Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
First two and half centuries rural society 90% lived in countryside
Included a number of bustling seaport cities Boston (north) to
Charleston (south) day laborers and craftsmen.
Northern Colonies more urban - industries diversified - small
industries besides farming included things such as fur trading,
blacksmithing, shipbuilding, and the manufacture of products such as
rum, molasses and textiles from raw materials from the Southern
United States
Southern Colonies agriculture food and cash crops (tobacco,
rice, cotton)
People self-employed independent farmers, artisans or host of
urban retail trades and professions.
Due to surplus of resources and heavy demand for labor - it became
difficult to keep wage earners on the job constantly moving on to
frontier communities where pay was higher or else they were taking up
land and becoming independent farmers.
17th Century -18th century - Satisfy rising demand of labor indentured
servants and slavery.
Three types of Labor
- Indentured
- Slave
- Free
Indentured
Initially slavery was not the dominants system of labor for the colonies.
It was indentured Servitude.
50-66% of white immigrants came to the colonies under these
contracts.
Three sources of indentured servitude:
Men, women and children whose articles of servitude were signed
before leaving the Old World.
The redeptioners so called free-willers- who agreed to reimburse
their passage money by selling their labor after coming to the colonies.
Convicts criminals convicted of capital crime in England could be
transported in lieu of a death sentence.
Conditions
Masters were expected to feed, clothe and house servants.
The reality, however, could be quite different.
Indentured servants were treated the same as, and in some
cases worse than, slaves.
Female servants were the victims of sexual exploitation.
2 out of 5 of indentured servants died before completing their
term.
Living and working conditions were horrible, and servants who
tried to escape could have their term of service extended.
Once servants completed his contract, s/he was freed they were
given land, tools, seed, and animals. However, they did not receive
voting rights. Some became farmers or artisans, other became
discontented rural class of poor whites or became casual labor in port
cities.
Slavery
Slavery was introduced by the Spanish into the West Indies after
Columbus discovery of the Americas
Spanish and Portuguese expanded African slavery into Central and
South American after enslaved Indians began dying off.
1619 the first recorded introduction of African slaves into the colonies
was in the settlement of Jamestown (20 slaves were purchased)
By 1800 10 to 15 million blacks had been transported as slaves to the
Americas.
It is estimated that Africa lost 50 million humans at the hands of slave
traders and plantation owners of modern Western Europe and
Americas.
First revolt in what became the United States took place in 1526
at a Spanish settlement near the mouth of the Pee Dee River in
South Carolina.
Slave Revolts would lead plantation owners to develop a series of slave
laws/codes which restricted the movement of the slaves.
Slaves were not taught to read or write
Restricted to the plantation
Slaves could not congregate after dark
Slaves could not possess any type of firearm
A larger slave population than white in some states
Slave owners wanted to keep their slaves ignorant of the outside world
because learning about life beyond the plantation could lead to more
slave revolts and wanting to escape
Free Labor
Made up of immigrant artisans and mechanics who were able to pay
their own passage to the new world or of bound servants who have
served their time as indentured servitude.
Free labor carpenters, masons, shipwrights, sail-makers, tanners,
weaver, shoemakers, tailors, smiths, coopers (barrel makers), glazers
(glass makers) and printers.
Skilled crafts first applied their craft independently but as centers of
populations grew, master workmen set up small retail shops and
employed journeymen and apprentices who worked for wages.
Close to the 18th century journeymen began to form local trade
societies early formations of the first unions.
Labor/Class Laws
Because of high demand for labor wages were high
Tudor Industrial Code brought over from England. Behind these codes
was the idea low wages ensured continued productivity and decreased
the likelihood of immoral conduct.
Principles of code included:
1. Compulsory labor for all able-bodied persons;
2. To protect the workingmen and to check unemployment, it
restrained wrongful dismissal of employees.
3. It provided for the fixing of maximum wages by justice of the
peace according to the plenty or scarcity of the times
4. It declared illegal any combination of workmen to secure higher
wages (i.e., unions)
5. It provided that no workman was to depart before the end of his
agrees term, and then he was required to produce letters
testimonial to show that he was free to hire himself out.