Chapter 2

Question 1

Roanoke Island

Answer 1

SIr Walter Raleigh’s attempted colony in North Carolina in 1585. The colony mysteriously vanished, only the word “Croatoan” was found carved on a tree.

Question 2

Laws of Primogeniture

Answer 2

These laws decreed that only the eldest sons of Europeans were eligible to inherit land. They are important to Americans because they helped drive men towards opportunity and land in the New World.

Question 3

Joint-Stock Company

Answer 3

This enabled a number of investors to pool their money and other resources in order to more successfully establish colonies. In this system both losses and gains would be shared amongst the investors.

Question 4

Charter

Answer 4

A document that guaranteed overseas settlers the same rights as Englishmen at home.

Question 5

Jamestown

Answer 5

The first permanent English settlement in the New World. It was established in Virginia in 1607. Life here was a struggle, especially early on, when food was scarce and disease took a fierce toll.

Question 6

The Anglo-Powhatan Wars

Answer 6

Wars between the early settlers of Virginia and the Chief Powhatan’s tribe. These lasted from 1610-1644 and they resulted in the virtual annihilation of the Powhatan confederacy.

Question 7

Disease

Answer 7

It ruins everything. But mostly it kills lots and lots and lots of Native Americans. Way more than the European settlers did with guns.

Question 8

Tobacco

Answer 8

The staple crop, and economic savior of Virginia, it was first successfully cultivated by John Rolfe.

Question 9

Act of Toleration

Answer 9

An act put forward in the colony of Maryland that guaranteed toleration to all Christians. (It also declared the death penalty for those who denied the divinity of Jesus.)

Question 10

Barbados Slave Code

Answer 10

These codes denied even the most fundamental rights to slaves and gave masters virtually complete control over their laborers, including the right to inflict vicious punishments for even slight infractions.

Question 11

What was the purpose of establishing the colony of Georgia between the Carolina’s and Spanish controlled Florida?

Answer 11

It was meant to serve as a buffer state, protecting the more valuable Carolina’s from the Spanish attacking from Florida and later from the French attacking from Louisiana.

Question 12

Iroquois Confederacy

Answer 12

This bound together five tribes, the Oneidas, The Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Mohawks, and the Seneca. This proud and strong confederacy maintained a menacing presence in Central New York until after the American Revolution.