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American Society Transformed

CHAPTER 4- American Society Transformed
I. Population Growth and Ethnic Diversity
- 250,000 european-americans and African Americans in the colonies-1700
- 30 years later, that number had more than doubled
- Texas had only about 2,500 Spanish residents and California even fewer; the largest Spanish colony, New Mexico, included just 20,000 or so
- 1760s- along the St. Lawrence River between Quebec and Montreal and in New Orleans were there significant concentrations of French settlers
- The American population doubled approx. every 25 years
- Virginia is a relatively healthful places to live, so the children soon grew up and began families of their own
- 1775- The American population was under 16 years old
A. Involuntary Migrants from Africa
- More Africans than Europeans came to the Americas, as slaves
- The height of the trade occurred in the 18 century, when about half of all slaves were carried across the Atlantic, primarily in British or Portuguese vessels
- Rice, Indigo, Tobacco, and sugar plantations expanded rapidly, thus steadily increasing the demand for bondspeople
- Only in South Carolina, rice could not be grown due to the diseases, so they required an inflow of Africans to sustain as well as expand its labor force
- The involuntary Migrants came from many different parts of Africa
- Tens of thousands of these Africans were Muslims
- After 1740- the American-born controlled the enslaved population of Africans
- Thomas Jefferson, said that a women who brings a child in is more profitable then a men
B. Newcomers from Europe
- In addition to new Africans, about 500,000 europeans moved to British North America
- The English officials offered foreign Protestants free lands and religious toleration
C. Scots-Irish, Scots, and Germans
- One of the largest groups of immigrants over 150,000 came from Ireland and Scotland in family units
- 70,000 Scot-Irish, like Alexander McAllister came directly to America from Scotland...