Econ2800 Study Guide
2. According to a royal investigation in 1623 of the English colonies in Virginia, the average life expectancy of newly arrived setters was:
2 years.
1. Which of the following most accurately describes changes in life expectancy?
A life expectancy was relatively small until 1750, when it increased rapidly.
2. People from which nation were most likely to come to colonial North America as indentured servants?
England
2. Walter Raleigh was one of the leading explorers for which nation?
England
2. Which nation made the greatest commitment to establish permanent settlements in its colonization strategy?
England
2. In the 1600s _____ emerged as the chief competitors in the race for control of North America.
England and France
6. All of the following statements accurately describe pre-1763 British colonial policy except:
England discouraged western settlements in an effort to reduce conflicts between colonists and Native Americans.
2. Humphrey Gilbert was one of the leading explorers for which nation?
England.
In 1776, ______________ was the most populated colonial city.
Philadelphia
The Sugar Act (1764)
a. decreased the tariff that had been established by the Molasses Act. b. was designed to raise revenue for England. c. was more vigorously enforced than the Molasses Act. d. was designed to support England's mercantilist goals.
Which of the following was not an export of the Southern colonies?
a. deerskins b. bulk unfinished iron c. indigo d. rice
In the early decades of the 18th century, English goods sold for as much as 80 to 140 percent more in the colonies than in England primarily due to
high transportation costs for goods shipped from England to the colonies
From 1700-1780, the colonial population increased at a rate of approximately 3 percent per year. This rapid population growth was primarily due to:
higher birth rates in the colonies than in Europe.
The standard of living (measured by what one can purchase with after-tax income) of free Americans on the eve of the Revolution was ______.
higher than in 18th century England, and higher than for most people in the "Third World" today.
By examining the data on the 18th century market for beaver furs, we learn an important economic lesson: Intense and growing competition in the absence of appropriate ____________ fails.
property rights
The Embargo Act (1807)
provided some aid to the emerging manufacturing sector in the U.S.
2. Estimates of the North American Native American population in 1491:
range in the millions
4.According to the mercantilists, colonies were supposed to export ________ and import ________ from _______.
raw materials, manufactured products, the mother country.
Today _________ countries generate average income levels that approach the earnings of free Americans on the eve of the revolution
relatively few
Compared with the 19th century, during the colonial period technological changes that raised output relative to inputs
remained minor and sporadic
4.The Navigation Acts
required all colonial trade to be arranged through England
The Navigation Acts
required all colonial trade to be carried on English vessels
The Navigation Acts
required all colonial trade to be carried on English vessels.
The colonial production of ________ had a high fixed cost because it required an initial heavy investment in capital.
rice
According to Douglass North's "market opportunity response" model, surges in land sales in the Old Northwest in the 1810s, 1830s and 1850s were due to
rising prices for corn and wheat.
Capital formation in the colonies was mostly due to
savings and investments from the colonists themselves.
Although large-scale manufacturing was not characteristic of colonial economic activity, ___________ was an important exception.
shipbuilding
The annual colonial trade deficit (which equaled 20,000-40,000 pounds sterling in 1768-1772) was mostly financed by
short-term credit from England
In colonial Georgia
slavery was initially prohibited.
The costs and benefits of mercantilist policies on the colonies produced a ______ to the American colonies.
small net costs
4.Mercantilists believed that national military power could be achieved best by _______.
strictly regulating economic life.
Tobacco prices fell dramatically in the early 1600s in spite of demand increases because
supply was also increasing
Which of the following positions might be taken by the ruler of a nation practicing mercantilism?
support of the merchant marine sector
8 Land "liberals" in the 19th century
supported the sale of the public domain in small plots.
2. The establishment of Jamestown in 1607 was financed by:
the London Company.
Data presented in the text compare exports per capita in the early 1790s with exports per capita just prior to the Revolution. The data show that by the early 1790s, exports per capita had increased in _____________, but had decreased in ___________________.
the Middle Atlantic states; the Upper and Lower South
During the colonial period, this region specialized in grain production, primarily using family farms:
the Middle colonies
8.The congressional committee headed by Thomas Jefferson proposed a method for disposing of the public domain that was based on
the New England township system.
During the colonial period, commodities that could only be exported legally to Britain were known as _______.
enumerated goods.
