Saptarshi Das

Bradley 4th Hour

FOCUS QUESTIONS CHAPTER 1

1. What was Native American society like before European contact? What similarities and differences
existed? The Native American society before European contact was bases off of hunting and
gathering. They also had a form of agriculture where they grew their own food such as corn. They
were advanced in math and astronomy and also had a form of written language. The only
differences are the lack tools to help them grow further and advance.

2. What factors led to Europes increased exploration and to the discovery of the New World? Some
factors that lead to increased exploration and the discovery of the new world includes, widening the
extent of their control, and trading for silks and spices. Back in the day spices were very expensive
and hard to acquire as it came from the furthest reaches in the east, so people were trying to find an
alternative route to find these needed items. In addition to the rarity of the spices and silks, the cost
of the journey was also very expensive, so finding a cheaper alternative might have also been on
their minds. Maybe even perhaps people were only risking their lives for the facts that if they
succeeded they would be well known as well as rich.

3. What is the Columbian Exchange? What are some of the results of the Columbian Exchange? The
Columbian exchange is the exchange of goods, crops, and diseases between New and Old societies
after 1942. The discovery of the new world helped international economy as well as the European
diet feeding a rapidly growing Europe. The Columbian Exchange also increased the amount of
slave labor coming from Africa. Europeans introduced the horse to the new world as was soon
diffused from the east to west coast. But along with the Europeans came their diseases which the
native people had never been exposed to. With no prior exposure, the natives had no cure for it and
began to die out.

4. What was the role of conquistadores and encomienda in establishing a Spanish Empire in the New
World? The main role of the conquistadores and encomienda in establishing a Spanish empire in the
new world was to scare the natives and take control of their land. They portrayed themselves as
gods and manipulated the Aztecs into giving them gold and foods which they took back to the old
world. The Then took control of the Aztec lands as well as the Inca land later on and watched the
great civilizations crumble. The encomienda were in charge of making the Native Americans into
Christians kind of like what a missionary does.

5. What was the geographic extent of the Spanish Empire in the New World? What nations were
Challenging Spains dominance in the New World and where? The Spanish had spread out from
Colorado to Argentina by eventually defeating the Aztecs and Mayans. The nations that were
challenging the Spanish at the time were the English who had created the thirteen colonies and
were challenging for Florida while the French were challenging for the mouth of the Mississippi
river and Louisiana.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CHAPTER 1

6. How did Indian societies of South and North America differ from European societies at the time the
two came into contact? In what ways did Indians retain a worldview different from that of the
Europeans? Indian societies of north and South America differed from European societies because
the Europeans had knowledge that there was a world other than their own to the east of them
where as the Native Americans had no clue of any other people existing. The Europeans also had
advances in technology where the Native Americans had done everything by hand for many
thousands of years. The differences also arise in the domestication of animals. The Europeans had
already domesticated animals so that they can get foods and labor from the animals where the
native Americans hadnt done that yet. The Europeans may not have known where they were going
but when they got there they knew exactly what to do to the Indians and how to do it where the
Indians were clueless and helpless.

7. What role did disease and forced labor (including slavery) play in the early settlement of America?
Is the view of the Spanish and Portuguese as especially harsh conquerors and exploiters validor is
this image just another version of the English Black Legend concerning the Spanish role in the
Americas? Disease and forced labor helped solidify the fact that they were there to take over and it
gave the Native Americans a good scare. It showed that the Europeans meant business. Disease
helped weaken the Native Americans and essentially made it easier than it should have been to take
over America. The view on the Spaniards is that they are harsh conquerors and exploiters is valid
because that is exactly what they did. Hernan Cortes could have asked the emperor Montezuma for
gold in exchange for something but he didnt do that. He portrayed himself as a god and demanded
the gold because that was the only cure to his made up disease.

