US History Unit 1 test

How did Native and European ideas about land differ?

Many Native communities emphasized shared access, use, and seasonal movement; Europeans emphasized private ownership and fixed boundaries.

What did Columbus's 1493 letter reveal about his goals?

He promoted the voyage's success, emphasizing resources, useful lands, Spanish control, and Christian conversion.

What were the main goals of the Spanish Empire?

Conquest, precious metals, land, labor, Christian conversion, and imperial power.

What were the main goals of the French Empire in North America?

Fur trading, Native alliances, missionary work, and strategic footholds.

What were the main goals of the Dutch Empire in North America?

Commercial profit, Atlantic trade, fur trading, and port commerce.

Why did England establish colonies in North America?

To gain land, trade, raw materials, profit, markets, strategic power, and advantages over European rivals.

What was the Virginia Company?

A joint-stock company that funded Jamestown to seek profit and increase English imperial power.

Why was tobacco important to Virginia?

It became a major export crop, increased demand for land and labor, and encouraged plantation expansion.

What was the headright system?

A Virginia land-grant system awarding acreage to those who paid migrants' passage; it encouraged migration and benefited wealthy planters.

Why was the House of Burgesses significant?

Established in 1619, it was Virginia's representative assembly and an early institution of colonial self-government, with limited participation.

What happened in the Powhatan uprising of 1622?

Powhatan forces attacked English settlements; the conflict intensified warfare and English efforts to expand and displace Native peoples.

What was Maryland's original purpose?

Chartered in 1632 to the Calvert family, it was partly intended as a refuge for English Catholics and developed a tobacco economy.

What was indentured servitude?

A labor system in which migrants worked for a fixed term in exchange for passage or other support.

How did indentured servitude differ from hereditary racial slavery?

Indentured servitude lasted a fixed term; racial slavery increasingly became lifelong, hereditary, and tied to African ancestry.

What was Bacon's Rebellion (1676)?

A Virginia uprising involving land, Native policy, political power, and colonial grievances that exposed elite tensions and influenced later labor and racial policies.

Why did racial slavery become more entrenched, c. 1660–1705?

Plantation labor demand, elite efforts to protect power, racial ideology, and laws increasingly made enslavement racial and hereditary.

What were the Puritans trying to achieve?

They wanted to purify the Church of England; many sought to build a godly community.

Who were the Pilgrims or Separatists?

A group that separated from the Church of England and founded Plymouth in 1620.

What was the Great Migration?

Large-scale migration of Puritan families to New England, especially during the 1630s.

Who was John Winthrop?

A Massachusetts Bay leader who envisioned the colony as a model Christian community, often called a 'city upon a hill.'

What was natural liberty according to Winthrop's view?

Freedom to do whatever one wants without restraint, which Winthrop associated with disorder and sinful conduct.

What was moral liberty according to Winthrop?

Freedom to do what is morally right under God's law within an ordered community.

How did family and church shape Puritan society?

Households supported religious instruction, labor, discipline, and social order; authority was patriarchal, and church membership influenced politics.

Who were two notable dissenters from Massachusetts Bay?

Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson challenged Puritan authorities or religious uniformity.

What was the significance of Rhode Island's founding?

Roger Williams founded it in 1636; it developed around religious liberty.

What was King Philip's War (1675–1676)?

A major conflict between New England colonists and Native peoples led by Metacom; it caused devastating losses and further Native dispossession.

What was mercantilism?

An economic system in which colonies supplied raw materials, bought the mother country's goods, and strengthened its wealth and power.

What were the Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1663?

English trade laws directing colonial commerce through English shipping and markets while limiting foreign competition.

What was the Restoration of 1660?

The return of the English monarchy, followed by increased Crown attention to colonial administration and imperial control.

What happened when England conquered New Netherland in 1664?

English forces took the Dutch colony, New Amsterdam became New York, and English control of the Atlantic coast strengthened.

What was the Covenant Chain?

Diplomatic and trade relationships linking New York's English authorities with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and other Native partners.

Why was Pennsylvania founded in 1681 distinctive?

Granted to William Penn, it was associated with Quaker ideals, religious toleration, and planned settlement, despite contested Native land.

How did the Chesapeake economy differ from New England's?

The Chesapeake emphasized tobacco, plantations, and labor demand; New England relied more on mixed farming, fishing, shipping, and commerce.

How did settlement patterns differ between the Chesapeake and New England?

The Chesapeake had more dispersed plantations and farms; New England had more family migration and town-centered communities.

How did religion and politics differ between the Chesapeake and New England?

Virginia had an Anglican establishment and representative institutions dominated by elites; Massachusetts had strong Puritan influence and community discipline.

What characterized the Middle and Restoration colonies?

Greater ethnic and religious diversity, commercial towns, trade, ports, grain farming in some areas, and varied religious toleration.

What factors created distinct colonial regional cultures?

Geography, founding purpose, religion, migration, labor systems, trade policy, and relations with Native peoples.

What was the significance of Jamestown's founding in 1607?

It established England's Jamestown settlement in Virginia and marked the beginning of English settlement in the Chesapeake.

What two important events occurred in Virginia in 1619?

The House of Burgesses was established, and the first recorded arrival of Africans in English Virginia occurred.

What was the significance of the 1630 Massachusetts Bay settlement?

Led by John Winthrop, it established a Puritan-led colony shaped by religious mission and community discipline.

What was the significance of the 1680s–1705 colonial laws on slavery?

They increasingly tied enslavement to African ancestry, made status hereditary through the mother, and restricted Black rights.