Unlock hundreds more features
Save your Quiz to the Dashboard
View and Export Results
Use AI to Create Quizzes and Analyse Results

OR
Sign inSign in with Facebook
Sign inSign in with Google
Quizzes > History

APUSH Unit 2 Test: Colonial America, 1607-1754

Quick, free APUSH Unit 2 practice test. Instant results.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Myupgrade TechUpdated Aug 26, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
Grade: Grade 12
Study OutcomesCheat Sheet
Colorful paper art promoting APUSH Unit 2 Blitz practice quiz for high school students.

This APUSH Unit 2 quiz helps you review colonial America (1607-1754) and check your grasp of regions, labor, trade, religion, and Native relations. Work through 20 quick questions to spot weak areas and build speed before test day. For more practice, use APUSH semester 1 review, try an apush practice quiz, or compare topics with a us history unit 2 quiz.

Easy
Which colony was established as the first permanent English settlement in North America?
Jamestown
Roanoke
Providence
Plymouth
Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the first enduring English settlement in North America. Its establishment marked the beginning of English colonization in the region.
What was a primary motive for establishing Jamestown?
Conducting scientific research
Economic profit through resource exploitation
Pursuit of religious freedom
Establishing trade alliances with indigenous peoples
The Virginia Company aimed to generate profits and extract wealth from the New World, which was the central reason behind establishing Jamestown. Economic pursuits took precedence over religious or purely exploratory motives.
Which document established a measure of self-government in colonial Virginia?
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
Mayflower Compact
Virginia Magna Carta
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses, created in 1619, was the first legislative assembly in Virginia and provided a foundation for self-rule in the colonies. It marked an early experiment in representative government.
Which labor practice became increasingly prevalent in the Southern colonies for tobacco cultivation?
Indentured servitude
Sharecropping
Free wage labor
African slavery
Due to labor shortages and the demands of tobacco plantations, African slavery increasingly replaced indentured servitude in the Southern colonies. This trend set the stage for the development of a racialized labor system.
What best describes the mercantilist economic system practiced by European powers during colonization?
A democratic market-driven economy
A system of free trade with minimal regulation
A barter system promoting localized exchange
An economic theory focused on accumulating wealth through controlled trade
Mercantilism was an economic system that emphasized maximizing exports and minimizing imports to benefit the mother country. European powers regulated colonial trade to amass wealth and strengthen national power.
Medium
How did the triangular trade influence colonial economies?
By creating an integrated trade system among Europe, Africa, and the Americas
By isolating the colonies from international markets
By focusing solely on the export of finished goods
By limiting trade exclusively to European goods
The triangular trade interlinked continents by facilitating the exchange of goods, slaves, and raw materials, which was central to colonial economies. This system allowed for economic benefits that shaped the Atlantic world.
What role did the Navigation Acts play in colonial trade?
They restricted colonial trade to benefit England
They promoted free trade among all nations
They abolished customs duties on colonial goods
They encouraged colonists to trade primarily with Spain
The Navigation Acts were designed to ensure that trade profits flowed back to England by restricting colonial trade to English ships and markets. This policy limited economic independence in the colonies.
Which colony was most closely associated with Puritan religious values and the emphasis on education?
South Carolina
New Amsterdam
Virginia
Massachusetts Bay
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by Puritans seeking religious reform, and it placed a strong emphasis on education and community discipline. This focus shaped its political and social institutions significantly.
What was a long-term impact of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia?
It resulted in the immediate collapse of colonial government
It spurred the development of cooperative farming
It led to a shift from indentured servitude to African slavery
It increased the political power of indentured servants
Bacon's Rebellion highlighted the dangers of alliances between indentured servants and enslaved Africans. To prevent future unified uprisings, colonial elites increasingly relied on African slavery, thus altering labor practices.
Which factor most clearly distinguished New England colonies from the Southern colonies?
Diverse climates and varied economic activities
Exclusive reliance on slave labor
Absence of any form of self-governance
Primary focus on mining operations
New England colonies were characterized by a harsher climate and a diversified economy that included trade, fishing, and small-scale farming, contrasting sharply with the plantation-based, slave-reliant economy of the Southern colonies. These regional differences influenced their societal organization.
How did the Great Awakening influence colonial religious practices?
It sparked widespread religious revival and challenged established churches
It reinforced traditional church hierarchies
It led to a decline in church attendance
It resulted in the establishment of a state religion in all colonies
The Great Awakening was a revivalist movement that emphasized personal faith and emotional expression, challenging the established religious order. It led to increased religious fervor and the emergence of new denominations throughout the colonies.
