Ch. 2-3 Class Discussion Questions
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#1: What was the primary purpose of the English settlement of Jamestown, and how successful were the
colonists in achieving that goal in the first twenty years?
Competition with Spain
Protestant Reformation
Irish Uprising
Elizabeth and Philip
Overpopulation
Economic Incentives
#2: In what ways did the relationship between whites and Native Americans in Virginia establish the pattern for
later relations across North America?
Powhatan’s Confederacy
Lord De La Warr and Irish Tactics
First and Second Anglo-Powhatan Wars
The Three D’s
#3: What features were common to all of England’s southern colonies, and what features were peculiar to each
one?
Virginia – Child of Tobacco
Maryland – Catholic Haven
West Indies – Way Station to Mainland America
Colonizing the Carolinas
Georgia – Buffer Colony
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#4: Which was the most important factor shaping the development of England’s southern colonies in the 17 th
century?
Indian Relations
One-Crop Plantation Economy
Slavery
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#5: Compare and contrast the early colonial empires of Spain and England.
Motives for Colonization
Economic Foundations
Relations with Africans and Native Americans
Ch. 2-3 Class Discussion Questions
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#1: Compare and contrast the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies.
Motives for Founding
Religious and Social Composition
Economic Foundations
Political Development
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#2: How did the Puritans’ distinctive religious outlook and church organization shape the politics, society, and
culture of Massachusetts Bay and other New England colonies?
Protestant Reformation
Calvinism
Henry VIII
Puritans and Pilgrims
Bible Commonwealth
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#3: “The dissent from Puritanism was as important in the formation of New England as Puritanism itself.” Do
you agree or disagree with the statement?
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#4: Contrast Puritan New England’s policies toward the Native Americans with the initial policies of the Quaker
settlers in Pennsylvania. Why was Penn’s policy ultimately unsuccessful?
Spread of English Settlement
Wampanoag Indians
Pequot War
King Philip’s War
Penn’s Holy Experiment – Quakers
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#5: Describe and analyze the English government’s relationship with the colonies in the 17 th century. Is the term
benign neglect an accurate description of English colonial policy?
New England Confederation
Dominion of New England
Navigation Laws
Glorious Revolution
Salutary “Benign” Neglect
#6: What economic, social, and ethnic conditions typical of the early southern colonies were generally absent in
the New England and middle colonies? What characteristics did the middle colonies have that were not generally
present in the south?