Last Name:     Period: 
 
First Name: 

GOV CH 2-2 EARLY SETTLEMENTS

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
 
 
The Beginnings of Self-Government

The American system of government has roots in English history and European political philosophy. It also has roots in the experiences of the colonists, as they struggled against nature, England, and each other to set up a system that would reflect their beliefs and meet their needs . Thus, to fully understand the American system, we must look back to the nation's beginnings.
 

 1. 

The structure and philosophy of American government can be traced to
a.
the experiences of the colonists
c.
European political philosophy
b.
English history
d.
all of these
 
 
The First British Settlements

In the 1580s, Sir Walter Raleigh, the adventurer and writer, convinced England's queen, Elizabeth I, to allow him to establish the first British outpost in North America. He did this by sending a ship of settlers in 1585 to Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina.  Raleigh's attempt to create a settlement was unsuccessful . The first permanent British settlement would not be established until the 1600s.

Jamestown
nar002-1.jpg
In 1607, another group from London, the Virginia Company, established a trading post in Virginia . This group named its settlement Jamestown. In the first year of its existence, over 60 percent of the colony's 105 inhabitants died. In 1609, England sent over 800 new settlers. By the spring of the following year, only 60 were left. The survivors, admitting defeat, decided to return to England. Just as they were planning to depart, new supplies and more settlers arrived. The original 60 colonists changed their plans. Together, all the colonists rebuilt Jamestown, which became the first permanent British settlement in North America 

Of the six thousand people who left England for Virginia between 1607 and 1623, four thousand died. Those who survived established a type of government that would serve as a model for later colonial adventures

The king of England had given the Virginia Company a charter, a written grant of authority, to make laws "for the good and welfare" of the Jamestown settlement . Jamestown's colonists used this charter to institute a representative assembly, a lawmaking body composed of individuals who represented the population . Representative assemblies became a typical form of government in the colonies
 

 2. 

Sir Walter Raleigh attempted and failed to create the first settlement in America at
a.
Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina
c.
Jamestown in Virginia
b.
Philadelphia on the Delaware river
d.
Boston in New England
 

 3. 

The first successful settlement in America was at
a.
Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina
c.
Jamestown in Virginia
b.
Philadelphia on the Delaware river
d.
Boston in New England
 

 4. 

The first settlement in America was
a.
a religious settlement
c.
and educational expedition
b.
a business settlement
d.
none of these
 

 5. 

What gave the Virginia Company the authority to make laws for the colony?
a.
no one, they just assumed the authority
c.
a charter issued by the King of England
b.
the Articles of Confederation
d.
a charter issued by the King of Spain
 

 6. 

The first government in the American colonies was
a.
a dictatorship
c.
a government based on the power of the Church of England
b.
a representative assembly
d.
none of these
 
 
The Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact
nar003-1.jpg
The Plymouth Company established the first New England colony in 1620. A group of English Protestants, the Pilgrims, sailed to North America on the Mayflower. They landed at what is now Provincetown Harbor, at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts . (They later moved the ship to Plymouth, Massachusetts, which became their new home .)

Before the Pilgrims went ashore, the adult males drew up the Mayflower Compact, an agreement in which they set up a government and promised to obey its laws.  It was signed by forty-one of the forty-four men aboard on November 21, 1620. No women were allowed to sign it, nor did they have any direct part in developing it, because women at that time did not have any political status. The Pilgrims established a written document for self-government because their leaders believed that they needed a set of rules to govern themselves and prevent civil disorder. They also wanted to create a government based on the consent of the governed.

The Mayflower Compact was in fact a social contract of the type that Locke had described. It was an agreement among individuals to establish a government and to live by its rules . This particular social contract had great historical significance because it served as a prototype-a model-for similar compacts in American history
 

 7. 

Why did the Pilgrims create the Mayflower Compact?
a.
they wanted to establish the Church of England as the official church
c.
no one knows
b.
they were ordered to do so by the king
d.
they wanted to establish an orderly and safe colony for mutual protection
 

 8. 

