CHA3U – Grade 11 American History University Preparation
Final Exam Review
The following is only a partial list of significant questions that can be
answered in order to summarize and review material covered over the
course of the semester. Completed “Who’s Who Lists” for each unit
coupled with textbook questions and readings should be sufficient
material in order to prepare you for your final exam in the course.
Unit #1 – Discovery and Colonial America
1) Why did the Europeans want to find a route to the Far East?
2) How did Amerindian and European views of land differ? Why did the
difference lead to fighting?
3) Why did Sir Walter Raleigh help found an English colony in America? Did it
succeed? Explain.
4) How was mercantilism expected to help the Mother country? The Colonies?
5) Why did people take risks sailing to the New World?
6) List two ways a joint stock company worked better than individual investors
for sponsoring colonies.
7) List three problems faced by the first settlers at Jamestown.
8) What steps did John Smith take to help Jamestown survive?
9) How did Native Americans aid Jamestown? Were relations between them
and English always friendly? Explain.
10) What was the House of Burgesses? Who elected its members?
11) What were the key parts of the economy of the Middle Colonies?
12) Who were the Quakers? What were some of their beliefs.
13) What was the goal of the Puritans in the New World?
14) What were the Salem Witch Trials? Why did they end?
Unit #2 – The Road to Revolution and the American War of Independence
15) Define Mercantilism, enumerated commodity, triangular trade.
16) In what two ways were colonies an important part of the English
mercantilist system?
17) What was the main purpose of the Navigation Acts?
18) Why did the British establish an Indian Territory by the Proclamation of
1763?
19) What did the slogan, “No taxation without representation” mean?
20) Why and how did the colonists oppose the Townshend Acts?
21) What incident led to war between the French and British in North America?
22) Why was the Albany Conference held?
23) What two actions did William Pitt take to help turn the tide of war in
Britain’s favour?
24) What territories did Great Britain gain by the Treaty of Paris?
25) Why were the Americans and British fighting each other in 1775?
26) List the reasons for independence given by the Patriots. List the reasons for
reconciliation with Britain given by the Loyalists.
27) In what way was the Battle of Bunker Hill a moral victory for the
Americans?
28) What argument did Thomas Paine make in support of an American revolt?
29) Describe the three major sections of the Declaration of Independence.
30) List he advantages and disadvantages that both the British and the
Americans had during the War of Independence.
31) What was the single most difficult problem in the creation of the Continental
Army?
32) What impact did the defeat in New York have on American morale?
33) What event gave the American forces renewed hope at the end of 1776?
34) Who won the battle of Saratoga?
35) What battle brought France into the war?
36) In what three ways did the French alliance help the American cause?
37) What two beliefs led the British to think they would succeed in the South?
38) What were the two major goals of the Americans at the peace treaty?
Unit #3 – Creating a Nation
39) What were some weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
40) What did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 address?
41) What caused the Whiskey Rebellion?
42) Why was there an economic depression after the Revolutionary War?
43) How does the system of checks and balances work?
44) Define: Separation of Powers, Impeach, Unconstitutional, Electoral College.
45) Describe the function of each of the three branches of the new government.
46) What were some of the political differences between Hamilton and
Jefferson?
47) What important attributes did George Washington bring to the presidency?
48) How did Americans first react to the French Revolution? What
developments changed their attitude?
49) How did the actions of Edmond Genet threaten American neutrality?
50) What two promises did Great Britain make in the Jay Treaty?
51) What two problems did Pinckney solve in the treaty he negotiated with
Spain?
52) Why did John Adams allow the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts?
53) Summarize the events leading to the Louisiana Purchase. What did the
U.S.A. gain? How do Lewis and Clark fit into the story of the Louisiana
Purchase?
54) Could the War of 1812 have been avoided? Why or why not? Who lost and
who gained from the War?
55) What did the Missouri Compromise state?
56) Describe the Monroe Doctrine.
57) What incident resulted in the name the “Era of Good Feelings”?
58) How did Andrew Jackson redefine the powers of the president?
59) List the Causes of the Trail of Tears.
60) Why was President Jackson opposed the Bank of the United States?
Unit #4 – A Nation Divided – The American Civil War
61) How did new technology – i.e. the cotton gin – help spread slavery?
62) What were the consequences for the South of basing its economy on “King
Cotton”?
63) Why was Uncle Tom’s Cabin banned in the south?
64) What was Dred Scott’s defense in his bid for freedom?
65) On what grounds did the Supreme Court rule against Scott?
66) Why did Southerners feel threatened by John Brown’s raid on Harper’s
Ferry?
67) What effect did Nat Turner’s revolt have on southerners’ attitudes toward
slavery?
68) What were the differences in the economics of the North and the South?
69) Who were the leading abolitionists?
70) In your own words, summarize the argument used by Northerners against
the spread of slavery into new territories.
71) List the causes of the Civil War.
72) What were the major advantages and disadvantages both the South and
North had during the Civil War.
73) How did warfare in the Civil War differ from warfare in earlier wars?
74) What was General Scott’s war strategy?
75) What difficult choice did Robert E. Lee face when the war began?
76) How would a blockade of the southern coast hurt the Confederacy?
77) How did General Lee prevent Union forces from taking Richmond?
78) Who won the battle of Antietam?
79) List some aspects of the “total war” philosophy shared by Generals Sheridan
and Sherman.
80) Why did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
81) What did President Lincoln believe was the main reason to fight the Civil
War?
82) What victories in late 1862 and early 1863 encouraged the Confederates?
83) Why did Lee invade Pennsylvania?
84) What did the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson mean for the Union?
85) How did the appointment of General Ulysses S. Grant as commander of the
Union armies change the direction of the Civil War?
86) What convinced Lee to surrender?
87) Identify three ways in which the Civil War transformed the United States.
88) Why was Lincoln’s death a calamity for the South?