Colonial Growth 1690 - 1754 Flashcards
During the 16th and 17th centuries British North America continued to expand, developing its own economy and political institutions. This deck covers the early period of the American colonies.
How did enslaved peoples resist their condition?
Enslaved people would often:
- Slow down the pace of work
- Pretend to be sick
- Purposefully lose their tools
All of this was intended to reduce the inefficiency of the plantation, an effort to regain some of their own autonomy and independence, however minimal.
What was a problem that southern colonies like South Carolina experienced?
They had disproportionate numbers of enslaved peoples in their colony’s population, so much so that it posed a security risk to the white people of the colony.
For instance, in South Carolina, by 1740, Black enslaved peoples outnumbered whites by a 2 to 1 ratio.
Explain what the Security Act was.
In response to being outnumbered by enslaved people 2 to 1, South Carolina’s colonial government passed the Security Act, which required all white men to carry firearms to church each Sunday.
This law, which was intended to prevent rebellion, was passed in August of 1739 but would not take effect until September 29, 1739.
What was the Stono Rebellion?
On Sunday, September 9, 1739, 20 enslaved people got together near the Stono River to start a rebellion. They went into a store to get guns but in the process killed the gunshop owner and some of the workers who resisted. At their greatest, they numbered 100 freedmen.
Once armed, they went to several plantations:
- Freeing people from their enslavement
- Killing enslavers who had been cruel
- Sparing the ones who had been kind
What was the Halfway Covenant?
As the children of Puritans increasingly displayed more concern with making money than with creating a god-fearing society, some Puritans established the Halfway Covenant, which allowed for a more limited church membership with minimal Puritan restrictions.
The establishment of the Halfway Covenant represented an end to the Puritans’ near-monopoly on religious worship in the New England colonies. In part, the decline of the Puritan churches paved the way for the Great Awakening.
What was the Great Awakening?
The Great Awakening was a religious revival that lasted from the 1720s to the 1740s.
Led by speakers such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards, preaching during the Great Awakening focused on an individual’s personal religious experience, and declared that all men were equal before God.
How did the Great Awakening impact the American Revolution?
The Great Awakening revivalists claimed that all men were equal before God. This egalitarian principle led many to question the monarchy and to espouse democracy.
In addition, the Great Awakening revivals took place throughout the American colonies, providing a shared, unifying experience.
What was the effect of the Great Awakening on American religion?
The Great Awakening led to splits among American religious groups between the Old Lights and the New Lights.
Several Christian groups, including Presbyterians and Methodists, formed their own congregations.
During and after the Great Awakening, the American religious community was divided between “Old Lights” and “New Lights.” What was the difference between the two?
- Old Lights rejected the Great Awakening, preferring more staid and formalistic religious preaching, while the New Lights were more evangelical and embraced the principle of joy in one’s relationship with God.
- The New Lights believed that man himself could talk directly to God, without the intervention of a priest or pastor.
What was the purpose of the earliest American universities?
Most universities existed to train candidates for the ministry.
Harvard (1636), William and Mary (1694), and Yale (1701) were the first three American universities. During the Great Awakening, Princeton, Columbia, Rutgers, Brown, and Dartmouth Universities were founded as “New Light” colleges.
Who is George Whitefield?
He was a popular Great Awakening minister in the 13 colonies and in England and called on people to start a personal relationship with God, as well as causing many people to feel moral guilt.
As a result of his work through his powerful sermons, he spread the ideas of the First Great Awakening.
Complete the sentence
The European intellectual movement known as the __________ emphasized rationalism.
Enlightenment
Instead of explaining human problems through religion, rationalism was a belief that all problems could be solved through deductive reasoning and scientific inquiry.
Explain how the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening are similar.
Although the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening are two ideologically different events, one espousing rationalism while the other embracing religion, they both questioned authority.
This was because enlightenment philosophers like John Locke claimed that a government’s power comes from the people, not a King, and not from God. Meanwhile, religious leaders like Jonathan Edwards claimed that we were all sinners in the hands of an angry God. To Edwards, and other people who were swept up during the Great Awakening, even the King was a sinner, capable of doing sinful things, since we were all equal in God’s eyes.
Explain Deism.
Deism is the belief that a god exists, but that he chooses not to intervene in actions or events in the universe.
For example, deists don’t pray, since they believe that God will not intervene in actions or events in the universe.
Who was John Locke?
John Locke was an English Enlightenment thinker.
He theorized that although the government was supreme, it was required to follow certain natural laws; rights to which all human beings were entitled, simply by virtue of their humanity. Any infringement of these rights justified the overthrow of that government.
Ironically enough, John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers developed these radical new ideas on freedom while at the same time their countries were aggressively enslaving tens of thousands of people per year in Africa for enslaved labor in the Americas.
Define:
Natural law.
First expounded by John Locke, the principle of natural law claimed that merely by his existence, man was endowed with rights which could not be taken or abridged by government.
Natural law’s principles provided a justification for the American Revolution, and were listed in the Declaration of Independence. (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”)
Who was the most famous American Enlightenment figure?
Benjamin Franklin
Admired on both sides of the Atlantic, Franklin invented bifocals and a centralized stove, experimented with electricity, published an influential newspaper, and wrote the famous Poor Richard’s Almanack, as well as numerous essays, including Fart Proudly.
Franklin was also one of the founders of the University of Pennsylvania, the first secular university in the colonies.
What was the Albany Plan of Union?
The Albany Plan of Union was proposed by Benjamin Franklin. Seven colonies sent representatives to Albany in 1754, with the intention of organizing resistance to attacks by the Iroquois Confederacy.
Although Franklin’s call for an intercolonial government with the power to raise taxes for common defense was rejected by the seven colonial legislatures, it marked the first attempt to organize the colonies.
What was the significance of the Zenger trial?
The Zenger trial is historical evidence that ideas regarding freedom of the press were present in the USA, even before it officially became a country.
John Peter Zenger was a newspaper publisher who printed statements critical of New York’s governor in 1734. Libel law provided that one who published critical statements could be jailed, regardless of whether the statements were true. Despite this law’s existence, a jury found Zenger innocent.
Between 1700 and 1750, the population in the American colonies increased from 250,000 to 1,250,000. From where did most immigrants arrive?
Although many immigrants still came from England, a significant portion of the population was Scottish, German, or Scotch-Irish (settlers who’d been removed from Ireland back to Scotland in the 16th century).
The black population also rose, and by 1750 numbered 200,000.
How was voting limited in the American colonies?
- Women and Blacks were completely barred from voting.
- White males were restricted from voting unless they owned property.
- Almost all candidates for public office came from the upper levels of society.
- Power was restricted to a privileged few.
Despite these restrictions, life in the American colonies was more democratic than in Europe.
How was local government in the North different from that of the South?
In the North, farms were smaller and closer to towns. Thus, the common form of government was the town meeting, which resolved public issues by a direct vote.
In the South, farms and plantations were far from one another, and government was usually established in the form of an elected sheriff and officials who would serve a wide area.
What percentage of the population lived in rural areas in 1750?
90 percent.
Approximately 90% of the 13 colonies’ population was rural with people living on small farms. In the North, poor soil conditions for growing crops meant that most farmers lived in poverty. In the South, many poorer farms owned no slaves, but larger plantations used enslaved peoples to farm cash crops, such as tobacco, rice, and indigo.
What was the experience of women in the American colonies?
Women in the American colonies had few legal rights; most women could not own property and could not vote. Some 50% of colonial women died in childbirth.
In the South especially, marriage was looked upon as a business transaction; a woman’s father was approached regarding marriage and the woman (often as young as age 14) was rarely consulted.
