1. Chapter 7.1 – An American Way of Life Develops Social status in the colonies depended Social status in the colonies depended mainly on (1) wealth and occupation. mainly on (1) wealth and occupation.

2. The highest social class consisted of wealthy landowners and planters, church officials, and successful (2) merchants.

3. These people were known as the (3) gentry.

4. Below them were people in the (4) middle class, which included professional people, skilled artisans, and shopkeepers.

5. Then came poor farmers, free servants, and unskilled laborers. In the lowest social unskilled laborers. In the lowest social class were (5) slaves and indentured servants.

6. Another characteristic of colonial society was the ability of people to move from one social (6) class to another. social (6) class to another.

7. In the 1730s and 1740s, a revival of interest in religion took place, known as the (7) Great Awakening. One of the leading preachers in this revival was a Massachusetts preacher, (8) Jonathan Edwards, who delivered sermons to all kinds of people.

8. Another movement, the (9) Enlightenment emphasized science and reason. One of its leading thinkers was the English writer (10) John Locke. In his writings, he described the idea of a (11) social contract that people made with their government. These ideas became the basis of colonists’ growing discontent with Great Britain’s rule of the colonies.

9. One of the leading American men of science was Benjamin Franklin, who proved that (12) lightning is a huge…

10. electrical charge!

11. Benjamin Franklin was also an important American writer. He gave advice about the importance of hard work in his best selling publication, (13) Poor Richard’s Almanack.

12. Taking advantage of better roads that were being built, Franklin also improved (14) mail service among the colonies.

13. Other important writers were poets Anne Dudley Bradstreet and a former African American slave named (15) Phillis Wheatley.