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Academic U.S. History

SOL review assignment #1

Directions: Answer each of the following questions regarding essential knowledge of the colonial period. You should start this assignment in class and finish it for homework. This is an individual assignment that is due on Wednesday, April 29th.

  1. A) Jamestown was founded in 1607 as a business venture by what joint stock company?

B)In the 1640s they created the first elected assembly in the New World. What was it called?

C)What was the main cash crop of the colony of Virginia? What two other cash crops were grown in the Carolinas and Georgia?

D)Because the Southern colonies had an economy based on agriculture, they needed a large labor force. What was the first type of labor used, and then, what did they switch to by the late 1600s?

  1. A) Which religious group founded Massachusetts Bay?

B)Was Massachusetts Bay tolerant or intolerant of other religions?

C)The Separatists who founded Plymouth formed a “covenant community” in which they agreed to govern themselves through majority rule and according to church doctrine. All the male settlers signed what document which stated these goals?

D)What was the basis of the economy of the New England colonies?

E)Which New England colony was founded by dissenters (those who disagree) fleeing persecution in Massachusetts Bay?

  1. A) Were the Middle colonies more or less diverse than New England and the South?

B) Name the two largest cities located in the Middle colonies.

C) Which religious group founded Pennsylvania?

  1. Identify the religious revival movement that swept through the colonies in the 1740s.
  1. Which region (New England, Middle, or Southern) used town meetings (an Athenian direct democracy model) for their government?
  1. The Enlightenment philosophers in the 1750s and 1760s influenced the impending American Revolution. Which English philosopher wrote that the government and the people must create a social contract and that all people have the natural rights of “life, liberty, and property”?
  1. Thomas Paine also influenced the American Revolution by writing a pamphlet that challenged the King’s rule. What was this pamphlet called?
  1. Which famous American document contains the phrase “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness?”
  1. Which American wrote the above quoted document?
  1. Britain (and her colonists) defeated the French in the French and Indian War (fought from 1754-1763). As a result of the war, Britain took several actions that angered the American colonists. Define each of the following:

A)The Proclamation of 1763:

B)The Stamp Act:

  1. The American colonists responded to these new laws by resisting British rule. Briefly explain each of the following:

A)The Boston Tea Party:

B)The First Continental Congress:

C)The Boston Massacre:

D)Lexington and Concord:

  1. Some colonists stayed neutral during the Revolutionary War. However, those who believed in independence and chose to fight the British were called ______, whereas those who remained on the side of the British were called ______.
  1. Several factors contributed to the victory of the American colonists.

A)Which American negotiated a Treaty of Alliance with France?

B)The strong leadership of which general kept the army together?

C)The French army and navy helped secure the British surrender in 1781, where?

  1. Label the map of colonial America on the back of this page.