Facts

Question 1

1620 - The first agreement for self-government in America. It was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony.

Answer 1

Mayflower Compact

Question 2

A Pilgrim, the second governor of the Plymouth colony, 1621-1657. He developed private land ownership and helped colonists get out of debt. He helped the colony survive droughts, crop failures, and Indian attacks.

Answer 2

William Bradford

Question 3

The Pilgrims were separatists who believed that the Church of England could not be reformed. Separatist groups were illegal in England, so the Pilgrims fled to America and settled in Plymouth. The Puritans were non-separatists who wished to adopt reforms to purify the Church of England. They received a right to settle in the Massachusetts Bay area from the King of England.

Answer 3

Pilgrims and Puritans contrasted

Question 4

1629 - King Charles gave the Puritans a right to settle and govern a colony in the Massachusetts Bay area. The colony established political freedom and a representative government.

Answer 4

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Question 5

The national church of England, founded by King Henry VIII. It included both Roman Catholic and Protestant ideas.

Answer 5

Church of England (Anglican Church)

Question 6

1629 - He became the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, and served in that capacity from 1630 through 1649. A Puritan with strong religious beliefs. He opposed total democracy, believing the colony was best governed by a small group of skillful leaders.

Answer 6

John Winthrop (1588-1649), his beliefs

Question 7

Non-separatists (which included the Puritans) believed that the Church of England could be purified through reforms. Separatists (which included the Pilgrims) believed that the Church of England could not be reformed, and so started their own congregations.

Answer 7

Separatists, non-separatists

Question 8

Protestant sect founded by John Calvin. Emphasized a strong moral code and believed in predestination (the idea that God decided whether or not a person would be saved as soon as they were born).
Calvinists supported constitutional representative government and the separation of church and state.

Answer 8

Calvinism

Question 9

Puritan colonies were self-governed, with each town having its own government which led the people in strict accordance with Puritan beliefs. Only those members of the congregation who had achieved grace and were full church members (called the “elect,” or “saints”) could vote and hold public office.

Answer 9

Contrast Puritan colonies with others

Question 10

She preached the idea that God communicated directly to individuals instead of through the church elders. She was forced to leave Massachusetts in 1637. Her followers (the Antinomianists) founded the colony of New Hampshire in 1639.

Answer 10

Anne Hutchinson, Antinomianism

Question 11

1635 - He left the Massachusetts colony and purchased the land from a neighboring Indian tribe to found the colony of Rhode Island. Rhode Island was the only colony at that time to offer complete religious freedom.

Answer 11

Roger Williams, Rhode Island

Question 12

The Half-way Covenant applied to those members of the Puritan colonies who were the children of church members, but who hadn’t achieved grace themselves. The covenant allowed them to participate in some church affairs.

Answer 12

Half-way Covenant

Question 13

Clergyman, one of the founders of Hartford. Called “the father of American democracy” because he said that people have a right to choose their magistrates.

Answer 13

Thomas Hooker

Question 14

First public education legislation in America. It declared that towns with 50 or more families had to hire a schoolmaster and that towns with over 100 families had to found a grammar school.

Answer 14

Massachusetts School Law

Question 15

1675 - A series of battles in New Hampshire between the colonists and the Wompanowogs, led by a chief known as King Philip. The war was started when the Massachusetts government tried to assert court jurisdiction over the local Indians. The colonists won with the help of the Mohawks, and this victory opened up additional Indian lands for expansion.

Answer 15

King Philip’s War

Question 16

1686 - The British government combined the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut into a single province headed by a royal governor (Andros). The Dominion ended in 1692, when the colonists revolted and drove out Governor Andros.

Answer 16

Dominion of New England

Question 17

Governor of the Dominion of New England from 1686 until 1692, when the colonists rebelled and forced him to return to England.

Answer 17

Sir Edmond Andros

Question 18

A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company’s profits and debts.

