United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
The judicial system was very similar to that which obtained elsewhere in
America. In each province was an upper court, consisting of a chief justice
and associates, appointed by the governor; from this an appeal might go in
important cases to the governor and council, and in causes involving £200
or over, to the king in council. Below the upper court was a regular series
of courts, ranging down to the local justices of the peace. Justice was
cheap, and court practice simple. In New York, the quality of both bench
and bar was inferior, and remained so down to the Revolution; the judges
had often no legal training, and the law was not recognized as a
profession. In Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania men of ability and
character were engaged on the bench and at the bar, and their calling won
universal respect. Penn brought out two physicians with him, and in the
Quaker colonies the art of medicine had from the first an honorable
standing; but in New York physicians were not licensed until 1760. In all
four colonies the clergymen for the most part were zealous, upright men, of
learning and ability, and took high social rank.
Sidenote: Agriculture and manufacturing.
Except in New York, where trade was equally important, agriculture was the
chief industry; but as the soil was fertile and the average farmer
consequently careless, farming was, except among the painstaking Quakers of
Pennsylvania, in a low condition. The principal crop was wheat, although
there was much variety in farm products, and New Jersey raised large herds
of cattle on her broad lowland meadows. There were many small manufactures
for domestic use, the most important being among the Germans of Germantown,
who made, in a small way, paper and glass, and also some varieties of knit
goods and coarse cloths; the spinning-wheel was a familiar household
machine, for homespun was much worn by all except the rich. But the bulk of
manufactured goods was imported from England and the continent of Europe.
Little picturesque windmills, with broad canvas sails, after the Dutch
fashion, were numerous. Many of the Maryland and Virginia colonists came
long distances to patronize the Pennsylvania mills. It was not until 1720
than an iron furnace was erected in the latter province,--the first in the
middle group of colonies.
Sidenote: Trade and commerce.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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