History Quiz #1

3. In 1521 Hernando Cortés conquered the Aztec capital city of _______, which is now Mexico City.

4. The African slave trade began as an attempt to fill a labor shortage in the _______ region.

5. In the 1630s, Anne Hutchinson led a movement called _______ that emphasized the mystical nature of God’s grace and downplayed the abilities of an individual to gain salvation.

6. The Spanish largely concentrated their missionary outposts in the regions of two present-day U.S. states.  One of the states is Florida, and the other is _______.

7. In the eighteenth century, what food crop served as the basis for the plantation economy of the Lower South within the North American colonies?

8. The _______ Riot occurred in Boston in 1747 when Bostonians called for the release of some Boston citizens who were being held prisoner by British Commodore Charles Knowles.

Section 2. Short Answer

1. The course textbook states that “too often in historical writing, Europeans reaching the Americas are portrayed as the carriers of a superior culture that inevitably vanquished people living in a primitive if not ‘savage’ state” (3).  Additionally, the textbook indicates that “African ‘backwardness’ was a myth perpetuated after the slave trade” (12).  These passages attest to the stereotypes of Native Americans and Africans that heavily influenced European attitudes and actions.  Indicate three distinct similarities between European views of Africans and European views of Native Americans around the time of European arrival in the Americas.  Be sure to distinguish each similarity from the other two and to describe specifically how each similarity applies both to views that Europeans had of Africans and to views that Europeans had of Native Americans.  Then, for each similarity, explain how it influenced actions taken by Europeans at the time period.

2. The opening chapters of the course textbook demonstrate the diversity of groups who settled in what is now North America and South America from the 1500s to the 1700s, including individuals from a variety of nations, a variety of backgrounds, and a variety of walks of life, all coming to the Americas for a variety of reasons.  With clear reference to and description of at least three different national groups, three different occupational groups, and three different reasons for coming to the Americas, describe the diversity of groups during the 1600s and 1700s that constituted society in what is now the United States.

3. The quest to build Empires led European countries toward exploration of the “New World” between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries.  Explain how desire for imperialist growth fueled European interest in the Americas.  In doing so, note three different reasons why Europeans believed in and desired imperialist growth.  Then, discuss two distinct specific ways in which colonial life in the 1600s and 1700s in what is now the United States was affected by imperialist desires.  In other words, explain how two distinct specific elements of people’s everyday lives resulted from imperialist attitudes.  For each element of people’s everyday lives that you are discussing, be specific in describing the example and be clear in explaining how the example demonstrates influence of imperialist attitudes.

4. In describing the legacy of the Great Awakening, the course textbook states that the Awakening “nurtured a subtle change in values that crossed over into politics and daily life.  Especially for ordinary people, the revival experience created a new feeling of self-worth.  People assumed new responsibilities in religious affairs and became skeptical of dogma and authority.  Many, especially the Baptists, decried the growing materialism and deplored the new acceptance of self-interested behavior.  By learning to oppose authority and create new churches, thousands of colonists unknowingly rehearsed for revolution” (118-119).  To address more specifically these subtle changes, first describe the Great Awakening.  Explain what it was and what constituted its major features as a movement.  Then, indicate three distinct specific ways in which developments in the colonial political system in the 1700s reflected elements of the Great Awakening.  For each example, be specific in indicating the development in the colonial political system that you are discussing and be clear in explaining how it reflected elements of the Great Awakening.

6. Throughout its coverage of each stage in the development of the American colonies in the 1600s and 1700s, the course textbook has discussed the roles and experiences of women.  Discuss two distinct ways in which women’s roles and experiences in the American colonies changed between the mid-1600s and the mid-1700s and two distinct ways in which women’s roles and experiences in the American colonies remained the same between the mid-1600s and the mid-1700s.  For each role or experience that changed and each that remained the same, be clear and specific in describing how the role or experience either changed or remained the same by noting what it specifically entailed in the mid-1600s and what it specifically entailed in the mid-1700s.