Awakenings, Imperial Rivalry, and Rebellion in Colonial America 1730-1763

Awakenings, Imperial Rivalry, and Rebellion in Colonial

America1730-1763

The Great Awakening, 1730s-1760s

Major Themes• Evangelicals

– “bearers of good news”– Undermined religious

authority, order• Pluralism, egalitarianism

– Conversion experience– Enslaved Africans, Indians– Individualism– free-will

Age of Enlightenment

• Age of Reason– Geocentric vs. helio-

centric– Descartes (Calculus)– John Locke

• Empiricism• Rational universe

• Religious Matters– Spectral evidence

debunked– Rationale Protestantism

Rationalists vs. Evangelicals• “An unchurched people”

– displacement

• Revival of Supernatural• Constant revelation

– Quakers without pacifism

• Reason rebuked– Man may not know God

through reason, but only through emotional rebirth

– Conversion experience

Jonathan Edwards

• Scion of New England elite– Solomon Stoddard

• “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God”– Fire & brimstone– Male % increase

• A Faithful Narrative of the Surprizing Works of God (1737-8)

George Whitefield• English evangelical

– Anti-rationalism (Church of England)

• Itinerant Preacher– England, Whales

• 1739-41 (American tour)– Maine to Georgia– celebrity

George Whitefield in America, 1739-41• Benjamin Franklin

– Printing business• Franklin’s rationalism• “He finished so

admirably, that I emptied my Pocket wholly into the Collection’s Dish, Gold and all.”

• 1739-45 (80K copies)– 1:11 ratio

Emergence of Radicals

• Anti-educated clergy• “calling”• Democratic

– Removal of class distinction

– Plebian vs. patrician

• Non-ordained ministry• Exhorters

– Female preachers

Samson Occom, 1723-92• Mohegan convert• Published• 1749-60: preached to

Indian converts– Poverty wages

• 1766: raised £11K in England– Educating Indians– Dartmouth– Natives excluded

Legacies of Great Awakening

• Pluralism• Evangelicalism

– “many ways to God”• Separation of church

and state– taxes– Church will corrupt

state, not state corrupt church (R. Williams)

• Democracy? • Toleration?

The Imperial Crisis: France & England

• 1689-1763– Nine Years War (1689-

97)– War of Spanish

Succession (1702-13)– Seven Years War (1756-

63); French-Indian War (1754-63)

• Population (N. America)– 1750: NF=1/10 British

Virginia• Governor Robert

Dinwiddie– Oust French from Ohio

Valley– Contested terrain

• George Washington– Fort Duquesne– blunders

• July 4, 1754– Fort Necessity

British escalate colonial war

• Edward Braddock– 2,200 British regular &

colonial troops– Fort Duquesne

• Disaster– European style– Dysentery, swamp fever– 1 mile per day– Deaths-40 (F) :1,000 (B)

British commitments• William Pitt• Colonial policy

– Invest troops, money– Escalate debt– “America first”

• 1758– 45,000 British– 9,000 French

• Fort Duquesne falls• Fort Pitt

Cost of War

• Conquest of Canada– £4 million– 10X French defense

• Treaty of Paris (1763)– French concessions– Mississippi River– West (Spain)– East (England)– Florida (England)

The Empire in Transition

The New ImperialismThe New Imperialism– The British and the TribesThe British and the Tribes

Failure of the Proclamation of 1763Failure of the Proclamation of 1763

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The Empire in Transition

The New ImperialismThe New Imperialism– Battles over Trade and TaxesBattles over Trade and Taxes

Sugar & Stamp Acts (1764-65)Sugar & Stamp Acts (1764-65) Sugar Act: reduced tariff on foreign molasses: six pence to Sugar Act: reduced tariff on foreign molasses: six pence to

three pencethree pence Stamp Act: most printed materials; act repealedStamp Act: most printed materials; act repealed ““in all cases whatsoever”in all cases whatsoever”

Persistent Colonial GrievancesPersistent Colonial Grievances

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The Empire in Transition

Stirrings of RevoltStirrings of Revolt– The Stamp Act CrisisThe Stamp Act Crisis

Effects of the Stamp ActEffects of the Stamp Act ““Virginia Resolves”Virginia Resolves” Taxation & rep. govt.Taxation & rep. govt. Stamp Act RepealedStamp Act Repealed

The Tory’s Day of Judgment (Library of Congress)

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The Empire in Transition

Stirrings of RevoltStirrings of Revolt– The Townshend ProgramThe Townshend Program

Mutiny ActMutiny Act Townshend DutiesTownshend Duties Nonimportation AgreementNonimportation Agreement

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The Empire in Transition

Stirrings of RevoltStirrings of Revolt– The Boston MassacreThe Boston Massacre

Rebellious BostonRebellious Boston ““Committee ofCommittee of

Correspondence”Correspondence”

The Boston Massacre (Library of Congress) 25

The Empire in Transition

Stirrings of RevoltStirrings of Revolt– The Philosophy of RevoltThe Philosophy of Revolt

Sources of Revolutionary IdeologySources of Revolutionary Ideology ““No Taxation without Representation”No Taxation without Representation” ““Virtual” and “Actual” RepresentationVirtual” and “Actual” Representation Sovereignty DebatedSovereignty Debated

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The Empire in Transition

Stirrings of RevoltStirrings of Revolt– Sites of ResistanceSites of Resistance

Political Importance of Colonial TavernsPolitical Importance of Colonial Taverns

– The Tea ExcitementThe Tea Excitement The Tea ActThe Tea Act The Boston “Tea Party”The Boston “Tea Party” Consequences of the Coercive ActsConsequences of the Coercive Acts

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The Empire in Transition

Cooperation and WarCooperation and War– New Sources of AuthorityNew Sources of Authority

The First Continental CongressThe First Continental Congress

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