History of the United States Volume 1: Colonial Period - FULL Audio Book

this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit our Ivo xorg read by M L Cowan Cleveland Ohio May 2007 history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 the colonial period preface as things now stand the course of instruction in American history in our public schools embraces three distinct treatments of the subject three separate books are used first there is the primary book which is usually a very condensed narrative with emphasis on biographies and anecdotes second there is the advanced text for the seventh or eighth grade generally speaking an expansion of the elementary book by the addition of forty or fifty thousand words finally there is the high school manual this too ordinarily follows the beaten path giving fuller accounts of the same events and characters to put it bluntly we do not assume that our children obtain permanent possessions from their study of history in the lower grades if mathematicians followed the same method high school texts on algebra and geometry would include the multiplication table and fractions there is of course a ready answer to the criticism advanced above it is that teachers have learned from bitter experience how little history their pupils retain as they pass along the regular route no teacher of history will deny this still it is a standing challenge to the existing methods of historical instruction if the study of history cannot be made truly progressive like the study of mathematics science and languages then the historians assume a grave responsibility and adding their subject to the already overloaded curriculum if the success of historical text are only enlarged editions of the first text more facts more dates more words then history deserves most of the sharp criticism which it is receiving from teachers of science civics and economics in this condition of affairs we find our justification for offering a new high school text in American history our first contribution is one of omission the time-honored stories of exploration and the biographies of heroes are left out we frankly hold that if pupils know little or nothing about Columbus Cortes Magellan or Captain John Smith by the time they reach the high school it is useless to tell the same story for perhaps the fourth time it is worse than useless it is an offense against the teachers of those subjects that are demonstrated to be progressive in character in the next place we have omitted all description of battles our reasons for this are simple the strategy of a campaign or of a single battle is a highly technical and usually highly controversial matter about which experts differ widely in the field of military and naval operations most writers and teachers of history are mere novices to dispose of Gettysburg or the wilderness in ten lines or ten pages is equally absurd to the serious student of military affairs anyone who compares the ordinary textbook account of a single Civil War campaign with the account given by ropes for instance will ask for no further comment no youth called upon to serve our country and arms would think of turning to a high school manual for information about the art of warfare the dramatic scene or episode so useful and arousing the interest of the immature pupil seems out of place in a book that deliberately appeals to boys and girls on the very threshold of life serious responsibilities it is not upon negative features however that we rest our case it is rather upon constructive features first we have written a topical not a narrative history we have tried to set forth the important aspects problems and movements of each period bringing in the narrative rather by way of illustration second we have emphasized those historical topics which help to explain how our nation has come to be what it is today third we have dwelt fully upon the social and economic aspects of our history especially in relation to the politics of each period fourth we have treated the causes and results of wars the problems of financing and sustaining armed forces rather than military strategy these are the subjects which belong to a history for civilians these are matters which civilians can understand matters which they must understand if they are to play well their part in war and peace fifth by omitting the period of exploration we have been able to enlarge the treatment of our own time we have given special attention to the history of those current questions which must form the subject matter of sound instruction in citizenship sixth we have borne in mind in America with all her unique characteristics is part of a general civilization accordingly we have given diplomacy Foreign Affairs world relations and the reciprocal influence of nations their appropriate place seventh we have deliberately aimed at standards of maturity the study of a mere narrative calls mainly for the use of the memory we have aimed to stimulate habits of analysis comparison association reflection and generalization habits calculated to enlarge as well as inform the mind we have been at great pains to make our text clear simple and direct but we have earnestly sought to stretch the intellects of our readers to put them upon their mettle most of them will receive the last of their formal instruction in the high school the world will soon expect maturity from them their achievements will depend upon the possession of other powers that memory alone the effectiveness of their citizenship in our Republic will be measured by the excellence of their judgment as well as the fullness of their information see a bee MRB New York City February 8th 1921 end of preface history of the United States Charles a beard Mary Ritter beard you you this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by John L white history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 chapter 1 the great migration to America the tide of migration that set in toward the shores of North America during the early years of the 17th century was but one phase in the restless and eternal movement of mankind upon the surface of the earth the ancient Greeks flung out their colonies in every direction westward as far as Gaul across the Mediterranean and eastward into Asia Minor perhaps to the very confines of India the Romans supported by their armies and their government spread their Dominion beyond the narrow lands of Italy until it stretched from the Heather of Scotland to the sands of Arabia the Teutonic tribes from their home beyond the Danube and the Rhine poured into the Empire of the Caesars and made the beginnings of modern Europe of this great sweep of races and empires the settlement of America was merely a part and it was moreover only one aspect of the expansion which finally carried the people's the institutions and the trade of Europe to the very ends of the earth in one vital point it must be noted American Colonization differed from that of the Ancients the Greeks usually carried with them affection for the government they left behind and sacred fire from the altar of the parent City but thousands of the immigrants who came to America disliked the state and disowned the Church of the mother country they established compacts of government for themselves and set up altars of their own they sought not only new soil to till but also political and religious liberty for themselves and their children the agencies of American colonization it was no light matter for the English to cross 3,000 miles of water and found homes in the American wilderness at the opening of the 17th century tools and supplies called for huge outlays of money stores had to be furnished in quantities sufficient to sustain the life of the settlers until they could gather harvests of their own artisans and labourers of skill and industry had to be induced to risk the hazards of the New World soldiers were required for defense and Mariners for the exploration of inland waters leaders of good judgment adept and managing men had to be discovered altogether such an enterprise demanded capital larger than the ordinary merchant or gentleman could amass and involved risks more imminent that he dare to assume though in later days after initial tests had been made wealthy proprietors were able to establish colonies on their own account it was the corporation that furnished the capital and leadership in the beginning the trading company English pioneers and exploration found an instrument for colonization in companies of merchant adventurers which had long been employed in carrying on commerce with foreign countries such a corporation was composed of many persons of different ranks of society noblemen merchants and gentlemen who banded together for a particular undertaking each contributing a sum of money and sharing in the profits of the venture it was organized under royal authority it received its charter its grant of land and its trading privileges from the king and carried on its operations under his supervision and control the Charter named all persons originally included in the corporation and gave them certain powers in the management of its affairs including the right to admit new members the company was in fact a little government set up by the king when the members of the corporation remained in England as in the case of the Virginia Company they operated through agents sent to the colony when they came over the seas themselves and settled in America as in the case of Massachusetts they became the direct government of the country they possessed the stockholders in that instance became the voters and the governor the chief magistrate four of the thirteen colonies in America owed their origins to the trading corporation it was the London company created by King James the first in 1606 that laid during the following year the foundations of Virginia at Jamestown it was under the auspices of their West India Company chartered in 1621 that the Dutch planted the settlements of the New Netherland in the valley of the Hudson the founders of Massachusetts were Puritan leaders and men of affairs whom King Charles the first incorporated in 1629 under the title the governor and company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England in this case the law did but incorporate a group drawn together by religious ties we must be knit together as one man wrote John Winthrop the first Puritan governor in America far to the south on the banks of the Delaware River a Swedish commercial company in 1638 made the beginnings of a settlement christened New Sweden it was destined to pass under the rule of the Dutch and finally under the rule of William Penn as the proprietary colony of Delaware in a certain sense Georgia may be included among the company colonies it was however originally conceived by the moving spirit James Oglethorpe as an asylum for poor men especially those imprisoned for debt to realize this humane purpose he secured from King George ii in 1732 a Royal Charter uniting several gentlemen including himself into one body politic in corporate known as the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia in America in the structure of their organization and their methods of government the trustees did not differ materially from their regular companies created for trade and colonization though their purposes were benevolent their transactions had to be under the forms of law and according to the rules of business the religious congregation a second agency which figured largely in the settlement of America was the religious Brotherhood or congregation of men and women brought together in the bonds of a common religious faith by one of the fortunes of history this institution founded in the early days of Christianity proved to be a potent force in the origin and growth of self-government in a land far away from Galilee and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul we are told in the Acts describing the church at Jerusalem we are knit together as a body and a most sacred covenant of the Lord by virtue of which we hold ourselves strictly tied to all care of each other's good and of the whole wrote John Robinson a leader among the pilgrims who founded their tiny colony of Plymouth in 1620 the Mayflower Compact so famous in American history was but a written and signed agreement incorporating the spirit of obedience to the common good which served as a guide to self-government until Plymouth was annexed to Massachusetts in 1691 three other colonies all of which retained their identity until the eve of the American Revolution likewise sprang directly from the congregations of the faithful Rhode Island Connecticut and New Hampshire mainly offshoots from Massachusetts they were founded by small bodies of men and women United in solemn covenants with the Lord who planted their settlements in the wilderness not until many a year after Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson conducted their followers to the Narragansett country was Rhode Island granted a charter of incorporation 1663 by the crown not until long after the congregation of Thomas Hooker from new town blazed the way into the Connecticut River Valley did the King of England give Connecticut a charter of its own 1662 and a place among the colonies half a century elapsed before the towns laid out beyond the Merrimack River by immigrants from Massachusetts were formed into the Royal province of New Hampshire in 1679 even when Connecticut was chartered the parchment and sealing-wax of the royal lawyers did but confirm rights and habits of self-government and obedience to law previously established by the congregations the towns of Hartford Windsor and Wethersfield had long lived happily under their Fundamental Orders drawn up by themselves in 1639 so had the settlers dwelt peacefully at New Haven under their fundamental Articles drafted in the same year the pioneers on the Connecticut Shore had no difficulty in agreeing that the Scriptures do hold forth a perfect rule for the description and government of all men the proprietor a third and very important colonial agency was the proprietor our proprietary as the name associated with the word property implies the proprietor was a person to whom the King granted property in lands in North America to have whole use and enjoy for his own benefit in profit with the right to hand the estate down to his heirs in perpetual succession the proprietor was a rich and powerful person prepared to furnish or secure the capital collect the ships supply the stores and assemble the settlers necessary to found and sustain a plantation beyond the seas sometimes the proprietor worked alone sometimes two or more were associated like partners in the common undertaking five colonies Maryland Pennsylvania New Jersey and the Carolinas Oh their formal origins though not always their first settlements nor in most cases their prosperity to the proprietary system maryland established in 1634 under a catholic nobleman Lord Baltimore and blessed with religious toleration by the act of 1649 flourished under the mild rule of proprietors until he became a state in the American Union New Jersey beginning its career under two proprietors Berkeley and Carteret in 1664 passed under the direct government of the crown in 1702 Pennsylvania was in a very large measure the product of the generous spirit and tireless labors of its first proprietor the leader of the Friends William Penn to whom it was granted in 1681 and in whose family it until 1776 the two carolinas were first organized as one colony in 1663 under the government and patronage of eight proprietors including Lord Clarendon but after more than half a century both became royal provinces governed by the king end of chapter one recording by John L white New Orleans Louisiana John white audio.com this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org this reading by Carolyn Berg history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 chapter 2 the colonial people's the English in leadership and origin the 13 colonies accepting New York and Delaware were English during the early days of all save these two the main if not the sole current of immigration was from England the colonists came from every walk of life there were men women and children of all sorts and conditions the major portion were yeoman or small landowners farm laborers and artisans with them were merchants and gentlemen who brought their stocks of goods or their fortunes to the new world scholars came from Oxford and Cambridge to preach the gospel or to teach now and then the son of an English nobleman left his baronial Hall behind and cast his lot with America the people represented every religious faith members of the established Church of England Puritans who had laboured to reform that church separatists Baptists and friends who had left it all together and Catholics who clung to the religion of their fathers New England was almost purely English during the years between 1629 and 60 40 the period of arbitrary Stuart government about 20,000 Puritans immigrated to America settling in the colonies of the far north although minor additions were made from time to time the greater portion of the New England people sprang from this original stock Virginia too for a long time drew nearly all her immigrants from England alone not until the eve of the revolution did other nationalities mainly the Scotch Irish and Germans rival the English in numbers the