Colonial America: Columbian Exchange to French & Indian War (Video Notes)

Definition: The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15^{th} and 16^{th} centuries.
Regions and impacts:
- Americas (positive): new crops and animals transformed agriculture and diet.
- Americas (negative): devastating diseases like smallpox decimated native populations and the introduction of slavery.
- Europe and Africa (positive): new crops like potatoes and corn boosted populations and economies.
- Europe and Africa (negative): expansion of the slave trade and increased competition and conflict among European powers.
Significance: long-term global exchanges that reshaped demography, economy, and social structures across continents.

Struggles: Jamestown faced disease, lack of food, and conflicts with Native Americans.
Economic salvation: John Rolfe's introduction of tobacco cultivation provided a cash crop that saved the colony economically.
Consequences: prosperity but increased demand for land and labor, intensifying conflicts with Native Americans and promoting the growth of slavery.

Year and leaders: 1676; Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley.
Triggers: high taxes, low tobacco prices, resentment against Berkeley's lenient policies toward Native Americans.
Outcome: rebellion was suppressed.
Aftermath: reforms addressing settlers' grievances; highlighted tensions between elite planters and common settlers; contributed to the growth of slavery as a means to control labor force.

Timeline: February 1692 to May 1693.
Causes: religious extremism, fear, social tensions.
Outcome: execution of 20 people.
Implications: led to widespread questioning of the legal system and the role of religion in government, contributing to a more secular and rational governance approach.

The Enlightenment: emphasized reason, science, and individual rights; encouraged colonists to question traditional authority.
The Great Awakening: religious revival emphasizing personal faith and emotional experience; led to growth of new denominations and a sense of religious independence.
Combined impact: fostered a spirit of individualism, critical thinking, and resistance to authority; laid groundwork for the American Revolution.

Overview: increased British debt and led to new taxes and regulations on the colonies, altering the relationship between Britain and the American colonists.
George Washington: served as a military leader, gaining experience that would later serve him in the Revolutionary War; exposed to limitations of British military tactics and fostered a sense of American identity.
Significance: contributed to colonial identity and tension with Britain; set the stage for colonial resistance to imperial policies.
Practical context: the war’s financial strains helped drive imperial policies that intensified colonial grievances prior to the Revolution.