Colonial America

What do you know about Colonial America? Try this US History Made Easy Quiz.  "Check Your Answers" at the end of the page.

1. Starting in the late 16th century, the Spanish, the British, the French, Swedes and the Dutch began to colonize eastern North America. Many early attempts [notably the Lost Colony of Roanoke] ended in failure, but successful colonies were soon established.

• True or False?

2. The colonists who came to the New World were not alike; they came from a variety of different social and religious groups who settled in different locations on the seaboard. Each group came to the new continent for different reasons and created colonies with distinct social, religious, political and economic structures. What is NOT a colony in the New World?

• New Netherlands
• New Sweden
• New Switzerland

3. The Spanish and Portuguese centuries-old experience of conquest and colonization during the Reconquista, coupled with new oceanic ship navigation skills (developed mainly in Italy), provided the tools, ability, and desire to colonize the New World. What is the is the oldest continuously settled city established by Europeans in the continental United States. It was founded by the Spanish under Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565.

• St. Christian
• St. Augustine
• Pensacola

4. New France was the area colonized by France from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River. Who lead the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River in 1534?

• Jacques Cartier
• Pierre Bonapart
• Jacque Lafayette

5. England made its first successful efforts at the start of the 17th century for several reasons. During this era, English proto-nationalism and national assertiveness blossomed under the threat of Spanish invasion, assisted by a degree of Protestant militarism and adoration of Queen Elizabeth. At this time, however, there was no official attempt by the English government to create a colonial empire. Rather, the motivation behind the founding of colonies was piecemeal and variable. Practical considerations, such as commercial enterprise, over-population and the desire for freedom of religion, played their parts.

• True or False?

6. The area now known as Espanola was the first European-founded capital of the "New World." Don Juan de Oñate declared a capital for Spain in 1598. Oñate arrived in the Espanola Valley on July 11, 1598 at the confluence of the Chama River and the Rio Grande. What state is Espanola found?

• Texas
• Arizona
• New Mexico

7. What is the town formally founded and made a capital in 1610, making it the oldest capital city in what is today the United States?

• Phoenix, Arizona
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Sacramento, California

8. French merchants soon realized the St. Lawrence region was full of valuable fur, especially of beaver, which were becoming rare in Europe, as the European beaver had almost been driven to extinction. Eventually, the French crown decided to colonize the territory to secure and expand its influence in America. In 1608, who founded the city of Québec with 28 manworkers (no woman before 1617).

• Samuel de Champlain
• Adam Dollard des Ormeaux
• Jean-Baptiste Colbert

9. The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County in present-day North Carolina was an enterprise financed and organized in the late 16th century to establish a permanent English settlement in the Virginia Colony. Who financed and organized Roanoke Colony?

• Sir Malcolm Hudson
• Sir Henry Hornblower
• Sir Walter Raleigh

10. Because the international law required not only discovery and charting but also settlement to perfect a territorial claim, the Dutch landed 30 families on Noten Eylant, in May 1624. What is Noten Eylant known as today?

• Governors Island
• Manhattan Island
• Liberty Island

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