4. A nation practicing mercantilism aims to
establish an excess of exports over imports
In the 18th century, the Middle colonies
exported large amounts of wheat and bread products to the West Indies
Mercantilists wanted a favorable balance of trade, by which they meant
exports > imports
Under the British Navigation Acts, enumerated goods were a list of colonial
exports that had to be shipped through British middlemen
Between 1620 and 1710, the price of tobacco in the colonies
fell from over 20 pence sterling to roughly one pence per pound.
The soil of the Middle Colonies is generally
fertile and easy to till.
2. By the early 16th century, the center wealth and commerce of Europe had shifted:
from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic
The Constitution:
gives the federal government the exclusive power to coin money
Types of money used by colonists included all of the following except
government-issued fiat currency
2. In the early colonies, private landholdings:
gradually replaced common ownership.
Taylor's (1964) estimate of the growth rate of colonial per capita income is ____________ the estimates of Jones (1980) and other more recent scholars
greater than
The Tea Act
harmed smugglers of Dutch tea.
The use of commodity money
has a high opportunity cost.
Suppose 10 workers jointly own and farm a piece of land. They all consume the farm's output in equal shares. If one worker decides to shirk and cuts her labor effort by 50 percent,
her consumption will decrease by less than 50 percent.
3. All of the following were important colonial industries except:
manufacturing of finished iron goods
Colonists owned the vast majority of the tonnage shipped between
New England and the West Indies.
According to the Rule of 70, if per capita GDP is growing at a rate of 5 percent per year, then it will take __________ years for per capita income to double.
14
In 1774 the best estimate for the size of the overseas trade as a proportion of national income is:
15-20%.
2. What type of person would you expect to have the shortest indenture?
21 year-old male carpenter who worked in the West Indies.
8. The Northwest Land Ordinance of 1785 provided for western lands to be divided into townships, each of which covered
36 square miles.
2. Of the 6,000 settlers who migrated to Virginia since the founding of the first permanent settlement in 1607, nearly ________ had died by 1623.
4,000
During the 100 years before the Revolutionary war, shipping costs were reduced by nearly
50 percent
If a the price index was 60 in 2000 and the price index was 90 in 2009, the best estimate of the annual inflation rate between 1998 and 1999 is
50%
8. The Land Ordinance of 1787 provided that a state would be admitted to the Union when it's population reached
60,000
3. At the end of the 18th century, approximately _______ percent of the American people earned a major portion of their income by farming.
90
2. Who would be most likely to move from Europe to the New World in the early 1600s?
A 17 year-old from a poor family.
8. A conservative philosophy of land distribution would not support which of the following?
Credit payments for the land.
The market for indentured servants could be best described as:
A competitive market. There were many captains in the market, and they were located at the docks in a small number of English seaports. With many demanders and low costs for the servants of seeking additional offers, this was a competitive industry.
8. A liberal philosophy of land distribution would support which of the following rules about paying for western land
Credit payments for the land.
What was the most immediate impact of introducing the horse to the plains Indians?
A decrease in the amount of agricultural work the Indians did.
What best describes the impact of the cotton gin?
A decrease in the price and an increase in the quantity of cotton.
An economic analysis of the burdens imposed on the colonists by the Navigation Acts for commodities that were imported from Europe via England can best be described as:
A shift back in the supply curve, which increases the price and decreases the quantity.
When the colonies obtained independence they were no longer bound by a number of English laws, including the Navigation Acts. What best describes the impact of the removal of the Navigation Acts for commodities that were imported from Europe via England?
A shift out in the supply curve, which decreased the price and increased the quantity.
The writings of the 18th century economist _____________ greatly influenced Constitutional provisions regarding private property rights.
Adam Smith
According to quantitative estimates of the burden of the Navigation Acts on the colonies, what can be said about the (net) effect of the Acts?
After accounting for the protection provided by the British, there was very little economic burden to colonists from the Navigation Acts.
Which of the following was the most important factor determining the volume of land sales in the Midwest and South during the antebellum period
Agricultural prices.
4.The aims of mercantilists do not include
All of the above were aims of the mercantilists
What would best characterize the relationship between corn prices, wheat prices and the public sale of western land (OH, IL, IN, MI, IA, WI, MO) between 1815-1860?
