HIS 281 – First test
Answer two of the following essay questions. Do not feel you need to do research on these questions beyond assigned readings and class notes, but you are free to consult with each other or other sources, though you should be sure to credit same. Submit by e-mail or in person by October 30th.
1. Surrounded by natural abundance, Englishmen in Virginia before 1624 seemed unwilling or unable to keep themselves alive. Why?
2. Was the conflict between English colonists and native Americans in Virginia inevitable? Was the outcome of that conflict (1607-1676) inevitable?
3. Captain John Smith governed the Virginia colony for less than a year, Sir William Berkeley for more than twenty. Which man made the greater contribution to Virginia’s struggle for survival, economic viability, peace, and stability?
4. Some sources have presented both "The Thrusting Out of Sir John Harvey" in the 1630s and Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676 as early triumphs for self-government from English authority. Do you agree in either or both cases? Why and/or why not?
5. How did the chances for those who indentured themselves to reach Virginia to achieve independence and a measure of security change through the course of the 17th century?
6. What motivated Nathaniel Bacon, an English-born aristocrat, to march at the head of an army that included many poor, frustrated, and angry Virginian frontiersmen in 1676? Who were the affair's winners and losers?