1650-1754

1. 1650-1754 Era of False Independence

2. Timeline • 1660: Navigation Laws passed – made colonists only able to trade with Britain, influencing with mercantilism • 1661: Barbados Slave Code passed – “codes” that gave slave owners complete power over all of their slaves • 1676: Bacon’s Rebellion – Nathaniel Bacon led an uprising with former indentured servants, resulting in higher demands of slaves (and not indentured servants) • 1681: Pennsylvania founded – founded by William Penn as a religious sanctuary • 1682: Large waves of immigrants flood in – some include the German and the Irish, which have large influences on local culture, especially in Pennsylvania

3. Timeline (cont.) • 1684: The Dominion of New England created – gave governor Edmund Andros immense power in colonies from New Jersey to Maine • 1689-1697: King William’s War – one of several wars fought between the British and French, which ended in reestablishing prewar colonial boundaries • 1692: Salem Witch Trials – court trials in Salem, Massachusetts, convicting and hanging innocent Puritans • 1730s-1740: The First Great Awakening – a religious revival in England and colonial America • 1733: Parliament enacted the Molasses Act – an act to try to further control colonial trade • 1734: Peter Zenger Trial – Zenger was put on trial for making harsh, but true statements in the newspaper

4. George Whitefield • Methodist evangelist during the 1730s • Known for sparking The 1st Great Awakening • Also known for being one of the first to preach to the enslaved • Attracted crowds larger than 20,000 people

5. Mercantilism • The British belief that the amount of gold and silver in a nation’s treasury determines its strength • The belief that the colonies existed for the sole benefit of the mother nation • Was the underlying reason for the passage of the Navigation Acts—so that the colonies would trade exclusively to Great Britain

6. The Great Awakening • The first spontaneous movement of the colonies, where preachers traveled and preached to try and convert • Challenged original ideas of Puritans and created new churches • Made colonists realize that all men should be equal in the eyes of God, helping develop democratic ideals • Brought up the topic of freedom of religion in the future Constitution

7. Salutary Neglect • When Great Britain had its own affairs to deal with and ‘neglected’ the colonies in North America • The British had passed the Navigation Acts, but decided to not heavily enforce them • With the neglect from its mother, the colonies became mostly self-sufficient and traded with whoever they wanted to • This established a sense of independence, which would collide with Great Britain after the French and Indian War

8. Summary • As the colonies developed, so did its institution of slavery, notion of independence, and identity. Though mercantilist ideals stated that the colonies would be in existence for the sole benefit of the mother nation, the colonies began to form its own identity in the time of salutary neglect. The Great Awakening and the Zenger Trial are only two events that took place and began to unveil the fact that the American colonies were headed in the right direction in developing their own future nation.