Chapter 7 Section 1 Notes
- 2. Over time, a class structure formed in the colonies: Gentry---HIGHEST SOCIAL CLASS (CHURCH OFFICIALS, WEALTHY LANDOWNERS, PLANTERS, MOST SUCCESSFUL MERCHANTS) Middle Class---SKILLED ARTISANS, PROFESSIONALS, SHOPKEEPERS Farmers and unskilled laborers Indentured servants and slave workers American COLONIAL society was unique in that most people had the OPPORTUNITY to move to a HIGHER social class
- 3. During the 1730s and 1740s, a movement known as the GREAT AWAKENING swept through the colonies. It was characterized by a REVIVAL, OR RENEWED INTEREST, IN RELIGION The GREAT AWAKENING affected the way the colonists viewed their society. They saw each other not as MEMBERS OF DIFFERENT CLASSES but as a larger, united group.
- 4. In addition to the GREAT AWAKENING, a movement known as the ENGLIGHTENMENT swept through the colonies during the mid- 1700s. It stressed the use of LOGIC AND REASON in both SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL MATTERS. An important ENLIGHTENMENT thinker was the English writer JOHN LOCKE. LOCKE stressed that a government’s sole purpose was to protect PEOPLE’S NATURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING LIFE, LIBERTY, AND OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY. The ENLIGHTENMENT was marked by respect for science and a curiosity about the laws that governed the natural world. One of the more notable American scientists was BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
- 8. American LITERATURE developed throughout the 1700s. Influential colonial writers included two women poets: ANNE BRADSTREET and PHILLIS WHEATLEY, an African-American. NEWSPAPERS were widely read in the colonies. Because many NEWSPAPERS carried political opinions, they helped to raise the colonists’ AWARENESS OF POLITICAL ISSUES.
- 9. Throughout the 1700s, the COLONISTS made great improvements to their ROAD SYSTEMS AND MAIL SYSTEM. Such improvements made it easier for the colonists to spread INFORMATION AND NEW IDEAS to each other more quickly.