his frustration with the people of Virginia, writing, “How miserable that man is that governs a people where six parts of seven at least are poor, endebted, discontented, and armed.”

AHC Note — Governor William Berkeley and the Merchant Planters controlled the colony’s economy through laws that were passed by the House of Burgesses. These laws, and other government decisions, were often made to benefit Berkeley and his associates, who also controlled the Fur Trade with local Indians.

Bacon’s Rebellion

• In 1676, approximately 1,000 Virginians, led by Nathaniel Bacon, rose in rebellion against Governor Berkeley in an event known as Bacon’s Rebellion.
• Many of the insurgents were frontiersmen who had been granted land on the frontier.
• They resented Berkeley’s policies toward the Indians, which favored his involvement in the Fur Trade over the safety of Virginians living on the frontier.
• Bacon and his followers took matters into their own hands after Berkeley refused to retaliate against Indian attacks on frontier settlements.
• The situation escalated as Bacon’s forces chased Berkeley from Jamestown and set fire to the town, temporarily taking control of Virginia.
• Bacon’s sudden death from disease brought an end to the rebellion.
• Berkeley crushed the uprising, resulting in the hanging of more than 20 of Bacon’s followers.
• King Charles II expressed dismay at the situation and sent a commission and English troops to restore order.
• Berkeley was recalled to England and never returned to Virginia.
• Tensions remained between the Merchant Class and the owners of small farms and plantations.

Planters Use the Headright System and Turn to Slavery

• In the aftermath of the rebellion, Virginia planters moved away from importing Indentured Servants into the colony.
• They shifted to buying captive African slaves.
• Under the Headright System, they were still granted land for each African they brought into the colony.
• The Merchant Planters were able to create a workforce they had complete control over and increase their land holdings.

Colonial Slavery

In the 300 years following the arrival of Columbus in the New World, around 400,000 of the 10 million African slaves brought to the Americas ended up in the United States. By 1680, fears of rebellious Indentured Servants led landowners to prefer slaves, and by the mid-1680s. After 1700, slave imports from Africa increased, and by 1750, enslaved blacks made up nearly half of Virginia’s population. Most slaves came from West Africa, including Senegal and Angola. Early slaves sometimes gained freedom and some even became slaveholders. Over time, slave laws — or Slave Codes — were modified to restrict the rights of slaves by ensuring their descendants remained enslaved for life, prohibiting teaching slaves to read, and denying freedom by converting to Christianity.

African Slave Trade and Distribution in the New World

• Over the three centuries after Columbus landed, an estimated 10 million Africans were forcibly transported to the New World in chains as part of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
• While only about 400,000 Africans ended up in North America, the majority were transported to Spanish and Portuguese South America or the sugar-rich West Indies.
• Despite Jamestown receiving African slaves as early as 1619, the number of Africans in Virginia remained relatively low until after 1700, with only around 2,000 in Virginia by 1670, constituting approximately 7% of the population in the Southern Colonies.
• The scarcity of African slaves in the early Colonial Era was due to the high costs and risks associated with acquiring and maintaining slaves, as well as the availability of less expensive Indentured Servants (both white and black).

Shift Towards African Slavery in the 1680s

• Drastic changes occurred in the 1680s, driven by rising wages in England, which reduced the number of poor people willing to become Indentured Servants in America.
• Meanwhile, plantation owners grew increasingly concerned about the large numbers of potentially rebellious former Indentured Servants in their midst, leading to a shift towards African slavery.
• By the mid-1680s, black slaves outnumbered white servants among the new arrivals in the Plantation Colonies, marking a significant turning point in the demographics of the region.
• The loss of the Royal African Company’s monopoly on the slave trade in 1698 fueled the increase in the supply of slaves, as enterprising Americans, particularly those in Rhode Island, sought to profit from the lucrative trade.

Rapid Increase in African Slave Population

• The supply of slaves rose steeply in the early 18th century, with more than 10,000 Africans arriving in America in the decade after 1700, and tens of thousands more in the following decades.
• By 1750, blacks accounted for nearly half the population of Virginia, while in South Carolina, they outnumbered whites two to one.

