APUSH: Chapter 5-Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution

wealthy gentry

a close- knit society who wore fine clothes and lived in lavish luxury, maintained a close social circle.

Royal colonies

governors salary paid by the legislature.

Zenger Case

paved the way for newspapers to print the truth about public officials.

Almanac

a book containing calendars, weather, advice, and humorous stories.

George Whitfield

an English preacher who spread Gods word throughout the colonies. His emotional and passionate speeches inspired people to become religious and even go through conversions. He was the leader of the Great Awakening.

John Peter Zenger

a newspaper printer who printed an article that reflected negatively on the royal governor. He was put on trial for libel for this, but the jury decided he was not guilty. This ruling set a precedent for freedom of the press in the colonies.

Jonathan Edwards

a brilliant priest who inspired the Great Awakening. He believed in predestination and used emotional images to scare people away from hell and back to the church.

Great Awakening

a religious revival movement that inspired many Americans to grow in their religion. Pastors, led by George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards, took a very emotional approach to sermons, even describing the depths of hell. However, this movement divided the people into old lights and new lights. Most notably, it inspired missionaries, colleges, and American unity in the colonies.

Molasses Act

an attempt from the British government to stop colonial trade with the French West Indies. However, this attempt was not successful because traders continued to trade by smuggling goods to the West Indies around the law. The act put a tax on imported molasses.

Old lights

were typically orthodox clergymen who did not believe in the new, emotional approach to religion inspired by the Great Awakening. They preferred a rational approach to spirituality.

New lights

were people who appreciated the emotional revival to religion by the Great Awakening. These people took part in the revival movement and liked the emotional approach to spirituality.

Scots-Irish

were Scottish Presbyterians who had originally moved to Ireland, but they were hated there. They then moved to North America and settled just east of the Appalachians from Pennsylvania to Georgia, called the “great wagon road.” They also brought Scottish culture and a dislike for the British government. Rebellious groups, like the Paxton Boys and the Regulator movement, were made up of Scots-Irish, including future president Andrew Jackson.

Triangular trade

was a three-way system that traded rum, slaves, and molasses between New England, Africa, and the West Indies. A skipper would bring rum to the West Indies and exchange it for slaves. Then, he would bring the slaves to the West Indies and trade them for molasses. Finally, he would bring the molasses to New England where it would be distilled into rum and the process would continue. 

middle class

lived in urban areas and boasted numerous skilled artisans and craftsmen

bicameral

two-house legislature, with the lower house elected by the people.

Good works & Free will

these two theories challenged the Calvinist theory of predestination, thus spawning the Great Awakening.

lay liberalism and clerical intellectualism

ideas most responsible for the changes of the Great Awakening.

salutary neglect

a period of time when Britain stayed out of American affairs and allowed the colonies to essentially rule themselves

Coureurs de bois

french fur trappers in the North American wilderness who hunted the beaver to near extinction.

Mississippi

Control of this river allowed French trade access to the massive interior of the continent