Deck 5: Economic Progress and Wealth

Question 1

What was the most immediate impact of introducing the horse to the plains Indians?

A) A decrease in the amount of agricultural work the Indians did.
B) A large increase in the size of hunting groups.
C) More intensive and more efficient use of animal carcasses.
D) More time was spent in fixed locations.

Answer 1

A decrease in the amount of agricultural work the Indians did.

Question 2

The largest productivity gains in colonial shipping were from

A) decreased layover times in ports.
B) lower costs associated with the increase in size of the vessels.
C) the increased speed of the ships.
D) the use of larger ships

Answer 2

decreased layover times in ports.

Question 3

Between 1620 and 1710, the price of tobacco in the colonies

A) rose rapidly.
B) remained fairly stable due to monopolistic competition.
C) fell significantly.
D) was fixed by Parliament.

Answer 3

fell significantly.

Question 4

During the colonial period, the U.S. and other countries relied on "privateers." Which of the following most accurately describes privateers?

A) Privateers were also known as pirates.
B) Privateers were private citizens who owned ships that attacked vessels from other nations.
C) Privateers were groups of convicts who stole from American sailing vessels.
D) Privateers were a formal group part of the American Navy.

Question 5

According to data on Pennsylvania agriculture in the 18^th century, the average size of a farm _________, while the output per farm ______________.

A) increased; decreased
B) decreased; increased
C) decreased; remained fairly stable
D) remained fairly stable; increased

Question 6

According to the text, in the century prior to the Revolution ____________ were a "strategic factor in the overall economic advance of the colonies."

A) advances in technology
B) advances in manufacturing
C) advances in farm equipment
D) advances in shipping

Question 7

The proliferation of the horse in the 17th century caused Great Plains Indians to

A) increase their reliance on agricultural work.
B) engage in less tribal warfare.
C) use smaller and more independent hunting groups.
D) kill fewer bison, but make more intensive use of the meat on the carcass.

Question 8

In the early decades of the 18^th century, English goods sold for as much as 80 to 140 percent more in the colonies than in England primarily due to

A) high tariffs on English goods imported to the colonies.
B) a limited supply of English goods available for shipment to the colonies.
C) high transportation costs for goods shipped from England to the colonies.
D) legally established price floors on English goods sold in the colonies.

Question 9

Compared to English and colonial vessels, Dutch flyboats

A) were lighter.
B) required small crews.
C) carried fewer armaments.
D) cheaper to build and operate.
E) All of the above.

Question 10

From 1680 to 1770 average ship speeds

A) increased by 10 percent
B) increased by 20 percent
C) increased by 30 percent
D) decreased by 5 percent
E) did not change appreciably.

Question 11

The era's most significant technological change in shipping was the Dutch flyboat first introduced in

A) 1700.
B) 1648.
C) 1595.
D) 1525.
E) 1311.

Question 12

Eighteenth century declines in Atlantic and Caribbean shipping costs were due to

A) the reduction in armaments on commercial vessels.
B) decreased crew sizes.
C) falling insurance rates.
D) reduced layover times in ports.
E) All of the above.

Question 13

The smallest productivity gains from colonial shipping were from

A) shorter layover times in ports.
B) lower insurance rates.
C) the increased speed of the ships.
D) fewer wars.

Question 14

According to data on Pennsylvania agriculture in the 18^th century, the average size of a farm _________, while the number of cleared acres per farm ______________.

A) increased; decreased
B) decreased; increased
C) decreased; remained fairly stable
D) remained fairly stable; increased

Question 15

Why is it so difficult to systematically portray economic growth in the colonies?

A) American colonists kept no records.
B) American colonists were exclusively subsistence farmers.
C) War and other frontier disturbances were frequent.
D) The relevant historical data was largely destroyed during the Civil War..

Question 16

Low-cost flyboats offered an attractive alternative to heavier, more costly ships; however, their use was limited in many areas due to

A) privateering and piracy.
B) colonial laws that specified minimum crew sizes for many voyages.
C) the Navigation Acts.
D) the inability of New England shipbuilders to manufacture flyboats.

Question 17

During the 100 years before the Revolutionary war, shipping costs were reduced by nearly

A) 10 percent.
B) 25 percent.
C) 50 percent.
D) 70 percent.
E) Shipping costs increased during that period.

Question 18

According to data on Pennsylvania agriculture in the 18^th century, increases in productivity were primarily due to

A) increases in average farm size.
B) increases in the amount of labor per farm.
C) increased mechanization.
D) increases in the capital-labor ratio.

Question 19

Compared with the 19th century, during the colonial period technological changes that raised output relative to inputs

A) were slow and steady.
B) increased in the early part of the period, but fell off dramatically after 1643.
C) remained minor and sporadic.
D) increased dramatically after 1643.

