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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The Charter of the Virginia Company of London was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by whom?

2. In order to secure the Massachusetts Bay Company’s investors, an agreement was finally worked out whereby the remaining resources of the company would be managed for seven years by "undertakers." How many of these undertakers would be established in Massachusetts?

3. John Winthrop, Jr. considered going to New England with Endecott’s group but instead went on a fourteen-month tour of what region, according to the author in Chapter 3: “A Shelter and a Hiding Place”?

4. On what date did John Winthrop marry Margaret Tyndal?

5. What was the name of John Winthrop’s younger sister who married Emmanuel Downing?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company when the company members met to discuss the charter in Chapter 4: “The Way to a New England”? What plans were made at this meeting?

2. What were John Winthrop’s main concerns as he prepared to depart for New England, according to the author in Chapter 4: “The Way to a New England”?

3. How did the Massachusetts Bay colonists begin the process of settling after their arrival, according to the author in Chapter 5: “Survival”?

4. How does the author describe the beliefs of Charles I in Chapter 2: “Evil and Declining Times”? How is Arminianism described?

5. How does the author describe the popular perception of colonization of the New World during the 1620s in Chapter 3: “A Shelter and a Hiding Place”?

6. How did the Puritans of the late 16th and early 17th Centuries feel about the state of the government in England, according to the author in Chapter 2: “Evil and Declining Times”?

7. What controversies and disputes did John Winthrop have to oversee before the company’s departure, according to the author in Chapter 4: “The Way to a New England”?

8. How did the members of the Massachusetts Bay Company perceive the charter when they were told about it in Chapter 4: “The Way to a New England”? Why?

9. How does the author describe the groups called the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists in Chapter 6: “A Special Commission”?

10. What influenced John Winthrop to compose documents regarding the immigration effort, according to the author in Chapter 3: “A Shelter and a Hiding Place”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the Puritans’ arrival in New England and their perceptions of the New World. How were the huts of Salem described? What provisions were the English lacking as they began their venture in New England? Why were these provisions overlooked?

Essay Topic 2

Examine and discuss the regulations of Puritan society established in the early days of the settlement in Boston. Why were Puritans forbidden from living alone? How was the treatment of non-Puritans different than that of followers? What did the Puritans do when they weren’t working – for “fun”? How frequently did the Puritans attend church?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the social, economic, political, religious and cultural atmospheres of London, England, in the late 1500s. Who was the reigning monarch in England when John Winthrop was born? What was England’s official religion? What was the relationship between the church and state in England? How did this history influence John Winthrop?

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This section contains 985 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample