Colonial America Unit 1

The Navigation Acts passed by Parliament in the 17th century were aimed at achieving which goal?

• establishing strict control over the colonial governments

• preventing the colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains

• ensuring that the colonists only traded with Great Britain

• promoting religious tolerance in all of the colonies

This is an excerpt from a document written by William Bradford in 1621.

Squanto continued with [the settlers of Plymouth Colony] and was their interpreter and was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation. He directed them how to set their corn, where to take fish, and how to procure other commodities, and was also their pilot to bring them to unknown places for their profit, and never left them till he died.

Based on this excerpt, what roles did Squanto play in the Plymouth Colony?

• cook, ambassador, and missionary

• guide, farmer, and interpreter

• missionary, soldier, and trader

• merchant, priest, and negotiator

This is an excerpt from a sermon given by Jonathan Edwards in 1740.

It is the work of seeking salvation in a way of constant observance of all the duty to which God directs us in his word. If we would be saved, we must seek salvation. For although men do not obtain heaven of themselves, yet they do not go thither accidentally, or without any intention or endeavors of their own. God, in his word, hath directed men to seek their salvation as they would hope to obtain it.

Based on this excerpt, Edwards was a part of which event that took place in the Colonial Era?

• Albany Plan of Union

• Boston Tea Party

• First Great Awakening

• Salem Witch Trials

What was the main reason so many of the original Jamestown colonists died in the first few years of the colony’s existence?

• warfare with the Powhatan tribe

• starvation from food shortages

• attacks from the Spanish and Dutch settlers

• accidents in dangerous mining conditions

While towns and cities were centers of trade and industry in northern colonies, which locations in southern colonies were the primary areas of economic activity?

• military forts

• self-sufficient plantations

• trading outposts

• unsettled woodlands

This is an excerpt from a letter written by Roger Williams in 1644.

There goes many a ship to sea, with many hundred souls in one ship…. It hath fallen out sometimes, that both [Catholics] and Protestants, Jews and Turks, may be embarked in one ship…none of the [Catholics], Protestants, Jews, or Turks be forced to come to the ship’s prayers or worship, nor compelled from their own particular prayers or worship, if they practice any. I further add…that notwithstanding this liberty, the commander of this ship ought to command the ship’s course, yea, and also command that justice, peace, and [calmness] be kept and practiced, both among the seamen and all the passengers.

In this excerpt, Williams used the metaphor of a ship to promote what idea?

• abolition

• colonization

• limited government

• religious tolerance

Why was the colony of Georgia often referred to as a “debtor colony”?

• Many of Georgia’s original colonists came from debtor prisons.

• Georgia’s colonial government went into debt to set up the colony.

• Because land in Georgia was so expensive, colonists went into debt to live there.

• Because it opened the first bank, colonists in Georgia became known as debtors.

What was the main reason that the practice of enslavement was introduced in the southern colonies?

• Colonists brought enslaved persons with them from Britain.

• Colonists needed a large labor force to farm cash crops.

• Colonists relied on enslaved persons to operate shops and trading centers.

• Colonists adopted the practice from American Indians.

This is an excerpt from the transcript of Anne Hutchinson’s trial in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637.

Mrs. Hutchinson, you are called here as one of those that have troubled the peace of the commonwealth and the churches here; you are known to be a woman that hath had a great share in the promoting and divulging of those opinions that are causes of this trouble, and to be nearly joined not only in affinity and affection with some of those the court had taken notice of and passed [punishment] upon…. And you have maintained a meeting and an assembly in your house that hath been condemned by the general assembly as a thing not tolerable nor [appropriate] in the sight of God nor fitting for [you as a woman]….

Based on this excerpt, why was Anne Hutchinson ultimately banished from the colony?

• She believed women were not subject to the same religious laws as men.

• She denounced the Puritan religion and started her own church.

• She advocated for women to have the same voting rights as men.

• She challenged the religious practices of the Puritan church.

What was a primary reason for the establishment of the Dutch settlement of New Netherlands?

• to ensure religious freedom for Quakers

• to profit from manufacturing ships

• to serve as a location for trade to take place

• to provide protected lands for American Indians