JoppJune7

Professor Jopp's Class ** Friday, June 7, 2002

The colonies in the 17th Century

18th-century changes

Revolution

The colonies were very different from each other (population, religions, labor systems, land distribution, etc.)
People had an identity based on the colony in which they lived

Economic autonomy:

colonials wanted to manufacture their own goods
colonials wanted their own trading partners
colonials wanted their own currency (type of money)
Result: the colonial economy does not function according to the theory

Political changes:

colonial governments became more alike
the nature of politics changed
- politics became more popularized
- more men participated in the political process

Social changes:

A decline of social deference = leaders are no always respected and their families are automatically respected; they don't need to prove themselves; in the 18th C, things became more democratized
Religious life changed
- "the great awakening" = voluntary church attendance and people began to question authority

What do you need to start a revolution?

People to fight
A reason to fight
- an ideology = set of ideas that helps explain how you look at the world
- a political identity (including, for example, flags etc. to represent your identity
Leaders: political leaders and military leaders
Money
Popular support

Theory of how a colonial economy works:

The raw materials go to the mother country from the colony, and then the mother country manufactures something from the raw materials. The products that are manufactured are then sold back to people in the colonies.
The mother country makes a profit.
Things worked this way in the 17th century, but by the 18th century, the colonials wanted to manufacture their own products and didn't want to send everything back to England.

Colonial political theory:

No political independence
A colonial government should be looking out for the interests of the mother country: a weak colonial government that helps the rulers of the mother country

History: Sources

Historians use two kinds of sources to construct a "narrative" by paraphrasing ( = putting into your own words) or citing the exact wording from a source

Primary: actual document from the time period being studied

Examples: letters, trial transcript, etc. (for example, the transcript of the trial of Anne Hutchinson)

Secondary: a work written later

Examples: text books, articles, etc.)