Answer 18

Joint stock company

Question 19

Virginia was formed by the Virginia Company as a profit-earning venture. Starvation was the major problem; about 90% of the colonists died the first year, many of the survivors left, and the company had trouble attracting new colonists. They offered private land ownership in the colony to attract settlers, but the Virginia Company eventually went bankrupt and the colony went to the crown. Virginia did not become a successful colony until the colonists started raising and exporting tobacco.

Answer 19

Virginia: purpose, problems, failures, successes

Question 20

Headrights were parcels of land consisting of about 50 acres which were given to colonists who brought indentured servants into America. They were used by the Virginia Company to attract more colonists.

Answer 20

Headright system

Question 21

Helped found and govern Jamestown. His leadership and strict discipline helped the Virginia colony get through the difficult first winter.

Answer 21

John Smith

Question 22

He was one of the English settlers at Jamestown (and he married Pocahontas). He discovered how to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia and cure it for export, which made Virginia an economically successful colony.

Answer 22

John Rolfe, tobacco

Question 23

1619 - The Virginia House of Burgesses formed, the first legislative body in colonial America. Later other colonies would adopt houses of burgesses.

Answer 23

House of Burgesses

Question 24

1676 - Nathaniel Bacon and other western Virginia settlers were angry at Virginia Governor Berkley for trying to appease the Doeg Indians after the Doegs attacked the western settlements. The frontiersmen formed an army, with Bacon as its leader, which defeated the Indians and then marched on Jamestown and burned the city. The rebellion ended suddenly when Bacon died of an illness.

Answer 24

Bacon’s Rebellion

Question 25

1733 - Georgia was formed as a buffer between the Carolinas and Spanish-held Florida. It was a military-style colony, but also served as a haven for the poor, criminals, and persecuted Protestants.

Answer 25

Georgia: reasons, successes

Question 26

Founder and governor of the Georgia colony. He ran a tightly-disciplined, military-like colony. Slaves, alcohol, and Catholicism were forbidden in his colony. Many colonists felt that Oglethorpe was a dictator, and that (along with the colonist’s dissatisfaction over not being allowed to own slaves) caused the colony to break down and Oglethorpe to lose his position as governor.

Answer 26

James Oglethorpe

Question 27

1665 - Charles II granted this land to pay off a debt to some supporters. They instituted headrights and a representative government to attract colonists. The southern region of the Carolinas grew rich off its ties to the sugar islands, while the poorer northern region was composed mainly of farmers. The conflicts between the regions eventually led to the colony being split into North and South Carolina.

Answer 27

Carolinas

Question 28

Locke was a British political theorist who wrote the Fundamental Constitution for the Carolinas colony, but it was never put into effect. The constitution would have set up a feudalistic government headed by an aristocracy which owned most of the land.

Answer 28

John Locke, Fundamental Constitution

Question 29

1690 - The first permanent settlement in the Carolinas, named in honor of King Charles II. Much of the population were Huguenot (French Protestant) refugees.

Answer 29

Charleston

Question 30

Tobacco was grown in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina. Rice was grown in South Carolina and Georgia. Indigo was grown in South Carolina.

Answer 30

Staple crops in the South

Question 31

1681- William Penn received a land grant from King Charles II, and used it to form a colony that would provide a haven for Quakers. His colony, Pennsylvania, allowed religious freedom.

Answer 31

Pennsylvania, William Penn

Question 32

William Penn allowed anyone to emigrate to Pennsylvania, in order to provide a haven for persecuted religions.

Answer 32

Liberal land laws in Pennsylvania

Question 33

William Penn’s term for the government of Pennsylvania, which was supposed to serve everyone and provide freedom for all.

Answer 33

Holy experiment

Question 34

The governor of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, hated by the colonists. They surrendered the colony to the English on Sept. 8, 1664.

