Period Packets – Period 2: 1607 - 1754
Included in Each Period Packet:
Key Concepts – an overview of what you need to know
Main Themes – how the seven themes of the course apply to this period
Vocabulary – important terms, people, places, etc.
Chapter Reading Guide – pretty straight forward…
Crash Course Guide – video guide to watch (they will be amazingly helpful)
Review Concept Chart – how to get ready for the test.
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Key Concepts
Europeans and American Indians maneuvered and fought for dominance, control and security in North America, and
distinctive colonial and native societies emerged.
Key Concept 1: Differences in imperial goals, cultures and the North American environments that different empires
confronted led Europeans to develop diverse patterns of colonization.
I.
Seventeenth-century Spanish, French, Dutch and British colonizers embraced different social and economic goals, cultural
assumptions, and folkways, resulting in varied models of colonization.
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II.
The British-American system of slavery developed out of the economic, demographic and geographic characteristics of the
British-controlled regions of the New World.
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III.
Spain sought to establish tight control over the process of colonization in the Western Hemisphere and to convert
and/or exploit the native population.
French and Dutch colonial efforts involved relatively few Europeans and used trade alliances and intermarriage with
American Indians to acquire furs and other products for export to Europe.
Unlike their European competitors, the English eventually sought to establish colonies based on agriculture, sending
relatively large numbers of men and women to acquire land and populate their settlements, while having relatively
hostile relationships with Native Americans.
Unlike Spanish, French and Dutch colonies, which accepted intermarriage and cross-racial sexual unions with native
peoples (and in Spain’s case with enslaved Africans), English colonies attracted both males and females who rarely
intermarried with either native peoples or Africans, leading to the development of a rigid racial hierarchy.
The abundance of land, a shortage of indentured servants, the lack of an effective means to enslave native peoples and
the growing European demand for colonial goods led to the emergence of the Atlantic slave trade.
Reinforced by a strong belief in British racial and cultural superiority, the British system enslaved black people in
perpetuity, altered African gender and kinship relationships in the colonies, and was one factor that led the British
colonists into violent confrontations with native peoples.
Africans developed both overt and covert means to resist the dehumanizing aspects of slavery.
Along with other factors, environmental and geographical variations, including climate and natural resources, contributed to
regional differences in what would become the British colonies.
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The New England colonies, founded primarily by Puritans seeking to establish a community of like-minded religious
believers, developed a close-knit, homogeneous society and — aided by favorable environmental conditions — a
thriving mixed economy of agriculture and commerce.
The demographically, religiously and ethnically diverse middle colonies supported a flourishing export economy based
on cereal crops, while the Chesapeake colonies and North Carolina relied on the cultivation of tobacco, a laborintensive product based on white indentured servants and African chattel.
The colonies along the southernmost Atlantic coast and the British islands in the West Indies took advantage of long
growing seasons by using slave labor to develop economies based on staple crops; in some cases, enslaved Africans
constituted the majority of the population.
Key Concept 2: European colonization efforts in North America stimulated intercultural contact and intensified conflict
between the various groups of colonizers and native peoples.
I.
Competition over resources between European rivals led to conflict within and between North American colonial possessions
and Native Americans.
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II.
Conflicts in Europe spread to North America, as French, Dutch, British, and Spanish colonies allied, traded with, and
armed American Indian groups, leading to continuing political instability.
As European nations competed in North America, their colonies focused on gaining new sources of labor and producing
and acquiring commodities that were valued in Europe.
The goals and interests of European leaders at times diverged from those of colonial citizens, leading to growing
mistrust on both sides of the Atlantic, as settlers, especially in the English colonies, expressed dissatisfaction over
territorial settlements, frontier defense and other issues.
Clashes between European and American Indian social and economic values caused changes in both cultures.
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Continuing contact with Europeans increased the flow of trade goods and diseases into and out of native communities,
stimulating cultural and demographic change.
Spanish colonizing efforts in North America, particularly after the Pueblo Revolt, saw an accommodation with some
aspects of Native American culture; by contrast, conflict with American Indians tended to reinforce English colonists’
worldviews on land and gender roles.
