Social Studies STAAR Unit 1

What was the INITIAL reason many European explorers sailed to the Americas?

• To find new trade routes to Asia

• To form military alliances

• To spread Christianity to Africa

• To find new sources of cheap labor

Why did European explorers search for the Northwest Passage?

• A To find the legendary Seven Cities of Gold

• B To discover new technology for crossing the Atlantic Ocean

• C To find the legendary waters of the Fountain of Youth

• D To discover a new sea route to Asia

What is the significance of the Pilgrims' arrival in America?

• A It led to an alliance between the British and the French.

• B It led to an early attempt at self-government in the English colonies.

• C It caused Puritans to separate from the Church of England.

• D It introduced the slave trade to the Atlantic colonies

Reasons for Seventeenth-Century European Colonization of North America

1. To convert American Indians in the Southwest to Catholicism 2. To cultivate cash crops in the Chesapeake Bay area

3. To extract precious metals from mines in present-day Mexico 4. To profit from fur trading in the Great Lakes region

Which of these describes the primary reason for French colonization?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Which pair of actions best completes this graphic?

• F 1-Enslaved native populations

  2-Organized utopian societies

• G 1-Established Catholic missions 2-Focused primarily on fur trading

• H 1-Promoted political freedom

  2-Participated in the triangular trade

• J 1-Became commercial shipbuilders 2-Created an early system of public schools

Which reason best completes this list?

• F To spread democratic ideals

• G To improve efficiency in manufacturing

• H To locate potential military allies

• J To claim new territory

Which motive best completes the diagram?

• A To promote free enterprise

• B To extend democracy

• C To expand empires

• D To found utopian communities

Which of the following was a primary reason France sought to colonize North America?

• To reduce overpopulation in Europe

• To create communities founded on religious tolerance

• To profit from trading in furs and other goods

• To create joint ventures with other European powers

Which reasons correctly replace the numbers in this table?

• F

  (1) To gain religious freedom

  (2) To provide military defense

• G

  (1) To increase business profits

  (2) To escape religious persecution

• H

  (1) To provide military defense

  (2) To help benefit the poor

• J

  (1) To increase business profits

  (2) To provide a place for criminals

The colonies in this list were founded primarily to offer settlers a greater degree of...

• A freedom from debts

• B religious freedom

• C economic freedom

• D freedom of speech