Survey of U.S. History - Exam One Study Guide

Understand Bacon's Rebellion: Where was it? Who was involved? How were they involved? How were they involved? What were the issues at stake? How was it finally resolved? What is the legacy of Bacon's Rebellion?

A rebellion in 1676 led by frontier settler Nathaniel Bacon, who sought to attack both Indians and wealthy planters favored by the Virginia government. Hoping to maintain peace in 1676, Governor Berkeley pronounced Bacon a rebel, threatened to punish him for treason, and called for new elections of burgesses. In June 1676, the new legislature passed reform measures known as Bacon's Laws. Among other changes, the laws gave local settlers a voice in setting tax rates, forbade officeholders from demanding bribes or extra fees for carrying out their duties, placed limits on holding more than one office at a time, and restored the vote to all freemen. The reforms motivated elite planters to convince Governor Berkeley that Bacon and his men were a greater threat than Indians. When Bacon learned that Berkeley had once again branded him a traitor, he declared war against Berkeley and the other grandees. For three months, Bacon's forces fought Indians, destroyed grandees' plantations, and attacked Jamestown. Berkeley's loyalists retaliated by plundering the homes of Bacon's supporters. The fighting continued until Bacon unexpectedly died, most likely from dysentery, and several English ships arrived to increase Berkeley's strength. With the rebellion crushed, Berkeley hanged several of Bacon's allies and destroyed farms that belonged to Bacon's supporters. The rebellion did nothing to remove the grandees from their positions of power. If anything, it strengthened them. When the king learned of the turmoil in the Chesapeake and its devastating effect on tobacco exports and customs duties, he ordered an investigation. Royal officials replaced Berkeley with a governor more attentive to the king's interests, nullified Bacon's Laws, and imposed an export tax on tobacco as a way to pay the expenses of the colony's government without getting the consent of the tightfisted House of Burgesses. In the aftermath of Bacon's Rebellion, tensions between great planters and small farmers moderated. Bacon's Rebellion showed, a governor of Virginia said, that it was necessary "to steer between ... either an Indian or a civil war." The ruling elite concluded that it was safer for the colonists to fight the Indians than to fight each other, and the government made little effort to restrict settlers' encroachment on Indian land.

If the explorers were initially after a route to the Spice Islands in the East, why did Christopher Columbus go west instead of east?

Columbus wanted to find a new route to India, China, Japan and the Spice Islands. Columbus knew that the world was round and realized that by sailing west, instead of east around the coast of Africa, as other explorers at the time were doing, he would still reach his destination.

How did the Chesapeake Bay colonies first solved their labor shortage problem?

During the 1680s and 1690s, fewer servants arrived in the Chesapeake, partly because of improving economic conditions in England. Fewer immigrants meant that the number of poor, newly freed servants also declined. In 1700, about one-third of freed colonists still worked as tenants on land owned by others, but the Chesapeake was in the midst of transitioning to a slave labor system that de-emphasized the differences between poor farmers and rich planters and magnified the differences between whites and blacks

Mortality rates in the northern and southern colonies...what caused them?

During the Colombian exchange the Spaniards brought along new diseases towards the new land. Disease in colonial America that afflicted the early immigrant settlers was a dangerous threat to life. Some of the diseases were new and treatments were ineffective. Malaria was deadly to many new arrivals, especially in the Southern colonies. Of newly arrived able-bodied young men, over one-fourth of the Anglican missionaries died within five years of their arrival in the Carolinas. Mortality was high for infants and small children, especially for diphtheria, smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria. Most sick people turned to local healers, and used folk remedies. Others relied upon the minister-physicians, barber-surgeons, apothecaries, midwives, and ministers; a few used colonial physicians trained either in Britain, or an apprenticeship in the colonies. One common treatment was blood letting. The method was crude due to a lack of knowledge about infection and disease among medical practitioners. There was little government control, regulation of medical care, or attention to public health. By the 18th century, Colonial physicians, following the models in England and Scotland, introduced modern medicine to the cities in the 18th century, and made some advances in vaccination, pathology, anatomy and pharmacology.

What kicked off the whole drive to exploration by Portugal and Spain?

During the fifteenth century, Spain hoped to gain advantage over its rival, Portugal. Their goals were to expand Catholicism and gain a commercial advantage over Portugal. To those ends, Ferdinand and Isabelle sponsored extensive Atlantic exploration.

After Columbus 'discovered' the New World, why did England also want colonies in North America?

England wanted to claim land from the newly discovered world.

How does a 'favorable balance of trade' fit into mercantilism?

