1. How much equality, liberty, and self-government existed in the American colonies in the period 1700-1750? Back up your assessment with as many specific facts as possible.
2. What was the Great Awakening? Who was attracted to it? Who was repelled by it? What impact did it have on religious, social, educational, and political developments in eighteenth-century America?
3. Discuss the racial and ethnic makeup and the social class structure of mid-eighteenth-century America.
4. Historians have long debated the impact of Britain's mercantilist economic policy on the colonies. Explain the mercantilist economic theory and show how Parliament incorporated it into the navigation system. According to Chapter 4, in what ways did that system hurt and benefit America? Does the author believe the harm outweighed the benefits?
5. "In the second quarter of the eighteenth century, no American more fully embodied the Enlightenment spirit than [Benjamin] Franklin." Discuss Franklin's life, beliefs, career, and achievements, and explain how they embodied the Enlightenment spirit.