Life in the Colonies Ch. 3 sect. 3&4 notes

1) Mercantilists believed that to become wealthy and powerful, a country had to accumulate a large quantity of gold and silver. A country could do this by selling more goods to countries than it bought from them.

2) The rise of cities along the coast of New England was directly related to the rise of trade in New England.

3) The result of the Staple Act was higher prices on goods the colonies imported from Europe. The Act required all goods imported into the colonies to go through England and be shipped on English ships.

4) The Staple Act along with other navigation acts angered the American colonists living in New England in particular. Colonists in NE ignored the navigation acts and continued importing goods that had not gone through England.

5) In response to the colonies blatant disregard for the Staple Act along with the other navigation acts, King James II created the Dominion of New England.

6) The Dominion of New England eventually included Mass 6) The Dominion of New England eventually included Mass., Plymouth, Rhode Island, Connecticut, NJ, and NY. King James appointed Sir Edmund Andros as the 1st governor-general of New England.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 Took place when the second wife of King James II of England had a son who would be raised Catholic and succeed James as the king of Engl. English Parliament invited William and Mary, who were protestant, to take the throne of England. King James fled England and William and Mary took over the throne. No blood was shed.

8) Philosopher John Locke asserted that all people were born with certain natural rights, including the right to life, liberty, and property. His ideas heavily influenced gov’t in Colonial America.

9) In his Essay on Human Understanding, John Locke argued that at birth, people’s minds were blank slates that society could shape.

10) During the 1700s a religious movement, later known as the Great Awakening, stressed dependence on God and gained wide appeal among common folks. It greatly impacted America’s spiritual heritage.

11) During the Great Awakening, ministers held large spiritual meetings called revivals. Revivals are still an important part of American church tradition today.

12) Two of America’s greatest ministers of the Great Awakening were Jonathan Edwards, who is credited with starting it, and George Whitfield, who was one of its greatest preachers.

13) Jonathan Edwards was a Massachusetts preacher and philosopher who aimed to restore New England’s spiritual intensity after experiencing his own conversion and personal revival.

14) Edwards argued that a person had to repent and convert, to be “born again.” This idea of being “born again” was a central idea of the Great Awakening.

15) The Great Awakening began in earnest when George Whitefield arrived in Philadelphia in 1739. Whitefield was a powerful, emotional speaker, and he attracted large crowds everywhere he preached.

16) Whitefield warned against the dangers of listening to ministers who had not been “born again.” This challenge to the authority and authenticity of other ministers created tension and made Whitefield a controversial figure.

17) The Great Awakening had a profound effect in the South, where the emotion and energy of Baptist preaching won converts among poor tenant and backcountry farmers, as well as enslaved African Americans.

18) The Great Awakening was one of the last major cultural developments in America before the American Revolution. It implanted ideas that helped spark the American Revolution which are still a powerful part of Am. Society.