All three were very positively correlated.
In the antebellum period, U.S. cotton production
moved inland and westward following the invention of the cotton gin.
1. Which of the following is most accurate about ownership of household goods, such as flush toilets, refrigerators, televisions, clothes dryers and automobiles?
Americans at the poverty level in 2005 own these goods at higher rates than average households in 1950.
In the early colonial period which region had the highest mortality rates?
Caribbean
1. Nobel Laureate Robert Fogel contends that which of the following are good proxies for current levels of nutrition?
Changes in height during the growing years.
____________ were the most common form of specie used in the colonies.
Coins issued by the Spanish mint
What statement most accurately describes the U.S. colonial economy in the 1700s?
Colonial America was the first region in the world to permanently use paper money.
6.Which of the following statements accurately describes pre-1763 British colonial policy?
Colonial laws were not officially in effect until the Privy Council granted
2. Which of the following phrases does not accurately describe a feature of the European economy during the Renaissance period?
Declining population
If a product exhibits increasing returns to scale, then the average cost of making the product will ______ as a company produces more of it?
Decrease.
2. What was the least important reason for the failure of the Virginia Company?
Difficulty in finding good crops to grow.
During the English civil war in the 1640s, the _____ made great inroads into the carrying trade.
Dutch
What statement best describes the colonial economic experience?
Economic growth was irregular and averaged about 0.45% per year
A student is working on a group class-project where the same grade is assigned to everyone in the group. He chooses to not contribute to the project. What term best describes this situation?
Free Rider.
For a decade after the Land Ordinance of 1785, pioneering in parts of the Northwest Territory was restricted by all of the following except
French interference
Which colony was the last of the original 13 to be founded, and was designed to assist those who owed debts in the Old World?
Georgia.
2. People from which nation in Europe were most likely to come to colonial North America as redemptioners?
Germany
The majority of immigrants coming to the U.S. in the 1840s and 1850s were from
Germany and Ireland.
The immigrants most likely to go directly to the lands in the West, rather than be absorbed into the eastern city populations, were from
Germany.
All of the following statements present accurate information about the 18th century New England economy except:
New England farms tended to be large and highly productive.
1. Which is the most accurate about those who were in the bottom fifth of income distributions in 1975?
In 1991, about 30% were in the richest fifth and another 30% were in the second richest group.
If a product exhibits decreasing returns to scale, then the average cost of making the product will ______ as a company produces more of it?
Increase.
What method did the U.S. use to fund most of the cost of the Revolutionary War?
Increases in the money supply.
What best describes Thomas Jefferson's view of how American Indians should be treated?
Indians should have full property rights that should be respected by whites.
___________ was an ideal supplement to rice farming in the colonies.
Indigo
7.For the U.S., the Revolutionary War (1775-1781) period could best described as having a rapid growth in:
Inflation.
The only mineral that was available in any significant quantity in colonial America was:
Iron.
Having sided with the British during the Revolution, the ___________ lost much of their land and position in America after the War.
Iroquois
7.What was not one of the problems of the Articles of Confederation?
It could not keep the states together as a political union.
What was not true about the economy of the Middle Colonies?
It was a net importer of food.
What was not true about the New England colonial economy?
It was the most productive area in terms of agriculture
2. Which English colony was the first permanent settlement in the New World?
Jamestown
2. Indentured servitude was first used to promote immigration in:
Jamestown in 1618.
2. In the 15th century, _____ rose to prominence in trade with areas to the east of Europe, while _____ dominated trade with the West.
Portugal, Spain
U.S. citizens migrating to Illinois in the first half of the 19th century would most likely have come from:
Massachusetts and New Jersey
What industry was the main economic impetus behind antebellum migration to the West Coast?
Mining
____________ solves the mutual coincidence of wants problem.
Money
What was the most fundamental relationship among most Native American tribes, including the Iroquois?
Mother-daughter
2. By the 15th century, Catholic Europe had emerged victorious after years of war with:
Muslim Armies
Which of the following acts of England's Parliament did not occur after the Seven Year's War and before the American Revolution?
Navigation Acts.
Suppose the only input in agriculture is time and the following chart depicts the time it took for the Middle Colonies and New England to produce barley and milk. Using the principle of comparative advantage, what would be the most efficient solution?
