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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. What individual that later became a leading figure in Connecticut is said to have grown “into passion and said, that then we should have no government, but there would be an interim, wherein every man might do what he pleased” in Chapter 8: “Leniency Rebuked”?

2. It was early in what year that the English Civil War broke out?

3. Where had Roger Williams studied divinity?

4. How many men with university training are known to have been in New England in 1641?

5. What term from the book refers to a political leader in a democracy who appeals to the emotions, prejudices, and ignorance of the less-educated citizens in order to gain power and promote political motives?

Short Essay Questions

1. What type of government did the Massachusetts Bay Company charter entitle the officers to establish for the colony, according to the author in Chapter 7: “A Due Form of Government”?

2. What decision did John Winthrop make regarding the English Civil War? Why?

3. What was innovative and potentially controversial about the system of government established by Winthrop and his associates, according to the author in Chapter 7: “A Due Form of Government”?

4. Why did John Winthrop want to retire from government in 1640, according to the author in Chapter 12: “New England or Old”?

5. What were John Winthrop’s feelings about Roger Williams, according to the author in Chapter 9: “Separation Unleashed”?

6. How does the author describe the changes in the colony during the years when John Winthrop was overthrown as governor in Chapter 9: “Separation Unleashed”?

7. Where did Roger Williams go when he left Plymouth? Where did he begin a church and start to gain power, according to the author in Chapter 9: “Separation Unleashed”?

8. What was the impact of the dispute between John Winthrop and the representatives regarding the stipulations of the charter, as seen in Chapter 8: “Leniency Rebuked”?

9. What did the Massachusetts Bay Company charter grant in terms of the establishment of a government for the colony, according to the author in Chapter 7: “A Due Form of Government”?

10. What led up to the banishment of Reverend Wheelwright, according to the author in Chapter 10: “Seventeenth-Century Nihilism”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Examine the hardships of the colonists at Plymouth, Jamestown, and Cape Ann. How many of the original settlers in these colonies died? How did they die? What threats faced the colonists? How many of these original colonists returned to England?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the freedoms granted by the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter regarding the establishment of government in the settlement. What did the charter stipulate in terms of meetings of the governing body? How was “government” defined in terms of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches we have today?

(see the answer keys)

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