Chapters 4-5: Colonial Society and the French and Indian War Flashcards
What was the significance of the colonial population boom?
It led to a shift in the balance of political and military power away from Britain and toward America.
What was the ratio of Britons to Americans in 1700?
What was the ratio in 1775?
20: 1
3: 1
Between the years of 1700 and 1775, the population in the thirteen colonies increased of ____%, from _______ to ________.
800%
300,000
2,500,000
What caused the colonial population boom from 1700 to 1775?
Immigration and the practice of having large families
What was the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason?
A period in which reason and observation of nature began to replace revelation, reliance on tradition or traditional authority, and inward illumination as the dominant means of acquiring knowledge and understanding the world.
What were the four effects of the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason?
- RESISTANCE
European Enlightenment thinkers, especially John Locke, encouraged colonists to consider resistance to British control. - SOCIAL MOBILITY
European Enlightenment ideas inspired many American political thinkers to emphasize individual talent over hereditary privilege, thus promoting more social mobility in America. - DEISM
In religion, the ideas of the Enlightenment promoted deism, a variety of Christianity that holds that God exists, that He created the universe, but does not intervene in the affairs of humankind. It was an effort to reconcile the existence of God with newly surfacing scientific discoveries and belief in the existence of free will. - REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD
Enlightenment ideas were also one source of republican motherhood, which called on women to teach republican values within the family and granted women a new importance in American society.
Resistance, Social mobility, Deism, Republican motherhood
RSDR
Rested Scientists Design Robots
What was Anglicization?
The process of the American colonies gradually adopting more British values and customs over time.
What were three examples of Anglicization?
- Colonial Governments - Governor instead of king, an upper house or council instead of the House of Lords, and a lower house or assembly instead of the House of Commons
- Frequent contact with Britain through newspapers and books sent by England to the colonies - spread British ideas
- Protestant Evangelicalism - Geore Whitefield, John Wesley, and others from England traveled across to colonies to spread religious ideas
Who were the Paxton Boys?
Scots-Irish immigrants were noted for their violent conflicts with Native Americans over control of land. In Paxton, Pennsylvania, the Scots-Irish community felt its requests for aid against the Indians were being ignored by colonial legislators, many of whom were Quakers and pacifists.
Explain the conflict that the Paxton Boys caused and how it was resolved.
1763
When a group from Paxton responded to Indian conflicts by killing a tribe of peaceful Indians, the governor issued warrants for their arrest and offered protection to a group of Christianized Indians.
Angered that the government would side with Native Americans, the Paxton Boys marched on the capital. Benjamin Franklin and others were able to arrange a peaceful meeting between officials and the Paxton boys, allowing the frontiersmen to air their grievances.
What was the significance of the Paxton Boys conflict?
It was one of a series of conflicts between the colonial elite to the east and the poorer settlers on the western frontier.
What was the largest colonial group?
What was their significance?
Yeoman farmers - individuals who owned their own land, but who owned no slaves and could not afford to hire farm hands.
Jefferson argued that this group of independent farmers formed the basis for democracy.
What percentage of colonial society did slaves make up in 1750?
20%
What were the colonial motivations for banning the international slave trade?
Concerns over slave rebellions and the injustice of slavery
How did British authorities respond to the colonies’ request to ban the slave trade?
King George III blocked the colonial efforts to end it due to the mercantilist mindset.
Explain the Triangle Trade.
A Skipper would leave New England with rum.
It would go to Africa and trade the rum for slaves.
Then it would sail to the West Indies and trade the slaves for sugar and molasses.
This would go back to New England to be distilled into rum.
Define established churches.
Official state churches supported by tax dollars
What was the established church in New England?
The Puritan Church
What was the established church in the southern colonies and the New York City area?
The Anglican Church (Church of England)
What made the bonds between the Anglicans in America and the King of England weak?
The Anglican Church in the colonies had no bishop, so prospective ministers had to travel to England to be ordained.
American ministers had to report to and be guided by their superiors in England, but distance made that difficult. American Anglican clergymen found that wealthy planters (who paid their salaries) expected the ministers to be controlled by the planters instead of the Church in Britain.
By 1672 more than 90% of Virginia parishes lacked ordained clergymen.
The services (according to English critics) were very informal and omitted parts of the service.
Why did the Anglican Church not establish an American bishop?
The colonies resisted this as an extension of kingly authority.
When was William and Mary established and who did it train?
1693
Anglican ministers
When was Harvard established and who did it teach?
1636
Puritan ministers
Which state was the last to strip tax support from the official church? When did this state do this?
Massachusetts in 1833
Who was Jonathan Edwards?
Congregationalist minister who set off a religious revival known as the First Great Awakening in 1734
He proclaimed the folly of believing in salvation through good works and affirmed the need for complete dependence on God’s grace.
What was the First Great Awakening and when did it take place?
A religious revival
1734-1740s
Which sermon was Jonathan Edwards most famous for?
“Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”
Who was George Whitefield?
A powerful preacher and the other leading figure of the Great Awakening
Relied on emotional appeals and effective oratory to convert sinners
Listeners often cried out, rolled on the ground, and fainted as he described the terrors of hell.
What was the significance of the First Great Awakening?
It was the first mass movement of the American people.
It broke down sectional boundaries and denominational lines, creating greater religious diversity.
It contributed to a growing sense of Americans as a single people. It called on people to decide things on their individual consciences rather than on the authority of the powerful.
Step towards the American Revolution!
What were Old Lights?
Orthodox clergymen who were deeply skeptical of the emotionalism and theatrical antics of the Great Awakening revivalists
What were New Lights?
Ministers who defended the Great Awakening for its role in revitalizing American religion
Who was John Peter Zenger?
A newspaper publisher who criticized the corrupt governor of New York and was charged with seditious libel
Who defended John Peter Zenger when he was in trial?
Andrew (not Alexander) Hamilton
What event established the doctrine of freedom of the press?
The trial of John Peter Zenger. Since what he published was true, Andrew Hamilton argued that he should not be punished and the jury acquitted him.
Explain the structure of colonial government.
Governor - appointed by king or proprietor
Council - made up of colonial elite, appointed by governor
Lower house or assembly - elected by merchants and farmers and landowners
Whom did the council favor in decision-making?
The Governor
Whom did the lower house favor in decision-making?
Merchants and farmers
