AP US History: Migration & Settlement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Columbian Exchange most directly contributed to which demographic catastrophe in the Americas after 1492?
- The massive death of Indigenous peoples from Old World diseases (Correct answer)
- The collapse of European population from New World plagues
- A sharp decline in African birth rates
- The depopulation of the Iberian Peninsula
Correct answer: The massive death of Indigenous peoples from Old World diseases
Old World diseases like smallpox killed the majority of Indigenous Americans, who had no immunity.
Question 2: The Spanish encomienda system primarily functioned to:
- Grant colonists the labor of Indigenous peoples in exchange for protection and Christianization (Correct answer)
- Distribute free land to African immigrants
- Establish self-governing Native republics
- Promote intermarriage between settlers and natives
Correct answer: Grant colonists the labor of Indigenous peoples in exchange for protection and Christianization
The encomienda forced Indigenous labor for Spanish colonists who were nominally obligated to protect and convert them.
Question 3: Why did the headright system encourage migration to the Chesapeake colonies?
- It granted acreage to anyone who paid passage for new settlers (Correct answer)
- It abolished indentured servitude
- It guaranteed religious freedom
- It provided free enslaved labor to all arrivals
Correct answer: It granted acreage to anyone who paid passage for new settlers
The headright system awarded land per immigrant whose passage was paid, fueling labor recruitment.
Question 4: The Great Migration of the 1630s primarily brought which group to New England?
- Puritan families seeking to build a godly community (Correct answer)
- Catholic refugees from Maryland
- Spanish missionaries
- French fur trappers
Correct answer: Puritan families seeking to build a godly community
Thousands of Puritan families migrated to Massachusetts Bay to establish a religious community.
Question 5: Indentured servitude declined in the late 1600s largely because:
- Improving conditions in England reduced emigration while enslaved Africans became a more permanent labor source (Correct answer)
- Colonial assemblies banned all unfree labor
- Tobacco farming was abandoned
- Servants were granted immediate citizenship
Correct answer: Improving conditions in England reduced emigration while enslaved Africans became a more permanent labor source
Fewer English emigrants and the appeal of perpetual enslaved labor shifted planters toward African slavery.
Question 6: The 'middle passage' refers to:
- The forced transatlantic voyage of enslaved Africans to the Americas (Correct answer)
- The overland trail used by Puritan settlers
- The trade route between Spain and Mexico
- The migration of colonists into the Appalachian backcountry
Correct answer: The forced transatlantic voyage of enslaved Africans to the Americas
The Middle Passage was the brutal sea voyage transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic.
Question 7: New England towns differed from Chesapeake settlements primarily because they were settled by:
- Families clustering in towns around churches rather than scattered single male laborers (Correct answer)
- Wealthy aristocrats avoiding agriculture
- Enslaved laborers governing themselves
- Migrant Catholics seeking gold
Correct answer: Families clustering in towns around churches rather than scattered single male laborers
New England migration centered on family units forming compact, church-centered towns, unlike the dispersed male labor of the Chesapeake.
AP US History: Migration & Settlement 2
The Columbian Exchange most directly contributed to which demographic catastrophe in the Americas after 1492?