Chapter 1

Question 1

Why did the American population grow so quickly in the 18th century?

Answer 1

High Birth Rate: The average American woman had a family of seven children.
Low death rate: Americans were better fed, generally prosperous and lived longer
than most Europeans.
Immigration was a huge factor.

Question 2

Who were the main immigrant groups that came to America and why?

Answer 2

Some 400,000 people from Europe and Africa migrated to America between 1700 and
1763.

The largest group of immigrants (Some 150,000) were Scots-Irish Protestants from Ulster.
Their main reasons for immigration were that they were discontented with the land system, bad harvests and decline of the linen trade. Many Scottish and Irish people left their homes for economic reasons but also because of religious and political persecution they faced.

About 65,000 Germans, mainly peasants from the Rhineland came to the colonies, hoping
to improve their economic situation and also wanting the religious tolerance that the
colonies allowed. Many settled in Pennsylvania, which made up about 1/3 of the colony’s
population by the 1760’s.

By 1763 there were 350,000 slaves, one in six of the overall population. Most came
from West Africa. The demand for slaves was so high that the Black African population grew
more rapidly than the white population. 90% of the slaves lived in the South. They made up
less than 5% of the population in New England but 40% in Virginia, Maryland and Georgia
and 67% in North Carolina.

Question 3

What was ‘Indentured servitude’?

Answer 3

European immigrants crossing the Atlantic tended to travel
in groups, either as part of colonisation schemes or, more
frequently, under a system of temporary servitude. This
was when people were given free passage to America in
return for pledging their labour for four years. This meant
when they arrived they would be a ‘servant’ and they
would sign a contract, meaning they were ‘tied’ to that
employer for a fixed term.

Question 4

What were the results of immigration?

Answer 4

By 1760, only half of the American population was
originally from England. Another 15% were Welsh, Irish
and Scottish. Africans made up 20% and the Germans
8% of the population. While most European newcomers
quickly blended into Colonial culture and society,
Germans retained an important degree of religious and
cultural autonomy. The immigrant groups made
contributions to American life, especially language and agricultural techniques. The new
immigration played a factor in the start of more religious liberalism.

Question 5

What are:

a) Proprietary colonies?
b) Corporate colonies?

Answer 5

a) The proprietary colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware, where the
proprietor who ran the colony appointed the governor.

b) The corporate colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, where governors were
popularly selected and responsible to the legislators.

Question 6

Who was a governor and what power did/did they not have?

Answer 6

The governor was appointed and could be removed only by the British King, to whom he was responsible.

The governors had enormous powers and were responsible for internal administration. In
reality, however, their authority was limited. They could be dismissed by the British government.

Question 7

What were the colonial assemblies and what were they responsible for?

Answer 7

• Upper houses were normally appointed by the governor.
  Colonial elite. Advisory board to the governor.
• Lower houses were elected. They could be summoned and dismissed and their legislation vetoed by the governor, the power of the assemblies was
  considerable.
  They were responsible for initiating money bills and controlling expenditure. They represented their communities in a way that neither the governor nor the
  councils did.

Question 8

What were voting rights like for the colonists compared to the British?

Answer 8

80% of American white adult males could vote, compared with only 15% in Britain.

Not all white men owned sufficient property to entitle them to vote.
Women and slaves could not vote.

Question 9

What was British rule like in the colonies?

Answer 9

The Crown’s authority was subject to interpretation in the Propriety colonies and the Corporate colonies. The crown actually had more authority in the Colonies, as the governor was a representative of the King.

After 1696, the British Sovereign and the Privy Council had
joint authority to review colonial laws. (Only 5% of the 8500 colonial measures submitted between 1691 and 1775 were
disallowed by Britain)

The colonists needed to keep links with Britain and most colonies employed agents in
Britain who could speak in Parliament or organise Trade links with the Board of Trade on
their behalf.

Question 10

What was ‘salutary neglect’?

Answer 10

British governments realised that it was best not to stir up trouble in the colonies. They were 3000 miles away and were mostly left to their own devices. This detached policy is known as ‘Salutary neglect’.

Question 11

What was ‘mercantilism?’

Answer 11

Mercantilism is the belief that colonies existed essentially to serve the economic interest of
the mother country.