Origins of North American Slaves and the Middle Passage

• The majority of slaves who reached North America were sourced from the west coast of Africa, particularly the region spanning from present-day Senegal to Angola.
• These individuals were initially captured by African coastal tribes and traded in crude markets on tropical beaches to European and American slave traders.
• Branded and bound, the captives were transported across the Middle Passage, a journey aboard sweltering ships where death rates could reach as high as 20%.
• Survivors were eventually sold at auctions in ports such as Newport, Rhode Island, or Charleston, South Carolina, perpetuating the Slave Trade in the American Colonies.

Emergence of Legal Distinctions and Racial Discrimination

• While few early African immigrants to North America gained their freedom, some even becoming slaveowners themselves, the dramatic increase in the African population toward the end of the seventeenth century prompted a harsh response from white colonists.
• Legal distinctions between slaves and servants became sharper, primarily based on race, with statutes appearing in Virginia in 1662 that formally established the conditions of slavery for blacks.
• These early Slave Codes defined blacks and their offspring as the property (or “chattels”) for the life of their owners, stripping them of basic human rights.
• Some colonies criminalized teaching slaves to read or write, and even conversion to Christianity did not grant freedom.

Evolution of Slavery: Economic and Racial Dimensions

• While economic factors initially drove the institution of slavery in America, by the end of the 17th Century, racial discrimination was a defining feature of the American slave system.
• The emergence of legal distinctions based on race reinforced and perpetuated racial inequality, cementing the brutal and dehumanizing nature of slavery in the New World.

Africans in America

Slave life in the Deep South was harsh, particularly on Rice Plantations, because the work was more strenuous than tobacco farming. Enslaved Africans developed unique languages by blending their native tongues with English and influenced American music with instruments like the banjo and bongo drum. While some slaves became skilled artisans — carpenters, bricklayers, and tanners — most were relegated to dangerous, labor-intensive tasks like clearing swamps and felling trees. Various slave revolts took place, including the 1712 New York Slave Revolt and the 1739 Stono Rebellion. These uprisings contributed to an intense fear of slave uprisings, which contributed to the 1741 New York Slave Conspiracy.

Slave Life in the Deepest South

• In the deepest South, particularly in regions like South Carolina, slave life was exceptionally harsh.
• The climate was hostile to health, with conditions that were detrimental to the well-being of slaves.
• Labor on rice and indigo plantations was particularly draining, leading to high mortality rates among enslaved individuals.
• These plantations were often remote and isolated, resembling lonely hells on earth where predominantly male African slaves toiled and often met their demise.
• Due to the harsh conditions, only continuous importation of fresh slaves could sustain the slave population in these loathsome environments.

Slave Life in the Chesapeake Region

• In contrast to the Deep South, blacks in the tobacco-growing Chesapeake Region experienced a somewhat easier existence.
• Tobacco cultivation was less physically demanding compared to crops in the deeper South like rice and indigo.
• Plantations in the Chesapeake were larger and closer to one another, allowing for more frequent contact among slaves and providing opportunities for social interaction.
• By around 1720, the proportion of females in the Chesapeake slave population started to rise, enabling the development of family life among enslaved individuals.
• Unlike in the Deep South, where sustained slavery relied heavily on the continuous importation of slaves, the Chesapeake witnessed the growth of its slave population through both new imports and natural reproduction.
• The Chesapeake became one of the few slave societies in history to perpetuate itself through its natural reproduction.

Contribution of Native-Born African-Americans to Slave Culture

• Native-born African Americans played a significant role in the development of a stable and distinctive slave culture, blending African and American elements of speech, religion, and folkways.
• On the sea islands off South Carolina’s coast, African Americans developed a unique language known as “Gullah,” which combined English with several African languages such as Yoruba, Ibo, and Hausa.
• Many African words entered American speech through Gullah, including “goober” (peanut), “gumbo” (okra), and “voodoo” (witchcraft).
• African religious practices, such as the “Ringshout” — a West African religious dance — were brought to Colonial America by slaves and contributed to the development of jazz.
• African contributions to American culture also included musical instruments like the banjo and the bongo drum.

