III. The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening, 1720-1765

D. Social and Religious Conflict in the South1. The Presbyterian Revival• New Lights challenged the Church of England in the south; ritual

displays of wealth became less meaningful as competition existed between the churches; Virginia governor denounced New Lights as offering “false teachings.”

2. The Baptist Insurgency• The Baptist Insurgency – 1760s thousands of white farmers converted

to Baptist (adult baptism); Whitefield encouraged slaveholders to bring the enslaved to church but many whites opposed; free-blacks in Virginia embraced the church’s teachings; Baptist churches continued to grow in spite of these pressures; ministers spread teachings among slaves and began to shrink the cultural divide between white and black.

The Great Awakening

• Awakening occurred among many denominations in different places at different times– New England in the 1730s, Virginia in the 1750s

and 1760s• Jonathan Edwards was a prominent minister

during this time – His sermons encouraged people to examine their

eternal destiny

The Voice of Popular Religion

• George Whitefield symbolized the revivals• Whitefield preached outdoor sermons to

thousands of people in nearly every colony• Itinerants disrupted established churches• Laypeople, including women and blacks, gain

chance to shape their own religious institutions• The Awakening promoted a democratic, evangelical

union of national extent

The Voice of Popular Religion (2)

• Most revivalists well-trained ministers• Revivalists found Princeton, Dartmouth,

Brown, and Rutgers• Revivalists held optimistic attitudes toward

America's religious role in world history• Fostered American patriotism

Clash of Political Cultures

• Colonists attempted to emulate British political institutions

• Effort led to discovery of how different they were from the English people

The English Constitution

• The British Constitution universally admired– not a written document, but a system of

government based on statute and common law• Believed to balance monarchy, aristocracy

and democracy• Balance believed to guarantee liberties

The Reality of British Politics

• Less than 20% of English males could vote• Members of Parliament notorious for

corruption and bribery• “Commonwealthmen” criticized corruption,

urged return to truly balanced constitution

Governing the Colonies: The American Experience

• Colonists attempt to model England’s balanced constitution

• Royal governors– most incompetent – most bound by instructions from England– possessed little patronage for buying votes– little power to force their will

• Governors’ councils steadily lose influence

Colonial Assemblies

• Elected officials depended on popular sentiment• Assemblies more interested in pleasing constituents

than in obeying the governor• Assemblies controlled all means of raising revenue• Assemblies jealously guarded their rights• Assemblies held more popular support than

governor

Colonial Assemblies (2)

• Commerce, communication, religion broaden colonists’ horizons by 1754

• Colonial law courts increasingly adopt English usage

• Growing awareness of ideas, institutions, problems shared with England, each other

Enlightenment

• Rationalism – reason is the arbiter of all things

• Cosmology – new concept of man, his existence on earth, and the place of the earth within the universe

• Secularism – application of the methods of science to religion and philosophy

Interpretations of Freedom

• Moral Freedom – “a liberty to do only what is good”

• Civil Liberty – “obedience to the law” (Social Contract)

• Hobbes• Locke• Rousseau

• Freeborn Englishmen – “Britain as community of free individuals”

Century of Imperial War

• British Americans increasingly drawn into European conflict during eighteenth century

• Main opponents: France and Spain• British colonies militarily superior to New

France but ineffective

North America, 1750

King William's and Queen Anne's Wars

• King William’s War (1689-1697): French frontier raids on New York, New England

• Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713): French frontier raids on North, Spanish South

• Wars settled nothing• France subsequently extended its American empire

from Canada into Louisiana

King George's War and Its Aftermath

• Fought 1743-1748• Embroiled colonists more extensively than

earlier wars• 1745--New England troops captured Fort

Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island • 1748--Louisbourg returned to France by

Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle• 1750s--fresh conflict over Ohio Valley

Albany Congress and Braddock's Defeat

• Albany Congress, 1754--Benjamin Franklin propose plan for a central government

• Albany Plan disliked by English and Americans, fails

• 1755--General Edward Braddock leads force to drive French from Ohio Valley

• Braddock’s army ambushed, destroyed

IV. The Midcentury Challenge: War, Trade, and Social Conflict, 1750-1765

A. The French and Indian War– British war against French in America, surge in trade increases American debt to British,

and an increase in westward migration leads to violence and rebellion

1. The Albany Congress(1754)• Delegates from British colonies met in Albany to discuss relations with the

Iroquois and French expansion• Franklin proposed a “Plan of Union” with a continental assembly to manage

trade, Indian policy, and defense in the western territories• Franklin’s effort failed; war between France and England seemed imminent.

2. The War Hawks Win• Pitt and Halifax in England wanted a war in North America with the French• Fighting began June 1755; expanded to Europe by 1756 with Britain vowing

to destroy France’s ability to compete economically.

IV. The Midcentury Challenge: War, Trade, and Social Conflict, 1750-1765

B. The Great War for Empire1. The Seven Years War

• British war against French in America, surge in trade increases American debt to British, and an increase in westward migration leads to violence and rebellion

• (1756-1763) – Pitt directed the war successfully from England, controlling both the commercial and military strategies

• British had stunning successes and acquired Cuba and the Philippines from Spain, French Senegal, Martinique and Guadeloupe (eventually returned to France)

• Treaty of Paris ending the war gave Britain control of over half of North America, including French Canada.

Colonel George Washington

Fort Necessity