In brief, the mother-country regarded her American colonies merely as feeders to her trade, consumers of her manufactures, and factories for the distribution of her capital. Parliament never succeeded in satisfying the greed of English merchants, while in America it was thought to be doing too much. The constant irritation felt in the colonies over the gradual application of commercial thumb-screws—turned at last beyond the point of endurance—was one of the chief causes of the Revolution. Had it not been that colonial ingenuity found frequent opportunities for evading these Acts of Navigation and Trade, the final collision would doubtless have occurred at a much earlier period.
45. Social Life.
Travel and roads.
The system of agriculture throughout the South was vicious. Few crops so soon exhaust the soil as tobacco; and as this staple was the main reliance of the planters, it was usual to seek fresh fields as fast as needed, leaving the old planting grounds to revert to wilderness. From this, as well as from other causes already stated, the settlements became diffuse, and great belts of forest often separated the holdings. The far-reaching rivers were fringed with plantations, and the waterways were the paths of commerce. The cross-country roads were very bad, often degenerating into mere bridle-paths; there was little travel, and that largely restricted to saddle or sulky,—the former preferred; for there were numerous streams to ford or swim. It was not uncommon for travellers to lose their way and to be obliged to pass the night in the thicket. Inns were few and wretched; but the hospitality of the planters was unstinted, every respectable wayfarer being joyfully welcomed as a guest to the manor-houses.
Life at the plantations.
Some glowing pictures of life in these "baronial halls," with their great open fireplaces, rich furnishings imported from England, crowds of negro lackeys, bounteous larders, and general air of crude splendor, have come down to us in the journals of pre-Revolutionary travellers. But the wealth of the large planters was more apparent than real. Their wasteful agricultural and business methods fostered a speculative spirit, their habits were reckless, their tastes expensive, and their hospitality ruinous; they were generally steeped in debt, and bankruptcy was frequent. The South Carolina planters, however, were more prosperous and independent than those to the north of them.
Education.
The means of education were limited. Governor Berkeley, in his famous report on the state of the Virginia colony (1670), said: "I thank God there are no free schools, nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels against the best of governments. God keep us from both!" Berkeley told the truth. There were not only no free schools, but scarcely any that were not free. Settlers were supposed to be capable of teaching their own children all that it was necessary for them to know. At the wealthiest homes tutors were kept, some of these being younger sons of good families in England who had come to America in an adventurous spirit, while now and then a freed servant who had seen better days was employed in this capacity, as was, a little later, the case in the family of the Washingtons; occasionally the parish clergyman, when fitted for the task, instructed the youth of the district, and here and there a young man was sent to England to take a collegiate course. The upper class as a rule had but meagre scholastic training and few intellectual recreations, the middle class had even a scantier mental equipment, while the poor whites were densely ignorant. Berkeley's bluntly expressed opposition to the education of the masses, as tending to foster political and social independence, perhaps reflected the sentiments of the majority of the ruling order.
Religion.
In Virginia there was manifested throughout the century an intolerant spirit towards dissenters by both the ruling sects, Puritans and Churchmen. Catholics and Quakers were persecuted, pilloried and fined; but the sturdy Scotch-Irish Presbyterians made a bold stand, and were finally tolerated after a fashion. In Pennsylvania and Maryland there was more religious toleration than elsewhere in the colonies,—the Catholics were in political control until the triumph of William and Mary, when the Protestants came to the front and harassed the Catholics with exorbitant taxes. The turbulent population of North Carolina paid little attention to religious matters throughout the seventeenth century, although there were some flourishing congregations. There was no settled Episcopal minister there until 1701, and no church until 1702. The majority in South Carolina dissented from the Church of England, the Puritan element holding political power, and it was 1681 before an Episcopal church was built in Charleston; the Huguenots were not at first tolerated, but in 1697 all Protestant sects were guaranteed equal rights.