populations of later English colonies the Carolinas New York Pennsylvania and Georgia while receiving a steady stream of emigration from England were constantly augmented by Wanderers from the older settlements New York was invaded by Puritans from New England in such numbers as to cause the Anglican clergyman there to lament that free-thinking spreads almost as fast as the church North Carolina was first settled toward the northern border by immigrants from Virginia some of the North Carolinians particularly the Quakers came all the way from New England tarrying in Virginia only long enough to learn how little they were wanted in that Anglican colony the scotch-irish next to the English in numbers and influence were the scots-irish Presbyterians in belief English in tongue both religious and economic reasons sent them across the sea their Scotch ancestors in the days of Cromwell had settled in the north of Ireland once the native Irish had been driven by the conquerors sword there the Scotch flourished for many years enjoying in peace their own form of religion and growing prosperous in the manufacture of fine linen and woolen cloth then the blow fell toward the end of the 17th century their religious worship was put under the ban and the export of their cloth was forbidden by the English Parliament within two decades 20,000 scotch-irish left Ulster alone for America and all during the 18th century the migration continued to be heavy although no exact record was kept it is reckoned that the scotch-irish and the Scotch who came directly from Scotland composed one-sixth of the entire American population on the eve of the revolution these newcomers in America made their homes chiefly in New Jersey Pennsylvania Maryland Virginia and the Carolinas coming late upon the scene they found much of the land immediately upon the seaboard already taken up for this reason most of them became frontier people settling the Interior and upland regions there they cleared the land laid out their small farms and worked as sturdy yeomen on the soil hardy industrious and independent in spirit sharing neither the luxuries of the rich planters nor the easy life of the leisurely merchants to their agriculture they added woolen and linen manufacturers which flourishing in the supple fingers of their tireless women made heavy inroads upon the trade of the English merchants in the colonies of their labors a poet has sung a willing hands to toil strong nature's tuned to the harvest song and bound to the kindly soil bold pioneers for the wilderness defenders in the field the Germans third among the colonists in order of numerical importance were the Germans from the very beginning they appeared in colonial records a number of the artisans and carpenters in the first Jamestown Colony were of German descent Peter Minuit the famous governor of new motherland' was a German from Basel on the Rhine and Jacob leisler leader of a popular uprising against the provincial administration of New York was a German from Frankfurt on mine the wholesale migration of Germans began with the founding of Pennsylvania Penn was diligent in searching for thrifty farmers to cultivate his lands and he made a special effort to attract peasants from the Rhine country a great association known as the Frankfurt company bought more than 20,000 acres from him and in 1684 established a Center at Germantown for the distribution of German immigrants in old New York Rhinebeck on the Hudson became a similar center for distribution all the way from Maine to Georgia inducements were offered to the German farmers and in nearly every colony were to be found in time German settlements in fact the migration became so large that German princes were frightened at the loss of so many subjects and England was alarmed by the influx of foreigners into her overseas dominions yet nothing could stop the movement by the end of the colonial period the number of Germans had risen to more than 200,000 the majority of them were Protestants from the Rhine region and South Germany Wars religious controversies oppression and poverty drove them forth to America though most of them were farmers there were also among them skilled artisans who contributed to the rapid growth of industries in Pennsylvania their iron glass paper and woolen mills dotted here and there among the thickly settled regions added to the wealth and independence of the province unlike the scotch-irish the Germans did not speak the language of the original colonists or a mingle freely with them they kept to themselves built their own schools founded their own newspapers and published their own books they're clannish habits often irritated their neighbors and led to occasional agitations against foreigners however no serious collisions seemed to have occurred and in the days of the revolution German soldiers from Pennsylvania fought in the Patriot armies side-by-side with soldiers from the English and scotch-irish sections other nationalities though the English the scotch-irish and the Germans made up the bulk of the colonial population there were other racial strains as well varying in numeric importance but contributing their share to colonial life from France came the Huguenots fleeing from the decree of the king which inflicted terrible penalties upon Protestants from old Ireland came thousands of native Irish Celtic and race and Catholic and religion like their Scotch Irish neighbors to the north they revered neither the government nor the Church of England imposed upon them by the sword how many came we do not know but shipping records of the colonial period show that boat load after boat load left the southern and eastern shores of Ireland for the New World undoubtedly thousands of their passengers were Irish of the native stock this surmise is well sustained by the constant appearance of Celtic names in the records of various colonies the Jews then as ever engaged in their age long battle for religious and economic toleration found in the American colonies not complete liberty but certainly more freedom than they enjoyed in England France Spain or Portugal the English law did not actually recognize their right to live in any of the dominions but owing to the easygoing habits of the Americans they were allowed to filter into the seaboard towns the treatment they received their varied on one occasion the mayor and council of New York forbade them to sell buy retail and on another prohibited the exercise of their religious worship Newport Philadelphia and Charleston were more hospitable and their large Jewish colonies consisting principally of merchants and their families flourished in spite of nominal prohibitions of the law though the small Swedish colony in Delaware was quickly submerged beneath the tide of English migration the Dutch in New York continued to hold their own for more than a hundred years after the English conquest of 1660 for at the end of the colonial period over one half of the 170,000 inhabitants of the province were descendants of the original Dutch still distinct enough to give a decided cap to the life and matters of New York many of them clung as tenaciously to their mother tongue as they did to their capacious farm houses or their dutch ovens but they were slowly losing their identity as the English pressed in beside them to farm and trade the melting pot had begun its historic mission end of chapter 2 read by Carolyn Berg on May 11th 2007 in Oceanside California this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org history of the United States by Charles a beard in Mary Ritter beard part 1 section 3 the process of colonization considered from one side colonization whatever the motives of the immigrants was an economic matter it involved the use of capital to pay for their passage to sustain them on the voyage and to start them on the way of production under this Stern economic necessity Puritans scotch-irish Germans and all were alike laid immigrants who paid their own way many of the immigrants to America in colonial days were capitalists themselves in a small or a large way and paid their own passage what proportion of the colonists were able to finance their voyage across the sea is a matter of pure conjecture undoubtedly a very considerable number could do so for we can trace the family fortunes of many early settlers Henry Cabot Lodge is Authority for the statement that the settlers of New England were drawn from the country gentlemen small farmers in yo memory of the mother country many of the immigrants were men of wealth as the old lists show and all of them with few exceptions were men of property in good standing they did not belong to the classes from which emigration is usually supplied for they all had a stake in the country they left behind though it would be interesting to know how accurate the statement is or how applicable to the other colonies no study has yet been made to gratify that interest for the present it is an unsolved problem just how many of the colonists were able to bear the cost of their own transfer to the new world indentured servants that at least tens of thousands of immigrants were unable to pay for their passage is established beyond the shadow of a doubt by the shipping records that have come down to us the great barrier in the way of the poor who wanted to go to America was the cost of the sea voyage to overcome this difficulty a plan was worked out whereby shipowners and other persons of means furnished the passage money to immigrants in return for their promise or bond to work for a term of years to repay the some advanced this system was called indentured servitude it is probable that the number of bondservants exceeded the original twenty thousand Puritans the yeoman the Virginia gentleman and the Huguenots combined all the way down the coast from Massachusetts to Georgia were to be found in the fields kitchens and workshops men women and children serving out terms of bondage generally ranging from five to seven years in the proprietary colonies the proportion of bond servants was very high the Baltimore's Penn's car turrets and other promoters anxiously sought for workers of every nationality to till their fields for land without labor was worth no more than land in the moon hence the gates of the proprietary colonies were flung wide open every inducement was offered to immigrants in the form of cheap land and special efforts were made to increase the population by importing servants in Pennsylvania it was not uncommon to find a master with fifty bondservants on his estate it has been estimated that two-thirds of all immigrants into Pennsylvania between the opening of the 18th century and the outbreak of the revolution were in bondage in the other middle colonies the number was doubtless not so large but it formed a considerable part of the population the story of this traffic in white servants is one of the most striking things in the history of labor bond men differed from the serfs of the feudal age in that they were not bound to the soil but to the master they likewise differed from the Negro slaves in that their servitude had a time limit still they were subject to many special disabilities it was for instance a common practice to impose on them penalties far heavier than were imposed upon freedmen for the same offense a free citizen of Pennsylvania who indulged in horse-racing and gambling was led off with a fine a white servant guilty of the same unlawful conduct was whipped at the post in find as well the ordinary life of the white servant was severely restricted a bondman could not marry without his master's consent nor engage in trade nor refuse work assigned to him for an attempt to escape or indeed for any infraction of the law the term of service was extended the condition of white blond men in Virginia according to lodge was little better than that of slaves loosened dentures and harsh laws put them at the mercy of their masters it would not be unfair to add that such was their lot in all other colonies their fate depended on the temper of their masters cruel as the system was in many ways it gave thousands of people in the old world a chance to reach the new an opportunity to wrestle with fate for freedom in a home of their own when there were years of servitude were over if they survived that might obtain land of their own or settle as free mechanics in the towns for many a bondman the gamble proved to be a losing venture because he found himself unable to rise out of the state of poverty independence into which his servitude carried him for thousands on the contrary bondage proved to be a real Avenue to freedom and prosperity some of the best citizens of America have the blood of indentured servants in their veins the transported involuntary servitude in their anxiety to secure settlers the companies and proprietors having colonies in America either resorted to or connived at the practice of kidnapping men women and children from the streets of English cities in 1680 it was officially estimated that 10,000 persons were spirited away to America many of the victims of the practice were young children for the traffic in them was highly profitable orphans and dependents were sometimes disposed of in America by relatives unwilling to support them in a single year 16:27 1,500 children were shipped to Virginia in this gruesome business there lurked many tragedies and very few romances parents were separated from their children and husbands from their wives hundreds of skilled artisans carpenters Smith's and Weaver's utterly disappeared as if swallowed by death a few thus dragged off to the new world to be sold into servitude for a term of five or seven years later became prosperous and returned home with fortunes in one case a young man who was forcibly carried over the sea lived to make his way back to England and established his claim to a peerage akin to the kidnapped at least in economic position were convicts deported to the colonies for life and Lua fines and imprisonment the Americans protested vigorously but ineffectually against this practice indeed they exaggerated its evils for many of the criminals were only mild offenders against unduly harsh and cruel laws a peasant called shooting a rabbit on the Lord's estate or a luckless serving girl who purloined a pocket-handkerchief was branded as a criminal along with sturdy thieves in incorrigible Rascals other transported offenders were political criminals that is persons who criticize or oppose the government this class included now Irish who revolted against British rule in Ireland now Cavaliers who championed the King against the Puritan revolutionists Puritans in turn dispatched after the monarchy was restored and Scotch and English subjects in general who joined in political uprisings against the king the African slaves rivaling in numbers in the course of time the indentured servants and whites carried to America against their will where the African Negroes brought to America and sold into slavery when this form of bondage was first introduced into Virginia in 1619 it was looked upon as a temporary necessity to be discarded with the increase of the white population moreover it does not appear that those planners who first brought Negroes at the auction block attended to establish a system of permanent bondage only by a slow process did chattel slavery take firm route and become recognized as the leading source of the labor supply in 1650 thirty years after the introduction of slavery there were only 300 Africans in Virginia the great increase in later years was due in no small measure to the inordinate for-profits that seized slave traders both in old and in new england finding it relatively easy to secure Negroes in Africa they crowded the southern ports with their vessels the English royal African company sent to America annually between 1713 in 1743 from five to ten thousand slaves the ship owners of New England were not far behind their English brethren in pushing this extraordinary traffic as the proportion of the Negroes to the free white population steadily rose and has whole sections were overrun with slaves and slave traders the southern colonies grew alarmed in 1710 Virginia sought to curtail the importation by placing a duty of five pounds on each slave this effort was futile for the royal governor promptly vetoed it from time to time similar bills were passed only to meet with royal disapproval South Carolina in 1760 absolutely prohibited importation but the measure was killed by the British crown as late as 1772 Virginia not daunted by a century of rebuffs said to George the third a petition in this vein the importation of slaves into the colonies from the coast of Africa health law and being considered as a trade of great humanity an under ins present encouragement we have too much reason to fear will endanger the very existence of your Majesty's American dominions deeply impressed with these sentiments we most humbly beseech your Majesty to remove all those restraints on your Majesty's governors of this colony which inhibit their accenting to such laws as might check so very pernicious a commerce all such protests were without avail the Negro population grew by leaps and bounds till on the eve of the revolution and amounted to more than half a million in five states Maryland Virginia the two Carolinas in Georgia the slaves nearly equaled or actually exceeded the whites and number in South Carolina they formed almost two-thirds of