Deck 3: Society and Culture in Provincial America

Question 1

In colonial New England Puritan communities, the family was

A) highly valued.
B) expected to be under the authority of women.
C) marked by relatively loose parental supervision.
D) both highly valued and expected to be under the authority of women.
E) neither highly valued nor expected to be under the authority of women.

Answer 1

highly valued.

Question 2

In the seventeenth century, white women in the colonial Chesapeake

A) generally married later than in England.
B) generally had a longer life expectancy than their husbands.
C) rarely engaged in premarital sex.
D) averaged one pregnancy for every two years of marriage.
E) bore an average of four children apiece.

Answer 2

averaged one pregnancy for every two years of marriage.

Question 3

During the seventeenth century, the Royal African Company of England

A) deliberately restricted the supply of slaves to the North American colonies.
B) lowered the prices of slaves in order to increase their sale in the North American colonies.
C) sent the majority of its enslaved Africans directly to the Chesapeake colonies.
D) would only ship adult African men in the slave trade.
E) stopped importing slaves directly from Africa.

Answer 3

deliberately restricted the supply of slaves to the North American colonies.

Question 4

By 1700, English colonial landowners began to rely more heavily on African slavery in part because

A) of a declining birthrate in England.
B) of worsening economic conditions in England.
C) landowners in the southern colonies became less capable of paying indentured servant wages.
D) the English government had come to discourage the practice of indenture.
E) colonial parliaments passed laws improving the status of indentured servants.

Question 5

In English North American colonies, the application of slave codes was based on color and

A) nothing more.
B) religion.
C) laboring skills.
D) origin of birth.
E) economic status.

Question 6

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, medical practitioners

A) became increasingly professionalized.
B) had little or no knowledge of sterilization.
C) grew to understand the link between bacteria and infection.
D) were nearly all males.
E) rejected purging and bleeding as medical techniques.

Question 7

The term "middle passage" refers to the movement of enslaved Africans

A) from the coastal regions of colonies to their interiors.
B) from Africa to Europe.
C) from the Caribbean to the mainland colonies.
D) between individual North American colonies.
E) from Africa to the New World.

Question 8

The seventeenth-century medical practice of deliberately bleeding a person was based on

A) Calvinist religious doctrine.
B) scientific experimentation and observation.
C) evidence that it helped in the recovery from illness.
D) practices acquired from Indians.
E) the belief that a person needed to maintain a balance of different bodily fluids.

Question 9

During the seventeenth century, English colonists in the Chesapeake saw

A) women significantly outnumber men.
B) a life expectancy for men of just over forty years.
C) few single adults.
D) eight out of ten children dying in infancy.
E) an increasingly unbalanced sex ratio.

Question 10

Regarding colonial life expectancy during the seventeenth century,

A) backcountry settlers had a similar life expectancy to that of settlers in coastal areas.
B) life expectancy was highest in the southern colonies.
C) one in two white children in the Chesapeake died in infancy.
D) men had a shorter life expectancy than women.
E) life expectancy in New England was exceptionally high.

Question 11

Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of the English indenture system?

A) Most indentured servants received land upon completion of their contracts.
B) Contracts for indenture generally lasted four to five years.
C) The presence of indentured servants was a source of social unrest.
D) Female indentured servants were typically not allowed to marry while under contract.
E) Female indentured servants constituted one-fourth of the total arrivals.

Question 12

What statement regarding slavery in English North America in 1700 is FALSE?

A) There were about 25,000 slaves in the colonies.
B) Blacks outnumbered whites in some areas.
C) There were twice as many black men as black women.
D) The demand for slaves led to a steady rise in the prices paid for them.
E) Blacks were heavily concentrated in a few southern colonies.

Question 13

Most seventeenth-century English migrants to the North American colonies were

A) aristocrats.
B) religious dissenters.
C) laborers.
D) commercial agents.
E) landowners.

Question 14

In the seventeenth century, the great majority of English immigrants who came to the Chesapeake region were

A) slaves.
B) women.
C) convicts.
D) indentured servants.
E) religious dissenters.

Question 15

In colonial New England Puritan communities, women

A) were not highly valued.
B) were considered to be socially equal to males.
C) were expected to devote themselves to serving the needs of their husbands and households.
D) could not be official members of the church.
E) were more likely to become pregnant before marriage than in the South.

