Effects of Democratic Societies in the American Colonies

338 Words2 Pages
Effects of Democratic Societies in the American Colonies The American colonies evolved into a more democratic society due to the contribution of immigration, the Great Awakening and the Zenger case. These key events helped the American colonies become more democratic because they opened a window to the toleration of different religions and foreigners living in the colonies. The Zenger case of 1735 heavily impacted the colonists striving for a democratic society. The Zenger case brought about the Freedom of Press, which would later become the First Amendment. The Freedom of Press gave colonists the right to write and publish articles that may be considered controversial and that attack government officials. Though the Zenger case did not give complete freedom to the colonies, it gave them the courage to make bigger risks. The Great Awakening in the first decades of the 18th century caused a religious feeling among many people. The Great Awakening had an enormous impact on religion in the colonies. Colonists were confessing their guilt and sin and then wallowing in the thought of being “saved.” The Great Awakening increased religious diversity and the separation of church and state. Colonists started to believe that if they could make their own religious decisions, they could also make their own political decisions thus adding to democracy in the Americas. Immigrants came to the Americas for gold, God and glory without the realization they were adding to democracy in the colonies. Many immigrants settled in the middle colonies because farms were bigger and trade was better. Immigration also added to the development of slavery, Africans being captured and brought to the Americas by Europeans as either slaves or free labor servants would add to the American colonies fight for a more democratic society. Immigration, The Zenger case and the Great Awakening all

More about Effects of Democratic Societies in the American Colonies

Open Document