Exam 1 Short Answer Terms

Question 1

Stamp Act

Answer 1

• Who: George Grenville proposed the measure.
• What: internal tax on pretty much any paper, and taxed stamps were required for legal documents.
• Where: the Act placed duties on American colonies, but its inception was in England.
• When: the Stamp Act was to go into effect on November 1, 1765
• Why: the revenue from the Sugar Act was not sufficient to solve Britain’s debt issue.
• Significance: led to the Stamp Act Congress and the Sons of Liberty—both forces opposed the Stamp Act. Overall this was a focal point of tension between American colonists and England.

Question 2

Mercantilism

Answer 2

• Who: mercantilism was the policy of England.
• What: idea that the government ought to intervene in the economy to promote national wealth and that exports should outweigh imports in trade.
• Where: England.
• When: policies to implement mercantilism were established between 1651 and 1733.
• Why: to compete for more precedence in transatlantic trade.
• Significance: by adopting this policy, England solidified itself as a colonial power.

Question 3

Task system

Answer 3

• Who: African slaves were worked in this system.
• What: labor management system where slaves were allotted a set of tasks to complete throughout the day.
• Where: was used in Carolina.
• When: colonial Carolina, so 1660s+?
• Why: slave systems were adopted in place of indentured servitude, but the task system specifically allowed slaves more freedom in their work, allowing them to adjust to the harsh conditions they were put under: it was hot, swampy, and the ricefield mosquitos all contributed to this harshness.
• Significance: since they had more free time, African slaves in the New World retained some of their culture under this system.

Question 4

William Penn

Answer 4

• Who: a Quaker.
• Was allotted Pennsylvania.
• When: 1681 was when he set up his colony, so late 17th century.
• Where: he was an Englishman, but went to the colonies.
• Why: he intended to setup Pennsylvania as a ‘holy experiment’ under his Quaker worldview.
• Significance: William Penn setup the religiously idiosyncratic Pennsylvania, contributing to the early history of the United States as a melting pot of religious and ethnic diversity.

Question 5

Salem Witch Trials

Answer 5

• Who: the Puritans of New England hunted witches.
• What: the Puritan belief in the existence of witches culminated in a large scale witch hunt in the American village of Salem. This witch hunt eventually spread to the surrounding New England area.
• Where: Salem.
• When: the witch hunt took place in 1692.
• Why: hysteria, economic and religious anxiety, an ideology promoting fear of your neighbors—these all contributed to it occurring.
• Significance: notions of justice were reconsidered after the Salem witch trials. In particular, the idea that someone is innocent until proven guilty advanced after people retrospectively criticized this incident.

Question 6

Bacon’s rebellion

Answer 6

• Who: Nathanial Bacon and 300 supporters.
• What: A rebellion primarily consisting of alienated indentured servants. They attacked Jamestown and Indian groups.
• Where: Virginia.
• When: 1675.
• Why: the indentured servants were angry with the colonial government of Virginia. This was because these individuals were allotted garbage land via the headright system, lacked economic opportunities, and were subject to Indian attacks.
• Significance: after the rebellion was defeated, less trust was placed in indentured servants, which gave rise to a strong impetus for importing African slaves as a primary source of labor.

Question 7

Great Awakening

Answer 7

• Who: Christian groups in America.
• What: a ‘revival’ or mass spiritual movement that took place, which included a surge in church membership and myriad evangelicals making their way around the English colonies.
• Where: first Scotland and England, then the Middle Colonies, after that the northern colonies, and lastly the south.
• When: 1730s through the 1760s.
• Why: competition between differing religious groups in the colonies, the new Halfway Covenant, and the Christian retaliation towards the Enlightenment all contributed to this.
• Significance: it solidified a culture of evangelism in America, and further it created a rebellious group of ‘New Lights’ who challenged religious and political authorities.

Question 8

French and Indian War

Answer 8

• Who: the primary belligerents of the war are France and England.
• What: the American theater of and preceding conflict to the Seven Years’ War.
• Where: the American colonies, specifically the northern ones.
• When: 1754-1763.
• Why: the conflict began with the Treaty of Lancaster. Iroquois gave trade rights for Ohio to Virginians, but the English abused this to attain land in the area. The French sided with the Indians in attempting to violently remove the British from the area.
• Significance: solidified English control over North America, kicking the French out of the New World completely. It also produced a massive war debt for the British government, which they attempted to pay off through taxing American colonists, as they also blamed these colonists for starting the war in the first place.