The 13 Colonies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harsh winters brought famine and disease.

Because the colonists were not well prepared for the conditions of setting up a new colony in North America, they suffered under the harsh winter and did not have the necessary food or medicine to enable them to survive.

Answer: Wheat, barley and oats

Although tobacco, rice, and indigo were primary crops in the southern colonies, wheat, barley and oats sustained life in the middle colonies.

Answer: Indentured servants

Most labor was fulfilled by indentured servants, people whose passage to America was paid by a colonist who needed workers. The indentured servants would then work for the person who paid their way for 5-7 years, depending on the agreement.

Answer: Thomas Hooker

Thomas Hooker, a minister, wrote the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which provided for a democratic government.

Answer: mercantilism

England founded the early colonies to expand their trade to make more money. They practiced mercantilism by making sure there were fewer imports than exports to create more wealth for England.

Answer: French

The French and English settlements fought for more land and control of the Ohio River Valley to increase their control of the new land.

Answer: The terms of George Washington's surrender of Fort Necessity to the French.

As there was unrest and tension in the Ohio River Valley, George Washington was in command of Virginia militiamen who built a small fort named Fort Necessity. They discovered French troops and a skirmish broke out. After Washington's troops suffered many losses, Washington surrendered and the terms of his capitulation triggered the French and Indian War.

Answer: Colonists were unhappy with taxes and British laws and they were prepared to stand against them.

Bostonians were furious with the taxes and laws imposed on them by the British parliament. As an act of rebellion, they dressed as Native Americans and dumped English tea in the harbor to hit the pockets of the British government and to make it clear that they were willing to go to great lengths to resist unfair laws.

Answer: The Intolerable Acts

After the Boston Tea Party, Britain enacted the Coercive Acts that punished the colony of Massachusetts. The colonists called them "intolerable" because they felt they were very harsh and completely unacceptable.

Answer: Bostonians had to clean the harbor and recover the tea.

There were several punishments the Intolerable Acts or Coercive Acts outlined including: closing the Boston Harbor until lost tea was paid for, the Massachusetts charter was cancelled, colonists had to house British soldiers, Quebec was given land that belonged to the Massachusetts colony, General Thomas Gage was appointed as the new governor, and any British officials being held for crimes were sent back to Britain to face an English court, which would give them a lighter sentence, if any at all.