Colonizing The Americas Study Guide
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Study Guide –Unit Two Exam
Chapter 2: The Planting of English America, 1500–1733
1. Who made up the majority of early migrants to the Chesapeake Bay area? What was primogeniture
and how did it impact colonization? What did the English settlers really want from colonization? Why did
Jamestown almost fail; what saved the Virginia colony?
2. How did the reliance on plantation agriculture affect the southern colonies? What role did the British
sugar colonies play in introducing & perpetuating slavery to the southern colonies?
Chapter 3: Settling the Northern Colonies, 1619–1700
1. For what reasons, other than religious freedom, did the Puritans come to America? How did they
resolve their own religious dissent with the persecution of dissenters like Anne Hutchinson and Roger
Williams? How were government and religion related in New England?
2. What were the causes/effects of King Philip’s War? How did England’s “salutary neglect” contribute
to future problems in its empire?
3. What were the push and pull factors for immigrants coming to each region of English colonies (New
England, the middle colonies, and the southern colonies)? In what ways were New England and the
middle colonies like different than the South?
Chapter 4: American Life in the Seventeenth Century, 1607–1692
1. Why was life in New England so different from life in the South (family, women, life expectancy, etc.)?
2. What were the causes & effects of Bacon’s Rebellion? How did it lead to an increased importation of
Africans? Why did slavery grow to be an important institution in America? What were the
causes/effects of slave revolts?
NON-TEST QUESTION​: Considering the extreme differences during the seventeenth century between
New England and the southern colonies, was the outcome of the Civil War (1860-64) inevitable?
Chapter 5: Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution, 1700–1775
1. How democratic was colonial American society? Why/how was it apparently becoming less socially
equal?
2. How were the various occupations and activities of colonial America related to the nature of the
economy? What did mercantilism mean as it was applied by the British?
3. What were the causes and effects of the Great Awakening? How did the Awakening help to create a
sense of shared American identity?
4. How were the educational, cultural, and leisured sides of colonial life affected by the basic nature of
the economy?
5. What were important sources of influence/information on an ordinary colonist? What implications
did this have for the future England and the colonies?
This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of material you need to know, but rather questions
to focus your study time. An answer to each of these questions or definition of the terms should in no
way be considered absolute or complete preparation for the exam.