Question 16

Compared to women in colonial Chesapeake, New England women

A) were more likely to become widows.
B) were more likely to have their family remain intact.
C) had fewer children.
D) had much less legal authority in their marriages.
E) lost their husbands earlier in life.

Question 17

The total number of Africans forcibly brought to all of the Americas as slaves is estimated to have been as many as

A) 4 million.
B) 7 million.
C) 11 million.
D) 19 million.
E) 26 million.

Question 18

In comparing the colonial societies of Spanish America and English America, people of mixed races had a

A) higher status than pure Africans in Spanish America.
B) higher status than pure Africans in English America.
C) lower status than pure Africans in Spanish America.
D) higher status than pure Africans in both Spanish and English America.
E) lower status than pure Africans in both Spanish and English America.

Question 19

In colonial New England,

A) strict parental control made premarital sexual relations almost nonexistent.
B) choosing a spouse independent of a parent's wishes was common.
C) dowries were a common feature of marriage.
D) widows tended not to remarry.
E) gender equality was reinforced by the prevailing culture.

Question 20

By 1775, the non-Indian population of the English colonies was just over

A) 1 million.
B) 2 million.
C) 4 million.
D) 6 million.
E) 8 million.

Question 21

The Stono Rebellion

A) led to the death of dozens of white Virginian colonists.
B) saw slaves in South Carolina attempt to escape from the colony.
C) led to the banning of the slave trade in Maryland.
D) prompted Georgia to strengthen its laws on slavery.
E) led planters to resume hiring indentured servants for their labor needs.

Question 22

New England, for all its belief in community and liberty, was far from an egalitarian society. "Some must be rich and some poor" is a statement attributed to which seventeenth-century colonial?

A) George Whitefield
B) Charles Wesley
C) Jonathan Edwards
D) John Locke
E) John Winthrop

Question 23

The largest contingent of immigrants during the colonial period were the

A) French Huguenots.
B) Scots-Irish.
C) Moravians and Mennonites.
D) Irish Catholics.
E) Palatinate Germans.

Question 24

The proportion of all blacks in the colonies living on a plantation of at least ten slaves was over

A) one-fourth.
B) one-third.
C) one-half.
D) three-fourths.
E) nine-tenths.

Question 25

Which statement about the economy of the northern colonies is true?

A) Conditions for farming were more favorable than in the southern colonies.
B) Planters were more likely to rely on slave labor.
C) Agriculture was not the dominant industry of the economy.
D) New England was able to develop several major export crops.
E) The economy was more diverse than in the southern colonies.

Question 26

The first plantations in colonial North America emerged in the tobacco-growing areas of

A) New York and New Jersey.
B) North Carolina and South Carolina.
C) Georgia and South Carolina.
D) Delaware and Pennsylvania.
E) Virginia and Maryland.

Question 27

The seventeenth-century tobacco economy of the Chesapeake region

A) was concentrated on many small farms with few slaves.
B) went through numerous boom-and-bust cycles.
C) often saw production not meet demand.
D) saw planters cut back on production as a way of raising prices.
E) saw prices rise steadily throughout the period.

Question 28

By the mid-eighteenth century, a distinct colonial merchant class came into existence in part because of

A) the abolishment of the British Navigation Acts.
B) the development of a substantial colonial manufacturing industry.
C) illegal colonial trade in markets outside of the British Empire.
D) new access by non-British ships to the colonial carrying trade.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 29

Which statement regarding the lives of slaves in colonial North America is true?

A) Most slaves worked as house servants.
B) Whites rarely intruded upon the conventions of black society.
C) Slaves had no opportunity to develop their own society or culture.
D) Slave religion was a blend of Christianity and African folk tradition.
E) Slaves hardly ever resisted their masters.

Question 30

The first significant metals industry in the colonies was developed for

A) steel.
B) iron.
C) gold.
D) silver.
E) brass.

Question 31

Rice production in colonial America

A) was very difficult and unhealthy work.
B) relied largely on free white labor.
C) was a new crop to most Africans.
D) was found mostly in the Chesapeake colonies.
E) mostly occurred in inland regions.

Question 32

The "triangular trade" in the Atlantic dealt with which commodity?