the population even in the middle colonies of Delaware and Pennsylvania about one-fifth of the inhabitants were from Africa to the north the proportion of slaves steadily diminished though chattel servitude was on the same legal footing as in the south in New York approximately one in six in New England one in 50 were Negroes including a few freedmen the climate the soil the Commerce and the industry of the North were all unfavorable to the growth of a servile population still slavery though sectional was a part of the national system of economy northern ships carried slaves to the southern colonies and the produce of the plantations to Europe if the northern states will consult their interest they will not oppose the increase in slaves which will increase the commodities of which they will become the carriers said John Rutledge of South Carolina in the convention which frame the Constitution of the United States what enriches apart enriches the whole and the states are the best judges of their particular interest responded Oliver Ellsworth the distinguished spokesman of Connecticut end of section 3 this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 section 4 chapter 2 colonial agriculture industry and commerce the land and the westward movement the significance of land tenure the way in which land may be acquired held divided among heirs and bought and sold exercises a deep influence on the life and culture of a people the feudal and aristocratic societies of Europe were founded on a system of landlordism which was characterized by two distinct features in the first place the land was nearly all held in great estates each owned by a single proprietor in the second place every estate was kept intact under the law of primogeniture which at the death of the Lord transferred all his landed property to his eldest son this prevented the subdivision of estates and the growth of a large body of small farmers or freeholders owning their own land it made a form of tenantry or servitude inevitable for the mass of those who labored on the land it also enabled the landlords to maintain themselves in power as a governing class and kept the tenants and labourers subject to their economic and political control if land tenure was so significant in Europe it was equally important in the development of America where practically all the first immigrants were forced by circumstances to derive their livelihood from the soil experiments in common tillage in the new world with its broad extent of land awaiting the white man's plow it was impossible to introduce in its entirety and over the whole area the system of lords and tenants that existed across the sea so it happened that almost every kind of experiment in landed tenure from communism to feudalism was tried in the early days of the Jamestown Colony the land though owned by the London company was tilled in common by the settlers no man had a separate plot of his own the motto of the community was labour and share alike all were supposed to work in the fields and receive an equal share of the produce at Plymouth the pilgrims attempted a similar experiment laying out the fields in common and distributing the joint produce of their labour with rough equality among the workers in both colonies the communistic experiments were failures angry at the lazy men in Jamestown who idled their time away and yet expected regular meals Captain John Smith issued a manifesto everyone that gathereth not every day as much as I do the next day shall be set beyond the river and forever banished from the fort and lived there or starve even this terrible threat did not bring a change in production not until each man was given a plot of his own to till not until each gathered the fruits of his own labor did the colony prosper in Plymouth where the communal experiment lasted for five years the results were similar to those in Virginia and the system was given up for one of separate fields in which every person could set corn for his own particular some other New England towns refusing to profit by the experience of their plymouth neighbor also made excursions into common ownership and labor only to abandon the idea and go in for individual ownership of the land by degrees it was seen that even the Lord's people could not carry the complicated communist legislation into perfect and wholesome practice feudal elements in the colonies quit rents manors and plantations at the other end of the scale were the feudal elements of land tenure found in the proprietary colonies in the seaboard regions of the south and to some extent in New York the proprietor was in fact a powerful feudal lord owning land granted to him by Royal Charter he could retain any part of it for his personal use or dispose of it all in large or small Lots while he generally kept for himself and a state of baronial proportions it was impossible for him to manage directly any considerable part of the land in his Dominion consequently he either sold it in parcels for lump sums or granted it to individuals on condition that they make to him an annual payment and money known as quit rent in Maryland the proprietors sometimes collected as high as nine thousand pounds equal to about five hundred thousand dollars today in a single year from this source in Pennsylvania the quit rents brought a handsome annual tribute into the Exchequer of the Penn family in the Royal provinces the King of England claimed all revenues collected in this form from the land a sum amounting to nineteen thousand pounds at the time of the revolution the quit rent really a feudal payment from freeholders was thus a material source of income for the crown well as for the proprietors wherever it was laid however it proved to be a burden a source of constant irritation and it became a formidable item in the long list of grievances which led to the American Revolution something still more like the feudal system of the old world appeared in the numerous manners or the huge landed estates granted by the crown the companies or the proprietors in the colony of Maryland alone there were 60 manors of 3,000 acres each owned by wealthy men and tilled by tenants holding small plots under certain restrictions of tenure in New York also there were many manors of wide extent most of which originated in the days of the Dutch West India Company when extensive concessions were made to Patroons to induce them to bring over settlers the van rennselaer the Van Cortlandt and the Livingston manners were so large and populous that each was entitled to send a representative to the provincial legislature the tenants on the new england manners were in somewhat the same position as serfs on old european estates they were bound to pay the owner a rent in money and kind they ground their grain at his mill and they were subject to his judicial power because he held court and meted out justice in some instances extending to capital punishment the manors of New York or Maryland were however of slight consequence as compared with the vast plantations of the southern seaboard huge estates far wider and expanse than many a European barony and tilled by slaves more servile than any feudal tenants it must not be forgotten that this system of land tenure became the dominant feature of a large section and gave a decided bent to the economic and political life of America the small freehold in the upland regions of the south however and throughout most of the north the drift was against all forms of servitude and tenantry and in the direction of the freehold that is the small farm owned outright and tilled by the possessor and his family this was favored by natural circumstances and the spirit of the immigrants for one thing the abundance of land and the scarcity of labor made it impossible for the companies the proprietors or the crown to develop over the whole continent a network of vast estates in many sections particularly in New England the climate the stony soil the hills and the narrow valleys conspired to keep the farms within a moderate compass for another thing the English scotch-irish and German peasants even if they had been tenants in the old world did not propose to accept permanent dependency of any kind in the new if they could not get free holds they would not settle at all thus they forced proprietors and companies to bid for their enterprise by selling land in small Lots so it happened that the freehold of modest proportions became the cherished unit of American farmers the people who tilled the farms were drawn from every quarter of Western Europe but the freehold system gave a uniform cast to their economic and social life in America social effects of land tenure land tenure and the process of Western settlement thus developed two distinct types of people engaged in the same pursuit agriculture they had a common tie-in that they both cultivated the soil and possessed the local interest and independence which arise from that occupation their methods and their culture however differed widely the southern planter on his broad acres tilled by slaves resembled the English landlord on his estates more than he did the colonial farmer who labored with his own hands in the fields and forests he sold his rice and tobacco in large amounts directly to English factors who took his entire crop in exchange for goods and cash his fine clothes silverware china and cutlery he bought an English markets loving the ripe old culture of the mother country he often sent his sons to Oxford or Cambridge for their education in short he depended very largely for his prosperity and his enjoyment of life upon close relations with the old world he did not even need market towns in which to buy native goods for they were made on his own plantation by his own artisans who were usually gifted slaves the economic condition of the small farmer was totally different his crops were not big enough to warrant direct connection with English factors or the personal maintenance of a corps of artisans he needed local markets and they sprang up to meet the need Smith's Hatter's Weaver's wagon makers and Potter's at neighboring towns supplied him with the rough products of their native skill the finer Goods bought by the rich planter in England the small farmer ordinarily could not buy his wants were restricted to staples like tea and sugar and between him and the European market stood the merchant his community was therefore more self-sufficient than the seaboard line of great plantations it was more isolated more provincial more independent more American the planter faced the old East the farmer faced the new West the westward movement yeoman and planter nevertheless were alike in one respect their land hunger was never appeased each had the eye of an expert for new and fertile soil and so north and south as soon as a foothold was secured on the Atlantic coast the current of migration set in westward creeping through forests across rivers and over mountains many of the later immigrants in their search for cheap lands were compelled to go to the border but in a large part the path breakers to the west were Native Americans of the second and third generations fired by curiosity and the lure of the mysterious unknown and hunters fur traders and squatters following their own sweet wills blazed the trail opening paths and sending back stories of the new Regents they traversed then came the regular settlers with awful titles to the lands they had purchased sometimes singly and sometimes in companies in Massachusetts the westward movement is recorded in the founding of Springfield in 1636 and Great Barrington in 1725 by the opening of the 18th century the pioneers of Connecticut had pushed north and west until their outpost towns are joined to the Hudson Valley settlements in New York the inland movement was directed by the Hudson River to Alban II and from that old Dutch Center it radiated in every direction particularly westward through the Mohawk Valley New Jersey was early filled to its borders the beginnings of the present city of New Brunswick being made in 1681 and those of Trenton in 1685 in Pennsylvania as in New York the waterways determined the main lines of advance pioneers pushing up through the valley of the spoil kill spread over the fertile lands of Berks and Lancaster counties laying out reading in 1748 another current of migration was directed by the Susquehanna and in 1726 the first farmhouse was built on the bank where Harrisburg was later founded along the southern tier of counties a thin line of settlements stretched westward to Pittsburgh reaching the upper waters of the Ohio while the colony was still under the pen family in the south the westward march was equally Swift the seaboard was quickly occupied by large planters and their slaves engaged in the cultivation of tobacco and rice the Piedmont Plateau lying back from the coast all the way from Maryland to Georgia was fed by two streams of migration one westward from the sea and the other southward from the other colonies Germans from Pennsylvania and scotch-irish furnishing the main supply by 1770 Tidewater Virginia was full to overflowing and the back country of the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah was fully occupied even the mountain valleys were claimed by sturdy pioneers before the declaration of independence the oncoming of home seekers had reached the crest of the Alleghenies beyond the mountains pioneers had already ventured harbingers of an invasion that was about to break in upon Kentucky and Tennessee as early as 1769 that mighty Nimrod Daniel Boone curious to hunt buffaloes of which he had heard weird reports passed through the Cumberland Gap and brought back news of a wonderful country awaiting the plow a hint was sufficient singly in pairs and in groups settlers followed the trail he had blazed a great land corporation the Transylvania company emulating the merchant adventurers of earlier times secured a huge grant of territory and sought profits and quit rents from land sold to farmers by the outbreak of the revolution there were several hundred people in the Kentucky region like the older colonists they did not relish quit rents and their opposition wrecked the transylvania company they even carried their protests into the Continental Congress in 1776 for by that time they were our embryo fourteenth colony end of section four this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 part 5 industrial and commercial development though the labor of the colonists was mainly spent in farming there was a steady growth in industrial and commercial pursuits most of the staple industries of today not omitting iron and textiles have their beginnings in colonial times manufacturing and trade soon gave rise to towns which enjoyed an importance all out of proportion to their numbers the great centers of Commerce and Finance on the seaboard originated in the days when the King of England was Lord of these dominions illustration domestic industry dipping tallow candles textile manufacturing as a domestic industry colonial women in addition to sharing every hardship of pioneering often the heavy labor of the open field developed in the course of time a national industry which was almost exclusively their own wool and flax were raised in abundance in the north and the south every farmhouse says kommen the economic historian was a workshop where the women's spun and wove the surges Kersey's and lindsay Woolsey's which served for the common wear by the close of the 17th century new england manufactured cloth in sufficient quantities to export it to the southern colonies and to the west indies as the industry developed mills were erected for the more difficult process of dyeing weaving and fooling but carding and spinning continued to be done in the home the Dutch of New Netherland the Swedes of Delaware and the scotch-irish of the interior were not one whit behind their Yankee neighbors the importance of this enterprise to British economic life can hardly be overestimated for many a century the English had employed their fine woolen cloth as the chief staple in a lucrative foreign trade and the government had come to look upon it as an object of special interest and protection when the colonies were established both merchants and statesmen naturally expected to maintain a monopoly of increasing value but before long the Americans instead of buying cloth especially of the coarser varieties were making it to sell in the place of customers here were rivals in the place of helpless reliance upon English markets here was the germ of economic independence if British merchants had not discovered it in the ordinary course of trade observant officers and the provinces would have conveyed the news to them even in the early years of the 18th century the royal governor of New York wrote of the industrious Americans to his home government the consequence will be that if they can clothe themselves once not only comfortably but handsome - without the help of England they who already are not fond of submitting to government will soon think of putting in execution designs they have long harbored in their breasts this will not seem strange when you consider what sort of people this country is inhabited by the iron industry almost equally widespread was the art of iron working one of the earliest and most picturesque of colonial industries Lynn Massachusetts had a forge and skilled artisans within fifteen years after the founding