I. Colonial America and the American Revolution

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I. Colonial America and the American Revolution
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The British established the oldestEuropean
settlements in the New World.

• False
• The Portuguese and the Spanish were the first to
  explore and settle colonies in the New World.
• St. Augustine was established by the Spanish in
  1565
• Only after the British defeated the Spanish
  Armada in 1588 were they able to engage in the
  race to establish colonies.

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2. The search for wealth was the primary cause
behind the exploration and colonization of the
New World.

• True
• Other causes included
• The search for adventure that resulted from the
  humanism of the Renaissance
• The new advances in ship-building and navigation
• The desire to either spread Christianity or to
  escape religious persecution as a result of the
  Reformation.
• The search for wealth was a byproduct of the
  Commercial Revolution.

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3. Jamestown was the first permanent settlement
in the British colonies.

• True
• Roanoke was settled earlier, but it mysteriously
  disappeared. The Jamestown settlement included
  Captain John Smith and Pocahontas.
• There were struggles with the land, the weather
  and the Indians, but Jamestown went on to become
  the colony of Virginia.
• The next English colony was Plymouth Plantation,
  settled by the Pilgrims in 1620. Along with the
  Puritan settlement at Boston, this became the
  colony of Massachusetts.

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4. Slavery never really took root in the British
colonies.

• False
• Slavery has existed since ancient times.
  However, in the past, slaves were either in debt
  or had been captured in a war.
• The rise of modern slavery created modern racism
  because it was based on racist views.
• All of the European colonies engaged in the
  Middle Passage trade to solve their labor
  shortage problems.

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5. Under the system called Mercantilism,
colonies were established for the economic
benefit of the mother country.

• True
• Mercantilism was designed to enrich kings and
  queens during the days of absolute monarchy.
  This was done by taxing the wealth of merchants.
• This required a favorable balance of trade.
• Colonies were therefore expected to only trade
  for the benefit of the mother country.

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6. The French lost to the Indians in the French
and Indian War.

• False
• By the middle of the 18th century, France and
  England were the two primary powers and often
  competed with each other.
• From 1756 to 1763, they fought the Seven Years
  War. In North America, it was known as the
  French and Indian War.
• The victory by the English temporarily drove the
  French out of most of North America. It also led
  the English to tighten their control over their
  13 English colonies.

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7. By the dawn of the American Revolution, the
British colonies enjoyed a very high level of
freedom and wealth.

• True
• Each colony had its own elected assembly.
• Taxes were low and for the most part, the
  American colonials had much freedom.
• Due to the availability of cheap land and
  plentiful natural resources, the Americans
  enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in
  the world.

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8. Religion played the most important role in
pushing the American colonies to declare their
independence from England.

• False
• By the middle of the 18th Century, religion has
  declined (despite the Great Awakening) and many
  people were influenced by the emphasis on reason
  that came from the Enlightenment.
• The two biggest factors behind the move to
  declare independence were
• The desire to acquire western land. This was
  frustrated by the Proclamation of 1763.
• The English desire to collect taxes from the
  colonies to pay for their defense after the
  French and Indian War. This led to the Americans
  to claim No taxation without representation.

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9. New York was the primary birthplace of the
American Revolution.

• False
• The radicals and the violence were located in
  Boston.
• Boston was the location of the Boston Massacre,
  the Boston Tea Party, the Coercive Acts,
  Lexington, Concord, Paul Revere and Bunker Hill.
• The Continental Congress met in Philadelphia.
  This is where the Declaration of Independence was
  signed.

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10. The American Revolution was mostly
characterized as a civil war fought with
guerrilla tactics rather than a full scale war
fought through a series of major battles.

• True
• Many Americans were Tories and remained loyal to
  Great Britain.
• The war did have some battles
• Saratoga, the turning point of the war
• Yorktown, the final American victory.
• However, the war, which lasted from 1775 to 1783,
  was essentially a war fought on a smaller scale.
  In addition, it is doubtful that the Americans
  would have won without the help of the French.

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