Regional distinctions in 17th and 18 century colonial society - Essay Example

Regional distinctions in 17th and 18 century colonial society 584 There are major differences between the 17th and the 18th centuries, in various fronts. A similarity in the economic front between the centuries is that the economy was agriculture dependent. However, the difference is in the crops that were considered staple, with the 17th century considering tobacco as the staple crop while the 18th century had cotton as its staple crop (Eric, 9). The labor force in the 7th century was mainly indentured servitude comprising of white servants while this changed in the 18th century to slave labor, with African who were imported (Eric, 21). In the social stratification front, the Southern planters were on the top of social class with large crop farms and the small farmers with less land coming in second. The Europeans were at the top of the social cadre, with the Native Americans and the Africans following in that order. The wealthy whites could hire the poor Europeans for indentured servitude, while the Africans belonged predominantly to the slave class. Colonies were formed based on religious beliefs, with the growth in religious freedom being higher in the 18th century than it was in the 17th century. The regions of New England and the Middle colonies were less economically prosperous compared to the Chesapeake Bay Colonies and the Lower South. Organization of the labor force was such that there was more freedom for laborers in the New England and the Middle colonies, as opposed to the other two regions (Eric, 58). This labor force freedom was more in the 18th century more than in the 17th century. 2. How Tobacco cultivation shaped the maturation of colonial society in the Chesapeake 1620-1775. The introduction of tobacco as a stable crop occurred in 1613. The decision to cultivate Tobacco as a staple food shaped the maturation of the colonies by introducing slave labor to replace the indentured servitude that was being utilized before in cotton farming (Eric, 107). Tobacco became the basis of the southern economy, since the introduction of became more economical than the contraction of the white to work for a fixed period. This saw the enactment of slavery law of 1641, which allowed the farmers to own slaves. Social stratification was the basis of production of indentured servants, since they would come from overpopulated European areas with poor people. The rich lived in spacious tracts of land, where they could hire the poor whites to work on their farms. However, servants were more economical to use since it was cheaper than the cost of obtaining slaves. Therefore, the labor force was made of more indenture servants and a few slaves. The demography had less indentured servants because they died more, creating an allowance to own more slaves who were overworked to death in some regions such as the Caribbean, while those on the American colonies were bred to perpetuate the slave population. The economy of the south later changed from depending more on tobacco to relying on cotton, rice and indigo (Eric, 92). Slaves replaced the indentured servants by the end of 17th century and early 18th century, as the indentured servants became more and more scarce. 3. Major differences in British North America, between17th and 18th centuries. There are major differences observed in British North America, between the 17th and the 18th century. Accessibility of slave is one of such differences. While in the 17th century the accessibility of slaves was a tough task for the British colonialist in the North America, it became quite easy in the 18th century (Eric, 22). This changed the use of slaves where the most used Indian slaves in the 17th century were replaced by the African slaves who became the major source of labor in the 18th century. Another major difference between the centuries is the racial attitudes. In the 17th century, racial attitudes were more flexible as compared to the 18th century (Eric, 283). In the 17th century, the African slaves had a few basic rights and they could keep families. This eventually changed in the 18th century when there was a massive importation of slaves. The rights of the slaves were curtailed completely and they became more mistreated. Observed as another major change, the British economy improved greatly. Compared to the 17th century, the economy of Britain grew by a greater margin, creating more resources to the British citizens, and improving their livelihoods and lifestyles. This meant an access of abundance food, clothing, and other human needs for the poorer Europeans living in Britain. Consequently, the indentured servants became more and more scarce, making it necessary to seek an alternative source of labor. This meant that more slaves that are African had to be imported to replace the indentured servants in provision of labor. 4. Major 18th century societal changes and how they explain the American Revolution in British North America in the. There was a societal change in the British North America in the 18th century, there was a higher growth in the American population than was anticipated (Eric, 557). Many American whites owned farms and started becoming independent. However, this did not work out equally for the entire American, in that those ones who were in the south had better farmlands compared to those who were in the north. Thus, those in the south became great planters; those in the south became peasants and tenants. This inequality between the white Americans served to incite a spirit of revolution that called for equality of all (Eric, 1533). There were technological inventions and innovations in the 18th century that changed the social, economical and cultural aspects of the society. Manual labor was replaced by mechanical labor and thus the need for slaves started diminishing. Technological advancements came with a change in the perception of education where many people started attending schools. This served to create enlightenment that was the basis of challenging the social stratification, racialism and inequality (Eric, 16). Another societal change in the 18th century was the direct importation of slaves into the colonies. Due to malaria prevalence in the wetlands that the slaves worked on, their masters required the slaves to organize themselves and determine how they would work. This freedom granted to the slaves created a sense of bonding and elicited a spirit of need for freedom from slavery and forced labor. Religion and ethnic diversity took a new turn in the 18th century, with most North Americans harboring diverse views and opinions regarding religion. All these societal changes served as recipes for American Revolution. 