Chapter 5 Study Questions

Colonial Society on the Eve of the Revolution

1) What was the speed at which the colonies were growing by the American Revolution?
2) What was the impact of this growth in population?
3) What was the view of the Scots-Irish towards the English government?
4) What was the largest non-English ethnic group in the Americas by 1775?
5) What was the diversity of population in each of the three colonial regions?
6) How did the British react when several state legislatures attempted to restrict the importation of slaves?
7) What profession led the political agitation before the Revolution?
8) What was the basis of the American economic activity before the Revolution?
9) What was the least important economic activity before the Revolution?
10) Why did American merchants come to resent the British during the 1700s?
11) What was the status of transportation during the colonial period?
12) What was the purpose of the Molasses Act of 1733?  Why was this an important change in policy?
13) Why were American taverns important during the colonial era?
14) What were the two major religions in America prior to the Revolution?
15) How did religion in the 1700s compare to religion in the 1600s in America?
16) What was the Great Awakening?
17) Who were some of the leaders of the Great Awakening?
18) What were some of the results of the Great Awakening?
19) What was the status of education in the colonies prior to the Revolution?
20) What was the background and impact of the Zenger trial?
21) What political principle did Americans come to cherish in the 1700s?
22) How did colonial legislatures come to control governors in the seventeenth century?
23) Who usually had the right to vote prior to the Revolution?