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
21.
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
22
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)
23
The Empire in Transition
Stirrings of RevoltStirrings of Revolt– The Townshend ProgramThe Townshend Program
Mutiny ActMutiny Act Townshend DutiesTownshend Duties Nonimportation AgreementNonimportation Agreement
24.
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
26
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
27.
The Empire in Transition
Cooperation and WarCooperation and War– New Sources of AuthorityNew Sources of Authority
The First Continental CongressThe First Continental Congress
28