8.5x11
The Transformation of European Society, Gary B. Nash
Thesis:
Reasons:
Individualism grows in popularity with disregard to ancestral and religious ideas.
The traditional idea of a God-ordained "hierarchy in human affairs" lead to a far more free flowing social structure and the ideal of egalitarianism. Egalitarianism is defined as the “equality of all men”
With the growth of colonies in the Americas, communal ideas held by early settlements start to lose popularity. Ideas such as private ownership start to gain popularity as colonists start to advance.
With the decline of religious restrictions from the Puritan church, colonists become far more aggressive in the economy and following individual desires . The individual replaced
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Implying that social class held many benefits and was a basis of power and wealth.
Immigrants were mainly lower-middle class, so there was a narrow range of wealth in the eighteenth century.
“By 1750, thanks to a continuous stream of immigration from Europe and Africa, the colonial population had leaped to 1,125,000, including 240,000 blacks.” This lead to a large amount of cultural mixing.
Between 1725 and 1760, the amount of impoverished people in cities grew drastically. Due to the lack of proper government sanctions, the rich often controlled the economy hindering opportunity to rise for the lower classes.
"The only principle of life propagated among the young people," wrote Cadwallader Golden, "is to get money and men are only esteemed according to what they are worth — that is the money they are possessed of." Money equals power, and higher social ranking.
The Great Awakening strongly alters religious faith and power in North