Because almost all of the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact the government they established was based on
a.
pure democracy
c.
consent of the governed
b.
rule by the nobility
d.
a fascist type of rule
 

 9. 

What philosopher advocated the type of government established by the Mayflower Compact?
a.
John Locke
c.
Thomas Paine
b.
Baron Montesque
d.
Sir Walter Raleigh
 

 10. 

What was the source of power for the government set up by the Mayflower Compact?
a.
the king
c.
the people who were being governed
b.
the Mayflower ships officers
d.
the church
 
 
More Colonies Are Formed

Another settlement in New England was set up by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1620. By 1639, a number of Pilgrims who were being persecuted for their religious beliefs decided to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They colonized the area that is now Connecticut . In the process, they developed America's first written constitution-the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. This document called for a representative assembly. Elected representatives from each town would serve in the assembly and make laws . The document also called for the popular election of a governor and judges.

By 1732, all thirteen colonies had been established .  Each colony had its own political documents and constitution. For example, the Massachusetts Body of Liberties was adopted in 1641. It supported protection of individual rights and became part of colonial law. In 1683, the Pennsylvania Frame of Government was passed. This document, along with the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges of 1701, established some of the principles that were later expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights
nar004-1.jpg
 

 11. 

What was the first written constitution in America called?
a.
U.S. Constitution
c.
Articles of Confederation
b.
Magna Carta
d.
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
 

 12. 

The first constitutional government in the U.S. had
a.
a governor
d.
all of these
b.
an assembly for making laws
e.
none of these
c.
a court system
 

 13. 

Which statement is true?
a.
By the middle 1700’s each colony had its own established government
c.
the colonies did not establish their own governments until after the Revolutionary War
b.
By the middle 1700’s each colony was ruled by a royal dictatorship
d.
There was only one government for all of the colonies
 

 14. 

The basic ideas for constitutional government and a Bill of Rights were well established in each of the colonies well before the American Revolution in 1776
a.
true
b.
false
 
 
Early Legislatures

Not only did the colonies have constitutions, they also had lawmaking bodies or legislatures. The first was the Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619. By the time the colonies declared independence from England in 1776, each colony had its own representative legislature, and most of these legislatures had been operating for over a hundred years. The colonial legislatures were the schooling grounds for many of the leaders who later wrote the U.S. Constitution . The legislatures gave leaders experience in self-government and provided a model for our later political framework.
nar005-1.jpg
Colonial legislatures and their individual members also had extensive contact with the governing methods of the native peoples. Indeed, some of the distinctive political beliefs of American life emerged out of a rich Native American democratic tradition.
 

 15. 

Which statement is true
a.
By the time of the Revolution in 1776, most of the colonies were still trying to establish representative legislatures
c.
By the time of the Revolution in 1776, all of the colonies had well established representative legislatures
b.
The Indians taught the colonists how to write a constitution
d.
none of these statements are true
 

 16. 

What is a legislature used for?
a.
making laws
c.
both making and enforcing laws
b.
enforcing laws
d.
neither making nor enforcing laws
 

 17. 

It is clear from these readings that by the middle of the 1700’s most Americans believed in the “Divine Right of Kings.”
a.
true
b.
false
 

Problem
 
 
Early Legislatures

Not only did the colonies have constitutions, they also had lawmaking bodies or legislatures. The first was the Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619. By the time the colonies declared independence from England in 1776, each colony had its own representative legislature, and most of these legislatures had been operating for over a hundred years. The colonial legislatures were the schooling grounds for many of the leaders who later wrote the U.S. Constitution . The legislatures gave leaders experience in self-government and provided a model for our later political framework.
nar005-1.jpg
Colonial legislatures and their individual members also had extensive contact with the governing methods of the native peoples. Indeed, some of the distinctive political beliefs of American life emerged out of a rich Native American democratic tradition.
 

 18. 

What is the main idea of the passages above?
 



 
         Start Over