Back to Basics Trivia Quiz

Answer: Virginia

Jamestown, VA was noted as the country's first British settlement in 1607, and according to some, the beginning of the British Empire. However, they were not alone; the area surrounding Jamestown was populated by what was known as the Paspahegh tribe. Because of souring relations and disease, the Paspahegh were destroyed as a tribe in 1611.

Answer: Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I succeeded Queen Mary I in 1558 and ruled until her death in 1603. The Roanoke colony in particular, was formed by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585. After a war between England and Spain, the Roanoke colonists disappeared and the colony was abandoned. There has been no definite cause of the abandonment.

Answer: Tobacco

When relations strained between the settlers and Native Americans, the trading soon became their main source of resources. Souring relations and lack of access to water led to "the starving time" in the winter of 1609. The adoption of tobacco as the main crop by John Rolfe revived the settlement and brought prosperity.

Answer: False

The Virginia Company, the company that funded the Jamestown expedition, initially brought indentured servants to work in tobacco fields. In 1619, black Africans were brought to Virginia under the same conditions as white indentured servants. Because of the increased cost of indentured servants, as well as the increase in the amount of freed indentured servants, slave laws were first passed in Virginia in 1661.

These only affected the Africans who were sent to Virginia.

Answer: Burgesses

This was another creation of the Virginia Company. The House of Burgesses was both an incentive for English craftsmen to come to the colony and to allow inhabitants to have a say in working and living conditions and was formed in 1619. In 1699, the settlement capital moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg, and in 1776, the House of Burgesses became the Virginia House of Delegates.

Answer: Massachusetts

The Mayflower's initial destination was Virginia, funded by the Company of Merchant Adventurers; due to weather, they were diverted to Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Compact was similar to the "social contract" of Jean-Jacques Rousseau: in exchange for following the rules of the settlement, they would be protected from outside forces.

Answer: Church of England

While Henry VIII's Church of England (or the Anglicans) was impacted by Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation, the Separatists (or as we know them now, Pilgrims) considered themselves more devout. In other words, they did not think the Protestant Reformation was complete, so they broke away from the Church of England.

Answer: Absorbed by another colony

In 1691, the Plymouth Colony was absorbed by the Massachusetts Bay Company and the Province of Maine to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The Province would late become one of the first thirteen states of the United States once the Province declared independence in May 1776.

Answer: John Winthrop

In the colony, the electorate was strongly influenced by the Puritan teachings. One had to be male, a member of the church, and a freeman in order to vote in gubernatorial elections. In recorded history, John Winthrop (known for his "city on a hill" speech) was elected governor four times in the history of the colony.

Answer: John Winthrop

Both Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for deviating from the established Puritan ideology. Hutchinson spoke of the concept of predetermined fate and believed in Antinomianism, as well as John Wheelwright. Williams spoke of the separation of church and government and against funding churches with tax dollars.