Which statement best describes early interactions between colonists and Native Americans?
Colonists completely assimilated Native American cultures
Native Americans had no significant influence on colonial life
They were consistently harmonious and conflict-free
They involved both trade and periods of violent conflict
Early colonial interactions with Native Americans were complex, involving alliances and trade but also competition and conflicts over resources and land. This dual dynamic critically influenced the development of colonial societies.
How did colonial charters contribute to the development of local self-governance?
They solely focused on commercial regulations
They eliminated all forms of royal authority
They mandated that colonies operate without any local government
They provided the framework for establishing local legislative assemblies
Colonial charters granted the colonies rights to self-rule by establishing structures for local governance, such as legislative assemblies. This legal foundation paved the way for the development of representative government in America.
What was the significance of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut?
They were one of the earliest written constitutions outlining governance
They abolished the colonial government structure
They established mercantilist trade policies
They focused exclusively on religious reforms
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut are recognized as one of the first written constitutions in the colonies, establishing a framework for organized government. This document laid the groundwork for later democratic principles in American governance.
Which factor contributed most significantly to regional differences among the American colonies?
Uniform cultural practices across all regions
Differences in settlement patterns and available regional resources
Identical economic activities in every colony
A single, unified colonial government
Distinct settlement patterns and the diversity of natural resources led to the development of varied regional economies, social structures, and political systems in the colonies. These differences helped shape the unique identities of New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern colonies.
Hard
In what ways did mercantilist policies contribute to colonial dissatisfaction with British economic control?
By restricting free trade and forcing reliance on British markets
By promoting a self-sufficient colonial economy
By encouraging rapid industrial growth in the colonies
By eliminating taxes on colonial goods
Mercantilist policies limited the economic freedom of the colonies by enforcing trade practices that favored the British economy. This restriction on trade and exploitation of colonial resources sowed resentment, laying early groundwork for future resistance.
Evaluate the impact of Bacon's Rebellion on colonial labor practices.
It ended all forms of coercive labor systems
It led to immediate independence from England
It resulted in a shift from indentured servitude to African slavery
It promoted the rise of free labor movements
Bacon's Rebellion exposed vulnerabilities in the labor system by uniting different groups against the colonial elite. In response, colonial authorities increasingly adopted African slavery to create a more controllable and racially divided labor force.
How did the establishment of representative bodies such as the House of Burgesses foreshadow later American democratic developments?
They introduced the practice of elected representation and civic participation
They demonstrated the failure of self-governance in the colonies
They directly led to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution without any intermediate steps
They abolished local self-rule in favor of centralized authority
The House of Burgesses allowed colonists to participate in government through elected representatives, which was a significant step toward self-governance. This early experience with representative institutions laid a crucial foundation for the later development of American democracy.
Analyze how regional economic differences influenced the political structures of the New England and Southern colonies.
Regional economies had negligible influence on political structures
Both regions adopted identical government structures regardless of economic differences
The agrarian South fostered a plantation elite while New England's diverse economy promoted a more communal model of governance
Economic differences solely shaped cultural practices, not political systems
The Southern colonies' reliance on plantation agriculture promoted an elite class that held significant political power, whereas New England's diversified economy encouraged broader civic engagement and community governance. These regional differences were fundamental in shaping distinct political cultures.
Discuss the influence of the Great Awakening on the political ideologies and social reforms in the colonies.
It had no lasting impact on colonial politics and society
It undermined traditional authority and promoted egalitarian ideas that influenced political reforms
It solely focused on religious traditions without affecting social structures
It immediately resulted in the establishment of state-sponsored churches
The Great Awakening challenged established ecclesiastical hierarchies and encouraged ideas of individual equality and democratic participation. These changes extended beyond religion, supporting political ideologies and reforms that would later shape the American political landscape.
0
{"name":"Which colony was established as the first permanent English settlement in North America?", "url":"https://www.quiz-maker.com/QPREVIEW","txt":"Easy, Which colony was established as the first permanent English settlement in North America?, What was a primary motive for establishing Jamestown?","img":"https://www.quiz-maker.com/3012/images/ogquiz.png"}

