THE ENGLISH MAINLAND COLONIES AT THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
At the close of the Stuart period the English mainland colonies
stretched along the Atlantic coast from Pemaquid to Port Royal. The
settlements nestled close to the coasts, in the tide-water region, or
along the lower waters of the navigable streams. The total population
probably did not exceed 225,000, one-half of whom were in Massachusetts
and Virginia. At the same period Barbados alone contained over 50,000
white settlers and more than 100,000 slaves.
NEW ENGLAND
Population.--New England contained some 80,000 white inhabitants. About
5,000 were in New Hampshire; Massachusetts, including the Maine and
Plymouth settlements, contained about 55,000; Rhode Island probably
5,000, and Connecticut about 17,000. By far the larger part were of
English stock, although there were a few Huguenots, Scotch, Irish, and
Jews. The settled area extended from the Pemaquid region along the coast
in an almost unbroken line to the New York border. In Maine the settled
region seldom extended more than ten miles back from the coast, and
between Casco and Saco bays there were large unsettled tracts. In New
Hampshire the frontier line ran back from the coast fifteen to thirty
miles and eastern Massachusetts was settled fifty miles inland. All of
Rhode Island except some tracts in the southern part had been occupied.
Portions of northeastern and northwestern Connecticut were wilderness,
but in the Connecticut Valley the settlers had begun to occupy the
valley lands just to the north of the Massachusetts line.
Agriculture.--The mass of the population was agricultural. The clearing
of the land and the securing of a food supply were the natural pursuits
of the new communities. The small farm was the prevailing type, as
neither climate, crops, nor soil were suitable for the large plantation.
Corn, wheat, fruits, and vegetables were the principal agricultural
products, and cattle, swine, sheep, and poultry were raised for domestic
use.
Furs and fish.--The forests and the sea were the principal sources of
New England prosperity. In the early part of the century the fur trade
was an important factor, but by the end of the century it had
considerably decreased. As it declined the fishing business increased.
On the Newfoundland banks the boats of the New Englanders were the most
numerous. The catch of cod and mackerel was dried and salted, and became
a leading export.
Lumbering and ship-building.--The uncleared back country was a continual
source of profit. Logging became a regular winter pursuit. From the
felled timber were produced lumber, staves, shingles, masts, and spars.
The fishing business conducted close to a lumbering region led to
ship-building, and almost every seacoast town engaged in the industry.
Most of the boats were small, swift-sailing craft, used in the fisheries
or in the coasting and West Indian trade. So well-built were they that
the New Englander found a ready market in the West Indies for vessel as
well as cargo.
Commerce.--Fish, furs, and lumber were the principal products which the
New Englanders produced for outside consumption. Most of the carrying
business was conducted by Massachusetts men, although Rhode Island also
handled a considerable trade. The navigation laws were intended to keep
commerce in the hands of English merchants, but in spite of them
colonial vessels kept up a coast-wise trade, and shipped fish, lumber,
and staves to the West Indies and Madeira. Return vessels brought wine,
rum, molasses, sugar, cotton, and wool. The greater part of New England
commerce was handled through Boston, although Salem and Newport were
rivals. Newport traders carried on a large slave traffic from Guinea and
Madagascar, but most of their cargoes were sold in the West Indies.
Manufactures.--In Massachusetts and Connecticut manufacturing for the
home market developed at an early date. Grist and saw-mills, tanneries,
glass and pottery works, brick yards, and salt works were commonly found
in the tide-water region, and at least two iron works were in operation
in Massachusetts before 1700. Every village had its cobbler and
blacksmith, and the housewives did the spinning and weaving. Most of the
people wore homespun, but finer fabrics were also in demand, and at an
early date the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods on a more
elaborate scale was undertaken in Massachusetts.
Standard of living.--Practically all New Englanders were free settlers,
but a limited number of indented servants and a few hundred slaves were
intermixed with the population. In the regions near the coast the
standard of living had materially improved. In the larger towns the
inhabitants enjoyed even a degree of luxury in dress and table, and the
log huts of the first settlers had almost disappeared, frame, shingled,
and even brick houses having taken their place. Most of the houses of
the well-to-do had a second floor, attic, and lean-to. Every community
had its meeting house, and in 1670 Boston had three places of worship.
As the traveler passed into the back country, he found roads growing
poorer and poorer, gradually deteriorating into mere trails. The
clearings and log cabins became less and less frequent until he finally
reached the wilderness, which was penetrated only by the hunter and
trader. When the settlements extended a considerable distance from the
coast, they were usually along a navigable stream, the indispensable
means of communication in a newly settled community.
