American History Homework One Answers - Student 34

American History Homework One – Joe B

1. Spanish, English, French.

Correct.

2. The aspect of Christopher Columbus that I find to be most inspirational is his unwillingness to give up, regardless of whether his adversity was lack of financial support for his proposed voyage or having his crew on the verge of giving up hope (and forcefully returning to Spain).

Superb.

3. The reasons that some of the early settlements in America failed could have varied, but probably the underlying cause was probably lack of being prepared. Not being prepared for the climate, the environment, or the natives, probably caused the demise of most of these early settlements. Naturally the results would have been specific depending on the colony, such as the settlers of Jamestown having initially been on the verge of starvation due to being too lazy to actually work.

Excellent.

4. The motivation of Massachusetts settlers was, ironically enough, not to settle in Massachusetts. More specifically they hoped to settle further South but had been blown off course. The reason the Puritans left England to begin with was because they wanted to set up their own religious community separate from the Church of England. Other, more mainstream Puritans simply wanted to ‘purify’ the Church of England from within.

Correct.

5. William Penn was remarkable because of his insistence on practicing the religion of his choice and his toleration for the practice of other religions. He put this mode of thought into use when he was given (and founded the colony of) Pennsylvania, as its major selling point was freedom of religion.

Correct.

6. The four types of colonies are as follows: joint-stock colonies that were invested in privately (such as Virginia), charter colonies founded on a grand of land by the king (such as Rhode Island), proprietary colonies owned and controlled by one or more persons (such as Maryland), and royal colonies that were founded or controlled by the king (Virginia was eventually taken back by the king of England).

Superb.

7. Technically the Puritans had the right to expel people of other religions from their colony, as they had been its founders. They had set up the colony for the purpose of practicing their religion in a private community, and so they did have the ground to ‘deport’ people who sought to disrupt that. However, it should have never come to hanging those who persisted. They could have thrown them out as many times as was necessary or even thrown them in jail if the perpetrators failed to oblige. This may not register with many people who feel inclined toward freedom of religion, but the point is not that the people were being persecuted based on religion so much as they were impeding upon other peoples’ private community. Conclusion: deport people if necessary, but never execute them.

Good.

H1. Perhaps the most obvious answer to this is Maryland. It was set up under a Catholic leadership (and in fact was based on a charter given to a Catholic), with freedom of religion being the rule. Eventually the Protestants (former indentured servants) outnumber the Catholic vote; many of them having completed their indentured servitude, but the colony remained in harmony for a time and did thrive economically. The Marylanders even had a constructive policy toward the Indians, forbidding colonist encroachment and working to convert them. Unfortunately, as the colony grew friction became an issue between it and Virginia, mostly due to anti-Catholic bigotry, and the Virginian commissioners Bennett and Claiborne led an invasion of Maryland, repealed an act for religions toleration (The Toleration Act), and outlawed Catholicism. As plainly viewed, a colony based on a particular religious ideal, when coming in contact with colonies of conflicting opinion, is more prone to being choked out by other colonies if that religious ideal is not part of the mainstream view.

Superb analysis.

H4. Mercantilism was essentially an economic system whereby a colony is allowed only a limited number of imports from foreign countries and to maximize exports everywhere. This would be done by exporting materials to the mother country for distribution elsewhere. By selling more than buying the colony creates a wealth surplus for the mother country. Some problems with this system include that it often resulted in slavery existing within the colonies to meet the demand for exports. Also, as an idea mercantilism fundamentally should not be imposed upon colonies that were not founded as royal colonies, because this would impede on the freedom and potential prosperity of the persons in those non-royal colonies.

No, mercantilism was used by the mother country to accumulate gold there. Colonies did not accumulate gold by exporting more than importing under this system. (Minus 2).

-I thought that I had that covered that? When I said "creates a wealth surplus for the mother country." I didn't think that I said that the colonies accumulated gold. Or were you pointing out something else?

I see. It was bad grammar that caused the misunderstanding: "By selling more than buying THE COLONY ..." I'll give you one point back and adjust your score below.--Aschlafly 14:11, 13 September 2008 (EDT)

H5. There are several compelling points to be made in reference to pre-Columbian exploration and settlement of America. First, and perhaps most widespread prevalent be Viking exploration. In the 10th century Eric the Red was exiled from Iceland and so sailed off to discover Greenland. A man by the name of Bjarni Herolffson was then blown off course and so found Newfoundland. Later Eric’s son, Leif Ericson returned and named the new land Vinland, but he only used it to collect timber, and made no attempt to establish a colony (he was actually later converted to Christianity). Another Viking came and established what was known as Vinland II, but as the conditions were inhospitable he soon returned home thereby abandoning the colony (which consequently failed to survive). Columbus’s later expeditions were the first, however, to have a lasting impact.

OK, though I'm not convinced the Vikings really settled in North America. Good analysis anyway.

Great start: 98/100.--Aschlafly 18:00, 12 September 2008 (EDT)

Corrected: 99/100.--Aschlafly 14:11, 13 September 2008 (EDT)