Colonial Ways of Life

Population Growth

The increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group

Women in the Colonies

The role for women in the colonies was the same as traditional gender roles. During the settling of the colonies, they did the same work as men when it came to building and planting crops. There were differences between Northern and Southern colonies. In the North, they adhered to strict religious rules. In the South, women ran the household, dealing with servants and slaves.

Middle Colonies

A middle region of America consisting of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Southern Colonies

A Southern region of America consisting of Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia.

Witchcraft Trials

In Salem from February 1692 to May 1693, the Witchcraft Trials took place. It was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. They started when a 9-year-old girls started expressing “supernatural” symptoms. Three women were accused of witchcraft, marking the start of the trial. 19 people were sent to execution (14 women and 5 men), however there was a death toll of 20 because 1 woman died during torture. 2 dogs also died.

Backcountry

Rural areas which were rarely inhabited; the wilderness.

Immigration

The act of moving from one country to another with the goal of permanently residing in the new country. Most people immigrate to escape harsh conditions/asylum and for better opportunities.

Nativism

A political ideology. Set in place to protect the interests of native-born citizens against immigrants.

Race codes/Slave code

Any set of rules made on the basis that enslaved people were property and not people.

Slave Resistance

There were many forms of slave resistance. The most common of which was fleeing. However some also feigned illness, worked slowly, produced shoddy work, and misplaced or damaged tools and equipment.

Stono Rebellion

A slave revolt that took place on September 9, 1739 in the colony of South Carolina. It was the largest and most significant save revolt in the colonies. Men and women alike marched down a road, people joining the party as it moved along. The rebellion started when 20 enslaved black people walked into a guns and ammo shop, armed themselves, and killed the tow shopkeepers. They walked, killing the white inhabitants of the next 6 or so housed they cam across. One managed to escape and went to warn others. In a total they killed 20-25 white people. Around 4, somewhere between 20-100 white people attacked the group. The black people fired two shots. The white people returned fire, killing 14 of them.

Enlightenment

A time for new ideas. The Enlightenment was a time where people, mainly philosophers, started to question. They questioned authority and planted seed for revolution.

John Locke

John Locke is mainly known for his thoughts on the social contract. He thought that if a government was corrupt, the people had the right to overthrow and replace it. He also though that the natural rights to life were life, liberty, and the pursuit of property.

Deism

The belief that a divine power set in motion natural laws. They thought that these laws could best be deciphered scientifically rather than Biblically.

Benjamin Franklin

A founding father. He was a polymath and the only founding father to sign all three documents that freed America from Britain.

Thomas Jefferson

A founding father and the third president of the United States. He wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Great Awakening

A religious revival in the colonies from the 1730s-40s. New Ideas, such as “all people are equal in the eyes of God,” spread through the colonies. These new ideas strengthened the principles of liberty, equality, and self-reliance. By the 1770s, colonists valued the ideals of the Great Awakening, helping pave the way for the American Revolution.

George Whitefield

He was a cleric and evangelist and a founder in the methodist movement. He was the most popular preacher during the Great Awakening. He sparked spiritual revolution and laid the foundation for modern-day Christianity in America.