New England produces milk and the Middle Colonies produce barley.
Which one of the following colonial groups actually benefited from the Navigation Acts?
New England shipbuilders
2. Bartholomew Dias was one of the leading explorers for which nation?
Portugal
2. Prince Henry the Navigator was one of the leading explorers for which nation?
Portugal
2. Which nation pioneered Atlantic Exploration?
Portugal
Which one of the following was not a goal of the Navigation Acts?
Prevent West Indian planters from increasing their control over the U.S. colonial trade.
What was not one of the Constitutional compromises about slavery?
Prevented imported slaves from being taxed.
During the colonial period, the U.S. and other countries relied on "privateers." Which of the following most accurately describes privateers
Privateers were private citizens who owned ships that attacked vessels from other nations.
What would be the impact of a virus that infected the Midwestern corn crop?
Quantity of corn decreases and the price of wheat increases.
Which of the following provisions was not a component of the Intolerable Acts?
Raised taxes in Boston to pay for the tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party.
The term "free rider":
Refers to the reduction of incentives for an individual to provide effort.
3. Agricultural staples of the colonial South included:
Rice tobacco indigo All of the above.
2. Bartholomew Dias was recognized for being the first to achieve what accomplishment?
Rounding the Cape of Good Hope.
2. Ferdinand Magellan was recognized for what accomplishment?
Sailing from Europe to India and back.
Increases in productivity due to changes in technological capacity could be best represented by:
Shift out in the supply curve.
2. Who did not found a colony?
Sir Nelson Maryland.
2. The first English colonies in North America were established by:
Sir Walter Raleigh
Based on the analysis of Alice Hanson Jones, what colonial region showed the most unequal distribution of wealth?
South.
Which of the following statements accurately characterizes the Homestead Act of 1862?
Southerner plantation owners were strongly opposed to the passage of this legislation.
2. Cortez was one of the leading explorers for which nation?
Spain
2. Ferdinand Magellan was one of the leading explorers for which nation?
Spain
2. _____ established the first American colonies in the early 1500s.
Spain
Immediately following the Revolution, in the 1780s,
Spain placed severe restrictions on trade between its colonies and the U.S.
The ____________ was designed to raise revenue and achieve mercantilist goals, while the ____________ was simply intended to raise revenue.
Sugar Act; Stamp Act
Which was the least prominent crop grown in the colonial US?
Sugar.
What generated the most revenue for the U.S. government in the first 20 years after the Revolution
Tariffs on goods imported from other nations
After reading Governor Bradford's account, which is the most accurate statement, given his experience?
That assigning private plots of land "made all hands very industrious."
What best describes westward movement of population between 1800-1860?
The 1850s was the decade when the largest number of people moved to the west.
2. Of the English-owned joint stock companies that operated in North America, which was the only one to survive longer than 20 years?
The Hudson Bay Company.
Which of the following statements correctly characterizes the colonial commodity trade deficit?
The Middle colonies had the largest commodity trade deficit.
2. Which was not an English-owned joint stock company?
The Rhode Island Company.
2. The agreement that established Spain and Portugal's rights to explore various parts of the world was called:
The Treaty of Tordezillas
Which of the following statements presents accurate information about the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815)?
The Wars led to increased demand for American shipping services.
Which statement best describes the trend in land allocation laws from the Land Ordinance of 1785 to the Homestead Act of 1862?
The changes were more favorable to those who held a liberal belief about land allocation.
What was not a grievance of the Continental Congress that met in October 1774?
The colonies were not permitted to trade with nations other than England
What best describes the economic standing of the colonies on the eve of the Revolution?
The colonies were one of the richest nations in the world and had a significant amount of income inequality
Large increases in agricultural productivity were not the primary reasons for migrating to which area of the nation during the antebellum period?
The far west
Which of the following statements accurately reflects research findings on the distribution of colonial wealth?
The opportunity for income mobility was probably greater in the colonies than in England.
If a series of severe storms in the Atlantic Ocean drastically significantly disrupted the slave transatlantic slave trade, which would most accurately describe the market for indentured servants in colonial America?
The price and quantity of servants would increase. The storm would decrease the supply of slaves, thus increasing their price. Servants and slaves are substitutes. The demand for servants would increase, thus increasing both the price and quantity of servants.
