Text of the M07A Midterm Review
What were the Spanish trying to find when they sponsored
ColumbusÕ voyage west?
A new route to Asia
Name two things that the Europeans brought with them to the
new world?
Iron technology, Christianity, diseases, firearms
What was SpainÕs primary interest in Mexico and Peru?
Gold and silver bullion
Who was at the top of the socio-economic order in the new
world?
Peninsulares (pure European blood)
Where was the first English settlement in North America?
Jamestown (in the Chesapeake region)
What product eventually became the key export of the
Chesapeake?
Tobacco
Who provided much of the labor in the early years in the
Chesapeake? How did they pay for
their passage?
Indentured servants, 3-7 years of service to their master
What uprising resulted from tension between landed and
landless in VA during the late 1600Õs?
BaconÕs Rebellion
Where did the use of African slaves originate? What crop was involved?
West Indies, sugar
Where did these sugar growers eventually take the practice
of African slavery?
The Carolinas, and it eventually spread to Virginia
What are two key reasons slaves became a more desirable form
of labor than indentured servants?
Lifetime term of service, property according to law (any
treatment acceptable), slaves could bear more slaves
What was the Òmiddle passageÓ?
The journey on slave ships from Africa to the colonies
Why did the Puritans want to leave England?
religious persecution
What was the basis for Puritan religion? Why was this significant?
Calvinism, they believed they were chosen and had a covenant
with God and each other
What colonial region boasted the most religious
diversity? What were some of these
groups?
Middle Colonies, Quakers, Catholics, Lutherans, etc.
What was it about Pennsylvania that made it a prosperous
center of manufacturing & trade?
A whole lot of hard working, thrifty Quakers
What religious movement of the early 1700Õs was focused on
getting an emotional response from its audience?
Great Awakening
What city was the finance, trade, and shipping hub of the
New England colonies?
Boston
How did colonial governors view their role?
Saw themselves as Òmini kingsÓ of their colonies
Where did the colonists feel they had legitimate
representation?
Their colonial assemblies
What was the primary cause of the Seven Years (French &
Indian) War?
Claims over colonial territories in North America
In the eyes of the British throne, what was the primary role
of the colonies? How did they
ensure this?
As a source of revenue, a series of trade regulations
Why did the British begin taxing the colonists in 1763?
pay for debts incurred in the French & Indian (7 yrs.)
War
What were the first taxes the British passed? How did the colonists respond?
Stamp and Sugar Acts, strongly resisted (boycotted,
protested, etc.)
What was the significance of the Boston Massacre?
First armed conflict of the revolution
What was the British response to the Boston Tea Party?
Coercive (or Intolerable) Acts
Identify two ways the colonists mobilized politically after the
Intolerable Acts.
Committees of correspondence & First Continental
Congress
What was significant about the First Continental Congress?
All colonies acting together in common interest, claimed
their own political authority
What was the dual task of the Second Continental Congress?
Trying to negotiate peace with Great Britain while
simultaneously preparing for war
What famous pamphlet in 1776 called for Americans to reject
monarchy & support independence? Who was its author?
Common Sense, Thomas Paine
Who was the primary author of the Declaration of
Independence? What does the
document do?
Thomas Jefferson, lays out ideology of the revolution and
grievances against King George
Who was chosen to lead the Colonial Army? What were some of the challenges he
faced?
George Washington, forming militias into an army, lack of
funding & resources
How did the British view their role in the revolutionary
war? How was this reflected in
their tactics?
Putting down an insurrection, they never pressed their
strategic advantage
What was the key to early British strategy in the early
years of the war?
Control the Hudson and cut off the revolutionary radicals in
Massachusetts
What colonial victory helped bring increased aid from the
French?
Defeating Burgoyne at Saratoga
After losing patience on their northern strategy, where did
the British turn?
To the South in an effort to shut down Virginia
Where does the Colonial Army finally force the British to
surrender?
Yorktown, with help from the French navy
Identify two key contributions women made to the
revolutionary cause.
Economic (boycotts), took over household economies,
supported revolutionary army
Which enlightenment thinker advocated a three branch
government?
Montesquieu
Which enlightenment thinker was an advocate for the
protection of Ònatural rightsÓ (life, liberty, property)? Where did they
believe these rights came from?
Locke, GOD
What document set up our nationÕs first government but ended
up giving too much power to the states?
Articles of Confederation
Name two weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
no power to tax, no power to coin money, no executive
branch, weak central government
Why was the question of the western lands so important? How was it finally resolved?
States made claims on land all the way to Mississippi River,
Jefferson and the NW Ordinance
What was required for full citizenship (and voting rights)
during the critical period (1781-1787)?
Property ownership
What uprising of impoverished Revolutionary war vets clearly
demonstrated the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
ShayÕs Rebellion
What area of the nation abolished slavery after the adoption
of the constitution?
New England states
Where did slavery continue to flourish? Why?
Southern states, seen as integral to their cash crop economy
How many houses are their in our Congress? What are their names?
2, the Senate and the House of Representatives
Is our government under the Constitution more republican or
democratic?
Republican (indirect representation)
What were the two major compromises made during the drafting
of the United States Constitution?
Great Compromise (large states: House, small states:
Senate), 3/5 Compromise (5 slaves count for 3 men)
What part of the government did the Federalists want
strengthened in the new constitution?
the national (Federal) government, get itÉFederalists
What group pushed hard for the inclusion of the Bill of
Rights?
Anti-Federalists
What was HamiltonÕs (the Federalist) vision for America?
A country based on manufacturing and a strong central
government
What was JeffersonÕs (the Democratic Republican) vision of
America?
Agricultural society, everybody owns land, strong stateÕs rights