Colonial Culture and Tension
with England
Unit 1, Lesson 5
Essential Idea
• England and American colonies grew apart
culturally and politically over time.
Women in the Colonies
• Women:
• The role of the woman
was to raise and
educate children and
run the household
when the husband was
absent
• Married women were
not supposed to work
outside the home and
were expected to obey
husbands
• Unmarried women had
more rights, such as
property ownership
Africans in the Colonies
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
African Slaves:
Initially, colonists justified slavery because Africans were not Christians
Eventually, slavery was based on RACE, and the status could be passed on to CHILDREN
Slave Codes:
These laws emphasized that African slaves were DIFFERENT and created racism
These laws controlled slaves and kept them at a low status
Slaves could not own property, testify against whites, and could not travel or assemble freely
Indentured Servitude, Bacon’s Rebellion, and Racially-Based Slavery
Slave Conditions
• Slave Conditions:
• Slaves worked long days performing hard labor
and sometimes were beaten
• Slave owners would sometimes break up families
by selling off members
Slave Resistance
• Slave Resistance:
• Slaves would work
slowly, pretend to be
dumb, or run away
• Stono Rebellion- in
1739, slaves in South
Carolina rebelled
against their owners
• They killed 21 whites
but were caught
when they tried to
escape to Spanish
Florida
• Slave Conditions and
the Stono Rebellion
The Colonies Grow
•
•
•
•
•
Birth Rate Increases
In the 1700s, the
population in the
colonies grew rapidly
Families averaged seven
children each, and even
more in New England
(Northern population
grew faster)
The population doubled
every 25 years, up to 2.5
million by the American
Revolution in 1776
By 1776, most colonists
had been born in
America, NOT England
The Colonies Grow
• Immigration:
• By 1776, over 300,000 non-English
immigrants had moved to the
English colonies
• Germans and Dutch moved to the
middle colonies
• The Scots-Irish, who had been
oppressed by England, moved to
the western frontier
• Africans were brought as slaves,
mostly to the Southern colonies
Colonial Demographics in 1776
Loyalty to England Decline
• Impact on Loyalty to England:
• By 1776, most people in the
colonies had either been born
in America or in a country
other than England
• By 1776, England had passed
many laws and committed
actions the colonists hated
• Respect for England’s
authority declined, which
helped cause the American
Revolution in 1776
English/Colonial Economics
• Mercantilism:
• Idea that a country’s power is tied to its wealth
• Colonies provided England with raw materials, making England selfsufficient
• England got wealthier because did not have to buy from other countries
The Navigation Acts
• The Navigation Acts:
• These laws exploited
the colonies to help
England
• Colonists could only
trade on English
ships
• England listed
several products the
colonists could ONLY
sell to England
Colonies React to the Navigation Acts
• Colonial
Reaction:
• The colonies felt
these acts
restricted their
economies
• Colonists
smuggled goods
to the Caribbean
(West Indies),
Africa, and other
European
countries
England Tightens its Grip
• English King James II merged
the New England colonies
together and put a
governor-general, Sir
Edmund Andros, in charge
• This new “Dominion of New
England” was meant to crack
down on smuggling
• Andros strictly enforced the
Navigation Acts and higher
taxes
• The colonists’ relationship
with England worsened
England’s Revolution
•
•
•
•
•
•
Glorious Revolution:
James II and Edmund Andros were both removed from power
England created the English Bill of Rights, allowing free speech, jury trials, and
ending “cruel and unusual punishment”
The new English leaders, William and Mary, restored freedom to the colonies
This foreshadowed the American Revolution and the American Bill of Rights
The Navigation Acts and the Glorious Revolution
New Ideas: The Enlightenment
• Philosophical
Movement:
• The Enlightenment
• The Enlightenment
emphasized logic,
science, and reasoning
(rationalism)
• Deism:
• Many Enlightenment
thinkers were deists
• Deists believed God let
natural laws run the
universe but had no
personal relationship
with humans
Enlightenment
Thinkers
• John Locke’s Beliefs:
• Natural Rights- rights
people are born with,
including the right to life,
liberty, and property.
• Compact theorygovernment exists as a
compact with the people
in order to protect natural
rights
• The government rules at
the consent of the
governed
• People should abolish a
government that does not
protect their natural rights
Enlightenment Thinkers
• Baron Montesquieu's
Beliefs:
• Separation of Powersdivision of
government into
three branches—
executive, legislative,
and judicial
• Checks and Balancesthe branches “check”
each other’s power,
preventing a
dictatorship
The Zenger Case
(1733)
• Zenger Case:
• John Peter Zenger was put
on trial for criticizing the
New York governor in the
newspaper
• Zenger was ruled not guilty
• This related to government
ruling by consent of the
governed
• This also helped set the
precedent of freedom of
the press (1st Amendment)
New Ideas: The Great Awakening
•
•
•
•
•
•
Religious Movement:
The Great Awakening
Over time, colonists had
become less religious
The Great Awakening
was a revival of
Christianity in the
colonies
Emotionalism was
emphasized over
rationalism and people
were converted at large
public revival meetings
The movement rejected
traditional church
authority and stressed
a personal connection
with God
The Great Awakening
• Major Preachers:
• Jonathan Edwardscalled on people to
repent or be sent to
hell by an angry God
• George Whitefieldpreached emotional
sermons with a
booming voice
• The Great
Awakening
The Great Awakening
• Impact:
• American churches
split into two groups
• “Old Lights”- churches
that maintained
traditional authority
• “New Lights”emphasized personal
religious experience
over traditional church
authority
Impact of
Movements on
Colonies
• Impact of New Ideas on the
Colonies:
• The Enlightenment led
Americans to feel England
had violated their natural
rights and the “compact”
• The Great Awakening led
Americans to question
England’s traditional
authority
• These two movements
made Americans prone to
consider independence
from England in 1776