Unit 1- Reading Guide 1
Vocab: Define each of the following terms
Incas
Aztec
Pueblo
Iroquois
Three-sister farming
Christopher Columbus
Treaty of Tordesillas
Columbian Exchange
Conquistadores
Hernando Cortes
Mestizo
Encomienda system
Pope’s Rebellion
Joint-stock company
Virginia Company
Jamestown
John Smith
Headright system
House of Burgesses
Bacon’s Rebellion
Puritan
Name_________________________
Separatists
Mayflower Compact
John Winthrop
“City upon a hill”
Roger Williams
King Philip’s War
William Penn
Quaker
Mercantilism
Navigation Acts
Molasses Act
Triangular trade
Middle passage
Stono Rebellion
New York slave revolt
Great Awakening
Enlightenment
Albany Congress
Pontiac
Proclamation of 1763
Guided Reading Questions: Provide comprehensive answers, in complete
sentences, to each of the following questions.
1. What effect did the Protestant Reformation in Europe have during the period
of North American colonization? How did the Renaissance spur exploration?
2. Describe the impact of Columbus’ discovery and European colonization in the
“New World” on the following groups: Native Americans, Africans, and
Europeans.
3. Make a diagram that shows the exchange of plants, wildlife, and diseases
known as the Columbian Exchange.
4. From the section, “Building Spain’s American Empire,” what were the effects
of the encomienda system, and to who did Spain look to as a source of labor
when it ended?
5. While the Spanish were especially brutal when colonizing the Southwest of
what is now the United States, what was the underlying reason for Pope’s
rebellion in 1680?
6. What role did Spanish missions play, especially in the area of present-day
Texas?
7. From the section “English Motives for American Colonization,” summarize
the factors that influenced British colonization in North America.
8. Now that you’ve defined joint-stock company, and read page 9, what is the
main motive for the British colony of Jamestown? Why is the charter of the
Virginia Company significant?
9. Why do you think the colony of Jamestown got off to such a disastrous start?
What ultimately saves the colony, economically?
10. Why is the year 1619 such an important one for the Virginia colony…and
eventually the United States of America? (If you’re confused, Jamestown is
the first settlement in the larger colony called Virginia)
11. What were the causes of Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676? Who did the “Lordly
planters” turn to for labor following this rebellion?
12. Just prior to their arrival at Plymouth, the Pilgrim leaders signed the
Mayflower Compact. Despite this not being a constitution, why is this
document important?
13. Who got to participate in “democracy” in the Massachusetts Bay colony?
14. Why is Roger Williams a problem to the Puritans? What does he do after
being banished? Why is that significant?
15. What were the consequences of King Philip’s War, for both sides fighting?
16. So…how did New York become…New York?
17. What were some of William Penn’s motives for starting the colony of
Pennsylvania? Why was Pennsylvania unique (think religion and how Native
Americans were treated)?
18. So what’s really the point of the mercantilist system? How does it work?
What is the purpose of colonies?
19. Why did Britain pass the Navigation Acts? Can you figure out why they
“foreshadowed trouble between the colonies and England”?
20. Describe the structure of colonial governments. Why was participation in
local assemblies significant for the colonists?
21. What was the basis for the economies of the Southern colonies? How did
Southern society reflect this economic focus?
22. Describe how slaves coped with their condition of servitude. Why is the
Stono Rebellion significant?
23. Describe the economies of the middle and Northern colonies. Did slavery
exist in these regions?
24. What were the causes and effects of the Great Awakening in the colonies?
25. Make sure you know the ideas of the philosophers in the section on the
Enlightenment.
26. What was the significance of the Great Awakening and Enlightenment in the
colonies?
27. What was the cause(s) of the French and Indian War?
28. What were the short and long-term goals of the Albany Congress? Were they
accomplished?
29. Why was Pontiac’s uprising consequential for the British and the colonists?
30. What mistake did the British make in establishing a Proclamation Line in
1763?