Labor and Contributions to Building the Country

• Slaves made significant contributions to building the country through their labor, with some becoming skilled artisans such as carpenters, bricklayers, and tanners.
• However, the majority of slaves performed menial tasks such as clearing swamps and grubbing out trees. They were often given strenuous work and menial tasks that were considered degrading for their owners to perform.
• Despite their contributions to the nation’s development, slaves endured harsh conditions and longed for freedom, leading to occasional outbreaks of revolt.
• Slave revolts, such as the one in New York City in 1712 and the Stono Rebellion in South Carolina in 1739, demonstrated the desire for freedom, albeit with limited success.
• Over time, slaves proved to be a more manageable labor force than Indentured Servants.

AHC Note — The New York Slave Conspiracy of 1741 was an alleged plot by poor whites and black slaves to take control of the City of New York. Although there was no concrete evidence about the supposed plot, more than 30 people were tried, convicted, and executed for their involvement. The entire incident was similar to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Southern Security

In the Southern Colonies, social classes developed, with a wide gap between them. In Virginia, powerful families like the Fitzhughs, Lees, and Washingtons owned vast tracts of land and dominated the House of Burgesses, becoming known as the First Families of Virginia (FFV). The rest of the population consisted of small farmers, who often struggled. Due to the sparse distribution of cities, and the distance between large plantations, the development of schools and churches was slow.

Widening Social Structure in the South

• As slavery became more entrenched, the South’s social structure underwent significant changes, with widening gaps between different social classes.
• The rough equality of poverty and disease in the early days gave way to a hierarchy of wealth and status by the early 18th Century.
• At the top of this social hierarchy was a small but influential group of Merchant Planters who held considerable economic and political power.
• These planters, owning large numbers of slaves and vast expanses of land, dominated the region’s economy and held a virtual monopoly on political influence.
• Families like the Fitzhughs, the Lees, and the Washingtons amassed extensive land holdings in Virginia and held significant influence in the House of Burgesses.
• By the eve of the Revolutionary War, 70 percent of the leaders in the Virginia legislature hailed from families established in Virginia before 1690, known as the “First Families of Virginia.”

Reality of Plantation Life

• Contrary to legend, the great 17th Century Merchant Planters were not aristocratic cavaliers emulating English country gentlemen.
• While they eventually built stately manors and participated in leisure activities like fox hunting, many were primarily focused on the practical aspects of plantation management.
• Planters were hardworking, business-minded people who devoted long hours to addressing the challenges of managing and improving their estates.
• One notable challenge faced by Plantation Owners was managing their servants, with some resorting to unconventional methods to maintain order.
• For example, one Virginia Governor struggled to keep his servants sober, striking a deal that allowed them to indulge in alcohol the following day if they refrained from drinking long enough to help with a celebration of the queen’s birthday in 1711 (see Alcohol in Colonial America).

Social Stratification in the Southern Colonies

• Below the Planter Class were the small farmers, who were the largest social group in the colonial South.
• Small farmers worked modest plots of land and might own one or two slaves, but they often lived in a precarious, hand-to-mouth existence.
• Further down the social scale were the landless whites, many of whom were former Indentured Servants who had fallen on hard times.
• Beneath them were individuals still serving out the remainder of their indenture, although their numbers dwindled as black slaves replaced white Indentured Servants toward the end of the 17th Century.
• Enslaved blacks occupied the lowest rung of society.

Limited Urban Development

• Unlike the Northern Colonies, few cities developed in the South, resulting in a slow emergence of an urban professional class that included lawyers and financiers.
• Southern life revolved around the great plantations, which were often isolated and far from one another.
• Waterways served as the primary means of transportation in the South.
• The poor quality of roads, particularly in poor weather, hindered travel.
• Funeral parties were sometimes unable to reach church burial grounds. This led to the development of family burial plots in the South, a practice distinct from that of England or New England.