Social standards.--Daily life was simple and devoid of ostentation, but
in the older communities social lines were rigidly drawn. An austere
aristocracy ruled. Admitted to the inner circle were the descendants of
the early leaders or of families of rank in England, Oxford and
Cambridge men, and those who were selected through natural worth to fill
high positions in church and state. Intelligence and piety were more
potent factors than wealth in the attainment of position. Of
professional men the ministers held an exalted place, exerting a
powerful influence socially, religiously, and politically. There were
few doctors and lawyers, the latter being looked upon as undesirable
trouble makers.
[Illustration: Settled Areas in New England and on Long Island, about
1700.]
Religion.--Throughout New England, except in Rhode Island, church and
state were united, the Congregational church being in the ascendency.
Though in 1660 Charles II commanded that the Anglican church be
tolerated in Massachusetts, the authorities resisted its introduction,
and not until 1686 was an Episcopalian church established in Boston. In
Connecticut there were a few Presbyterians and Quakers. In Rhode Island
the Baptists and Quakers were the most important element.
Superstitions.--The seventeenth century Puritan was intolerant and
superstitious. Men must conform or be persecuted. Signs and portents
were believed in, and strange and often filthy concoctions and ointments
were administered at the suggestion of midwives or knowing housewives.
Belief in witchcraft was usual both in Europe and America, and such
learned men as Increase and Cotton Mather, prominent clergymen of
Boston, wrote treatises to prove its truth. The Massachusetts laws
recognized it as a capital offense. In 1692 occurred the famous outbreak
at Salem in which nineteen innocent persons were executed.
Education.--In the English colonies New England took the lead in
provision for popular education. Men who believed that the Bible was the
source of authority naturally thought that every man should have
sufficient intellectual training to enable him to read the word of God.
In 1635 the first Latin grammar school in the English colonies was
started at Boston, and several other towns soon followed the example. In
1647 Massachusetts enacted a general education law which required every
town of fifty or more freeholders to appoint a teacher to instruct
children to read and write. Every town of one hundred or more
freeholders was required to support a Latin grammar school which would
prepare students for college. Connecticut and New Haven soon followed
the lead of Massachusetts. In Rhode Island and Plymouth each community
was allowed to follow its own course. In Rhode Island the few schools
were usually private enterprises. In Plymouth the first public school
was not opened until 1671. Higher education was not neglected, Harvard
being founded in 1636. In that year Massachusetts voted L400 toward the
support of a college. Two years later John Harvard bequeathed his
library and one-half of his estate for the erection of a college, and
Harvard College came into existence. For many years it was devoted
mainly to the training of religious leaders, and its curriculum
reflected the classical viewpoint of the great English universities.
Literature.--The literature of the first century of New England was
permeated with a gloomy religious viewpoint, but it was not lacking in
dignity or power. It reflected the sternness of standards and purpose of
the founders, who saw little of the humor, or of the lighter side of
existence. The strongest of the writings were the histories, the best
being the _History of Plymouth_ by Governor Bradford and _The History of
New England_ by Governor Winthrop. Of less interest to the present day
mind are the controversial religious tracts and sermons of Roger
Williams and Cotton Mather, or the crude poetry of Mrs. Anne Bradstreet.
NEW YORK AND EAST NEW JERSEY
Population.--Economically and socially New York and East New Jersey were
closely related. At the end of the Andros regime the population of New
York was probably 18,000, and that of East New Jersey about 10,000. More
than half of the New Yorkers were Dutch. The rest were mainly English,
but there were some Huguenots and a few Jews. The settled area covered
almost all of Long Island and the Hudson Valley to a point a few miles
north of Albany. Most of the population of East New Jersey was along the
coast opposite New York harbor. The English predominated, but there was
a sprinkling of Dutch, Scotch, and Huguenots.
Industry in New York.--During the first decades of the Dutch occupation
of the Hudson Valley the fur trade had been almost the only business,
but after 1638 many settlers came who began general farming. Lumbering
also developed. The general lines of industry thus begun were carried on
after the English occupation. The fur trade was greatly stimulated by
Dongan and it was probably the chief source of wealth in the colony.
Population increased slowly. The advantageous position of New York
attracted shipping, and the merchants developed a commerce with the West
Indies and the Dutch possessions in the Caribbean to which were shipped
bread stuffs, pease, meat, and horses. The returning vessels brought
wine, rum, molasses, and various tropical products. To England the New
Yorkers shipped furs, oil, and naval supplies in return for manufactured
goods.
