1730-1776

Key Aspects of Colonial Life and Thought

• What happened?• Took place near the Stono River in

South Carolina

• Began when about 20 enslaved Africans killed two storekeepers and seized a supply of guns and ammunition

• Rebels gathered new recruits and burned seven plantations killing 22-25 whites

• Local militia finally suppressed the rebellion following a battle in which 20 whites and 44 slaves were killed

The Stono Rebellion, 1739

• What caused the Stono Rebellion?• Slaves were majority of SC’s

population

• They hoped to reach Spanish-controlled Florida where they would gain their freedom

• Why should you remember the Stono Rebellion?• The SC legislature enacted strict

laws prohibiting slaves from assembling in groups, earning money, and learning to read

• The rebellion highlighted the growing tensions in colonial society between slaves and their owners

The Stono Rebellion, 1739

• The first Puritans wanted a model community with a strict moral code

• Churches only accepted persons who could show they were among God’s “elect”

• As Puritan communities became increasingly prosperous, the focus moved away from religion

• As a result, fewer adults could provide testimony to their own “election”

• Halfway Covenant• Designed to respond to the decline of

religious zeal among second generation Puritans

• Eased requirements for church membership by allowing the baptism of children whose parents could not provide testimony of their own “election”

The Halfway Covenant

Grandparent

Parent

Child

Baptized and “Elect”

Baptized

Baptized and ?

• What happened?• A wave of religious revivals began in

New England in the mid-1730s

• Revivals swept across all of the colonies during the 1740s

• What caused the Great Awakening?• People became preoccupied with

earning and spending money, not religion

• By the 1730s, ministers were worried about religious decline

• “Old Lights”

• Puritan ministers who continued their long intellectual sermons

The Great Awakening

• What caused the Great Awakening (continued)?• “New Lights”

• Jonathan Edwards

• Provided initial spark for the movement

• Delivered emotional sermons warning sinners to repent

• George Whitefield

• Spread “New Light” fervor as he preached emotional sermons to huge crowds

• Gripped by fear of divine justice, audiences from every colony promised to repent and accept Christ

• “New Light” ministers stressed that individuals could attain salvation only by first experiencing a “new birth”—a sudden, emotional moment of conversion and salvation

The Great Awakening

• Why should you remember the Great Awakening?• Led to a decline in the power of traditional “Old Light” Puritan ministers

• Split the Presbyterian and Congregational (Puritan) churches into “New Light” factions that supported the Great Awakening and “Old Light” factions that opposed it

• Fragmented American Protestants promoting religious pluralism and toleration

• Encouraged missionary work among Native Americans and slaves

• More itinerant (wandering) ministers

• More women in church congregations

• “New Light” colleges founded – Princeton, Rutgers, Dartmouth, Brown, and Columbia

The Great Awakening

• Britain adopted mercantilism as their economic policy• Britain acquired wealth, and thus power, by having a favorable balance of

trade

• Colonies existed to supply raw materials to Britain and to purchase manufactured goods from Britain

Mercantilism

• Navigation Acts• Passed by Parliament to

implement its mercantilist philosophy

• Regulated colonial shipping

• Certain items can only be shipped to England

• Required that all colonial items be routed through English ports

• Must use British or colonial vessels

• Mercantilism impeded the growth of colonial manufacturing

• Salutary Neglect• Navigation laws were not rigorously enforced prior to 1763

• During this period of neglect, colonists learned to work around the laws

Mercantilism

• A married woman had no legal identity apart from her husband• Lost control of her property when she married

• Women could own property if they were single

• Women could not• Vote

• Hold political office

• Serve on juries or become ministers

• Women comprised a majority in many New England church congregations

Women in Colonial America

• Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)• First published American poet

• First woman to be published in colonial America

• Phillis Wheatly (1753-1784)• First notable African American poet

• Holds distinction of being the first African American woman whose writing was published

Key Colonial Authors

• Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)• Founded an academy that became the

University of Pennsylvania

• Conducted experiments with electricity

• Published popular books

• At 27, Franklin published Poor Richard’s Almanack

• Weather forecasts

• Practical household advice

• Common sense sayings on success and happiness

• As he got older, Franklin wrote an autobiography addressed to his son William

• He was a self-made individual

• Proudly noted that he “emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred, to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world”

Key Colonial Authors

1. Judging from what you have learned about Ben Franklin, how would you describe his mind?

2. Which of his inventions and discoveries do you think had the most impact?

3. How does the creation of scholarly organizations reflect the philosophy of the European Enlightenment?

4. How did this American Enlightenment differ from the one in Europe?

5. What groups of people would be most likely to adopt the ideas of the Enlightenment?

Benjamin Franklin Questions