If the exports of a country exceed its imports, the country is said to have a favorable balance of trade, or a trade surplus. According to the economic theory of mercantilism, which prevailed in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, a favorable balance of trade was a necessary means of financing a country's purchase of foreign goods and maintaining its export trade.

Understand mercantilism. What is driving mercantilism? In other words, what is every monarch's goal?

Mercantilism is based on the principle that the world's wealth was static, and consequently, many European nations attempted to accumulate the largest possible share of that wealth by maximizing their exports and by limiting their imports via tariffs. Governments sought to ensure that exports exceeded imports and to accumulate wealth in the form of bullion (gold and silver). In mercantilism, wealth is viewed as finite and trade as a zero-sum game. Absolute power was the goal of every monarch.

What was the Triangular Trade? What was the Middle Passage?

Mercantilism led to the emergence of what's been called the "triangular trade": a system of exchange in which Europe supplied Africa and the Americas with finished goods, the Americas supplied Europe and Africa with raw materials, and Africa supplied the Americas with enslaved laborers. The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade.

Where/what was 'New Spain'?

New Spain was the name that the Spanish gave to the area that today is central and southern Mexico, and since the capital city of the Viceroyalty was in Mexico City, the name was also used for the viceroyalty. At its height New Spain included what are today the southwestern United States, all of Mexico, Central America to the Isthmus of Panama, Florida, much of the West Indies (islands in the Caribbean), as well as the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean. Viceroyalty of New Spain, Spanish Virreinato de Nueva España, the first of the four viceroyalties that Spain created to govern its conquered lands in the New World. Established in 1535, it initially included all land north of the Isthmus of Panama under Spanish control.

The first permanent English and European settlements in North America were where? (when?)

Settlers landing on the site of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America. After Christopher Columbus' historic voyage in 1492, Spain dominated the race to establish colonies in the Americas, while English efforts, such as the "lost colony" of Roanoke, met with failure.

Describe the relations between the Algonquins and English colonists in the Chesapeake Bay colonies, 1607-1700.

Some Native American tribes embraced the English and their culture because doing so brought them prestige, wealth, and a strong military ally. They participated in English society by adopting their traditional skills to meet the military needs of the colonists. At first Powhatan, leader of a confederation of tribes around the Chesapeake Bay, hoped to absorb the newcomers through hospitality and his offerings of food. As the colonists searched for instant wealth, they neglected planting corn and other work necessary to make their colony self-sufficient.

Which colony could be said to have had a truly diverse population in terms of ethnicity, religious preference, nationality, etc.?

The Middle Colonies (Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware), more specifically Pennsylvania.

Why were each of the English colonies started?

The New England colonies were founded to escape religious persecution in England. The Middle colonies, like Delaware, New York, and New Jersey, were founded as trade centers, while Pennsylvania was founded as a safe haven for Quakers.

What was primarily responsible for the decimation of Native American populations after 1492?

The Spaniards.

What was the Treaty of Tordesilla? Why was it important?

The Spanish monarchs rushed to obtain the pope's support for their claim to the new lands in the West. When the pope, a Spaniard, agreed, the Portuguese feared that their own claims to recently discovered territories were in jeopardy. To protect their claims, the Portuguese and Spanish monarchs negotiated. Drew an imaginary line west of the Canary islands; land discovered west of the line belonged to Spain, and land to the east belonged to Portugal.

What crops were grown in the southern colonies? Were they also grown in the northern colonies? If not, why not?

The cash crops of the southern colonies included cotton, tobacco, rice, and indigo (a plant that was used to create blue dye). In Virginia and Maryland, the main cash crop was tobacco. In South Carolina and Georgia, the main cash crops were indigo and rice. Crops in the new England colonies consisted of corn, pumpkins, rye, squash, and beans.

Describe the relations between Native Americans and the New England colonies.

The early relations between the colonists and Native Americans were quite friendly. Both sides were eager to trade and enjoy the new amenities of each other's culture, and there was a new excitement in the atmosphere. Both sides were experiencing new technologies and cultural innovations on the side of the Native Americans to the grandeur of exploring new land for the colonists. This relationship, however, took a downward turn almost immediately. It became obvious to the Native Americans that the colonists' intention was not simply to explore, but indeed to seize the land and claim it as their own. What was more, it seemed that in order for the Native Americans to have a part in this new world, they would have to conform to the colonists' customs and religion. Some even found themselves doing this. Many, however, revolted. The relationship was made all the more contentious by the spread of diseases that were unfamiliar to the bodies of the Native Americans, such as syphilis, pertussis, and influenza. While this enraged the Native Americans and even seemed to give their struggle an existential significance, it greatly hastened their overwhelming defeat in the many struggles against the colonists.

