AP World History
Study Guide
Name____________________________________ Per_____ Date________________
Chapter 17 Study Guide- American Colonies 1530-1770
In complete sentences, answer the following questions. Page numbers are provided.
1. Why were death rates among Amerindians so high? P.432
2. What was the most deadly of the epidemics in the Americas? P.432
3. What (3) New World (Americas) foods revolutionized Old World (Europe, Africa, Asia)
agriculture? P.432
4. What did the horse do for the native peoples of the Americas? P.433-4
5. What country occupied most of the Brazilian coast? P.434
6. How did Amerindian people respond to the imposed Christianity? P.434
7. What kind of powers did the highest-ranking Spanish officials in the colonies have? Why?
P.435
8. What regions were included in the Viceroy of Spain? P.435
9. What was the primary agent by which European language and culture was transmitted to
Brazil and Spanish America? P.435
10. What was the richest institution in the Spanish colonies? P.437
11. What commodities dominated the economic development of colonial Latin America? P.437
12. What was the “mita”? p.439
13. What did sugar plantations in Brazil depend on? P.439
14. Why did sugar planters prefer African slaves to Amerindian slaves? P.439
15. What were Hidalgos? P.440
16. What forms did slave resistance take? P.444
17. What was manumission and how did a slave achieve that? P.444
18. What were castas? Give examples. 444-5
19. How were the governments and economic systems of English and French colonies different
than those of the Spanish and Portuguese? Why? 445
20. Were the English successful in their first efforts to establish colonies in the Americas? Give
an example. 445
21. How much of Jamestown’s population died within the first 15 years? Why? P.446
22. How did the fur trade and hunting affect the Amerindian people? P.446
23. What was indigo grown around Charleston used for? P.447
24. What was the Stono Rebellion of 1739? P.447
25. What are 3 ways that immigration to the Chesapeake differed from that of Massachusetts?
P.447
26. Merchants from what European nation first colonized Manhattan Island in 1624? P.449
27. What did French settlements emphasize? P.450
28. Who were the enemies of the Huron and Algonquin, who then became enemies of the
French? P.450
29. What were 3 things Jesuits did in an effort to convert native people to Christianity in French
Canada? P.450
30. What was the result, politically, of the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War)? p.452
31. What was the purpose of the English Navigation Acts? p.454
Free Response Focus Questions: Answer these questions in a 5-7 sentence paragraph.



In your own words. Do not simply copy from the book and memorize the response. Know it.
Support your response with plenty of facts.
Understand where events fall historically (global context, cause/effect, etc)
1. Considering the Columbian Exchange and colonization, what were the major impacts on
the peoples of the Americas?
2. What role does religion play in European settlement of the Americas? Be specific as to
Spanish, Portuguese, French, and British uses of Christianity as a tool of colonization.
3. The chapter describes several different types of forced labor practices. Describe each
practice and explain why each one was preferred in different locations.
Compare/Contrast: Write a well-developed thesis statement which clearly addresses
similarities and differences.
4. Compare and contrast Latin American with North American colonies from 1530-1770.