Chapter 4 Focus Questions:

Essay question: Although New England and the Southern region were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur?

Objective Questions:

1)  What was the most notable regional difference between the Northern and the Southern colonies?

2)  Why was the population growth in the Chesapeake region so slow?

3)  How many men per how many women were there in the Chesapeake region?

4)  Describe in detail what the life expectancy was like for most Chesapeake settlers and why it was like that (give me 4 statements).

5)  By 1700 what colony was the most populous in English America?

6)  How did tobacco growers respond to the lower prices given for their tobacco?

7)  What was the headright system?

8)  Which group received the greatest benefit from the headright system?

9)  What benefits were received by indentured servants?

10)  Throughout most of the 17th century – what was the source of labor for the colonies?

11)  What percentage of the population did indentured servants represent in the Chesapeake colonies?

12)  What living/working arrangement was made by most indentured servants after they gained their freedom by the end of the seventeenth century?

13)  What group mainly made up the men of Bacon’s Rebellion?

14)  What was the immediate cause of Bacon’s Rebellion?

15)  What impact did Bacon’s Rebellion have on the future of Virginia?

16)  What was the New World destination of most African slaves?

17)  In addition to the problems associated with the use of landless indentured servants, what other factors led to the growth in reliance on the labor of African slaves after 1680?

18)  From what part of Africa did most of the slaves who reached North America originate and who captured them?

19)  What was the middle passage?

20)  Why were the 1662 Virginia slave codes significant?

21)  Was it common for many Africans to be freed in the beginning?

22)  Some slaves (not very many) when they were freed became slave owners themselves – why do you think this happened?

23)  In which region were conditions harshest for slaves?

24)  While slavery may have begun in the colonies for economic reasons – what eventually molded the American slave system? (we still deal with this in the present day)

25)  Describe the slave culture in about 2-3 sentences.

26)  What all did the slaves incorporate into their Christian faith?

27)  What happened to the gaps in the social structure as slavery spread in the south?

28)  How did the pace of urban development in the South compare to urban development in New England?

29)  Describe the differences in how families formed in the South and in New England.

30)  Why did southern colonies allow married women to retain separate title to their property?

31)  Why didn’t New England allow women to have separate property rights?

32)  Compared to the South how orderly was the expansion of New England society?

33)  Describe the process involved in the creation of a new town in New England.

34)  What did Thomas Jefferson say about New England Town Meetings?

35)  What was the Half-Way Covenant and what were the results of its creation (name several)?

36)  When were the Salem Witchcraft Trials and what caused them?

37)  To which class did most of the “witches” belong?

38)  Who generally opposed the witch hunt?

39)  What was the New England’s soil like and what were the economic and social consequences of the level of fertility found in the soil?

40)  What did the New England economy rely on since it couldn’t rely on farming?

41)  How did the English justify the theft of Native American’s land?

42)  Describe the New England character that developed from the combination of Calvinism, soil, and climate.

43)  How great was the impact of New England on the rest of the colonies?