Name: _______________________ January 2022
AMERICAN HISTORY BENCHMARK STUDY GUIDE
Please define the following words:
- blockade:________________________________________________________________
2. boycott: _________________________________________________________________
3. militia: __________________________________________________________________
4. minutemen: _____________________________________________________________
5. pueblo: _________________________________________________________________
6. plantation: ______________________________________________________________
7. Squanto: ________________________________________________________________
8. Nathaniel Bacon: _________________________________________________________
9. gentry: _________________________________________________________________
10. Anne Bradstreet: _________________________________________________________
11. indentured servants: ______________________________________________________
12. Jonathan Edwards: ________________________________________________________
Please respond in a detailed fashion to each question. You may use your textbook or the chapter notes to help you.
13. Why did the Ottawa leader Pontiac wage an all-out conflict against the British beginning in 1763? ________________________________________________________________
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14. Which side was responsible for firing “the shot heard round the world?” Why was it so named?
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15. When Washington is unable to capture Fort Duquesne, he retreats and builds his own fort. What is the name of this fort and where is it located in relation to Fort Duquesne?
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16. Describe the provisions of the Stamp Act.
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17. Describe the Olive Branch Petition. What was it and what did it say?
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18. What is traitor? ___________________________________________________________
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19. Describe the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga. Who attacked whom? Who was victorious? Why was this an important victory?
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20. What were the provisions of the Tea Act? How did the colonists respond to it? Why?
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21. What was the Proclamation of 1763? _________________________________________
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22. In 1754, British and colonial leaders met in Albany, New York. During this Albany Congress, Ben Franklin put forth the Albany Plan of Union. What was its main goal? How was the Plan received by the colonies? ________________________________________
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23. Ben Franklin was an excellent writer. Name some things he wrote. What was his most popular work? What did it contain that contributed to its popularity?
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24. Who was allowed to vote in the American colonies? Please be specific. ______________
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25. For what reasons were slave codes written? ____________________________________
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26. How did freedom of the press come about in the colonies? ________________________
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27. Describe the roles of men in colonial society. ___________________________________
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28. Describe the roles of women in colonial society. ________________________________
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29. Describe the roles of children in colonial society. _______________________________
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30. Describe the rite of marriage in colonial times. __________________________________
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31. What was the Great Awakening and what were some of its effects?
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32. Describe the prevailing conditions on a slave ship. _______________________________
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33. What was this brutal slave passage called? _____________________________________
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34. Describe the early history of New York (p. 78). __________________________________
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35. Describe the early history of New Jersey (p. 78). ________________________________
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36. What is a proprietary colony? _______________________________________________
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37. Describe the English experience on Roanoke Island. Include dates, circumstances, and the reason why the colony was established. ____________________________________
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38. For what reasons did the Pilgrims come to America in 1620? ______________________
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39. What other name were the Pilgrims given? Why? _______________________________
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40. Describe the climate of the southern colonies. How did this type of climate affect their way of life? ______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
41. Who were Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon? For what are they known? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
42. Using the information found on page 90, describe the Spanish exploration and settlement of Florida. ______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
43. Who was John Winthrop? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
44. What was Winthrop’s most famous quote? What does it mean? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
45. What is the difference between the Pilgrims and the Puritans? ____________________
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46. Where was the first permanent European settlement in the present-day United States located? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
47. For what reason did the Spanish establish missions in the Americas? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
48. Why did Powhatan turn against the Jamestown settlers? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
49. Describe the colonial public school system. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
50. Explain the founding of Georgia. Who was responsible? Why was it established? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
51. What is the Magna Carta and what is its importance? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
52. Where did representative democracy begin in what is now the United States? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
53. Who was John Locke? What were his views on government? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
54. How did the views of Locke and others like him affect the way many colonists looked at government? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
55. What was a Loyalist? ______________________________________________________
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56. What was a Patriot? _______________________________________________________
57. What were three causes of the American Revolution? ____________________________________________________________________
58. What were three consequences of the Battle of Saratoga? _________________________________________________________________