8. Are the differences between Latin America and North America due primarily to the differences
between the respective Indian societies that existed in the two places, or to the disparity between
Spanish and English culture? What would have happened if the English had conquered densely
settled Mexico and Peru, and the Spanish had settled more thinly populated North America? The
differences are due to the disparity between the Spanish and English cultures. If the English had
taken over Mexico and Peru there wouldnt as many churches and missionaries from there. The
Spanish had influenced a religious culture into the Latin America. The same goes with North
America. I believe that if the Spanish had captured North America then they would have imposed
the same type of culture they did to Latin America. The only problem that would happen is with
present day Brazil. If the English had taken over all of Latin America, Portugal wouldnt have
gotten brazil which they agreed to receive from the Spanish.

9. In what ways are the early (pre-1600) histories of Mexican and the present-day American Southwest
understood differently now that the United States is being so substantially affected by Mexican and
Latin American immigration and culture? To what extent should this now be regarded as part of our
American history? They are understood differently compared to back then because of the changes
and impacts it has had on our culture. Due to the annexation of these states they greatly affect our
political system and our voting system as well. Before the areas were just a place where the USA
could trade and exchange goods. The culture has also become part of our daily life because of the
immigration of people from Latin America. Once they started to come in to the USA, we learned
about their culture and adopted some cultures as our own.

10. Why was the Old World able to dominate the New World? What were the strengths and weaknesses
of the Old World? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the New World? The old world
dominated the new world because of the advancements in technology. The strengths of the old
world were that they knew how to fight and had equipment as well as animals for help. There only
weakness was that they didnt know what the terrain was, it was brand new to them. The Native
Americans on the other hand knew where the bests spots for attacks were. Their weaknesses lied in
disease, lack of equipment and lack of knowledge on how to fight the Spaniards.
FOCUS QUESTIONS CHAPTER 2
1. What international events and domestic changes prompted England to begin colonization? Some of the
international events and domestic changes that promoted England to begin colonization was the
Protestant Reformation. This led to the rivalry with Spain, and the Irish uprising. Another event
was the Depression and landlords enclosing crops.

2. What was it like for the early settlers of Jamestown? Early settlers in Jamestown had the same
rights as the Englishmen in their native land. The felt pressure from the joint stock company in
order to get rich. They also had to deal with attacks by Native Americans, disease, and lost supplies.

3. Why were Native Americans unable to repel English colonization of North America? The Native
Americans were not able to repel the English colonization because the English brought diseases
they couldnt deal with. The Englishmen were also well equipped and when declared war, the
Native Americans couldnt do anything but be pushed onto reserves. Apart from all of this, the
Indians wanted English goods to benefit themselves.

4. What crops were important to the English colonies in the south of North America? How did the
Cultivation of those crops shape those colonies? Some crops that were important to the English
colonies were tobacco and rice. The cultivation of these crops shaped these colonies to become slave
owning colonies because of the amount of labor needed to cultivate these crops. The slaves were
brought and traded from Africa.

5. How did the English sugar plantations in the Caribbean differ from the English colonies in the south
of North America? Sugar was rich and took extensive planning, it required mills and the Caribbean
at the time had more slaves than settlers. In the English settlements tobacco was a poor mans crop
and it was very easy to grow. Sugar was also more capital intensive than tobacco making the
Caribbean a rich place to live.

6. How did slavery develop in North America during colonization? Slavery developed in North
America due to the needed labor to cultivate crops. The African slaves were initially brought to the
Caribbean where they cultivated sugar and intensive crop. It later came to the colonies for the
cultivation of tobacco.

7. What features were shared by Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia?
What distinguished them from one another? Virginia was created by a hunger for and to farm tobacco
and sell back to Europe. Maryland was formed on the bases of religious persecution. North and
South Carolina were formed for their relations with the Caribbean and their adoption of the salve
codes. Georgia was just a buffer state to protect the Carolinas.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CHAPTER 2