Question 12

What were the the Trade and Navigation Acts and what were they for?

Answer 12

Between 1651 and 1673, the Trade and Navigation Acts were designed to establish an
English monopoly of the colonial carrying trade, the colonial market and certain colonial
products.:

• All Cargos to or from the colonies were to be carried in ships built and owned in
  England or the colonies and manned by predominantly English crews.
• Certain enumerated commodities-sugar, cotton, indigo, dyewood, ginger and
  tobacco. These could only be exported to England, even if their intended destination
  was elsewhere.
  -European goods that were heading for America mostly had to be landed in England
  first and then re-shipped.

Question 13

What other policies were mercantilist in the colonies?

Answer 13

The Woollen Act (1699) forbade the export of woollen yarn and cloth outside the
colony in which it was produced.

The Hat Act (1732) prohibited the export of colonial beaver hats.

The Iron Act (1750) banned the export of colonial iron outside the empire.

Question 14

What were the effects of the mercantilism system?

Answer 14

Few Americans complained about the mercantilist regulations. This was partly because the system was not well enforced. While the Navigation Acts levied high duties, they were rarely collected. The chief posts in the colonial customs service were sinecures and were
filled with men who remained in Britain. The deputies who were sent to perform their duties were not well paid, so were easily bribed by the colonists to turn a blind eye to any trade laws that were being broken.

Question 15

What were the effects of the Woollen, Iron and and Hat Act?

Answer 15

The Woollen Act had a limited
impact because sheep and wool rarely exceeded local demand. The Hat Act affected an
industry of minor importance. The prohibitions of the Iron Act were disregarded. The Iron
Act aimed to encourage crude-iron production and allowed colonial bar and pig iron to
enter Britain free of duty. By the 1770s the colonies had outstripped Britain as producers of crude iron.

Question 16

What was American culture like?

Answer 16

Education was strongly encouraged. By 1763, 75% of white male adults were literate
compared with 60% in England. In America nearly all wealthy men and women were
literate. There were nine colleges and universities.

The colonial intellectual elite were influenced by the Enlightenment, this was the name of a school of European thought who believed in reason and human progress. The American Philosophical Society (1743) Some Americans, for
example Benjamin Franklin, gained international notice for their work.

Church membership was high, especially in New England. Most Americans were
Protestants. This Protestant faith helped to shape their culture and their political attitudes.

Question 17

What were the reasons for the Seven Years’ War?

Answer 17

Native American resistance.
Towards the end of the seventeenth century warfare between colonists and Native
Americans merged with a larger struggle between Britain and France (which ruled Canada
and Louisiana) for control of North America. Spain, which ruled most of Central and South
America, had some interest in developments in North America.

The war was primarily fought over contested claims between the British and French over the land of the Ohio Country.

Question 18

What was the War of Austrian Succession?

Answer 18

In the war of Austrian Succession, Britain was too absorbed in Europe to send much help to
the colonies. But France and Spain had similar problems. The fact that the Royal Navy was
stronger than the French and Spanish navies also made it difficult for Britain’s enemies to
send assistance to their colonists. Britain left most of the fighting to the colonial militia. The
English speaking colonists outnumbered the French 15:1 but inter colonial disputes and the
French relationship with the Native Americans gave them an advantage. The colonists
captured the city of Louisbourg in 1745, and the Colonists were proud of their victory and
appalled when the Treaty of Aix-la-chapelle hand Louisbourg back to France.

Question 19

What was the Albany Comgress?

Answer 19

The Board of Trade recognised that Native American support could be vital in the coming struggle against the French. It called all the Colonies from Virginia northward, to send delegates to a meeting at Albany to discuss joint Native American
policy. The Albany Congress failed to secure an alliance with the Iroquois, however
Congress did adopt a scheme, drawn up by Benjamin Franklin, for permanent inter-colonial
confederation. Franklin’s plan envisioned a Colonial Parliament with authority over Native
American affairs and with defence and taxes to create a colonial army. However the
Colonial assemblies were not all in favour of this.

Question 20

What caused the outbreak of war?