[Illustration: Settled areas in the Middle Colonies about 1700.]
A contemporary description of New York.--Governor Dongan wrote
concerning the province in 1687: "The principal towns within the Govermt
are New York Albany & Kingston at Esopus. All the rest are country
villages. The buildings in New York & Albany are generally of stone &
brick. In the country the houses are mostly new built, having two or
three rooms on a floor. The Dutch are great improvers of land. New York
and Albany live wholly upon trade with the Indians England and the West
Indies.... I believe for these 7 years last past, there has not come
over into this province twenty English Scotch or Irish familys. But on
the contrary on Settled Areas in the Middle Colonies Long Island the
people about 1700 encrease soe fast that they complain for want of land
and many remove from thence into the neighboring province."
Religion and education in New York.--Regarding religion Dongan wrote.
"Every Town ought to have a Minister. New York has first a Chaplain
belonging to the Fort of the Church of England; secondly, a Dutch
Calvinist; thirdly a French Calvinist; fourthly a Dutch Lutheran--Here
bee not many of the Church of England; few Roman Catholicks; abundance
of Quakers preachers men & Women especially; Singing Quakers, Ranting
Quakers, Sabbatarians; anti-sabbatarians; Some Anabaptists some
Independents; some Jews; in short of all sorts of opinions there are
some, and the most part of none at all.... The most prevailing opinion
is that of the Dutch Calvinists." This description applied to religious
conditions in New York City, then as now a cosmopolitan place. On Long
Island, where New Englanders were predominant, the Congregational church
held sway, while in the Hudson Valley, where most of the settlers were
Dutch, the Dutch Reformed church was in the ascendency. The Dutch had
maintained elementary schools, but when the English occupied the
country, most of the school-masters left, and little was done by the
authorities to stimulate education. Such schools as existed were
established by the local communities.
Large estates.--During the Dutch regime many large estates had been
created, the most important being the patroonship of Van Rensselaer
about Albany. Although the other patroons had surrendered their rights,
the Dutch governors, officials, and merchants had acquired vast estates,
which continued in their families after the English occupation. The
English governors followed the example, and several large holdings were
created, the most famous of these being the Livingston manor on the east
bank of the Hudson below the Van Rensselaer tract.
Conditions in East New Jersey.--The people of East New Jersey came
mainly from New England and Long Island, and they built up a miniature
New England, each village being an entity surrounded by tributary farm
lands. Garden truck, fish, oysters, and fruits were the principal
products. The proprietors hoped to develop commerce, but the Duke of
York's restrictions throttled it, and East New Jersey was forced into
the position of a supply station for New York. Gawen Laurie, the
deputy-governor, described conditions as follows in 1684: "There is
great plenty of oysters, fish, fowl; pork is two pennies the pound, beef
and venison one penny the pound, a whole fat buck for five or six
shillings; Indian corn for two shillings and six pence per bushel, oats
twenty pence, and barley two shillings per bushel: We have good brick
earth, and stones for building at Amboy, and elsewhere: The country farm
houses are built very cheap: A carpenter, with a man's own servants,
builds the house; they have all materials for nothing, except nails,
their chimnies are of stones; they make their own ploughs and carts for
the most part, only the iron work is very dear: The poor sort set up a
house of two or three rooms themselves, after this manner; the walls are
of cloven timber, about eight or ten inches broad, like planks, set one
end to the ground, and the other nailed to the raising, which they
plaster within; they build a barn after the same manner, and these cost
not above five pounds a piece; and then to work they go: Two or three
men in one year will clear fifty acres, in some places sixty, and in
some more: They sow corn the first year, and afterwards maintain
themselves; and the increase of corn, cows, horses, hogs and sheep comes
to the landlord;... the servants work not so much by a third as they do
in England, and I think feed much better; for they have beef, pork,
bacon, pudding, milk, butter and good beer and cyder for drink; when
they are out of their time, they have land for themselves, and generally
turn farmers for themselves."
Religion and education in East New Jersey.--Another letter of the same
date says: "There be people of several sorts of religions, but few very
zealous; the people, being mostly New-England men, do mostly incline to
their way; and in every town there is a meeting-house, where they
worship publickly every week: They have no publick laws in the country
for maintaining publick teachers, but the towns that have them, make way
within themselves to maintain them; we know none that have a settled
preacher, that follows no other employment, save one town, Newark."
