Quiz for Sources for America’s History, Part 2

Question

1. A historian would regard Olaudah Equiano’s account of his journey from Africa to Barbados (Document P2-1) as a particularly valuable source for understanding which of the following?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. Historians have used Olaudah Equiano’s account of his journey to gain an understanding of the “middle passage” from the point of view of the enslaved Africans who endured it.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Historians have used Olaudah Equiano’s account of his journey to gain an understanding of the “middle passage” from the point of view of the enslaved Africans who endured it.

Question

2. Christen Janzen’s 1711 letter describing his new life in North Carolina (Document P2-2) was most likely written for which of the following reasons?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Janzen’s letter is a simple report of his journey to America and a description of the benefits and disadvantages he experienced as a new resident of North Carolina. He neither sugarcoats his experience nor exaggerates its negative elements, and although he gives advice that potential migrants might have found useful, he does not try convince his countrymen to either leave or stay in Germany.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Janzen’s letter is a simple report of his journey to America and a description of the benefits and disadvantages he experienced as a new resident of North Carolina. He neither sugarcoats his experience nor exaggerates its negative elements, and although he gives advice that potential migrants might have found useful, he does not try convince his countrymen to either leave or stay in Germany.

Question

3. Taken together, the stories of Olaudah Equiano (Document P2-1), Christen Janzen (Document P2-2), and Thomas Hellier (Document P2-3) provide evidence to support which of the following conclusions?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. The evidence from these three narratives leads to the conclusion that immigrants’ experiences in this period varied dramatically according to their race and economic status. Equiano’s experience was determined primarily by his status as an enslaved African. Janzen’s experiences were shaped by his European origins and his economic resources, which allowed him to acquire property and exercise considerable agency in his new home. Hellier’s experiences were also shaped by his European origins and lack of economic resources, which led to his servitude, his limited choices, and the tragic circumstances that followed.
Incorrect. The answer is b. The evidence from these three narratives leads to the conclusion that immigrants’ experiences in this period varied dramatically according to their race and economic status. Equiano’s experience was determined primarily by his status as an enslaved African. Janzen’s experiences were shaped by his European origins and his economic resources, which allowed him to acquire property and exercise considerable agency in his new home. Hellier’s experiences were also shaped by his European origins and lack of economic resources, which led to his servitude, his limited choices, and the tragic circumstances that followed.

Question

4. “A Ballad of Pigwacket” (Document P2-4) was written to pay homage to the American colonists who died in the 1725 battle but also to do which of the following?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. The song was written not only to pay homage to Captain Lovewell and his men who died in the battle, but also to reinforce the notion that the Abenaki’s brutality justified the need to make war against them.
Incorrect. The answer is a. The song was written not only to pay homage to Captain Lovewell and his men who died in the battle, but also to reinforce the notion that the Abenaki’s brutality justified the need to make war against them.

Question

5. The journal of James Kenny (Document P2-5) provides evidence to support which of the following conclusions about the impact of the Great War for Empire on Native Americans in western Pennsylvania?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. This passage from Kenny’s journal describes the growing presence of British North American colonists and their institutions in western Pennsylvania in the mid-1760s and the deleterious impact of that presence on Native Americans as a group. Native Americans had aided the British in their victory against the French, but in the end, that victory only accelerated colonists’ dominance in the region.
Incorrect. The answer is d. This passage from Kenny’s journal describes the growing presence of British North American colonists and their institutions in western Pennsylvania in the mid-1760s and the deleterious impact of that presence on Native Americans as a group. Native Americans had aided the British in their victory against the French, but in the end, that victory only accelerated colonists’ dominance in the region.