USU 1300 – American Institutions

Study Questions Chapter 1

-Early man probably came into the America’s about how many years ago?

-About how many years ago did man in the Americas begin to cultivate foods, and where did that
start?

-What was the key element in any great society in the Americas reaching the height of its
growth, and how did that same element become a player in the demise of those societies?

-What does C.E. mean, or B.C.E.? What is another way of saying the same thing?

-While the growing maize (corn), squash, and beans was adopted from Mesoamericans by
ancient native societies living in what is now the United States, what was the exact relationship
of these various cultures?

-Tenochtitlán was a city belonging to what people, and what did they have to do with
Huitzilopochtli?

-About how many people lived in North America when Columbus discovered the Americas in
1492?

-What did the Hundred Years War do to trade in Europe, and after the War, how did European
monarchs consolidate their power?

-What are Northeast Trade winds and so-called Westerlies?

-Who was Prince Henry the Navigator; Bartholomew Dias; Vasco da Gama?

-Describe Columbus’s world globe.

-What was the Line of Demarcation, and what was the Treaty of Tordesillas?

-What was the “Columbian Exchange” and what was the result: in disease, in food stuffs and
animals.

-Can you name at least three plants that were grown in the Americas in 1492 that were not
known in Europe? What plants and animals were brought to the Americas from elsewhere?

-What became of England’s first attempt to settle in the Americas at its Roanoke Colony?
USU 1300 – American Institutions
Study Questions Chapter 2

-What two major developments in England prompted English people to come to America to
settle, and can you say anything about either?
1.

2.

-What is a joint stock company and why were they so important to settlement?

-Why did Jamestown struggle so in its first months and years?

-Can you explain the European/English view of themselves in relationship to the Inidans?

-If everyone made money off tobacco cultivation, why was it so problematic for the settlers?

-What are Puritans; what are Separatists; who were “strangers”; and which were on the
Mayflower?

-By 1643, which English colony had over 20,000 inhabitants?

-Why was Maryland founded?

-What is an indentured servant, how long do they serve?

-Tell about the Pequot War.

-What impact did religion have on English colonists, especially New England colonists?
USU 1300 – American Institutions
Study Questions Chapter 3

-Can you tell the brief story of the English Civil War?

-How many colonies were founded in America during the reign of Charles II?

-What problems did New France and the Iroquois have, and what was the outcome of the fur
trade?

-What was the Popé Revolt, where did it happen, why was it important for all North American
Indians, especially those of the plains?

-What started King Phillip’s War, how did it play out, and what was its outcome?

-What was Bacon’s rebellion all about; what were its two fronts?

-By the 1660s it is becoming hard to find indentured servants. Why? What alternate course is
there for plantation owners to find cheap labor?

-What percentage of newly enslaved Africans died en route to the New World?

-What did England hope to achieve by imposing the Navigation Acts?

-What did King James II do in regards to the American tradition of autonomy?

-Were William and Mary in agreement with their predecessor, James II, about the colonies or
against his ideas? What did they think should be done with the English colonies?

-What was King William’s War; what was Queen Anne’s War?
USU 1300 – American Institutions
Study Questions Chapter 4

-In the years between 1700 and 1775, what most accounted for population growth in North
America?

-What is meant by “growth of consumption”.

-What was King George’s War, and what was its aftermath in Massachusetts?

-What did King George’s war do for the economy of the Middle Colonies and how did it change
agricultural practice there?

-Georgia was the last of the original thirteen colonies to be founded; why was it founded at all?

-How closely unified were the colonies in the mid-1700s?

-What did Enlightenment leader John Locke say about kings, the people, and government?

-How did Assemblies rise in power in the mid-1700s and what did it prove?

-What was the Carolina Regulator mess all about?

-What was the First Great Awakening, and what did it eventually lead to in America?
USU 1300 American Institutions
Study Questions Chapter 5

-According to John Adams, the era of the true American revolution occurred when (intro)?

-During Queen Anne’s War and King George’s War, what did the Iroquois Indians do?

-What events led up to and ignited the Seven Years War between England and France, often
called the French and Indian War?

-What land swaps were made in the Treaty of Paris (1763), ending the Seven Years War?

-What was the Proclamation of 1763 all about; what did it establish?

-What is meant by Parliament’s idea that the Colonies had “virtual representation”?

-Why were the Currency Act and Sugar Act imposed on the American Colonies and what were
they designed to do?

-What did the Stamp Act (1765) do to colonists?

-Who or What was the Loyal Nine?

-Why was the Sons of Liberty association put into place?

-With repeal of the Stamp Act in March 1766, what other act did Parliament attach to it, and why
was it so damaging to the colonists?
-What three things really ticked the colonists off about the Townsend Acts?
1.

2.

3.

-Why was the Massachusetts Assembly dissolved in 1768?

-What actions brought English troops to Boston to maintain order?

-Can you tell the events leading up to the Boston Massacre and its outcome?

-What were Committees of Correspondence, what did they hope to achieve?

-Can you tell the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party and its outcome?

-What were the four parts of the Coercive Acts, and what other Act, attached to the Coercive
Acts, really peeved the colonists more than any?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

-To the colonists, the Coercive Acts signaled only one thing; what was it?

-What did the Colonies decide to do in answer to the Coercive Acts?

USU 1300 – American Institutions
Study Questions Chapter 6

-When was the First Continental Congress held and how many met there?

-What three main tasks confronted the delegates to the Congress and which was most
troublesome for them?
1.
2.
3.

-From your notes: what idea or term did Patrick Henry contribute to the First Continental
Congress?

-What is a Committee of Observation and how did it function?

-Why were Provincial Conventions held in the Spring of 1775 and what effect did they have on
British-appointed governors and other officials?

-What percentage of American colonists remained loyal to the crown; what percentage were
patriots; what percentage was undecided? Can you identify who might choose what leaning?
Loyalist
Patriot
Undecided

-How did Congress respond to the African American will to fight for the patriot cause?

-What were the Battles of Lexington and Concord all about?

-Did Paul Revere ride alone or were there others, and how many?

-When was the Second Continental Congress held?

-Why did Congress choose George Washington as commander-in-chief of the armed forces?
-Was it the Battle of Breed’s Hill or Bunker Hill, what’s that all about?

-Who is Thomas Paine and what is he noted for?

-June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee did what..........?

-Where did the Revolutionary War begin in earnest---with the British invasion of what colony?

-What country joined in to help the colonies because of the Battle of Saratoga?

-What became of Iroquois neutrality in 1776?

-What is so important about the Battle of Yorktown; can you tell the story?

-Can you tell about the Newburgh conspiracy?

-Explain the land swaps that took place after the War, with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.