social studies test study guide

What is mercantilism?

An economic system in which colonies help make the mother country wealthy by supplying raw materials and buying its goods.

What are imports?

Goods brought into a country from another country.

What are exports?

Goods sold and sent to another country.

What were the Navigation Acts?

English laws that controlled colonial trade to benefit England.

What is a Yankee?

A nickname for people from New England.

Who was involved in the Triangle of Trade, and what products did they trade?

The trade network connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Manufactured goods went to Africa, enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas, and plantation goods such as sugar and tobacco went to Europe.

What is a legislature, and how many houses did most legislatures have?

A legislature is a lawmaking body. Most colonial legislatures had two houses: an upper council and a lower assembly.

What were the voting restrictions in the early colonies, and how were votes taken?

Voting was generally limited to men who met property and other requirements. Women, enslaved people, and many men without property could not vote. Voting methods varied, including public voice votes and shows of hands.

Why is it called the Glorious Revolution?

In 1688–1689, James II was overthrown and William and Mary took the throne, strengthening Parliament's power.

What is a Bill of Rights?

A document that lists and protects rights and limits government power.

What is a Pilgrim?

An English Separatist who left England to practice religion independently.

What was the name of the Church in England?

The Church of England, also called the Anglican Church.

What does persecution mean?

Cruel or unfair treatment because of a person's beliefs or identity.

What was the name of the ship the Pilgrims sailed on?

The Mayflower.

What was the name of the colony the Pilgrims established?

Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts.

What was the Mayflower Compact, and why was it important?

An agreement signed in 1620 to establish a government and follow laws. It was an early example of self-government.

What was the main reason the Pilgrims came to the New World?

To practice their religious beliefs independently and escape religious persecution.

What was the name of the tribe that helped the Pilgrims?

The Wampanoag people helped the Pilgrims survive.

Who was Squanto?

A Patuxet man who spoke English and helped the Pilgrims learn about local crops, fishing, and survival.

Describe the first Thanksgiving.

In 1621, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people shared a harvest celebration that lasted several days.

Who were the Puritans?

English Protestants who wanted to reform the Church of England by removing practices they considered too Catholic.

What was the name of the company the Puritans founded?

The Massachusetts Bay Company, which helped establish Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Who was John Winthrop, and why was he important?

A Puritan leader and governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony who wanted it to be a model Christian community, described as a city upon a hill.

Who was Thomas Hooker, and what colony did he establish?

A Puritan minister who helped establish Connecticut Colony in 1636.

Who was Roger Williams, and what colony did he establish?

A religious dissenter who founded Providence, which became part of Rhode Island, and supported religious freedom.

What is religious tolerance?

Allowing people to practice different religions without being punished for their beliefs.

Who was Anne Hutchinson, and how did she impact the New World?

A religious dissenter who challenged Puritan ministers' authority. She was banished from Massachusetts and contributed to debates about religious freedom.

What was Puritan life like?

Puritans emphasized religion, hard work, education, and strict moral behavior. Church and community rules influenced daily life.

What is a town meeting?

A gathering where community members discuss local issues and make decisions, often by voting.

What is the gentry?

The wealthy upper class, often including large landowners, merchants, and plantation owners.

Who were the middle class?

People such as skilled workers, shopkeepers, artisans, and small farmers.

What was the Great Awakening?

A religious revival movement in the 1730s and 1740s that encouraged emotional preaching and a personal relationship with God.

Who was George Whitefield?

A traveling preacher who helped spread the Great Awakening throughout the colonies.

What was the Enlightenment?

An intellectual movement that emphasized reason, science, observation, and natural rights.

Who was Jonathan Edwards, what did he write, and what was his message?

A preacher who delivered Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The sermon warned of God's judgment and urged people to repent.

Describe the early life of Benjamin Franklin.

Born in Boston in 1706, Franklin left school young, worked as an apprentice in his brother's printing business, and later became a successful printer and writer.

What was the name of Benjamin Franklin's famous book, and name some of his inventions.

