Name: ______________________
Class: _________________
Date: _________
ID: A
3.1
Short Answer
1. Why did two-thirds of Jamestown’s colonists die by the time the first winter arrived?
2. Why was the Toleration Act of 1649 passed? Was it successful? What did it accomplish?
3. What was the headright system? What was its significance?
4.
The population of slaves in the colonies grew from 25,000 to 225,000 between 1700 and 1750. Give
two reasons for this dramatic increase.
1
ID: A
3.1
Answer Section
SHORT ANSWER
1. ANS:
Answers may vary. The colonists were not prepared for life in Jamestown. Many were adventurers
who lacked useful experience and skills such as farming and carpentry. For this reason, they did not
have enough food or decent housing. They also got sick from disease-carrying mosquitoes that filled
the marshes surrounding the settlement.
PTS: 1
2. ANS:
DIF: 3
OBJ: 3.1.1
NAT: 3.1.1
The Toleration Act was passed because conflicts existed between Catholics and Protestants in
Maryland. To end the conflict, the Act made it illegal to restrict the rights of Christians in the
colony. It was not totally successful because it did not stop all religious conflict. But it showed that
the government wanted to protect the rights and religious freedom of minority groups.
PTS: 1
3. ANS:
DIF: 3
OBJ: 3.1.3
NAT: 3.1.3
Answers may vary in detail. The headright system gave 50 acres of land to English colonists who
paid their own way to Virginia. It also gave an extra 50 acres of land for each person they brought
with them. The London Company started the headright system to give wealthy people an incentive
to travel to the new colony and start a new life. The best answers will add that the headright system
was partly responsible for the development of large plantations in the southern colonies.
PTS: 1
4. ANS:
DIF: 3
OBJ: 3.1.2
NAT: 3.1.2
The profits from producing tobacco and the lack of indentured servants needed to work the
plantations caused plantation owners to look for the cheap labor that slaves provided.
PTS: 1
DIF: 1
OBJ: 3.1.4
1
NAT: 3.1.4