5. Challenges facing the new Nation after Revolutionary war There were many challenges facing the new American nation after the Revolutionary war of 1783. The nation had acquired huge debts during the revolution. Therefore the nation faced a great depression in the period 1784-85, forcing it to take more loans from other countries such as France to avoid it becoming bankrupt (Eric, 430). Foreign issues continued to maim the country, since British refused to set the country free even after signing the treaty by retaining its troops in Detroit. Rebellion of the American army due to lack of payment was yet another challenge facing the new nation. This occurred because the government was not in a better financial position to pay its troops who were involved in the military during the revolution. The military then sought to revolt against the government. The article of confederation was unable to solve the challenges facing the new nation, since it created a stronger state government as compared to the federal government. Consequently, the state governments were reluctant to pay their dues to the federal government. This served to plague the financial position of the government by far (Eric, 181). The congress government was thus unable to settle its debts or pay the military. This made the confederation article ineffective in running the new nation. The constitution sought to address the challenges posed by the articles of confederation by giving the central government more powers, for example, it has now the power to levy taxes (Eric, 74). Further, the federal government has the powers to control trade between states while addressing the failures of the states to fulfill their legal obligations through the federal courts. 6. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson’s visions for the economic future of the country. There were many disagreements between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson’s visions for the economic future of the country. These disagreements ranged from the power that the federal government was to wield, to the limitations that the democratic rule should work under (Eric, 11). However, economic issues were the main differences between the two, where the issue of National bank became their area of great contention. While Hamilton had the view that the national bank could a long way in financing the federal government, Jefferson held the view that such a bank would give the owners of the bank more powers over the government. While Hamilton viewed banks as the future source of economic prosperity through lending, Jefferson preferred land farming as the way out to economic prosperity of the nation. Another of their difference is in federalism, where Hamilton required that the federal government should assume and pay all the debts, both state and federal. This was in sharp contrast to Jefferson’s viewpoint, observing that many southern states had paid for their debts and would be illogical to burden them with the northern States debts. Further, while Hamilton observed that trade and manufacturing were the basis for future economic prosperity of the nation, Jefferson held that agriculture was the basis for future economic prosperity. This created yet another difference in these two people’s national economic vision (Eric, 218). The differences between the two were based on economic beliefs and the way of prospering the nation in the future. Hamilton overcame these differences by negotiating with the government, making them reach an agreement over the diversionary issues. For example, he ensured the government agreed to shoulder the responsibility of paying up both the sate and the federal debts. 7. The changes in US in the period 1800-1836 There are major patterns and trends that are observable in the history of the US, in 1800-1836. Religious aspect of the American people grew at a higher rate during this period. There occurred a great involvement of the people in religious issues, which saw a greater growth in the number of denominations from the traditional catholic and the Anglican churches to other denominations, which are major religious denominations of the US to date. Most schools and education institutions had religious affiliations. In the economic front, there was a major change of economic perspective from specializing in agrarian economy to more diversified economy of trade and manufacturing (). Technological advancements that occurred in the period saw the rise and growth of industrialization in the nation. Banking industry saw a major boost during this period, where many banking and other financial institutions arose during the period. These institutions have played a pivotal role in mobilizing resources that saw the nation through industrialization, to becoming an industrialized nation by the end of the 19th century (Eric, 131). Cultural changes occurred in the US during this period that saw the traditional socio-cultural aspects transform. The issue of ending slavery came into place, while women education was given a boost, supporting women who wanted to get education. Political changes took a different turn with many laws being enacted while others were abolished, mostly to promote the participation of the common person in government. Whiskey tax was repealed, judicial reviews done with the establishment of midnight judges and naturalization requirements were taken back to five years (Eric, 272). 