Rejected Cards - Transatlantic Encounters

Question 1

Define:

The Renaissance

Answer 1

The Renaissance was a renewal of classical learning and increased scientific discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Inventions such as the printing press, the compass, and gunpowder, as well as increased literacy, spurred exploration of the New World.

Question 2

What was the effect of the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of Constantinople?

Answer 2

Constantinople served as the trade gateway to Asia. Following its conquest by the Turks in 1453, Europeans had to find alternative routes to gain access to Asian goods.

Question 3

Where did the Portuguese direct their exploratory efforts?

Answer 3

The Portuguese were primarily interested in trade with Asia and India, and during the 1300s, Prince Henry the Navigator funded exploration expeditions primarily concerned with accessing these markets.

Vasco de Gama, sailing in the early 1400s reached India by sailing around Africa, and Ferdinand Magellan’s ships circumnavigated the globe in the 1500s.

Question 4

Who was Christopher Columbus?

Answer 4

Funded by Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Columbus led three discovery expeditions to the New World, Columbus was looking for a passage to Asia.

Question 5

Describe Spain’s colonization efforts in the New World?

Answer 5

After Columbus “discovered” the New World, Spanish conquistadores focused on conquest of the Indians. Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztecs, and Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas.

Question 6

Describe the interaction between Spaniards and the native inhabitants of Central and South America.

Answer 6

Following the initial conquest of the natives, many of the survivors caught diseases such as smallpox. Under the Encomieda System, many Indians were enslaved to work Spanish farms and mines. Few Spaniards colonized the New World, leading to intermarriage between the Spaniards and the Indians.

Question 7

Define:

Asiento System

Answer 7

Under the Asiento System, as the Indians died due to disease and Spanish brutality, Spaniards brought in African slaves to replace them, paying a tax to the Spanish crown for each slave imported.

The Asiento System was a forerunner of the Triangular Trade System, and resulted in thousands of slaves being brought to the New World.

Question 8

Define:

Encomienda System

Answer 8

Under the Encomienda System, the Spanish government provided grants of land and Indians to individual Spaniards who were responsible to care for the Indians and convert them to Catholicism.

Question 9

Why were African slaves introduced to the Spanish colonies?

Answer 9

Approximately 90% of the Indians in Spanish territories fell victim to disease or were killed due to brutal treatment. To supplement the labor force, the Spanish established the Asiento System, where Spaniards paid a tax to the Spanish king for each slave brought from Africa.

Question 10

What was the Papal Line of Demarcation?

Answer 10

The Pope divided the world between two Catholic powers, Portugual and Spain along the 38th degree of longitude.

The Pope’s Line of Demarcation was later ratified in the Treaty of Tordesillas, which also moved the Line of Demarcation a few degrees west. Protestant countries, such as the English and Dutch ignored the Pope’s line.

Question 11

What was the Protestant Reformation?

Answer 11

The Protestant Reformation was a revolt against the authority of the Pope, denying the Pope’s authority over Christians and establishing new versions of Christianity.

A primary justification for colonization by both Catholics and Protestants was the desire to spread their version of the Christianity.

Question 12

How did the Protestants and Catholics view the religious nature of exploration and conquest?

Answer 12

Both Protestants and Catholics viewed religious conversion of Indians as a primary justification for exploration and conquest.

Question 13

Define:

Nation-State

Answer 13

A nation-state is a geographical unit, under one form of government, in which the populace shares a common ethnic and cultural background.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, trade was an important source of funding for nation-states, leading to an increased emphasis on commerce and exploration.

Question 14

Define:

Northwest Passage

Answer 14

The Northwest Passage was a legendary sea route north and west of North America that provided a direct sailing route to Asia from Europe.

The search for an easy sea lane around the New World by French explorers such as Henry Cabot and Giovanni Verrazano, and Dutch explorers such as Henry Hudson, spurred exploration of North America.

Question 15

Define:

Joint-Stock Company

Answer 15

In a joint-stock company, funds are contributed into a common pool by investors who share in the company’s profits and losses.

Joint-stock companies proved an effective way to finance trading and colonization.

Question 16

Define:

Charter

Answer 16

A charter was a grant from the King of England granting special privileges to a colony.

