Master and Slave: Rich Culture Created from Backdrop of Slavery
On the narrow ground of their lives, slaves create a culture that is a nexus of kinship and family rich with religious, political, philosophical, and musical traditions. Slave religion combines traditional African religion with aspects of evangelica...
Not Much of a War: Support for Independence Intensifies
Colonial support for independence intensifies with the circulation of "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine. Three weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress meets at the state house in Philadelphia with delegates fr...
Growing Pains: Middle Colonies--A Diverse Melting Pot, The
Perhaps the most lasting legacy of the Quakers is religious toleration, not a common notion in the 17th century. The practical benefit of encouraging religious toleration is that it makes it very easy to populate your colony. The middle colonies are...
Saints and Strangers: Mayflower Compact: Structure for a Colony, The
Over the course of the first ten years, the Puritans convert the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company into a functioning constitution for their colony The town meeting becomes the cornerstone of community life as local issues are decided by adul...
Divergent Paths: Great Awakening, The
As the 1700s begin, a new force-the spirit of enlightenment with its emphasis on science and reason- competes with the religious messages of George Whitfield and the first Great Awakening. The movement surfaces in the mid-Atlantic colonies and soon ...
Divergent Paths: Governance of New England Towns
A very different form of community emerges in New England, one that is also distinctly American. Here the primary social unit is not the isolated farm, but the town-a tightly knit community of people bound together by their town covenant. In order t...
Best Laid Plans...: Second Great Awakening
In the 1790s only a small portion of white Americans belong to a traditional church. The new theologies that are emerging reflect modern scientific attitudes and de-emphasize the role of God in the world. But beginning in 1801 traditional religion ...
Growing Pains: Impact of Quaker Presence in the Middle Colonies, The
For Quaker families, the religious freedom the colony offers is reason enough to come. Quaker women often travel as "public friends" or missionaries, a practice that is frowned upon by Puritans. Quaker settlers do not believe in killing; in fact the...