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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The May-Pole at Merry Mount.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Gregory think that In the American Grain is meant to do for the American national identity?
(a) Celebrate it.
(b) Mock it.
(c) Shape it.
(d) Criticize it.

2. Why do the Puritans disapprove of Thomas Morton?
(a) He is not married.
(b) He does not believe in God.
(c) He barters guns and liquor to Indians.
(d) He does not pay his taxes.

3. How do the Spanish justify killing so many peaceful islanders?
(a) They call the killings self-defense.
(b) They insist that God told them to do it.
(c) They claim that Indians had no souls.
(d) They say it is necessary to kill people to take the land for Spain.

4. Which statement shows that Gregory believes that most people revere history without understanding it?
(a) "There must be imagination at work to discern the fabulae of history."
(b) "History, like poetry, is an ancient trap laid for the credulous and narrow-minded."
(c) "The serious historian of the ancient world is careful never to forget his Homer."
(d) "In the reading and interpretation of history everything falls dead unless that reality is perceived."

5. When Champlain advocates on behalf of building a colony, what is the one personal favor he asks of the King of France?
(a) A gift of firearms for defense and for trade.
(b) A monopoly of the fur trade for three years.
(c) A grant of supplies and men.
(d) A priest and doctor who could live in the colony.

Short Answer Questions

1. Williams, referring to the King's and Queen's promises to Columbus, remarks, "What power had such ridiculous little promises to stay a man against that terrific downpour on the brink of which they were all floating?". What promises is Williams referring to?

2. How does the narrator describe the descendants of the Puritans?

3. Based on the passage narrated by Eric the Red, which phrase do you think best describes Eric's character?

4. What is Columbus' point when he makes the following statement: "I was twenty-eight years old when I came into your Highnesses' service, and now I have not a hair upon me that is not gray; my body is infirm..."

5. How much time does Samuel de Champlain spend in North America before he is permitted to establish a French colony?

(see the answer key)

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