Chapter 5
Life in the English Colonies
(1630 – 1770)
Section 1
Forms of Government
Colonial Governments
• Privy Council set English policy in the colonies
– allowed most to run own affairs
• Each colony had a governor (head of government)
– Most assisted by advisory council
– Job was to carry out policies set by England
Colonial Assemblies
• In the colonies the government was based on
Parliament, the English lawmaking body
(bicameral legisltature-2 houses)
• Colonial assemblies had the power to
– Raise taxes and organize local governments.
– Shared control of the military with the governor.
– And approve laws
• Virginia’s Assembly (Jamestown 1619) first
colonial legislature in North America
– First house-Council of State
– Second House-House of Burgess (elected by colonists)
– Town meetings are center of politics; governor has
final say if there is a disagreement; developed
tradition of holding 2 or more a year
Colonial Courts
• Colonists used courts to control local affairs
• Supported interests and ideas of their
communities
– Ex. Laws in Massachusetts enforced Puritan’s religious
views (efforts to combine church and state)
• Sometimes protected individual freedoms
– Ex. John Peter Zenger – freedom of the press
• charged with committing libel (a false statement) against a
public official
• Andrew Hamilton, his attorney, argued he could publish
whatever he wanted as long as it was true
• jury’s verdict = not guilty
Dominion of New England
King James II
• King James II became King of
England and was determined
to take more control of
England and the colonies.
• Dominion of New England
united the northern colonies
under one government
• Edmund Andros was the
appointed royal governor
• Limited powers of towns
meetings to prevent protests
The Glorious Revolution
• King James tried to change England from a
Protestant country to a Catholic one.
• The Glorious Revolution was when William and
Mary overthrew James without a single blood
dropped. Mary was James’ daughter and she was
asked by England to become queen.
• English Bill of Rights- (representative body)
Powers of Monarch were reduced and
Parliament gained power.
William and Mary
Section 2
The Growth of Trade
English Trade Laws
• In the late 1600s England practiced
mercantilism-system that created and
maintained wealth by controlling trade
• Nation could be self sufficient if it had a good
balance of trade (fewer imports than exports)
English Trade Laws-cont’d
• 1650-1696 Parliament passed the Navigation
Acts-required colonies to do most of their
trade with England. Also set duties (import
taxes)
• English laws limited free enterprise,
economic trade with little government
control
– They did this by preventing colonists from buying
or selling directly with foreign countries
Colonial Trade
• 1733, Parliament passed Molasses Act,
placed duties on sugar, molasses and rum
– Colonists responded by smuggling goods in
• Some merchants took part in triangular trade
– Colonies traded with West Indies, then shipped
goods to Britain
Triangular Trade
Middle Passage
• Middle Passage was the voyage that brought
slaves across the Atlantic to the Americas
– Many died during the voyage
– Lasted Three months
– Legs and necks were chained.
– Cramped spaces.
• Some colonists opposed the slave trade
– Quakers in Germantown, PA made 1st recorded
protest against slavery
Middle Passage cont’d
Section 3
The Colonial Economy
Agriculture in the Southern Colonies
• Farms in the south did well because of the warm
climate and long growing season
– Many farms grew cash crops-crops sold for profit
– Tobacco (VA), rice, and indigo (SC) were most
important cash crops
• Slave codes passed – laws to control slaves
– Colonies with large number of slaves had strictest codes
– South Carolina’s slaves could not hold meetings or own
weapons
– Some colonies did not allow slaveholders to free slaves
– Virginia Assembly passed law allowing people to kill runaway
slaves that resisted
Industry and Trade in New England
• Few grew cash crops because of harsh climate and rocky
soil
– Few slaves
• Trade was vital to New England’s economy
– Entrepreneurs traded locally and overseas
• Fishing and shipbuilding were the two leading
industries
– Shipbuilding prospered because region had plenty of forests
and local fishing industry needed ships
• Diverse economy needed skilled craftspeople
– Apprentices learned blacksmithing, weaving, shipbuilding,
and printing
Middle Colonies
• Good growing season and rich land-could grow large
amounts of food
– Middle colonies grew staple crops (crops that are
needed) – wheat, barley and oats
• Indentured servants largely filled labor needs
• Trade and free enterprise important
• By the mid-1700s Philadelphia had become one of
the largest British colonial cities
Women and the Economy
• Ran farms and businesses (clothing and
grocery stores, bakeries, drug stores)
• Some women practiced medicine, often as
nurses or midwives
• Colonial laws and customs limited women’s
economic activities
– Married women could not work outside the home
without her husband’s permission
