Colonial America, Mercantilism, Awakening, and Imperial Conflict

These flashcards cover key terms, definitions, and concepts related to Colonial America, Mercantilism, religious awakenings, and imperial conflicts.

Mercantilism

An economic theory stating that colonies existed to enrich the mother country by supplying raw materials and serving as markets for manufactured goods, in exchange for military protection.

First Great Awakening

A widespread 1730s–1740s religious revival that emphasized emotional preaching, personal religious experience, and questioning traditional church authority.

French and Indian War

A conflict (1754–1763) between Great Britain/colonists and France/their Native allies over imperial influence in North America.

Salutary Neglect

A British policy allowing colonists to self-govern because enforcing trade laws was costly.

Join, or Die

Political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin urging colonial unity.

Enlightenment

Intellectual movement promoting reason, science, and protection of individual rights.

Navigation Acts

British laws restricting colonial trade to benefit Britain.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Ended the French and Indian War; Britain gained French lands east of the Mississippi River and Spanish Florida.

George Whitefield

Traveling minister who preached emotional outdoor sermons during the First Great Awakening.

Proclamation Line of 1763

Boundary forbidding colonists to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Growing Tensions

Refers to the period of conflict after 1763 when Britain limited western expansion and enforced new taxes on colonists.

Cost of War

Refers to the impact of the French and Indian War including British war debt, policy shifts, and taxations that violated colonial social contracts.

Enlightenment vs. First Great Awakening

Comparative analysis of the intellectual versus religious challenges to authority and their influence on colonial individualism.