Poor Richard's Almanack was his famous publication. His inventions and innovations included the lightning rod, bifocal glasses, and Franklin stove.

Name the four great port cities in the early colonies.

Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Charleston.

Who was John Campbell, and how did he change colonial life?

A Boston postmaster who published the Boston News-Letter in 1704, the first regularly published newspaper in the English colonies.

How did John Peter Zenger expand rights in the colonies?

His acquittal in a 1735 trial for criticizing New York's royal governor became an important symbol of freedom of the press.

What colony did Sir George Calvert start, and what religion was free to practice there?

Maryland was planned by Sir George Calvert, partly as a refuge for English Catholics.

Who was Lord Baltimore?

Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, was the proprietor who oversaw Maryland's development.

What type of government did Lord Baltimore establish, and why was it popular?

A proprietary government, in which an owner governed under a royal grant. Maryland attracted settlers with land opportunities and refuge for Catholics.

What was the Act of Toleration, and why was it established?

Maryland's 1649 law protected certain Christian groups from religious persecution and aimed to reduce Catholic-Protestant conflict.

How was North Carolina established?

It developed from English settlements in the Carolina territory and became separate from South Carolina in 1712.

What was the first settlement in South Carolina, and what were the main crops grown there?

Charles Town, founded in 1670, became the main early settlement. Important crops included rice and indigo.

Who was the founder of Georgia, and why was the colony established?

James Oglethorpe helped establish Georgia in 1732 as a fresh start for some poor people and as a buffer between South Carolina and Spanish Florida.

What was the first settlement in Georgia, and what were the rules of the colony?

Savannah, founded in 1733. Early rules restricted slavery, rum, and large landholdings, though some restrictions were later changed.

What is a plantation, and how did slavery and plantations go together?

A plantation is a large farm growing crops for sale. Many Southern plantations relied on the forced labor of enslaved Africans and African Americans.

What was the Tidewater region?

The low-lying coastal region of the South, where rivers and fertile land supported plantations and trade.

What was the backcountry?

Inland frontier areas farther from the coast, where many people lived on smaller farms.

What was the Middle Passage?

The forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

What were slave codes?

Laws that restricted enslaved people's rights and controlled their lives.

What were the four Middle Colonies?

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

What did the Dutch call Manhattan Island?

The Dutch settlement at the southern end of Manhattan was called New Amsterdam.

Who was Peter Stuyvesant, and how did the English take over New York from the Dutch?

He was the Dutch governor of New Netherland. English forces took control in 1664 and renamed the territory New York.

How was New York formed?

The Dutch established New Netherland, including New Amsterdam. The English took control in 1664 and renamed it New York.

Who were the founders of New Jersey?

English proprietors Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret received control of New Jersey.

What is a proprietary colony?

A colony granted by the king to an individual or group of proprietors who governed it.

Name some of the nationalities that moved to New Jersey.

English, Dutch, Scots, Germans, and other European settlers.

What is a royal colony?

A colony governed under the authority of the British Crown, usually through a royal governor.

Who was the founder of Pennsylvania, and what religious group settled there?

William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1681. Many Quakers settled there.

Name some Quaker beliefs.

Quakers emphasized peace, equality, simplicity, honesty, and following inner religious guidance.

What were some ways Penn treated Native Americans?

Penn sought peaceful relations and negotiated land purchases with Native peoples, although later settlers did not always honor agreements.

Who were the Pennsylvania Dutch?

German-speaking immigrants and their descendants who settled in Pennsylvania.

How was Delaware formed?

Delaware was settled by Swedes and later controlled by the Dutch and English. It became connected to Pennsylvania under William Penn but developed its own assembly in 1704.

What percentage of Americans were farmers in colonial times?

A common classroom estimate is about 90%, though the percentage varied by colony and period.

What is a cash crop?

A crop grown mainly to sell for money, such as tobacco, rice, or indigo.

What was the nickname of the Middle Colonies?

The Breadbasket Colonies, because they produced large amounts of wheat and other grains.