Question 17

What was the first permanent English colony in the New World?

Answer 17

The first permanent English colony was at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. The Virginia Company, a joint-stock company, received a charter from King James I.

A previous colony at Roanoke mysteriously disappeared, but the Jamestown colony survived despite disease and poor planning.

Question 18

What was the major trade good of the Jamestown colony?

Answer 18

Under John Smith, Jamestown’s primary trade good was tobacco. A tobacco blend developed by Pocahontas and her husband John Rolfe proved particularly popular in England.

Question 19

Who were the Puritans?

Answer 19

Puritans sought to “purify” Christian religious practices, and constituted a threat to the Anglican church, the Christian branch of the English monarchy.

Many Puritans sought to reform the Church of England from within although a few, known as Separatists, left the Church of England entirely.

Question 20

Define:

House of Burgesses

Answer 20

The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first lawmaking body in the New World.

Twelve years after the founding of the Jamestown Colony, the Virginia Company sought to encourage colonization in Virginia by establishing a lawmaking body, which allowed the populace to govern themselves.

Question 21

Who founded the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies?

Answer 21

The Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies were founded by Puritans, who sought to escape religious persecution.

The English allowed the troublemaking Puritans to settle in the New World, as an easy means of getting them out of the way.

Question 22

What was the governing document of the Plymouth Colony?

Answer 22

Aboard the Mayflower, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, which established majority rule for the Plymouth Colony.

Question 23

What was the Great Migration?

Answer 23

The Great Migration was the first large scale influx of settlers to the New World. Fleeing a Civil War in England, Puritans under John Winthrop established numerous settlements in Massachusetts, including Boston.

Question 24

How did democracy function in Massachusetts?

Answer 24

All male members of the Puritan church had the right to elect the governor, the governor’s assistants, and a representative assembly.

Question 25

Which colony was established as a haven for Catholics fleeing Protestant persecution?

Answer 25

Although Lord Baltimore designated Maryland as a refuge for Catholics, the number of Protestants quickly outnumbered the relatively few Catholics. Baltimore convinced Maryland’s representative assembly to establish an Act of Toleration, which granted religious freedom to all Christians.

Under Baltimore’s control through a charter received from King James I, Maryland was a proprietary colony.

Question 26

What was Maryland’s Act of Toleration?

Answer 26

The Act of Toleration, passed in 1649, granted religious freedom to Christians regardless of sect.

Although the Act was repealed in the later 1600s by the heavily Protestant Maryland Assembly, it provided freedom to both Catholics and Protestants.

Question 27

How were royal colonies governed?

Answer 27

Royal colonies were governed directly by the King of England.

New Hampshire was a royal colony. Virginia too became a royal colony, after the Virginia Company (a joint-stock company) declared bankruptcy.

Question 28

How were proprietary colonies administered?

Answer 28

Proprietary colonies were privately administered by individuals who received a charter from the King.

Maryland was a proprietary colony of Lord Baltimore, who received a charter from King James I.

Question 29

What were corporate colonies?

Answer 29

Corporate colonies were colonies operated by joint-stock companies under a charter from the King of England.

Jamestown was an example of a corporate colony.

Question 30

Where did the French focus their colonial efforts?

Answer 30

The French colonial efforts focused on the area around the St. Lawrence River, founding the colony of Quebec, and at the mouth of the Mississippi, where they founded the colony of New Orleans. French exploration was dominated by the fur trade.

Question 31

Where did the Dutch place their colonies?

Answer 31

The Dutch placed their colonies along the Hudson River (named for Dutch explorer Henry Hudson, who discovered it). The primary Dutch colony was New Amsterdam (modern-day New York), and at Alban, further up the Hudson.

Question 32

What is indentured servitude?

Answer 32

Under indentured servitude, a person’s passage to the New World was paid in advance and in exchange for several years of labor.

Colonists, primarily in the Cheasapeake Bay colonies, used indentured servants to fill labor shortages. Most indentured servants died before obtaining freedom.

Question 33

What was the headright system?

Answer 33

Under the headright system, Virginia provided 50 acres of land to any landowner who paid an immigrant’s passage, or to any immigrants who paid their own passage.

The headright system was designed to offset a severe labor shortage in Virginia.

