Enlightenment

1. enlightenment a. The Enlightenment was a European cultural movement that emphasized the power of human reason to shape the world and challenged the status quo in science, mathematics, religion, and government. The movement, which appealed especially to well-educated men and women from merchant or planter families and to urban artisans, promoted independent thinking and transformed American intellectual and cultural life. b. Germans and Scots-Irish settle in the Middle Atlantic colonies i. The frontier regions of the middle colonies attracted large numbers of non-English settlers. In the early 1700s the largest of these ethnic groups were Germans and Scots-Irish, who settled mostly in the backcountry of Pennsylvania. They tried to retain their own cultures and identities, countering the usual trend toward assimilation and adoption of English ways. At first they fit well into Pennsylvania society, but over time their views came into conflict with the Quaker leadership. c. Theodore Jacob Frelinghuysen preaches Pietism to German

migrants i. Pietism was a devotional movement that spread throughout the colonies in the early eighteenth century. Pietists emphasized devout behavior, emotional church services, and striving for a mystical union with God. Pietist preachers appealed to the hearts, rather than the minds, of their parishioners. The Dutch minister Theodore Jacob Frelinghuysen, the first major Pietist minister in North America, moved from church to church throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, delivering enthusiastic sermons and preaching spiritual urgency to German settlers.

2. Revivals among scots-irish Following the lead of Frelinghuysen, who spread Pietism among German settlers, William and Gilbert Tennent fostered revivalism among Scots-Irish congregations throughout the Middle Atlantic region. Their work expanded the denominational scope of revivalism in America.

Jonathan Edwards preaches in New England i. The Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards delivered Pietistic sermons in Congregational churches in the Connecticut River Valley. Edwards's work brought revivalism into the New England colonies and to English colonists much as Frelinghuysen and the Tennents

had done in the middle colonies among non-English settlers. 3. George whitefield a. A young English evangelist, George Whitefield, transformed local religious revivals into a "Great Awakening" that spanned the mainland British American settlements. Using his compelling personal presence to captivate his listeners, Whitefield preached to huge crowds from Georgia to Massachusetts. 4. Great awakening a. The Great Awakening created tension and caused splits in religious denominations between traditionalists (Old Lights) and supporters of revivalism (New Lights) who questioned the views of established churches. These divisions tore into the fabric of society and caused many settlers to question the status quo, first in religion and then in other areas, including political life. b. Shortage of farmland in New England threatens freehold ideal i. By the eighteenth century, dramatic increases in population and overcrowding of the land threatened freehold society in New England, where good land had become difficult to find. Farm communities responded to this crisis by choosing to have smaller families, asking the government to open new land along the frontier, planting crops with better yields, and sharing labor and goods. c. Growing ethnic and religious pluralism in Middle Atlantic

colonies i. No region of colonial America enjoyed a greater mix of race, religion, and ethnicity in its population than the Middle Atlantic colonies. The Dutch heritage of New York, the Swedish foundation of Delaware, and the German and Scots-Irish immigrants lured into New Jersey and Pennsylvania by liberal Quaker policies assured that the middle colonies would have a rich pluralism to broaden the social, cultural, and religious life of Great Britain's mainland colonies. d. Religious denominations establish colleges i. The influence of the Great Awakening was felt in many aspects of American life, including education. Under the leadership of the New Lights, a number of religious denominations promoted their beliefs through newly established colleges, including Princeton

(originally the College of New Jersey), which was founded by Presbyterians; Brown, founded by Baptists; and Rutgers, subsidized by the Dutch Reformed Church. e. Samuel Morris starts Presbyterian revivals in Virginia i. In the southern colonies, the Great Awakening challenged the dominance of both the Church of England and the planter elite. In 1743, bricklayer Samuel Morris, inspired by reading George Whitefield's sermons, led a group of Virginia Anglicans out of the church. Seeking a more vital religious experience, Morris and his followers invited New Light Presbyterian ministers to lead their prayer meetings. Soon Presbyterian revivals spread not only to the Scots-Irish backcountry but also to English residents in the Tidewater region, where they threatened the social authority of the Virginia gentry. 5. Consumer revolution increases American imports and debt The transition from human manufactures to machine-produced goods revolutionized the British economy with an immediate echo effect on the American colonies. American consumers enjoyed better and cheaper goods from the home country but often went into debt to buy those goods, and resentment against British merchants and colonial proprietors began to build.

