APUSH Periods 1 and 2

1. Native
Americans and
Europeans
33,000 B.C -1754
Period One and Period Two

2. Land Bridge
 First people came across
land bridge from Asia
over 30,000 years ago
 Groups spread across
North and South
America
 Established varied
lifestyles that were
heavily influenced by the
environment

3. Culture and
Lifestyle
 Nomadic and sedentary groups
 Gender roles varied from group to group
 Development of corn or maize around 5,000 B.C. in Mexico was
revolutionary in that:
 Didn't have to be hunter-gatherers, could settle down and be
farmers.
 Began to establish permanent settlements
 Native Americans developed lifestyles based on their environment
 Eastern Woodlands
 Hunting and Agriculture (fur, corn, beans, squash)
 Hopewell
 Iroquois
 Algonquian
 Mississippian
 Hunting and Agriculture
 Great Plains
 Hunting (buffalo)
 Sioux
 Southwest
 Agriculture (corn)
 Anasazi/Pueblo

4. Europe before Exploration
 Renaissance led to technological innovations
 Sailing technology
 Curiosity to explore
 Growth of nation-states led to competition for
colonies and trade
 England, Spain, France, Portugal, Holland
 Protestant Reformation increased
competition among nation-states for “souls”
 Catholic countries used religion to justify
subjugation of Native Americans

5. Europeans come to the New
World
 1000 first voyages by Vikings
 Landed in Newfoundland, did not stay
 1492 Columbus “discovers” America
 Financed by King and Queen of
Spain
 Ushers in the development of the
“Atlantic World” or “Atlantic System”
a. Europe would provide the market,
capital, technology.
b. Africa would provide the labor.
c. The New World would provide the raw
materials (gold, soil, lumber).

6. Columbian Exchange
Causes biological flip-flop of Old and New Worlds.
 traded plants, foods, animals, germs
Columbian Exchange:
 From the New World (America) to the Old
 corn, potatoes, tobacco, beans, peppers, manioc,
pumpkin, squash, tomato, wild rice, etc. also, syphilis
 From the Old World to the New
 cows, pigs, horses, wheat, sugar cane, apples, cabbage,
citrus, carrots, Kentucky bluegrass, etc.
 devastating diseases (smallpox, yellow fever, malaria), as
Indians had no immunities.
 The Indians had no immunities in their systems built up over generations.
 An estimated 90% of all pre-Columbus Indians died, mostly due to
disease.

7. Spanish Empire
 Spain secured claim to Americas from Treaty of
Tordesillas (1494)
 1500’s dominant explorers/ colonizers of
Americas
 Conquistadores explored and conquered
much of N and S America
 Vasco Balboa: "discovered“ the Pacific Ocean
across isthmus of Panama
 Ferdinand Magellan: circumnavigates the globe
(1st to do so)
 Ponce de Leon: touches and names Florida
looking for legendary Fountain of Youth
 Hernando Cortes: enters Florida, travels up into
present day Southeastern U.S., dies and is "buried“
in Mississippi River
 Francisco Pizarro: conquers Incan Empire of Peru
and begins shipping tons of gold/silver back to
Spain. This huge influx of precious metals made
European prices skyrocket (inflation).
 Francisco Coronado: ventured into current
Southwest U.S. looking for legendary El Dorado,
city of gold. He found the Pueblo Indians

8. Spain Builds and Empire
 Flood of silver from SA, Mexico caused
inflation in Europe
 Led to rise of capitalism and commercial
banking, paid for international trade
 Spanish settlement led to a new “race” a
mixture of Indian, European, African
(mestizos), new social structure
 Encomienda system established
 Indians "commended“ or given to Spanish
landlords
 The idea was that Indians would work and be
converted to Christianity, but it was basically
just slavery on a sugar plantation guised as
missionary work.
 Many question the Spanish treatment of
Indians (de las Casas)
 New Laws passed to prevent abuse of
Native Americans

9. French Colonization
 Latecomer to colonizing New
World
 Louis XIV took interest in colonial
expansion
 First successful colony Quebec
1609
 Also claimed the Mississippi River
Valley
 Colony known as New France
 Problems with Iroquois hampered
French conquest of Ohio River
Valley
 French colonies autocratic, no
representative assemblies, no
right to fair trail
 Favored Caribbean colonies
because of sugar trade