By supplying American Indian allies with deadlier weapons and alcohol, and by rewarding Indian military actions,
Europeans helped increase the intensity and destructiveness of American Indian warfare.
Key Concept 3: The increasing political, economic and cultural exchanges within the “Atlantic World” had a profound
impact on the development of colonial societies in North America.
I.
“Atlantic World” commercial, religious, philosophical and political interactions among Europeans, Africans and American native
peoples stimulated economic growth, expanded social networks and reshaped labor systems.
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II.
The growth of an Atlantic economy throughout the 18th century created a shared labor market and a wide exchange of
New World and European goods, as seen in the African slave trade and the shipment of products from the Americas.
Several factors promoted Anglicization in the British colonies: the growth of autonomous political communities based
on English models, the development of commercial ties and legal structures, the emergence of a trans-Atlantic print
culture, Protestant evangelism, religious toleration, and the spread of European Enlightenment ideas.
The presence of slavery and the impact of colonial wars stimulated the growth of ideas on race in this Atlantic system,
leading to the emergence of racial stereotyping; the development of strict racial categories among British colonists
contrasted with Spanish and French acceptance of racial gradations.
Britain’s desire to maintain a viable North American empire in the face of growing internal challenges and external competition
inspired efforts to strengthen its imperial control, stimulating increasing resistance from colonists who had grown accustomed
to a large measure of autonomy.
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As regional distinctiveness among the British colonies diminished over time, they developed largely similar patterns of
culture, laws, institutions, and governance within the context of the British imperial system.
Late 17th-century efforts to integrate Britain’s colonies into a coherent, hierarchical imperial structure and pursue
mercantilist economic aims met with scant success due largely to varied forms of colonial resistance and conflicts with
American Indian groups, and were followed by nearly a half-century of the British government’s relative indifference to
colonial governance.
Resistance to imperial control in the British colonies drew on colonial experiences of self-government, evolving local
ideas of liberty, the political thought of the Enlightenment, greater religious independence and diversity, and an
ideology critical of perceived corruption in the imperial system.
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Main Themes
Themes
Applied to this period
Identity
Work, Exchange, and Technology
Colonial unity or lack thereof
Labor – free and unfree
Peopling
Regional differences – political, social (including religious), economic - New England,
Chesapeake (or Middle), South
Tidewater/backcountry difference
Mercantilism – salutary neglect
French and Indian War – impact
Colonial settlement – Proprietary, Royal, Charter – founders - nicknames
Global Age, Role of the Columbian Exchange
Economic growth vs. Human/Environmental Exploitation
Influence of Puritan thought
First Great Awakening – influence
Politics and Power
America in the World
Environment and Geography
Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Vocabulary
For each packet, you must define and EXPLAIN THE CONTEXTUAL SIGNIFNICANCE of each term below. These may or may
not be in the book. Use other resources (online) to accomplish this if necessary.
Spanish colonization
British colonization
indentured servants
covert resistance
homogeneous society
Pueblo Revolt
“Atlantic World”
Enlightenment ideas
French colonization
Dutch colonization
intermarriage
cross-racial sexual unions
Atlantic slave trade
overt resistance
New England colonies
Puritans
diverse middle colonies
staple crops
English view of land ownership and gender roles
African slave trade
Anglicization
British imperial system
mercantilist economies
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Reading Guide (Chapter Two)
Answer the following questions fully and completely.
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Identify Sir Walter Raleigh (Who? What? Where? When? Why is he important?)
How and why did England get the upper hand in American colonization over Spain?
In 1 clear, concise sentence summarize the main idea of “England on the Eve of Empire.”
Describe the early struggles of the Jamestown colony.
Identify chieftain Powhatan (Who? What? Where? When? Why was he important in the Chesapeake region?)
Describe the demographic and cultural transformations that happened within the Native American population in the early
colonial period.
What is the significance of Benjamin Franklin’s quote on p. 30?
In 1 clear, concise sentence summarize “Virginia: Child of Tobacco.”
Identify the Act of Toleration (Who? What? Where? When? Why is it important?).
Describe the social and economic systems of the West Indies in the 17th century.
Identify 3 important ideas from “Colonizing the Carolinas”.
Describe how and why North Carolina emerged as a colony.