Question 34

How did slavery develop in Virginia between 1600-1660?

Answer 34

Slavery developed slowly. Although blacks arrived via slave ships, their working conditions were similar to indentured servants and they were often freed after a few years of labor. By 1650, there were only 400 slaves in Virginia. By 1660 however, the number of slaves was increasing, and the House of Burgesses enacted laws providing for lifelong slavery for blacks.

Question 35

Describe relations between the English settlers and the Indians.

Answer 35

Initially, the English settlers and Indians coexisted. The Indians taught the English farming methods, and introduced them to new crops, and the English traded tools and weapons to the Indians for furs.

However, as the English sought more land, they began to view the Indians as primitive. Many believed that God had destined them to take territory from the Indians.

Question 36

How did the French and Indians interact?

Answer 36

Relatively few French settlers arrived in the New World, and their primary focus was on trade, mainly trading manufactured goods and weapons for furs. As such most contact between the Indians and the French was peaceful.

Question 37

Besides Mexico, Central and South America, what other locations did the Spanish colonize?

Answer 37

The Spanish also colonized Texas, New Mexico, Florida and California.

In California, the Spanish founded San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and under Father Junipero Serra, planted religious missions on the California coast.

Question 38

English colonization of the New World began approximately a century after that of the Spanish. Why?

Answer 38

During much of the 16th Century, England’s attention was focused on supressing rebellions, and a war with France. In addition, King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church over the issue of divorce, founding the Anglican Church.

In 1585, England and Spain went to war, and England began to focus on the New World for the purpose of raiding Spanish ships. Following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, English colonization of the New World began in earnest.

Question 39

From what source did Massachusetts receive a large influx of settlers?

Answer 39

Following the English Civil War, thousands of English settlers arrived in Massachusetts under the leadership of John Winthrop. This influx is known as the Great Migration, and led to the founding of Boston and a number of other towns in Massachusetts.

Question 40

What forms of self government were present in the English colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts?

Answer 40

• In the Virginia Colony, the House of Burgesses was established 12 years after the founding of Jamestown. Members of the House of Burgesses were elected by male colonists and made local rules. The House of Burgesses was established by the English governments to induce settlements.
• At the Plymouth Bay Colony, the settlers signed the Mayflower Compact, in which each of them agreed to follow the will the majority.
• In Massachusetts, landowning male colonists elected the Governor, his assistants, and a popular assembly.

Question 41

How were joint-stock companies used to aid colonization?

Answer 41

Joint-stock companies allowed people of moderate wealth to pool their money to fund colonization, trade, and exploration. Both the Dutch and English used joint-stock companies to fund their colonies at New Amsterdam and Jamestown, respectively.

Question 42

What problems were experienced at the Jamestown colony?

Answer 42

Jamestown colony problems:

• The colony was built in a low lying, marshy area, which was prone to disease
• Many settlers wanted to search for gold instead of working to grow crops or hunt
• Some of the early settlers were of the merchant class, and unused to physical labor

Question 43

What efforts were made to remedy Virginia’s labor shortage during the 1600s?

Answer 43

There were three main efforts:

• Indentured Servitude: landowners paid the cost of an immigrants passage, and the immigrant worked for the landowner until the debt was repaid
• Headright: Immigrants paying their own way, or landowners who paid an immigrant’s passage, received a grant of 50 acres of land.
• Slavery: By 1650, there were approximately 400 slaves in Virginia. Over the next 100 years, the number of slaves would skyrocket.

Question 44

Europeans introduced pigs, horses, the wheel, iron tools, guns, sugar cane, and a whole host of diseases to the New World. What did the New World introduce to Europe?

Answer 44

The New World introduced potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and tobacco to the New World, as well as syphilis, which was reported in Europe for the first time in the early 1500s.

Question 45

Who was Roger Williams?

Answer 45

Roger Williams dissented from Puritan preaching and advocated a separation of church and state. Asked to leave Massachusetts, Williams established Providence in 1636, where people had complete religious freedom.

Later, Roger Williams’ colony of Providence and Anne Hutchinson’s colony of Portsmouth were united under Williams’ control and named Rhode Island.

Question 46

Why was Anne Hutchinson important?

