Student
Chapter 4: American Life in the Seventeenth Century 1607-1692
The Big Question: In what ways did life in 17th Century Colonial America create the foundation for our current society, and what aspects were very different from our current society?
Terms and People (who/what/when/significance)
Stono Rebellion indentured servants
Nathaniel Bacon
Leisler's Rebellion
Royal African Company
Anthony Johnson
Middle passage
William Berkeley
Half-Way Covenant
Headright system
Bacon’s Rebellion
Congregational Church
Salem Witch Trials
Discussion Questions
1. Who controlled southern society and why?
2. How were slavery and tobacco cultivation interrelated?
3. To what extent did slavery exist in the Northern Colonies? Why did it exist as it did? Why did slavery grow to such an important institution in Colonial America?
4. Why did Nathaniel Bacon lead a rebellion in VA? What does this rebellion reveal about conditions in colonial Virginia? What major change happened as a result of this rebellion (hint: deals with labor)?
5. In what ways did a new African-American culture begin to develop in Colonial America?
6. What factors made the Massachusetts Bay Colony a healthier place to live than Virginia?
7. Describe the “New England way of life”.
8. What were the causes of the Salem Witch trials and what effects did they have?
9. In what ways was land ownership significantly different in Puritan society compared to the
South? Why was family life in New England so different from family life in the South?
10. In what ways were all American colonists the same?
Read Makers of America: “From African to African American” pgs. 78-79 and answer the following question.
11. What enabled African Americans in the Chesapeake region to develop societies where— unusually for the history of slavery—the population reproduced and grew through natural increase? What does this suggest about the nature of families under slavery?
Discussion Questions from Chapter 3 in Zinn
The Big Question: In what ways did life in 17th Century Colonial America create the foundation for our current society, and what aspects were very different from our current society?
Terms and People (who/what/when/significance)
Stono Rebellion indentured servants
Nathaniel Bacon
Leisler's Rebellion
Royal African Company
Anthony Johnson
Middle passage
William Berkeley
Half-Way Covenant
Headright system
Bacon’s Rebellion
Congregational Church
Salem Witch Trials
Discussion Questions
1. Who controlled southern society and why?
2. How were slavery and tobacco cultivation interrelated?
3. To what extent did slavery exist in the Northern Colonies? Why did it exist as it did? Why did slavery grow to such an important institution in Colonial America?
4. Why did Nathaniel Bacon lead a rebellion in VA? What does this rebellion reveal about conditions in colonial Virginia? What major change happened as a result of this rebellion (hint: deals with labor)?
5. In what ways did a new African-American culture begin to develop in Colonial America?
6. What factors made the Massachusetts Bay Colony a healthier place to live than Virginia?
7. Describe the “New England way of life”.
8. What were the causes of the Salem Witch trials and what effects did they have?
9. In what ways was land ownership significantly different in Puritan society compared to the
South? Why was family life in New England so different from family life in the South?
10. In what ways were all American colonists the same?
Read Makers of America: “From African to African American” pgs. 78-79 and answer the following question.
11. What enabled African Americans in the Chesapeake region to develop societies where— unusually for the history of slavery—the population reproduced and grew through natural increase? What does this suggest about the nature of families under slavery?
Discussion Questions from Chapter 3 in Zinn