Political Structures and Differences
- Democracy vs. Oligarchy: Democracy in America contrasted with Europe's high-class oligarchies. American suffrage was broader, and government intervention was more extensive.
- American Political Stability: American society experienced less tight control and political parties were more unstable. Disputes often occurred between the elected assembly and the royal governor.
Colonial Government Types
| Type | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Provincial | Governors were appointed by the king and had veto power over decisions made by the legislative assembly. | South Carolina, Georgia |
| Proprietary | Governors appointed by the Lord Proprietor who owned the colony. The Lord Proprietor had more rights. | Pennsylvania, Delaware |
| Charter | Governed by corporations or interest groups with a charter outlining the branches' powers. | — |
Governance and Civic Duty
- Colonial Government Structure: Included a Council (Governor’s cabinet) and an Assembly (land-holding men ensuring colonial law complied with English law).
- Elected Assembly: Represented the idea of civic duty, with Americans generally believing in the concept of a social contract.
Marriage and Social Contracts
- Sentimentalism: Emerged as a concept valuing emotionally fulfilling relationships over purely economic ones.
- Marriage: Continued to be oppressive, with enslaved people lacking legal protections for marriage.
- Coverture: White married women lost all political and economic rights.
- Elopement Notices: Often highlighted wives’ alleged indecent behavior and husbands’ fits of rage.
Print Culture and Its Evolution
- Government Censorship: Widespread censorship of print, with books and printed materials only slowly gaining circulation.
- Print Culture in New England: Respected and rewarded, with Philadelphia eventually overtaking Boston as the printing center due to Benjamin Franklin and a German-language press demand.
Religious Movements and Individualism
- Religious Piety Debates: Beginning in the 1710s, debates emerged about native-born colonists' comfort and its impact on faith.
- Preachers and Revivals: Preachers encouraged congregants to self-reflect, abandoning traditional sermons for more personal meetings. Whitefield popularized these revivals through dramatic preaching.
- Alienation and Individualism: Revivals fostered questioning of institutions and promoted a language of individualism.