Answer 34

Peter Stuyvesant

Question 35

The federation of tribes occupying northern New York: the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Senecca, the Onondaga, and the Cayuga. The federation was also known as the “Iroquois,” or the League of Five Nations, although in about 1720 the Tuscarora tribe was added as a sixth member. It was the most powerful and efficient North American Indian organization during the 1700s. Some of the ideas from its constitution were used in the Constitution of the United States.

Answer 35

Five Nations

Question 36

The middle colonies produced staple crops, primarily grain and corn.

Answer 36

Crops in the Middle Colonies

Question 37

New York became an important urban center due to its harbor and rivers, which made it an important center for trade. Philadelphia was a center for trade and crafts, and attracted a large number of immigrants, so that by 1720 it had a population of 10,000. It was the capital of Pennsylvania from 1683-1799. As urban centers, both cities played a major role in American Independence.

Answer 37

New York and Philadelphia as urban centers

Question 38

Printer, author, inventor, diplomat, statesman, and Founding Father. One of the few Americans who was highly respected in Europe, primarily due to his discoveries in the field of electricity.

Answer 38

Benjamin Franklin

Question 39

Pennsylvania: Founded by William Penn, a Quaker, to provide protection for Quakers. Maryland: Formed as a colony where Catholics would be free from persecution. Rhode Island: Formed to provide a haven for all persecuted religions, including all Christian denominations and Jews.

Answer 39

Pennsylvania, Maryland, Rhode Island - founders established churches

Question 40

Puritanism had declined by the 1730s, and people were upset about the decline in religious piety. The Great Awakening was a sudden outbreak of religious fervor that swept through the colonies. One of the first events to unify the colonies.

Answer 40

Great Awakening (1739-1744)

Question 41

Part of the Great Awakening, Edwards gave gripping sermons about sin and the torments of Hell.

Answer 41

Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, a Careful and Strict Inquiry Into…That Freedom of Will

Question 42

English preacher credited with starting the Great Awakening, also a leader of the “New Lights.”

Answer 42

George Whitefield

Question 43

The “New Lights” were new religious movements formed during the Great Awakening and broke away from the congregational church in New England. The “Old Lights” were the established congregational church.

Answer 43

Old Lights, New Lights

Question 44

Founded the colony of Maryland and offered religious freedom to all Christian colonists. He did so because he knew that members of his own religion (Catholicism) would be a minority in the colony.

Answer 44

Lord Baltimore

Question 45

1649 - Ordered by Lord Baltimore after a Protestant was made governor of Maryland at the demand of the colony’s large Protestant population. The act guaranteed religious freedom to all Christians.

Answer 45

Maryland Act of Toleration (Act of Religious Toleration)

Question 46

The religion of the Enlightenment (1700s). Followers believed that God existed and had created the world, but that afterwards He left it to run by its own natural laws. Denied that God communicated to man or in any way influenced his life.

Answer 46

Deism

Question 47

French Protestants. The Edict of Nantes (1598) freed them from persecution in France, but when that was revoked in the late 1700s, hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled to other countries, including America.

Answer 47

Huguenots

Question 48

Mercantilism was the economic policy of Europe in the 1500s through 1700s. The government exercised control over industry and trade with the idea that national strength and economic security comes from exporting more than is imported. Possession of colonies provided countries both with sources of raw materials and markets for their manufactured goods. Great Britain exported goods and forced the colonies to buy them.

Answer 48

Mercantilism: features, rationale, impact on Great Britain, impact on the colonies

Question 49

British regulations designed to protect British shipping from competition. Said that British colonies could only import goods if they were shipped on British-owned vessels and at least 3/4 of the crew of the ship were British.

Answer 49

Navigation Acts of 1650, 1660, 1663, and 1696

Question 50

British courts originally established to try cases involving smuggling or violations of the Navigation Acts which the British government sometimes used to try American criminals in the colonies. Trials in Admiralty Courts were heard by judges without a jury.

Answer 50

Admiralty courts