Big Ideas

Trade, War, and Migration Immigrants from Europe and those brought by force from Africa greatly increased the population of the American colonies in the 1700s.

Content Vocabulary

• slave code

• rationalism

• pietism

• revival

Academic Vocabulary

• contract • widespread

People and Events to Identify

• Cotton Mather

• Stono Rebellion

• John Locke

• Baron Montesquieu

• Jonathan Edwards

• George Whitefield

A. A

B. B

Do you have strong feelings about the treatment of slaves in colonial America?

A. Yes

B. No

A B

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Colonial America Grows

The American colonies experienced tremendous growth due to high birth rates, long life spans, and immigration.

• The population of the American colonies grew rapidly in the eighteenth century.

• Factors contributing to population growth:

Colonial America Grows (cont.)

– high birth rate

– improved housing and sanitation

Ethnic Diversity in Colonial America, 1760

– inoculations against smallpox—Cotton Mather, a Puritan leader, promoted this method.

Colonial America Grows (cont.)

– immigration—About 300,000 European immigrants arrived between 1700 and 1775.

Ethnic Diversity in Colonial America, 1760

• Women did not have equal rights in colonial America—they could not own property or make contracts or wills if they were married.

• Slavery developed slowly in the Chesapeake colonies; in 1705, Virginia created a slave code and other colonies followed suit.

• By the early 1700s, slavery had become generally accepted in colonial society.

Colonial America Grows (cont.)

The Atlantic Slave Trade, c. 1500–1800

• In 1739 a group of Africans rebelled against their white overseers and tried to escape from South Carolina to Spanish Florida.

• The militia quickly ended the Stono Rebellion.

Colonial America Grows (cont.)

The Atlantic Slave Trade, c. 1500–1800

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

E. E

Which of the following was forbidden to Africans according to the slave code?

A. Owning property

B. Testifying against whites in court

C. Moving about freely

D. Assembling in large number

E. All of the above A B C D E

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New Ideas

The ideas of the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening made the colonists question their role as subjects of the English monarchy.

• Enlightenment thinkers came to believe that natural laws applied to social, political, and economic relationships, and that people could figure out these laws if they employed reason.

• This emphasis on logic and reasoning was known as rationalism.

New Ideas (cont.)

• One of the earliest and most influential Enlightenment writers was John Locke.

• Works by Locke:

New Ideas (cont.)

– Two Treatises of Government

– Essay on Human Understanding

• Jean Jacques Rousseau and Baron Montesquieu are two other Enlightenment writers.

• While some Americans turned away from a religious worldview, others renewed their Christian faith.

• Many Americans embraced a European religious movement called pietism, which stressed an emotional union with God.

New Ideas (cont.)

• Ministers held revivals, and this widespread resurgence of religious fervor became known as the Great Awakening.

• In 1734 a Massachusetts preacher named Jonathan Edwards helped launch the Great Awakening.

• George Whitfield, an Anglican minister from England, also attracted and inspired many listeners.

New Ideas (cont.)

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

E. E

Whose writing about natural rights had an influence on the leaders who wrote the United States Constitution?

A. John Locke

B. Jean Jacques Rousseau

C. Baron Montesquieu

D. Jonathan Edwards

E. George Whitfield0% 0% 0%0%0%

slave code 

a set of laws that formally regulated slavery and defined the relationship between enslaved Africans and free people

rationalism 

philosophy that emphasizes the role of logic and reason in gaining knowledge

pietism 

movement in the 1700s that stressed an individual’s piety and an emotional union with God

revival 

large public meeting for preaching and prayer

contract 

a binding legal document between two parties

widespread 

having influence on or affecting a large group; widely diffused or prevalent