COLONIES ALONG DELAWARE RIVER AND BAY
Population.--The settlements along Delaware River and Bay formed an
industrial and social group. In 1700 the population numbered less than
20,000, from 12,000 to 15,000 being in Pennsylvania which included
Delaware. The interior of West New Jersey was unoccupied, the population
remaining close to the coast. From Barnegat to Cape May the settled area
was about ten miles wide. Along the eastern shore of the bay and river
the population belt widened to twenty-five or thirty miles. In
Pennsylvania and Delaware the settled area was continuous from the
mouth of the Lehigh River to the southern boundary of Delaware. Back
from the river the habitations extended for forty or fifty miles, but on
the bay shore none of the settlers were more than ten or fifteen miles
inland. The population of the Delaware region was composed of many
nationalities. West New Jersey contained many English, but the
descendants of the early Swedish and Dutch settlers were there in
considerable numbers. Pennsylvania contained about 1,000 Swedes, Dutch,
and Finns, the remnant of the early occupations. Penn's advertising and
reputation for philanthropy brought to his colony English, Germans,
Scotch, and Welsh.
Conditions in West New Jersey.--The following description of West New
Jersey, written in 1698, gives an excellent picture of the colony: "In a
few Years after [1675] a Ship from _London_, and another from _Hull_,
sail'd thither with more People, who went higher up into the Countrey,
and built there a Town, and called it _Burlington_ which is now the
chiefest Town in that Countrey though _Salem_ is the ancientest; and a
fine _Market-Town_ it is, Having several Fairs kept yearly in it;
likewise well furnished with good store of most Necessaries for humane
Support, as _Bread_, _Beer_, _Beef_, and _Pork_; as also _Butter_ and
_Cheese_, of which they freight several Vessels and send them to
_Barbadoes_, and other islands.
"There are very many fine _stately Brick-Houses_ built [at Salem], and a
_commodious Dock_ for _Vessels_ to come in at, and they claim equal
Privilege with _Burlington_ for the sake of Antiquity; tho' that is the
principal Place, by reason that the late Governor _Cox_, who bought that
Countrey of Edward _Billing_, encouraged and promoted that Town chiefly,
in settling his _Agents_ and _Deputy-governors_ there, (the same Favours
are continued by the _New-West-Jersey_ Society, who now manage Matters
there) which brings their Assemblies and chief Courts to be kept there;
and by that means it is become a very famous Town, having a great many
stately _Brick-Houses_ in it, (as I said before) with a great
_Market-House_...; It hath a noble and _spacious Hall_ over-head, where
their _Sessions_ is kept, having the Prison adjoining to it....
"A Ship of Four Hundred Tuns may sail up to this _Town_ in the River
_Delaware_; for I my self have been on Board a Ship of that Burthen
there: and several fine Ships and Vessels (besides Governour Cox's own
great Ship) have been built there.... There are _Water-Men_ who
constantly Ply their Wherry Boats from that Town to the City of
_Philadelphia_ in _Pensilvania_, and to other places. Besides there is
_Glocester-Town_, which is a very Fine and Pleasant Place, being well
stored with Summer Fruits, as _Cherries_, _Mulberries_, and Strawberries
whither Young People come from Philadelphia in the Wherries to eat
_Strawberries_ and _Cream_, within sight of which city it is sweetly
Situated, being but about three Miles distant from thence."
Economic conditions in Pennsylvania.--When Penn's colonists arrived they
found many farms under cultivation. Many of the new arrivals took up
farming, and the lower counties became a supply region for Philadelphia.
Under Penn's direction. Philadelphia soon became a trading center, and
as it grew Burlington declined. Furs and food-stuffs were exchanged for
manufactured articles from Europe, and for sugar and other West Indian
produce. With the exception of the making of coarse cloth and cordage,
there was little manufacturing. Practically all of the settlers were
freemen, although slavery and indenture gradually crept in. The standard
of living was higher than in most of the colonies, for Indian wars did
not disturb pursuits, the lands were fertile, and the climatic
conditions less rigorous than along the New England coast. Most of the
early accounts tell of well-built houses, and productive gardens and
orchards.
Religion and education.--In church affiliation the Delaware River
country was a mixture. In West New Jersey were found Presbyterians,
Baptists, Quakers, and Lutherans. In Pennsylvania there were the same
denominations, but religiously and politically the Quakers were in the
ascendency. In 1695 an Episcopal church was established at Philadelphia,
but the Anglican church made slow progress along the Delaware. The Dutch
and Swedes had established schools under the direction of the ministers.