of Boston the smelting of iron began at New London and New Haven about 1658 in Litchfield County Connecticut a few years later at Great Barrington Massachusetts in 1731 and nearby at Lenox some thirty years after that New Jersey had ironworks at Shrewsbury within ten years after the founding of the colony in 1665 iron forges appeared in the valleys of the Delaware and the Susquehanna early in the following century and iron masters then laid the foundations of fortunes in a region destined to become one of the great iron centers of the world Virginia began iron working in the year that saw the introduction of slavery although the industry soon lapsed it was renewed and flourished in the 18th century governor Spotswood was called the tubal-cain of the Old Dominion because he placed the industry on a firm foundation indeed it seems that every colony except Georgia had its iron foundry nails wire metallic wire chains anchors bar and pig iron were made in large quantities and Great Britain by an act in 1750 encouraged the colonists to export rough iron to the British Isles shipbuilding of all the specialized industries in the colonies shipbuilding was the most important the abundance of fir fir masts oak for timbers and boards pitch for tar and turpentine and hemp for rope made the way of the shipbuilder easy early in the 17th century a ship was built at new amsterdam and by the middle of that century shipyards were scattered along the New England coast at Newbury port Salem New Bedford Newport Providence new London and New Haven yards at Albany and Poughkeepsie in New York built ships for the trade of that colony with England and the Indies Wilmington and Philadelphia soon entered the race and out distance New York though unable to equal the pace set by New England while Maryland Virginia and South Carolina also both ships southern interest was mainly confined to the lucrative business of producing ship materials fir cedar hemp and tar fishing the greatest single economic resource of New England outside of agriculture was the fisheries this industry started by hearty sailors from Europe long before the landing of the pilgrims flourished under the indomitable seamanship of the Puritans who labored with the net and harpoon in almost every quarter of the Atlantic look exclaimed Edmund Burke in the House of Commons at the manner in which the people of New England have of late carried on in the whale fishery whilst we followed them among the tumbling mountains of ice and behold them penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay and Davis's straits while we are looking for them beneath the Arctic Circle we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold that they are at the Antipodes and engaged under the frozen serpent of the south nor is the Equinox eel heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated winner of both polls we know that whilst some of them draw the line and struck the harpoon on the coast of Africa others run the longitude and pursue their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil no see but what is a vexed by their fisheries no climate that is not witnessed to their toils neither the perseverance of Holland nor the activity of France nor the dexterous and firm sagacity of English Enterprise ever carried this most perilous mode of hard industry to the extent to which it has been pushed by this recent people the influence of the business was widespread a large and lucrative European trade was built upon it the better quality of the fish caught for food was sold in the markets of Spain Portugal and Italy or exchanged for salt lemons and raisins for the American market the lower grades of fish were carried to the West Indies for slave consumption and in part traded for sugar and molasses which furnished the raw materials for the thriving rum industry of New England these activities in turn stimulated shipbuilding steadily enlarging the demand for fishing and merchant craft of every kind and thus keeping the ship rights cockers wrote makers and other artisans of the Seaport towns rushed with work they also increased trade with the mother country four out of the cash collected in the fish markets of Europe and the West Indies the colonists paid for English manufacturers so an ever widening circle of American Enterprise centered around this single industry the nursery of seamanship and the maritime spirit oceanic commerce and American merchants all through the 18th century the Commerce of the American colonies spread in every direction until it rivaled in the number of people employed the capital engaged and the profits gleaned the Commerce of European nations a modern historian has said the enterprising merchants of New England developed a network of trade routes that covered well-nigh half the world this commerce destined to be of such significance in the conflict with the mother country presented broadly speaking two aspects on the one hand it evolved the export of raw materials and agricultural produce the southern colonies produced for shipping tobacco rice tar pitch and pine the middle colonies grain flour of furs lumber and salt pork New England fish flour rum furs shoes and small articles of manufacture the variety of products was in fact astounding a sarcastic writer while sneering at the idea of an American Union once remarked of colonial trade what sort of dish will you make New England will throw in fish and onions the middle states flax seed and flour Maryland and Virginia will add tobacco North Carolina pitch tar and turpentine South Carolina rice and indigo and Georgia will sprinkle the whole composition with sawdust such an absurd jumble will you make if you attempt to form a union among such discordant materials as the thirteen British provinces on the other side American commerce involved the import trade consisting principally of English and continental manufacturer's tea and India Goods sugar and molasses brought from the West Indies supplied the flourishing distilleries of Massachusetts Rhode Island and Connecticut the carriage of slaves from Africa to the southern colonies engaged hundreds of New England sailors and thousands of pounds of her capital the disposition of imported goods in the colonies though in part controlled by English factors located in America employed also a large and important body of American merchants like the willings and Morris's of Philadelphia the amory's Hancock's and fan Ewell's of Boston and the Livingston's and lows of New York in their zeal and enterprise they were worthy rivals of their English competitors so celebrated for worldwide commercial operations though fully aware of the advantages they enjoyed in British markets and under the protection of the British Navy the American merchants were high-spirited and meddlesome ready to contend with royal officers in order to shield American interests against outside interference illustration the Dutch West India warehouse in New Amsterdam New York City measured against the immense business of modern times colonial commerce seems perhaps trivial that however is not the test of its significance it must be considered in relation to the growth of English colonial trade in its entirety a relation which can be shown by a few startling figures the whole export trade of England including that to the colonies was in 1704 six million five hundred and nine thousand pounds sterling on the eve of the American Revolution namely in 1772 English exports to the American colonies alone amounted to six million twenty four thousand pounds sterling in other words almost as much as the hull form business of England two generations before at the first date colonial trade was but one twelfth of the English export business at the second date it was considerably more than one-third in 1704 Pennsylvania bought in English markets goods to the value of eleven thousand four hundred and fifty nine pounds sterling in 1772 the purchases of the same colony amounted to five hundred and seven thousand nine hundred and nine pounds sterling in short Pennsylvania imports increased fifty times within sixty eight years amounting in 1772 to almost the entire export trade of England to the colonies of the opening of the century the American colonies were indeed a great source of wealth to English merchants intercolonial Commerce although the bad roads of colonial times made Overland Transportation difficult and costly the many rivers and harbors along the coast favored a lively waterborne trade among the colonies the Connecticut Hudson Delaware and Susquehanna rivers in the north and the many smaller rivers in the south made it possible for goods to be brought from and carried to the interior regions and little sailing vessels with comparative ease sloops laden with manufacturers domestic and foreign collected at some City like Providence New York or Philadelphia skirted the coasts visited small ports and sailed up the navigable rivers to trade with local merchants who had for exchange the raw materials which they had gathered in from neighboring farms larger ships carried the grain livestock cloth and Hardware of New England to the southern colonies where they were traded for tobacco leather tar and shipped timber from the harbors along the Connecticut shores there were frequent sailings down through Long Island Sound in Maryland Virginia and the distant Carolina's growth of towns in connection with this thriving Trade and Industry there grew up along the coast a number of prosperous commercial centers which were soon reckoned among the first commercial towns of the whole British Empire comparing favorably in numbers and wealth with such ports as Liverpool and Bristol the statistical records of that time are mainly guesses but we know that Philadelphia stood first in size among these towns serving as the port of entry for Pennsylvania Delaware and Western Jersey it had drawn within its borders just before the Revolution about 25,000 inhabitants Boston was second in rank with somewhat more than 20,000 people New York the commercial capital of Connecticut and Old East Jersey was slightly smaller than Boston but growing at a steady rate the fourth town in size was Charleston South Carolina with about 10,000 inhabitants Newport in Rhode Island a center of rum manufacture and shipping stood fifth with a population of about 7,000 Baltimore and Norfolk were counted as considerable towns in the interior Hartford and Connecticut Lancaster and York and Pennsylvania and Albany in New York with growing populations and increasing trade gave prophecy of an urban America away from the seaboard the other towns were straggling villages Williamsburg Virginia for example had about 200 houses in which Delta dozen families of the gentry and a few score of tradesmen inland county seats often consisted of nothing more than a log courthouse a prison and one wretched in to house judges lawyers and litigants during the sessions of the court the leading towns exercised an influence on colonial opinion all out of proportion to their population they were the centers of wealth for one thing of the press and political activity for another merchants and artisans could readily take concerted action on public questions arising from their commercial operations the towns were also centers for news gossip religious controversy and political discussion in the marketplaces the farmers from the countryside learned of British policies and laws and so mingling with the townsmen were drawn into the main currents of opinion which set in toward colonial nationalism and independence references J Bishop history of American manufacturers two volumes Yale Bogert economic history of the United States PA Bruce economic history of Virginia two volumes ease simple American history and its geographical conditions w Eden economic and social history of New England two volumes questions number one is land in your community parceled out into small farms contrast the system in your community with a feudal system of land tenure number two are any things owned and used in common in your community whydid common tillage fail in colonial times number three describe the elements of Kenda feudalism which were introduced in the colonies number four explained the success of freehold tillage number five compare the life of the planter with that of the farmer number six how far had the western frontier advanced by 1776 number seven what colonial industry was mainly developed by women why was it very important to both the Americans and to the English number eight what were the Centers for iron working shipbuilding number nine explained how the fisheries affected many branches of Trade and Industry number ten show how American trade formed a vital part of English business number eleven how was interstate commerce mainly carried on number twelve what were the leading towns did they compare and importance with British towns of the same period research topics land tenure kommen industrial history revised edition pages 32 through 38 special reference Bruce economic history of Virginia Volume one chapter eight tobacco planting in Virginia calendar economic history of the United States pages 22 through 28 colonial agriculture comin pages 48 through 63 calendar pages 69 through 74 reference jrh more industrial history of the American people pages 131 through 162 colonial manufacturers comin pages 63 through 73 calendar pages 29 through 44 special reference Weedon economic and social history of New England colonial Commerce comin pages 73 through 85 calendar pages 51 through 63 78 through 84 more pages 163 to 208 Lodge short history of the English colonies pages 409 to four twelve to twenty nine to 231 312 to 314 end of section five this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by leon mayer history of the united states by charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 chapter 6 social and political progress colonial life crowded as it was the hard and unremitting toil left scant pleasure for the cultivation of the arts and sciences there was little money in private purses or public Treasuries to be dedicated to schools libraries and museums few there were with time to read long and widely and fewer still who could vote their lives to things that delight the eye and the mind and yet poor and meagre as the intellectual life of the colonists may seem by way of comparison heroic efforts were made in every community to lift the people above the plain of mere existence after the first clearings were opened in the forest those efforts were redoubled and with lengthening years told upon the thought and spirit of the land the appearance during the struggle with England of an extraordinary group of leaders familiar with history political philosophy and the arts of war government and diplomacy itself for eloquent testimony to the high quality of the American intellect no one not even the most critical can run through the writings of the distinguished Americans scattered from Massachusetts to Georgia the Adams is Ellsworth the Morrises the Livingston's hamilton franklin washington Madison Marshall Henry the Randolph's and the Pinkney's without coming to the conclusion that there was something in American colonial life which fostered minds of depth and power women surmounted even greater difficulties than the men in the process of self-education and their keen interest in public issues is evident in many a record like the letters of mrs. John Adams to her husband during the Revolution the writings of mrs. Marcy Otis Warren the sister of James Otis who measured her pen with the British propagandists and the Patriot newspapers founded and managed by women the leadership of the churches in the intellectual life of America the church's assumed a role of high importance there were abundant reasons for this in many of the colonies Maryland Pennsylvania and New England the religious impulse had been one of the impelling motos and stimulating emigration in all the colonies the clergy at least in the beginning form the only class with any leisure to devote to matters of the Spirit they preached on Sundays and taught school on weekdays they led in the discussion of local problems and in the formation of political opinion so much of which was concerned with the relation between church and state they wrote books and pamphlets they filled most of the chairs in the colleges under clerical guidance intellectual and spiritual the Americans received their formal education and several the province says the Anglican Church was established by law in New England the Puritans were supreme notwithstanding the efforts of the crown to over bear their authority in the middle colonies particularly the multiplication of sects made the dominance of any single denomination and possible and in all them there was a growing diversity of faith which promised in time a separation of church and state and freedom of opinion the Church of England Virginia was the stronghold of the English system of church and state the Anglican faith in worship were prescribed by law sustained by taxes imposed on all and favored by the governor the provincial councilors and the richest planters the established Church says Lodge was one of the appendages of the Virginia aristocracy they controlled the vestries and the ministers and the parish church stood not infrequently on the estate of the planter who built and managed it as in England Catholic and Protestant dissenters were at first laid under