8. Henry Clay, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson While Alexander Hamilton was a founding father of the US, an economist, apolitical philosopher and a soldier, and the first American constitutional lawyer and secretary of the treasury, Thomas Jefferson was a founding father of the US who served as a governor and later became the US’s third president. He was the US first secretary of state, who was interested in philosophy, religion and science (Eric, 65). Henry clay on the other hand was a lawyer, a politician and a skilled orator. He acted as a US secretary of state from1825-1829, having successfully served as the speaker of House of Representatives for three terms. He was a mentor of Thomas Jefferson and an heir of Alexander Hamilton. As an heir of Alexander Hamilton, Clay fought for the increase in tariffs to enhance industrialization in the US. As opposed to Jefferson’s viewpoint of agriculture as the future pathway for American economic prosperity, Clay advocated for trade and industrialization, as was the opinion of Alexander Hamilton. He further advocated for the use of federal funding to build infrastructure and a strong national bank (Eric, 148), the same vision that Hamilton held. Both viewed a strong national bank as a source of funding for the federal governments bid to industrialize. Jefferson’s philosophy was that of favor towards the state power and a limit of the federal government powers. Both Hamilton and Henry Clay’s philosophy favored the anti-slavery movements, requiring the end to slavery and the establishment of a constitution that created equality to all. 9. Social reform movements and the ideas linking social reformers The ideas linking social reformers together were the perception of women as an icon of the society. Most of these ideas originated from the education and other notable the social reformers obtained through the education systems o the seminar they attended (Eric, 86). The impacts of the three social reform movements of temperance, abolition, and women’s suffrage in the US politics and society are many. The social reform movement of suffrage handled the working conditions and educational rights for women and girls (Eric, 104). The impact of this movement on the American politics and the society was the amendment of the constitution of the US, allowing women to be allowed to vote. The second social movement was concerned with the issues of inequality and discrimination against women in the American society. Women felt that they were relegated to the role of caretakers and homemaking positions, though they had graduated with equal education, as did the men (Eric, 28). The second wave fought for the sexual rights of women, with notable movements such as Women’s Liberation Movement. The greatest proponents of such sexual rights were reformers Susa griffins and Kate Millet. The effect of the second wave was to change the perception of women in the society as sexual tools. Though the second wave was not considered so successful, the third wave of social reform came to address the failures of this wave, with an aim of interpreting gender and sexuality, in a way that the second wave had failed. The connection between gender and race was focused in this wave, with the aim of granting women from the minority races equal rights as were wielded by the modern white woman. The right for women to have right to contraceptives was addressed by reformers such as Catherine McKinnon. Women circumcision was to be subsequently abolished. 10. Political, economic, and social forces that promoted union or threatened to disunite the US from the end of the War of 1812 to the outbreak of the Civil War (1815-1860). The main threat to the union of the US that saw the break of the civil war was the diverse political, economic and political views on the issue of slavery. While the southerners considered slavery as an avenue to economic prosperity, the northerners considered it as immoral and unethical to continue with the slave trade (Eric, 312). Such were the social and economic forces that threatened to disunite the newly found nation. The political force that threatened the disunion of the nation is the secession of the southern states to form the confederate State of America that the northern States failed to recognize (Eric, 323). Another social force threat was the rapid growth of the northern states population, making it hard for the southern states to influence the government. However, there were certain forces that worked towards strengthening the newly formed nation. The political force to enact a new constitution was a major achievement towards uniting the nation. The new constitution sought to give the central government more powers, while limiting the powers of the sovereign states, thus uniting the whole nation. An economic force that saw the union of the new nation was the enforcement of the uniform commercial and trade regulations for all states. This gave all states equal economic opportunities, thus uniting them more. A social force that saw the unity of the newly formed US was the social forces of religious freedom and social equality in races and gender that occurred during the immediate period following the American Revolution (Eric, 512). 11. Collapse of the politics of compromise (1840-1860) and its contribution to Civil war. There was a compromise to admit Missouri as a US state under the category of a slave state while Mine state was to be admitted as a free state. This compromise was reached to avoid making the senate a slave state dominant. The compromise was reached in order to balance between the slave states and the Free states in the senate representation (Eric, 576). The compromise also served to ban slavery in the northern territory and the west of Missouri State. This compromise served to avoid sectional conflict up until 1854, when the Kansas Nebraska Act repealed the limitation on slavery. This enactment awakened an old fear that the federal government could have a serious threat to slavery. The act divided the new nation and headed it the way of the civil war. This was so since the act served to nullify the Missouri compromise. These differences on the act divided the democrat and the Whig party, giving rise to a new party, the Republican Party (Eric, 479). The emergence of the Republican Party divided the nation into two political camps, with the northern Republicans and the southern Democrats. This made the civil war inevitable, since the hostility regarding slavery, had grow to alarming levels. To address this, a new anti-slavery constitution was drawn, admitting Kansas as a free state to the republic. The Lincoln-Douglas debate was the culmination of the fierce rivalry, with both offering a speech against slavery. This served to provoke the southerners even more, making the civil war a reality. Work Cited Eric, Foner. Give Me Liberty! An American History, Vol.1 Third Seagull Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012) ISBN: 978-0-393-91190-9 Read More