Tales of British Colonies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jamestown

In 1609 King James I granted the Charter of 1606 for the purpose of "propagating the Christian religion". Charters for two joint-stock companies that were to operate under the Virginia Company and begin settlements on the east coast of North America were given; the Virginia Company was divided into the London Company and Plymouth Company. Both operated on the same type of charter, but had different regions to colonize.

It was understood that the land still belonged to the King, but the shareholders of the Virginia Company became his tenants, and the settlers were his subtenants.

While Plymouth Company did establish a settlement called Popham Colony, it was abandoned after a year. In 1607 the London Company established Jamestown, which became the first successful English colony in North America.

The investors in the London Company really hoped to find wealth in Jamestown in the form of gold and silver. What they found, however, might have been even better! Once the colonists learned how to farm the sweeter tobacco of the Caribbean, it became the cash crop of the colony. Virginia became a royal colony in 1624; at that time it came under the jurisdiction of a governor who had been appointed by the king.

Answer: Nova Scotia Colony

William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, served King James I in many different capacities. He held the office of Gentleman Usher to Prince Charles, the son of the king, and was knighted in 1609 and became the Master of Requests for Scotland in 1614; during this time he was the mediator between King James and the Council in Scotland.

He also assisted James in his translation of "The Psalms of King David, translated by King James", which was published during the reign of Charles I. In 1621 James granted Alexander a tract of land in Nova Scotia and allowed him to sell 100 titles of baronets to people in order to attract colonists.

Although James died before the plan came to fruition, it was carried out by his son, Charles I. It was a difficult situation as the French had also claimed land in the area.

Answer: Province of Maine

Ferdinando Gorges, a naval commander, was the governor of Plymouth in England. He is known as the "Father of English Colonization in North America" for his efforts to colonize the Province of Maine. This is interesting because he never visited North America! John Mason was a sailor who first made his mark in Newfoundland as the second governor of the unsuccessful Cuper's Cove Colony.

Although he explored and mapped Newfoundland, Mason died before making the trip of the area known as the Province of Maine. Together the two men were given a land patent for the territory, which included parts of modern-day Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Eventually some of the territory became parts of other colonies and the rest was incorporated into Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Answer: Plymouth Colony

After the Reformation in England, there were religious groups that were dissatisfied with the changes that had been made. They believed the new Church of England was still too much like the Catholic Church. Of the varies groups, the Separatists wanted to break away from the Church of England and form their own church. Facing persecution in England, a group, later known as Pilgrims, left for Holland.

The congregation found that while they had religious freedom there, their people were being influenced too much by the Dutch culture.

In addition, they were still being harassed by English agents. It was time to move farther away! Given a land grant from the London Company and financed by the Merchant Adventurers, the Separatists made their way to America, eventually arriving at Plymouth Harbor.

Answer: Massachusetts Bay Colony

After the Reformation in England, there were religious groups that were dissatisfied with the changes that had been made. They believed the new Church of England was still too much like the Catholic Church. Puritans wanted to stay within the Church of England, but purify it from any practices that they viewed as being too popish. During the reign of Charles I the Puritans were a group targeted for persecution, and they decided to seek religious freedom in America.

The Massachusetts Bay Company was granted a royal charter by Charles I, and the group left England in 1630 to create their new "city upon a hill", as it appears that they believed that life in England had become so wicked that surely God would bring some sort of catastrophic punishment.

Answer: Province of Maryland

Maryland began as a proprietary colony led by George Calvert, Lord Baltimore; the land still belonged to the King and was subject to British law, however, Lord Baltimore had the right to settle the land as he saw fit. He envisioned a religious haven for Catholics, as there had been much persecution against them in England since the time of Henry VIII's Reformation. George Calvert had served under Charles I as his Secretary of State, however, his title was lost when he announced his conversion to Roman Catholicism.

The grant was viewed by many as a way that Charles could compensate the family for that loss. When George died in 1632, the grant was passed on to his son, Cecil; the colony was named for the wife of Charles, Henrietta Maria, who was a Catholic.

Although the Calvert family wished to create a haven for Catholics, they also recruited Protestants, as they hoped to show that the two could exist together peaceably.

Answer: Bermuda

Although Bermuda was used as a way station by both Portuguese and Spanish sailors, an attempt to actually colonize the island was not made until 1609 - and that was by accident! At that time a Virginia Company Admiral, George Somers, and the Governor of Jamestown, Sir Thomas Gates, left England with a group of settlers that was meant to populate Jamestown. During a storm, they were beached in Bermuda, and stayed there for several months while new ships were built. Bermuda was claimed for England and fell under the charter of the Virginia Company.

When the new ships were ready, all but two of the colonists left for Jamestown. It was 1612 before settlers were sent to Bermuda from England with the intention of beginning a new settlement. Modern Bermudians, however, view 1609 as the date of the beginning of their history.

Answer: Ferryland, Newfoundland

Many different countries - France, Spain, and Portugal - used the area around Ferryland, Newfoundland for fishing stations, however, it was claimed by England in the late 1500s. A number of attempts had been made at colonization, however, it was 1620, when the grant was passed on to Lord Baltimore, that the settlement at Ferryland became the first successful English colony in Newfoundland.

In 1623, James I extended the grant, and the Charter of Avalon reaffirmed that Lord Baltimore had total control over the area.

He choose Ferryland as the main area of settlement, however, it was destroyed in 1696 during the Avalon Peninsula Campaign by New France.

Answer: Province of New York

Originally called New Netherland and settled by the Dutch in 1614, by 1664 Charles II planned to annex the area to "bring all his Kingdoms under one form of government, both in church and state, and to install the Anglican government as in old England".

A small English navy was able to gain control of the area in the same year, and it was granted to Charles's brother, James, the Duke of York, as a royal colony. He never, however, visited or ruled the area; instead, he choose to appoint governors and other officials to rule in his place.

It was not until 1674 that the land was formally ceded to England in the Treaty of Westminster.

Answer: Province of Pennsylvania

William Penn was granted a royal charter by King Charles II; the reason is still debated today. Some sources say that the King wanted to extend English influence; he did issue a statement that he wished to "enlarge our English Empire," to provide useful goods, and to civilize and Christianize the "Savage Natives", however, historians say that all colonies were founded with that intention.

Other reasons were perhaps because the King owed the Penn family a large sum of money, or he just wanted to see members of the Society of Friends, also called Quakers, a religious group that Penn had joined, leave England.

The charter that was issued by King Charles II gave Penn authority to rule his colony, Pennsylvania, for the next seventy-five years. Subsequently, the colony was government by Penn's wife, sons, and grandsons until the American Revolution, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was created.