Why was the colony of Georgia settled?
What characterized the plantation colonies?
Identify the Iroquois (Who? What? Where? When? Why are they considered ‘Makers of America’?)
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Reading Guide (Chapter Three)
Answer the following questions fully and completely.
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Identify Puritans (Who? What? Where? When? Why did this group form and why do they matter in U.S.
history?).
Describe the Mayflower Compact.
In three clear, concise sentences summarize “The Bay Colony Bible Commonwealth”.
Describe how Governor Winthrop felt about democracy and explain the impact his feelings had on the
development of the government in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Consider the ways in which Puritanism
created both strong communal ideals, while almost guaranteeing tensions and conflicts at the boundaries of
church and society.
Identify Anne Hutchinson (Who? What? Where? When? Why is she important? What impact did she have
in the New England colonies?)
In one clear, concise sentence summarize “The Rhode Island ‘Sewer’”.
Describe the spread of the New England colonies.
Explain the conflicts that took place between the Puritan and the Indians.
Identify the New England Confederation (Who? What? Where? When? Why is it significant?).
Identify Sir Edmond Andros (the 5 w’s).
When and why did the policy of “salutary neglect” begin?
In 3 sentences summarize “Old Netherlands at New Netherland”.
In 1 clear, concise sentence summarize “Dutch Residues in New York.”
Identify William Penn (Who was he? What did he do? Where? When? Why is he significant?).
What characterized the Middle Colonies?
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Reading Guide (Chapter Four)
Answer the following questions fully and completely.
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Describe the “unhealthy Chesapeake.”
What role did tobacco play in the creation of indentured servants and the head right system?
In three clear, concise sentences summarize “Bacon’s Rebellion”.
Explain the Atlantic Slave Trade and Middle Passage in terms of its conditions.
How did the treatment of slaves lead to the New York and South Carolina Slave Revolts?
Compare and contrast life in the New England area to that of the south (a chart would be a great way to do
this).
In three clear, concise sentences summarize “The Salem Witch Trials.”
How did the New England “Way of Life” contrast to the ways of the American Indians? Address farming,
livestock, timber, etc.
How does Leisler’s Rebellion illustrate early attempts to create a colonial class system in the English colonies?
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Reading Guide (Chapter Five)
Answer the following questions fully and completely.
Describe the population growth in colonial America between 1700 and 1775.
Explain the influence the Scots-Irish had on the development of America.
What unique characteristic of America society does Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur (quote p.80)
illustrate?
4. In two clear, concise sentences summarize “the Structure of Colonial Society.”
5. In one clear, concise sentence summarize “Clerics, Physicians, and Jurists.”
6. Explain the colonial economy- focus on the different regions (New England, Middle, Southern). A small chart
or diagram will work.
7. Describe the importance of the tavern in early American society.
8. What impact did the Great Awakening have on colonial America? Identity George Whitfield and Jonathan
Edwards (Who, What, Where, When, Why are they important?). Make sure you note the quote on p.87.
9. What was the education system like in the colonies? What subjects were studied? Why was education
emphasized? What does John Adams mean in his quote on p.89?
10. What impact did the Zenger trial have on American society?
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11. How were colonial governments organized? Be specific.
12. What did colonists do for entertainment?
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Crash Course Videos
For each period, watch the following videos. There are no questions to go with these videos, but they will be EMMENSLY
VALUABLE in helping you contextualize and compare time periods!
1. When is Thanksgiving? Colonizing America: Crash Course US History #2
URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o69TvQqyGdg&index=2&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s
2. The Natives and the English - Crash Course US History #3
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTYOQ05oDOI&index=3&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s
3. The Quakers, the Dutch, and the Ladies: Crash Course US History #4
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p47tZLJbdag&index=4&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s
PERIOD 2: 1607-1754 - Theme Chart Review
Identify what is happening in each of the seven themes in this period. Descriptions should not be more than two sentences.
Recognize that certain themes will be more prominent in certain time periods than in others.
Identity
Work, Exchange,
Technology
Peopling
Politics and
Power
America in the
World
Environment and
Geography
Ideas, Beliefs,
and Culture
Identify - Details, events, people, places, etc.
Descriptions – The Big Picture