The U.S. terminated its role in the slave trade in the early 1800s. What is the best assessment of what would have happened had the U.S. not ended the slave trade?
The price of slaves would be lower and the wages of free workers would be lower. The supply for slaves would shift out, thus lowering the price of slaves and increasing the quantity of slaves. Because slaves and free are substitutes, the demand curve for free workers would decrease, thus decreasing both the price and quantity of free labor.
If a series of severe storms in the Atlantic Ocean drastically significantly disrupted the slave transatlantic slave trade, which would most accurately describe the market for slaves in colonial America?
The price of slaves would increase and the quantity of slaves would decrease. The storms would decrease the supply of slaves to the colonies, thus increasing the price of slaves and decreasing the quantity of slaves.
Which of the following responsibilities did the Constitution not give to the federal government?
The right to tax income.
Which of the following is the most accurate statement about the Native Americans during the colonial period?
The susceptibility to disease was one of the primary reasons the Native American population declined.
1. Which is true about present day Americans who are at the official poverty level?
Their incomes are above the world average per capita income.
1. Which is true about the present day Americans who are at the official poverty level?
Their incomes are higher than all but the richest Americans in 1900.
4.Which of the following most accurately describes what the text says about mercantilists?
They confused gold and silver with true wealth
8. According to Walton and Rockoff, all of the following were among Jefferson's main goals for land policy except:
To drive Indians off the land and secure it for American settlers
8.Thomas Jefferson's main goals for land policy included all of the following except:
To establish a system for collecting property taxes on land owned by individuals.
During the Revolutionary War, the U.S. trade deficit increased because
U.S. exports decreased more than U.S. imports decreased
1. Which most accurately describes US GDP from 1900 to 2007 (in 2000 constant dollars)?
US GPD per capita has increased by nearly eightfold.
What was not a problem with using commodity money in the US colonies prior to 1700?
Very few people were willing to accept commodities as payment.
Which of the following most accurately describes an impact of the Navigation Acts?
Wages of New England sailors increased. The Navigation Acts made it more difficult (raised the price) for foreign sailors and ships to trade with the colonies.
1. Per capita GDP in theUS during the 20th century _____.
Was cyclical, but generally trending upward throughout the century.
Which of the following statements correctly characterizes the distribution of colonial wealth?
Wealth inequality tended to be greatest in colonial cities.
England's colonial policy changed dramatically following the French and Indian War. All of the following statements describe factors that contributed to this change in policy except
Wealthy New England merchants asked the Crown to exercise more authority over colonial affairs.
The colonists' per capita income on the eve of the Revolution was most comparable to the per capita income of:
Western Europe
8 Which was not one of the main U.S. land acquisitions?
Western Purchase.
2. Prince Henry the Navigator was recognized for being the leading explorer of what region?
Western coast of Africa.
On the eve of the Revolution, the quality of life in the colonies
compared favorably with that of other countries during the same period
1. In August 1971, President Nixon implemented price and wage controls to combat inflation. What best describes our experience with these price controls?
When the controls were implemented, prices were decreasing, and within 3 years inflation increased dramatically and was about twice as high as it had been before the controls.
The Land Ordinances of 1785 and 1787 included provisions for all of the following except:
profits from land sales to be redistributed to the public.
1. Which of the following most accurately describes world population growth?
World population growth was relatively small until 1750, when it increased extremely rapidly.
2. Based on the research findings of David Galenson, Robert Heavner and others, what type of person would you expect to negotiate an indenture contract of the longest duration?
a 13 year-old illiterate male who went to New York
According to the principle of comparative advantage
a country will benefit by specializing in the production of goods in which it has a relatively low opportunity cost.
If the incomes of New Englanders increased and they demanded more tobacco, then tobacco would be
a normal good.
In the 18th century, Southern tobacco planters found that the use of ____________ was economical once the plantation reached a certain size.
a plantation manager
During the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815)
a. America experienced periods of full employment. c. America bore the brunt of the mercantilist policies of both England and France.
Immediately following the Revolution,
a. America found itself outside the protection of the British empire. b. trade alliances with both Spain and France began to crumble. c. all American-built vessels were ineligible to trade with the British Empire.
7Which is a accurate description of the Revolution
a. It never had majority support b. Two-thirds of the population either opposed it or did nothing to support it.
