Analyze the role of trans-Atlantic trade and Great Britains

mercantilist policies in the economic development of the

British North American colonies in the period from 16501750.
When the young America was establishing its roots and under the
careful eye of the British Empire, the English policies imposed upon them
greatly affected the economic development of all the British North American
colonies. The colonies came to have trade dependence on the British during
the colonial period because of the British mercantilist theory, which required
that the colonies primarily focus on trade and the provision of raw materials
only for the mother country, and the trans-Atlantic trade route, which
encouraged a triangular-trade route between the West Indies, Europe, Africa,
and the New England colonies.
Mercantilism, which arose in Europe with the decline of feudalism,
decreed that the economic interests of the colonial powers could be
strengthened by enforcing tariffs and monopolies on their colonies. England
required that the colonies existed to serve only the mother country, where
the colonies would create the raw materials and the mother country would
produce the manufactured goods to be resold in the colonies. England
therefore had the right to regulate trade entirely, and the North and South
did not focus on industrialization at all, but rather on harvesting colony
resources. Such acts that restricted free trade in the colonies included the
Navigation Acts, which required that the colonies transport their goods only
in British and colonial ships were crews were 75% British; enumerated
articles such as tobacco, sugar, indigo, and others were to go only to Britain
even if other European markets offered higher prices; and the colonies could
only purchase imports from Britain and had to pay duties. Other acts
included the Staple Act, Hat Act, and Molasses Act. No banks existed in the
colonies and gold and silver were drained from the colonies, making barter
necessary. Although the tobacco and rice farmers enjoyed a monopoly of the
market thanks to Britain, these cash crop farmers were also entirely
dependent on the flux of the market in England and faced unstable prices. As
colonial prosperity grew, poverty spread in major seaports such as Boston.
The Trans-Atlantic trade was primarily between Africa, Europe, and the
New England and West Indies colonies. The New England ships carried rum to
Africa, where slaves were brought to the West Indies or Charleston in South
Carolina using the Middle Passage. The West Indies then sent sugar and

molasses back to New England to make rum. Manufactured goods from

England were sent out from England in return for tobacco, grain, fish, and
naval supplies and from the West Indies for foodstuffs, lumber, sugar, and
molasses. This system encouraged a thriving agricultural economy and
created merchant networks and shipbuilding. This trade system relied on
easy trade between the country and the colonies, making the development
of the colonies along the coasts, and particularly in the North, around port
towns and cities. The focus on trade along with the unfair mercantilist
policies created a rampant smuggling economy, especially when Britain
ended the period of salutary neglect in an effort to glean more profit from its
colonies.
Economic development varied throughout the three regions in the
North American colonies. In New England, port cities formed out of the
relationship with England and the slave colonies as they produced fish,
livestock, and lumber. The shipbuilding industry was also stimulated by the
Navigation Acts; so many ships were built for English buyers. There were also
many distilleries in Massachusetts Bay by 1750. During the period when the
restrictive rules and regulations by Britain were note enforced, the North
prospered. In the Chesapeake and South, colonists produced tobacco and
grain. They employed a plantation system where indentured servants were
replaced by African slaves. Plantation owners enjoyed a monopoly in British
markets and even enjoyed credit from the New England colonies. Farming
dominated all areas of European settlement in the colonies because of
Britains trade policies. Manufacturing was secondarily important. Social
stratification developed slowly at first because of Britains determination to
keep the colonies in check, but social classes eventually developed, with
elite white families at the top of the period, land owning whites next,
landless farmers next, and the slaves at the bottom of the pyramid.
The feelings of injustice that the colonists felt perhaps inspired the New
England Confederation and the Albany Congress. Additionally, the
development of social stratification over time in the colonies during the
period of salutary neglect by Britain and rampant smuggling sparked the
beginnings of thoughts against the British to start the American Revolution
because the colonists were developing their own unique sense of American
identity. Due to the trans-Atlantic trade and the mercantilist policies of
Britain, the colonies were greatly shaped economically, inevitably also
shaping todays global economy.

Analyze the ways in which TWO of the following influenced

the development of American society. (Third omitted)
a. Puritanism during the 17th century
b. The Great Awakening during the 18th century
Prior to the American Revolution in 1775, the American colonies
experienced a number of evangelical and intellectual renewals that affected
all colonists. The Puritanism movement in the 17th century as well as the
Great Awakening in the 18th century was two such events that greatly
influenced the development of the future American society.
Puritanism in the 17th century was the emigration of British citizens
from England to America in the 1600s. These Puritans stressed religious
values and sought religious freedom in the New World where they could
openly practice their Protestant faith. Paradoxically, however, the Puritans
held strict laws regarding the laws of the Church, looked down upon other
forms of worship and religion, and reinforced punishments for sins such as
adultery, murder, and other laws breaking the Ten Commandments. The Blue
Laws in Connecticut were such an example, which were harsh Puritanical
laws that were created to maintain public morality. The Puritans, also called
Congregationalists, wanted to reform the Church of England instead of
abandoning its practices. They believed that only saved souls could be
relinquished to a higher state of being and experience conversion. These

saved souls were called visible saints, who were the only men able to be
elected into the representative government to vote on public decisions.
These early city councils and parliaments with self-governance were the
basis of state constitutions and democracy later on. The unique idea of the
Puritan work ethic also helped shape American society, where idleness was
looked down upon and productiveness was valued. This hard working society
encouraged the spread of similar Puritan towns throughout the colonies. John
Winthrops famous phrase we must be as a city upon a hill shows that the
Puritans were conscious of the fact that they were founding the beginnings of
a great new empire. Schools such as Harvard and William and Mary were
created to train ministers, showing the importance of religion in societies.
The importance of religion later appeared later in the form of the Great
Awakening.
The Great Awakening in the 18th century was a reaction to a decline in
piety and a carelessness of morals in the Congregational Churches of New
England. Before the Great Awakening, individual morals declined as Puritans
turned increasingly toward Arminianism, or the belief that an individuals free
will, not divine intervention, was what determined eternal fate. Puritans also
focused more on economic gain rather than religious benefits. Preachers
then turned to preaching jeremiads, to inspire fear in the citizens, saying that
humans were predestined to damnation and that they could only be saved
by following church ritual. Such preachers included Jonathan Edwards and
George Whitefield. The lasting effects of the Great Awakening included the
emphasis on direct, emotive spirituality; schisms set off in the denominations
that increased the competitiveness of American churches; a fresh wave of
missionary work among Indians and black slaves; the foundation of new
light centers of higher learning such as Princeton, Brown, Rutgers,
Dartmouth, and Franklins UPenn; the first spontaneous mass movement of
the American people; and the breaking down of sectional boundaries and
denominational lines that created a sense of unity. The movement
challenged traditional intellectualism and called for a heightened sense of
individual understanding. The Great Awakening, furthermore, influenced
significant social leveling and increased religious tolerance in Connecticut. It
showed the depravity of the human soul as everyone was a sinner in the
eyes of God. Common emotional experiences between the rich and poor
increased relations between them. It also effected colonial government and
had an impact on secondary education because of the universities that were
founded during the time. Ironically, the Great Awakening promoted religious

tolerance as the Congregational Church split into Old and New Light factions
and other denominations, such as the Baptist Church.
The Puritan movement as well as the Great Awakening in prerevolutionary times set the stage for religious and cultural developments in
the English colonies. They both contributed to the unique sense of American
identity and sense of separation from Britain. These events relate to the
American Revolution later on as a result of this growing unique identity.