10. New France
 Most valuable resource in New France- beaver fur
 Fur trappers (voyageurs) trapped beaver, recruited Indians into
fur business
 Traveled deep into wilderness, created ecological disaster by
eliminating most of beaver population
 French Missionaries attempted to “Christianize” Indians
 Voyageurs, missionaries vital role as explorers, geographers
 French try to block British and Spanish expansion
 Fort Detroit (1701), keep out British
 French fortify posts along Mississippi River to keep out Spanish,
protect beaver trade
 Establish New Orleans (1718) to keep fur and grain flowing to
mother country, keep MS River from Spanish

11. Comparison: French, Spanish and English
 Each country had different motives and settlement
patterns
 French- friendly relations with Indians (comparatively),
tried to convert Natives to Christianity, came in small
numbers, extractive economic activity (fur trade),
explored deep into continent, Catholic, had economic
motives
 Spanish- came to conquer (conquistador), looked for
and found precious minerals, tried to convert Indians,
blended their culture with Native culture, explored deep
into continent to look for wealth, Catholic
 English- came in larger groups (especially NE), settled
and “improved” land, more religiously tolerant, wiped
out Indian culture, established their own “footprint”, did
not explore deep into continent, mostly Protestant

12. Different Views
Native Americans had different view of things as
compared to Europeans.
A. Native Americans-no man owned the land, the
tribe did. (Europeans- private property)
B. Indians- nature was mixed with many spirits.
(Europeans-Christian and monotheistic)
C. Indians- nature was sacred. (Europeans- nature
and land to be subdued and put to use).
D. Indians- little or no concept or interest in money.
(Europeans- loved money or gold)

13. English Settle North
America
1607-1763

14. English interest in North America
Within 100 years of Columbus landing Americas radically
transformed
 1600 most of North America unclaimed, unexplored
 In the 1500s, Britain failed to effectively colonize due to
internal conflicts.
 Elizabeth I became queen, Britain became basically
Protestant, rivalry with Catholic Spain intensified.
 Late 1500’s English attack Spanish ships for gold (Sir
Francis Drake)
 First English attempts at colonization (Newfoundland
1583, Roanoke 1585) failed
 1588 English defeat Spanish Armada
 Allows English to cross North Atlantic
 Victory gives English reason for exploration/settlement

15. English Interest in North America
 Reasons for English colonization of the Americas
a) 1500’s growing population
b) New enclosure laws – less land for poor
c) Wool industry collapsed
d) Population became mobile (looking for jobs)
e) Tradition of primogeniture = 1st born son inherits
ALL father’s land. Younger sons tried their luck with
fortunes elsewhere, like America.
f) Unity under a popular monarch

16. English Interest in North America
Three types of colonies
A. Self-Governing Colonies formed when the King
granted a Charter to a Joint-Stock Company,
allowing them to set up its own government.
 Early1600s, joint-stock company developed (investors
put money into the company with hopes for a good
return), provided financing for colonization
 Joint-stock companies usually did not exist long,
stockholders invested to make a profit, then quickly
sell for profit a few years later
 It was basically a partnership between Private
Investors and the Crown.
B. Proprietary Colonies were basically huge Land
Grants from the Crown to trusted officials.
• These Colonial Governors reported directly to the King.
C. Royal Colonies were territories directly owned and
controlled by the King.

17. Chesapeake Colonies
 The first permanent English settlements in North America were located
around the Chesapeake Bay region.
 The two primary colonies in this region were Virginia and Maryland.

