Chapter 4Convergence and Conflict

1660s–1763

"If we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. ... If the nation expects to be ignorant and free ... it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge. I mean the characters and conduct of their rulers." -- John Adams

"A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." -- James Madison

"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America."  Alexis De Tocqueville [1830s]

"The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society." James Madison, Federalist #10

"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices."  Voltaire  

Key Questions

• In what ways was trade regulated between Britain and the colonies?

• How did prominent colonists go about developing America’s intellectual life?

• What effect did the Great Awakening have on the American colonists?

• How did the “Glorious Revolution” effect the colonists?• What geographic area made up the “backcountry” and who

settled there?• How did the French and Indian War effect the colonists?• Explain the importance of the Enlightenment on the

American colonies.

The Transformation of Culture

• Goods and Houses– For examples, see my PowerPoint slides chapter 5

• Shaping Minds and Manners• Age of Enlightenment – Age of Reason

• Scientific study, hypothesis, link of science to religion• Galileo Galilei, Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton• Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan [1651]• John Locke, natural law• French philosophes – Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, Denis Diderot,

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Social Contract [1762]• Immanuel Kant, David Hume• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Thomas Paine, Adam Smith

Overview

Biographies

• George Washington • Cotton Mather• George Whitefield• Benjamin Franklin

Bibliography• Bernard Bailyn, The Peopling of British North America: An

Introduction (1986) • David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed (1990) • Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin

Franklin (1790)• Richard Hofstadter, America at 1750 (1971) [consensus school

of history] • James Kirby Martin, editor, Interpreting Colonial America (1973) • Malachi Martin, The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the

Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church (1987) • Gary Nash, The Urban Crucible (1979) • Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. editor, A History of America Life (1948) • Laurel T. Ulrich, Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of

Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750 (1982) • David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America (1992)

Identifications

Actual representation v. virtual representationAge of Enlightenment [Age of Reason]Albany Plan of Union, 1754Whig ideologyDominion of New England -- Edmund Andros, Jacob LeislerEnumerated products – [enumerated powers in Article I, section 8]French and Indian War [7 Years War in Europe]Glorious Revolution [1688, William of Orange, Bill of Rights]Great Awakening – George Whitefield – New Lights v. Old LightsHalf-way CovenantMercantilism1763 Treaty of Paris[Father Junipero Serra – Franciscan, 1834 desecularization][My red maple tree from George Washington’s Mt. Vernon tree!]

Text Identifications

• Enlightenment• Seven Years War/French and Indian War, 1756 – 1763• John Locke• Benjamin Franklin• Great Awakening, George Whitefield• James Oglethorpe• Stono Uprising• William Pitt, James Wolfe• Proclamation of 1763• Paxton Boys

The 13* Virtues of Benjamin FranklinTEMPERANCE.

– Eat not to Dulness, [sic] Drink not to ElevationSILENCE.

– Speak not but what may benefit others or your self. Avoic trifling Conversation

ORDER.– Let all your Things have their Places. Let each Part of your

Business have its TimeRESOLUTION.

– Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.

FRUGALITY.– Make no Expence [sic] but to do good to others or yourself: i.e.

Waste nothingINDUSTRY.

– Lose no time, -- Be always employ’d [sic] in something useful. – Cut off all unnecessary Actions, --

SINCERITY.– Use no hurtful Deceit. Think innocently and justly; and , if you speak;

speak accordingly.JUSTICE.

– Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your duty.MODERATION.

– Avoid Extreams. [sic] Forbear resenting Injuries so much as you think they deserve.

CLEANLINESS.– Tolerate no Uncleanness in Body, Cloaths [sic] or Habitation. –

TRANQUILITY.– Be not disturbed at Trifles, or at Accidents common or unavoidable.

CHASTITY.– Rarely use Venery but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dulness, [sic]

Weakness, or the Injury of your own or another’s Peace or Reputation.HUMILITY.