The New England Family

In New England, the climate contributed to lower disease rates compared to the South, with early Puritans enjoying an average life expectancy of 70 years. Unlike the Chesapeake, New Englanders migrated as families. Women married in their early 20s and typically bore children every two years until menopause. Unfortunately, many mothers and children died in childbirth. In contrast to the South, where women held more power due to the early deaths of their husbands, New England women had less power, although men did not have absolute authority. New England law was strict, punishing adulterous women by making them wear a scarlet “A” on their bosoms.

Health and Longevity in New England

• Early New Englanders enjoyed better health and longer life spans compared to their counterparts in the disease-plagued South.
• Access to clean water and cool temperatures helped slow the spread of disease, helping to increase life expectancy for settlers emigrating from Europe.
• One settler said that “a sip of New England’s air is better than a whole draft of old England’s ale.”
• Early Puritan colonists in New England typically lived to around 70 years old, on average, a life expectancy similar to that of present-day Americans.

Family-Centered Migration and Reproductive Patterns

• Unlike in the Chesapeake, New Englanders tended to migrate as families rather than as individuals, and the family was central to life in New England.
• After the early bursts of immigration, the population primarily grew through the birth of children.
• Early marriage was common and encouraged a high birthrate, with women typically marrying by their early 20s and bearing children approximately every two years until menopause.
• While claims about the frequency of death in childbirth may have been exaggerated, the fear of mortality during childbirth was prevalent among women.
• Married women could expect to undergo numerous pregnancies and raise as many as 8 surviving children, leading to large families.
• Massachusetts Governor William Phips was one of 27 children born to the same mother.
• Raising children was the primary occupation for many New England women, with dependent children often present in the household from the early days of marriage until the mother’s death.

Contribution of Longevity to Family Stability

• The longevity of New Englanders contributed significantly to family stability, providing nurturing environments for children to grow up in.
• Children were expected to learn obedience, within the structure of the family.
• This included instruction from both parents and grandparents.
• This intergenerational continuity led to the observation that New England “invented” grandparents, highlighting the unique role of extended family networks in the region.
• Family stability in New England was evidenced by low premarital pregnancy rates and a strong social structure, distinguishing it from the more fragile family structure seen in the Chesapeake.

Contrasts in Women’s Economic Security

• Contrasts between southern and New England ways of life extended to women’s economic security and property rights.
• In the South, where families were more fragile due to higher mortality rates among men, women enjoyed greater economic security, with married women retaining separate titles to their property and widows having the right to inherit their husband’s estates.
• In New England, however, Puritan lawmakers were concerned that recognizing women’s separate property rights would undermine the unity of married couples, leading to women usually relinquishing their property rights upon marriage.
• Despite this, New England laws ensured secure provisions for the property rights of widows and extended important protections to women within marriage, which was in contrast to the legal framework in England.

Emergence of Women’s Rights in Puritan New England

• In 17th Century Puritan New England, a rudimentary conception of women’s rights as individuals started to emerge, although women were still not allowed to vote.
• Popular attitudes persisted in viewing women as morally weaker than men, a belief rooted in the Biblical tale of Eve eating from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, leading to the Fall of Man.
• However, a husband’s power over his wife was not absolute, as New England authorities could and did intervene to restrain abusive spouses.
• Instances of spousal abuse, such as kicking a wife off a stool or drawing an “uncivil” portrait of one’s spouse in the snow, were met with disciplinary action.
• Women had some spheres of autonomy, particularly in midwifery, where they held a virtual monopoly. Midwives played a crucial role in assisting with childbirth and creating networks of women bonded by motherhood.
• The laws of Puritan New England prioritized defending the integrity of marriages, with divorce being exceedingly rare and separated couples often ordered to reunite.
• Outright abandonment and adultery were among the few permissible grounds for divorce, with convicted adulterers — especially women — facing public whipping and the lifelong shame of wearing a scarlet letter “A” sewn onto their outer garment, as depicted in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter.

