1/15
The Colonial Era, Part I:
How was colonial life governed?
“A Horrible Case of Bestiality,” Plymouth Colony, HFE 42-43
The Salem Witch Trials, HFE 66-75
The Lawes & Liberties of Massachusetts, HFE 18-26
Dale’s Laws, HFE 7-12
Also, reading on e-reserve-need for exam
Colonial Era
· First European settlement was Spanish, St. Augustine, FL-1565
o Annexed by US in 1819 under Andrew Jackson
o Spain wanted to establish other colonies; had they succeeded we would have been Spanish Civil Law rather than English Common Law
o St Louis was under Spanish Civil Law until LA purchase
o Spanish Civil Law required everyone speak Spanish & that all colonists covert to Catholicism [Brazil was Portuguese colony]
· VA Company in 1608 founded Jamestown, VA
o 1610 raised tobacco for sale in Europe by John Rolf; first exported in 1612
o Rolf married Pocahontas
o VA Co paid for itself by 1617 and generated enough profit to ensure stability of colonies
· GA was founded as debtors colony for English debtors but then turned to cash crops
New England Colonies
· Thanksgiving under Lincoln purposely relocated colonial origins to Plymouth to inspire Union soldiers
· Plymouth of 1620; colonists were the pilgrims
o Sent there by the London VA company to produce goods for sale
o Global commerce is what sent pilgrims to the New World by global corporations
· Pilgrims arrive in the fall and more than 1/2 dire before spring
o In March a Native American showed up who spoke English-Squanto
o Squanto had been kidnapped and taken to England in 1605 and was schooled and married in England
o He returned in 1619 to find out that his tribe had been wiped out by European disease, probably small pox-over 90% of New England native Americans
o He then takes up w/the pilgrims and assists them how to survive in the new world
· Initial contact between Europeans and native Americans was cooperative; Indians looking for goods to trade & euros looking for assistance to survive
· Not all of the colonies were Puritan & not all of the colonies were designed for profit like VA and Carolinas
o Maryland-1629-Lord George Calvert to create haven for Catholics, founded in 1832
o Church of England & Catholics divided England for years; CoE ended up having quite a few problems w/Puritans and other extreme protestants
o In Jamestown, moved away from communal property as in Plymouth and Massachusetts and focused on private property as in VA
o Ends up enacting religious tolerance law banning discrimination based on religion because a number of protestants joined catholics in MD because they could get private property; tradition of religious toleration really began in MD
· RI-1636-founded by Baptists fleeing from religious prosecution in Mass Bay
o Roger Williams was joined by Ann Hutchinson who challenged Puritan beliefs and began preaching and holding prayer meetings and was persecuted
o Hutchinson develops following based on interpretation of Bible w/out clergy
· NH-founded by disciple of Ann Hutchinson
· CT-haven for Puritan nobleman
· New Amsterdam-founded by Dutch as a cash colony [NY]
· PA-founded as haven for Quakers in 1681 by William Penn
Horrible Case of Beastiality-pg 42/43
· Thomas Granger committed beastiality; indicted of buggery and then executed w/out much trial or appellate due process
· MA was not very tolerant and went by Biblical law under Leviticus; not English Common Law but Old Testament Biblical law which was very strict
· Gov Bradford indicates that this type of behavior occurred because: [1] the community is interested in what people are doing in their lives and so it is searched out because of the creation of a religious community; [2] Satan may have more power in new world because it is less civilized; [3] society is more strict & severe in new world and could be more repressive and when there are transgressions they become more violent or have harsh affects; [4] along w/Puritans, indentured servants came over & were undermining the mission of the Puritans because they had different views [Bradford says sins]
o Maintaining a strict religious society was/is very difficult and New England moves toward a more commercial hub
Massachusetts Bay, 1629
· Ends up absorbing Plymouth; London VA Co got them to the new world and they were supposed to do something to make a profit
· Calvinists were largest portion of Puritans which lead to Presbytarians
· Laws & Liberties of Mass-first statute code and one of the most important in legal history
o LLM literally cite the Bible as the basis of the laws
o Code seeks to punish Baptists-pg 20-by banishment; have to leave the colony
· Banishment had to go into the wilderness and sometimes they found their own colonies [Hutchinson in RI]
o Jesuits were also targeted by LLM-looked to convert native Americans which puritans
o didn’t do
o Slavery was not lawful unless captives taken in war or indentured servants or are sold to us
· Slavery did exist in colonies and one early rationale was because of POWs
· 13 colonies, though, were small players in slave trade; Brazil was the biggest importer of slaves in new world along w/West Indies and other sugar islands
o Criminal Law-LLM employ levels of punishment for crimes including shaming [branding], corporal punishment execution
· There was neither the money or time to build prisons
· Children above 16 who cursed parents-death penalty
· Pre-marital sex-marriage or corporal punishment
Salem, Witchcraft Trials, 1692
· Puritans w/almost the same laws as Mass Bay
· Salem caught up in hysteria that was not unusual for the time
· Examination of George Burroghs-slightly more formal but not much due process as in Mass Bay
o Ann Putnam describes vivid scenes where they were visited
o Witches were predominantly unmarried or widowed women-easy to target such women
o Accusers were teenage girls
o Some believe that Tituba was attempting to undermine the community
Why were people drawn to the colonies?
