3.Governmental and Social Structures of the 13Colonies

Original 13　British Colonies

The 13colonial govern ments presented a varied structure.By 1775，eight of the colonies were royal colonies，whose governors were appointed by the English King.Three（Maryland，Pennsylvania，Delaware）were under proprietors who themselves chose the governors.And two（Connecticut，Rhode Island）elected their own governors under self-governing charters.Practically every colony utilized a two-house legislative body.The upper house，or council，was normally appointed by the English Crown in the royal colonies，and by the proprietor in the proprietary colonies.But it was chosen by the voters in the self-governing colonies.The lower house was elected by the people，or rather by those persons who owned enough property to qualify as voters.In several of the colonies，the backcountry elements were seriously under represented，and they hated the ruling clique perhaps more than they did kingly authority.

Society in the 13colonies was like a pyramid.The top was made up of merchants and landlords.The base was made up of refugees from Europe，black slaves from Africa，and native Indians.Many of the European settlers had left Europe to escape war，poverty，religious and political persecution and had come as indentured laborers.For the Africans，things were even worse.They were out-and-out slaves.As for Indians，they could not put up with slavery.If an Indian was enslaved，his fellow tribe members would fight to free him.So the colonialists soon gave up the attempt to use them as slave labor.Instead they seized the land of the Indians and drove them away or killed them.

Due to geographical economic and social factors，the 13colonies developed in different directions.The New England colonies，where the soil was thin and poor，were difficult to farm.So the Yankee³ farmer in New England was forced to become a jack-of-all-trades⁴.The New England colonies soon became a center for fishing and shipbuilding，and the successful merchants and prosperous ship-builders laid the foundation for the later appearance of the American big bourgeoisie.The middle colonies known as the breadbasket had a more favorable climate and soil and thus became the most productive area for general farming.This colonial breadbasket produced wheat and potatoes as the major staple.The southern colonies developed a plantation system，with the exploitation of slave labor.Tobacco was the main crop in the South.Other crops were rice and indigo，a blue dye taken from various plants.Much later，cotton became important.In the beginning，plantation workers were indentured servants，white as well as black.Later planters used the black slaves instead.

The wealth that came from the robbing of the Indians，from the buying and selling of the black slaves，and from ruthlessly exploiting black and white laboring people，poured into Europe，and especially Britain.It poured into the hands of the rising bourgeoisie.It became“capital”with which they built capitalism.The people in colonies，of course，did not passively put up with exploitation and oppression.They resisted in various ways.A rebellion of small farmers took place in Virginia in 1676against the oppressive royal government of the colony.This was the first open revolt against the English Crown in the American colonies.It was led by Nathanial Bacon⁵，and was suppressed soon after Bacon’s sudden death from illness.In 1689there was a people’s uprising in New York.The rebels seized power and held it for two years.Although the various uprisings were defeated，they dealt a blow to British colonial rule，and shook the British control over North America.Then the history of the colonial people had been pushed into another stage.

Notes

1.Siberia：the Asiatic part of Russia extending from the Urals to the Pacific.

2.Renaissance：the artistic，literary and scientific revival which originated in Italy in the 14th century and which influenced the rest of Europe in a great variety of ways in the next two centuries.It was typified by the spread of humanism，a return to classified values and the beginning of objective scientific inquiry.The humanism of the era secularized the way people thought；that is，it directed their attention away from religion and toward the thing of this world.The new scientific spirit of inquiry was fruitful especially in astronomy and in the new studies of psychology，ethics，anatomy and philology.

3.Yankee：an inhabitant of New England.

4.Jack of-all-trades：aperson able to do many kinds of practical work.

5.Nathaniel Bacon（1647-1676）：colonial planter and leader of Bacon’s Rebellion（1676）.He immigrated to America in 1674and was appointed to the governor’s council of Virginia.Quickly at odds with the governor，his cousin，William Berkeley，Bacon sympathized with the country planters who complained of inadequate protection of the frontiers from Indian attack，a limited franchise，excessive taxation and unfair distribution of offices，tax and customs exemption.In 1676Bacon and small farmers rebelled.The rebellion was soon suppressed after Bacon’s sudden death from illness in 1676.

Exercises

Ⅰ.Choose the correct answer.

1.According to the text，the ancestors of the present American Indians came from________.

A.Europe B.Africa C.Asia D.Mongolia

2.Which is not correct to explain the reasons for the sudden daring exploration of the unknown in the mid-15rh century？

A.The ambition for the vast lands.

B.The strong desire for Eastern goods.

C.The improvements in navigation and naval architecture.

D.The great spirit of adventure started by the Renaissance.

3.On his voyage of 1492，Columbus expected to reach_______.

A.the New world　　　B.the West Indies

C.India D.America

4.Among the following navigators who discovered the route to India？

A.Christopher Columbus.　　　B.Vasco da Gama.

C.Bartholomeu Diaz.　　　　　D.Ferdinand Magellan.

5.Who was sent by the English King to explore the new way to the East？

A.Jacques Cartier.　　　B.John Cabot.

C.Bartholoneu Diaz.　　 D.Ferdinand Magellan.

6.Which colony in the following was not founded first by the English？

A.Virginia.　　　B.Massachusetts.

C.New York.　　　D.Georgia.

7.The breadbasket colonies include the following ones except_______.

A.New York　　　B.Pennsylvania　　　C.Maryland　　　D.Virginia

8.The last one of the 13colonies was______，which was established in 1733.

A.North Carolina　　　B.South Carolina

C.Georgia　　　　　　 D.Maryland

Ⅱ.Fill in the blanks.

1.In 1488 Bartholomeu Diaz，sailingunder the ________flag，went to________at the southern Africa.In 1492 Christopher Columbus，financed by the rulers of ________sailed west across the ________Ocean and discovered the islands of________.He was convinced that he had found the continent of________.

2.The South America was discovered by ________who showed the land he arrived in was a new continent.Before longthe land was named________ after his name.

3.Jamestown，the first permanent English settlement，was founded in________.In 1620，_______and others arrived in Plymouth，Massachusetts.They drew up________，which was a plan for a democratic government.

4.By 1775，the 13colonies in North America could be classified as the following three kinds.Specify how the governors were chosen in each.

　a.Royal：___________________________________.

　b.Proprietary：___________________________________.

　c.Self-governing：___________________________________.

5.Because the New England colonies were difficult of farming，they became a center for_______and_______.The middle colonies were knownas the，which produced ________and ________as the major staple.The southern colonies developed a ________system.The main crop in the South was_______.Much later，________became important crop.

Ⅲ.Questions for Discussion.

1.Discuss the pre-Columbian cultures in the Americas.

2.Why did the discoveries of the New World before Columbus not exert great influence in the world at that time？

3.Why did so many English people move to the New World in the 17th century？

4.What was the social structure of the 13colonies？

5.Why did not the American Indians become slaves during the colonial days？