8. Which are US land acquisitions?
a. The Oregon Country. b. The Texas Annexation. c. The Florida Acquisition. d. The Gadsden Purchase.
Which of the following most accurately and completely describes the responsibilities the Constitution gave to the federal government?
a. The authority to provide for copyrights and patents. c. The authority to regulate interstate commerce
Post-Revolutionary trade data show that after 1790
a. U.S. trade with non-British areas of the Caribbean increased. b. the export of food to the West Indies increased. c. trade in the southern U.S. did not keep pace with population growth. d. the U.S. exported tobacco to France and the Netherlands.
2. Jamestown's early years were marked by
a. a focus on futile "get rich quick" schemes. b. collective operations under which production methods and consumption were shared. c. lack of local control over production decisions. d. extremely high mortality rates. ALL OF THE ABOVE
The Navigation Acts required that colonists use England as an "entrepot." This resulted in
a. additional shipping and handling costs for colonial trade. b. increased prices for colonial imports. c. a disproportionately large economic burden on Southern exports. d. an estimated total economic burden of less than 1 percent of colonial income.
The Molasses Act (1733)
a. aimed to decrease trade between the colonies and the French West Indies. b. was flounted with impunity by the colonists. c. placed a high tariff on colonial imports of foreign sugar, molasses and rum. d. if enforced would have disrupted one of the major colonial trades.
6. In a Crown colony
a. both its governor and upper house were appointed by the Crown. c. only the lower house could initiate fiscal legislation.
Goods commonly produced by colonial households included
a. clothing. b. bread and hardtack. c. beer and whiskey. d. jellies and jams.
During the antebellum period, the "Old Northwest" became the leading producer of
a. corn. b. wheat. c. hogs.
Shuttle routes for colonial trade
a. lowered labor costs. b. reduced delays and costly extensions of port times. c. were more common than triangular trade patterns. d. allowed captains to negotiate with a small number of familiar trading partners.
The wealthiest occupational groups in North America included
a. merchants in New England. b. merchants in the Middle colonies. c. large land-holding planters in the South.
Problems with the use of commodity money include
a. quality control. b. storage difficulties. c. inconvenience. d. spoilage.
Northeastern farmers responded to increasing western competition in the 1800s by
a. reducing grain cultivation. b. increasing production of dairy products. c. growing hay to feed city horses. d. moving to the city or the West.
Which of the following regions obtained most of its imported goods from the United Kingdom?
a. the New England colonies b. the Middle colonies c. the upper Southern colonies d. the lower Southern colonies
One interesting aspect of the California Gold Rush was
a. the initial absence of property rights to land. c. the absence of violence in the gold fields.
2. Spain's eventual decline in influence can be traced to:
a. the lack of a solid foundation for its settlement efforts. b. a costly war to bring the Low Countries under subjection. c. the decline in gold and silver imports from America. ALL THE ABOVE
2. England's American colonies were ultimately more successful than the colonies of other European powers. Reasons for this success include:
a. the realization that successful colonies would provide markets for English goods. b. a focus on establishing permanent settlements. c.the access to land which could be privately owned. A: All of the above.
Eighteenth century declines in Atlantic and Caribbean shipping costs were due to
a. the reduction in armaments on commercial vessels. b. decreased crew sizes. c. falling insurance rates. d. reduced layover times in ports.
In 1768-72, the top ten commodity exports of the thirteen colonies included all of the following except
a. tobacco b. bread and flour c. fish d. horses
Early forms of colonial money included
a. wampum. b. tobacco. c. furs and hides. d. musket balls.
The work of Roger Ranson has shown that the burden of the Navigation Acts on colonial trade to continental Europe
a. was disproportionately large on the Southern colonies. c. amounted to less than one percent of colonial income.
Compared to English and colonial vessels, Dutch flyboats
a. were lighter. b. required small crews. c. carried fewer armaments. d. cheaper to build and operate.
6.Which of the following statements best describes pre-1763 British colonial life?
a.British directives influenced day-to-day life only modestly b. Bureaucratic apathy in part often led to colonial laws to become effective before they were reviewed in England. c. Government activity in general was a minor aspect of colonial affairs.
