Colonial History & Enlightenment: Key Events and Ideas

English Bill of Rights (1689)

Limited monarchy, strengthened Parliament, inspired colonial liberty ideas.

English Toleration Act (1690)

Allowed most Protestants to worship in Massachusetts, weakened Puritan dominance.

Salem Witch Trials (1692)

Witchcraft hysteria in Massachusetts leading to 20 executions, showed dangers of extremism.

Mestizos

People of mixed Spanish and Native ancestry in Spanish America.

Scots-Irish and German Immigrants

Major 1700s immigrant groups adding diversity, settled frontier and Pennsylvania.

Backcountry

Frontier region near Appalachians, home to poor farmers and immigrants.

Port Cities

Trade hubs like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston.

Staple Crops

Cash crops like tobacco, rice, indigo, and wheat fueling economies.

Atlantic Slave Trade

Forced transport of Africans to Americas for plantation labor.

Triangle Trade

Trade network linking colonies, Europe, and Africa with slaves and goods.

Middle Passage

Brutal voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

Largest colonial slave revolt in South Carolina, led to harsher laws.

Republicanism

Idea of citizen participation and opposition to tyranny.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker advocating natural rights and social contract.

Colonial Assemblies

Elected colonial legislatures gaining power and self-rule.

Salutary Neglect

British policy of hands-off rule if colonies stayed profitable.

Colonial Press

Newspapers spreading ideas, Zenger trial advanced free expression.

Enlightenment

Movement stressing reason, science, and progress.

Benjamin Franklin

Colonial Enlightenment figure, inventor, scientist, diplomat.

Deism

Belief in a creator God who does not intervene in daily life.

Great Awakening (1730s-40s)

Religious revival stressing emotion and personal faith.

Impacts of Great Awakening

New denominations, religious diversity, questioned authority, fueled revolutionary thought.