heavy disabilities only slowly and on sufferance were they admitted to the province but when once they were even covertly tolerated they pressed steadily in until by the revolution they outnumbered the adherence of the established order the church was also sanctioned by law and supported by taxes in the Carolinas after 1704 and in Georgia after that colony passed directly into the crown in 1754 this in spite of the fact that the majority of inhabitants were dissenters against the protests of the Catholics it was likewise established in Maryland in New York too notwithstanding the resistance of the Dutch the established Church was fostered by the provincial officials in the Anglicans embracing about one fifteenth of the population exerted an influence all out of proportion to their numbers many factors helped to enhance the power of the English church in the colonies it was supported by the British government in the official class and out of the provinces its bishops and Archbishop's in England were appointed by the king and its faith and service were set forth by Acts of Parliament having its seat of power in the English monarchy it can hold its clergy and missionaries loyal to the crown and so counteract to some extent the independent spirit that was growing up in America the church always a strong bulwark of the state therefore had a political role to play here as in England able bishops and far-seeing leaders firmly grasp this fact about the middle of the 18th century and redoubled their efforts to augment the influence of the church and provincial affairs unhappily for their plans they failed to calculate in advance the effect of the methods upon dissenting Protestants who still cherished memories of bitter religious conflicts in the mother country Puritanism in new england if the established faith made for imperial unity the same could not be said of Puritanism the Plymouth pilgrims had cast off all allegiance to the English and established a separate and independent congregation before they came to America the Puritans as saying at the first task of reformers within the church soon after their arrival in Massachusetts likewise flung off their yoke of union with the Anglicans in each town a separate congregation was organized the male members choosing the pastor the teachers and the other officers they also composed the voters in the town meeting where secular matters were determined the union of church and government was thus complete in uniformity of faith and life prescribed by law and enforced by civil authorities but this worked for local autonomy instead of imperial unity the clergy became a powerful class dominate through their learning and they're fearful denunciations of the faithless they wrote the books for the people to read the famous Cotton Mather having 383 books and pamphlets to his credit in cooperation with the civil officers they enforced a strict observance of the Puritan Sabbath a day of rest that began at six o'clock on Saturday evening and lasted until sunset on Sunday all work all trading all amusement in all worldly conversation were absolutely prohibited during those hours a thoughtless maidservant who for some earthly reason smiled in church was in danger of being banished as a vagabond Robert Pike a devout Puritan thinking the Sun had gone to rest ventured forth on horseback one Sunday evening and was luckless enough to have a ray of light strike him through a rift in the clouds the next day he was brought into court and fined for his quote ungodly conduct unquote with persons accused of witchcraft the Puritans were still more ruthless when a mania of persecution swept over Massachusetts in 1692 18 people were hanged one was pressed to death many suffered imprisonment in two died in jail just about this time however there came a break in the uniformity of Puritan rule the crown and church in England had long looked upon it with disfavor and in 1684 king charles ii annulled the old charter the Massachusetts Bay Company a new document issued seven years later arrested from the Puritans of the colony the right to elect their own governor in reserved the power of appointment to the king it also abolished the rule limiting the suffrage to church members substituting for it a simple property qualification thus a royal governor and an official family certain to be Episcopalian and faith and monarchists and sympathies were forced upon Massachusetts and members of all religious denominations if they had the required amount of property or permitted to take part in the elections by this act in the name of the crown the Puritan monopoly was broken down in Massachusetts and that province was brought into line with Connecticut Rhode Island in New Hampshire where a property now religious faith was a test for the suffrage growth of religious toleration though neither the Anglicans of Virginia nor the Puritans of Massachusetts believed in toleration for other denominations that principle is strictly applied in Rhode Island there under the leadership of Roger Williams Liberty and matters of conscience was established in the beginning Maryland by granting in 1649 freedom to those who profess to believe in Jesus Christ opened its gates to all Christians in Pennsylvania churches the tenants of the friends gave freedom of conscience to those quote who confess and acknowledged the one Almighty and eternal God to be the Creator upholder and ruler of the world end quote by one circumstance or another the middle colonies were thus early characterized by diversity rather than uniformity of opinion Dutch Protestants Huguenots Quakers Baptists Presbyterians new lights Moravian Lutheran's Catholics and other denominations became too strongly entrenched and too widely scattered too any one of them to rule if it had desired to do so there were communities and indeed whole sections where one or another Church prevailed but in no colony was a legislature steadily controlled by a single group toleration encouraged diversity and diversity in turn worked for greater toleration the government and faith of the dissenting denominations conspired with economic and political tendencies to draw America way from the English state Presbyterians Quakers Baptists and Puritans had no hierarchy of bishops and archbishops to bind them to the seat of power in London neither did they look to that metropolis for guidance and interpreting articles of faith local self-government and matters ecclesiastical helped to turn them for local self-government in matters political the spirit of Independence which led to centers to revolt in the old world nourished as it was amid favorable circumstances in the new world made them all the more zealous in their defense of every right against Authority and posed from without end of chapter 6 this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 section 7 schools and colleges religion and local schools one of the first cares of each Protestant denomination was the education of the children in the faith in this work the Bible became the center of interest the English version was indeed the one book of the people farmers shopkeepers and artisans whose life had once been bounded by the daily routine of labour found in the scriptures not only an inspiration to religious conduct but also a book of romance travel and history quote legend and Anael end quote says John Richard Greene quote war song and Psalm State Roland biography the mighty voices of prophets the parables of evangelists stories of Mission journeys of perils by sea and among the heathen philosophic arguments apocalyptic visions all were flung broadcast over mines unoccupied for the most part by any rival learning as a mere literary monument the English version of the Bible remains the noblest example of the English tongue and quote it was the King James Version just from the press that the pilgrims brought across the sea with them for the authority of the established church was substituted the authority of the scriptures the Puritans devised a catechism based upon their interpretation of the Bible and very soon after their arrival in America they ordered all parents and masters of servants to be diligent in seeing that their children and wards were taught to read religious works and give answers to the religious questions Massachusetts was scarcely 20 years old before education of this character was declared to be compulsory and provision was made for public schools where those not taught at home could receive instruction in reading and writing illustration a page from a famous school book in Adams fall we send on heaven to find the Bible mind Christ crucified for sinners died the deluge drowned the earth around Elijah hid by Ravens fed the judgment made Felix afraid and illustration outside of New England the idea of compulsory education was not regarded with the same favor but the whole land was nevertheless dotted with little schools kept by Dame's itinerant teachers or local parsons whether we turned to the life of Franklin in the north or Washington in the south we read of tiny school houses where boys and sometimes girls were taught to read and write where there were no schools fathers and mothers of the better kind gave their children the rudiments of learning though illiteracy was widespread there is evidence to show that the diffusion of knowledge among the masses was making steady progress all through the 18th century religion and higher learning religious motives entered into the establishment of colleges as well as local schools Harvard founded in 1636 and Yale opened in 1718 were intended primarily to Train learned and godly ministers for the Puritan churches of New England to the far north Dartmouth chartered in 1769 was designed first as a mission to the Indians and then as a college for the sons of New England farmers preparing to preach teach or practice law the College of New Jersey organized in 1746 and removed to Princeton eleven years later was sustained by the Presbyterians to colleges look to the established church as their source of inspiration and support William and Mary founded in Virginia in 1693 and King's College now Columbia University chartered by King George ii in 1754 on an appeal from the New York Anglicans alarmed at the growth of religious dissent and the Republican tendencies of the age to colleges revealed a drift away from sectarianism Brown established in Rhode Island in 1764 and the Philadelphia Academy forerunner of the University of Pennsylvania organized by and Franklin reflected the spirit of toleration by giving representation on the Board of Trustees to several religious sects it was Franklin's idea that his College should prepare young men to serve in public office as leaders of the people and ornaments to their country self education in America important as were these institutions of learning higher education was by no means confined within their walls many well-to-do families sent their sons to Oxford or Cambridge in England private tutoring in the home was common in still more families there were intelligent children who grew up in the great colonial school of adversity and who trained themselves until in every contest of mind and wit they could buy with the sons of Harvard or William and Mary or any other college such for example was Benjamin Franklin whose charming autobiography in addition to being an American classic is a fine record of self education his formal training in the classroom was limited to a few years at a local school in Boston but his self education continued throughout his life he early manifested a zeal for reading and devoured he tells us his father's dry library on theology Bunyan's works Defoe's writings Plutarch's lives locks on the human understanding and innumerable volumes dealing with secular subjects his literary style perhaps the best of his time Franklin acquired by the diligent and repeated analysis of The Spectator in a live crowded with Labor's he found time to read widely in Natural Science and to win single-handed recognition at the hands of European savants for his discoveries in electricity by his own efforts he attained an acquaintance with Latin Italian French and Spanish thus unconsciously preparing himself for the day when he was to speak for all America at the court of the King of France lesser lights than Franklin educated by the same process were found all over colonial America from this fruitful source of native ability self-educated the American cause grew great strength in the trials of the revolution end of section 7 this is the librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Chris Chapman history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 chapter 8 the colonial press the rise of the newspaper the evolution of American democracy into a government by public opinion enlightened by the open discussion of political questions was in no small measure aided by a free press that too like education was a matter of slow growth a printing press was brought to Massachusetts in 1639 but it was put in charge of an official censor and limited to the publication of religious works forty years elapsed before the first newspaper appeared bearing the curious title public occurrences both foreign and domestic and it had not been running very long before the government of Massachusetts suppressed it for discussing a political question publishing indeed seemed to be a precarious business but in 1704 there came a second venture in journalism the Boston newsletter which proved to be a more lasting enterprise because it refrained from criticizing the authorities still the Public Interest languished when Franklin's brother James began to issue his New England Courant about 1720 his friends sought to dissuade him saying that one newspaper was enough for America nevertheless he continued it and his confidence in the future was rewarded in nearly every colony a gazette or chronicle appeared within the next thirty years or more benjamin franklin was able to record in 1771 the America had 25 newspapers Boston led with five Philadelphia had three two in English and one in German censorship and restraints on the press the idea of printing unlicensed by the government and uncontrolled by the church was however slow in taking form the founders of the American colonies had never known what it was to have the free and open publication of books pamphlets broadsides and newspapers when the art of printing was first discovered the control of publishing was vested in clerical authorities after the establishment of the state church in England in the reign of Elizabeth censorship of the press became a part of Royal Prerogative printing was restricted to Oxford Cambridge and London and no one could publish anything without previous approval of the official censor when the Puritans were in power the popular party with a zeal which rivaled that of the crown sought in turn to silence royalist and clerical writers by a vigorous censorship after the restoration of the monarchy control of the press was once more placed in royal hands where it remained until 1695 when Parliament by failing to renew the licensing Act did away entirely with the official censorship by that time political parties was so powerful and so active and printing presses were so numerous that official review of all published matter became a sheer impossibility in America likewise some troublesome questions arose in connection with freedom of the press the Puritans of Massachusetts were no less anxious than King Charles or the Archbishop of London to shut out from the prying eyes of the people all literature not meat for them to read and so they established a system of official licensing for presses which lasted until 1755 in the other colonies where there was more diversity of opinion and publishers could set up in business with impunity they were nevertheless constantly liable to arrest for printing anything displeasing to the colonial governments in 1721 the editor of the mercury in Philadelphia was called before the proprietary council and ordered to apologize for a political article and for a later offense of a similar character he was thrown into jail a still more famous case was that of Peter Zenger a New York publisher who was arrested in 1735 for criticizing the administration lawyers who ventured to defend the unlucky editor were deprived of their licenses to practice and it became necessary to bring an attorney all the way from Philadelphia by this time the tension of feeling was high and the approbation of the public was forthcoming when the lawyer for the defense exclaimed to the jury that the very cause of Liberty itself not that of the poor printer was on trial the verdict for Zenga when it finally came was the signal for an outburst of popular rejoicing already the people of King George's province knew how precious a thing is the freedom of the press thanks to the school's few and scattered as they were and to the vigilance of parents a very large portion perhaps nearly one-half of the colonists could read through the newspapers pamphlets and almanacs that streamed from the types the people could follow the course of public events and grasp the significance of political arguments an American opinion was in the process of making an independent opinion nourished by the press and enriched by discussions around the fireside and at the taverns when the day of resistance to British rule came government by opinion was at hand for every person who could hear