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Book: The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff
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Authors: Robert Middlekauff
Tags: United States, History, Military, Colonial Period (1600-1775), Americas (North; Central; South; West Indies)
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and the increasing population growth. Not surprisingly they protested when they found the strength, rioting in the streets for bread and presumably for some public recognition of their problems.
Bread riots in the cities brought very little bread or anything else. None of these riots was large in the eighteenth century; none really threatened the control of public authority. The cities themselves, though major institutions of the colonial economy, contained relatively few people. At least 90 percent of the colonial population lived in towns and villages of no more than 8000 people. And the majority of the 90 percent lived on farms or in hamlets. The impoverished classes of the cities included a very small proportion of native-born Americans. More of the poor lived on farms and plantations than in cities. Even here they were not numerous. 18
Although the majority of Americans who worked the soil owned their
____________________
16
Gary B. Nash, "Urban Wealth and Poverty in Pre-Revolutionary America," JIH , 6 ( 1976), 545-84.
17
Ibid.
18
These generalizations are drawn from social histories of the colonial period and from Historical Statistics .
land, landless laborers lived in all colonies. Many leased land which they cultivated with an independence approaching that of freeholders, a group they hoped to join. Three colonies -- New York, Virginia, and Maryland -- held the largest numbers of tenants. At first sight, a New World feudalism seemed to have existed in parts of these colonies.
On the surface no area of English America looked more feudal than the Hudson Valley in New York. Large "manors" had been carved out there, with six of the most impressive located on the east side of the river. Their holders, the landlords, may have at times fancied themselves to be Old World feudal "barons," and they did enjoy some of the privileges and exemptions of the breed. For example, some held patents which authorized them to hold courts leet and baron, exercising criminal and civil jurisdiction; several by the terms of their patents controlled hunting and fishing, the cutting of timber, and the milling of grain. A few could even appoint a clergyman for their manors. Most claimed the right of escheat, and practically all could repossess their property if tenants failed to pay the rent. Landlords could also require their tenants to work a few days a year on fences and roads. 19
Practice often diverged from the claims to these rights. For the application of these rights proved uneven and in some cases nonexistent. Courts leet and baron rarely appeared despite the authorization of charters and patents. County courts filled their places and provided judicial services. As for most of the other rights, they remained unexercised or of minor importance when they were enforced.
Tenancy was not a desirable condition though many desired it. Tenants worked the lands of the great Hudson Valley manors and paid their rents along with a certain deference to the great men who ran things. Yet the tenants' lot was not so bad as these statements may imply, for they did not make up a European peasantry permanently tied down by their obligations to others. The Hudson Valley lords had more land than they could use, and in the eighteenth century they were under pressure from the English government -- which wanted the fees that leases of land produced -- to get it into production. The presence of squatters and settlers from Connecticut and Massachusetts also helped persuade the landholders to put their lands into production. As a result, landlords began to attempt to lure squatters, who paid nothing, into becoming tenants, who might be made to pay something. The landlords
____________________
19
Sung Bok Kim, Landlord and Tenant in Colonial New York: Manorial Society, 1664-1775 ( Chapel Hill, N.C., 1978), 87-128.
offered leases that required no payments of rent for the first few years, and they also lent tenants tools and
Bread riots in the cities brought very little bread or anything else. None of these riots was large in the eighteenth century; none really threatened the control of public authority. The cities themselves, though major institutions of the colonial economy, contained relatively few people. At least 90 percent of the colonial population lived in towns and villages of no more than 8000 people. And the majority of the 90 percent lived on farms or in hamlets. The impoverished classes of the cities included a very small proportion of native-born Americans. More of the poor lived on farms and plantations than in cities. Even here they were not numerous. 18
Although the majority of Americans who worked the soil owned their
____________________
16
Gary B. Nash, "Urban Wealth and Poverty in Pre-Revolutionary America," JIH , 6 ( 1976), 545-84.
17
Ibid.
18
These generalizations are drawn from social histories of the colonial period and from Historical Statistics .
land, landless laborers lived in all colonies. Many leased land which they cultivated with an independence approaching that of freeholders, a group they hoped to join. Three colonies -- New York, Virginia, and Maryland -- held the largest numbers of tenants. At first sight, a New World feudalism seemed to have existed in parts of these colonies.
On the surface no area of English America looked more feudal than the Hudson Valley in New York. Large "manors" had been carved out there, with six of the most impressive located on the east side of the river. Their holders, the landlords, may have at times fancied themselves to be Old World feudal "barons," and they did enjoy some of the privileges and exemptions of the breed. For example, some held patents which authorized them to hold courts leet and baron, exercising criminal and civil jurisdiction; several by the terms of their patents controlled hunting and fishing, the cutting of timber, and the milling of grain. A few could even appoint a clergyman for their manors. Most claimed the right of escheat, and practically all could repossess their property if tenants failed to pay the rent. Landlords could also require their tenants to work a few days a year on fences and roads. 19
Practice often diverged from the claims to these rights. For the application of these rights proved uneven and in some cases nonexistent. Courts leet and baron rarely appeared despite the authorization of charters and patents. County courts filled their places and provided judicial services. As for most of the other rights, they remained unexercised or of minor importance when they were enforced.
Tenancy was not a desirable condition though many desired it. Tenants worked the lands of the great Hudson Valley manors and paid their rents along with a certain deference to the great men who ran things. Yet the tenants' lot was not so bad as these statements may imply, for they did not make up a European peasantry permanently tied down by their obligations to others. The Hudson Valley lords had more land than they could use, and in the eighteenth century they were under pressure from the English government -- which wanted the fees that leases of land produced -- to get it into production. The presence of squatters and settlers from Connecticut and Massachusetts also helped persuade the landholders to put their lands into production. As a result, landlords began to attempt to lure squatters, who paid nothing, into becoming tenants, who might be made to pay something. The landlords
____________________
19
Sung Bok Kim, Landlord and Tenant in Colonial New York: Manorial Society, 1664-1775 ( Chapel Hill, N.C., 1978), 87-128.
offered leases that required no payments of rent for the first few years, and they also lent tenants tools and
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