The Quakers were also keenly interested in education, and schools were
immediately established. In 1682 the West New Jersey assembly granted
three hundred acres for the support of a school at Burlington, and one
of the first acts of the Pennsylvania assembly was intended to begin
elementary education. In 1689 the Friends' Public School at
Philadelphia was founded and was open to all sects. But most of the
schools were founded by churches or private individuals.
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION
The settled area.--The Chesapeake Bay country formed another economic
unit. By the end of the Stuart regime Maryland contained about 30,000
people, Virginia nearly 60,000, and North Carolina perhaps 3,000,
practically all of English extraction. From Cape Charles northward for
fifty miles the peninsula was settled. Then came an uninhabited region
until opposite Kent Island, where the settlements began again and
extended northward to the Pennsylvania line. On the western side of the
bay a population belt about twenty-five miles wide extended from the
northern boundary of Maryland as far as the Potomac. On the right bank
of the Potomac from a point ten miles above Alexandria to the place
where the river made its great bend to the eastward the plantations
covered a strip about five miles wide. From the great bend the frontier
ran almost straight south to the neighborhood of Richmond and then
gradually curved to the southeast, enclosing a settled area about
twenty-five miles wide on the south side of the James River.
[Illustration: Settled Areas in the Southern Colonies about 1700.]
The frontier line crossed the North Carolina boundary about forty miles
from the coast and ran southwestward to the Chowan River, which with the
northern shore of Albemarle Sound formed the limits of the settled
region of North Carolina, then politically united but economically and
socially separated from the Charleston district.
The plantations.--The Chesapeake Bay country was almost entirely devoted
to agriculture. The small land holdings of the early period were rapidly
disappearing and great plantations had taken their place. The average
land patent in Virginia in the last decades of the century gave title to
from six hundred to eight hundred acres, but many of the plantations
covered from ten thousand to twenty thousand acres. So plentiful was
land and so easily obtained that the planters preferred to take up new
acreage rather than resort to fertilization, the result being that the
plantations were widely scattered, an important factor in making each
estate a social and economic unit.
Tobacco.--The great staple was tobacco. The plantations were usually
located near a creek, river, or the bay shore. Each had its wharf or
flatboat from which the trader could load his vessel. Most of the crop
was shipped to England, and the price obtained determined the year's
prosperity or depression. The large plantation owner usually dealt with
some London house, which kept an open account with him, crediting his
tobacco against orders for the manufactured articles and luxuries which
the Virginia and Maryland gentlemen demanded.
Other industrial activity.--Some writers have held that there must have
been much poverty in the plantation country because of the uncertain
market for tobacco, but such statements do not take into account the
fact that the plantations produced an abundance of food products. Wheat,
oats, barley, and maize were grown in large quantities, the cereals
usually being planted after the third crop of tobacco. At times wheat
was exported. Almost every estate had its garden and orchard, and live
stock was abundant, horses, cattle, and hogs usually ranging in the
woods. So numerous did the hogs become that pork was an item of
exportation. New England coasting vessels ran into the rivers and took
on wheat, pork, and tobacco, which, were exchanged for West Indian
slaves, rum, and sugar. There was but little manufacturing. Cotton and
woolen cloths were made for home use, and brick-making was carried on to
a limited extent, but most of the manufactured articles were brought
from England.
The system of labor.--The large plantations were worked either by
indented servants or slaves. In 1671 Governor Berkeley estimated that
there were 6,000 white servants and 2,000 slaves in Virginia. By 1683
there were about 12,000 indented servants and perhaps 3,000 slaves, and
by the end of the century the slaves had probably doubled. In proportion
to population the indented servants and slaves in Maryland and North
Carolina were in similar ratio to the free white population.
Social position of the planter.--At the top of the social and political
structure of society was the planter, his position depending largely
upon his acreage. Already in Virginia and Maryland the "great-house" or
manor house had made its appearance, a rather unpretentious rambling
frame house with a brick chimney at either end, the splendor of which
was largely due to comparison with the quarters of the slaves. Articles
of luxury such as musical instruments, mirrors, brass fixtures,
silverware, table linen, and damask hangings were frequently found in
the houses of the wealthier planters. These were by no means typical,
for pewter was far more common than silver, and in the home of recently
released indented servants or small landholders there was little more
than bare necessity demanded.
