“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
The Essay on Organizational Culture Diverse Diversity People
Today's business managers raise the banner signs of sporting slogans of diversity and organizational culture while using these words frequently, as if pitching their own modern management skills by utilizing these important concepts to anyone who will lend an ear or read a memo. The question though remains, are businesses really creating a diverse culture within the ranks of their of staff? ...
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,
The Essay on Chesapeake Colonies England South People
Colonial America There are many myths about early America and the original thirteen colonies. Some people may think that all the colonies were the same. This is not true by any means. People of different cultures populated certain areas, and therefore practiced different religions, knew how to grow different crops, etc. The climate was far different between the New England colonies and the ...
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.
The Term Paper on Conceptualization of Culture and Language in Post Colonial Literature
Culture and Language are the major issues in the post colonial theory. My assignment will deal with these three factors in terms of colonial perspectives. The post colonialism mainly explores the ideas such as cultural diversity, geographical dimensions, Diasporas, race, ethnicity, marginality, hybridity, national identities, cultural transformation, changes and politics in language etc… ...
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
The Essay on The African Diaspora
The African Diaspora refers to tales of how Africans, although dispersed, managed to keep hold of their cultures, traditions and ways as they reform in identities conforming to a new world. For a period longer than four centuries, about four million Africans were captured, taken away from their homes and shipped to the Caribbean Islands and North America to work as slaves[1] The change of location ...
group, but a variety of
them.
Bibliography
Higginbotham, D. (1996) . American Revolution.
http://www.uwm.edu/People/jpipes/amrevwar.html
A source of facts about colonial life before and during the Revolution.
No Author given. (1996) . Colonial Williamsburg Home Page.
http://www.history.org
Contains facts about life in the southern colonies.
Sarcelle, M. (1965) . Seeds of liberty, The genesis of the American mind.
Seattle:
PUBLISHER HERE
This book contains a number of facts about the different political views
and
environmental conditions of each colony.
Welling, G.M. (1996) . From Revolution to Reconstuction and what happened
afterwards.
http://grid.let.rug.nl/~welling/usa/revolution.html
Breaks down conditions of life in the colonies, also compares different
colonies.
Brinkley, A. (1995) . American History: A survey Vol. 1. CITYHERE:
McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Source of information on colonists life in general.
Fischer, D.A. (1995) . Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial issues
in American
history Vol. 1. CITYHERE: Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.
Contains information on colonists politcial views and differing cultural
heritages.
