The European Tribune is a forum for thoughtful dialogue of European and international issues. You are invited to post comments and your own articles.
Please REGISTER to post.
E "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Even with slavery, standard equality measures look similarly and historically good through the colonies. The original hierarchical social-religious projects, indentured white servitude dissipated within a few decades. The colonists were rather equal before typhoid, dysentery, labour demand. With basic survival resolved, the birthrate was high in all colonies, indicating a broad well-being basis.
Sustained inequality trends started with land scarcity within the original colonies, including New England. The Salem witchcraft episode underscored interesting religious and social-economic dynamics.
Here is a compelling resource:
1. Worries plagued the God-fearing pioneers of New England settlements a. The pressure of a growing population was gradually dispersing the Puritans onto outlying farms, far from the control of church b. Although the core of Puritan belief still burned brightly, the passage of time was dampening the first generation's flaming religious zeal c. About the middle of the 17th century a new form of sermon began to be heard from Puritan pulpits -- the "jeremiad" d. Taking their cue from the doom-saying Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, preachers scolded parishioners for their waning piety [...] 2. Troubled ministers in 1662 announced a new formula for church membership, the "Half-Way Covenant" that offered partial membership rights to people not yet converted; it dramatized the difficulty of maintaining the religious devotion of the founding generation a. Jeremiads continued to thunder from the pulpits, but as time went on, the doors of the Puritan churches swung fully open to all b. This widening of church membership gradually erased the distinction between the "elect" and other members of society c. In effect, strict religious purity was sacrificed somewhat to the cause of wider religious participation (more and more women) 3. Women also played a prominent role in one of New England's most frightening religious episodes to ever occur in the area a. A group of adolescent girls in Salem, Massachusetts, claimed to have been bewitched by certain women and a hysterical "witch hunt" ensued, leading to the lynching in 1692 of twenty individuals, nineteen of whom were hanged and one whom was pressed to death b. Larger-scale witchcraft persecutions were then common in Europe and several outbreaks had already flared forth in the colonies but the reign of horror in Salem grew not only from the superstitions of the age but also from the unsettled social and religious conditions c. Most of the accused witches were associated with Salem's prosperous merchant elite; their accusers came largely form the ranks of the poorer families in Salem's agricultural hinterland d. This episode reflected the widening social stratification of New England, as well as the anxieties of many religious traditionalists that Puritan heritage was being eclipsed by Yankee commercialism
a. The pressure of a growing population was gradually dispersing the Puritans onto outlying farms, far from the control of church
b. Although the core of Puritan belief still burned brightly, the passage of time was dampening the first generation's flaming religious zeal
c. About the middle of the 17th century a new form of sermon began to be heard from Puritan pulpits -- the "jeremiad"
d. Taking their cue from the doom-saying Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, preachers scolded parishioners for their waning piety [...]
2. Troubled ministers in 1662 announced a new formula for church membership, the "Half-Way Covenant" that offered partial membership rights to people not yet converted; it dramatized the difficulty of maintaining the religious devotion of the founding generation
a. Jeremiads continued to thunder from the pulpits, but as time went on, the doors of the Puritan churches swung fully open to all
b. This widening of church membership gradually erased the distinction between the "elect" and other members of society
c. In effect, strict religious purity was sacrificed somewhat to the cause of wider religious participation (more and more women)
3. Women also played a prominent role in one of New England's most frightening religious episodes to ever occur in the area
a. A group of adolescent girls in Salem, Massachusetts, claimed to have been bewitched by certain women and a hysterical "witch hunt" ensued, leading to the lynching in 1692 of twenty individuals, nineteen of whom were hanged and one whom was pressed to death
b. Larger-scale witchcraft persecutions were then common in Europe and several outbreaks had already flared forth in the colonies but the reign of horror in Salem grew not only from the superstitions of the age but also from the unsettled social and religious conditions
c. Most of the accused witches were associated with Salem's prosperous merchant elite; their accusers came largely form the ranks of the poorer families in Salem's agricultural hinterland
d. This episode reflected the widening social stratification of New England, as well as the anxieties of many religious traditionalists that Puritan heritage was being eclipsed by Yankee commercialism
It is easy not to pay attention to this from a progressive-institutional point of view. But on a massive behavioral scale, the value of education is its competitive edge rather than rational competency. Armchair progressives should better start paying attention to this.
Intellect is generally a higher status characteristic for humans. How else did our outsized brains evolve? The modern society and universal education messed up this linkage somewhat. But with glorious times of swift progress and ample resources apparently ending, the future is with masses that do not particularly value education (especially knowing the recent screw-up in high education). People, especially men, will rather look for narrow mastery than broad education. And they will be comfortable with selection by inequality.
Now there were plenty of workers available. They needed to earn shillings to pay the hut tax. And, best of all, actually paying the workers with actual coins was optional. The plantation owners could just report that the required work had been performed for each family that provided so much labor. (End of Mosler's example.) Of course they could also establish a colonial store that carried items the natives wanted which English manufacturers made and pay the natives more than just that required for the hut tax, which they could then use at the colonial store. And they could also offer to but things the natives could obtain by hunting or foraging such as ivory, feathers and furs.
This would offer a clear example of how money can be made to work and how power relationships operate. But it would likely be a bit too clear for many parents in the community. Damned Communist teacher! "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by Frank Schnittger - Jan 14 47 comments
by gmoke - Jan 22
by Oui - Jan 10 60 comments
by Oui - Jan 21 10 comments
by IdiotSavant - Jan 15 20 comments
by Oui - Jan 20 47 comments
by Oui - Jan 20 5 comments
by Oui - Jan 16 8 comments
by Oui - Jan 23
by Oui - Jan 2110 comments
by Oui - Jan 2047 comments
by Oui - Jan 205 comments
by Oui - Jan 172 comments
by Oui - Jan 168 comments
by gmoke - Jan 16
by IdiotSavant - Jan 1520 comments
by Oui - Jan 1434 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Jan 1447 comments
by Oui - Jan 1389 comments
by Oui - Jan 1177 comments
by Oui - Jan 1060 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Jan 877 comments
by Oui - Jan 772 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Jan 710 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Jan 668 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Jan 611 comments
by Oui - Jan 659 comments