Ch 4 reading Qs
1. The cultural divide between the eastern colonies and the back country grew as more Scotch Irish and Germans settled. Germans were able to quickly establish their own communities that spoke only the German language. In contrast, the Scotch Irish were unable to quickly decide upon a patch of land as they continued to search further out west. Thus, they ended up increasingly isolated from the English communities. The colonists did not take kindly to the new immigrants because they refused to learn their language and to adapt to their Anglican society. They ended up thinking of the immigrants as merely stupid.
2. Although the urban centers had only five percent of the total population, they were the main centers for the exchange and preparation of imports and exports. Due to their constant contact with English society, they began to adopt the newest and most fashionable styles of housing. They also began to dress like the most prominent people in the English society. The new designs that were being made in every merchant’s home gave the American cities a brand new elegance.
3. The middle ground was a place between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi river where the Native Americans would trade with the Europeans for modern goods. The Natives wanted to maintain their voice during every commercial exchange, thus they were able to adopt common politics which made them able to play the English against the French. They also maintained enough warriors at their back to demand respect of any foreign merchants. Now what had once been merely a luxury was a necessity, for they came to depend on the metal tools of the Europeans due to the reason that they had forgotten the ways of their ancestors.
4. The Spanish tried to make a colony in North America, but alas, the Native Americans’ leader El Pope rebelled against them and chased them out. After this they lost much interest in the North and any expansions were careful and slow. The other two settlements that they had, California and St. Augustine, were only there to dissuade the French and the Russians from establishing their colonies closer to Central America. In the future, this would mean that the Native Americans were left with less land, which increased the amount of conflict that they would therefore have with the colonies. In the future United States, the culture in those Spanish areas would be more diversified.
5. The French noticed that they were on the losing side of the battle for North America, thus they decided to take control of the Mississippi Valley using fort Duquesne as a main fort. There, they managed to resist despite the fact that they were attacked by the English twice. These issues as well as other conflicts in North America and conflicts in Europe were the catalyst for England to declare war on France.
6. The Enlightenment managed to take many philosophies and restructure the ways in which people had thought of society. It gave Christianity a scientific view and portrayed that perfection in fact, could be achieved. This triggered people to search for knowledge, ideas, inventions, etc. in order to improve their lives as humans.
7. Through the Navigation Acts, the colonies managed to form a close bond with England. They gained more dependence on English products and England became more dependent on colonial products. The English had the most contact with the colonies during the time of the Seven Years War and this led them to consider the colonists as despicable people. The Americans bonded under this new English contact and this resulted in awareness of being part of a major empire. However, the English did not view the Americans as very English. After the Seven Years War, the Americans were forced to pay for the war which they had no desire of paying.
8. The Great Awakening was started with Jonathan Edward’s ideas which consisted of beliefs that people could not save themselves and they were completely dependent on God’s will and word. After Edwards, George Whitefield came along and he was able to captivate his audience while using merchandise in order to spread the word of expressive evangelism. This was the reason Princeton University was established and it gave people a sign to start standing up for themselves. The congregational churches in New England were ruined by this and the Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists in the southern colonies were affected as well.
9. Colonial governors had the right to veto legislation, serve as military commanders, and also to dismiss judges. The governors desire for money blinded them and caused them to ignore the colonists without regarding their needs. The Assemblies were extremely pro-the-people, so they would place anyone who argued against the rights of people in jail. However, there were too many of them thus bribing was out of the question. The people that held more power were governors and despite the fact that it was the Assemblies that cast their votes for everything, the governor was still the one that had the final word.
10. At this point, the British experienced the most contact with the Americans and they regarded them “unorganized buffalos.” After aiding them with organizing their forces and forming hard-working ways, they left the Americans with a great debt to pay for the Seven Years War. The colonists took a rather long time to pay that debt, thus taxes were placed. On the other hand, the colonists had a prominent bound with Great Britain and it helped them comprehend that they were a part of a grand empire.