What was the significance of King William's War in North America?

The effects and significance of the King William's War in history is that the indecisive result of the war lead to continuing conflicts between the French and English interests in North America. The Hudson's Bay Company had established trading outposts and these were subject to attacks by French raiders.

Why could slaves' behavior be controlled/restricted politically in the Chesapeake Bay colonies, and the English colonists could not be to that extent?

The slave labor system polarized Chesapeake society along lines of race and status. All slaves were black, and nearly all blacks were slaves. Almost all free people were white, and all whites were free or only temporarily bound in indentured servitude. Unlike Barbados, however, the Chesapeake retained a white majority. Among white people, huge differences of wealth and status still existed. By 1700, more than three-quarters of white families had neither servants nor slaves. But poor white farmers enjoyed the privileges of free status. They could own property, get married, have families, and pass on their property and their freedom to their descendants. They could move when and where they wanted and associate freely with other people. They could serve on juries, vote, and hold political office. They could work, loaf, and sleep as they chose. These privileges of freedom—none of them possessed by slaves—made poor white folks feel they had a genuine stake in the existence of slavery, even if they did not own a single slave. By emphasizing the privileges of freedom shared by all white people, the slave labor system reduced the tensions between poor folk and grandees that plagued the Chesapeake region in the 1670s.

There was only one real slave uprising during the colonial period. What was it? Where was it? What was the result/fallout of it in other slaveholding colonies?

The south wanted slavery mainly because they wanted to be able to have workers but not have to pay them. This way the South could make more money to either buy more slaves, more land, and be able to pay their taxes. This is mainly why the Civil War started.

What was the Columbian Exchange? Why was it so devastating to Native American populations?

The transatlantic exchange of goods, people, and ideas that began when Columbus arrived in the Caribbean, ending the age-old separation of the hemisphere by the Atlantic Ocean. Spaniards brought novelties to the New World that were commonplace in Europe, including Christianity, iron technology, sailing ships, firearms, wheeled vehicles, and horses. Unknowingly, they also carried many Old World viruses and bacteria that caused devastating epidemics of smallpox, measles, and other diseases that killed the vast majority of Indians during the sixteenth century and later. European diseases made the Columbian exchange catastrophic for Native Americans.

What was the main cause of King Philip's War? Was it an isolated incident in Native American-European relations?

The underlying cause of the war was the colonists unrelenting desire for more and more land, but the immediate cause for its outbreak was the trial and execution of three of Metacom's men by the colonists. According to legend, Metacom sat in a cave on Avon Mountain and watched the burning of the town.

The Puritans came to America to Build "a city upon a hill"; what happened to it?

To build a lasting "city upon the hill" the Puritans needed to create a society held together by charity, mercy, and love. Governor John Winthrop gave this speech aboard ship to M Bay. Idea was that the settlers would build such a godly community that would shame England into truly reforming the Church. He denounced economic jealousy that bred class hatred (rich and poor should help each other out) Roger Williams, and Anne Hutchinson were two people that lured the people away from the "New England Way". Also, the self interest of the people was a threat to the city upon a hill's Close Knit Community aspect. people were becoming materialistic. "The New England way" Puritan orthodoxy that was supposed to govern the Massachusetts Bay colony. Roger Williams Arrived in 1631. He founded Rhode Island for separation of Church and State. He believed that the Puritans were too powerful and was ordered to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for his religious beliefs. Anne Hutchinson preached the idea that God communicated directly to individuals instead of through the church elders. She was forced to leave Massachusetts in 1637. Her followers (the Antinomianists) founded the colony of New Hampshire in 1639.

Why did the Chesapeake Bay colonies switch to African slave labor?

Unlike the Spaniards in New Spain, English colonists did not succeed in forcing Indians to become laborers. They turned instead to another source of workers used by the Spaniards and Portuguese: enslaved Africans. European colonizers eventually built African slavery into the most important form of coerced labor in the New World. During the seventeenth century, English colonies in the West Indies followed the Spanish and Portuguese examples and developed sugar plantations with slave labor. In the English North American colonies, however, a slave labor system did not emerge until the last quarter of the seventeenth century. During the 1670s, settlers from Barbados brought slavery to the new English mainland colony of Carolina, where the imprint of the West Indies remained strong for decades. In Chesapeake tobacco fields at about the same time, slave labor began to replace servant labor, the crucial step in the transition to a society of freedom for whites and slavery for Africans.

What was in the East that Europeans wanted so desperately?

Wealthy Europeans wanted luxury goods from Asia and Africa. European merchants competed to satisfy those desires by trading with the East. They got spices, silk, carpets, ivory, and gold.