American Colonial Period
The period from 1690 to 1760 saw massive changes in the social,political and economic landscape of early America. Because of theimportance of travel and agriculture, the first colonies grew along thecoasts. The colonies were self-sufficient and had distinct cultures.However, they were also linked by commerce and navigation. By the early 18th century, New England colonies like Boston and Salemwere established shipbuilding communities as well as important ports for
Colonies in Virginia and Maryland, on theother hand, would grow agricultural economies and export tobaccointernationally. These economic changes would spur several social changes as well. This gave rise to severalethnic-based conflicts, as Irish and Italian groups fought for scarce jobsin the New England colonies. Presbyterians in the middle coloniesresponded to the encroaching Age of Enlightenment with a revival ofreligion. In the 1770s, these religious conflicts spawned by the Great Awakeningfurther polarized the colonies. This soon spread among the Puritans in New England as well asother colonies and later, among the Baptists in the South. In the Southern plantations, however, the need for farm labor spurredthe importation of slaves. Thus, rather than mere ethnicity, conflict inthese areas were polarized according to skin color as well. Citing religious grounds, historians like many"common" folk felt empowered to challenge the materialism of theirwealthier counterparts. Theprosperous economies attracted impoverished immigrants from Old Worldcountries like Italy, Germany and Ireland. Also, historian Harry Stout argues that thephenomenon of mass preaching and fervent crowds paved the way for new,"democratized" forms of communication and even laid the foundations for thepopular politics of the revolutionary period. This religious revival had important effects on social and politicallife in the colonies.
Common topics in this essay:
Irish Italian,
,
Virginia Maryland,
Baptists South,
Harry Stout,
Boston Salem,
Age Enlightenment,
Germany Ireland,
england colonies,
Puritans England,
social political,
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