– Husband had the right to keep money she earned
• Most worked in the home, managed households and
raised children
Section 4
The Great Awakening
Words of the Great Awakening
• Revivals were held to bring back sense of religious
(emotional gatherings where people came together
to hear sermons and declare their faith)
• Because of the revivals many colonists experienced
“a great awakening” in their religious lives
• Great Awakening reached its height in the 1730s
and 1740s – widespread Christian movement
involving sermons and revivals
Words of the Great Awakening cont’d
• Jonathan Edwards was one of the most important
leaders of the Great Awakening
– Pastor that urged sinners to seek forgiveness for sins or face
punishment in hell forever
– Author of Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God
• A British minister George Whitefield, one of the most
popular ministers of the G.A., helped thousands of
colonists found new faith in Christianity
– Because of Whitefield
• Ministers preached all people were born sinners who
could only be saved by the will of God
George Whitefield
Old and New Lights
• “Old Lights” – traditionalists
• “New Lights” – followers of the Great Awakening
• Presbyterian Church in middle colonies changed
– Gilbert Tennent led new movement attacking
traditionalists
– Church split into two groups – “Old Side” and “New Side”
• Church attendance greatly increased in middle and southern
colonies (particularly in Virginia)
– Much of this growth took place among Baptists and
Methodists
• Great Awakening influential on frontier
– Traveling preachers held revivals
– Important because there were few churches
Gilbert Tennent
The Great Awakening and Society
• Women welcomed the message
• Free and enslaved Africans were drawn to message of
acceptance and spiritual equality
– Despite equality message, revivals separated by race
• Before the Great Awakening, there was little communication
between people living in different colonies
– Changed as ministers moved about, exchanging ideas
• Led some colonists to begin demanding political equality
– Revivals were popular places to talk about political and
social issues
Section 5
American Culture
New Ideas in Europe
• During 1600s Europeans began to experiment more
and make new discoveries. Their new ideas about
the universe became known as the Scientific
Revolution. This revolution began in math and
astronomy.
• Galileo Galilei-one leading figure, demonstrated that
planets revolve around the sun
• Late 1600s Isaac Newton developed much of the
scientific method.
New Ideas in Europe cont’d
• Scientific Revolution also changed how people
viewed human actions-Age of Reason or the
Enlightenment.
– Enlightenment philosophers used reason and logic. They
studied human nature and suggested ways to improve
the world
– Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu formed ideas about
how government should best serve people
John Locke
• John Locke believed
that people had natural
rights such as equality
and liberty. People
should obey their
rulers if the state
protected their life,
liberty, and property
Colonial Education
• More schools in New England than in Middle and
Southern colonies
– Valued ability to read the Bible
– Wanted to make future generations of educated
ministers so they created town schools
• Schoolchildren often used the New England Primer –
characters and stories from the Bible
• Middle and southern colonies – children often lived
far from towns; had to be taught by parents or
tutors
• Most stopped education after elementary grades
Colonial Education
• First college founded in
English colonies was
Harvard
• Nine colleges were
established – most in
the middle colonies
and in New England
– Classes focused on
religion
– Men studied sciences
or law
Colonial Scientists
• Scientists taught themselves by observing the
world around them
• American Philosophical Society – founded in
Philadelphia for the study of science by
Benjamin Franklin
– Members wanted to improve communication among
colonial scientists
– David Rittenhouse – society’s second president;
designed mathematical and astronomical instruments
Colonial Scientists
Benjamin Banneker – free
African American who
lived in Maryland;
predicted a solar
eclipse; first colonist to
build a clock
Benjamin Franklin
• Most famous colonial scientist
• Started the most successful newspaper in the
colonies – also published Poor Richard’s Almanack
(1732-1757)
• Believed that reason could be used to make life
better
• Invented useful devices
– Lightning rod reduced risk of fire started by electrical storms,
Franklin stove heated homes effectively, and bifocals corrected
far- and nearsightedness
• Flew kite during lightning storm to prove lightning =
form of electricity
Colonial Writers and Artists
• Anne Bradstreet wrote poetry about her
family and her faith
• Phillis Wheatley was one of the first African
Americans to be published. Wrote On Being
Brought from Africa to America. She described
how Christianity changed her life
• Robert Feke became a widely admired painter