AP Chapter 5

1. AP Chapter 5 The Cultures of Colonial North America

2. The French Crescent • Early French colonies were predominately Catholic and spread by Jesuit missionaries • French relied on their trading alliances to grow their colonies in N. America • Colonies sprung up around the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, New Orleans and the Great Lakes • Colonies relied on farming and trading

3. New England • Most English colonists were Puritans and their church played a key role in their everyday lives • Puritans worked communal land, adult males were freemen and they controlled their local community • Many towns were restricted by the Puritan faith • Puritans persecuted Baptists, Anglicans and even Quakers

4. John Locke argued that the state should not have legitimate concern with religious belief (Separation of church and state) • Toleration Acts- passed by Parliament in 1661 to stop the religious persecution by the Puritans in Massachusetts • Gradually over time other denominations were allowed to practice in New England colonies

5. The Middle Colonies • Were more ethnically diverse than the New England colonies • Puritan, Baptist, Quaker, Catholic and Jewish churches all existed • Community leaders (men) ran the colonies and they were loosely bound together • Land was distributed into individual lots rather than communal ones

6. The Backcountry • People moved along the Appalachian Mts. In Pennsylvania and Virginia • Considered the first frontier movement in N. America • Most had no legal claim to the land and became squatters and resented the belief in “rank” • Most were farmers and hunters

7. The South • Chesapeake and Lower South were tri-racial (whites, slaves and natives) • Largest population growth was from the importation of slaves to the region • Specialized in rice, tobacco, and other commercial crops • Consisted of few villages and towns • Church of England was the dominate religious order • Plantations were the dominate social institution

9. Culture in the New World • Family, kinship, local community and the church were the most significant factors of everyday life. • Most colonists continued to work the land they lived on and commercial agriculture did emerge • Colonial cities were centers of commerce and organized by the European craft system (cities specialized in certain crafts)

10. Labor was the key to prosperity but was often limited • Settlers preferred to work the land for themselves rather than work for a wage • Landowners would often have to use forced labor to secure a workforce • More than half the immigrants from Europe were indentured servants • Acquiring land was important and often led to warfare amongst the Native Americans

11. Diverging Social and Political Patterns • England was the only colonial power to encourage immigration and sent recruiting agents throughout N. Europe • British eased citizenship requirements to encourage migration • More than 600,000 slaves came to the British colonies before the ban on the slave trade

12. Social Classes • French used the Encomienda System as the social structure for their colonies • Landownership in the British colonies determined a persons social status • British social structure was more opened and allowed for social mobility • British colonies had a large middle class • British colonies had a higher standard of living

13. Economic Growth • British colonies experienced more economic growth than the French and Spanish colonies • More economic growth did lead to social inequality or a large gap between the rich and the poor • As the population grew the competition for land grew

14. Colonial Politics • Spanish and French colonies were highly centralized while the British were not • The right to vote was restricted to white males who owned property • Males dominated their families • Gradually their was a shift towards a representative government that collected revenue • Assemblies controlled the “Purse Strings” so royal governors had to be good politically

15. The Enlightenment Challenge • Enlightenment- thinkers in Britain and France who argued that the universe was governed by natural laws • John Locke- said govt. must protect our natural/inalienable rights and if they failed to do so then the people can overthrow the govt. • Harvard, William and Mary and Yale taught these new ideas to their students

16. John Locke

18. Conservatives and old order defenders did not like the new ways of governing • Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732-57) published by Benjamin Franklin used traditional literary form to promote the ideas of the Enlightenment • As British colonies became more complex the people became more educated and their was a higher demand for written works

19. Benjamin Franklin

20. Decline in Religious Devotion • As Enlightenment ideas began to spread religious devotion was declining • Church membership and attendance was declining • Half-Way Covenant- 1662 eased baptismal restrictions on people in New England • Congregationalists- began to question Calvin’s theology of predestination

21. The Great Awakening • Movement that began to gain strength in the 1730s led by Rev. Jonathon Edwards • Edwards sermons were more emotional and drew many followers • Great Awakening- N. America’s religious revival in the mid eighteenth century • People going through hardships found relief in the enthusiastic services

23. Disagreements emerged between revivalists and the old guard • Many congregations were divided amongst its members • Great Awakening led to more churches and increased attendance at services especially with young people • Revivalism offered people the chance to participate in public debates and impacted politics

24. Conclusion • Colonies were shaped by religion, economics and their mother country • Enlightenment began to change people’s thought process • Great Awakening played a major role in changing the influence of religion in the colonies.