Chapter 2 Reading Questions
Name: _____________
Section 1- Early British Colonization
1. Where did the English establish their first colony? What was its purpose?
2. What is the purpose of mercantilism? Give a definition.
3. What do people think happened to the Roanoke colonists?
Section 2- Virginia & Southern Colonies
4. Define “joint-stock company.”
5. Where did the Virginia Company set up its colony?
6. What were the goals of the Virginia colonists?
7. Who made up most of the Jamestown colonists? (What kinds of people)
8. List 3 reasons why Jamestown was settled in a bad place.
9. What did John Rolfe do that assured the survival of the Jamestown colony?
10. Why did tobacco cause conflict between the Indians and colonists?
11. Define “indentured servant.”
12. How did the “head-right system” try to attract settlers to Virginia?
13. When did the first Africans arrive in Virginia? What was their status?
14. Define “cavalier.”
15. Define “subsistence farming.”
16. What does it mean to have a representative government? What was it called in colonial
Virginia? What is it called today?
17. Why did Bacon’s Rebellion happen?
18. What was the result of Bacon’s Rebellion for Africans?
19. What was the religion/church of colonial Virginia?
20. What is a proprietary colony?
Section 3- Settlement of the Other Southern Colonies
21. What made colonial Maryland different from Virginia?
22. What were the cash crops of Carolina?
23. Why and how was Carolina a model for Virginia regarding slavery?
Section 4- Settlement of the New England Colonies
24. Define “puritan.”
25. Why did Hiawatha decide to help the “Pilgrims” instead of killing them?
26. Define “theocracy.”
27. According to the Mayflower Compact, how were rules going to be made? By whom?
28. What three things did the Puritans in Boston sell to make a profit for their Massachusetts Bay
Company?
29. How did Puritans feel about religious dissenters? Why?
30. What made Rhode Island different from other New England colonies?
31. What was the purpose of “town meetings” in New England? Who could vote?
32. Define “Salutary Neglect.”
33. Why were their no plantations in New England?
34. What 4 things did people in New England do to support themselves economically?
35. Define “total war.”
36. How was King Phillip’s War different from the Pequot War?
Section 5- Settlement of the Middle Colonies
37. Why did the Dutch decide to settle New Amsterdam in the Hudson River Valley?
38. What were the cash crops that the Dutch sold to the Caribbean?
39. What is the nickname the British gave to the Middle Colonies due to their economy?
40. Why did the King of England not like Quakers?
41. Name three current-day states that were middle colonies.
42. Which Quaker founded a colony and named it after himself?
43. Why were the middle colonies the most diverse? Name the ethnic groups who lived there.
44. Aside from subsistence farmers and cash crops, what are four other things people there did to
make money?
45. What purpose did cities play in the Middle Colonies?