Life in the English Colonies

​Life in the English Colonies: Chapter 3: Section 4

What were the American Colonies?

• The American Colonies were thirteen different territories along the east coast of North America.

• They were given some freedom but controlled by England.

​Examples of Self-Government in Colonial US History

​Mayflower Compact - An agreement in 1620 for all colonists to follow the rules created by the colony ​

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Virginia House of Burgesses - The first example of self-government in the American colonies

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Town Hall Meetings - A meeting by a group of people to solve the problems of the community​

​Self-Government -

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The practice of a group of people making their own laws, rules, and decisions for themselves.

New Terms

​Colonization -

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One group taking over a territory and making the laws, rules, and decisions for that group.

​What is the relationship between self-government and colonization? (Are they the same? Are they opposites? Is one an example of the other?)

​Background

​The English Bill of Rights was an act signed into law in 1689 by William III and Mary II, who became co-rulers in England after the overthrow of King James II. The bill outlined specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave Parliament power over the monarchy. Many experts regard the English Bill of Rights as the primary law that set the stage for a constitutional monarchy in England. It’s also credited as being an inspiration for the U.S. Bill of Rights.

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Map of the Triangular Trade

Between Europe, Africa, and the Americas

Charles de Montesquieu

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He was a famous French nobleman who lived from 1689 to 1755. His ideas about. government and law were recorded in several books.  He proposed separating government into three branches so that power would not be concentrated in the hands of one person or one group of people. 

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William Blackstone

William Blackstone was a British lawyer in 1800s. As a philosopher, he taught that men are granted fundamental rights by God. His writings influenced the Founding Fathers of the U.S. such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. "It is better that ten guilty escape than one innocent suffer."

The First Great Awakening

Widespread Christian movement involving sermons and revivals that emphasize faith

The Great Awakening 

• Early 1700s, church leaders worried that the colonists were losing their religious faith

• Ministers in the middle colonies begin to hold revivals

• The Great Awakening reached its height in the 1730s and 1740s.

• Ministers would shout and yell at the crowds

Jonathan Edwards

He was one of the Great Awakening ministers.  He preached on the topic of forgiveness.  His church was the Congregational Church in Northampton, Masschuseets. 

John Locke

He was a natural rights philosopher who believed in the protection of individual rights including life,liberty and property. He was a social contract theorist who believed that the people create government. If that government does not protect the people’s rights, then Locke argued the people have a right to revolt.  His works inspired Thomas Jefferson when writing the Declaration of Independence. 

What is the Enlightenment?

• A intellectual movement in the 1600s and 1700s that focused on reason.

• Basically, they studied science and philosophy to make sure it fit with reason.

• This makes it a non-political revolution!

Key Words of the Enlightenment

• Liberty and equality

• Popular sovereignty (people choose their leaders)

• Freedom of religion, thought and press

• Constitutional Government with separation of powers

​French and Indian War- 1754

• A young George Washington led a group of militiamen in a battle against French forces near present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as tensions grew

• Natives fought on both sides of this conflict (example: the Cherokee helped the colonists) but this conflict earned its name because the British were fighting the French and their Native allies

• At the beginning things did not go well for the British but a new leader named William Pitt takes over and turns the tide of the war

• The Spanish will also support the French​

​British Victory

• ​A new leader, William Pitt, was very willing to throw money and talented military men towards this war in the New World

• ​This led to the British capturing key French forts and preventing their ships from bringing supplies that would be used to purchase the loyalty of Natives

• ​The chapter of fighting in the Americas end but continued in other parts of the world for several years

​Consequences of the French and Indian War

1. ​France loses its possessions in North America

2. ​The British gain Florida from Spain

3. ​There is an expansion of the Indigo trade for English Colonists

4. ​Great Britain aquired substantial war debt

5. ​The Cherokee War

6. ​Pontiac's Rebellion

7. ​Proclamation of 1763

​Pontiac's Rebellion

• ​After the French and Indian War colonists poured into the Ohio River Valley leading to issues with the Natives in this area

• ​A Ottawa Chief named Pontiac rallied together the Natives starting what is known as Pontiac's Rebellion

• ​2,000 settlers and soldiers were killed by the end of this Rebellion

• ​British soldiers were killed by the end of this Rebellion

• ​Conflict continued off and on for about three years convincing the British something needed to be done

​Proclamation of 1763

• This was the British answer to the Native issue following the French and Indian War

• ​Prohibited settlement in the Ohio River Valley (any land west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Natives)