· Puritan colonies were very strict and largely unsuccessful
· Jordan, from e-reserve – colonies were harsh and many didn’t survive & pushed people together
o Land played a huge part in the formation of the new world
o People were able to spread out and find more freedom; start new colonies like Hutchinson, etc
o Owning land became the KEY reason why people came to new world, religion was secondary; in England the King owned everthing
o Shortage of labor in new world and ended up being indentured servants who took off once their term was up
· Servants opted to get their own land and lead to a labor shortage
Land & Labor end up being two big themes in Amer Legal History leading up to the Civil War
· Three basic systems of labor: wage labor, indentured servitude, slavery which becomes the answer to labor shortage
o Legal slavery becomes a category of property law
o Critical to southern colonies
Incentives
· Rhode Island Patent, pg 26
o Get authority from England to create own government & rule themselves
o Self-governing colony
· New York Charter of Libertyes, pg 31
o This is the BIG ONE [exam]
o This is the beginning of something that looks like the C including due process
· The puritan colonies end up not being the model for the US
1/22
The Colonial Era, Part II:
Why were peop
il is comparative w/the US
§ Brazil’s law for slavery was very different than US slave law
o Just because slavery became racialized, didn’t mean that owners were not afraid of insurrection – many laws passed to keep a tight lid on black slaves
§ No weapons – if so, result was death, HFE, pg 55
Slave Rebellion
· SC slave code [HFE pg 56] was in response to Stono Rebellion in 1739
o Slaves were going to escape south to Florida which was controlled by Spain & Spain wanted to undermine the English colonies
o Slaves thought such a rebellion would be successful-yellow fever epidemic; talk of war between Spain & England; thought freedom would be granted in FL
o One reason GA was est’d as a debtors colony for whites was to act as a buffer between colonies & Spanish FL
o Security Act of 1739 req’d all white males to carry firearms
o Leader of rebellion was literate; eventually rebelled by killing 20 slave owners and burned down 7 plantations
· Resulting in a 10 year moratorium on slave importation into SC
o SC Slave Code included written permission to travel; leave plantation; in essence a huge police state or prison camp; rest of the country was very unregulated
o Because of the slave issues, South became a very regulated area depending on a great deal of law
o Code included a prohibition on drums
§ Doesn’t stop slaves & black from producing music in other ways
§ Brazil, however, did not outlaw drums & that tradition continues today
§ Significance: African American experience becomes part of the world experience in music because of the restrictive slave codes leading to a new type of music that was allowed in Brazil…OK?
The Revolutionary Era, Part I:
Why did the colonists break from England?
Ellis, “The Year,” from American Creation, 20-29, 38-52.
Break from England
· England’s victory against the French in 1763 after the French & Indian War led to English taking Canada and everything East of the Mississippi
o France gives everything West of the Mississippi to Spain
o England tightens control of Colonies after this victory and ‘acts more Imperial’ by imposing higher taxes and much more control
o Ellis, pg 24 – imperial sovereignty be singular-England didn’t want to share power w/the colonies; London would issue law & colonies should be grateful
· Colonies, though, wanted self-determination and self-rule
o John Adams arrives 2nd Continental Congress as a radical even though he was a lawyer
o Lawyers are usually not radicals because of their training and don’t usually want to get rid of govt and business because they make good clients…J
o But lawyers here were heavily impacted by taxes; sugar tax cases were held in courts of admirality
o Lawyers also rcv’d their fees in tobacco and higher taxes hurt lawyers
o Stamp Act imposed taxes on deeds, wills, legal pleadings – tax that targeted lawyers directly
[1] Optional reading: Eric Wolfe, “The Slave Trade,” from Europe and the People Without History [e-reserve]
