Chapter 5 - Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution, 1700-1775 Flashcards
Thirteen Original Colonies
Virginia/Jamestown (1607), Massachusetts (1620), New Hampshire (1623), Maryland (1632-1634), Connecticut (1636), Rhode Island (1636), Delaware (1638), North Carolina (1663), South Carolina (1663), New York (1664), New Jersey (1665), Pennsylvania (1681), Georgia (1732)
Paxton Boys
A mob of Pennsylvania frontiersmen led by the Paxtons who massacred a group of non-hostile Indians. Eventually marched on Philadelphia to protest the government’s leniency toward the natives.
Regulator Movement
Early violent uprising against the Eastern “establishment” control of colonial affairs. Included a young Andrew Jackson.
Social Mobility
The almost uniquely American ability for people to climb out of poverty into positions of wealth and poverty. We had no nobility, and plenty of land. This was a huge cause for early immigration from Europe.
Smallpox
European disease that affected 20% of European colonists, and was responsible for most of the native deaths from disease that killed nearly 80% of their pre-Columbian population.
Triangular Trade
The backbone of New England’s economy during the colonial period. Ships from New England sailed first to Africa, exchanging New England rum for slaves. The slaves were shipped from Africa to the Caribbean (this was known as the Middle Passage, when many slaves died on the ships). In the Caribbean, the slaves were traded for sugar and molasses. Then the ships returned to New England, where the molasses were used to make rum.
Naval Stores
Goods used to make boats, including pitch, lumber, tar, rosin, and turpentine. This was one of our first major exports from the Northern colonies.
Molasses Act
British legislation which taxed all molasses, rum, and sugar which the colonies imported from countries other than Britain and her colonies. The act angered the New England colonies, which imported a lot of molasses from the Caribbean as part of the Triangular Trade. The British had difficulty enforcing the tax; most colonial merchants ignored it.
Taverns
Served as meeting places in early colonial society, especially in the northern urban areas like Boston and Philadelphia. Taverns served as areas for political agitators to meet and discuss ideas of liberty and freedom, as well as a clearinghouse for the news of the day. Samuel Adams’ famous tavern was the Green Dragon in Boston.
Established Church
Tax supported religious denominations in the colonies. The Congregationalists (Puritans/Pilgrims) in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The Anglican (Church of England) was established in New York, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. Only New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island had no established religion.
Anglicans
Religion of England after Henry VIII split from the Catholic Church. The King of England was the head of the church, and it was the established religion in most southern colonies. Less strict in its interpretation of the Bible
Congregationalists
The name given to the group of religions based off of Puritan or Separatists ideas. They are named that because each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs. This was common in the New England colonies, and was an early example of American democracy. Fire and brimstone sermons were common.
Jonathan Edwards
Part of the Great Awakening, Edwards gave gripping sermons about sin and the torments of Hell. His most famous was “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
The First Great Awakening (1739-1744)
Puritanism had declined by the 1730s, and people were upset about the decline in religious piety. The Great Awakening was a sudden outbreak of religious fervor that swept through the colonies. One of the first events to unify the colonies.
George Whitefield
Credited with starting the Great Awakening, also a leader of the “New Lights.”
Old Lights
The “Old Lights” were the established congregational church. They were very skeptical of the new emotional and theatrical sermons given at the large gatherings of the Great Awakening.
New Lights
The “New Lights” were new religious movements formed during the Great Awakening and broke away from the congregational church in New England. They gave scathing and electrifying sermons on the waning religiosity of the colonies, and held huge camp revival meetings.
Benjamin Franklin
Printer, author, inventor, diplomat, statesman, and Founding Father. One of the few Americans who was highly respected in Europe, primarily due to his discoveries in the field of electricity.
John Peter Zenger
Zenger published articles critical of British governor William Cosby. He was taken to trial, but found not guilty. The trial set a precedent for freedom of the press in the colonies.
Royal Colonies
Royal (or crown) colonies were formed by the king, so the government had total control over them.
Proprietary Colonies
Proprietary colonies were founded by a proprietary company or individual and were controlled by the proprietor. Usually the goal of these was to make money for the investors.
Charter Colonies
Charter colonies were founded by a government charter granted to a company or a group of people, and allowed them some freedom for self regulation. The British government had some control over charter colonies.
Colonial Assemblies
Almost all colonies used a 2 house system: The upper house was appointed by the crown or proprietors, depending on the colonial type. The lower houses were usually elected by land owning males in the South, and church members in the North.
Power of the Purse
Historic right of colonial legislatures to control tax collection, and colonial finances. It could be used to force English ministers and colonial masters to comply with the wishes of the colonies by withholding funds or salaries.
Town Meetings
The preferred method of self-government in the New England colonies. All land owning males met in the town centers to discuss town wide policies. Was an early form of direct democracy that took hold in the colonies and spawned hatred when it was taken away.
Property Qualifications
In order to vote or hold office in the colonies, men were required to have certain amounts of land. This was to guard against the “rabble” taking control. Excluded upwards of half of the male population, and 100% of the women.
