LOA

Honors United States History: 07-08

Assignment #3

Week Three:

Wow! How far we have come in a short period of time—this week we look at the simultaneous development of Britain’s concept of colonialism and of the colonists’ concept of self-determination and autonomy. As the Americans develop a sense of identity through success at trade, settlement, and agriculture, and as their religious and intellectual identities take shape as well, conflict with England develops. Read this week with questions in mind—ask what was at stake for the colonists? What were they seeking? Where did their ideas come from? Was it really all about tea???

Sept. 18 Read Carnes, chapter three. Outline the chapter, making study notes. Divide the chapter into five main sections: British Policy in the Colonies; Intellectual and Religious Developments; Wars Near and Far; Imperial Control; Colonial Response. Within each section, use the sub-headings to organize your notes. Remember to ask yourself where this is all going and why. Ask again what is the nature of the emerging American identity (due Tuesday, 9/25).

Sept. 25 Test on Carnes, chapters one, two, and three.

Essay Questions to Ponder and Respond To…

1. What were the major characteristics of the Spanish empire in America?

2. Explain the major beliefs of the Puritans. Explain how their beliefs differed from those of the Church of England.

3. Describe the common characteristics of initial encounters between Native Americans and Europeans.

4. Describe the major characteristics of the “Columbian Exchange.” What were its most important results?

5. Chapter Two of your text describes “American Society in the Making.” Describe specific examples of how the colonies began to emerge as distinctly American in this era.

6. Explain the economic, social, and psychological factors which caused Europeans and Americans to enslave Africans.

7. In the late seventeenth and late eighteenth centuries there were violent political conflicts in Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Describe what happened in each colony. Compare and contrast the causes of these conflicts among the colonies.

8. Compare and contrast the lives of average white families in the southern colonies with those in the northern colonies.

9. Summarize the changes in colonial New England which seemed to indicate it was abandoning its Puritan origins.

10. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages the American colonies had under the British colonial system. How did the British justify and implement this system?

11. Compare and contrast the major ideas and values of the Great Awakening and the Enlightenment in America. Describe the life and ideas of at least one major American figure in each movement.

12. Describe the American highlights of the colonial wars between 1689 and 1763. Evaluate the major results of those wars for the colonies.

13. Summarize the major conflicts between the American colonies and the British from 1763 to 1774.

14. Explain the fundamental differences in political, social, and economic ideas which separated the American colonies and Great Britain after 1763.