EARLY AMERICAN CULTURE

In this section, you will learn what began to draw the colonies together.

Land ownership in the colonies created prosperity, was required for voting, and helped determine colonist’s social position.

Although women were essential to the colonial economy, women were not allowed to own land, vote, preach in most churches, and by law, even the money she earned belonged to her husband.

In the colonies, children as young as three or four were expected to be useful. At the age of six, boys began to help their fathers at work. Around age 11 many boys left home to become apprentices in a trade.

Education was very important in the colonies. Most children learned to read; wealthier children also learned writing and arithmetic. Most education was religious in nature. It was illegal to teach slaves to read.

One of the most famous examples of the New England Primer’s verse is as follows: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take. —1784 ed.

Newspapers and books, mostly printed in England, helped draw the colonies together. Among these, almanacs containing farm advice, remedies, recipes, etc., were very popular.

FOR UNDERSTANDING

It was ______ to teach slaves to read. 1) required 2) illegal 3) immoral 4) common

Land ownership in the colonies included all of the following except: 1) Created prosperity 2) Gave women an economic advantage 3) Was required for voting 4) Helped determine colonist’s social position

Most children in the colonies learned to: 1) read and write 2) read 3) write 4) spell

In the colonies, many boys left home to become ______ in a trade. 1) priests 2) journeymen 3) artisans 4) apprentices

______ containing farm advice, remedies, recipes, etc., were very popular. 1) Magazines 2) Catalogs 3) Newspapers 4) Almanacs

______ helped draw the colonies together. 1) Kinship 2) A common religion 3) Newspapers and books 4) Bibles and tracts

In the colonies most education was ______ in nature. 1) classical 2) aristocratic 3) religious 4) secular

Of the following choices, which were colonial women allowed to do: 1) Preach in most churches 2) Vote 3) Own land 4) Work

In the early 1730s and 1740s, a religious movement called the Great Awakening swept through the colonies.

The Great Awakening changed colonial nature by splitting churches apart, inspiring colonists to help others, and encouraging colonists to question the authority of the British government.

Two of the best-known preachers of the Great Awakening were Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield.

Jonathan Edwards

George Whitefield

Unlike the Great Awakening, which stressed religious emotion, the Enlightenment emphasized reason and science as the paths to knowledge.

Benjamin Franklin was a famous American Enlightenment figure, and was also the author of Poor Richard’s Almanac.

Franklin in 1783, an engraving from a painting by Joseph Duplessis. Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Wilson, 1759.

The English philosopher John Locke argued that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Locke contended that people create governments to protect their natural rights and if a government fails in this duty, the people have the right to change it.

John Locke

Charles Louis Montesquieu proposed a government with three branches, each keeping the power of the others in check. This “separation of powers” eventually became part of the U. S. government.

Charles Montesquieu 1728

FOR UNDERSTANDING

______ describes a government with branches that keep the power of the others in check. 3) triangular government 4) separation of powers 1) democracy 2) constitutional monarchy

______ proposed a government with three branches. 1) Charles Louis Montesquieu 2) John Locke 3) Benjamin Franklin 4) George Whitefield

A religious movement called the ______ changed colonial nature in the 1700s. 1) American Revolution 2) Great Awakening 3) Protestant Reformation 4) Enlightenment

The Great Awakening: 1) had little effect on the colonies or colonial life. 2) suggested that science, rather than religion, was the source of knowledge. 3) was a religious movement that started in England and spread to the colonies. 4) encouraged colonists you question the authority of the British government.

The ______ emphasized reason and science as the paths to knowledge. 1) Enlightenment 2) Articles of Confederation 3) Great Awakening 4) Separation of Powers

The English philosopher ______ argued that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. 1) Benjamin Franklin 2) John Locke 3) Jonathan Edwards 4) Charles Louis Montesquieu

______ was a famous American Enlightenment figure, and was also the author of Poor Richard’s Almanac. 1) John Locke 2) Thomas Jefferson 3) Richard Dawkins 4) Benjamin Franklin

Two of the best-known preachers of the Great Awakening were______. 1) George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards 2) John Locke and Jonathan Whitefield 3) Jonathan Whitefield and George Washington 4) John Locke and Charles Montesquieu