Development of American Colonies

The development of the American colonies had six different factors contributing to it. They were the Enlightenment, European population explosion, Glorious Revolution, Great Awakening, mercantilism, and Religious tolerance.

The Enlightenment was a cultural movement that challenged the authority of the church in science and philosophy while elevating the power of human reason. One of the most influential Enlightenment writers was John Locke. He argued with the church that people were not born with sinful minds. He believed that their mind was shaped by society and education, which made people better. Baron Montesquieu, another writer, contributed to American colonies by creating our three political powers: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. They are separated into different branches, which provide checks and balances against each other so they have equal power.

The European population explosion happened in the early 1700’s when the climate became warmer and the diseases began to decline. This caused a population boom and a very large amount of new immigrants to come to America. Also, during this time there was a huge demand of wheat to feed the large rise in number of people in Europe. Between 1720 and 1770, wheat prices more than doubled, so this brought a wave of wealth and prosperity to America. This rapid rise of wheat trade and the arrival of new settlers changed the society of the American colonies.

The Glorious Revolution was a bloodless change of the throne in England. The English people and Parliament were growing tired of James II because he was Catholic, but were willing to tolerate him because they were expecting his Protestant daughter, Mary and her husband, William of Orange, to succeed James to the throne. When they received the news of James’ son being born, it broke their hope. Parliament was not going to risk another Catholic dynasty, so they invited William and Mary to the throne. When William arrived in England,...