Chapter 5 - Colonial “American” Society

Proprietors

• ^^If colonists were friends of the King or did exceptional service, they were given large tracts of land in the New World^^
• Social reformers created sanctuaries for religious minorities (Quakers + Catholics)
• Settlements created gov’ts + attracted colonists
• Private property rights

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Coastal Plain

• Stretched from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean

• Contained fertile soil + rivers

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Geographical Mobility

• Freedom of westward movement

• ^^Once indentured servants completed their contracts, they moved west for their own land^^

• Many indentured servants escaped before end of contract

• Huge opportunity to climb social ladder + get rich with hard work

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Social Mobility

• Fluid social ladder
• With geographical mobility + colonists’ intelligence, they were given many opportunities to prosper
• However, if mistakes were made, fortunes could be reversed quickly

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Demographics

• Study of populations
• ^^Rapid growth during colonial era^^
• Ethnic blend of colonists (60% English)
• Young, mostly male, rural

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Capital

• Crucial to grow American society
  • Needed investment funds
• London banks + joint-stock companies established American economic networks

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Diversified Economy

• 1700 - Settlements mostly concentrated in middle colonies + New England
• ^^Prevented unhealthy dependence on cash-crop economy^^
• Economy consisted of furs, lumber, fish + whales, shipping
• Flexibility to market trends

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Middle Passage

• Expanded colonial American economy
• Trading in the African slave market resulted in traffic across Atlantic Ocean
• Slave ships had very bad conditions + high death rate among slaves

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Cash-Crop Economy

• Middle colonies mostly grew grain
• ^^1614 - Southern colonies committed to cash crops (tobacco, sugar, indigo, rice)^^
  • High dependence on chattel slavery
  • Uncooperative climate, little flexibility, market prices
  • CANNOT DIVERSIFY!
• Northern colonies had more capital

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Triangular Trade

• 1632 - Provided licenses to transport African slaves

• New England merchants built ships with lumber

• Raw materials from Boston, New York, Baltimore were sold in England or traded for slaves

• Slaves from Africa were brought to the Caribbean

• Molasses from Caribbean was sold in Boston for rum

• Benefited North (South depended on North)

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Soil Depletion

• Because tobacco + corn strip nitrogen from soil, it lost its fertility quickly
• ^^Colonists needed to clear more and more land to farm, resulting in conflicts w/ Native Americans^^
• Legumes (alfalfa, clover, beans, peas) fix nitrogen into soil + helped restore it
• Modern fertilizers

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Franchise

• Right to vote
• Required land ownership
• Higher % of males can vote in America than England
  • Expanded democracy

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Anglican Church

• Church of England founded by Henry VIII
• ^^Because of the English Reformation, Protestantism increased in England^^
• Composed of Loyal Anglicans dedicated to Roman Catholicism
• America was influenced by religious orthodoxy
• After changing its name to Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church’s power decreased

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High Church vs. Low Church

• Liturgy was a style of worship
• The Anglican Church was a High Church that ritualized worship
• Puritans + evangelicals believed in simpler worship (preaching + singing) + egalitarian practices

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Congregational Church

• ^^Descended from original Puritan churches^^
• Believed in self-gov’t apart from influence of Anglican Church

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Acts of Toleration

• Passed in 1649
• When the number of Protestants increased, the Acts of Toleration were passed
• Religious toleration led to higher diversity + less religious conflict
• Path to complete religious liberty

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Half-Way Covenant

• 1662
• Compromise in Puritan churches
• ^^Even if believers wanted church membership BUT lacked faith, they were still able to join church^^
• Resulted in churches filled with unbelievers

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Jeremiad

• Puritan ministers modeled after Jeremiah
• Warned against worldliness of New England society

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Scots-Irish

• Presbyterian Scots fled persecution to Ireland
• ^^1717 - Migrated to + welcomed into American colonies^^
• Independent-minded + disliked Anglicans and revolutionaries
• Settled in Appalachian Mts.

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Germans

• Because there were German kings on English throne + English is Germanic language, they were easily assimilated into colonies
• “Pennsylvania Dutch” in Western Pennsylvania

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First Great Awakening

• Declining devotion to God
• Revival of Christianity
• ^^Widespread conversions + missionary activity among Native Americans^^
• 1730s-1740s
• 1st unifying event among colonists

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Arminianism

• Counterpoint to Calvinism
• Man’s free will, not divine decree, is key to salvation
• Became more and more popular

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Jonathan Edwards

• ^^Huge influence in 1st Great Awakening^^
• 1737 - Publishes book during 1st Great Awakening
  • “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
• Believed in rationality of faith + philosophy, mysticism
• Missionary work of Native Americans, writing, Princeton University

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George Whitefield

• Arrived in America to preach in 1738
• Huge influence in 1st Great Awakening
• Evangelical + Calvinist Anglican
• Urban + open-air gatherings
• Popular

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BIG PICTURE

• Natural resources, geographical space, advantageous climate → American prosperity
• Poor people found opportunities in America
• Diversified Northern economy surpassed agrarian Southern economy
• 2 intertwined colonial economies → War b/w Britain + America
• Religious society w/ religious diversity + religious experiments

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• Georgia
  • Founded by James Oglethorpe
  • Provide defense against encroaching Spanish
  • Penal colony
• Mercantilism
  • Backbone of British empire
  • Exclusionary - Only British ships + no foreign competition
  • Challenged by colonists → Groundwork for Revolution

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