Cours n°2

Cours n°2


The commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell

( Cromwell 1599 - 1658 )

B) Puritanism

The puritans appears at the time of Elizabeth the first. They believed at strict moral behaviour. Most of them were Calvinists who wanted to purified the church of England of this ceremony, this luxury. They were associated to the parlementary party during the commonwealth. The puritans were badly treated and some of them choose to leave England to the new England. They were 5 tenit to define puritanism.


• 1) Original Depravity => Man lost his chace to obtein grace to his own power with eating the apple in the Eden garden.

• 2) Unconditionnal election => Election was reserve to those who were predestined to recieve it. The spirit of god would work only in the soul of the elect. Of those who have been chosen by god.

• 3) Irresistible grace => If you are chosen, don't say that you don't want to be saved.

• 4) Limited atonement => To atone for : racheter. Only a few will be forgiven.

• 5) Perseverance of the Saints => The elect must relentlessly further God's work in the world and to overcome the consequences of man's original depravity.


Not all the colonist were puritans. But they leaders had prestige, the ultimate authority, even toward the poeple who weren't puritans. The puritans came to the new world to find freedom. They most came in Massachussets. These poeple were not tolerants and open minded. They dislike democracy. The leaders of Massachussets wanted to a government by a few poeple, not by the many. These poeple would be the religious leaders. In other terms, power was given to the puritan church, and only the mans who were members of it could vote. The church controled political life. The puritans didn't make room (faisaient pas de place) for poeple who hadn't the same ideas. Many poeple try to leave Massachussets to fin more freedom and settled in Connecticut.

The puritans thought that it was incumbent on them to drive out of the country poeple who disagreed to their ideas.
It brought social tensions. If puritanism had been created in a more humanist purpose, it could had been a great doctrine. It encourage concentration, hard work, discipline, material succes was also to be seen at the size of god's grace. Material succes and beeing vertuous can work together. Puritans were very willing to lay the emphasis on education. There was a obligation to have a school in a village as soon as you had 50 families. Farmers paid money to support colleges.


C) Southern colonies

Southern colonies :

• Maryland
• North carolina
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Virginia




Common points : Large coast and rivers, deep enough to allow boats to sail on them. The soils were rich. The water was called the Tidewater.
The countryside was really rich in natural productions. Tobacco was cultivated in north eastern Carolina and into Varginia. But tobacco exhausted the soils, it tended to wear outthe soils rapidly. The tobacco platers wanted to buy more and more lands in ordrer to replace the planted lands which were no more rich enough. This lead to the system of plantations, on which only part of the land was given over to tobacco in ordrer to control the wearing out of the land.

Slavery developped in the south cause in these plantations many workers were necessary. So development of a very large labor force. It was not easy to find servants in the thirteen colonies because lands were so cheaps that most of the poeple chose to go their own way with farming.
Indentured servents developped. They were poeple in Europe, wanted to go in american but who couldn't paid. So farmers paid their crossing but they had to work for them for many years in order to pay back their manpower. Between 1 of 7 years. In the beginning of the 18 century, the plantation farmers needed more and more workers. So, black slavery came to remplace indecent workers.
During the 17 century, the number of slave remains slow. In 1700 25000 black slaves. By the begining of the 18 century, there were no more slaves in nothern colonies. But the rise of the rice economy cause slavery to grow and keep growing beacause Carolina planters needed cheap workers. The was also a big increase of tobacco consumption. In the thirteen colonies there were 400 000 in 1760.

Most slaves owners tried to treat their slaves as good as possible. There was an aristocratic community lead by rich planters. Public school were rare cause the children of planters were tuteled at home. The middle class hadn't a really different life that their own slaves' life. The third class were farmers that couldn't vote because they didn't own property? This lower class has a very little political power. Below this class, you find the slaves. Those 7 colonies were very differents of New England. Much less educated.

1924 : Indiens considered as American citizens.

In Caroline, the slave population was more important that the citizens at the end of the 18th century.

Local government : Poeple were isolated, Local government must cover a much larger lands. Sheriff was designated by the governer.

E ) The Backcountry