– Imitate Jesus and Socrates. --

Chronology1636 Harvard College founded 1651 – 1733 Series of Navigation Acts1660 Charles II becomes King, “restoration”1662 Half-Way Covenant in New England 1674 Bishopric of Quebec established 1680s William Penn begins recruiting settlers from Europe1682 Mary Rowlandson's Sovereignty & Goodness of God 1685 James II becomes King of England1686-89 Dominion of New England1689 Toleration Act passed by Parliament, Bill of Rights1690s Beginnings of Jesuit missions in Arizona 1693 College of William and Mary founded 1698 First French Settlements near mouth of Miss. River1700s Plains Indians domesticate the horse 1701 Yale College founded; Iroquois sign treaty of

neutrality 1704 Deerfield raid

1708 Saybrook Platform in Connecticut 1716 Spanish begin Texas missions 1718 French found New Orleans1730s French decimate the Natchez and defeat the Fox Indians 1732 Ben Franklin begins publishing Poor Richard's Almanac 1733 Georgia founded1734 Great Awakening begins + Jonathan Edwards in Mass.1735 John Peter Zenger acquitted from libeling New York’s

governor1738 George Whitefield first tours the colonies 1740s Great Awakening gets under way in the Northwest 1740 Parliament passes a naturalization law for the colonies 1746 College of New Jersey (Princeton) founded 1754 – 63 French and Indian War in North America1760s Great Awakening - full impact in South 1769 Spanish colonization of CA begins (Father Junípero

Serra) 1773 Pope Clement XIV abolished Society of Jesus (resurrected

Pope Pius VII, 1814) 1775 Indian revolt at San Diego 1776 San Francisco founded 1781 Los Angeles founded

Map 4-1  Anglo-American Transatlantic Commerce

By the eighteenth century, Great Britain and its colonies were enmeshed in a complex web of trade. Britain exchanged manufactured goods for colonial raw materials, while Africa provided the enslaved laborers who produced the most valuable colonial crops.

Map 4-2  European Empires in North America, 1750–1763

Great Britain’s victory in the French and Indian War transformed the map of North America. France lost its mainland colonies, England claimed all lands east of the Mississippi, and Spain gained nominal control over the Trans-Mississippi West.

New Amsterdam, 17th century

City Hall and Great Dock in the late 17th century. (colored engraving, 1898).

Paul Revere

John Singleton Copley’s portrait of the silversmith Paul Revere, painted about 1769, depicts one of Boston’s most prominent artisans. As colonists grew wealthier, some commissioned portraits for their homes to serve as emblems of their rising social aspirations. Even so, Copley despaired that America would ever provide a suitable market for his artistic talents and he eventually moved to England.

Mahogany Clothespress During the eighteenth century, quantities of imported English manufactures began to appear in many colonial houses. This elegant mahogany clothespress, made in England in the 1740s, may have graced the Boston home of Charles Apthorp, once called “the greatest and most noble merchant” in America.

George Whitefield

George Whitefield (who, contemporaries noted, was cross-eyed) enjoyed a remarkable career as a powerful preacher on both sides of the Atlantic. This portrait shows him preaching indoors to a rapt audience. During his tour of the colonies, Whitefield reportedly had a similar effect on crowds of thousands who gathered outdoors to hear his sermons.

Benjamin Franklin portraitPainted at about the time Franklin retired from his printing business, this portrait depicts the one-time craftsman as an aspiring gentleman. Wearing a wig and a shirt with ruffled cuffs, Franklin would no longer work with his hands but would pursue his scientific experiments and other studies.SRC: Robert Feke (1707 – 1752), Portrait of Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790), c. 1746. Oil on canvas, 127 x 02 cm. Courtesy of the Harvard University Portrait Collection. Bequest of Dr. John Collins Warren, 1856.

Español, con India, Mestizo

This panel of an eighteenth-century painting by an unknown Mexican artist is representative of a genre of portraits illustrating the categories Spanish colonists developed to designate the offspring of various kinds of mixed marriage. This one, labeled Español, con India, Mestizo, depicts a Spanish father, an Indian mother, and their mestizo child. The scarcity of European women made mixed marriage common in Spanish colonies. Such unions were exceedingly rare in the English colonies, where cultural preferences and the relative abundance of European women discouraged intermarriage.

George Washington portraitThis, the earliest known portrait of George Washington, was painted by Charles Wilson Peale in 1772. It depicts him in his military uniform from the French and Indian War. Military service helped to strengthen Washington’s ties with the British Empire.Washington/Custis/Lee Collection, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA.

