AP US History : Geography, Environment, and Peopling 1755–1800

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP US History

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Geography, Environment, And Peopling 1755–1800

Five of our number in the passage dy'd, 
Who were cast into the ocean wide, 
And, after sailing seven weeks and more, 
We at Virginia all were put on shore. ...

Our faces shav'd, comb'd our wigs and hair, 
That we in decent order might appear, 
Against the Planters did come us to view, 
How well they lik'd this fresh transported crew ...

At length a grim old man unto me came, 
He ask'd my trade, likewise my name, 
I told him I a tin-man was by trade, 
And not eighteen years of age I said ...

At last to my new master's house I came, 
To the town of Wicowoco call'd by name, 
Here my European cloaths were took from me, 
Which never after I could ever see.

Passage adapted from "The Poor Unhappy Transported Felon's Sorrowful Account" by James Revell (1767)

Who is the most likely author of this passage?

Possible Answers:

An African slave brought to Virginia for sale to a plantation owner

An indentured servant brought to the American colonies to work off his debt

An American abolitionist

A Puritan man convicted and sentenced to hard labor

Correct answer:

An indentured servant brought to the American colonies to work off his debt

Explanation:

Many Europeans who arrived in North America during the 17th and 18th centuries came under contract as indentured servants; however, an improving economy in England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries meant that fewer workers chose to go to the colonies. The transformation from indentured servitude to slavery was a gradual process in Virginia. The major clues that the author of this piece was a European servant rather than an African slave are the fact that he was wearing a wig, the fact that he had learned a trade, and the fact that he came to his master's house in European clothes.

Example Question #11 : 1755–1800

French territories on the continent of America; it is agreed, that, for the future, the confines between the dominions of his Britannick Majesty and those of his Most Christian Majesty, in that part of the world, shall be fixed irrevocably by a line drawn along the middle of the River Mississippi, from its source to the river Iberville, and from thence, by a line drawn along the middle of this river, and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the sea; and for this purpose, the Most Christian King cedes in full right, and guaranties to his Britannick Majesty the river and port of the Mobile, and everything which he possesses, or ought to possess, on the left side of the river Mississippi, except the town of New Orleans and the island in which it is situated, which shall remain to France, provided that the navigation of the river Mississippi shall be equally free, as well to the subjects of Great Britain as to those of France, in its whole breadth and length, from its source to the sea, and expressly that part which is between the said island of New Orleans and the right bank of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of its mouth: It is farther stipulated, that the vessels belonging to the subjects of either nation shall not be stopped, visited, or subjected to the payment of any duty whatsoever. The stipulations inserted in the IVth article, in favour of the inhabitants of Canada shall also take place with regard to the inhabitants of the countries ceded by this article.

-Article VII. The Treaty of Paris. 1763

Due to The French and Indian War, to where was the western boundary of the British territory in North America extended?

Possible Answers:

Lake Erie

The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers

The Mississippi River

The Appalachian Mountains

Correct answer:

The Mississippi River

Explanation:

France and England officially ended in 1763 when the Treaty of Paris was signed. There were four provisions relating to America. These provisions were,

1. France ceded Canada and all the land east of the Mississippi (except New Orleans) to England.

2. New Orleans and the region that France claimed west of the Mississippi went to Spain an ally of France.

3. Spain gave England Florida in exchange for Cuba, which Britain had taken during the war.

4. France kept two small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for fishing stations. It also retained several islands in the West Indies.

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