Life in the New England Towns

Life in New England towns was well-organized and structured. New towns were legally chartered by colonial authorities and were usually built around a Meetinghouse and a village green; surrounded by homes. Education was prioritized; towns with more than 50 families were required to provide primary education, while those with over 100 families had to offer secondary education. In 1636, Massachusetts Puritans founded Harvard College to train ministers. For comparison, Virginia established its first college, William and Mary, in 1693. Puritans managed their own churches, and the democratic principles in Congregational church governance extended to political governance, creating a democratic political environment that was the basis of the Town Meeting.

Evolution of New England Society

• New England society evolved into a tightly knit community based on small villages and farms.
• This development was natural due to geographical constraints and the presence of external threats from Indians, the French, and the Dutch.
• Puritanism played a significant role in fostering unity of purpose and concern for the moral health of the entire community.
• The New England conscience, rooted in Puritanism, contributed to movements such as the 19th Century crusade against black slavery, with Massachusetts activists leading the charge.

Ordered Growth of New England Towns

• Unlike the Chesapeake, where settlement expansion was often random and undertaken by individual planters, New England society grew in a more orderly fashion.
• New towns were legally chartered by colonial authorities, and the distribution of land was overseen by sober-minded town fathers or “proprietors.”
• Proprietors received grants of land from the colonial legislature and relocated with their families to establish new towns.
• New towns typically consisted of a Meetinghouse serving as both a place of worship and a Town Hall, surrounded by houses, and a village green for militia drills.
• Each family received several parcels of land, including areas for fuelwood, crop cultivation, and animal pasturage.

Education in New England

• Towns with more than 50 families in New England were required to provide elementary education.
• Because of this, a majority of adults in New England knew how to read and write.
• In 1636, just 8 years after the colony’s founding, the Massachusetts Puritans established Harvard College, the oldest corporation in America, to train local boys for the ministry.
• In contrast, it took 86 years after the founding of Jamestown for the Virginians to establish their first college, William and Mary, in 1693.

Role of Puritan Churches in Government

• Puritans in New England ran their own churches, and democracy in the Congregational Church government naturally contributed to democracy in political government.
• The Town Meeting, where adult males gathered to vote, served as a showcase and classroom for democracy.
• New England villagers regularly gathered in Meetinghouses to elect officials, appoint schoolmasters, and discuss community matters like road repairs.
• Thomas Jefferson observed that the Town Meeting was “the best school of political liberty the world ever saw.”.

The Half-Way Covenant and the Salem Witch Trials

As church attendance declined, Puritan ministers started delivering “Jeremiads” — intense sermons in Colonial America that were intended to shame people into conforming. In 1662, Puritan leaders introduced the “Half-Way Covenant,” allowing people to participate in the church without experiencing “Conversion.” It was intended to boost church membership and help the Puritans maintain their influence over religion in New England. However, in the early 1690s, a wave of witchcraft hysteria swept through Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials started when a group of girls claimed to be bewitched, leading to the execution of 20 people.

Challenges to New England Puritanism

• The growing population in New England led to the dispersal of Puritans onto outlying farms, away from the centralized control of church and neighbors.
• Despite the core beliefs of Puritanism remaining strong, the fervent religious zeal of the first generation began to diminish over time.
• In the mid-17th Century, a new form of sermon called the “Jeremiad” emerged, based on the warnings of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. Puritan Preachers used Jeremiads to scold parishioners for the decline in following the teachings of the church and Puritan Conversions.
• Concerns about declining Conversions led to the introduction of the Half-Way Covenant in 1662. This modified the covenant between the church and its members, allowing the baptism — but not full communion — of unconverted children of existing members, weakening the distinction between the Elect and others in the community.

Impact of the Half-Way Covenant

• The Half-Way Covenant was an effort to maintain the religious fervor of the Puritans who founded the New England Colonies.
• Although Jeremiads continued, Puritan churches eventually opened their doors to everyone, regardless of their Conversion status.
• This widening of church membership blurred the distinction between the Elect and other members of society, sacrificing strict religious purity for broader religious participation.
• Notably, women became the majority in Puritan congregations from this time onward, reflecting changes in religious dynamics and participation.

