History Unit 1 APUSH

1. Why did British colonists turn to enslaved Africans for labor?

Agriculture created a high demand for labor; Native Americans could escape, and there were too few indentured servants.

2. Why were indentured servants used before slavery expanded, and what were their contracts like?

Early Virginia colonists were too poor to buy enslaved Africans, so they used servants who worked 4–7 years for room and board. They were under their master's control during the contract, then gained freedom.

3. What was the headright system?

Virginia offered 50 acres to immigrants who paid their own passage and to plantation owners who paid for immigrants' passage.

4. How did slavery develop in Virginia from 1619 through the 1660s?

In 1619, about 25 Black Africans arrived as indentured servants. By the end of the 1660s, Virginia laws had made Africans and their children permanently enslaved.

5. Where was slavery most common in the British colonies?

Least common in New England, more common in the Middle Colonies, and most common in the Southern Colonies. By 1750, enslaved people were ½ of Virginia's and ⅔ of South Carolina's populations.

6. Where did most enslaved Africans transported to the Americas go?

About 95% went to the West Indies or Brazil, while less than 5% went to British North America.

7. Why did slavery become increasingly important, especially in the South?

European immigration declined, plantation owners wanted a dependable workforce, and rice and indigo required large amounts of cheap labor.

8. What did colonial slave laws establish, and how did they contribute to racism?

Slavery became lifelong and hereditary. Laws such as Massachusetts (1641) and Virginia (1661) strengthened slavery, while laws increasingly treated Africans as inferior.

9. How did enslaved Africans resist slavery?

They maintained families and African traditions, used songs and storytelling, refused to work, broke tools, went on hunger strikes, and sometimes escaped.

10. How did the colonial population change from 1701 to 1775, and why?

It grew from 250,000 to 2.5 million, mainly because of almost 1 million immigrants and a high birthrate.

11. How did the African American population change from 1701 to 1775?

It increased from about 28,000 to 500,000.

12. Why did European immigrants come to the colonies, and where did most settle?

They sought religious freedom, escape from wars, and economic opportunity. Most settled in the Middle Colonies and western Southern Colonies.

They sought religious freedom, escape from wars, and economic opportunity. Most settled in the Middle Colonies and western Southern Colonies.

Germans settled mainly west of Philadelphia and were 6% of the population by 1775; Scotch-Irish settled along the southern/western frontier and were 7%; Huguenots, Dutch, and Swedes made up 5%.

14. What was the role of Africans in colonial society?

Africans were the largest single group entering the colonies involuntarily. They worked as laborers, craftsmen, and especially plantation field workers. By 1775, African Americans were 20% of the population.

15. How did colonial expansion affect American Indians?

Population growth caused conflicts over land. Some formed alliances, such as the Powhatan and Iroquois Confederations, while Pennsylvania had relatively peaceful relations under William Penn's treaty-making.

16. How did colonial society differ from European society?

Colonies offered more religious toleration, access to land, social mobility, and self-determination, without Europe's hereditary aristocracy.

17. What were the major features of colonial family life?

More than 90% lived on farms; people married younger and had larger families. Women averaged 8 children and handled household work, childcare, education, and often farm/shop work.

18. What were women's rights like in colonial society?

Women had limited legal and political rights, although they played an important economic and family role.

19. How important were the American colonies to Britain's economy by the 1750s?

About ½ of Britain's world trade was with the colonies.

20. How did the economies of the three colonial regions differ?

New England: small farms, fishing, logging, shipbuilding, trade. Middle Colonies: wheat/corn, manufacturing, trade. Southern Colonies: plantations and crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo

21. What were important economic details about the Middle and Southern Colonies?

Middle Colony farms could reach 200 acres, and Philadelphia had about 25,000 people in 1750. Southern plantations could exceed 2,000 acres and relied heavily on enslaved labor.

22. How did Britain control the colonial economy?

Mercantilist policies limited manufacturing and money. Colonies used paper money, but over-issuing it caused inflation; Britain also controlled trade and could veto laws harming British merchants.

23. What were the major religions in the colonies?

Congregationalists/Presbyterians in New England; Reformed Church and Anglicans in New York; Lutherans, Mennonites, and Quakers in Pennsylvania; Anglicans in the South; many Catholics and some Jews in Maryland.

24. What was the Great Awakening, and when did it occur?

A religious revival emphasizing emotional religious experiences that swept the colonies during the 1730s–1740s.

25. Who were the major leaders of the Great Awakening?

Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. Whitefield began spreading it in 1739 and attracted audiences of up to 10,000.

26. What were the major effects of the Great Awakening?

It increased emotionalism, weakened ministers' authority, caused New Light/Old Light divisions, helped Baptists and Methodists grow, and encouraged separation of church and state.

27. Why was the Great Awakening politically important?

It encouraged colonists to question traditional authority and became one of the first experiences shared by colonists as Americans.

28. What were major developments in colonial arts and literature?

Georgian architecture became popular; Benjamin West and John Copley became prominent painters; literature focused on religion and politics.

29. Who were important colonial writers?

Benjamin Franklin, whose Poor Richard's Almanack was published from 1732–1757, and Phillis Wheatley, who published poetry in 1773 while enslaved and was later freed.

30. What was significant about Benjamin Franklin's scientific work?

He became famous for his work with electricity, bifocals, and the Franklin stove.

31. What was colonial education like?

It was limited and mostly directed toward males. Massachusetts created tax-supported schools, including a 1647 law requiring primary schools for boys.

32. What were the major colonial colleges?

Harvard (1636)—Puritan; William and Mary (1694)—Anglican; Yale (1701)—Congregationalist; College of Philadelphia (1765)—nonsectarian.

33. What was the significance of the Zenger Case?

In 1735, John Peter Zenger was acquitted after his lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, argued that he had printed the truth. The case encouraged criticism of government by newspapers.

34. How developed was the colonial press by 1776?

There were more than 40 weekly newspapers, carrying European news, advertisements, and political/religious information.

35. What was the Enlightenment, and what did John Locke contribute to it?

The Enlightenment emphasized reason over tradition. Locke argued for natural rights, popular sovereignty, and the right to resist governments that violated people's rights.

36. Why were Locke's ideas important to America?

His ideas about natural rights helped provide the foundation for the American Revolution and U.S. Constitution.

37. Why were colonists developing a distinct American identity?

Their diverse population, environment, political traditions, and experiences created a culture different from Europe.

38. Why did colonists increasingly mistrust Britain?

Colonists wanted westward expansion and self-government, while Britain wanted frontier peace, enforced trade regulations, and sovereignty over the colonies.

39. How was colonial government structured by 1750?

A governor served as chief executive, while a two-house legislature voted on laws. The lower house was elected by White male property owners.

40. How were colonial governors chosen?

They could be appointed by the crown, elected by the people (Rhode Island and Connecticut), or appointed by proprietors (Pennsylvania and Maryland).

41. How did local government differ between New England and the South?

New England used town meetings for direct participation; the South relied on counties, sheriffs, and other officials.

42. Who could vote in colonial America, and how democratic was it?

Voting was mainly limited to landowning White men. White women, poor White men, enslaved people, and most free Blacks could not vote. Despite these limits, the colonies had more self-government than Europe.