Exam I Study Guide
Dr. Esparza
1. Discuss the Spanish and French Empires in the “New World”. Explain the reasons for
Europeans exploring the lands outside the “Old World” and trace the routes they
followed. Describe the establishments of early European colonies in the Western
Hemisphere. Describe also the relationships between the Spanish and French immigrants
to the Native Americans they came into contact with. Lastly, describe the changing
world for Native Americans following the arrival of Europeans. Include the following
terms.
Spanish and French Immigrants: cultural characteristics i.e. religion; encounters
with indigenous populations i.e. war, peace, trade, slavery, disease,
miscegenation, mestizo; economy, i.e. gold, silver, mines, fur; exploration &
colonization.
2. Trace the expansion of England’s holdings in the “New World”, more specifically in
the Southern Colonies. Describe the relationship between English immigrants and the
indigenous peoples they came into contact with. Describe the changing world of
American Indians following the arrival of the British. Include the following terms.
English Immigrants & Southern Colonies: Virginia: Roanoke, Jamestown,
tobacco, interaction with Ameri-Indians i.e. war and why they won the war;
Powhatans, know all the southern colonies, list the common as well as the
different characteristics, crops, population, religion, society structure i.e. head
right, landless poor, indentured servants, women.
3. Outline the reasons for the founding of colonies in New England by the British.
Discuss religion, schools, work, and their dealings with the Native American groups.
Describe the changing world for indigenous groups following the arrival of the British.
Include the following terms.
New England Colonies: Puritanism i.e. values, goals, way of life, city on a hill;
Calvinism i.e. values, goals, way of life & the Elect; know the New England
Colonies and its founders i.e. Plymouth; schools, work, relations with AmeriIndian groups i.e. Massasoit & King Philip’s War; economics i.e. work ethic;
class system; reasons for immigration; politics & government i.e. the church,
Roger Williams.
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4. Outline the reasons for the founding of the Middle Colonies. Describe the relationship
between English immigrants and Native Americans of that region. Describe the changing
world of Indians following the arrival of the English. Include the following terms.
Middle Colonies: know all the middle colonies; the Dutch and their colonies
(Amsterdam, Dutch East India Company, New Netherlands, Henry Hudson,
diversity) & how the English assumed control over them (New York, Penn.,
Delaware); Quakers i.e. values, goals, way of life, beliefs, worship practices, inner
light; type of work, relations with Ameri-Indian groups; William Penn; way of
life i.e. open immigration policy, Christian harmony, city of brotherly love,
economy (grains & oats), political tensions.
5. Chronicle the development of early colonial slavery in the English colonies and
analyze the reasons for changes in attitudes as well the legal system that helped the slave
institution flourish. Discuss also the slave community and how it responded to the
institution of slavery. Be specific, give examples, and include the following terms.
Slavery: origins, how it developed, Africa, Atlantic Slave Trade, reasons why
slavery developed in the Americas, slavery in the southern colonies in the 1600s
and the changes by the 1700s; transition from indentured servitude; legalizing
slavery; the black response to slavery i.e. resistance: oral culture, family, religion,
music, trickster stories, work patterns, runaways, revolts.
6. Describe the overall characteristics of the early English colonies during the 1600s
including a discussion of each group of colonies i.e. Southern, New England, Middle, and
how they came to formation. Be descriptive of town and city life. Give examples and
include the following terms.
Population in the colonies; town characteristics i.e. death, marriage (companion
marriages), status of women (separate sphere & midwife), activities (food, health,
education, religion, clothing, cleaning), ruralism and localism, commoners,
animals, garbage, bathrooms & latrines, small houses, alcohol; turmoil in England
i.e. English civil war, restoration, glorious revolution.
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