Study Outcomes

  1. Understand the historical context of key Unit 2 themes.
  2. Analyze primary sources to evaluate their significance.
  3. Apply evidence-based reasoning to explain pivotal events.
  4. Compare and contrast different historical interpretations.
  5. Assess the impact of significant developments on U.S. history.

APUSH Unit 2 Quiz & Review Cheat Sheet

  1. European Colonization Patterns (1607-1754) - Explore how Spain chased gold and missions, France built fur-trading friendships, the Dutch ran commerce hubs, and the English settled farms. These diverse goals shaped colonial interactions and laid cultural foundations for future America.
  2. Mercantilism and the Navigation Acts - Think of mercantilism as Britain's economic playbook to hoard riches by controlling colonial trade. The Navigation Acts restricted shipping to English vessels, fueling smuggling struggles and seeding pre-revolutionary discontent.
  3. Salutary Neglect and Colonial Autonomy - With Britain's lax oversight, colonists honed self-governance skills and nurtured local institutions under "salutary neglect." This hands-off era unintentionally sparked a taste for independence that would later roar to life.
  4. Trans-Atlantic Trade and the Triangular Trade System - The Triangular Trade wove a web of commerce sending rum and goods to Africa, enslaved people to the Americas, and raw materials back to Europe. Its economic boom also had a human cost, highlighting global connections and moral dilemmas in colonial society.
  5. Development of Slavery in the Colonies - After Bacon's Rebellion, colonial elites turned from indentured servants to chattel slavery, creating a lifelong and hereditary system. Slavery became central to the Southern economy and social hierarchy by the mid-1700s.
  6. The First Great Awakening - Dramatic sermons and itinerant preachers in the 1730s - 40s sparked widespread religious enthusiasm across the colonies. This revival promoted ideas of spiritual equality and individual liberty that echoed in later revolutionary thinking.
  7. Colonial Regional Differences - New England's rocky shores bred fishing and trade, the Middle Colonies thrived on grain and cultural diversity, and the South relied on plantation cash crops. These geographic distinctions shaped distinct economies, societies, and colonial identities.
  8. Native American Relations and Conflicts - Colonial expansion led to alliances, trade partnerships, and violent clashes like King Philip's War, reshaping land ownership and cultural exchange. Understanding these interactions reveals the complex and often tragic dynamics of early America.
  9. Impact of the Enlightenment on Colonial Thought - Enlightenment thinkers championed natural rights, social contracts, and government by consent, fueling colonial debates and pamphlets. These ideas provided the intellectual spark for challenging British authority.
  10. Precursors to the American Revolution - A mix of mercantilist tensions, religious revivals, and Enlightenment philosophies converged to heighten colonial grievances. Events like the Stamp Act protests and fiery pamphleteering set the stage for the quest for independence.
Make a Quiz (FREE) Copy & Edit This Quiz Create a Quiz with AI

Social Studies Quizzes

Powered by: Quiz Maker