Transcript Beginnings of an American Identity

Beginnings of an American
Identity
Chapter 5
Notes
I. Early American Culture
A. Land, Wealth, and Rights
1. Cheap farmland and abundant
natural resources gave colonists a
chance to prosper.
2. Land ownership gave colonists
political rights and prosperity.
I. Early American Culture
B. Social Mobility
1. More widespread land ownership gave
shape to the American class system.
2. Placement in Society
a. Elite = plantation owners and merchants
b. Upper Middle = lawyers, merchants,
doctors, clergy (trade and craftsmen)
c. Lower Middle = free workers, poor
farmers
d. Low = white servants, and slaves
I. Early American Culture
C. Colonial Life
1. The Working World
a. Farming women – cooked, cleaned, churned
butter, made soap, candles, and cloth; tended to garden
and farm
b. Women who lived in towns – ran inns, helped
with trade business
c. Women’s rights – lacked; could not vote, preach,
own property without husband’s permission; or
keep earned money
d. Women who lived on farms – worked outdoors;
planted, raised, and harvested crops; hard work
I. Early American Culture
D. Life of the Young
1. American families – large – 8+
a. New England families had 6- 8 kids
b. More kids meant more helping
hands
c. Even toddlers worked
I. Early American Culture
2. Boys
a. At age 6 breeched
b. At age 13 left to become apprentices
c. Apprenticed received food, clothing, lodging,
and a general education – worked for free for
4 – 7 years
3. Girls
a. Learned household skills
b. New England girls at age of 13 + were sent
away to learn skills
c. Orphans were sent away as apprentices
I. Early American Culture
E. Education and Literacy
1. There was a high rate of literacy.
a. New England – 85% of white men
were literate
b. Middle colonies – 65% of white men
were literate
c. Southern colonies – 50%
2. Children were taught to read so they
could understand the Bible.
I. Early American Culture
F. Colonial Literature
1. Literacy helped the colonies unite.
2. Ben Franklin – published Poor
Richard’s Almanac
3. Colonists began to publish poetry,
regional histories, and
autobiographies.
I. Early American Culture
G. A Growing Diversity
1. Immigrants came into contact with people
of different ethnic groups and
nationalities.
2. Some colonies had growing diversity in
religion.
I. Early American Culture
G. Religious Revival and Enlightenment
1. The Great Awakening was a Christian religious revival
movement from 1730 – 1740’s.
a. Jonathan Edwards was a preacher during this time.
2. It changed colonial culture because people argued over
religion and split into new groups.
3. The Age of Enlightenment emphasized reason and science as
the paths to knowledge.
4. Ben Franklin and John Locke were famous people during this
time.
5. People began to believe in the rights of life, liberty, and
property.
6. Colonists began to question their relationship with England.
II. Roots of American Democracy
A. The Rights of Englishmen
1. The Magna Carta (1215) limited the king
a. private property, no tax w/out
consent, witnesses & jury trials
B. Parliament and Colonial Government
1. Parliament – England’s law-making body
a. Colonists made their own laws.
2. The King and Parliament still had authority
II. Roots of American Democracy
C. English Rights Threatened
1. New England smuggled & ignored laws 
the king revoked (took away) their charter and right
to self- govern themselves & appointed Edmund
Andros
2. Andros ended assemblies  angered colonists
D. England’s Glorious Revolution
1. 1688 – Parliament overthrew the king
2. Passed the English Bill of Rights
a. Listed specific rights of English people -page 140
II. Roots of American Democracy
E. Colonists claimed these rights
1. Assemblies AND royal governor
2. Salutary neglect – Parliament
ignored the colonies
F. The John Peter Zenger Trial
1. Started freedom of the press
III. The French and Indian War
A. Europeans in Native American Lands
1. France Claims Western Lands
a. They claim the Ohio and Mississippi River Valley
and Great Lakes region
b. They traded fur.
2. Native American Alliances
a. The fur trade created economic and military
alliances between Europeans and the Native
Americans.
b. These alliances dragged the partners into war.
III. The French and Indian War
B. War Begins and Spreads
1. War in the Ohio River Valley
a. George Washington was sent west to maintain
control of the Ohio River Valley and built Fort
Necessity to house troops during the attack at
Fort Duquesne. He later retreats and then
returns to area with Braddock.
b. Ben Franklin – Wrote the formal proposal called
the Albany Plan of Union to unite the colonies
during this war. It helped to raise money to
support the military. It was rejected.
III. The French and Indian War
2. Braddock’s Defeat
a. General Braddock – Tried to attack and capture
Fort Duquesne in 1755, but was defeated and
killed.
b. Fort Duquesne – French fort in the Ohio River
Valley.
III. The French and Indian War
3. Quebec Falls
a. William Pitt – Secretary of State; sent the best
generals over to win the war
b. The Battle of Quebec – turning point of the war;
English troops surprised the French and siege
the city.
c. Treaty of Paris 1763 – ended the war and French
control in North America; boundaries now for
England extended to the Mississippi River
through all of Canada; beyond the Mississippi
France ceded the land to Spain; Spain ceded
Florida to England
III. The French and Indian War
C. The New Colonial World
1. Pontiac’s Rebellion
a. The British began to move west and take over French
land. They do not develop good relations with
the Natives.
b. The British planned a vicious attack of the
Indians by pretending to make peace talks with
them, but they offered them small-pox infected
blankets as gifts.
c. Proclamation of 1763 forbade settlement west of
the Appalachians because England could not
provide protection for colonists in that area.
III. The French and Indian War
2. A New Colonial Identity
a. Colonists were angry about the
Proclamation Line.
b. The French and Indian War gave
the colonies a sense of unity.