Question 20

The primary source of colonial productivity growth in agriculture was

A) learning by doing.
B) an increased capital-labor ratio.
C) technology improvements.
D) the introduction of hybrid seeds and fertilizer.

Question 21

Colonists' social standing depended on all of the following, except for:

A) occupation
B) smoking habits
C) marriage
D) property ownership

Question 22

Tobacco prices fell dramatically in the early 1600s in spite of demand increases because

A) supply was also increasing.
B) supply was decreasing.
C) new farming machinery was introduced.
D) the colonial government provided agriculture subsidies for tobacco farmers.

Question 23

According to the Rule of 70 (according to which per capita income doubles every 70 years at a growth rate of 1 percent p.a.0, if per capita GDP is growing at a rate of 5 percent per year, then it will take __________ years for per capita income to double.

A) 14
B) 28
C) 70
D) 140

Question 24

What best describes the economic standing of the colonies on the eve of the Revolution?

A) The colonies were one of the richest nations in the world and had little income inequality because of the many opportunities that existed.
B) The colonies were in the middle of nations in terms of per capita income and had little income inequality.
C) The colonies were one of the richest nations in the world and had a significant amount of income inequality.
D) The colonies were in the middle of nations in terms of per capita income and had a significant amount of income inequality.

Question 25

Increases in productivity due to changes in technological capacity could be best represented by a:

A) Shift out in the demand curve.
B) Shift out in the supply curve.
C) Shift out in both the demand and supply curves.
D) Shift back in the supply curve.

Question 26

Which of the following provides an important source for data on colonial wealth?

A) census records
B) newspapers
C) records of charitable contributions
D) probate records

Question 27

Based on the analysis of Alice Hanson Jones, what colonial region showed the most unequal distribution of wealth?

A) New England .
B) Middle Colonies.
C) South.

Question 28

Which of the following statements accurately reflects research findings on the distribution of colonial wealth?

A) The poorest 20 percent of colonist controlled nearly 20 percent of colonial wealth.
B) Distributional inequality tended to be greater in rural areas than in cities, particularly in New England.
C) Colonial wealth was distributed more unequally in the Middle colonies than in the South or New England.
D) For free people, the opportunity for income mobility was probably greater in the colonies than in England.

Question 29

The standard of living (measured by what one can purchase with after-tax income) of free Americans on the eve of the Revolution was ______.

A) lower than in 18^th century England, and lower than for most people in the "Third World" today.
B) higher than in 18^th -century England, and higher than for most people in the "Third World" today.
C) lower than in 18^th century England, but higher than for most people in the "Third World" today.
D) higher than in 18^th century England, but lower than for most people in the "Third World" today.

Question 30

In the 1770s the quality of life in the colonies

A) was better than the quality of life in developing countries today.
B) was significantly lower than the quality of life in England during the same period.
C) is impossible to determine due to inaccurate and incomplete data.
D) was declining.

Question 31

On the eve of the Revolution, the quality of life in the colonies

A) was comparable to that of third-world countries today.
B) compared favorably with that of other countries during the same period.
C) had reached a level that would not be achieved again until the late 19^th century.
D) was declining.

Question 32

Today _________ countries generate average income levels that approach the earnings of free Americans on the eve of the revolution.

A) almost no
B) relatively few
C) many
D) most

Question 33

What statement best describes the colonial economic experience?

A) The agricultural sector was initially a small portion of the economy, but quickly grew to be the largest sector.
B) By the time of the American Revolution, the U.S. colonial economy was larger than about 70 percent of other nation's economies.
C) The U.S. colonial economy was particularly hurt during the Seven Year's War.
D) Economic growth was irregular and averaged about 0.45% per year.

Question 34

Which of the following best characterizes growth of wealth patterns in England's American colonies?

A) Regions differed greatly in their growth phases.
B) Regions showed remarkably steady growth patterns over time.
C) English colonial growth patterns aligned with those of Spanish and French American holdings.
D) Regions differed in timing of wealth growth, but overall their growth was virtually identical.

Question 35

ThWho said the following? "Plenty of good land, and liberty to manage their affairs their own way, seem to be the two great causes of the prosperity [of the English North American colonies]."

A) Benjamin Franklin
B) Adam Smith
C) John Higginson
D) Stuart Bruchey

Question 36

Which of the following statements correctly characterizes the distribution of colonial wealth?

A) Colonial wealth was distributed equally across the population.
B) While the distribution wealth was highly concentrated in the South, New England and the c.  Middle colonies had very equal wealth distributions.
C) Wealth inequality tended to be greatest in colonial cities.
D) A permanent underclass of free poor people developed during the colonial period.

Question 37

If the incomes of New Englanders increased and they demanded more tobacco, then tobacco would be:

A) a normal good.
B) an inferior good.
C) a substitute good.
D) a complementary good.