Before the Revolution
The Great Awakening –
- In the 1700s religious interest grew due to an increase in evangelistic
revivals
o Emotional sermons
o Faith over reason
o Sermons about hell (Jonathan Edwards)
o Revival tours though the colonies (George Whitefield)
- Results of Great Awakening
o Growth in many protestant denominations
o Salvation encouraged for all
o Many denominational colleges were founded
Mercantilism –
- the colonial economy benefited the mother country
- The colonies were controlled markets for England
o Navigation Laws
 Colonies required to trade with England
 Colonies buy England’s manufactured goods
 Colonies sell England raw products
 Use ships made in England
 Colonies could not compete with England’s markets
 Tax stops required when colonies traded with other nations
Salutary Neglect –
o England did NOT enforce these Navigation Laws until 1763
o The non-enforcement of laws in known as salutary neglect
o The colonies LIKED salutary neglect
French and Indian War (1754 to 1763)
- French and their Indian Allies vs. British and American Colonists
- Conflict: land (what land belonged to England and what land belonged to
France?)
- In 1754 Virginia Colonists tried to take a French fort at the Ohio River –
the war began.
- At first, the war went poorly for the British.
- In 1758, the British began to overwhelm the French and the French soon
retreated to present day Canada.
- Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763 to end the war
o All land east of the Mississippi was given to the British
- Large war debt caused salutary neglect to end. British began to enforce
trade laws.
Causes of the American Revolution
1. Salutary neglect ends/ trade restrictions enforced
2. Mercantilism – colonies are taken advantage of economically
3. Taxation without representation in Parliament
4. Britain placed limitations on individual rights