Section 5: A Diverse Society
This section describes the growth of the economy, population, and spirit of individualism that arose in the colonies.
Mercantilism
•Mercantilists believed that to become wealthy and powerful, a country had to accumulate gold and silver.
•They would do this by selling more goods.
•More gold and silver would flow into the country than flowed out.
•A country should be self-sufficient in raw materials, therefore they needed colonies where raw materials were available.
–Benefit: Gave colonies a reliable market for their goods
–Negative: Prevented colonies from selling certain goods to other nations.
•Navigation Acts-required all goods shipped to and from colonies to be on English ships
•Specific products could only be sold to England
•Merchants bringing foreign goods had to first stop at England and pay taxes. Increased prices for colonists.
•Encouraged colonial merchants to break laws.
Glorious Revolution of 1688
•James II was losing support in England, and he had converted to Catholicism.
•To prevent a male heir, the English parliament invited his daughter and her husband to claim the throne.
•It was a bloodless change of power.
•William and Mary took the throne and signed the English Bill of Rights
–One provision said that monarchs could not impose taxes without parliament’s consent
–Guaranteed freedom of speech, banned excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishments.
John Locke’s Political Theories
•The Glorious Revolution suggested that there were times when Revolutions were necessary
•In 1690, John Locke published Two Treatises of Government
–Argued that a monarch’s right to rule came from people
–All people were born with natural rights to life, liberty and property
–If government does not uphold rights, people can rebel against government.
•Struck a chord with American colonists
–Restated in Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.
Population Quiz
•There was huge population growth after 1700.
–Marriedyoung and had numerous children. Large families were needed for farms.
–Increased immigration into the middle colonies (especially Pennsylvania) by Germans, Scots-Irish, and Jews
–Increased numbers of slaves added to the racial diversity.
The Enlightenment and Great Awakening
•America came under the influence of two great cultural movements.
•Enlightenment
•European movement that encouraged reason, science and natural law to shape society.
•An example is Locke’s theory of government.
•Caused people t o question what they normally wouldn’t.
Great Awakening
•Throughout colonies, ministers held revivals where they stressed being born again, or emotionally connecting with God.
•It was a wide resurgence of religious fervor.
•New ideas-Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists
•In the South, Baptists gained followers among poor farmers
•Planters would try to violently break up Baptist meetings and thousands of slaves became Baptist by 1775.
•Emphasized individualism that inclined colonists toward independence.