Cotton Mather's "Late Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions, Clearly Manifesting”

A historic title page containing a brief summary of the book concerning witchcraft in New England.

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was brought to Boston on a slave ship in 1761 and was educated in English, Greek, and Latin by the Wheatley family. By the 1770s, she had written and published several books of poetry.

San Xavier del Bac

The San Xavier del Bac mission near Tucson, Arizona with its tall towers.

"To be sold. . .a cargo of 170 prime young likely healthy Guinea slaves. Savannah, July 25, 1774."

The proprietary colony of Georgia came late to slavery. Initially forbidden from owning enslaved Africans, Georgians ''rented'' them for ''100-year'' terms from South Carolinians. After 1750, Georgians moved rapidly to secure their share of the ever-increasing trade in Africans.

Faneuil Hall, Boston

Faneuil Hall, Boston, Massachusetts. Built by Peter Faneuil in 1742, this building became a hotbed of Revolutionary sentiment. Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others came here to express their opposition to British colonial policies.

Thanksgiving Proclamation, Connecticut, 1721

Public festivals and days of thanksgiving were prominent in Colonial society. Here, Governor Gurdon Saltonstall proclaims November 8, 1721, as a ''day of Publick THANKSGIVING.''

The Old Tun Tavern, Philadelphia

Colonial taverns served not only food, drink, and lodging--they were also an arena for the exchange of community information. The Tun Tavern, built by Samuel Carpenter in 1685, served as the headquarters for several charitable, fraternal and social organizations, counted numerous colonial celebrities as frequent visitors, and is acknowledged as being the birthplace of the United States Marine Corps in 1775.

AcrosticAcrostic, by Benjamin Franklin , by Benjamin Franklin

BB-e to thy parents an obedient son, -e to thy parents an obedient son, EE-ach day let duty constantly be done. -ach day let duty constantly be done. NN-ever give way to sloth or lust or pride, -ever give way to sloth or lust or pride, II-f free you'd be from thousand ills beside; -f free you'd be from thousand ills beside; AA-bove all ills, be sure avoid the shelf' -bove all ills, be sure avoid the shelf' MM-an's danger lies in Satan, sin, and self. -an's danger lies in Satan, sin, and self. II-n virtue, learning, wisdom progress make, -n virtue, learning, wisdom progress make, NN-e'er shrink at surrendering for thy Saviour's sake. -e'er shrink at surrendering for thy Saviour's sake. FF-raud and all falsehood in thy dealings flee, -raud and all falsehood in thy dealings flee, RR-eligious always in thy station be, -eligious always in thy station be, AA-dore the maker of thy inward part. -dore the maker of thy inward part. NN-ow's the accepted time; give God thy heart -ow's the accepted time; give God thy heart KK-eep a good conscience, 'tis a constant friend; -eep a good conscience, 'tis a constant friend; LL-ike a judge and witness this thy act attend. -ike a judge and witness this thy act attend. II-n heart, with bended knee, alone, adore -n heart, with bended knee, alone, adore NN-one but the Three-in-One forevermore. -one but the Three-in-One forevermore.

Economic Development & Imperial Trade in the British Colonies

• The Regulation of Trade– Mercantilism– “Enumerated products”

• The Colonial Export Trade and the Spirit of Enterprise – Transatlantic commerce – triangular trade– The Import Trade and Ties of Credit– Becoming More Like England

Colonial Religion and the Great Awakening

• Halfway Covenant• Great Awakening• New Lights v. Old Lights

The Colonial Political World

• The Dominion of New England and Limits of British Control• The Legacy of the Glorious Revolution• Diverging Politics in the Colonies and Great Britain

– Virtual verse actual representation• Boston Celebrates a New King [August 1727]

Expanding Empires

• British Colonists in the Backcountry• The Spanish in Texas and California• The French along the Mississippi and in Louisiana

A Century of Warfare

• Imperial Conflict and the Establishment of an American Balance of Power, 1689-1738– King Williams War– Queen Anne’s War– Country or “Real Whig” Ideology– Grand Settlement of 1701

• King George’s War Shifts the Balance, 1739-1754• The French and Indian War, 1754-1760• Albany Plan of Union• French and Indian War• The Triumph of the British Empire, 1763• Treaty of Paris

Chronology