8. What did England and the English settlers really want from colonization? Did they want national
glory, wealth, adventure, a solution to social tensions, and/or new sources of goods and trade? Did
they get what they wanted? People that initially came to Jamestown were looking for gold. That
nearly ended up killing them all because they were so focused on the nonexistent gold. Some of the
settlers came to the Americas for religious freedom. They created Maryland and got what they
wanted until more settlers came in and kind of created what happened in England again. But they
created laws which resolved those problems. They did get what they wanted as they did get
religious freedom and also got wealth because of the tobacco company. They found something
where they could make money off of instead of looking for gold.
9. How did Spanish success in the New World influence the English colonial efforts? How did
Englands earlier experience in Ireland influence its colonial efforts in the New World? How did
different events in England (and Europe) affect Englands southern colonies in the New World? Spanish
success in the New World influenced English colonials efforts by setting an example of conquest.
The English had gone to America in search for land and did it how the Spanish always did, through
conquest. They also looked at how the Spanish encomienda tried to convert people like a missionary
would and tried to practice their religion as well as convert the natives. England prior experience in
Ireland influenced colonial efforts through the way that they could control their surroundings. The
changed the religion of Ireland and set up landlords to enforce their rule. They did the same thig in
the new world but with the Indians instead of the Irish. Lastly different events in England affected
the southern colonies in a big way. If England hadnt been into tobacco at the time there would be
no need to grow tobacco and also gather slaves to farm the land.

10. Were the English colonizers crueler or more tolerant than the Spanish conquistadores? Why did the
Spanish tend to settle and intermarry with the Indian population, whereas the English killed the
Indians, drove them out, or confined them to separate territories? How did this pattern of interaction
Affect both white and Indian societies? The English settlers were much crueler than the Spanish
conquistadors for many reasons. The Spanish had come to the Americas for religious purposes and
for gold mining. The English had come to create a colony of their own and to gain territory for
their native land. The Spanish had intermarried with the Native Americans because they did not
want their culture and people to go extinct. It wasnt their intentions to make them extinct. The
English moved and placed the Indians away from their own land so that the English could take over
their land and make it their own. The relationship between the white and Native American
communities followed with wars and wars that the Indians couldnt win because of the diseases and
advanced weapons brought by the English.

11. Was the development of enslaved Africans in the North American colonies inevitable? (Consider
that it never developed in some other colonial areas, for example, Mexico and New France.) How
would the North American colonies have been different without slavery? What role did the Spanish
encomienda system and British sugar colonies play in introducing slavery to the southern colonies?
(See boxed quotes on pages 33 and 34.) The development of African slavery in North American
colonies was bound to happen. They thought that slaves were economical and perfectly normal for
a landowner to have. Without slavery, there would have been a lack of useful raw materials because
there would be nobody to do the physical labor that a plantation needs to function. The encomienda
system and the British sugar colonies just made it easier to bring slavery to the southern colonies
because of how easy it was to own a slave according to the slave codes. These laws made it easier to
bring in slaves and have someone else do your job

12. How did the reliance on plantation agriculture affect the southern colonies? Were their societies
relatively loose because they were primarily rural or because they tended to rely on forced labor
systems? The reliance of plantation agriculture affected the southern colonies in a lot of ways. For
one, they needed slaves. Slaves did not receive pay so 100% of the profit went to the landowner.
Also the only crops that they grew at the time was tobacco and from prior knowledge, cotton. Their
societies were relatively loose because of their reliance on forced labor. They werent connected
through the work that they did because they didnt do any of the work, the slaves did.
FOCUS QUESTIONS CHAPTER 3
13. What religious turmoil in the Old World resulted in the little colony of Plymouth in the New World?
The people that came to the new world, Plymouth, were known as puritans. They were called
puritans because they believed they could purify the Christian church. The puritans were not
satisfied with the religious reforms in England so they came to the new world for religious freedom.
They believed if they created a colony of their own the king of England would leave them alone.

14. Why was the initial and subsequent colonization of the Massachusetts Bay Colony more successful
than Plymouth? The ships brought more people to the colony, so they started off with a bigger work
force. They also had John Winthrop as their first governor and he helped the colony thrive because
he had the ability to get things done quickly. Plymouth on the other hand contracted diseases early
on and had to fight with the weather.