Answer 20

The war began in May 1754 because of these competing claims between Britain and
France. Twenty-two-year-old George Washington, a Virginian surveyor whose family helped
to found the Ohio Company, gave the command to fire on French soldiers near present-day
Uniontown, Pennsylvania. This incident on the Pennsylvania frontier proved to be a decisive
event that led to imperial war. For the next decade, fighting took place along the frontier of
New France and British America from Virginia to Maine. The war also spread to Europe as
France and Britain looked to gain supremacy in the Atlantic World.
After initially remaining neutral, the Ohio Country Indians and most of the northern tribes
largely sided with the French, who were their primary trading partner and supplier of arms.
The British fared poorly in the first years of the war. In 1754, the French and their American
Indian native allies forced Washington to surrender at Fort Necessity, a hastily built fort
constructed after Washington's attack on the French.

Question 21

What was the Treaty of Paris?

Answer 21

Most of the fighting between France and Britain in continental North America ended in
1760; however, the fighting in Europe continued. The war in North America officially ended
with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763

Question 22

What was the Treaty of Hubertusburg and what did it settle?

Answer 22

France ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to its ally Spain, in
compensation for Spain’s loss of Florida to Britain (which Spain had given to Britain in
exchange for the return of Havana, Cuba). France’s colonial presence north of the
Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, confirming Britain’s
position as the dominant colonial power in the eastern half of North America.

Question 23

What was the Economic Situation like for Britain in 1763?

Answer 23

Britain had a rising population, with 7.5 million people in 1760. Although more than half the
British people still lived and worked within farming communities, the Industrial Revolution
was taking place. The main emerging industries were textiles, iron and steel. Cities like
Birmingham and Manchester were rapidly growing. London had a population of nearly
700,000 and was the largest city in the world. Britain was the world’s greatest trading
nation. With the exception of the very poor, all Englishmen benefitted from the changing
economy. Real wages improved for everyone, although workplace exploitation was
extreme and many workers worked in dangerous conditions.

Question 24

What was the Social Situation like for Britain in 1763?

Answer 24

British society was hierarchical. Great landowners dominated society and politics. The
nobility and their relations filled most high office positions, whether in Civil Servants
positions, or church or army positions. Although the new middle classes were becoming
prominent, society was still dominated by the nobility.
Britain’s rising middle class was essential to the growth of the economy and to Britain’s
social flexibility and stability.

Question 25

What was the Political Situation like for Britain in 1763?

Answer 25

Britain was a Parliamentary Monarchy. The Glorious Revolution in 1688, when King James II fled from Britain and William III and Mary became joint monarchs, had reduced the
monarchy’s power. All government was, in theory, the King’s.

Question 26

What were the signs of a weakening relationship between Britain and the colonies?

Answer 26

By 1763 the Thirteen Colonies were developing so rapidly that it was only a
matter of time before they broke their ties with Britain. In all other parts of America, there
were tendencies at work that pointed to autonomy rather than on Colonial Dependency.
The Colonies population was rapidly growing and by 1763, Colonists were starting to
become aware that they could be something other than Britons, controlled by the British
Monarchy thousands of miles away. The Colonists were a diverse group due to the
Immigration and they were a blend of different cultures and identities.

By 1763, the colonies pretty much ran their own affairs. British governors started to
complain in the 1760s that they were dealing with the Colonies trying to exert
independence. Unless Britain asserted its rights, this was likely to cause problems with the
Colonists wanting more independence and they would start to drift away from British
control.

Question 27

What were the signs of a strong relationship between Britain and the colonies?

Answer 27

It is possible to argue that the Colonial-British relationship was strong in 1763. Despite the
regulation and controls in place and the mercantilist system, the British imperial system
was easy going in practice. The Thirteen Colonies enjoyed much more autonomy and
freedom than any other of Britain’s colonies. There were strong bonds of affection between
Britain and the Colonies and many Colonists were proud of their British heritage and rights.
Most Americans were loyal to Britain; during the Seven Years’ War some 25,000 Americans
had joined the militia to fight against the French.

The Strong relationship with Britain united the Colonies rather than an inner sense of
American unity. The only common institutions were those that came from Britain. The
monarchy, the common law, the English language and British culture. Britain and the
Colonies were also held together by a community of economic interests within the
mercantile system.