AP US HISTORY
CHAPTER 2 PACKET:
BEGINNINGS OF
ENGLISH AMERICA,
1607-1660
Take-Home Homework Packet
100 Points
Honor Code
I understand that this is an independent assignment and that I can not receive any
assistance from any other person. I will conduct all of my own research and will
answer the questions to the best of my ability.
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Student Name
Date
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FOCUS QUESTIONS
What were the main contours of English colonization in the seventeenth century?
What obstacles did the English settlers in the Chesapeake overcome?
How did Virginia and Maryland develop in their early years?
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What made the English settlement of New England distinctive?
What were the main sources of discord in early New England?
How did the English Civil War affect the colonies in America?
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REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Compare and contrast England’s settlement history in the Americas to Spain’s. Consider the
treatment of Indians, the role of the Church, the significance of women, and economic
development.
2. For the English, land was the basis of liberty. Explain the reasoning behind that concept and
how it was markedly different from the Indians’ conception of land.
3. Many Puritans claimed they came to North America seeking religious freedom, but they were
extremely intolerant of other beliefs. In fact, there was greater liberty of conscience back in
their native England. How do you explain this?
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4. Describe who chose to emigrate to North America from England in the seventeenth century
and explain their reasons.
5. In what ways did the New England economy and government differ from those in the
Chesapeake colonies?
6. The English believed that, unlike the Spanish, their motives for colonization were pure, and
that the growth of empire and freedom would always go hand-in-hand. How did the expansion
of the British empire affect the freedoms of Native Americans, the Irish, and even many
English citizens?
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7. Considering politics, social tensions, and debates over the meaning of liberty, how do the
events and aftermath of the English Civil War demonstrate that the English colonies in North
America were part of a larger Atlantic community?
8. How did the tobacco economy draw the Chesapeake colonies into the greater Atlantic world?
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FREEDOM QUESTIONS
1. With many degrees of freedom coexisting in seventeenth-century North America, a person
might go from having no rights to possessing many in a lifetime. Use exam- ples to
demonstrate this fact.
2. To provide full freedoms for the higher social orders in both England and English North
America, lower social orders had to do without. Explain how and why this was so.
3. How did the concepts and goals of “freedom” differ for the following settlers: newcomers to
John Smith’s Jamestown; a Puritan family in 1630s Massachusetts; and a Catholic landowner
in 1640s Maryland?
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4. Explain how the Puritans used their concept of moral liberty to justify their actions against
others in the New World. Then discuss why some Puritans, other English settlers in the New
World, and those remaining in England might see these justifications as hypocritical.
5. Review the debates over the true meaning of freedom and “English liberty” follow- ing the
English Civil War. What would you say was the lasting significance of these debates?
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