Chapter 5 - Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution, 1700-1775

Question 1

Thirteen Original Colonies

Answer 1

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)

Question 2

Paxton Boys

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

Regulator Movement

Answer 3

Early violent uprising against the Eastern “establishment” control of colonial affairs. Included a young Andrew Jackson.

Question 4

Social Mobility

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

Smallpox

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

Triangular Trade

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Naval Stores

Answer 7

Goods used to make boats, including pitch, lumber, tar, rosin, and turpentine. This was one of our first major exports from the Northern colonies.

Question 8

Molasses Act

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Taverns

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Established Church

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

Anglicans

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Congregationalists

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

Jonathan Edwards

Answer 13

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.”

Question 14

The First Great Awakening (1739-1744)

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

George Whitefield

Answer 15

Credited with starting the Great Awakening, also a leader of the “New Lights.”

Question 16

Old Lights

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

New Lights

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Benjamin Franklin

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

John Peter Zenger

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Royal Colonies

Answer 20

Royal (or crown) colonies were formed by the king, so the government had total control over them.

Question 21

Proprietary Colonies

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Charter Colonies

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Colonial Assemblies

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Power of the Purse

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

Town Meetings

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

Property Qualifications

Answer 26

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.