US History - Chapters 2 & 3 Flashcards
1
Q
The Virginia Colony (background)
A
- King James I chartered the Virginia Company that founded the first permanent English settlement in North America: Jamestown
- Despite having tobacco as a cash crop, the population of Jamestown had decreased dramatically and the Virginia Company was heavily in debt
- King James I revoked the Virginia Company’s charter of the colony and made it the 1st royal colony, known as Virginia
2
Q
Tobacco in Virginia
A
- Cash crop for the colony
- Problems with tobacco:
- Destroys land
- Colonists kept moving westward
- Demand for labor increased
3
Q
Bacon’s Rebellion
A
- Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, favored wealthy planters and antagonized small farmers because he failed to protect them from Native American attacks
- 1676: Nathanial Bacon, an impoverished farmer, gathered an army and led a series of raids and massacres against Native American villages
- Bacon’s army defeated the governor’s forces and burned Jamestown
4
Q
Impact of Bacon’s Rebellion
A
- Showcased the stark class differences between wealthy planters and impoverished farmers
- Highlighted colonial resistance to royal control
- These problems would persist into the next century
5
Q
Plymouth (background)
A
- Settled by Pilgrims, or Separatists
- King forced all English citizens to be a part of the Church of England
- Pilgrims felt that they had to share their church with the “damned”
- Believed in a total break from the Church of England
- William Bradford: Leader of the Plymouth colony
6
Q
Massachusetts Bay Colony (background)
A
- Settled by Puritans
- Led by John Winthrop
- Believed in predestination
- Wanted total reform, or to purify, the Church of England
- Turmoil in England (leading to the English Civil War) sent 70,000 Puritans to America
7
Q
The Great Awakening (causes/characterisitics)
A
- Change in religion - strongest 1730s-1740s
- Emotional sermons
- Met outdoors
- Countered Enlightenment rationalism
8
Q
The Great Awakening Ideas
A
- Predestination: Salvation by faith and not by good works (Calvinistic)
- Stressed:
- Corrupt human nature
- Divine fury
- Need to repent and convert
9
Q
Jonathan Edwards
A
- Influenced New England
- One notable sermon - Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
- Argued that God was rightfully angry with human sinfulness
- Individuals who gave penance for their sins could be saved - those who didn’t would suffer eternal damnation
10
Q
George Whitefield
A
- British preacher who travelled across the colonies
- Attracted large audiences
- Emotional sermons
- God would save only those who openly professed belief in Jesus Christ - those who didn’t would be damned to hell
- Taught that ordinary people with faith and sincerity could understand the gospels and did not need to go to church in order to be saved
11
Q
Impacts of the Great Awakening
A
- Decline in influence of older sects - split American Protestant faith
- Stimulated the founding of new colleges
- Drew many African Americans and Native Americans to the Protestant faith for the first time
- Fostered greater religious tolerance
- Challenged clergy - untutored ministers could preach
- Emotionalism became apart of Protestant services
- Democratizing effects by changing the way people viewed authority
12
Q
The Zenger case
A
- 1735: NY editor John Peter Zenger was tried on a charge of libelously criticizing NY’s royal governor
- English common law stated that injuring a governor’s reputation was considered a criminal act, even if the statement was true
- Outcome: The jury voted to acquit Zenger
- Did not guarantee complete freedom of the press but encouraged the press to take risks when writing and to criticize a colony’s government
13
Q
John Locke and Thomas Hobbes
A
- Hobbes argued that humans were naturally bad and could only be controlled by an absolute monarchy
- Locke argued that humans are naturally good and have natural rights, which governments are instituted to protect. People also have the right to overthrow the government if it violates their natural rights
14
Q
Aspects of the Enlightenment
A
- Natural rights: Government must protect citizens’ right to “life, liberty and property”
- Consent of the governed: Government is only instituted when the people consent
- Limited government: Government limited by a body of laws and system of checks and balances
- Right to revolt: Right to overthrow the government if it does not protect the natural rights of the citizens
- All aspects are found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
15
Q
New England’s economy
A
- Subsistence farming: Planting crops for yourself and your family
- Ship building
- Fishing
- Trading
- Rum-distilling