Alice Hanson Jones (1980) finds that private nonhuman physical wealth in New England in 1774 was 36.4 pounds sterling per capita. Thus, assuming a capital output ratio of 3:1, Jones estimates that per capita income in New England in 1774 equaled
about 12 pounds sterling
U.S. cotton production
accounted for more than half of the dollar value of US exports between 1800 and 1850.
According to the text, in the century prior to the Revolution ____________ were a "strategic factor in the overall economic advance of the colonies."
advances in shipping
7. Which of the following statements accurately characterizes American trade during the Revolutionary War?
b. British blockades hampered the trade activities of first Northern and later Southern ports. c. American trade remained at pre-war levels
"Extractive industries" include the production of all of the following products except
bread
The original reasons for founding the colony of Georgia do not include
being a scheme to take advantage of desperate families.
8. Land "conservatives" in the 19th century
believed that the sale of the public domain should provide substantial government revenue.
3. Residents of the developing American colonies lived _______ lives compared to people living in the advanced countries of that time because ________.
better; of high levels of output per worker.
3. In colonial America, ____________ was/were especially scarce, while the supply of _______________ was plentiful.
capital and labor; land
The 19th century frontier, as technically defined in census reports, was any area
containing more than two and less than six people per square mile
The pace of settlement of the Old Northwest (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, ...) was determined primarily by the prices of
corn, hogs, and wheat.
Common American re-exports of the Napoleonic War period included all of the following except
cotton
From 1680 to 1770 average ship speeds
did not change appreciably.
Economic consequences of Tea Act (1773) included a/an __________ in the price of tea in the colonies and a/an ___________ in the revenues of colonial tea wholesalers.
decrease; decrease
The Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec Act of 1774 benefited existing farmers with large land holdings because these laws led to
decreased farming competition
The largest productivity gains in colonial shipping were from
decreased layover times in ports.
According to data on Pennsylvania agriculture in the 18th century, the average size of a farm _________, while the output per farm ______________.
decreased; increased
According to data on Pennsylvania agriculture in the 18th century, the average size of a farm _________, while the number of cleared acres per farm ______________.
decreased; remained fairly stable
The colony of Georgia was established in 1732. During the colony's early years,
each arriving settler received a 50-acre farm.
2.By the early 1700s, slavery had become concentrated in the southern colonies. Economic factors that explain this demographic trend include all of the following except:
early laws that prohibited slavery in most of the New England and Middle colonies.
2. Investors in the London Company (which was later re-formed as the Virginia Company):
earned substantial losses on their investment.
The economic system envisioned by the Constitution _________.
embodied Adam Smith's emphasis on protecting private property
The Constitution -
empowers Congress to pay off all public debts, including those incurred by the states.
Most of the cost of the Revolutionary War was borne by
holders of devalued paper currency that was ultimately repudiated.
The term "tragedy of the commons" describes:
how communal ownership of property leads to overuse and speedy exhaustion of resources.
The hyperinflation of the Revolutionary War period was in part caused by the issuance of paper money with a face value in the ______ of dollars
hundreds of millions
5.According to a 1964 speech by George R. Taylor, the economic growth rate in the colonies
implies that income almost doubled between 1710 and 1775.
New England shippers faced higher labor costs than English shippers
in trade between the Southern colonies and England.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec Act of 1774 had all of the following effects except:
increased the price of farm labor
According to data on Pennsylvania agriculture in the 18th century, increases in productivity were primarily due to
increases in the capital-labor ratio.
Eli Whitney is most noted for
inventing the cotton gin.
The colonies as a whole had a significant commodity trade deficit with England. In order to finance this deficit the colonies relied on all of the following sources of income except
mining of gold and silver that were used to make Colonial coins
Colonial production of tobacco satisfied England's mercantilist interests because:
it provided a substitute for imported Spanish tobacco.
The primary source of colonial productivity growth in agriculture was
learning by doing.
In the English market, colonial tobacco was ______________ Spanish tobacco.
less expensive than
Bills of exchange and bills of credit typically had a market value that was _________ their face value
less than
During the colonial period the cost of building a ship in New England was typically _________ the cost of building the same ship in England
less than
Between 1800 and 1840, land laws became increasingly ___________ , primarily due to _____________.
liberal; decreases in the minimum acreage required for purchase.