the voice of Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams there were a thousand who could see their appeals on the printed page men who had spelled out their letters while pouring over Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack lived to read Thomas Paine's thrilling call to arms end of chapter 8 this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 section 9 the evolution and political institutions two very distinct lines of development appeared in colonial politics the one exalting royal rights and aristocratic privileges was the drift toward provincial government through royal officers appointed in England the other leading toward democracy and self-government was the growth in the power of the popular Legislative Assembly each movement gave impetus to the other with increasing force during the passing years until at last the final collision between the two ideals of government came in the War of Independence the Royal provinces of the thirteen English colonies eight were royal provinces in 1776 with governor's appointed by the king Virginia passed under the direct rule of the crown in 1624 when the Charter of the London Company was annulled the Massachusetts Bay Corporation lost its Charter in 1684 and the new instrument granted seven years later stripped the colonists of the right to choose their chief executive in the early decades of the 18th century both the Carolinas were given the provincial instead of the proprietary form New Hampshire severed from Massachusetts in 1679 and Georgia surrendered by the trustees in 1750 two went into the hands of a crown New York transferred to the Duke of York on its capture from the Dutch in 1664 became a province when he took the title of James the second in 1685 New Jersey after remaining for nearly 40 years under proprietors was brought directly under the king in 1702 Maryland Pennsylvania and Delaware although they retained their proprietary character until the revolution were in some respects like the Royal colonies for their governors were as independent a popular choice as worthy appointees of King George only two colonies Rhode Island and Connecticut retained full self-government on the eve of the revolution they alone had governors and legislators entirely of their own choosing the chief officer of the Royal province was the governor who enjoyed high and important powers which he naturally sought to augment at every turn he enforced the laws and usually with the consent of a council appointed the civil and military officers he granted Pardons and reprieves he was head of the highest court he was commander in chief of the militia he levy troops for defense and enforced martial law in time of invasion war and rebellion in all the provinces except Massachusetts he named the councilors who composed the upper house of the legislature and was likely to choose those who favored his claims he summoned adjourned and dissolved the popular assembly or the lower house he laid before it the projects of law desired by the crown and he vetoed measures which he thought objectionable here were in America all the elements of royal prerogative against which Hamden had protested and Cromwell had battled in England illustration the royal governor's palace at New Bern the colonial governors were generally surrounded by a body of office seekers and hunters for land grants some of them were noble men have broken estates who had come to America to improve their fortunes the pretensions of this circle graded on colonial nerves and privileges granted to them often at the expense of colonists did much to deepen popular antipathy to the British government favors extended to adherents of the established church displeased centers the reappearance of this formidable union of church and state from which they had fled start anew the ancient wrath against that combination the colonial assembly coincident with the drift toward administration the royal governor's was the second and opposite tendency namely a steady growth in the practice of self-government the voters of England had long been accustomed to share in taxation and lawmaking through representatives in Parliament and the idea was early introduced in America Virginia was only twelve years old 1619 when its first representative assembly appeared as the towns of Massachusetts multiplied and it became impossible for all the members of the corporation to meet at one place the representative idea was adopted in 1633 the river towns of Connecticut formed a representative system under their fundamental orders of 1639 and the entire colony was given a Royal Charter in 1662 generosity as well as practical considerations induced such proprietors as Lord Baltimore and William Penn to invite their colonists to share in the government as soon as any considerable settlements were made thus by one process or another every one of the colonies secured a popular assembly it is true than in the provision for popular elections the suffrage was finally restricted to property owners or taxpayers with a leaning toward the freehold qualification in Virginia the rural voter had to be a freeholder owning at least 50 acres of land if there was no house on it or 25 acres with a house 25 feet square in Massachusetts the voter for member of the assembly under the charter of 1691 had to be a freeholder of an estate worth 40 shillings a year at least or of other property to the value of 40 pounds sterling in Pennsylvania the suffrage was granted to freeholders owning 50 acres or more of land well seated twelve acres cleared and two other persons worth at least 50 pounds in lawful money restrictions like these undoubtedly excluded from the suffrage a very considerable number of men particularly the mechanics artisans of the towns who were by no means content with their position nevertheless it was relatively easy for any man to acquire a small freehold so cheap and abundant was land and in fact a large proportion of the colonists were landowners thus the Assemblies in spite of the limited suffrage acquired a Democratic tone the popular character of the Assemblies increased as they became engaged in battles with the Royal and proprietary governors when called upon by the executive to make provision for the support of the administration the legislature took advantage of the opportunity to make terms in the interests of the taxpayers it made annual not permanent grants of money to pay official salaries and then insisted upon electing a treasurer to dole it out thus the colonists learned some of the mysteries of public finance as well as the management of rapacious officials the legislature also used its power over money grants to force the governor to sign bills which he would otherwise have vetoed contests between legislators and governors as may be imagined many and bitter were the contest between the Royal and proprietary governors and the colonial assemblies Franklin relates an amusing story of how the Pennsylvania Assembly held in one hand a bill for the executive to sign and in the other hand the money to pay a salary then with sly humor Franklin adds quote do not my courteous reader take pet at our proprietary Constitution for these our bargain and sale proceedings and legislation it is a happy country where justice and what was your own before can be had for ready money it is another addition to the value of money and of course another spur to industry every land is not so blessed end quote it must not be thought however that every governor got off as easily as Franklin's tail implies on the contrary the legislators like Caesar fed upon meat that made them great and steadily encroached upon executive prerogatives as they tried out and found their strength if we may believe contemporary laments the power of the crown in America was diminishing when it was struck down altogether in New York the Friends of the governor complained in 1747 that quote the inhabitants of plantations are generally educated in Republican principles upon Republican principles all is conducted little more than a shadow of royal authority remains in the northern colonies end quote quote here quote echoed the governor of South Carolina the following year quote leveling principles prevail the frame of the civil government is unhinged a governor if he would be idolized must betray his trust the people have got their whole administration in their hands the election of the members of the assemblies by ballot not civil posts only but all ecclesiastical preferment SAR in the disposal or election of the people end quote though baffled by the leveling principles of the colonial assemblies the governors did not give up the case is hopeless instead they evolved a system of policy and action which they thought could bring the obstinate provincials to term that system traceable in their letters to the government in London consisted of three parts one the Royal officers in the colonies were to be made independent of the legislators by taxes imposed by Acts of Parliament to a British standing army was to be maintained in America three the remaining colonial charters were to be revoked and government by direct royal authority was to be enlarged such a system seemed plausible enough to King George the third into many ministers of the crown in London with governors courts and an army independent of the colonists they imagined it would be easy to carry out both royal orders and acts of parliament this reasoning seemed both practical and logical nor was it founded on theory for it came fresh from the governors themselves it was wanting in one respect only it failed to take account of the fact that the American people were growing strong in the practice of self-government and could dispense with the tutelage of the British Ministry no matter how excellent it might be or how benevolent its intentions references am Earl HomeLife in colonial days al cross the Anglican Epis Co pate and the American colonies Harvard studies eg Dexter history of education in the United States CA Dunaway freedom of the press in Massachusetts Benjamin Franklin autobiography EB green the provincial governor Harvard studies ei McKinley the suffrage franchise in the thirteen English colonies Pennsylvania University studies MC Tyler history of American literature during the colonial times in two volumes questions number one why is leisure necessary for the production of art and literature how many leisure beasts occurred number two explain the position of the church in colonial life number three contrast the political roles of Puritanism and the established church number four how did diversity of opinion work for toleration number five show the connection between religion and learning in colonial times number six why is a Free Press such an important thing to American democracy number seven relate some of the troubles of early American publishers number eight give the undemocratic features of provincial government number nine how did the colonial assemblies help to create an independent American spirit in spite of a restricted suffrage number ten explain the nature of the contest between the governors and the legislators research topics religious and intellectual life Lodge short history of the English colonies one in New England pages 418 - 438 465 - 475 number two in Virginia pages 54 through 61 87 through 89 three in Pennsylvania pages 232 to 237 - 53 to 257 number four in New York pages 316 - 321 interesting source materials in heart American history told by contemporaries vol 2 pages 255 to to 75 to 76 to 290 the government of a royal province Virginia Lodge pages 43 to 50 special reference Phoebe Greene the provincial governor Harvard studies the government of a proprietary colony Pennsylvania Lodge pages to 32 to 32 government in New England Lodge pages for 12 to 417 the colonial press special reference gh pain history of journalism in the United States 1920 colonial life in general John Fiske L Virginia and her neighbors vol 2 pages 174 to 269 elfin history of the United States pages 197 to 210 colonial government in general Elson pages 210 to 216 end of section 9 this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Nicholas Ilic history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 chapter 4 chapter for the development of colonial nationalism it is one of the well-known facts of history and that of people loosely united by domestic ties of a political and economic nature even a people torn by domestic strife may be welded into a solid and compact body by an attack from a foreign power the imperative called to common defense the habit of sharing common burdens the fusing force of common service these things introduced by the necessity of resisting outside interference act as an amalgam drawing together all elements except perhaps the most discordant the presence of the enemy lays the most virulent of quarrels temporarily at least politics runs an old saying stops at the water's edge ancient political principle so well understood in diplomatic circles applied nearly as well to the original 13 American colonies as to the countries of Europe the necessity for common defense if not equally great was certainly always pressing though it has long been the practice to speak of the early settlements as founded in a wilderness this was not actually the case from the earliest days of Jamestown on through the years the American people were confronted by dangers from without all about the tiny settlements were Indians growing more and more hostile as the frontier advanced in a sharp conflicts over land around angry passions to the south and west was the power of Spain humiliated it is true by the disaster to the Armada was still presenting an imposing front to the British Empire to the north and west were the French ambitious energetic Imperial and temper and prepared to contest on land and water the advance of British Dominion in America relations with the Indians and French Indian Affairs it is difficult to make general statements about the relations of the colonists to the Indians the problem was presented in different shape and different sections of America it was not handled according to coherent or uniform planned by the British government which alone could speak for all the provinces at the same time neither did the proprietors and the governor's who succeeded one another and an irregular train have the consistent policy or matured experience necessary for dealing wisely with Indian matters as the difficulties arose mainly on the frontiers where the Restless and pushing pioneers were making their way with gun and axe nearly everything that happened was the result of chance rather than of calculation a personal quarrel between traders and an Indian a jug of whiskey a keg of gunpowder the exchange of guns for furs personal treachery are a flash of bad temper often set in motion destructive forces of the most terrible character on one side of the ledger may be set innumerable generous records of Squanto and Samoset teaching the pilgrims the ways of the wilds of Roger Williams buying his lands from from the friendly natives or of William Penn treating with them one is a rifle in America on the other side of the ledger must be recorded many a cruel and bloody conflict as the frontier rolled westward with deadly position the Pequots on the Connecticut border since sing their doom fell upon the tiny settlements with awful fury in 1637 only to meet with equally terrible punishment a generation later King Philip son of Massasoit the friend of the pilgrims called us tribesmen to a war of extermination which brought the strength of all New England to the fields and ended in his own destruction in New York the relations with the Indians especially with the Algonquin and the Mohawks were marked by periodic and desperate Wars Virginia and their southern neighbors suffered as did New England in 1620 to obey kakano a brother of caja the friend of the jamestown settlers launched a general massacre and in 1644 he attempted a war of extermination in 1675 the whole frontier was ablaze Nathaniel bacon vainly attempted to stir the colonial governor to put up an adequate and failing in that plea himself headed a revolt and a successful expedition against CNN as a Virginia outpost advanced into the Kentucky country the strife with the natives was transferred to that dark Cambodia ground well to the southeast a desperate struggle with the Tuscaroras called forth the combined forces of the two Carolinas and Virginia from such horror as New Jersey and Delaware were saved on account of their geographical location Pennsylvania consistently following a policy of conciliation was likewise spared until their Western Vanguard came into full council to the Allied French and Indians Georgia by clever negotiations and treaties of alliance managed to keep on fair terms with her belligerent turkeys and creeks but neither diplomacy nor generosity could stay the inevitable conflict as the frontier advanced especially after the French soldiers enlisted the Indians in their Imperial enterprises it was then that the de Sol tree fighting became general warfare early relations with the French during the first decades of French exploration and settlement in the st. Louis County Vinglish colonies and growths with their own problems gave little or no thought to their distant neighbors Quebec founded in 1608 in Montreal in 1642 were too far away too small in population and too slight and strength to be much of a menace