American History Quiz

Why was St. Augustine built by the Spanish on the northwest coast of Florida?

• To protect the Spanish ships taking treasures to Spain from the Americas

• To protect the Native Americans who lived in the area from the French

• To help the Pilgrims and Puritans escaping persecution from England

• To keep new Spanish settlers from leaving their colonies

Why did the rich English Lord Baltimore move to the Americas and start the colony of Maryland?

• He was a Quaker and wanted freedom of religion for everyone.

• He was Catholic and wanted a safe place for himself and other English Catholics to live.

• He was looking for the lost city of gold and his search had led him to the place now called Maryland.

• He was a Puritan and believed he could create a model society.

What was John Smith's greatest accomplishment in the Americas?

• Being saved by Pocahontas from the Powhatan Indians

• Almost starving to death in Jamestown during the first winter

• Successfully leading Jamestown out of starvation

• Building Jamestown for the British Empire in 1607

Who helped bring about one of the first examples of self-government to the British colonies?

• Anne Hutchinson

• John Smith

• William Penn

• William Bradford

Which description best describes the Central Region of the United States?

• A region with flat prairies where much of the United States' crops are grown

• A region with tall mountains that start in Alaska and go all the way into Texas

• A region where older mountains are covered in large forests

• A region with hot, cactus filled desert areas where very little grows

Which is not a major industry of colonial America?

• Building of ships

• Growing of cash crops

• Mining for iron

• Manufacturing of chairs

Why would the southwest have a low population?

• Because it's so far to travel from the Atlantic Ocean

• Because there is only one river in the area

• Because it is primarily desert

• Because there are too many large mountain ranges

How did sending enslaved Africans to the Americas help the economy of the English colonists?

• Gave southern colonists unpaid labor to grow cash crops on their plantations.

• Gave colonists in the Middle Colonies unpaid labor who would mine iron.

• Gave Puritans unpaid labor to build their churches and town meeting halls.

• Gave Africans iron tools to use in the tropical rainforest.

How did earning a living differ in the North and South?

• In the North, many people work on small farms while in the South, many people worked on large farms including enslaved Africans.

• The United States was an agricultural nation with no difference between the Northern and Southern regions.

• In the North, many people worked in factories while in the South, many people worked in agriculture, including enslaved Africans.

• The United States was an industrial nation with no difference between the Northern and Southern regions.

Who did the Second Continental Congress make the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army?

• Thomas Jefferson

• John Adams

• Samuel Adams

• George Washington