First Great Awakening

Roger Williams: He believed in the separation of Church and State. He was banished in 1635 from the Puritans and Massachusetts Bay Colony and he established the Rhode Island colony in 1636. He believed in religious pluralism, the belief that diverse religious systems coexist.

George Whitefield: He was the most popular preacher of the evangelical revival and played a key role in the First Great Awakening

Jonathan Edwards: He played a critical role in the First Great Awakening by working with George Whitefield and going on a “revival tour” across the thirteen colonies; wrote “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

Religious Pluralism: a belief that diverse religious systems can and should coexist

Protestant Evangelism: a religion that focuses on the authority of the Bible, conversion, and a relationship with Jesus Christ

Self Government

Maryland Act of Toleration: An act created in Maryland in 1649 that ensured religious freedoms to different denominations of Christian settlers; created to protect Roman Catholics

Virginia House of Burgesses: It was an assembly of elected representatives from Virginia that met between 1643 and 1776.

Mayflower Compact: a document that bound those who signed to a government in the Plymouth colonies

Metacom’s War: Also known as King Philip’s War, it was a last-ditch effort from the Native Americans to ignore English authority and stop English settlement; resulted in dispersment of Native tribes

Native Interactions (A Comparison)

British: The British attempted a relationship with the native tribes but disease and conflict separated them

French: The French and Natives kept a solid relationship with one another, participating in trade and living together

Spanish: The Spanish were mixed between the British and French, both being friends and enemies of the Native peoples

British Colonial Regions

New England Overview:

Geography: Cold weather and rocky terrain.

Motive: Religious.

Economy: Fishing and shipbuilding

Includes colonies such as Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colony which was very closed off and religious with Puritan values

Middle Colonies Overview:

Geography: Temperate Climate

Motive: Religious and Economic mix

Economy: Agriculture and shipbuilding(exports)

Includes the Pennsylvania colony, which was the “holy experiment” run by William Penn which believed in religious tolerance and diversity

South Colonies Overview:

Geography: Rich soil and warm weather, perfect for agriculture

Motive: Purely economic

Economy: Labor reliant agriculture

Includes the Carolina colonies which relied on the labor of slaves and plantations for rice and tobacco

Slavery In The Colonies

Every colony participated in slavery

Plantations: increased the need for slave labor

Chattel Slavery: chattle means “property” and it treated people as farm tools

Slave laws included legally defining africans as chattel (property), it made slavery pass down to children of slaves, and it became more strict over time

Resistance:

Overt: Open Rebellion

Covert: Quietly rebelling, which includes slaves keeping their traditions, language, and religion

John Locke

Was an enlightenment Philosopher

Made “two treatises of government”, which included the social contract and natural rights

Transatlantic Trade

The Middle Passage was a stage of the Atlantic Slave Trade where millions of Africans were taken to the Americas to be enslaves

Zenger Case

What happened: A journalist named John Peter Zenger was accused of libel by William S. Cosby because of what he published in the newspaper. Zenger was found innocent.

Effects: It resulted in the Freedom of the press for America as Zenger was found innocent.

Thirteen Colonies

Pennsylvania: “The Holy Experiment” = religious tolerance. It was populated by quakers, and their leader was William Penn.

Jamestown/Virginia: Discovered the cash crop Tobacco. Had the House of Burgesses, which was the first representative body in the colonies. The Virginia Company was a joint stock company and the first permanent British settlement

Maryland: A British colony that focused on sustinence farming and shipbuilding. Also had the Maryland Act of Toleration, which brought religious tolerance to Catholic Christians

Rhode Island: One of the most religious tolerant colonies. Accepted groups such as the Jews and Quakers. Believed in separation of Church and State.

Navigation Act

Mercantilism was an economic theory that trade should generate wealth and is stimulated by profitable balances.