15. How did the colony of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colony contribute to the origins of
American independence and government? What were the contributions to American independence
and government from the New England Confederation, the Dominion of New England, and the
Glorious Revolution? The colony of Plymouth believed in religious toleration and created the
mayflower compact as a constitution. They also voted on member to run the colony. The
Massachusetts Bay colony ran election, gave the people the right to vote and created a charter as
the constitution, the new England confederation were four colonies combined, which was a step
towards unification and they ignored royal orders in order to make it their own colony. Dominion
of new England defended themselves against the Indians and the glorious revolution destroyed the
dominion of new England and gave a new charter to Massachusettss in 1691 where all landowners
could vote.

16. What role did religious intolerance play in the founding of New England colonies other than
Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay and in the founding of some middle colonies? People that believed
that the colonies were not practicing the religion the right way were banished. People like, Anne
Hutchinson and Roger Williams lead the way to form new colonies of their own after being
banished. Back then anyone who challenged the religion was to be banished.

17. Besides England, what other nations influenced the colonization of the Atlantic coast of North
America? Besides England there were a couple of other countries that also influenced the
colonization of the Atlantic coast. Countries such as the Netherlands controlled Albany and
Manhattan and were tolerant of religion. Countries such a France were also in control of land until
being forced to the north and countries such as Germany and Sweden were in New York.

18. How did the colonization of Pennsylvania differ from the New England colonies and other middle
colonies? The people that occupied the land of Pennsylvania were known as Quakers. They were
tolerant of all races classes and religions. They were very civil to the Indians around them. They
also disliked slaves unlike all of the other colonies.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CHAPTER 3

19. Did the Puritans really come to America seeking religious freedom? How did they reconcile their
own religious dissent from the Church of England with their persecution of dissenters like
Hutchinson and Williams? Does their outlook make them hypocrites? The Puritans came to America
to find a place where they can practice their religion and not follow the Church of England. The
Puritans were hypocrites to persecute Hutchinson and Williams, thats what they did to the Church
of England. Just like the separatists were extreme to the Puritans, the Puritans were sort of
extremists to the Church of England.
20. How were government and religionor church and staterelated in New England and the middle
colonies? How does the colonial view of these matters compare with more recent understandings? The
church and state were related in the middle colonies and in New England because the colonies had
started as a refuge for certain religious groups. People who founded their colonies based around
religious principles though some were set up to tolerate all religions. In New England church and
state were very closely related. In some NE colonies, only members of a religious group could vote
or go to town meetings because of the laws based around their religion. In the middle colonies state
and church arent that closely related as you can have the same rights as anyone else even though
you dont share the same religion. The colonial view has taught us that it shouldnt matter what
religion we have, we should all have and abide by the same rules.

21. Was an American Revolution, separating the colonies from England, inevitable after the Glorious
Revolution had encouraged colonists to end the Dominion of New England, Englands serious
attempt at enforcing royal authority? Did Englands salutary neglect contribute to future problems
in its empire? How might have England been able to successfully enforce its rule on the colonies
without causing rebellion? An American Revolution separating from England after the glorious
revolution and encouraging colonists to end the dominion of New England was Englands serious
attempt to enforce royal authority. After King Charles ll was overthrown after the glorious
revolution English officials still tried to take control of their leaders, courts and positions of power.
England salutary neglect did contribute to the future problems in its empire because trade was not
taken seriously and was weakly enforced after the glorious revolution. For the rebellion not to
occur, the navigation laws could not have been made, make the head of the Dominion of England
someone other than Andros, and English officials could have not staffed the courts, preventing any
American leader from rising to political power due to their presence.

22. Dutch colonization efforts in New Amsterdam most closely resembled English colonization efforts
in which region: New England, the middle colonies, or the southern colonies? The Dutch had a
powerful presence in the East Indies, so why were the Dutch less successful in the West Indies and
North America? What is the lasting influence of the Dutch in English North America? Dutch
colonization efforts most resembled the colonies of New England. They are alike because New
Amsterdam didnt have many civil rights like religious tolerance, freedom of speech or even
democracy. One of the main reasons why the Dutch were not as successful in the West Indies as
they were in the East Indies is because they treated the West Indies like a side project to the East
Indies. Another reason is that there had already been competition in the West Indies from the
Spanish and the English as the Dutch were one of the last to claim land in the Americas. So because
of them coming last they couldnt have been more impactful on the West Indies due to competition.
The everlasting influence that the Dutch left on the Americas was the establishments of the
patroonships along the Hudson River that gave the area and aristocratic vibe. The patroonships
also brought many different types of people that is still evident to this day.

