Exploration + Colonies Study Guide

Question 1

Know when the settlers of each colony mostly originated from:

Answer 1

Southern Colonies- England, Germany, Scotland
New England Colonies- England
Middle Colonies -England,Germany, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Scotland

Question 2

Know the geography and climate of each colony:

Answer 2

Southern Colonies -excellent wetlands, full of riverways and bays. Climate is warm with plenty of rain. Soil is excellent for farming and the growing season is long because it is warm for so long.
New England Colonies -Cold Winters and mild summers. Soil is generally rocky making farming difficult. Good harbors, fish rich waters, vast timber resources.
Middle Colonies - Temperate in climate with mild summers and cold winters. Better soil than New England, but not as fertile as the South. Excellent harbors with good
ports for trade.

Question 3

Virginia and Jamestown?

Answer 3

Virginia: grows into the biggest and most prestigious colony
Jamestown: struggled at first, but were able to be successful with an agricultural economy

Question 4

Was Jamestown successful?

Answer 4

Jamestown, the first permanent settlement in the United States, became a very successful port town, and thrived economically.

Question 5

What was Georgia’s purpose?

Answer 5

To protect Carolinas from French and Spanish/haven for those imprisoned by debt.

Question 6

What was the headright system?

Answer 6

Land in exchange for settlers paying their own way.

Question 7

Indentured servitude vs slavery:

Answer 7

Indentured servants were bound to complete a period of labor in order to pay for their passage to England. While slaves remained slaves for life unless their masters emancipated them.

Question 8

Virginia house of Burgesses

Answer 8

The Virginia house of Burgesses was the first legislative assembly in North America. It was made to create local laws and taxes.

Question 9

What was the religion in each of the colonies?

Answer 9

New England- Puritan
Southern Colonies- multiple religions
Middle Colonies- The religions varied and no single religion dominated

Question 10

What was the New England economy like?

Answer 10

As a result of the lack of farming opportunities, economic opportunities in New England are based around the sea: shipbuilding, fishing, whaling and trade.

Question 11

What is Mercantilism?

Answer 11

The theory that, in order to grow rich and powerful, a nation needs raw materials from elsewhere. The mother country would turn these raw materials into “finished goods” and then sell them to the territories from which they had been taken.

Question 12

What did the Puritans believe?

Answer 12

They believed that the protestant church was too catholic and they wanted to purify it.

Question 13

What was the Mayflower Compact?

Answer 13

It is a written agreement that governed Plymouth, and while most of Europe is governed by tradition and custom the Mayflower Compact makes no mention of either.

Question 14

John Winthrop and quote:

Answer 14

He is a leader of the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His quote was about their colony being an example for how others should act as he talked about a “city on a hill”.

Question 15

What did Roger Williams do?

Answer 15

Roger Williams disagreed with the Puritans in Massachusetts. He said that Massachusetts Bay had stolen lands from the Indians. The colonial leaders strongly disagreed and tried to reprimand him but he fled to the Indians. Williams eventually moved to Narragansett Bay, where he founded Providence.

Question 16

What did Anne Hutchinson do?

Answer 16

Anne Hutchinson thought that it was wrong to enforce laws on those who were saved. The Puritans disagreed, tried her for heresy, and exiled her. She then established the Portsmouth settlement.

Question 17

What was the Middle Colonies economy like?

Answer 17

Diverse economy. Cash crop production: middle colonies known as the breadbasket colonies because of large amounts of barley, wheat oats, and rye produced. Commercial economy: Trade and ship-building

Question 18

Who is William Penn?

Answer 18

William Penn is an English Quaker who founded the colony of Pennsylvania.

Question 19

Short Essay:

Answer 19

Christopher Columbus is a sailor from the city of Genoa (in what is now Italy), who was the first European to set sail westward to find a route to the Orient. He discovered, instead, what we call the Americas. Christopher Columbus’ “Enterprise of the Indies” is the idea that there was a direct trade route to the Indies if you sailed West. The Portuguese caravel helped make Christopher Columbus’ voyage possible. This ship design allowed the ships to “sail against the wind” so that they didn’t need to propel themselves with oars. The pueblo people dwelt in compact, permanent settlements made up of limestone blocks. The pueblo men were hunters, well the women were farmers. The pueblo people speak a variety of languages. The pueblo people were ruled by a council of men made up of men from each of pueblo’s religious societies. The pueblo people worshiped spirits.