to Boston Hartford or New York it was the statesman in France and England rather than the colonists in America who first grasped the significance of the slowly converging empires in North America it was the ambition of louis xiv of france rather than the labors of jesuit missionaries and French Rangers that sounded the first note of colonial alarm evidence of this lies in the fact that three conflicts between English and the French occurred before their advancing frontiers met on the Pennsylvania border King Williams's war from 1689 to 1697 Queen Anne's war from 1701 to 1703 and King George's War from 1744 to 1748 owed their origins and their endings mainly to the intrigues and rivalries of European powers although they all involve the American colonies and struggles with the French and their savage allies the clash in the Ohio Valley the second of these wars had hardly closed however before the English colonists themselves began to be seriously alarmed about the rapidly expanding French dominion in the West Markey and Julia who opened the lake region and the south who in 1682 had gone down the Mississippi to the Gulf had been followed by the builders of forts in 1718 the French founded New Orleans thus taking possession of the Gateway to the Mississippi as well as the st. Lawrence a few years later they built fort Nia gara in 1731 they occupied Crown Point in 1749 they formally announced their dominion over all the territory drained by the Ohio River having asserted this lofty claim they set out to make it good by constructing in the year 1750 - to 1754 fort LeBouf near Lake Erie fort vinegar on the upper waters of the Allegheny and fort dukes now at the junction of the streams forming the Ohio though they were warned by George Washington in the name of the governor of Virginia to keep out of territory so notoriously known to be property of the crown of Great Britain the French showed no signs of relinquishing their pretensions the final phase the French and Indian War thus had happened that the shot which opened the Seven Years War known in America as the French and Indian War was fired in the wilds of Pennsylvania there began the conflict that spread to Europe and even Asia finally involved England and Prussia on the one side in France Austria Spain and minor powers on the other on the American soil the defeat of Braddock in 1755 and wolfs exploit and capture Quebec four years later were the dramatic features on the continent of Europe England subsidized Russian arms to hold France at bay in India on the banks of the Ganges as on the banks of the st. Louis British arms were triumphant well could the historian write conquest equalling in rapidity and far surpassing in magnitude those of Cortez and Pizarro had been achieved in the East well could the merchants of London declare that under the administration of William Pitt the Imperial genius of this worldwide conflict Commerce had been United with and made to flourish by war from the point of view of the British Empire the results of the war were momentous by the Peace of 1763 Canada and the territory east of the Mississippi except New Orleans passed under the British flag the remainder of the Louisiana territory was transferred to Spain and French imperial ambitions on the American continent were laid to rest in exchange for Havana which the British had seized during the war Spain ceded to King George the colony of Florida not without warrant did Mackel a right and after years that Pitt was the first Englishman of his time and he had made England the first country in the world end of chapter 4 this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org this reading by Carolyn Berg history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 chapter 11 the effects of warfare on the colonies the various wars with the French and the Indians trivial in detail as they seem today had a profound influence on colonial life and on the destiny of America circumstances beyond the control of popular assemblies jealous of their individual powers compelled cooperation among them grudging and stingy no doubt but still cooperation the American people more eager to be busy in their fields or at their trades were simply forced to raise and support armies to learn the arts of warfare and to practice if in a small theater the science of statecraft these forces all cumulative drove the colonists so tenaciously provincial in their habits in the direction of nationalism the New England Confederation it was in their efforts to deal with the problems presented by the Indian and French menace that the Americans took the first steps toward Union though there were many common ties among the settlers of New England it required a deadly fear of the Indians to produce in 1643 the New England Confederation composed of Massachusetts Plymouth Connecticut and New Haven the colonies so United were bound together in a firm and perpetual League of friendship and Amity for offense and defense mutual service and succor upon all just occasions they made provision for distributing the burdens of wars among the members and provided for a congress of Commissioners from each colony to determine upon common policies for some 20 years the Confederation was active and it continued to hold meetings until after the extinction of the Indian peril on the immediate border Virginia no less than Massachusetts was aware of the importance of intercolonial cooperation in the middle of the 17th century the Old Dominion began treaties of Commerce and Amity with New York and the colonies of New England in 1684 delegates from Virginia met at Albany with the agents of New York and Massachusetts to discuss problems of mutual defense a few years later the Old Dominion cooperated loyally with the Carolinas in defending their borders against Indian forays the Albany plan of Union an attempt at a general colonial Union was made in 1754 on the suggestion of the Lords of trade in England a conference was held at Albany to consider Indian relations to devise measures of defense against the French and to enter into articles of Union and Confederation for the general defence of his Majesty's subjects and interests in North America as well in time of peace as of war New Hampshire Massachusetts Connecticut Rhode Island New York Pennsylvania and Maryland were represented after a long discussion a plan of Union drafted mainly it seems by Benjamin Franklin was adopted and sent to the colonies and the crown for approval the colonies jealous of their individual rights refused to accept the scheme and the king disapproved it for the reason Franklin said that it had too much weight in the Democratic part of the Constitution though the Albany Union failed the document is still worthy of study because it forecast many of the perplexing problems that were not solved until 33 years afterward when another convention of which also Franklin was a member drafted the Constitution of the United States the military education of the colonists the same wars that showed the provincials the meaning of Union likewise instructed them the art of defending their institutions particularly was this true of the last French and Indian conflict which stretched all the way from Maine to the Carolinas and made heavy calls upon them all for troops the answer it is admitted was far from satisfactory to the British government and the conduct of the militiamen was far from professional but thousands of Americans got a taste a strong taste of actual fighting in the field men like George Washington and Daniel Morgan learned lessons that were not forgotten in after years they saw what American militiamen could do under favorable circumstances and they watched British regulars operating on American soil this whole transaction shrewdly remarked Franklin of Braddock's campaign gave us Americans the first suspicion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British regular troops had not been well-founded it was no mere accident that the Virginia Colonel who drew his sword under the Elm at Cambridge and took command of the army of the revolution was the brave officer who had spurned the whistle of bullets at the memorable battle in western Pennsylvania financial burdens and commercial disorder while the provincials were learning lessons in warfare they were also paying the bills all the conflicts were costly in treasure as in blood King Phillip's war left New England weak and almost bankrupt the French and Indians struggle was especially expensive the 25,000 men put in the field by the colonies were sustained only by huge outlays of money paper currency streamed from the press and debts were accumulated commerce was driven from its usual channels and prices were enhanced when the end came both England and America were staggering under heavy liabilities and to make matters worse there was a fall of prices accompanied by a commercial depression which extended over period of ten years it was in the midst of this crisis that measures of Taxation had to be devised to pay the cost of the war precipitating the quarrel which led to American independence the expulsion of French power from North America the effects of the defeat administered to France as time proved were difficult to estimate some British statesmen regarded it as a happy circumstance that the colonists are already restive under their administration had no foreign power at hand to aid them in case they were struck for independence American leaders on the other hand now that the soldiers of King Louie were driven from the continent thought that they had no other country to fear if they cast off British sovereignty at all events France though defeated was not out of the sphere of American influence for as events proved it was the fortunate French alliance negotiated by Franklin that assured the triumph of American arms in the war of the revolution end of chapter 11 read by Kara schellenberg wwk RA org on May 3rd 2007 in Oceanside California this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 part 12 colonial relations with the British government it was neither the Indian Wars nor the French wars that finally brought forth American nationality that was the product of the long strife with a mother country which culminated in Union for the war of independence the forces that created this nation did not operate in the colonies alone the character of the English sovereigns the course of events and English domestic politics and English measures of control over the colonies executive legislative and judicial must all be taken into account the last of the Stuart's the struggles between Charles the first 1625 249 and the parliamentary party in the turmoil of the Puritan regime 1649 to 60 so engrossed the attention of Englishmen at home that they had little time to think of colonial policies or to interfere with colonial affairs the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 accompanied by internal peace and the increasing power of the mercantile classes in the House of Commons changed all that in the reign of charles ii 1660 to 85 himself an easygoing person the policy of regulating trade by Act of Parliament was developed into a closely knit system and powerful agencies to supervise the colonies were created at the same time a system of stricter control over the dominions was ushered in by the annulment of the old charter of Massachusetts which conferred so much self-government on the Puritans Charles's successor James ii a man of sterner stuff and jealous of his authority in the colonies as well as at home continued the pollen II thus inaugurated and enlarged upon it if he could have kept his throne he would have bent the Americans under a harsh rule or brought on in his dominions a revolution like that which he precipitated at home in 1688 he determined to unite the northern colonies and introduce a more efficient administration based on the pattern of the Royal provinces he made a martinet Sir Edmund Andros governor of all New England New York and New Jersey the charter of Massachusetts annulled in the last days of his brother's reign he continued to ignore and that of Connecticut would have been seized if it had not been spirited away and hidden according to tradition in a hollow oak for several months Andros gave the northern colonies a taste of ill-tempered despotism he run quit rents from landowners not accustomed to feudal dues he abrogated titles to land where in his opinion they were unlawful he forced the Episcopal service upon the Old South Church in Boston and he denied the writ of habeas corpus to a preacher who denounced taxation without representation in the middle of his arbitrary course however his hand was stayed the news came that King James had been dethroned by his angry subjects and the people of Boston kindling a fire on Beacon Hill summoned the countryside to dispose of Andros the response was prompt and hearty the hated governor was arrested in prison and sent back across the sea under guard the overthrow of James followed by the accession of William and Mary and assured by parliamentary supremacy had an immediate effect in the colonies the new order was greeted with Thanksgiving Massachusetts was given another Charter which though not so liberal as the first restored the spirit if not the entire letter of self-government in the other colonies where Andros had been operating the old course of affairs was resumed the indifference of the two george's on the death in 1714 of Queen Anne the successor of King William the throne passed to a Hanoverian prince who though grateful for English honours and revenues was more interested in Hanover than in England George the first and George the second whose combined reins extended from 1714 to 1760 never even learned to speak the English language at least without an accent the necessity of taking thought about colonial affairs bored both them so that the stoutest defender of popular privileges in Boston or Charleston had no ground to complain of the exercise of personal Providence by the king moreover during a large part of this period the direction of affairs was in the hands of an astute leader Sir Robert Walpole who betrayed his somewhat cynical view of politics by adopting as his motto let sleeping dogs lie he revealed his appreciation of popular sentiment by exclaiming I will not be the minister to enforce taxes at the expense of blood such kings and such ministers were not likely to arouse the slumbering resistance of the thirteen colonies across the seat control of the crown over the colonies while no English ruler from James the second to George the third ventured to interfere with colonial matters personally constant control over the colonies was exercised by royal officers acting under the authority of the crown systematic supervision began in 1660 when there was created by royal order a committee of the Kings Council to meet on Mondays and Thursdays of each week to consider petitions memorials and addresses respecting the plantations in 1696 a regular board was established known as the Lords of trade and plantations which continued until the American Revolution to scrutinize closely colonial business the chief duties of the board were to examine the acts of colonial legislatures to recommend measures to those assemblies for adoption and to hear memorials and petitions from the colonies relative to their affairs the methods employed by this board were varied all laws passed by American legislators came before it for review as a matter of routine if it found an act unsatisfactory it recommended to the king the exercise of his veto power known as the Royal disallowance any person who believed his personal or property rights injured by a colonial law could be heard by the board in person or by attorney in such cases it was the practice to hear at the same time the agent of the colony so involved the royal veto power over colonial legislation was not there for a formal affair but was constantly employed on the suggest of a highly efficient agency of the crown all this was in addition to the powers exercised by the governor's in the Royal provinces judicial control supplementing this administrative control over the colonies was a constant supervision by the English courts of law the king by virtue of his inherent authority claimed and exercised thai appellate powers over all judicial tribunals in the Empire the right of appeal from local courts expressly set forth in some chapters was on the eve of the revolution maintained in every colony any subject in England or America who on the regular legal course was aggrieved by any act of a colonial legislature or any decision of a colonial Court had the right subject to certain restrictions to carry his case to the king and council forcing his opponent to follow him across the seat in the exercise of appellate power that king and council acting as a court could and frequently did declare acts of colonial legislatures duly enacted and approved null and void on the ground that they were contrary to English law Imperial control in operation day after day week after week year after year the machinery for political and judicial control over colonial affairs was in operation at one time the British governors in the colonies were ordered not to approve any colonial law imposing a duty on European goods imported in English vessels again when North Carolina laid attacks on peddlers the council objected to it as restrictive upon the trade and dispersion of English manufacturers