Colonial Times Review
1.
Why the earlier attempts to colonize
the New World fail? Who was behind th
e
s
e earlier
attempts?
A
nd
what was the outcome of those attempts?
Analyze the initial factors of
endowments
when you answer these questions.
2.
Why institutions are so crucial for development? Can you explain at least three different
institution that were vital for America
’
s development?
Look back at the different institutions
that helped to change the
outcome
of the initial
settlements
after 1620 (
Refer to the
T
r
agedy
of
the Commons).
3.
After lookin
g back almost two hundred years of history
–
1600 to 1775
–
and
the victory of
England over
Holland, F
r
ance
and Spain, was America fortunate?
You can r
efer to events
that occur later in history and to parallels that might
illustrate
your answer but procure not to
simplify your answer with
cultural descriptions.
4.
E
xplain some favored
circumstances
for
demographic grow
th
during
colonial times
. Refer to
mortality rates overtime in comparison to Europe.
5.
I
n
denture
servant
s
was a modality that
helped
to increase the labor force
during c
olonial
times. In what sense this
system
was similar and/or
different
to the slave
ry? Try to focus your
answer on
Economic factors.
6.
Can you describe three major economic activities during the colonial
times?
I
n
your opinion
,
w
hich of t
hose
economic activity
was most significant for the development of
the
colonies
?
There are not unique right answer to this question but I
definitely
think there
are
a range of
few activities that had major impact on t
he de
velopment of the colonies.
7.
In what sense
mercantilism
was positive and
negative at the same time for th
e
“
New World
”
?
Please support your answer when you refer why mercantilism was positive for the
“
New
Wo
r
ld
”
?
Maybe a simple
trade balance
analysis
presented by Wa
lton and Rockoff will help to
answer
this question.
8.
Can you describe
some of the
specialization
differences between the
Southern, Middle and
Northern colonies?
9.
How the positive ga
ins in productivity helped to boos
t the
economies of the
colonies during
the late 1600
’
s and early 1700
’
s?
How
technology become one of the most important factors
that helped to boost
those economies?
10.
I
n
what sense,
distribu
tion as
cited by Walton and Rockoff in chapter V of the textbook is a
relevant topic for review for those earlier years of this nation.
11.
What are
some
of the
most important events t
hat change the course of history before
the
American
Revolution
?
What are some of the economic condit
ions that pushed the colonies to
seek th
eir independence?
