Us History

Which of the following is not a reason why Europeans had developed an interest in exploring and colonizing new lands?

a. Merchants were interested in increasing their profits from trade by cutting out Middle Eastern intermediaries in the trade with Asia.

b. Better designed ships and more advanced sailing instruments made it safer to venture farther from land.

c. The monarchies of the new nation states were interested in increasing their wealth and power through territorial acquisitions.

d. Europeans were looking for new markets for the slave trade.

e. Religious dissenters thought that they would be able to escape persecution by emigrating to a colony.

The correct answer is D. While slavery was not unknown to Europeans, the impetus to enlarge the slave trade came after Europeans had explored parts of the Americas and established settlements. The slave trade was not a motive for exploration and colonization.

CortÐ"©s was aided in his conquest of the Aztec empire by

a. the superior ships and sailing technology of the Spanish

b. help from Aztec tribute states that wanted to rid themselves of Aztec rule

c. European diseases against which the Aztecs had no immunities

d. the threat of the introduction of Africans to work the Aztecs' silver mines

e. the civil war that raged in the empire

The correct answer is B. Choice A doesn't make sense since the Aztecs lived inland. Choice C would be a good guessвЂ"if you had been asked about why Aztecs died off after they became part of the Spanish empire, not when they were being conquered. Choice D is a distracterвЂ"sounds good but has no basis in fact. Choice E would be a good answerвЂ"if the question asked about the Spanish conquest of the Inca.

A major difference between Massachusetts Bay and the Virginia Colony was that

a. Virginia Colony was a commercial enterprise, whereas Massachusetts Bay was a religious enterprise

b. early colonists in Massachusetts Bay were freemen and families and in Virginia they were single men and indentured servants

c. there were more women in Virginia colony than in Massachusetts Bay in the early years

d. Massachusetts Bay had a higher mortality rate in the early years than did Virginia

e. there were already Europeans living in the area of Massachusetts Bay, but none in the Virginia colony

The correct answer is B. Answer A is incorrect; both were meant to turn a profit for their joint-stock companies. It is true that many of the colonists in Massachusetts Bay had a religious motivation, but the colony was also a commercial enterprise. Answer C is untrue; most of the 900 colonists who emigrated to Virginia between 1607 and 1609 were men, as answer B suggests. Answer D is also untrue. At the end of 1609, only 60 of those first Virginians survived. Of the 9,000 who emigrated between 1610 and 1622, only 2,000 survived. The first years were known as the "starving time." Answer E is untrue for both colonies. Don't confuse them with Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey where other Europeans were living when the English decided to establish colonies.

Be it therefore . . . enacted . . . that no person or persons whatsoever within this province . . . thereunto [believing] in Jesus Christ shall henceforth be any ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof within this province. . . ."

This quotation is most probably from a law passed in which colony?

a. Massachusetts

b. Maryland

c. Virginia

d. New Jersey

e. Georgia

The correct answer is B. Maryland passed the Act of Religious Toleration in 1649, which provided freedom of religion to Catholics and Protestants alike. Catholics at this time were severely persecuted in England. You can rule out answer A, Massachusetts, immediately, because leaders there allowed for no dissent from Puritanism

Which of the following is an accurate statement about slavery in the American colonies?

a. Slavery began with the first shipment of Africans to Jamestown colony in 1619.

b. The first enslavement laws were passed in Maryland.

c. By 1700 slavery was a part of the economy of all five southern colonies.

d. The first Africans taken to the southern colonies were indentured servants.

e. Slavery did not take hold in the Middle Colonies because of religious concerns.

The correct answer is D. The first 20 Africans who were landed in Jamestown Colony in 1619 were taken as indentured servants, so answer D is correct and answer A is incorrect. Answer B is incorrect because Virginia passed the first slave law in 1660 when it declared that African slaves were slaves for life. Maryland did not pass its first slave law until 1663 when it, too, made slavery lifelong. Answer C is incorrect, because the Carolinas were still one colony until 1729 and Georgia was not founded until 1732. Answer E is incorrect. While Quakers in Pennsylvania protested the use of slaves, the climate was the real reason that slavery never took hold in the Middle ColoniesвЂ"except for Delaware, which had a climate similar to Maryland. The climate in the Middle Colonies prevented year-round farming, so colonists were unwilling to spend resources on slaves during the non-growing seasons.

The rights of women changed

a. as a result of the American Revolution

b.