DE U.S. History: Colonial Society to Revolution

Consumer Revolution

A period in the 18th century marked by a dramatic increase in consumer goods available to British colonies, driven by new trade networks and global commerce.

Commodity Money

A system of exchange where goods, like tobacco or animal pelts, were used as money instead of traditional currency, particularly in early colonial economies.

Currency Acts of 1751 and 1763

British laws that restricted the colonies from issuing paper money to control inflation and ensure debts to British merchants were paid in valid currency, leading to colonial resentment.

Navigation Acts

Laws regulating colonial trade between the 1650s and 1700s, requiring goods to be shipped on English or colonial ships to benefit England from colonial commerce.

Sugar Act of 1764

An attempt by Britain to reduce smuggling and raise revenue by taxing sugar and molasses imported into the colonies, viewed by colonists as an overreach of British authority.

Proclamation of 1763

Issued after the French and Indian War, prohibiting colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains to ease tensions with Native Americans, but often ignored.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia in 1733, aiming to provide a fresh start for debtors and serve as a buffer against Spanish Florida.

Georgia

One of the thirteen colonies founded as a haven for debtors and a defensive buffer against Spanish Florida.

Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

A government framework for the Carolina colony drafted by John Locke in 1669, including provisions for a feudal system and religious tolerance.

Stono Rebellion

A 1739 slave rebellion in South Carolina, one of the earliest and largest slave uprisings in colonial America.

Patroonships

Large land grants given to wealthy Dutch settlers in New Netherland (later New York) to populate and work the land.

Provincial Colonies

Colonies governed directly by the British crown through appointed governors, such as Virginia.

Proprietary Colonies

Colonies granted by the British crown to individuals or groups with the authority to govern, like Maryland.

Charter Colonies

Colonies governed by charters agreed upon by the colony and the crown, providing a degree of autonomy, such as Massachusetts.

Colonial Assemblies

Elected bodies in the colonies representing local interests, often conflicting with royal governors over issues like taxation and militia control.

Social Contract Theory

A political theory asserting that governments derive authority from the consent of the governed and must protect natural rights, developed by philosophers like John Locke.

Coverture

A legal doctrine where a married woman's legal identity was absorbed into her husband's, limiting her property rights and legal standing.

Print Culture

The rise of printed materials like pamphlets, newspapers, and books that facilitated the spread of ideas, including revolutionary and Enlightenment thought in the colonies.

Benjamin Franklin

A Founding Father, printer, scientist, and diplomat who played a key role in drafting the Declaration of Independence and securing French support during the Revolutionary War.

Great Awakening

A religious revival movement in the 1730s and 1740s emphasizing personal faith, emotional experience, and a break from traditional church authority.

Jonathan Edwards

A leading preacher during the Great Awakening known for his sermon 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,' stressing the dangers of sin and the need for personal conversion.

George Whitefield

An influential preacher of the Great Awakening, famous for charismatic sermons challenging established religious practices.

New Lights vs. Old Lights

Terms describing divisions in colonial churches during the Great Awakening, with 'New Lights' embracing emotional revivalism and 'Old Lights' favoring traditional worship.

Seven Years' War

A global conflict (1756-1763) known in the colonies as the French and Indian War, resulting in British control of much of North America.

Annus Mirabilis

Latin for 'year of miracles,' referring to 1759 when British forces secured key victories during the Seven Years' War.

Treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg

The 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded most of France's North American territory to Britain, ending the Seven Years' War, while the Treaty of Hubertusburg concluded the European conflict.

Neolin

A Delaware prophet inspiring Native Americans to resist British rule, leading to Pontiac's War.

Pontiac's War

A Native American uprising in 1763 led by Ottawa leader Pontiac against British forts and settlements in the Great Lakes region, driven by dissatisfaction with British policies.

Albany Congress of 1754

A meeting in Albany, New York, to discuss a unified response to Native American threats and French expansion, where Benjamin Franklin proposed the rejected Albany Plan of Union.

Old Whigs vs. New Whigs

Political factions in Britain with Old Whigs supporting the traditional aristocratic order and New Whigs advocating for reform and American colonies' grievances against British policies.

John Locke

An English philosopher whose ideas on government by consent, natural rights, and the social contract influenced American revolutionary thought.

Tabula Rasa

A term by Locke meaning 'blank slate,' arguing people are born without innate knowledge and shaped by experience, influencing Enlightenment and revolutionary thought.