A) rum
B) sugar
C) slaves
D) molasses
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 33

The most common form of resistance of enslaved Africans to their condition was

A) arson.
B) destruction of crops.
C) running away.
D) subtle defiance or evasion of their masters.
E) poisoning food.

Question 34

Seventeenth-century southern plantations

A) enabled planters to control their markets.
B) tended to be rough and relatively small.
C) used many more slaves than indentured servants.
D) rarely saw the landowner do any manual labor.
E) created few new wealthy landowners.

Question 35

Commerce in early colonial America relied in large part on

A) barter.
B) paper currency.
C) gold.
D) silver.
E) credit.

Question 36

During the eighteenth century, rising consumerism in the American colonies was encouraged by

A) the quickly rising purchasing power of members of the lower classes.
B) the association of material possessions with loyalty to the crown.
C) the rising ideal of equality of condition among colonists.
D) increasing class distinctions within society and the association of material possessions with status in the upper class.
E) the rising ideal of equality of condition among colonists and the association of material possessions with personal virtue and refinement.

Question 37

In the seventeenth century, most colonial families

A) owned spinning wheels or looms.
B) were self-sufficient.
C) did not own a plow.
D) grew and processed their own grain.
E) used wagons to transfer goods to market.

Question 38

Which of the following statements about slave work is FALSE?

A) Field hand was the predominant occupation of both male and female slaves.
B) Some slaves on larger plantations learned trades and crafts.
C) Skilled slaves were at times hired out to other planters.
D) A few slaves were able to buy their freedom.
E) Colonial slave codes forbade teaching slaves skilled trades and crafts.

Question 39

In the North American colonies, mulatto children were

A) regarded as white by the white society.
B) rejected by the rest of the slave community.
C) rarely produced.
D) rarely recognized by their white fathers.
E) freed at birth.

Question 40

Industrialization in colonial America was hampered by

A) English parliamentary regulations.
B) a small domestic market.
C) an inadequate labor supply.
D) an inadequate transportation network.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 41

Over time, tensions in Puritan New England communities developed primarily as a result of

A) religious dissent.
B) the practices of land inheritance.
C) calls for gender equality.
D) population growth and the commercialization of society.
E) population growth and calls for gender equality.

Question 42

George Whitefield is associated with the

A) growth of American Catholicism.
B) founding of the American Baptist Church.
C) Quakers.
D) Great Awakening.
E) Enlightenment.

Question 43

The Church of England was the official faith of

A) New Jersey.
B) Massachusetts.
C) Virginia.
D) Connecticut.
E) all of the colonies.

Question 44

Class divisions in colonial North American cities were

A) sharper than in corresponding European cities.
B) more real and visible than in rural places.
C) essentially nonexistent.
D) weaker in the North than in the South.
E) smoothed over by church and social registers.

Question 45

In the mid-1600s, New England Puritan ministers began preaching against the decline of

A) family.
B) piety.
C) community.
D) freedom.
E) tolerance.

Question 46

In the English colonies, Jews

A) had their largest community in Rhode Island.
B) did not live in most of the colonies.
C) enjoyed considerable toleration.
D) could not practice their religion openly anywhere.
E) could not vote or hold office.

Question 47

The witchcraft trials in Salem

A) were unique in the history of colonial New England.
B) saw the original accusers recant their charges.
C) led to prison terms, but no executions.
D) provided evidence of a decline in religious fervor.
E) almost resulted in the revocation of Massachusetts's charter.

Question 48

By the 1770s, the two largest port cities in colonial North America were

A) Philadelphia and New York.
B) Boston and Newport.
C) Philadelphia and Charleston.
D) New York and Boston.
E) Boston and Charleston.

Question 49

In the eighteenth century, religious toleration in the American colonies

A) flourished due to the diversity of practices brought by settlers.
B) was unmatched in any European nation.
C) was enhanced because no single religious code could be imposed on any large area.
D) grew despite laws establishing the Church of England as the official colonial religion.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 50

After the Bible, the first widely circulated publications in colonial America were

A) political pamphlets.
B) hymnals.
C) almanacs.
D) historical writings.
E) drinking songs.

Question 51

All of the following Americans made important contributions to Enlightenment thought EXCEPT

A) James Madison.
B) Benjamin Franklin.
C) Thomas Jefferson.
D) John Locke.
E) Thomas Paine.

