Was Colonial Culture Uniquely American?

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"Was Colonial Culture Uniquely American?"

"There were never, since the creation of the world, two cases exactly parallel."

Lord Chesterfield, in a letter to his son, February 22nd, 1748.

Colonial culture was uniquely American simply because of the unique factors associated

with the development of the colonies. Never before had the conditions that tempered

the colonists been seen.

The unique blend of diverse environmental factors and peoples caused the development

of a variety of cultures that were mostly English, part European, and altogether

original.

The unique conditions, both cultural and environmental, of each colony produced a

unique culture for that colony. And while each colony had it's share of groups, the mix

of people and their cultures in each colony was not evenly distributed. In some colonies

there was a high mix of people, while in others one group dominated. These regional

differences caused the colonies not to develop one unique culture, but instead a group

of distinctive cultures, each unique, and each regional.

The regional differences and cultures among the colonies can be divided into four basic

groups.

These groups each dominated a different region, but they weren't the only group in

their respective region. There were the Puritans of New England, the Quakers of the

middle colonies, the Anglicans of the southern colonies, and the Scots-Irish of the

Appalachian backcountry (Madaras & Sorelle, 1995).

The culture of New England was one unique to New England. The northern colonies of

New England were dominated by the Puritans, and settled primarily for religious reasons.

The environment of New England consisted of rocky soil, dense forests, and large

numbers of fish (Sarcelle, 1965). The culture that developed in New England was

appropriate to such conditions.

The soil, being rocky, had to be worked constantly and patiently (Sarcelle, 1965).

Patience and persistence were trademarks of Puritan ethics. The lush forests provided

for a shipbuilding industry , while the fish provided a source of food (Brinkley, 1995).

The New Englanders became fishermen, farmers, lumbermen, shipbuilders, and traders

(Sarcelle, 1965).

To the south of New England were the middle colonies. There the soil was fertile, and

the weather more acclimated to farming (Sarcelle, 1965). Rivers flowed west toward

the frontier, enabling transportation. The middle colonies, as opposed to the relatively

Puritan dominated New England, were very diverse in people. A mixture of Dutch,

German, Swedes, English and other smaller groups were present in middle colonial cities

such as New York (Higginbotham, 1996).

The culture of the middle colonies was suited for life there and differed from New

England. The good soil and climate produced many farmers (Sarcelle, 1965). The rivers

were used for trading with the Indians (Sarcelle, 1965). The diversity of the people led

the middle colonies to being the most liberal in law and views (Madaras & Sorelle,

1995). Religious groups were mainly Quakers, Catholics, and Puritans, along with some

other groups.

A little further south were the southern colonies. The soil was fertile, but not equal to

that of the middle colonies (Sarcelle, 1965). The weather permitted both long growing

seasons and tropical diseases (Brinkley, 1995). The people of the southern colonies

were the most loyal to England during the Revolution. The dominant religious group of

the South was the Anglican establishment.

The culture of the southern colonies developed accordingly. The people took advantage

of the long growing season and tobacco became the number one crop (Brinkley, 1995).

Society of the southern colonies most closely resembled that of aristocratic England.

Plantations contained a virtual monarchy, each with school, a church, and servants

(Brinkley, 1995). Many Virginians sent there children to be schooled in England

(Brinkley, 1995).

To the west was the frontier and a wholly different set of conditions. The environment

consisted of fertile, well watered soil and the temperature was cool (Sarcelle, 1965).

The people were diverse, not English dominated, but rather a mixture of Europeans.

Settlers in the area included Germans, Scottish, Irish, and English (Sarcelle, 1965). The

culture of the middle colonies formed from the diversity of it's people.

The people believed in small government, with individual freedoms (Madaras & Sorelle,

1995).

The settlers of the frontier region established their own culture and institutions. The

Bar-B-Que, quilt making, and other American pastimes developed here (Brinkley, 1995).

Bacon's rebellion was an early indicator of the differences between the cultures of the

East and West (Madaras & Sorelle, 1995).

Patterns of English culture could be seen in many aspects of colonial culture, but with

slight variations. For example, while the laws and court proceedings of the colonies

closely resembled the English system, the political views of colonists differed from their

English counterparts on a number of points (Brinkley, 1995). The language used in both

was English and there were many other similarities.

Even though the colonial culture was like that of England, it was not a copy of English

culture. Likewise, Englishmen weren't the only colonists.

The culture of the colonies was also influenced by other European cultures. After 1680

large numbers of immigrants came from Europe (Welling, 1996). Throughout the colonies

Dutch, Swedes, and Germans could be found (Welling, 1996). French Huguenots lived in

South Carolina and other scattered places, as did the Spanish, Italians, and Portuguese

(Welling, 1996).

The English ceased to be the chief source of immigration as early as 1680 (Welling,

1996), although they still held a large majority in the population from previous settlers

and their offspring (Brinkley, 1995). Just like the English, when other European settlers

brought their families and possessions, they also brought aspects of their culture. One

group, although forced to adopt the ways of the New World, was still able to keep

parts of their own culture and have influence on mainstream cultures. That group was

the African slaves.

Africans made up a large part of the colonial population. In fact, by the time of the

Revolution, colonists of African descent made up 20% of the overall population

("Colonial Williamsburg Home Page", 1996). Since the Africans usually brought no

possessions, had been taken from their families, and came from many diverse tribes,

Like other cultures of the colonies, African culture in general developed regionally

(Madaras & Sorelle, 1995).

The cultures of colonial America were unlike any other in the world. In no other place

could such an abundance of varied people, conditions, and customs. The culture and

views of the people were broad, stemming from large cultural groups. The conditions

were also highly diverse, ranging from tropical climates, to snowy mountainous forests.

The combined effect of all these variables, in both environment and people, contributed

to the making of not one unique cultural group, but a variety of them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Higginbotham, D. (1996) . American Revolution.

http://www.uwm.edu/People/jpipes/amrevwar.html

No Author given. (1996) . Colonial Williamsburg Home Page.

http://www.history.org

Sarcelle, M. (1965) . Seeds of liberty, The genesis of the American mind. Seattle

Welling, G.M. (1996) . From Revolution to Reconstuction and what happened

afterwards.

http://grid.let.rug.nl/~welling/usa/revolution.html

Brinkley, A. (1995) . American History: A survey Vol. 1. CITYHERE: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Fischer, D.A. (1995) . Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial issues in American

history Vol. 1. CITYHERE: Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.