The document discusses slavery and freedom in the British colonies. It describes the three distinct slave systems that existed - in the Chesapeake Bay based on tobacco plantations, in South Carolina and Georgia based on rice cultivation, and the non-plantation societies of New England. It also discusses slave culture, resistance, and the impact of the French and Indian Wars and Great Awakening.

2. SLAVE TRADE

3. FREEDOM AND SLAVERY
• Land, Labor, Staple equation
• Three distinct slave systems
existed in the British colonies
• Chesapeake Bay
• South Carolina and
Georgia
• Non-plantation societies
of New England and the
Middle Colonies

5. FREEDOM AND SLAVERY
•
Chesapeake Bay’s slave system
• Based primarily on tobacco plantations
• Plantations small
• Daily interaction between masters and slaves
• Slavery transformed society into a hierarchy based on freedom
• Large planters
• Yeoman farmers
• Indentured servants and tenant farmers
• Slaves
• Slavery codified slowly, starting in 1660s
• Race divisions begin
• Black= slave
• White= free

6. FREEDOM AND SLAVERY
• South Carolina and
Georgia’s slave system
• Slavery based on rice
cultivation
• Rice and indigo required
large-scale cultivation
• By 1770, slaves
comprised about ½ of SC
population

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8. FREEDOM AND SLAVERY
• Slavery in the North
• Both agricultural and
urban slavery
• Large estates rare;
winters made agricultural
slavery unprofitable
• New York: Largest
colonial slave population
• Pennsylvania: Eve of
Revolution, no more than
8% of Philadelphia pop.
were bonded servants

10. SLAVE CULTURE
• In the Chesapeake Bay colonies, slaves learned English and participated in the
Great Awakening
• They were thoroughly exposed to English culture and assimilated into mainstream society
• In South Carolina and Georgia, slaves participated in two contrasting societies:
• African culture: consisted primarily of slaves who worked in rice plantations
• Euro-American culture: consisted primarily of urban servants (house
workers)
• In the Northern colonies, slaves developed a distinct African-American culture
much slower than their counterparts
• Slaves had more access to main-stream society and culture
• They were also not as legally restricted as in the South

11. SLAVE RESISTANCE
•
A common sentiment for slaves in America
was the desire for freedom
•
Many colonial slaves ran away to Spanish
Florida and cities in Northern colonies
•
The first slave uprising was in New York
(1712)
•
Other rebellions:
• Stono Rebellion (1739) – led to a more
restrictive slave code
• New York City Fires (1741) – rumored to
be part of a slave conspiracy to attack
colonists
• As a result, sentiment towards free
blacks and slaves worsened
• Numerous slaves were executed in
the aftermath

12. FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS

14. SEVEN YEARS’ WAR
•
Begins in 1754 as the British attempt to
remove the French from western
Pennsylvania
•
War not officially declared until 1756
•
For the first four years, the British lose--and badly
•
Successes in 1758:
Duquesne, Louisburg, Frontenac
•
Most North American fighting ends in
1760
•
Change in British strategy caused by
death of George II
• Fighting in North America continues
with Anglo-Cherokee War

17. TREATY OF PARIS (1763)
• Changed the economic, political, and social relations between
Britain, France, and Spain
• France and Britain suffered financially and with long-term
consequences
• Britain gains French Canada and Acadia (80,000 primarily Roman
Catholic French speakers)
• Spain trades Florida to regain Cuba, also gains Louisiana from
France
• Mississippi River open to ALL for trade

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26. THE GREAT AWAKENING
•
A period of heightened religious activity in the colonies between the late 1720s and 1740s
•
•
Brought on by the arrival of young Anglican pastor George Whitefield
Whitefield traveled through the colonies preaching enthusiastically
•
Visited towns, villages, and the backcountry (known as circuit riding)
•
Known for attracting large, emotionally charged crowds and generating considerable controversy
•
Other preachers such as Jonathan Edwards generated immense controversy through his sermon, “Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God”
•
What was their goal?
•
•
•
Attempt to compel non-Christians to covert to Christianity and those who were lost to recommit to God
Controversial because they rejected Calvinism and segregation in church services
Conservative church members particularly did not care for the circuit riders

27. George Whitefield
Jonathan Edwards

28. THE GREAT AWAKENING
•
Factions
• “Old Lights” – conservative church members who rejected the controversial preaching of
the circuit riders
• “New Lights” – liberal church members who came under scrutiny for supporting the circuit
riders and accepting blacks into white church services
•
What did the movement achieve?
• Split Protestantism into more denominations; Presbyterians were especially
affected, strengthened Baptist and Methodist congregations
• Had little effect on Anglicans and Quakers
• Became social criticism for colonial society
• Rejected slavery in particular
• Eventually, “New Lights” eclipsed “Old Lights” and ushered in a new era of religious
influence in the colonies
• Became a great influence of connecting God’s will with the Revolutionary War in the
1760s and 1770s