Question 52

The Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s

A) began as a call for young men to become ministers.
B) had particular appeal with women and young men.
C) alienated traditional New England Puritans.
D) failed to take root in southern colonies.
E) helped to smooth differences within existing congregations.

Question 53

"Jeremiads" were

A) a measurement of wealth.
B) community experiments.
C) sermons.
D) witchcraft.
E) town meetings.

Question 54

A leading figure of the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards preached

A) highly orthodox Puritan ideas.
B) the possibility of easy salvation.
C) that women should join the ministry.
D) that the ideas of predestination were outmoded for the times.
E) salvation through good works.

Question 55

Primogeniture refers to the

A) right to vote.
B) passing of property to the firstborn son.
C) tending of a servant's indenture.
D) arrangement of authority within New England assemblies.
E) practice of granting land only to those assured of salvation.

Question 56

Eighteenth-century Enlightenment thought

A) emphasized the importance of religious faith.
B) rejected most religious thought.
C) had little influence on American intellectual thought.
D) challenged concepts such as "natural laws."
E) suggested that people had considerable control over their own lives.

Question 57

In Puritan New England, full membership in town governance was limited to

A) all land-owning adults.
B) "selectmen."
C) adult males who were church members.
D) all church members.
E) land-owning males.

Question 58

In the outbreaks of witchcraft hysteria that marked New England colonial life, those accused were most commonly

A) not members of the church.
B) criminals.
C) indentured servants.
D) women of low social position.
E) Indians or slaves.

Question 59

In the 1760s, the revolutionary crisis in English North America began in cities because

A) the majority of the population lived in urban areas.
B) cities were the centers of intellectual information.
C) rural populations had few grievances with the crown.
D) city inhabitants tended to be rowdier than their rural counterparts.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 60

In the English colonies, Roman Catholics

A) suffered their greatest persecution in Maryland.
B) made up a large minority population of most colonies.
C) were officially illegal.
D) were generally well treated.
E) suffered their greatest persecution in the Carolinas.

Question 61

The Church of England was established as the official religion in all of the following colonies EXCEPT

A) Virginia.
B) New York.
C) Maryland.
D) Georgia.
E) Massachusetts.

Question 62

Indentured servitude developed out of practices in England.

Question 63

Fewer than five percent of African slaves imported to the Americas arrived first in the English colonies.

Question 64

Life expectancy in New England was higher than in England and in the rest of British North America.

Question 65

By 1776, what proportion of white males were literate in colonial America?

A) less than a quarter
B) about a third
C) just less than half
D) more than half
E) almost all

Question 66

Which statement regarding colonial higher education is true?

A) Most colleges were founded by religious groups.
B) Colonists placed a low value on any formal education.
C) Parliament regulated the establishment of American colleges.
D) Most colonial colleges accepted female students.
E) Most colonial leaders after 1700 went abroad to study.

Question 67

In the seventeenth century, it was easy for women to enter the medical field as midwives.

Question 68

Most indentured servants came to the colonies voluntarily.

Question 69

By the late seventeenth century, European and African immigrants outnumbered natives along the Atlantic coast.

Question 70

In the seventeenth century, most blacks who came to the English colonies in North America came directly from Africa.

Question 71

The verdict of the 1735 libel trial of New York publisher John Peter Zenger

A) increased freedom of the press in the colonies.
B) restricted the ability of the press to report on government affairs.
C) resulted in the closure of several colonial newspapers.
D) ruled that criticisms by the press, even if factually accurate, were libelous.
E) banned all printed attacks on the king or Parliament in the colonies.

Question 72

Immigration was the most important factor for long-term English colonial population growth.

Question 73

In the early seventeenth century, the legal status of slaves was ambiguous and fluid.

Question 74

Most indentured servants were forbidden to marry until their terms of service were over.

Question 75

English America recognized no distinctions between pure Africans and people of mixed race.

Question 76

In the Chesapeake region, traditional patterns of male patriarchy began to experience a revival by the early eighteenth century.

Question 77

Black workers did not become generally available in British North America until the early part of the eighteenth century.

Question 78

Skin color was the only factor in determining whether a person was subject to slave codes.

Question 79

Medical evidence suggests that bleeding a patient could assist in recovery from an illness.

Question 80

The first American college was

A) Columbia.
B) Harvard.
C) Yale.
D) William and Mary.
E) Princeton.