1.4 The Colonies Come of Age

1. 1.4 The Colonies Come of Age How did the colonies of the North and South grow?

2. Plantation Economies Arise in the South • Colonists in the South created a society based on farming • Most Southerners worked small farms, but the wealthy plantation owners controlled the economy and social and political life in the South • Planters used enslaved Africans as workers, who were brought to the Americas by a route across the Atlantic called the Triangular Trade • The middle passage was one leg of the route, which had three main parts:

3. Continued • (1) Merchants carried rum and other goods from New England to Africa; • (2) Slaves were brought from Africa to the West Indies, where they were sold for sugar and molasses • (3) The goods were finally sold in New England

4. Northern Economies • The economy in the North was based on small farms, manufacturing, and trade • Northern colonies attracted many immigrants from Europe • Farms here did not depend on slaves, but slavery and racial prejudice did still exist

5. The Enlightenment • The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement that said you could use reason and science to find truth • It began in Europe and spread to the colonies; Benjamin Franklin was one of its leaders • It had two important effects: • (1) Its emphasis on science weakened the authority of the church • (2) The idea that people have natural rights that govt. must respect challenged British authority

6. The Great Awakening • The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals that spread through the colonies • Jonathan Edwards was one of its most powerful preachers • It challenged the authority of existing churches, and new denominations became popular

7. The French and Indian War • France had begun to have colonies in North America at this time • The British and French fought over western lands, and in 1754 the French and Indian War began • The British won, and in 1763 France gave up Canada and all North American land east of the Mississippi

8. Native American Opposition • Native Americans did not like the British moving onto their lands • Pontiac, the Ottowa chief, led his people to attack British forts • The British then purposefully gave the Natives smallpox when they came to discuss peace, which weakened them and eventually they surrendered • To prevent further fighting, the British passed the Proclamation of 1763 so people would not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains; people moved anyway