Answer 46

Hutchinson preached that she had received revelations from God, which ran contrary to Puritan teaching. Banned from Massachusetts, Hutchinson founded Portsmouth.

A few years later, Hutchinson’s colony of Portsmouth and Roger Williams’ colony of Providence were united under Williams’ control and named Rhode Island.

Question 47

Describe the early history of the colony of New York

Answer 47

Originally the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, King Charles II provided his brother James, Duke of York (later King James II), control over the colony if he could conquer it from the Dutch. The colony was captured by the English in 1664.

The colony, renamed New York, was governed as a royal colony once James became king.

Question 48

What was the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut?

Answer 48

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was the first written constitution in North America, and allowed for representative government.

Connecticut was founded by Puritans who felt that John Winthrop’s religious efforts weren’t strict enough.

Question 49

Which religious group founded Pennsylvania?

Answer 49

Pennsylvania was a proprietary colony, granted from King Charles II to William Penn, a prominent Quaker, in 1681. Although designed as a refuge for Quakers, Penn established religious freedom in Pennsylvania.

Delaware was part of Penn’s charter, but was governed by a seperate legislature.

Question 50

Who made up most of the early colonists in the Chesapeake Bay colonies?

Answer 50

As opposed to the South, where much of the labor force were slaves, most of the early Chesapeake Bay colonists were indentured servants. The Chesapeake Bay colonies suffered from intense labor shortages, which indentured servitude was designed to assuage.

Question 51

Which type of colonies were the Carolinas?

Answer 51

Originally one colony, the Carolinas were a proprietary colony, with a charter granted to eight nobles who’d helped King Charles II regain the throne in 1663.

Question 52

What was Bacon’s Rebellion?

Answer 52

Nathaniel Bacon, an impoverished planter, was disatisfied with Virginia’s Indian policy and his failure to gain access to the higher levels of Virginia’s government. He and a group of like minded inviduals, many of them former indentured servants, led an attack on Jamestown, Virginia.

The attack resulted in the purchase of more African slaves, who were thought to be more docile.

Question 53

Assess the legacy of Christopher Columbus.

Answer 53

Columbus’ legacy is mixed:

• Europeans of the period deemed Columbus a failure, because he’d failed to find a route to Asia.
• Many modern day historians also view Columbus negatively, his contact with the mis-named Indians led to disease, which wiped out 90% of the native populace.
• There is however, much to be said for Columbus’ daring in going where no living European had gone before, and for establishing permanent contact between Europe and the New World.

Question 54

Generally speaking, how did Europeans view Indians?

Answer 54

Most Europeans viewed Indians as ignorant savages, and settlers often forcibly converted them to Christianity. Spanish colonies employed the Encomienda System, under which Indians were brutally treated as an expendable workforce.

Initial English, French, and Dutch contact with the Indians was more evenhanded, and focused on trade. Eventually however, the rapidly expanding colonies’ need for land led them to take advantage of the Indians.

Question 55

How did the Papal Line of Demarcation affect colonization in the New World?

Answer 55

The Papal Line of Demarcation, further embodied in the Treaty of Tordesillas, divided the globe into Spanish and Portuguese areas. With the exception of Brazil, which remained a Portuguese possession, it provided Papal recognition for the Spanish colonies in the New World. Portugal retained control over its colonies in Asia without Spanish interference.

Question 56

What were the key differences and similarities between Spanish and English colonialism?

Answer 56

• Both the Spanish and the English emphasized the religious aspect of converting the native inhabitants to their respective sects of Christianity.
• Unlike the English, few Spaniards emigrated to the New World, and Spanish efforts focused on sending gold back to Spain.
• English settlers viewed the New World both as a religious haven for those who didn’t follow the Anglican sect of Christianity, and as a place where trade, specifically in tobacco and furs, could thrive.

Question 57

Describe the contributing factors which led to the growth of slavery in the English colonies.

Answer 57

Although there were less than 450 slaves in Virginia in 1645, thereafter the number of slaves increased exponentially. There were several reasons, including:

• Slaves were believed to be heartier and able to withstand diseases such as malaria.
• After Bacon’s Rebellion, slaves were deemed to be a more reliable workforce.
• There was a significant shortage of workers, and in the South, crops such as indigo, rice, and tobacco were labor intensive.