2.3

In this excerpt, written with the non-standard spelling of the time, John Smith discusses the colonists’ first action in Virginia:

The first land they made they called Cape Henry; where thirty of them recreating themselves on shore, were assaulted by five Salvages [Savages, term for American Indians], who hurt two of the English very dangerously. That night was the box opened, and the orders read, in which Bartholomew Gosnoll, John Smith, Edward Wingfield, Christopher Newport, John Ratliffe, John Martin, and George Kendall, were named to be the Council, and to choose a President amongst them for a year, who with the Council should governe. . . . . Untill the 13 of May they sought a place to plant in, then the Council was sworn. . . . Now [fall] every man to work, the Council contrive the Fort, the rest cut downe trees to make place to pitch their Tents; some provide clapboard to reload the ships, some make gardens, some nets, etc.

—John Smith, June 15, 1607

According to the excerpt, which of the following did the colonists at Jamestown do first after making landfall?

• attack American Indians

• establish a government

• begin building a fort

• survey the land

In this excerpt, written with the non-standard spelling of the time, Roger Williams shares some of his beliefs:

God requireth not an uniformity of Religion to be inacted and inforced in any civill state; which inforced uniformity (sooner or later) is the greatest occasion of civill Warre, ravishing of conscience, persecution of Christ Jesus in his servants, and of hypocrisy and destruction of millions of souls.

—Roger Williams, 1636

In this statement, Roger Williams makes an early plea for what political principle?

a.

democracy

b.

representative government

c.

separation of church and state

d.

separation of powers

• democracy

• representative government

• separation of church and state

• separation of powers

For what main reason did the Dutch and the Swedes pursue colonies in North America?

• to ally with the French against the

  English

• to block other European nations from

  gaining a foothold

• to gain wealth from trade and resources

• to spread Christianity to American

  Indians

Yesterday, arrived here the Ship the Arms of Amsterdam, which sailed from New Netherland, out of the River Mauritius, on the 23rd September. They report that our people are in good heart and live in peace there; the Women also have borne some children there. They have purchased the Island Manhattes from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders; 'tis 11,000 morgens in size.

—Peter Schagen to the States General, 1626

What assumption on the part of Dutch colonists does Peter Schagen’s report demonstrate?

• American Indians’ ideas of land

  ownership were the same as those of Europeans.

• Conflict with American Indians was

  unlikely.

• Manhattan Island would prove a

  profitable investment by the end of the seventeenth century.

• Women in the colony wanted to have

  families there.

Sec. 89. Where-ever therefore any number of men are so united into one society, as to quit every one his executive power of the law of nature, and to resign it to the public, there and there only is a political, or civil society. And this is done, where-ever any number of men, in the state of nature, enter into society to make one people, one body politic, under one supreme government; … for hereby he authorizes the society, or which is all one, the legislative thereof, to make laws for him, as the public good of the society shall require; …Sec. 90. Hence it is evident, that absolute monarchy, which by some men is counted the only government in the world, is indeed inconsistent with civil society, and so can be no form of civil-government at all.

—John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, 1690

According to the excerpt, from which of the following does government in a civil society derive its political power?

• from absolute monarchs

• from God

• from its people

• from natural forces

In this excerpt, written with the non-standard spelling of the time, John Smith comments on the American Indians the new colony met:

Hereupon the President was contented the Fort should be pallisadoed [protected], the Ordnance mounted, his men armed and exercised, for many were the assaults, and ambuscadoes of the Salvages [savages], and our men by their disorderly stragling [falling behind] were often hurt, when the Salvages [savages] by the nimblenesse of their heeles well escaped. What toyle [toil; hard work] we had, with so small a power to guard our workemen adayes, watch all night, resist our enemies, and effect our businesse, to relade [reload] the ships, cut downe trees, and prepare the ground to plant our Corne, etc.

—John Smith, June 15, 1607

What bias is reflected in the language of English Captain John Smith’s account?

a.

b.

c.

d.

• He believes that most of the colonists

  are lazy and unskilled.

• He considers American Indians to be

  uncivilized.

• He disdains the focus on agriculture in

  the colony.

• He opposes the establishment of

  republican government.

I thank God, there are no free schools nor printing [in Virginia], and I hope we shall not have these [for a] hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience and heresy . . . into the world, and printing has divulged [spread] them, and libels [untruths] against the best government. God keep us from both!

—William Berkeley, 1671

Berkeley is opposed to education because he

• does not want to educate the poor

• sees no need for it in farming

  communities.

• wants everyone to be Anglican.

• fears freedom of thought

For what key reason might the English have supported colonial expansion south of Virginia?

a.

b.

c.

d.

• to defend existing colonies against

  encroachment

• to diversify its religious and cultural

  communities

• to encourage peaceful relations with

  American Indians

• to provide a buffer against the Spanish

  in Florida

What immediate impact did English colonists most likely have on the physical environment of North America?

• They cleared some of the forests for

  farming.

• They destroyed rivers through shipping.

• They eliminated native plants and

  animals by introducing non-native species

• They established political boundaries

  among colonies.

In this excerpt, written with the non-standard spelling of the time, the travelers on the Mayflower make several significant agreements:

We, whose names are underwritten, … doe, by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the generall good of the Colonie unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

—The Mayflower Compact, 1620

Based on the agreement given here, what political principle did the government of Plymouth most closely embrace?

• aristocratic absolutism

• democratic representation

• popular sovereignty

• totalitarianism