18. Jamestown: First Permanent Settlement
o The first permanent English
settlements in North America were
located around the Chesapeake
Bay region.
 The two primary colonies in this
region were Virginia and Maryland.
 Virginia was originally established as
a Self-Governing Colony.
 A group of investors in London
formed the Virginia Company with
the hope of making Instant Profits
from the colony’s raw materials.
 1607 they established Jamestown,
which was England’s first settlement

19. Jamestown: First Permanent Settlement
 On May 24, 1607, about 100 English settlers disembarked from their
ship and founded Jamestown.
 Problems included:
a) the swampy site of Jamestown, poor drinking water, mosquitoes
caused malaria and yellow fever.
b) men wasted time looking for gold rather than doing useful tasks
(digging wells, building shelter, planting crops)
c) zero women on the initial ship.
 1608 Captain John Smith took over control and whipped the
colonists into shape, gave order and discipline, highlighted by his
“no work, no food” policy.
 Colonists had to eat cats, dogs, rats, even other people. One fellow
wrote of eating “powdered wife.”
 1610 a relief party headed by Lord De La Warr arrived to alleviate
the suffering.
 1625 out of an original overall total of 8,000 would-be settlers, only
1,200 had survived.

20. Jamestown: First Permanent Settlement
 At first English seen potential allies, relations
grew worse when English began to raid
Indian food supplies
 De La Warr began “total war” against
Indians
 Early 1600’s clashes decimated Indians
pushed them westward, removed them
from ancestral lands
 European colonization disrupted Native
American way of life
 Disease took out population
 Trade intensified competition among tribes
 Tribes along Atlantic seaboard felt effects the
most
 When colonists could grow their own food
they had little use for Indians, Europeans
wanted their land

21. Virginia becomes a colony
 Tobacco savior of Virginia Colony
 cash crop- Jamestown had
found its gold.
 Tobacco created a greed for
land- heavily depleted the soil
and ruined the land.
 From 1616 to 1619, Jamestown’s
Tobacco Crops grew nearly
twenty-fold.
 Representative self-government
in Virginia
 1619 settlers created the House
of Burgesses, a committee to
work out local issues. This set
America on a pathway to self-
rule
 1619 first Africans sold as slaves

22. Virginia becomes a colony
 Labor shortages in Jamestown led the British to establish the
Headright System.
 This system offered 50 acres of land to those who would come and
settle the colony.
 Needed labor- Indians died too quickly, African slaves too
expensive
 It also offered land to those who would pay for the
transportation of laborers who could not afford the passage.
 Indentured Servants were laborers who agreed to work 5 to 7
years in exchange for the cost of their passage to the British
Colonies.
 England had surplus of laborers, turned to indentured servitude
 By 1700 more than 100,000 indentured servants came to the region
 Eventually prime land became scarce, land owners did not want to
give up land
 Freed workers had to hire out for low wages

23. Bacon’s Rebellion
 Landless, penniless freemen
 Single, young
 No women, money
 Only land in backcountry
 Landed elite in the House of
Burgess didn’t want the colonists
to expand into the backwoods
because of Indian issues
Bacon’s Rebellion
 Government did not retaliate
after Indian attack
 1676 Nathaniel Bacon and
followers, attacked Indians ,
chased gov. from Jamestown
and burned town
 Bacon dies from disease,
Berkeley captures and hangs 20
rebels

24. Bacon’s Rebellion
Results of Rebellion
A. Exposed resentments between inland
frontiersmen/landless former servants against
wealthy gentry on coastal plantations.
B. Upper class planters searched for laborers less
likely to rebel- black slaves
C. Gave right to political participation to more
small landowners
 Socio-economic class differences/clashes
between rural/urban communities would
continue throughout American history.

25. Maryland
 1634 founded by Lord Baltimore as Catholic refuge
(from Protestant English)
 Second plantation colony
 Huge estates given to Catholic families, poorer,
Protestants settled there also, created friction
between two groups
 Tobacco main crop, labor source was indentured
servants (slaves came in late 1600’s)
Religious toleration
 Permitted freedom of worship to all Christians
 1649- Act of Toleration, guaranteed religious
toleration to all Christians, but decreed the death
penalty to Jews, atheists, others who didn’t believe in
the divinity of Jesus
 More Catholics in Maryland than any English
speaking colony in the New World

26. Other Southern Colonies

27. The Carolinas and the West Indies
 Decline of Spanish power led British to secure Caribbean Islands
 Sugar main crop
 Labor intensive, capital intensive
 Needed to be wealthy to start plantation
 Caused large numbers of slaves to be imported
 Slave Codes established in West Indies
 By 1700 slaves outnumber settlers 4:1
 Laws defined the legal status of slaves and the rights of the
masters. They were typically strict and exacted severe
punishments for offenders.
 Sugar plantation system caused islands to depend on
American colonies for food, basic supplies
 Late 1600s smaller, less wealthy farmers left islands and settled in
southern colonies
 1670 group arrives in Carolina, brings slaves from Barbados
 1696 Slave codes adopted in Carolina
 Slave codes became model for statutes governing slavery
across colonies

