U.S. History
Ms. Areces
Chapter 3 Guided Notes
The English Colonies
Section 4: Life in the English Colonies
Colonial Governments
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The colonies had their own governments
o Given power by a _______________________
o The English monarch had ________________________________________ over
all colonies
o Royal advisors called the Privy Council set English colonial policies
A ____________________________ served as the head of the government of each
colony
o They were assisted by an _____________________________________________
These officials were selected differently, based on the type of colony
o ___________________________ colonies: the king and queen chose the
governor and the council members
o ________________________________________ colonies: proprietors chose the
officials
o Other colonies: officials were elected (ex: _______________________________)
Some colonies also elected representatives to help make laws and set policy
o They served on assemblies
o The assembly would _______________________________ that had to be
approved by the advisory council and the governor
___________________________________ had the first colonial legislature, est. in 1619
o It first met as a single body, but then split into two houses
 ________________________________________: members selected by
advisory council and the London Company
 ________________________________________: members elected by the
colonists
New England’s politics centered around the ____________________________________
o People talked about and decided on issues of local interest, such as paying for
schools
Southern colonies used ___________________________ meetings because people lived
farther away from each other
Middle colonies used ______________________ county meetings and town meetings
1685: James II became king of England
o He wanted more _________________________ over England and the colonies
o 1686: he united the northern colonies into the Dominion of New England and
placed Sir. Edmund Andros royal governor of the Dominion
o Colonists did not like him because he
_________________________________________________________________
U.S. History
Ms. Areces
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1689: English Parliament passed the _________________________________________,
which reduced the powers of the English monarch and gave more power to Parliament
o But colonists soon wanted the right to elect their own people to Parliament to
decide local issues
_________________________________________ were another part of colonial
government
The courts reflected the beliefs of their local communities
o Ex: __________________ in Massachusetts usually enforced Puritans’
_____________________________________________________
Colonial courts also protected _______________________________________________
o Ex: they protected John Peter Zenger in court after he published something that
would damage the reputation of New York’s governor
English Trade Laws
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One of the main reason for setting up colonies was to
__________________________________________________________
England used ____________________________________: a system of creating and
maintaining wealth through carefully controlled trade
o Countries make money if they have fewer imports than exports
To support this system, Parliament passed the
_______________________________________________ between 1650 and 1696
o Ex: Navigation Act of 1660
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
 They also had to use English ships to trade
o Other acts required all goods to come through English ports, where duties (import
taxes) were added to the items
England claimed that these acts were good for the colonies
o But some of the colonists _________________________________ because they
wanted more freedom to buy and sell goods and to set their own prices
But despite the colonial complaints, the restrictions continued into the 1700s
o To deal with it, some traders turned to __________________________________
o They often smuggled sugar, molasses, and run into the colonies from non-English
islands in the Caribbean
o Parliament responded with the ________________________________________
 Placed duties (import taxes) on these items
 Rarely enforced
1700s: English merchants were trading all over the world
o American merchants traded with Great Britain and the West Indies
 Some of them became very wealthy by trading sugar and tobacco
But trade between American colonies and Great Britain was usually not direct
U.S. History
Ms. Areces
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o It usually involved ___________________________________________: a
system in which goods and slaves were traded among the Americas, Britain, and
Africa
o There were ___________________________ routes in the triangular trade
o One route came from traders exchanging rum for West African slaves, and then
selling them in the West Indies or the in the English colonies
The slave trade brought millions of Africans across the Atlantic in a voyage called the
_________________________________________________
o A terrible journey that could last up to 3 months
o Slave traders fit as many slaves as possible on board so they could earn the most
profit
o Thousands of captives would die on slave trips during the Middle Passage
o As farmers began to use fewer indentured servants, slaves became
__________________________________________________
Great Awakening and the Enlightenment
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After population growth, religious leaders wanted to spread religious feeling throughout
the colonies
o Late 1730s: ministers began holding _____________________________—
emotional gatherings where people came together to hear sermons
This became known as the _____________________________________________: a
religious movement that swept through the colonies in 1730s and 1740s
o This changed ______________________________________________, and
___________________________________________________ life
________________________________________________________ of Massachusetts
was the most important of these leaders
o His dramatic sermons told sinners to seek forgiveness for their sins or face
punishment in Hell forever
The Great Awakening drew people from different regions, classes, and races
o Women, members of minority groups, and poor people usually took part in many
services
o It helped people from different colonies to
________________________________________________________________
The religious sermons also promoted ideas that affected _________________________
o Ex: sermons that promoted spiritual equality led colonists to demand political
equality
Revivals allowed people to talk about political and social issues
During the 1600s: scientists began to better understand the laws that govern nature
o They sparked a Scientific Revolution that changed how people thought of the
world called the __________________________________________—took place
during the 1700s that spread the idea that reason and logic could improve society
U.S. History
Ms. Areces
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The Enlightenment also form ideas for
_____________________________________________________________________
o Some thinkers thought that there was a ________________________________
between government and citizens
o Philosophers like ___________________________________ thought people had
___________________________________________ such as equality and liberty
French and Indian War
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1670s: tensions had arisen between New England colonists and the Wampanoag tribe
Metacomet (a.k.a. King Philip), a Wampanoag leader, opposed the colonists’ efforts to
take his people’s lands
1675: King Philip’s War
o Colonial militia fought Native American warriors
o Both sides ____________________________ each other’s settlements, killing
men, women, and children
o The fighting ended in 1676
o 600 colonists died and 3,000 Natives died
But some Natives had become __________________________ of the colonists because
of ______________________________________________
o French and the Algonquian and Huron
o English and the Iroquois League
Many Natives trusted the ___________________ more than the ____________________
Until the mid-1700s: France and Great Britain struggled for North American territory—
mostly in the ______________________________________________, where they could
take advantage of the valuable fur trade
o The French already had 3 forts set up there
Fighting erupted in 1753 as the British moved to take over the region
o ____________________________________________________ showed up to
fight and set up Fort Necessity
o But he failed miserably and retreated
After, a convention met to talk about defense and they came up with the
______________________________________
o The Seven Years War also broke out in Europe between Britain and France
1759: ____________________________________________ of the war because British
general James Wolfe captured Quebec,
______________________________________________________________ in the war
o But the war continued for four more years
1763: Britain and France signed the __________________________________, officially
ending the war
o Canada now belonged to the British
o Britain also received all French land west of the Mississippi
o They even received Florida from Spain (France’s allies)
U.S. History
Ms. Areces
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o The treaty
__________________________________________________________________
and British settlers began moving west
British settlers set up forts as they moved west
o Indian chief, Pontiac, opposed these new settlements and attacked British forts in
May 1763 in Pontiac’s Rebellion
In order to avoid more fighting, King George III issued the
________________________________________________________________________
o This banned British settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains
o They also had to leave the upper Ohio River Valley