Salem Witch Trials

• In Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, a group of adolescent girls claimed to have been bewitched by certain older women, sparking a “witch hunt.”
• This led to the legal execution of 20 people, 19 of whom were hanged and one who was pressed to death, along with the hanging of 2 dogs.
• While witchcraft persecutions were common in Europe, the Salem episode was fueled by superstitions, prejudices, and unsettled social and religious conditions in rapidly evolving Massachusetts.
• Most accused witches came from families associated with Salem’s market economy, while their accusers were largely from subsistence farming families in Salem’s rural areas.
• The hysteria ended in 1693 when the Governor, alarmed by an accusation against his wife, prohibited further trials and pardoned those convicted. The legislature later annulled the convictions and made reparations to their heirs.

AHC Note — Despite their Puritan roots, many people in Massachusetts believed in things that people today would associate with the occult, folklore, and mysticism. Witchcraft was not unique to New England and was found throughout the colonies (see Witchcraft in Colonial America).

The New England Way of Life

The challenging soil in New England led its people to become adept traders rather than relying solely on farming and agriculture. Industries were built on the region’s natural resources — timber, fish, and whales — contributing to the idea that New England was built on “God and cod.” New England was not as ethnically diverse as the Middle Colonies and Southern Colonies because small-scale farming did not require a large labor force. However, as New Englanders increased and established new settlements, they came into conflict with the Indians.

Geological Influence on New England

• New England culture was shaped by its rocky terrain, heavily glaciated soil, and abundance of stones that were forced to the surface after winter freezes.
• The challenging soil made it difficult for the Puritans to scratch a living from the earth, leading New Englanders to be cautious and thrifty
• New Englanders became known for their penny-pinching frugality and sharp trading practices, with some infamous for selling wooden nutmegs.
• Connecticut earned the nickname the “Nutmeg State” due to its association with wooden nutmeg trading.
• Cynics joking said there were three stages to progress in New England, saying: “to get on, to get honor, to get honest.”

Ethnic Homogeneity in Colonial New England

• After the Puritans settled in New England, the region was not attractive to immigrants.
• The land, climate, and strict religious requirements of the Puritans were not conducive to people seeking land or religious freedom.

Climate’s Impact on New England

• New England’s climate was characterized by uncomfortably hot summers and cruelly cold winters, prompting complaints from early immigrants about extreme weather.
• However, this climate eventually encouraged diversified agriculture and industry in New England.
• Unlike the South, where staple crops like tobacco flourished, New England’s small farms and rocky soil made large-scale African slavery unnecessary
• The presence of mountains close to the shore and short, rapid rivers limited the availability of broad, fertile expanses of land, limiting inland settlement in New England.

Influence of Indians on New England Land

• Indians had a significant impact on the early New England landscape, leaving trails through the woods as they migrated seasonally for hunting and fishing.
• They practiced controlled burning of woodlands to maintain leafy first-growth forests, which helped sustain the deer population.
• While the Indians recognized the right to use the land, the concept of personal ownership and blocking off land with fences was foreign to them.

AHC Note — Indian tribes understood access and control of hunting grounds and fought each other for control of them.

English Settler Philosophy and Land Use

• English settlers held a contrasting view of land use. They criticized Indians for “wasting” the land by not fully utilizing its resources.
• This perception of underutilization served as justification for European expropriation of land from Indians.
• European settlers believed it was their duty to “improve” the land by clearing woodlands for pasturage and tillage, constructing roads and fences, and establishing permanent settlements.

Impact of Livestock Introduction

• English settlers introduced pigs, horses, sheep, and cattle from Europe to the New England settlements.
• The growing herds required increasing amounts of pastureland, leading to continuous forest clearing.
• Livestock, with their appetites and heavy hooves, compacted the soil, contributing to erosion and flooding.
• These changes may have altered local climates and increased susceptibility to extremes of heat and cold in some areas.

Utilization of Natural Harbors

• New Englanders utilized the region’s numerous natural harbors and dense forests
• They engaged in shipbuilding and business ventures that leveraged these natural resources.
• The large number of codfish off the coast of Newfoundland was a valuable resource, often referred to as the “gold mines of New England.”
• Shipbuilding, commerce, and fishing were integral parts of New England life, with the sound of axes, hammers, and rushing ships commonplace.
• The importance of fishing is commemorated by the display of a replica of the “sacred cod” in the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston.