28. Settling the Carolinas
 Developed close economic ties
with “sugar islands”
 Many immigrated from region ,
brought slave trade with them
 Rice major export crop
 African slaves had knowledge to grow
rice
 Slaves had natural immunity to malaria
 Ideal laborers for rice plantations
 By 1710 majority of people in
Carolinas were African slaves
 Charles Town major seaport
 Diverse tolerant community
 Attracted French Protestant
refugees
 Caused friction with Spain

29. Settling the Carolinas
 Wild northern expanse of Carolina
 Settled more slowly because lack of good harbors
 Attracted outcasts and religious dissenters
 Raised tobacco and other crops on small farms,
little need for slaves (few large plantations)
 Distinctive traits: irreligious, hospitable to pirates,
spirit of resistance to authority, , democratic,
independent minded, least aristocratic of 13
colonies
 1712 separated from S.C.

30. Georgia
 1733-Last colony to be
“planted”
 Savannah major port
 Founded by prison reform group,
major leader James Oglethorpe
 Debtors from England sent there
 Established as buffer between
English, Spanish
 Only colony to receive money
from English government
 Diverse communities
 Religious toleration for all except
Catholics
 Least populous colony
 Restrictive slavery laws

31. Southern Colonies
 Agriculture export based economies
 Life expectancy short
 Women had more power than in New
England and Middle colonies
 Slavery in all colonies
 Small group owned most of the land
 Rural population made it hard to establish
towns, schools and churches
 Religiously tolerant
 Social hierarchy develops by late 1600’s
I. Plantation owners (“first families of Virginia)
II. Small farmers largest group
III. Landless whites, many former indentured
servants
IV. Oppressed black slaves
 Few cities, urban professional class slow to
emerge
 Life revolved around plantation
 Transportation by rivers, poor roads

32. Settling the New England and
Middle Colonies

33. Overview
 Established different patterns of settlement than
plantation/southern colonies
 Different economies than plantation/southern
colonies
 Different set of values than plantation/southern
colonies
 Distinctive regional characteristics began to
develop during this time
***be prepared to know the differences***

34. Great Migration to North America
 Between 1620 – 1640, new colonies
developed in North America due to
the Great Migration of Religious
Refugees from England.
 The Protestant Reformation and
English Civil War created a hostile
religious and political atmosphere in
England by the 1620’s.
 Church members who adopted a
reformed theology called Calvinism
became known as Puritans.
 New England Colonies included
Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and New Hampshire.

35. Pilgrims Settle in Plymouth
◻ King James I harassed Puritan separatists, went to
Holland
◻ Looked for haven where they could be free to worship
and live
◻ 1620- Negotiated with Virginia Company, missed
destination landed in New England (Plymouth Rock)
◻ Signed Mayflower Compact- set up crude government,
submit to the will of the majority, first step toward self
government
◻ Male settlers met in open discussion town meetings
◻ Found economic success in fish, fur, lumber
◻ Colony never important politically or economically
◻ Significant for moral and spiritual qualities, established
pattern in New England
◻ 1691- Merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony

36. Massachusetts Bay Colony
 1629 more moderate group secured royal charter,
formed Mass. Bay Company
 Used charter as a form of constitution, had advantage
of being out of the reach of royal authority
 Well equipped group settles 1630, larger scale than
previous settlements
 Important industries fishing, shipbuilding
 Became biggest, most influential colony in New
England
 Benefitted from shared sense of purpose, idea of
“covenant” with God

37. Massachusetts Bay Colony
 The Puritans created a deeply religious and socially tight-knit community.
 Although there was a Representative Government, the Puritan Church controlled
the society through a series of Congregational Town Hall Meetings.
 All free adult males, that were members of Puritan Congregations
(Congregational Church) had right to vote, participate in political life
 Town governments were more inclusive, all male property holders could
participate, all business decided by majority vote
 Was not a democracy
 Eventually, in order to take part in the Government or live in Massachusetts,
settlers had to be members in Good standing with the Church.
 Religious leaders had enormous influence, govt. duty to enforce religious rules

