4. The culture of the first colonies

The culture of the first European settlers. The Puritan influence on the cultural life of the colonies. The structure of the first towns. Different organization of the North and South farms. The first writings: histories (W. Bradford), religious papers, poetry (A. Bradstreet).

1. What do you know about the lost colony?

2. What was called green or common in the first American towns?

3. Can you explain the origin of the first colonies names?

4. What did American colonists write?

The Mayflower Compact

When the Pilgrims arrived on the coast of America they faced many dangers and difficulties. They did not want to put themselves to further danger by quarreling with one another. Before landing at Plymouth, therefore, they wrote out an agreement. In this document they agreed to work together for the good of all. The agreement was signed by all forty-one men on board the Mayflower. It became known as the Mayflower Compact. In the Compact the Plymouth settlers agreed to set up a government – a civil body politic” – to make "just and equal laws" for their new settlement. All of them, Pilgrims and Strangers alike, promised that they would obey these laws. In the difficult years which followed, the Mayflower Compact served the colonists well. It is remembered today as one of the first important documents in the history of democratic government in America.

5. The war of Independence and after-war culture

Forming of a new nation. The beginning of the War of Independence. The flowering of arts after the War of Independence. New literary forms: T. Pain, B. Franklin, P. Freneau. J. Barlow and the «Wits».

1. What was called Boston Tea Party?

2. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

3. Who were the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd presidents?

4. What war was called the Second War for American Independence?

5. What was President Jackson famous for?

6. What was the main form of literature?

7. Who was America’s first important poet?

Trade laws and «sleeping dogs»

Until the 1760s most Americans seemed quite content to be ruled by Britain. An important reason for this was the presence of the French in North America. So long as France held Canada and Louisiana, the colonists felt that they needed the British navy and soldiers to protect them.

Another reason the colonists accepted British rule was that the British government rarely interfered in colonial affairs.

A century earlier the British Parliament had passed some laws called Navigation Acts. These listed certain products called "enumerated commodities" that the colonies were forbidden to export to any country except England. It was easy for the colonists to avoid obeying these laws. The long American coastline made smuggling easy.

The colonists did not care much either about import taxes, or duties, that they were supposed to pay on goods from abroad. The duties were light and carelessly collected. Few merchants bothered to pay them. And again, smuggling was easy. Ships could unload their cargoes on hundreds of lonely wharves without customs officers knowing.

When a British Prime Minister named Robert Walpole was asked why he did not do more to enforce the trade laws, he replied: "Let sleeping dogs lie." He knew the independent spirit of the British colonists in America and wanted no trouble with them. The trouble began when later British politicians forgot his advice and awoke the "sleeping dogs."