Life in the English Colonies
1630-1770

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Privy Council
Parliament
Bicameral Legislature
House of Burgesses
Town Meeting
Libel
English Bill of Rights

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Mercantilism
Favorable Balance of
Trade
Exports
Imports
Navigation Acts
West Indies (pg 128)
Triangular Trade
Middle Passage
Olaudah Equiano
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Cash Crops
Slave Codes
Staple Crops
New England (just list
4 colonies)
Middle Colonies (just list 4 colonies)

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Revivals
Great Awakening
Jonathan Edwards
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Enlightenment
Rousseau-Enlightenment thinker who wrote Social Contract about man’s role in government
Montesquieu-Enlightenment thinker who wrote The Spirit
of Laws which advocated dividing the powers of government into branches so that no one branch of government becomes too powerful
John Locke-

Section 1- Forms of Government
 Colonial Governments—Generally
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Diverse- founded by different groups with different rules
Charter- Proprietary, Royal or Company
English King owned all of the colonies and had a group to advise the king: Privy Council
 However, the Privy Council allowed the colonies to pretty much run themselves—why?
Colonial Governor to carry out the policies of England
 Colonial Assemblies-
 Based on Parliament in England
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 Parliament is Bicameral- 2 houses of the legislature
Representative bodies elected by colonists to establish day to day rules of colony
Colonial Courts modeled after England too

 Representative Body= 2 houses= Bicameral
1)
2)
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Council of State
House of Burgess- 1 st Colonial representative body founded at Jamestown in 1619
Members elected by Virginian colonists
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Rather than representative body, some New England colonies operated with a Town Meeting- where all the colonists met to discuss issues

During the founding of American colonies,
England was becoming more representative
Glorious Revolution
 English Parliament forced King James II to resign
 Parliament invited James’ daughter and son-in-law to rule England if they would agree to give Parliament more power. They did.
 Glorious Revolution: 1688 William and Mary came to the throne of
England and signed the
granting
Parliament more power
 American colonists wanted more power too!

Chapter 5, Section 2
The Growth of Trade
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Even though the colonies were individuals and diverse they still shared some basic economic similarities
1) They relied on agricultural products/raw materials for their $$
2)
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They had to do what England told them to do in trade
England’s Trade Policy -
an economic system based on a favorable balance of trade.
The mother country (England) always wants to sell more goods than she buys from other countries. (Export more than she imports).
Goal=make money (accumulation of wealth)
Colonies helped England achieve the favorable balance of trade

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Mercantilism and Colonies
Colonies (especially Southern colonies) provided raw materials to the England: Cash crops like Tobacco, rice, cotton, wood, indigo
The Mother Country refines the raw materials into finished goods
Mother Country sells the finished goods to other countries (exports) and also to the colonies
Mother country enforces these policies with established rules like Navigation Acts : England required its colonies to trade only with England

Relationship between
Mercantilism and the Slave Trade
 In order for the colonies to produce the raw materials necessary for Mercantilism, colonies needed slave labor
 Slaves came from Africa to the Americas
 It became efficient for the ships transporting goods to make a triangular shaped route: Triangle of Trade
 Part 1- Finished goods from Europe to West Coast of Africa to pick up slaves
 Part 2- Slaves and finished goods from Africa to America this second leg became known as the MIDDLE PASSAGE
 Part 3- Raw materials from America to Europe

Chapter 5, Section 3
The Colonial Economy-diverse based on geography
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Southern Colonies
: Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South
Carolina, & Georgia
 Economy based on farming on large plantations
 Grew Cash crops like tobacco, rice, indigo
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 Requires a lot of labor to run the plantation-used slaves from Africa
Developed Slave Codes –laws designed to control and limit power of slaves
Northern colonies
: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island
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Economy based on trade & Industry rather than farming since soil too rocky for farming.
Shipbuilding and fishing leading industries
Used skilled craftspeople for labor instead of slavery
Middle Colonies : Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York
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Mixture of trade and farming: Grew staple crops-those always needed-wheat, barley, oats
Used some slavery in cities for labor and on farms

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Section 4- The Great Awakening
Review: What were the main 2 motives for English colonies?
 By early 1700s religious leaders worried the colonists had lost some of their religious enthusiasm and wanted to revive interest in religion
 Hosted Revivals: emotional gatherings of sermons
 These actions by religious leaders led to Great Awakening: widespread Christian movement involving sermons and revivals emphasizing faith and religion
 Jonathan Edwards one of the leaders- famous sermon
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

 Return to religion
 Founding of colleges-especially for religious purposes
 Promotion of ideals of spiritual equality led to call for more political equality

The Enlightenment shares new ideas about Government and Economics
 Review: England had always enjoyed some role of the people in government seen through what three documents?
 Enlightenment : a philosophical movement of the 1700s in which men asked questions about what should be man’s role in government. Especially wanted a social contract where man had a say in his government.

Enlightenment Thinkers who influenced American colonists
 John Lockebelieved man had three natural rights (life, liberty & property) and if the government violates any of those rights, man has the power to choose a new government
 Jean Jacques Rousseauwrote Social Contract- believed the government should operate to serve the will of the majority of the people
 Baron Montesquieuwrote On the Spirit of Laws –wanted government to divide its powers into branches so that no one part of government becomes too powerful
These are all ideas the American colonists would use eventually when they broke rebelled against England and formed a new government