American Pageant Chapter 4-5 APUSH Review (APUSH Period 2)

Key Point: Regional differences existed between the British colonies:

Reasons for Differences

1. Who came
2. Why they came
3. Environmental &geographic variations (climate, natural resources, etc)

Make sure to know about the Chesapeake vs New England Life

New England Colonies

• Puritan religious motives for colonization
• Close-knit homogeneous society (settlements centered around towns)
• Importance of religion, family, and education (schools required)
• Town Hall meetings (adult male church members)
• Received large number of immigrants & high birthrate
• Mixed economy: agriculture, trade, shipbuilding

Southern Plantation Colonies

• Male dominated society, warmer climate, harsh life, Iower birth rate Defined hierarchy of wealth & status (southern gentry)
• Cash crop plantation economy
• Few cities develop
• Labor system: indentured servants to slavery (Especially after Bacon's Rebellion)
  • Reasons for transition to slavery: 1) abundance of land 2) shortage of indentured servants 3) no wat to enslave native population 4) European demand for colonies goods
  • Majority slave population in South Carolina

Slavery in Colonies America

• Triangular trade (3 part trade route): Slaves and goods moving from Africa, the Caribbean, and the colonies
• The journey from Africa to the Western Hemisphere was known as the "Middle passage"
• Slave culture: Blend of African and American cultures
  • Variety of tribes from different parts of Africa
• Stono Uprising, 1739 South Carolina: one of the few slave revolts in colonial America
  • Tried to get to Spanish Florida where they were promised freedom
  • Rebellion was defeated and contributed to stricter laws regulating slaves
• Most common resistance to slavery: work slowdowns, running away, fake illness. etc.

Religion in the Colonies

• Religious passion was fading in the New England colonies
• Half Way Covenant (1662): individuals could become partial church members even if did not have a conversion
• Religious freedom?
• The Massachusetts Bay colony DID NOT allow freedom of religion
• Some religious toleration existed in a few British colonies
  • Pennsylvania: Quakers!
  • Rhode Island: Separation of church and state
  • Maryland- only to Christians
• Salem Witch Trials: Salem, Massachusetts 1692
  • 19 people hung and 1 pressed to death
  • Reflect growing tension over the changing nature of the colony (religious to profit driven commercialism)

Great Awakening

• Great Awakening was a religious revival in the 1730-40s that spread throughout the colonies
  • Many people convert
• Jonathan Edwards: "Sinners in the Hands of Angry God"
• George Whitefield: Introduced a new energized style of evangelica l preaching
• New Lights (supporters) vs. Old Lights (against)
• IMPACTS: New Universities formed (Dartmouth, Princeton, Brown, etc.)
• Greater religious independence & diversity (new churches formed)
  • Strengthened calls for separation of church & state
• 1st mass movement shared amongst Colonists

Mercantilism

• Various mercantile laws were passed to regulate colonial trade and to benefit England (Navigation Acts, Molasses Act)
  • The goals and interests of European leaders at times diverged from those of colonial citizens
  • But salutary neglect (relative indifference to colonial governance)
• Good: Colonial shipbuilding developed (especially in New England colonies),
  • provided protection of the British military
  • Provided Chesapeake tobacco a monopoly in England
• Bad: Restricted development of colonial manufacturing
  • Had to buy higher priced manufactured goods from England
  • Farmers had to accept lower prices for their enumerated crops
• England attempted to integrate the colonies into a coherent, hierarchical imperial structure: Dominion of New England (1686)
  • Glorious Revolution (1688) led to the overthrow of James II (William and Mary take the throne)
  • Limits power of the monarchy
  • Colonists rebel against the Dominion of New England
• Big Turning Point: 1763 End of the Seven Years War

Colonial Politics

• Gradual development of democratic institutions in the colonies & colonial experiences with self-government

  • Examples: Mayflower Compact, Town Hall Meetings, House of Burgesses, elected representative assemblies, etc.

• Many people still excluded (property or religious qualifications) and England ultimately was still in charge

• Zenger case (1733): advanced freedom of the press

  • John Peter Zenger printed a newspaper critical of the royal governor in New York
  • Charged with libel> jury ruled NOT GUILTY
  • Could be critical of elected officials if the statements were true