6. French and Indian war a. The last of the wars for empire between England and France began in America when Virginians moved into the Ohio River Valley, where France had been active in the fur trade. Within two years the war spread to Europe and then became worldwide in scope. The Great War for Empire resolved forever the competition between Great Britain and France to determine which country would be the dominant European power in North America. b. Iroquois and colonists meet at Albany Congress; Franklin's Plan

of Union i. To shore up the alliance with the Iroquois Nations that had begun to unravel, in part because of escalating Anglo-American demand for Indian lands, the Board of Trade called for an intercolonial meeting with the Indians at Albany, New York, in June 1754. At the meeting the American delegates assured the Iroquois that they had no designs on their lands and asked for their assistance against the French. To bolster colonial defenses, Benjamin Franklin proposed a Plan of Union that would include a continental

assembly to manage all western affairs: trade, Indian policy, and defense. The Plan of Union never materialized because both the provincial assemblies and the imperial government feared that colonial collaboration would undermine their authority.

7. Great war In 1756 the French and Indian War spread to Europe, where the conflict aligned Britain and Prussia against France, Spain, and Austria. Britain mounted major offenses in India and West Africa as well as in North America and the West Indies, transforming the conflict into a war for empire in which Britain was determined to crush France, its main obstacle to further imperial expansion. 8. Canada a. William Pitt's imperial strategy in the French and Indian War was to take control of French strongholds along the St. Lawrence River. The capture of Quebec opened the way to control of the valley and proved to be the turning point of the war. When Montreal fell to British arms in 1760, the British conquest of Canada was complete.

9. Land conflict a. By the middle of the eighteenth century, major political, economic, and social changes in the colonies began to cause tension between western settlers and colonial authorities along the seacoast. Throughout the colonial backcountry, such as along the New York-New England border, violence flared among Indians, tenants, and landlords over ownership rights. b. Baptist revivals win converts in Virginia i. During the Great Awakening, traditional ways of thinking and acting frequently came under challenge. Nowhere was this more apparent than in Virginia, where Baptist ministers drew large numbers of supporters and converts from the poor white and black populations of the colony. In fact, slaves were welcomed at Baptist revivals, where a message of equality often was preached. This threat to long-standing beliefs and actions deepened the growing gap between the landed gentry on one side and poor whites and blacks on the other. 10. Pontiac’s rebellion

a. Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa supported the French against the British in the French and Indian War and rose up against an influx of Anglo-American settlers moving into the area of the Great Lakes. The British empire attempted to mitigate the tensions by issuing the Proclamation of 1763, which barred Anglo-Americans from settling west of the Appalachians. b. Treaty of Paris ends Great War for Empire i. The Treaty of Paris removed France as a threat to England in America by stripping away France's mainland colonies. In a secondary deal, Britain also assumed control of Spanish Florida. c. Scots-Irish Paxton Boys massacre Indians in Pennsylvania i. As colonists established new settlements along the frontier, conflict with Native Americans was inevitable. In Pennsylvania, the ScotsIrish Paxton Boys massacred Indians who stood in the way of their settlement, creating a political crisis for the Pennsylvania leadership. 11. Regulator revolt a. In North Carolina, groups of landowning vigilantes called Regulators organized to suppress bands of landless whites that were roaming the countryside and stealing cattle and property. The Regulators pressed for greater political rights for their region and demanded lower legal fees, a fairer tax system, and greater local representation. In May 1771, Royal Governor William Tryon mobilized British troops and the eastern militia to defeat a large Regulator force at the Alamance River.