throughout the continent at other times Indian trade was regulated in the interests of the whole Empire or grants of land by a colonial legislature were set aside Virginia was forbidden to close her ports to North Carolina lest there should be retaliation in short foreign and intercolonial trade were subjected to a control higher than that of the colony foreshadowing a day when the Constitution of the United States was to commit to Congress the power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce and commerce with the Indians a superior judicial power towering above that of the colonies as a Supreme Court at Washington now towers above the state kept the colonial legislatures within the meets and bounds of established law in the thousands of Appeals memorials petitions and complaints and the rulings and decisions upon them were written the real history of British Imperial control over the American colonies so great was the business before the Lords of trade that the colonies had to keep skilled agents in London to protect their interests as common grievances against the operation of this machinery of control arose there appeared in each colony a considerable body of men with the merchants in the lead who shaved at the restraints imposed on their enterprise only a powerful blow was needed to weld those bodies into a common mass nourishing the spirit of colonial nationalism when to the repeated minor irritations were added general and sweeping measures of Parliament applying to every colony the rebound came in the revolution parliamentary control over colonial affairs as soon as Parliament gained in power at the expense of the king it reached out to bring the American colonies under its sway as well between the execution of Charles the first in the accession of George the third there was enacted an immense body of legislation regulating the shipping trade and manufacturers of America all of it based on the mercantile theory then prevalent in all countries of Europe was designed to control the overseas plantations in such a way as to foster the commercial and business interests of the mother country where merchants and men of finance had got the upper hand according to this theory the colonies of the British Empire should be confined to agriculture and the production of raw materials and forced to buy their manufactured goods of England the navigation acts in the first rank among these measures of British colonial policy must be placed the navigation laws framed for the purpose of building up the British merchant marine and Navy arms so essential in defending the colonies against the Spanish Dutch and French the beginning of this type of legislation was made in 1651 and it was worked out into a system early in the reign of charles ii 1660 to 85 the Navigation Acts in effect gave a monopoly of colonial Commerce to British ships no trade could be carried on between Great Britain and her dominions Savin vessels built and manned by British subjects no European goods could be brought to America save in the ships of the country that produced them or in English ships these laws which were almost fatal to Dutch shipping in America fell with severity upon the colonists compelling them to pay higher freight rates the adverse effect however was short-lived for the measures stimulated shipbuilding in the colonies where the abundance of raw materials gave the master-builders of America and advantage over those of the mother country thus the colonists in the end profited from the restrictive policy written into the navigation acts the acts against manufacturers the second group of laws was deliberately aimed to prevent colonial industries from competing too sharply with those of England among the earliest of these measures may be counted the woollen act of 1699 forbidding the exportation of woollen goods from the colonies and even the woolen trade between towns and colonies when Parliament learned as the result of an inquiry that New England and New York were making thousands of hats a year and sending large numbers annually to the southern colonies and to Ireland Spain and Portugal it enacted in 1732 a law declaring that no hats or felts died or undyed finished or unfinished should be put upon any vessel or laden upon any horse or cart with intent to export to any place whatever the effect of this measure upon the hat industry was almost ruinous a few years later a similar blow was given to the iron industry by an act of 1750 pig and bar iron from the colonies were given free entry to England to encourage the production of the raw material but at the same time the law provided that no mill or other engine for slitting or rolling of iron no plating forged to work with a tilt hammer and no furnace for making steel should be built in the colonies as for those already built they were declared public nuisances and ordered closed thus three important economic interests of the colonies the woolen hat and iron industries were laid under the ban the trade laws the third group of restrictive measures passed by the British Parliament related to the sale of colonial produce an act of 1663 required the colonies to export certain articles to Great Britain or to her dominions alone while sugar tobacco and ginger consigned from the continent of Europe had to pass through a British port paying custom duties and through a British merchants hands paying the usual commission at first tobacco was the only one of the enumerated articles which seriously concerned the American colonies the rest coming mainly from the British West Indies in the course of time however other commodities were added to the list of enumerated articles until by 1764 in embraced rice naval stores copper furs hides iron lumber and pearl ashes this was not all the colonies were compelled to bring their European purchases back through English ports paying duties to the government and commissions to merchants again the molasses act not content with laws enacted in the interest of English merchants and manufacturers Parliament sought to protect the British West Indies against competition from their French and Dutch neighbors New England merchants had long carried on a lucrative trade with the French islands in the West Indies and Dutch Guiana where sugar and molasses could be attained in large quantities at low prices acting on the protests of English planners in the Barbados and Jamaica Parliament in 1733 past the famous molasses act imposing duties on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies from foreign countries rates which would have destroyed the American trade with the French and Dutch if the law had been enforced the duties however were not collected the molasses and sugar trade with the foreigners went on merrily smuggling taking the place of lawful trade effects of the laws in America as compared with the strict monopoly of her colonial trade which Spain consistently sought to maintain the policy of England was both moderate and liberal furthermore the restrictive laws were supplemented by many measures intended to be favorable to colonial prosperity the navigation acts for example redounded to the advantage of American shipbuilders and the producers of hemp tar lumber and ship stores in general favors and British ports were granted to colonial producers as against foreign competitors and in some instances bounties were paid by England to encourage colonial enterprise taken all in all there is much justification in the argument advanced by some modern scholars to the effect that the colonists gained more than they lost by British trade and industrial legislation certainly after the establishment of independence when free from these old restrictions the Americans found themselves handicapped by being treated as foreigners rather than favored traders and the recipients of bounties and English markets be that as it may it appears that the colonists felt little irritation against the mother country on account of the trade and navigation laws enacted previous to the close of the French and Indian War relatively few were engaged in the Hat and iron industries as compared with those in farming and planning so that England's policy of restricting America to agriculture did not conflict with the interests of the majority of the inhabitants the woolen industry was largely in the hands of women and carried on in connection with their domestic duties so that it was not the sole support of any considerable number of people as a matter of fact moreover the restrictive laws especially those relating to trade were not rigidly enforced cargoes of tobacco were boldly sent to continental ports without even so much as a bow to the English government - which duties should have been paid sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch colonies were shipped into New England in spite of the law royal officers sometimes protested against smuggling and sometimes connived at it but at no time did they succeed in stopping it taken all in all very little was heard of the galling restraints of trade until after the French war when the British government subtly entered upon a new course end of section 12 this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit a lie BR Ivo x.org the history of the United States by Charles a beard and Mary Ritter beard part 1 the colonial period chapter 13 summary of the colonial period read by M L Cowan Cleveland Ohio may 2007 in the period between the landing of the English at Jamestown Virginia in 1607 and the close of the French and Indian War in 1763 a period of a century and a half a new nation was being prepared on this continent to take its place among the powers of the earth it was an epoch of migration Western Europe contributed emigrants of many races and nationalities the English led the way next to them and numerical importance were the scotch-irish and the Germans into the melting pot were also cast Dutch Swedes French Jews Welsh and Irish thousands of Negroes were brought from Africa to till southern fields for labour as domestic servants in the north why did they come the reasons are various some of them the Pilgrims and Puritans of New England the French Huguenots scots-irish and Irish and the Catholics of Maryland fled from intolerant governments that denied them the right to worship God according to the dictates of their consciousness thousands came to escape the bondage of poverty in the old world and to find free homes in America thousands like the Negroes from Africa were dragged here against their will the lure of adventure appealed to the Restless and the lure of profits to the enterprising merchants how did they come in some cases religious Brotherhood's banded together and borrowed or furnished the funds necessary to pay the way in other cases great trading companies were organized to found colonies again it was the wealthy proprietor like Lord Baltimore or William Penn who undertook the planned settlements many immigrants were able to pay their own way across the sea others bound themselves out for a term of years in exchange for the cost of passage Negroes were bought on account of the profits derived from their sale as slaves whatever the motive for they're coming however they managed to get across the sea the immigrants set to work with a will they cut down forests built houses and laid out fields they founded churches schools and colleges they set up forges and workshops they spun and wove they fashion ships and sailed the seas they bartered and traded here and there unfavorable harbors they established centers of Commerce Boston's Providence New York Philadelphia Baltimore and Charleston as soon as a firm foothold was secured on the shoreline they pressed westward until by the close of the colonial period they were already on the crest of the Alleghenies though they were widely scattered along a thousand miles of seacoast the colonists were united in spirit by many common ties the major portion of them were Protestants the language the law and the literature of England furnished the basis of national unity most of the colonists were engaged in the same hard task that of conquering a wilderness two ties of kinship and language were added ties created by necessity they had to unite in defense first against the Indians and later against the French they were all subjects of the same sovereign the King of England the English Parliament made laws for them and the English government supervised their local affairs their trade and their manufacturers common forces assailed them common grievances vexed them common hopes inspired them many of the things which tended to unite them likewise tended to throw them into opposition to the British crown in Parliament most of them were free holders that is farmers who owned their own land and tilled it with their own hands a free soil nourished the spirit of freedom the majority of them were dissenters critics not Friends of the Church of England that staunch defender of the British monarchy each colony in time developed its own legislature elected by the voters it grew accustomed to making laws and laying taxes for itself here was a people learning self-reliance and self-government the attempts to strengthen the Church of England in America and the transformation of colonies into Royal provinces only fan the spirit of Independence which they were designed to Quinn nevertheless the Americans owed much of their prosperity to the assistance of the government that irritated them it was the protection of the British Navy that prevented Holland Spain and France from wiping out their settlements though their manufacture and trade were controlled in the interests of the mother country they also enjoyed great advantages in her markets free trade existed nowhere upon the earth but the broad Empire Britain was open to American ships and merchandise it could be said with good reason that the disadvantages which the colonists suffered through British regulation of their industry and trade were more than offset by the privileges that they enjoyed still that is somewhat beside the point for mere economic advantage is not necessarily the determining factor in the fate of people's a thousand circumstances has helped developed on this continent a nation to inspire it with a passion for independence and to prepare it for a destiny greater than that of a prosperous dominion of the British Empire the Economist who tried to prove by logic unassailable that America would be richer under the British flag could not change the spirit of Patrick Henry Samuel Adams Benjamin Franklin or George Washington references gl beer origin of the British colonial system and the old colonial system a Bradley the fight for Canada in North America cm Andrews colonial self-government parentheses American nation series H Edgerton short history of British colonial policy F Parkman France and England North America parentheses 12 volumes are Thwaites France and America parentheses American nation series J Windsor the Mississippi Valley and Cartier to Frontenac questions how would you define nationalism - can you give any illustrations of the way that war promotes nationalism 3 why was it impossible to establish and maintain a uniform policy in dealing with the Indians 4 what was the outcome of the final clash with the fringe five enumerate the five chief results of the wars with the French and the Indians discuss each in detail six explain why it was that the character of the English King mattered to the colonists seven contrast England under the stewards with England under the Hanoverians eight explain how the English crown courts and Parliament controlled the colonies nine name the three important classes of English legislation affecting the colonies explain each ten do you think the English legislation was beneficial or injurious to the colonies why research topics rise of French power in North America special reference Francis Parkman struggle for a continent to the French and Indian Wars special reference wmn Sloane French warned the revolution chapters 6 through 9 Parkman mount common wolf vol 2 pages 195 to $2.99 Elson history of the United States pages 171 to 196 three English Navigation Acts MacDonald documentary source book pages 55 72 7890 103 Coleman industrial history pages 79 to 85 for British colonial policy calendar economic history of the United States pages 102 to 108 5 the New England Confederation analyzed the document in McDonald source book page 45 special reference Fisk beginnings of New England pages 142 198 6 the administration of Andrews Fisk beginnings pages 242 to 278 and 7 biographical studies William Pitt and Sir Robert Walpole consult green short history of England on their policies using the index end of US history by Charles and Mary beard section 13 summary of the colonial period you you

Channel: Greatest AudioBooks

Views: 717,567

Keywords: Book, History, America, United, States, United States (Country), Colonial, Period, Revolutionary War, Thirteen, Colonies, 13, British Empire, 1600s, 1700s, Colonists, Europe, United Kingdom (Country), July, 4th, French and Indian War, War, French, Indian, France, England, King, George, Canada, North America, Documentary, American, Historian, Culture, Museum, audiobooks, audiobook, Thirteen Colonies (Dated Location), United States Of America (Country), Colonial History Of The United States (Film Subject)

Id: Cg8psGEqLn4

Length: 164min 13sec (9853 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 23 2012