AP US History: Work, Exchange & Technology 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Columbian Exchange most directly transformed European diets through the introduction of which New World crops?
- Potatoes and maize (Correct answer)
- Wheat and barley
- Rice and sugar
- Coffee and olives
Correct answer: Potatoes and maize
Calorie-rich potatoes and maize from the Americas fueled European population growth.
Question 2: The headright system in colonial Virginia primarily encouraged which economic development?
- Importation of indentured servants and laborers (Correct answer)
- Growth of manufacturing towns
- Expansion of fishing fleets
- Abolition of slavery
Correct answer: Importation of indentured servants and laborers
Granting land per immigrant brought labor to tobacco plantations through indentured servitude.
Question 3: Mercantilism, the dominant economic theory of the colonial era, held that colonies existed mainly to:
- Enrich the mother country with raw materials and markets (Correct answer)
- Develop independent industries
- Promote free trade globally
- Spread democratic government
Correct answer: Enrich the mother country with raw materials and markets
Colonies supplied raw materials and bought manufactured goods to benefit the parent nation.
Question 4: The Navigation Acts passed by England were designed to:
- Restrict colonial trade to English ships and ports (Correct answer)
- Encourage colonial manufacturing
- Open colonial trade to all European nations
- Ban tobacco cultivation
Correct answer: Restrict colonial trade to English ships and ports
They funneled colonial commerce through England to enforce mercantilist control.
Question 5: The shift from indentured servitude to African slavery in the late 1600s Chesapeake was driven largely by:
- Declining servant supply and Bacon's Rebellion fears (Correct answer)
- A ban on tobacco exports
- Increased factory wages in England
- A surplus of free European laborers
Correct answer: Declining servant supply and Bacon's Rebellion fears
Fewer servants and elite fears of poor whites after Bacon's Rebellion pushed planters toward enslaved Africans.
Question 6: Triangular trade routes linked the colonies, Africa, and the Caribbean primarily through the exchange of:
- Rum, enslaved people, and sugar/molasses (Correct answer)
- Cotton, iron, and coal
- Wheat, furs, and timber only
- Tea, silk, and spices
Correct answer: Rum, enslaved people, and sugar/molasses
New England rum, African captives, and West Indian molasses formed the classic triangle.
Question 7: The 'Middle Passage' refers to which segment of the Atlantic trade system?
- The forced ocean voyage of enslaved Africans to the Americas (Correct answer)
- The overland route across the Appalachians
- The shipping of furs to Europe
- The migration of Puritans to New England
Correct answer: The forced ocean voyage of enslaved Africans to the Americas
It was the brutal transatlantic crossing endured by enslaved Africans.