38. Religious Dissenters Establish New
Colonies
 Roger Williams radical separatist, wanted clean break from
English church
 Challenged legality of Bay Colony charter, taking land from
Indians
 Did not want civil government to regulate religion
 1635- Banished from colony
 Williams established religious tolerance in Rhode Island
 Most liberal of all colonies
 Opposed special privilege, provided freedom of opportunity
 Settlements consisted of exiles and malcontents from Bay
Colony
 Strongly Independent colony

39. New England Spreads Out
 1635 Connecticut River Valley settled,
largest area of fertile land in New
England
 1639 Fundamental Orders of
Connecticut- like a modern
constitution, democratic regime
controlled by “substantial” citizens
 Established unified government in CT
 First written constitution in America
 1662- More religious colony, New
Haven merged with Connecticut
colony
 1677 Maine- absorbed by Mass.
 1679 New Hampshire became a royal
colony
 New England colonies began
westward expansion during this period

40. The New England Society
 Climate healthier than south
 Migrated to region as families, population grew
by natural increase
 Family stability, intergenerational continuity
(concept of grandparents)
Women in New England
• Authoritarian male father figures controlled
each household.
Recognition of property rights undermine
marriage
• Laws established to defend integrity of marriage

41. Seeds of Colonial Unity in New
England

42. Towns in New England
 Tight knit society based on
communities
 Surrounded by other
colonial powers, Puritan
unity of purpose
 Society grew in orderly
fashion, distribution of land
by town fathers
 Towns of more than 50 had
to provide elementary
education in Mass.
 Democracy in church govt,
political govt.

43. New England way of Life
 Lack of good farmland led
to frugality of settlers
 Region less ethnically mixed
 Diversified industry, experts
in ship building and
commerce
 Slavery not profitable
 Saw duty to “improve” land,
clearing, planting, building
 Religion, soil, climate led to
purposefulness, self-
reliance, resourcefulness

44. Halfway Covenant
 Factors: growing population, migration from towns, less religious
zeal, decline of conversions
 Fewer people were becoming members of the church through
profound religious experience, known as conversion
 In an effort to maintain the church’s influence halfway covenant
was offered as a way to membership without religious experience
 Half Way Covenant, weakened distinction from “elect” and
others
 Results: wider religious participation, more women as church
members

45. Relations with Native Americans
 Spread of English led to conflict with Indians
 Epidemics left them with no position to resist English
◻ 1637 Pequot War – English destroy Pequot (in CT)
led to forty years of uneasy peace
◻ English tried to convert natives, put them in praying
towns (early reservations?)
◻ Only hope for resistance was in unity
 Between 1675 – 1676, a conflict known as King
Philip’s War was fought between the settlers and
Native Americans.
 King Philip was a local reference to the Native
American leader known as Metacomet.
 1676 King Phillips War ended, slowed westward
advance of English settlement, ended Indian
resistance in New England

46. Religious Tension and the Salem
Witch Trials
 1692 – Salem, MA women
accused of bewitching others,
20 put to death
 Resulted from social prejudices-
Puritan ideas vs. Rising Yankee
commercialism (many accused
from prosperous part of town),
mistrust of outsiders (Quakers,
Baptists accused by Puritan
settlers)), cultural mistrust of
women (most accused were
old women)

47. Seeds of Colonial Unity in New
England
 1643 New England Confederation (two Mass. And
two CT colonies)
 Purpose: defense, inter-colonial problems
 England did not provide support b/c of Civil Wars,
let colonies become semiautonomous
 Each colony had two votes
 Exclusive Puritan club
 Milestone toward colonial unity
 1660 Royalists restored (Stuart Restoration) in
England, Charles II takes more active role,
colonies seen as economic asset

48. Seeds of Colonial Unity in New
England
 1651-1696 British pass series of
Navigation Acts that spell out goods to
be sold, and put the British government
in charge of trade
 Policy known as mercantilism, basically
political control of the economy by the
state
 Created by royal authority, controlled
from London
 Colonies existed to benefit mother
country
 Smuggling becomes big business

49. Seeds of Colonial Unity in New England
 1686 Dominion of New England established, put
colonies under Royal control
 Restrictions on courts, press, mail, town meetings,
schools; revoked land titles
 Tax colonies without consent, enforced Navigation
Laws
 1681-1691 colonists resist royal authority
 After Glorious Revoluton monarchs relax control of
colonial trade, begin period of salutary neglect
 Residue: more English officials in America,
prevented rise of local leaders, resentment toward
England

50. The Middle Colonies
◻ Middle colonies had fertile soil,
known as “bread colonies”
◻ Rivers- ease of travel, brought
people to backcountry
◻ Landholdings were intermediate
in size
◻ Ethnically diverse, religious
toleration
◻ Economic, social democracy
found in middle colonies

51. The Middle Colonies
New York
 The Dutch Colony of New
Netherlands was originally
established to exploit the rich
Fur Trade in North America.
 In 1674, after several Anglo-
Dutch Wars, the colony was
formally turned over to the
British and was renamed New
York.
 The acquisition of this colony
linked the New England
Colonies to the Southern
Colonies.

52. Penn’s Holy Experiment
 Quakers, began in England 1600’s
 “quaked” with religious conviction
 Refused to support Church of England with taxes, serve in military
 William Penn establishes an asylum in New World
 1681 Penn receives land grant from crown
 Welcomed all types of settlers
 Tolerant of Indians
 Wanted forward looking settlers, liberal land policy
 Attracted many immigrants

53. America in 1720
 Population growing
 Permanent settlements
established
 Transportation,
communication improving
 British kept hands off policy
 Colonists developed own
churches, governments,
networks of trade

54. Colonial Society on the
Eve of Revolution

55. Conquest by the Cradle
 1775- British had 32 colonies
in NA
 13 original colonies not the
wealthiest
 Average age 16
 Most population east of
Alleghenies, Appalachian
Mts.
 By 1775 some had moved
west
 90% lived in rural areas
 Shifted balance of power
between colonies and
British

56. Mingling of the Races
 Mostly English
 Germans- 6% mostly Protestant, settled mainly in
Pennsylvania
 Scots- Irish- 7%, most important non-English group
 Became squatters, quarreled with Indians, white
landowners
 1720’s first moved into backcountry in NC, VA, MD,
PA
 Were squatters on land
 Tradition of violence, individualistic
 1764- Paxton Boys protest Quaker treatment of
Indians
 Late 1760’s Regulator Movement in NC, insurrection
against eastern dominance of colonies affairs
 5% other groups- French Huguenots,, Welsh, Dutch,
Swedes, Jews, Irish, Swiss, Scots-Highlanders
 African slave trade contributed to population
diversity
 Laid foundations for multi-cultural American national
identity

57. Development of Early Colonial Society
 America land of opportunity
 No titled nobility
 Social structure very fluid
 By mid 1700’s- class differences emerge small group of
aristocrats had most power
 Because of the wealth generated by trade, Colonial America
developed very distinct social classes.
 South there was a rise of an elite planter class, or gentry,
mostly located in coastal or tidewater areas where there was
easy access to shipping.
 New England and the Port cities of the Middle Colonies mostly
wealthy merchants who lived in cities and towns where they
gained prestige and power.
 Western Frontier and Colonial Backcountry was settled by the
smaller yeoman farmers and former Indentured Servants.

58. Structure of Colonial Society
Southern Social Pyramid
 Plantation owners at top (planters) had many
slaves
 Small farmers, owned land, few slaves
 Landless whites, some indentured servants
 Black slaves at the bottom

59. Clerks, Physicians, Jurists
 Ministry most well respected
profession
 Physicians poorly trained,
medical knowledge was
limited and crude
 Epidemics, plague feared by
people
 Lawyers not respected at first,
criminals represented
themselves in court
 By 1750 lawyers seen as useful,
played an important role in
American history

60. Workaday America
 Agriculture leading industry
 Chesapeake staple crop
tobacco
 Middle colonies- grain
 Fishing major industry in NE
 Yankee (NE) seamen good
sailors, international
commerce
 Triangular trade- goods from
American colonies, travel to
Africa (or Europe) traded for
slaves, then to West Indies
traded for sugar, sold to
Americas, huge profits
made on each leg of trip

61. Workaday America
 Manufacturing not as important
 Some small industry- rum, iron making, spinning weaving
(by women)
 Lumber most important mfg. activity (for shipbuilding)
 British navy depended on American colonies to supply
them
 Americans demand more British products (b/c fast
growing pop.)
 British could not buy enough American goods
 Colonists seek foreign markets
 Trade imbalance between colonies, British
 1733- Parliament passes Molasses Act (along with the
earlier Navigation Acts) to stop American trade with
French West Indies
 American merchants bribe and smuggle their way
around law, creates resentment toward British
government

62. Transportation and Religion
 Roads dangerous, poor in 1700’s, only connected large
cities
 Towns clustered around water sources
 Taverns, bars along roads places of gossip, news
 Mail system set up by mid-1700’s, unreliable, postmen not
trustworthy
 Two established (tax supported) churches by 1775
Anglican, Congregational
 Anglican- NY,NC,SC,GA,VA,MD
 Closely connected with monarchy in England
 Congregational- NE except in RI.
 Many ministers dealt with political issues, early rumblings of
revolution from Cong. ministers

63. Great Awakening
 Religion lost steam in 1700’s , New ideas challenged old ways
(predestination), new ideas of free will
 1730’s and 1740’s -Great Awakening
 Started in Mass.- Jonathan Edwards
 Deeply emotional sermons, well reasoned, Message of human helplessness,
divine omnipotence
 Most famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
 George Whitfield- emotional sermons, style of shaking, heaping blame on
sinners imitated by others
 Orthodox clergy “old lights” skeptical of emotionalism
 “New Light” ministers defended role in revitalizing religion
 Split congregations, increased number and competitiveness of religions
 Direct spirituality undermined older clergy
 First mass movement of American people
 Contributed to sense that Americans were common people united by shared
experience

64. Effects of the Great Awakening and
Enlightenment
 Ideas of Enlightenment brought over from Europe,
affected American thought challenged
government and religious authority
 Emphasized power of rational thought to explain
world, appealed to urban, merchant class
 Led to expansion of education (colleges and
universities)
 Ideas represented by Ben Franklin
 In the South Great Awakening appealed to
landless whites and African Americans, questioned
authority of Anglican Church and powerful
economic interests

65. Schools and Colleges
 Education more important in New England
 Towns established primary, secondary
schools, had to be able to read Bible
 High number of college graduates
 South- rural population, could not
effectively establish schools
 Education done on plantations by private
tutors, wealthy sent children abroad for
higher education
 College Education- originally to prepare
people for ministry
 New England est. first colleges (Harvard first
1636)
 New Light” universities Princeton, Brown,
Rutgers, Dartmouth
 By 1750’s move toward other subjects
 First nondenominational college University
of Pennsylvania est. by Ben Franklin

66. Pioneer Presses
 Many small newspapers, pamphlets, journals
around colonies
 Powerful agents for airing colonial grievances,
rallying opposition
Peter Zenger Case 1734-1735
 New York printer
 Accused of seditious libel for writing about royal
governor
 Case not about if statements were true or not, but
fact that they were printed
 Found not guilty, allowed for freedom of the press,
open public discussion, eventually led to freedom
to print responsible criticisms

67. Colonial Governments
 Variety of governments in 13 colonies
 By 1775 8 had royal governors appointed by king, 3 run by
proprietors and chose own governors, 2 had self governing
charters
 All had two house legislatures (upper house-appointed, lower
house- elected)
 Had to own property to be a voter
 Self taxation through representation cherished privilege
 Some governors corrupt
 Most had trouble with colonial legislatures, saw gov. as British
mouthpiece
 Colonial legislatures held money from royal authorities
 South- local government on county level (run by planters)
 New England –town meeting, direct democracy
 Almost half of all males “disenfranchised”
 Property requirements to vote, ease of acquiring land made
this attainable

68. American Colonies in 1775
By 1775 America more democratic
than Europe
Basically English in language and
custom
Protestant religion
Democratic ideas of tolerance,
educational advantages, equality of
economic opportunity, freedom of
speech, assembly and representative
government emerged in this period