Navigation Act
• The Navigation acts were a number of
laws that didn't allow foreign shipping to
trade between England and its colonies.
• The goal of it was to force colonial
development to favor England, rather
than other countries
• This was one of the acts the colonists
obeyed.
Mercantilism
• Mercantilism was a doctrine that gave
the government control over foreign
trade
• The policies of this doctrine included
high tariffs, monopolized markets, and
limited wages.
The Great Awakening
• The great awakening was a period of individual
spiritual awakening in colonial America
• it unified the American colonies as it spread
through numerous preacher and revivals
• As of which brought the climate of the Revolution
Albany Plan
• In 1754, not long after the Great Awakening,
Benjamin Franklin advanced his Albany Plan
• It called for a colonial union which dealt with
problems such as defense against Indian attacks
on the frontier
• Thirteen once-isolated colonies were merging
together
Under One Administration
• In the 1680’s James II brought New York, New
Jersey, and all of New England under one
administration
• He planned to unify the southern colonies in a
similar way
• His actions were resented by the colonists so
after the Glorious Revolution and the collapse of
the Dominion of New England, no further
unification were attempted
• Instead the colonies separated even more
Colonial Policy
• In 1696 the colonial policy was determined by
a new Board of Trade which nominated
colonial governors and other high officials
• It reviewed all the laws passed by the colonial
legislatures and recommended disapproval of
certain laws
• The Privy Council and the Crown nearly always
accepted its recommendations
Colonial Scientific Achievements
• America didn’t produce no Galileo or Newton,
instead the colonists contributed significantly to
the collection of scientific knowledge
• The unexplored continent provided a laboratory
for the study of natural phenomena
• Men such as Benjamin Franklin who gained
international stature for inventing the lightning
rod, focal spectacles, and many other devices
Whitefield
• In 1738, Reverend George Whitefield, a young
Oxford-trained Anglican minister arrived in
Georgia
• He was a marvelous orator who was able to
play the feelings of his audience
• Whitefield undertook fund-raising tours
throughout the colonies and even managed to
move Benjamin Franklin enough to make him
donate money
Laws and Acts
• The British imposed many laws upon the
colonists such as the Wool Act and Iron Act
• It mostly prohibited the export or new
construction of certain resources
• Many were designed to steer the American
industries in a certain direction, not
destroying it
• It was guided to put more resources in English
mills, farms, and stores, rather than American
The Enlightenment
• The Enlightenment of America focused on
challenging the role of religion and divine right, it
was responsible in unifying colonies and bringing
about acceptance of religious tolerance
• The movement weakened the importance of a
clergy as believers started relying on their own
conclusions.
• It lead to the creations of different sects of other
religions