23. How does the founding of the New England colonies compare with the origin of the middle
colonies? In what ways were New England and the middle colonies each like the South, and in what
ways were they different? The founding of the New England colonies is very much similar to the
founding of middle colonies as they were both founded to create a space for religion. New England
was only created for the puritans to have religious freedom whereas the middle colonies were also a
way for the Dutch to make economic gains. New Netherlands was established for quick profit fur
trade. The ways the northern colonies were similar to the southern colonies was that they both had
bad relations with the Native Americans. But the middle colonies and New England colonies had a
lot of differences with the Southern colonies. The Northern colonies (New England and Middle)
were bases around an industrial economy where the south was a plantation economy. The south
relied heavily on slaves to do the job for them while the norther colonies needed no additional labor
as they could do industrial jobs by themselves. This relation created the northern colonies to be
tightly connects and the south to be more separate.

24. In what ways were the middle colonies more open and diverse than New England? In what ways
were they less democratic? The middle colonies were more diverse and open than the New England
colonies because of the way the land had attracted diverse people. The New Englanders on the other
hand were far less diverse because of their religion. They had created the colony on the basis of
religion so it was hard to accept anybody outside of their respected religion. New Englanders were
more democratic because the people of the religion could vote on what they liked and disliked. In
New Amsterdam when they were pushed out, the colony was left with tyrannical and aristocratic
leadership. The wealthy families had more power over the poorer residents.

25. How did different events in England affect the New England and middle colonies in the New
World? Which was the most affected and least affected by events in the Old World: New England,
Middle colonies, or southern colonies? The events in England that affected the New England Colonies
were when King Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and made himself the
head of the Church of England, the Protestant Reformation changed how some people felt about
religion, and King James I threatened to ban Separatists. These events affected the New England
Colonies because they gave people reasons to come to the New World and have religious freedom.
This shaped religious beliefs in the New England Colonies. The events in England that affected the
Middle Colonies were when Quakers refused to pay taxes to support the Church of England and
William Penn joined the Quakers and received a land grant for Pennsylvania from the King. This
affected the Middle Colonies because it formed Pennsylvania and shaped their religious beliefs as
well. The New England Colonies were affected the most because the colonists were driven by
wanting to have religious freedom and their separation from the Church caused some Quakers and
others to be treated poorly. The Southern Colonies were affected the least because they were driven
by wanting to gain wealth and they didn't have or set religious beliefs based on these events in
England because they were settled beforehand. Different events in England affected the New
England and Middle Colonies in the New World.
26. What were the push and pull factors for immigrants coming to each region of English colonies (New
England, the middle colonies, and the southern colonies)? Push factors for people from England
coming to New England was the religious persecution. The pull factor was the desire to create a
land where they could govern for themselves. Push factor from England in the middle colonies was
that they didnt want to join the English church and a pursuit to find wealth, a combination of both
the New England and Southern colonies push factors. The Pull factors was the land available and
the right to create a space for themselves. The southern colonies push factors were only based on
wealth. The pull factors were the amount of land and leisure they could have due to slavery.

27. How does the Franklin chest reflect both economic prosperity in the middle colonies as well as
the complex history of religious persecution in the Old World and the New World? Franklins chest
reflects a lot about the economic prosperity of the middle colonies because it showed that they could
make and do things on their own without the help of anyone. It showed that people were capable of
living there and surviving. As for the complex history of religious persecution goes it showed their
religious leaders in the old world and engraved it into their history. In the new world people were
religiously persecuted because of the Salem witch trials. Younger generations were ashamed of
their ancestors doing such actions persecuting other people when they fled from persecution.