Religion and education.--In religion there was less uniformity than in
industry. In Maryland probably three-fourths of the inhabitants belonged
to various dissenting sects. Most of the great landholders were members
of the Anglican church, but many were Catholics. Most of the Virginians
were Episcopalians, while in North Carolina the Quakers were
predominant. Popular education in the South was far below that of the
North. Public sentiment was against free schools, and the few secondary
educational institutions were conducted through private enterprise. The
planters frequently secured educated indented servants who acted as
tutors. In 1691 the Virginia legislature sent Dr. William Blair to
England to secure a charter for a college and the following year he
returned with it, this being the legal beginning of William and Mary
College.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Population.--Economically and socially South Carolina was associated
with the West Indies rather than with the mainland colonies. At the
close of the seventeenth century the white population was about 5,500.
Most of the inhabitants came from Barbados, but other Caribbean Islands,
England, Ireland, the New England colonies, and France furnished
colonists. The settled area extended from the Santee to the mouth of the
Edisto, included several of the islands, and reached back from the coast
about fifty miles. The social and economic center was Charleston. In the
back country there were only two small towns, most of the people being
located on plantations along the rivers and on the islands. The
Barbadian planters had settled mainly on the Cooper River, Goose Creek,
and Ashley River, and on James, John's and Edisto Islands. Four or five
hundred Huguenots, most of whom had left their country because of the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes, had located on the Santee, where they
had received land grants aggregating over 50,000 acres, nearly half of
this being the property of two individuals, the other Huguenot estates
varying from 100 to 3,000 acres.
The plantations.--At the end of the century rice culture, which was
destined to furnish the most important staple, was in its infancy, and a
little silk and cotton were produced. The chief business of the planters
was the raising of cattle and hogs, corn, and pease. The Barbadians
brought in the economic system of the West Indies, which was based upon
slavery, and the harsh slave code of Barbados was adopted in the colony.
Accurate statistics regarding the number of slaves are inaccessible, but
an apparently authentic letter of 1708 states that in that year there
were 4,100 negro slaves and 1,400 Indian slaves in the colony, numbers
probably in excess of those in 1700, as it was the development of the
rice industry which made slaves highly profitable.
Commerce.--Charleston was the great market town. There the trader
stocked for the Indian trade, which, at the close of the century was the
chief source of wealth of South Carolina. Goods from Charleston are said
to have penetrated a thousand miles into the interior. To the West
Indies were shipped beef, pork, butter, tallow, and hides, rice and
pease, lumber, staves, pitch, and tar; returning vessels brought rum,
sugar, molasses, and other West Indian products. To England were shipped
furs, rice, silk, and naval stores, in return for manufactured goods.
Religion and education.--The Episcopalian was the established church of
the colony, and probably forty-five per cent. of the population belonged
to that denomination. An equal per cent. was divided between
Congregationalists and Presbyterians, and there were a few Baptists and
Quakers. No public school system had been established, but many of the
wealthier families employed tutors. A public library was started at
Charleston in 1698, but no institution of higher learning had been
established.
Society.--Already in South Carolina an aristocratic society was forming
which was distinctly different from that of any other mainland colony.
When the Barbadians came they brought with them the social viewpoint of
the West Indian planter. As soon as the discovery was made that the
swampy river bottoms were adapted to rice and indigo, slavery received a
great impetus and the Barbadian social system was almost duplicated. In
no other colony was such a large part of the population concentrated in
a single city. In Charleston lived the merchants, and there the planter
built his town house and remained with his family a portion of the year.
The gathering of the wealthy classes developed a social atmosphere of
gaiety which was in marked contrast to the soberness of Boston or the
conservatism of Philadelphia.
READINGS
Andrews, C.M., _Colonial Self-Government_, 288-336; _Colonial Folkways_;
Brodhead, J.R., _History of the State of New York_, II; Bruce, P.A.,
_Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century_; Burr, G.L.,
ed., _Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases_; Dexter, E.G., _A History of
Education in the United States_, 24-71; Dexter, F.B., "Estimates of
Population in the American Colonies," in American Antiquarian Society;
_Proceedings_, New Series, V, pt. 1; Eggleston, E., _The Transit of
Civilization_; Fiske, J., _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, II, 174-269;
McCrady, E., _South Carolina under the Proprietary Government_, I,
314-363; Mereness, N.D., _Maryland as a Proprietary Province_; Smith,
S., _The History of the Colony of Nova Caesaria, or New Jersey_; Walker,
W., _A History of the Congregational Churches in the United States_:
Weeden, W.B., _Economic and Social History of New England_, I; Phillips,
U.B., _American Negro Slavery_, 67-84, 98-114.
EXPANSION AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT