SCHLESINGER, pp. 49-55

1. How have historians “generally treated the discovery of America”?

2. What correction is necessary now?
What point does this correction “bring into sharper relief”?

3. What were the main economic incentives to establish colonies in the “New World”?

4. What were the two main forms of promoting colonies that were employed by the English?

5. What is the “historical importance” of both forms of promoting colonies?

6. What was the main source of “political antagonisms” in the colonies?

7. What were the two main issues of political conflict in the colonies?

8. How did the colonies benefit from being part of the English Empire?

9. At what point in time did the English policies switch from being advantageous to being
disadvantageous for the colonies?

10. After independence, what was the main cause of the movement for a new constitution
in the 1780s?

WALTON / ROCKOFF Chapter 2

1. What is said about the motives for the exploration of the “new world”?

2. What is said about the European settlers’ treatment of the native Americans
and the means by which they took possession of the land?

3. Describe the system of immigration by “indentured servants.”
How did this system originate?

4. What explanation is given for the switch in Southern agriculture from indentured
servants to slaves?

WALTON / ROCKOFF Chapter 3

1. Describe the three systems of agriculture (distribution of land ownership, type of labor, production for use or for the market, small or large scale, etc.) in the three regions:
New England, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies.

2. What were the main extractive industries?
What were the main manufacturing industries?

3. What were the main roles of women in the colonial economy?

WALTON / ROCKOFF Chapter 5

1. What were the main causes of productivity growth in the colonial economy?

2. Summarize the controversy over the per capita rate of growth in the colonial economy.

3. Describe the average standard of living at the end of the colonial period.

4. Describe the distribution of wealth during the colonial period.
Describe the distribution of income during the colonial period.