APUSH Society and Culture in Provincial America

“seasoning”

a term in southern colonial America that referred to settlers becoming increasingly immune to local diseases, allowing for more population growth

humoralism

a medical theory by Galen that was popular among midwives and doctors in early America; argued that the human body consisted of four humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile, and that an imbalance among these humors would affect health

coffles

groups of enslaved people chained together for transport; captured by native African cheiftans during battle and sold in slave marts on the African coast

Middle Passage

the brutal sea journey undertaken by enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas, characterized by severe overcrowding, inhumane conditions, and high mortality rates

Royal African Company of England

a group that maintained a monopoly on the slave trade between Africa and the American colonies, keeping prices high an supplies low; this monopoly was broken in the mid-1690s

slave codes

laws that defined the status of enslaved people and the rights of masters, establishing a legal framework for slavery in the colonies

Huguenots

French Calvinists who began immigrating to the Americas in the late 17th century to escape religious persecution following the revoking of the Edict of Nantes

Louis XIV

the “Sun King”; wars with this king of France led some Germans (particularly in the Rhineland), Protestants and Catholics alike, to seek refuge in England, some going further to the Americas

Pennsylvania Dutch

a term used to describe German refugees fleeing primarily to Pennsylvania as a result of wars with King Louis XIV

Ulster colonists

Scots-Irish immigrants who embarked for America as their leases in Ireland expired and as the English began to increasingly impose Anglican beliefs on them over their Presbyterian ones; ruthlessly displaced native American populations

Scottish Highlanders

a group of immigrants from Scotland, some Roman Catholics who had been defeated in rebellions, who immigrated primarily to North Carolina

Presbyterian Lowlanders

a group of Scottish immigrants who practiced Presbyterianism; faced with high rents and unemployment in Scotland; became significant influences in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Eliza Lucas

a young Antiguan woman who managed her family’s North American plantations; experimented with cultivating the West Indian plant of indigo on the mainland; could grow on the high ground of South Carolina, which was unsuitable for rice planting

Saugus, Massachusetts

a colonial settlement in which iron ore was discovered, leading to the establishment of one of the first ironworks in North America; was not able to keep itself afloat financially

Peter Hasenclever

a German ironmaster who established the first large-scale ironworks in America, located in northern New Jersey, and played a crucial role in the colonial iron industry

specie

money in the form of coins, especially gold and silver, used as currency for trade; lacked in the English American colonies

tobacco certificates

Documents that represented the value of tobacco crops, used as a form of currency or payment in colonial America

property certificates

Documents that served as proof of ownership of land or property, often utilized in colonial American transactions

consumerism

the association of material possessions with social status; became prominent in colonial America as prosperity and commercialism grew and class division increased; also came from the early stages of the industrial revolution

Gullah

a hybrid of English and African tongues that developed in South Carolina among enslaved Africans, allowing them to communicate and retain cultural identity

Stono Rebellion

a 1739 slave uprising in South Carolina in which enslaved Africans rose up, killed several whites, and attempted to escape to Florida; the resistance was soon crushed

common

a central pasture around which houses and a meetinghouse were arranged in a typical Puritan New England village

town meeting

an annual gathering where residents of a Puritan New England town would meet to decide on important questions and to choose a group of “selectmen”

selectmen

elected officials in New England towns responsible for local governance and decision-making

visible saints

individuals in Puritan belief considered to be saved and bound for heaven, whose behavior reflects their faith; these were the only individuals admitted into full membership of the Puritan church

halfway covenant

a form of partial church membership in the Puritan belief for those who had not experienced “conversion”

primogeniture

the passing of inherited property through the firstborn son; did not take root in New England, as fathers instead divided property among their sons

Dutch Reformed

a Calvinist denomination established by Dutch settlers in New York and New Jersey

American Baptists

a Protestant denomination that emphasizes believer's baptism and the autonomy of local congregations, rooted in the teachings of Roger Williams

jeremiads

religious sermons on the Sabbath prominent in 1660s New England where the Puritan ministers preached despair, deploring signs of waning piety

John and Charles Wesley

founders of Methodism, known for their hymns and evangelistic work during the Great Awakening; spread these ideas to Georgia and other colonies in the 1730s

Methodism

a Christian movement that originated in the 18th century (Great Awakening), emphasizing personal faith, social justice, and a structured approach to worship; founded by John and Charles Wesley

George Whitefield

an influential evangelist during the Great Awakening known for his charismatic preaching and ability to attract large crowds; co-founded Methodism and worked alongside John and Charles Wesley for a time

Jonathan Edwards

a prominent New England Congregationalist preacher of the Great Awakening from Northampton, Massachusetts; deeply orthodox Puritan and highly original theologian; attacked doctrines of easy salvation for all, instead promoting traditional Puritan beliefs of the absolute sovereignty of God, predestination, and salvation by God’s grace alone

New Light

a term to refer to congregations that embraced the revivalist spirit of the Great Awakening, contrasting with traditional practices and beliefs

Old Light

a term to refer to congregations that resisted the emotionalism of the Great Awakening, preferring established traditions and formal worship practices

Francis Bacon

an English philosopher and statesman, known for developing the scientific method and advocating for empirical research and experimentation

dame schools

schools consisting of teaching from widows or unmarried women to young children in a home setting, emphasizing basic literacy and domestic skills

almanacs

the first widely circulated publications in America other than the Bible; they provided information on calendars, weather, farming tips, and other common interests

Harvard

The first American college; founded by the General Court of Massachusetts as a place for Puritan ministers to be trained

William and Mary College

The second oldest institution of higher education in the colonies, founded in 1693 in Williamsburg, Virginia, intended to train leaders in the Church of England

Yale

The third oldest college in America, founded in 1701 in New Haven, Connecticut, originally intended to train ministers and promote scholarship; arose from dissatisfaction with what conservative Congregationalists saw as increasing religious liberalism at Harvard

College of New Jersey (Princeton University)

a college in colonial America that arose from the Great Awakening, one of its first presidents being Jonathan Edwards

King’s College (Columbia University)

a college founded in New York which was devoted to the spread of secular knowledge, having no theological faculty and was interdenominational from the start

The Academy and College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania)

a colonial American college founded by laypeople under the inspiration of Benjamin Franklin and was a completely secular institution that focused on utilitarian subjects and liberal arts; became the site of the first medical school in British America

Royal Society of London

a prestigious scientific organization founded in 1660 that promoted the advancement of natural knowledge through experiments and observations, influencing the development of modern science

Benjamin Franklin

a leading founding father, inventor, and writer known for his contributions to the Enlightenment, his role in the American Revolution, and his advocacy for civic improvement and education; won international fame through his experimental proof of the nature of lightning and electricity

Cotton Mather

a Puritan theologian who reportedly heard from his own slave the practice of purposefully infecting people with mild cases of smallpox to immunize them; urged inoculation on fellow Bostonians during an epidemic in the 1720s, although he believed smallpox a punishment for sin