8. Under the system of "township planning":
no one could own land that had not been previously surveyed
According to research by James Shepherd and Samuel Williamson, colonial coastal commerce comprised about _________ of the volume of total overseas trade.
one-third
During the pre-Revolutionary period American colonists used their market power to rebel by
organizing nonimportation associations in response to taxes.
During the period following the Revolution,
per capita exports decreased sharply for the southern states
Critics of Douglass North's "market opportunity response" model suggest that surges in land sales in the Old Northwest in the 1810s, 1830s and 1850s were due to
pervasive land speculation
In the antebellum period, the "Old Northwest" became the leading producer of
pork.
During the colonial period, the largest cities were typically
port towns
The Continental Congress faced several constraints in its effort to finance the Revolutionary War. The largest source of funds for the War was
printing money.
Low-cost flyboats offered an attractive alternative to heavier, more costly ships; however, their use was limited in many areas due to
privateering and piracy.
Which of the following provides an important source for data on colonial wealth?
probate records
All of the following are examples of "external taxes" except:
the Stamp Act
New England's imports came primarily from
the United Kingdom.
The Southern Colonies' exports went primarily to
the United Kingdom.
New England's exports went primarily to
the West Indies.
The Middle Colonies' exports went primarily to
the West Indies.
In terms of exports from the colonies, ______ and ______ were the top two trading partners.
the West Indies; the United Kingdom
In terms of imports to the colonies, ______ and ______ were the top two trading partners.
the West Indies; the United Kingdom
According to the text, studies of 18th century colonial demographics indicate that, compared to Europe,
the child mortality rate in the colonies was lower.
The primary reason for the success of the colonial shipbuilding industry was
the close proximity of raw materials, especially lumber.
One of the most important reasons for England's reasserting its authority over the colonial United States prior to the Revolution is
the end of the Seven Years War.
7. Under the Articles of Confederation
the federal government had a difficult time negotiating military and economic treaties with other nations
2. Settlers often received 50 acres of land for each person whose passage they paid to America. This was known as:
the headright system.
The smallest productivity gains from colonial shipping were from
the increased speed of the ships.
During the colonial period, "enumerated goods" included
tobacco, sugar, indigo, and cotton
Compared to whites, blacks had disproportionately high mortality rates in
the northern mainland colonies.
Studies of 18th century colonial demographics indicate that:
the population growth rate of blacks was similar to that of whites.
The most important source of foreign exchange earnings to offset the colonial deficit with England was
the sale of colonial shipping services
The colonies as a whole had a significant commodity import deficit in their trade with England. The least important source of foreign exchange earnings to offset this trade deficit was
the sale of ships
A notable and unique feature of the colonial monetary system was
the use of a widely accepted paper currency.
Mercantilism was an economic policy that called for
the use of taxes and subsidies to control trade
According to Allan Kulikoff, between 1630 and 1670, major surges in productivity caused tobacco output per worker to increase by a factor of
two (doubling).
The proliferation of the horse in the 17th century caused Great Plains Indians to
use smaller and more independent hunting groups.
In the 1770s the quality of life in the colonies
was better than the quality of life in developing countries today
The racial profile of colonial South Carolina:
was closer that of the French and British West Indies than to that of its neighboring colonies.
The Currency Act of 1751
was passed in response to English merchants' concerns about the fluctuating value of colonial money.
The Embargo Act (1807):
was replaced by the Non-Importation Act of 1809.
The hyperinflation of the Revolutionary War period
was severe, but short-lived; prices returned to normal levels following the War.
The Currency Act of 1764
was supported by British merchants
The fishing and whaling occupations in the early colonies
were a major influence in the early colonial economy.
4.England's mercantilist principals
were active from the early 1600s.
2. Redemptioners were immigrants who:
were brought over on credit provided by ship captains.
The piecemeal actions of Parliament to curtail the various colonial manufacturing activities
were largely taken to protect vested, well-lobbied interests.
Under the Graduation Act (1854), land prices for the public domain
were subject to a schedule that reflected reduced prices for land that remained unsettled over time.
During the colonial period there were no apparent economies of large-scale production in
wheat.
The "duplication laws," passed by Parliament in the late 17th and 18th centuries, restricted colonial export of
woolen goods
2. Costing more than the average person's yearly income, the Atlantic passage in the early seventeenth century was roughly:
£10
