Trade & Economics
The triangular trade system
The triangular trade was a three-part Atlantic trading system connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas in which manufactured goods, enslaved people, and raw materials were exchanged.
What was the Columbian Exchange?
The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of plants, animals, people, technologies, and diseases between the Old World and the New World after 1492
What was the main reason Pilgrims and Puritans came to America?
Pilgrims and Puritans largely came to America to seek religious freedom and to create communities based on their religious beliefs.
What was an indentured servant?
An indentured servant was a worker who agreed to work for a set number of years in exchange for passage to the Americas, room, and board.
Which industry caused colonial New England to become a center of trade?
Shipbuilding/whaling and fishing (maritime industries, including shipbuilding and fishing) made New England a trade center.
What role did disease play in the colonization of the Americas?
Disease (smallpox, measles, etc.) decimated Native American populations, weakening societies and enabling European conquest and colonization.
Why were the Pilgrims called Separatists?
Pilgrims were Separatists because they wanted to separate entirely from the Church of England rather than reform it.
What population made up most of the indentured servants?
Most indentured servants were poor Europeans (often young English men) seeking passage and opportunity.
Which of the following best describes the primary exports of the Middle Colonies during the colonial period?
The Middle Colonies primarily exported grains and other staple crops (breadbasket exports: wheat, barley, oats).
What was the Middle Passage?
The Middle Passage was the forced transatlantic voyage that transported enslaved Africans to the Americas under brutal conditions
What was the purpose of the Puritan Blue Laws?
Puritan Blue Laws enforced moral and religious behavior in the community
Throughout colonization, why were European diseases so devastating to Native Americans?
Native Americans lacked immunity to Eurasian diseases, so epidemics caused very high mortality rates and social disruption.
Unlike the economies of New England and the Middle Colonies, the economy of the Southern Colonies relied on ____________
Cash-crop plantation agriculture (especially tobacco, rice, and indigo
What was the name of the system that the conquistadors used to enslave Native Americans?
The encomienda system (and related repartimiento) allowed conquistadors to extract labor and tribute from Native Americans.
What was the purpose of the Mayflower Compact?
The Mayflower Compact established a basic form of self-government and majority-rule among the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower.
Which regional demographics included enslaved Africans?
Enslaved Africans were most numerous in the Southern Colonies but were present in all regions.
How did joint-stock companies contribute to European colonization?
Joint-stock companies pooled investor capital to fund colonial ventures, spreading risk and enabling large-scale settlements (e.g., Virginia Company).
What was significant about Bacon’s Rebellion?
Bacon’s Rebellion (1676) highlighted tensions between frontier settlers and colonial elites, exposed class divisions, and contributed to a shift toward racialized slavery as elites sought a more controllable labor force.
Equality, simplicity, and pacifism are tenets of which religious group that helped establish the Middle Colonies?
The Quakers
Slave codes in colonial America were primarily designed to:
Slave codes were designed to define enslaved people as property, restrict their rights, and control and prevent rebellion.