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Essay
CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING
1. Compare and contrast the settlements of New Spain and New France. Use any or all of the following topics in your answer: reasons for colonization, main location, outlying areas explored, economy, and government.
2. Explain how the voyages of Columbus and the Columbian Exchange marked a turning point in the history of the Americas. Include details from the chapter in your explanation.
3. Several factors contributed to the Patriot victory in the Revolutionary War. Choose the three factors that you consider most important to the American victory, and explain how each one affected the war’s outcome.
4. Explain the reasons for the American victory at Yorktown. Consider such factors as the miscalculations of the British army leaders, the role of the Americans, and the role of the French.
5. Explain why the framers of the Constitution developed a structure of government with three branches. Discuss how the system of checks and balances helps protect people’s rights.
final
Answer Section
ESSAY
1. Students should demonstrate understanding that Spain sought the colonies for riches and to serve the king and God. The Spanish settled mostly in what is now Mexico and the southwestern United States, the area of Florida, and the part of South America that is now Peru. The Spanish explored into the borderlands, but then they withdrew and focused on their southern colonies. The King of Spain controlled the government in the colonies. Pueblos, or towns, and presidios, where soldiers lived, were established to organize daily life. Gold and silver were mined in the colonies and shipped to Spain. France, on the other hand, was in search of a northwest passage to Asia. The colony of New France stretched from the northern areas of the United States into Canada. New France, like New Spain, was governed directly by the king, and the people had little freedom. The economy in New France was dominated by the fur trade. Native Americans taught the French how to trap animals for their furs, which were sold in Europe.
2. Students should demonstrate knowledge of how Columbus’s voyages and the Columbian Exchange introduced European customs, ideas, languages, foods, diseases, technology, and other explorers to the Americas, changing the way of life of Native Americans. They introduced Spanish foods, such as wheat, potatoes, pigs, cows, and sugar, which changed the diet of Native Americans. The Spanish also introduced horses to the Americas, giving Native Americans a means to carry heavy loads. Diseases introduced by the Spanish, such as smallpox and typhus, for which Native Americans had no natural immunity, killed a large percentage of the Native American population, making it easier for the Spanish to take over. The Spanish forced Native Americans to work in gold and silver mines, in which many Native Americans died. By establishing missions in which to convert Native Americans to Christianity, the Spanish sought to change the Native American belief system.
3. Students’ answers should include three of the following influences: geography, foreign help, the patriotic spirit of the Americans, the able leadership of George Washington, and mistakes made by the British.
4. A miscalculation by British General Cornwallis started the process that led to the British defeat at Yorktown. Cornwallis disobeyed an order to split his army and send part of it to New York. Instead, he moved all his troops to the Yorktown Peninsula. The Americans took advantage of this opportunity by trapping Cornwallis’s army on the peninsula. Then, the French navy sailed into Chesapeake Bay and blockaded the ports, cutting off Cornwallis’s supply line.
5. The three branches of government exist to keep the country’s leader from gaining too much power. For example, if the legislative branches pass laws that the President thinks will take away people’s rights, the President can veto the law.