Characteristics Shaped by Calvinism, Soil, and Climate

• Calvinism, combined with the geography and climate of New England, fostered traits such as energy, purposefulness, sternness, stubbornness, self-reliance, and resourcefulness.
• New Englanders, believing themselves to be God’s chosen people, took pride in their righteousness, often referring to Boston as “the hub of the universe” in a spiritual sense.

Impact of New England on the Nation

• New England’s influence on the nation has been immeasurable.
• Over time, thousands of New Englanders migrated and established communities across the United States, from Ohio to Oregon and even Hawaii.
• They replicated the orderly New England town model, characterized by a central green, schoolhouse, and simple town-meeting democracy, in their new settlements.
• “Yankee Ingenuity,” initially cultivated by the challenging conditions of New England, became a celebrated national trait embraced by all Americans.
• The “New England Conscience,’ rooted in the Puritan heritage, left a legacy of high idealism in the national character and served as inspiration for many later reformers.

The Early Settlers’ Days and Ways

Many early settlers in America led simple but comfortable lives. Because they lived in a subsistence economy, men typically started work at dawn and ended at dusk. Women remained at home, tending to the children, making food, and caring for livestock. Most European immigrants were from the lower and middle classes. They sought to escape decades of religious wars and oppression in Europe in hopes of making a new life in America. As the colonies grew, social and legal systems stabilized — but each region had unique nuances.

Daily Life of Early American Colonists

• The cycles of seasons and the sun dictated the schedules of all Americans.
• The majority of colonists were farmers, engaging in planting in spring, tending crops in summer, harvesting in fall, and preparing for the next cycle in winter.
• Colonists typically rose at dawn and retired at dusk, with chores performed after dark only if deemed worthwhile.
• Women were responsible for weaving, cooking, cleaning, and childcare, while men cleared land, planted crops, tended livestock, and performed other outdoor tasks.
• Children assisted with various chores and received informal education while doing so.

Living Conditions and Economic Status

• Life was modest but relatively comfortable compared to 17th Century Europeans.
• The land was comparatively affordable, particularly in the Northern Colonies and Middle Colonies, where an acre of virgin soil cost roughly equivalent to one day’s wages for American carpenters, which were about three times higher than those in England.
• Land availability varied, with the planter-dominated South having somewhat less accessible land than other regions.

Colonial Migration and Social Structure:

• The majority of white migrants to Colonial America were neither from the aristocracy nor the poorest members of European society, except for impoverished Indentured Servants.
• Crude frontier life minimized the display of class distinctions, leading to a certain simple sameness in 17th Century society across all colonies, especially in more egalitarian regions like New England and the Middle Colonies.

Attempts to Replicate the Old World Social Structure

• Despite the egalitarian nature of frontier life, some settlers, particularly those considering themselves of the “better sort,” tried to recreate a modified version of the social structure they knew from the Old World.
• While some partially succeeded, democratic forces often thwarted their full triumph, leading to resentment against upper-class pretensions and sparking rebellions such as Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia and uprisings in Maryland and New York.

Conflict and Resentment

• Resentment between would-be American aristocrats and the “meaner sort” led to attempts to legislate social hierarchy, such as Massachusetts prohibiting poorer individuals from wearing gold or silver lace.
• Efforts to reproduce European-style stratified societies were weak in the American wilderness, where equality and democracy were more prevalent, at least among white settlers.

Resources for American Life in the Seventeenth Century

The notes on this page are based on the 16th edition of The American Pageant. We have expanded on the source material with additional details, corrections, and links to Encyclopedia Entries that explain topics in more detail. For more information, including terms and definitions, see the following:

• Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) Units
• The Planting of English America (1500–1733)
• Settling the Northern Colonies (1619–1700)
• American Life in the 17th Century (1607–1692)
• Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution (1700–1775)
• The Duel for North America (1608–1763)
• America Secedes from the Empire (1775–1783)