SSUSH2 The student will trace the ways that the economy and society of British North America developed.

a. Explain the development of mercantilism and the trans-Atlantic trade.

England and Its Colonies Prosper Mercantilism •English settlers export raw materials; import manufactured goods •Mercantilism—The main economic system used during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. The main goal was to increase a nation's wealth by imposing government regulation concerning all of the nation's commercial interests.  •Favorable balance of trade means more gold coming in than going out Mercantilism also inspired Parliament to control transatlantic trade with its American colonies. All goods shipped to or from British North America had to travel in British ships, and any goods exported to Europe had to land first in Britain to pay British taxes. Some goods could be exported to Britain only. Americans responded by becoming smugglers or by ignoring British trade laws.

b. Describe the Middle Passage, growth of the African population, and African-American culture.

Middle Passage The Middle Passage •Middle passage—middle leg of transatlantic trade, transports slaves First, British ships loaded with rum, cloth, and other English manufactured goods sailed to Africa, where they were traded for Africans as part of the slave trade. Then, in the Middle Passage, the slaves would be transported to the New World. The crew would buy sugar, molasses, and other American goods using profits they made from selling the slaves in the colonies, and they would ship the goods back to Britain. •20% or more of Africans on ship die from disease, abuse, suicide

The European Slave Trade 3-way triangular trade network ties colonies, Africa, West Indies: - New England exports rum to Africa - Africa exports slaves to West Indies - West Indies export sugar, molasses to New England

Growth of African Population As tobacco farmers and other cash-crop farmers prospered, they greatly expanded the size of their farms. During the colonial period, approximately 250,000 Africans were imported into the colonies. The vast majority of these slaves were located in the southern colonies, where they supplied the labor required to support the region’s agriculturally based economy.

African American culture.. There was no single African culture. In an effort to control the slaves, slave owners attempted to strip away the cultural identity of their slaves and sought to replace it with the culture of the plantation or region to which the slave was brought. However, the physical isolation of slaves from their masters led to the creation of a new blended culture rather than the replacement of one culture over another. What resulted was the creation of a unique African-American culture. Foods, such as okra, watermelon, yams (sweet potatoes), rice, and even grits have been attributed to cultural blending of African and European cultures.

More culture… The practice of blending different African tribes on a single plantation led to the creation of blended language patterns such as Creole in Louisiana and Gullah in coastal Georgia and the Carolinas. Economically, coastal colonial South Carolina and Georgia owed its prosperity to the introduction of rice that was propagated by West African and West Indian slaves. Ironically, it was the same rice production that served as a food source for West Indian sugar plantations whose insatiable labor demands expanded slavery in the European colonies.

c. Identify Benjamin Franklin as a symbol of social mobility and individualism.

New Ideas Influence the Colonists Benjamin Franklin, along with George Washington, is one of the best known of America’s Founding Fathers and embodies the American ideals of social mobility and individualism. A strong proponent of education as a means of self-improvement, over his 84 year life, Franklin succeeded in making himself one of the world’s leading authors, philosophers, scientists, inventors, and politicians.

d. Explain the significance of the Great Awakening

Great Awakening The Great Awakening was a religious revival influenced by the revivals that were sweeping through England, Scotland, and Germany in the 1730’s. The revival placed an emphasis on individual religious experience rather than religious experience through church doctrine.

Causes of the Great Awakening With the end of the English Civil War and reestablishment of a Protestant monarchy, the Church of England (Anglican Church) was the official church of the state. Catholics and the dissenting sects were suppressed and other religions, such as Judaism and Islam, were driven underground. Congregational Anglican ministers relied on elaborate sermons that were constructed as theological arguments that may have appealed to the highly educated but generally left less educated parishioners bored. The sameness of religious practice led to a complacency among English Christians. Religious practice became an expected routine lacking in any personalization.

More causes… Ministers such Jonathan Edwards, William Tennent, and George Whitefield began to urge Christians to adopt a more emotional involvement in Christianity through fervent prayer and personal study of the Bible. Many American ministers also urged a reliance on the work of the Holy Spirit to transform and lead the Christian. The Great Awakening was also a reaction to the Enlightenment which emphasized logic and reason and stressed the power of the individual to understand the universe based on scientific laws.

Significance of the Great Awakening… The Great Awakening broke up long established colonial Puritan and Anglican churches. The Congregationalists (Puritans) split internally between those who held to the traditional beliefs (Old Lights) and those who favored the beliefs of the Great Awakening preachers (New Lights), and new denominations such as the Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians gained members.

More significance… The movement also created a social split between the wealthy, who tended to remain with the established church and those who supported the newer beliefs. The split could also be seen along geographic lines with those living in the upland regions more often supporting the ideas of the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening challenged the established authorities as the colonists questioned the need to follow in lock step the precepts of not only the Church of England but also the orders of the English monarchy and its authorities. This sense of independence would be reinforced by the political ideas of John Locke’s social contract and Thomas Paine’s emotional appeal for independence.