Deck 4: The Economic Relations of the Colonies

Question 1

Which of the following most accurately describes what the text implies about mercantilists?

A) They tried to build up the military power of their economies.
B) They tried to produce full employment.
C) They confused gold and silver with true wealth.
D) They were merely spokesmen for special interest groups.

Answer 1

They confused gold and silver with true wealth.

Question 2

The aims of mercantilists do not include

A) achieving power and wealth for the state.
B) achieving political and economic unity.
C) keeping artisans in the home country.
D) All of the above were aims of the mercantilists.

Answer 2

All of the above were aims of the mercantilists.

Question 3

The Middle Colonies' exports went primarily to

A) the United Kingdom.
B) continental Europe.
C) the West Indies.
D) Africa .

Answer 3

the West Indies.

Question 4

Mercantilists wanted a favorable balance of trade, by which they meant

A) exports = imports.
B) exports > imports.
C) exports
D) To import nothing from the colonies.

Question 5

In 1768-72, the top ten commodity exports of the thirteen colonies included

A) tobacco
B) bread and flour
C) fish
D) horses
E) All of the above were among the top ten exports.

Question 6

Under the British Navigation Acts, enumerated goods were a list of colonial _______.

A) exports showing how dependent the British were on the colonies.
B) imports showing how dependent the colonies were on Britain.
C) exports that had to be shipped through British middlemen.
D) exports that were reserved for the crown.

Question 7

The Southern Colonies' exports went primarily to

A) the United Kingdom.
B) continental Europe.
C) the West Indies.
D) Africa .

Question 8

A nation practicing mercantilism aims to

A) keep the government out of the economy.
B) establish an excess of exports over imports.
C) balance imports with exports.
D) replace gold and silver with paper money.
E) reduce the size of the military sector.

Question 9

England 's mercantilist principals

A) were active from the early 1600s.
B) were active from the early 1700s.
C) were a response to Spanish tariffs.
D) were pursued by Charles II after 1685.

Question 10

According to the mercantilists, colonies were supposed to export ________ and import ________ from _______.

A) manufactured products, raw materials, the mother country.
B) raw materials, manufactured products, countries outside the empire.
C) manufactured products, raw materials, countries outside the empire.
D) raw materials, manufactured products, the mother country.

Question 11

During the colonial period, commodities that could only be exported legally to Britain were known as _______.

A) Foxwell goods.
B) tariff goods.
C) scot-free goods.
D) enumerated goods.

Question 12

Which of the following positions might be taken by the ruler of a nation practicing mercantilism?

A) support of the merchant marine sector
B) support for the elimination of trade barriers such as tariffs
C) support for the reduction of government holdings of specie
D) discouragement of exploration and colonization
E) All of the above.

Question 13

The Navigation Acts

A) required certain commodities to be traded within the British empire only.
B) provided for the free trade of colonial goods, including tobacco, indigo and sugar.
C) required all colonial trade to be carried on English vessels.
D) were abolished in 1700.
E) both a and c are correct.

Question 14

New England 's exports went primarily to

A) the United Kingdom.
B) continental Europe.
C) the West Indies.
D) frica.

Question 15

During the colonial period, "enumerated goods" included

A) tobacco.
B) sugar.
C) indigo.
D) cotton.
E) All of the above.

Question 16

Mercantilists believed that national economic power could be achieved best by _______.

A) confiscating church lands and selling them to private businesses.
B) freeing business from government regulation.
C) having the government supply the infrastructure for the economy, while leaving private enterprise alone in other spheres.
D) strictly regulating economic life.

Question 17

Which of the following regions obtained most of its imported goods from the United Kingdom?

A) the New England colonies
B) the Middle colonies
C) the upper Southern colonies
D) the lower Southern colonies
E) All of the above.

Question 18

New England 's imports came primarily from

A) the United Kingdom.
B) continental Europe.
C) the West Indies.
D) Africa.

Question 19

The Navigation Acts

A) placed tariffs on the import of British goods by the colonies.
B) prohibited trade between the British West Indies and the colonies.
C) allowed colonial trade on British ships commanded by foreign captains.
D) encouraged trade between the colonies and the Dutch.
E) None of the above is correct.

Question 20

Mercantilism was an economic policy that called for

A) the use of taxes and subsidies to control trade.
B) leaving economic decisions to the free market.
C) laissez faire.
D) the elimination of private property.

Question 21

In terms of exports from the colonies, ______ and ______ were the top two trading partners.

A) the United Kingdom; Africa
B) Southern Europe; the West Indies
C) the West Indies; the United Kingdom
D) the United kingdom; Southern Europe.

Question 22

A notable and unique feature of the colonial monetary system was

A) the use of minted silver coins.
B) An early form of "credit card.".
C) the use of a widely accepted paper currency.
D) the development of checking accounts issued by private commercial banks.

Question 23

Colonists owned the vast majority of the tonnage shipped between

A) New England and the West Indies.
B) England and the West Indies.
C) The Middle colonies and England.
D) The South and the West Indies.

Question 24

Types of money used by colonists included all of the following except

A) gold and silver coins.
B) bills of exchange.
C) bills of credit.
D) government-issued fiat currency.

Question 25

During the colonial period, the largest cities were typically

A) port towns.
B) located in the hinterland.
C) in the South.
D) landlocked.

Question 26

What statement most accurately describes the U.S. colonial economy in the 1700s?

A) The Middle Colonies had big trade surpluses from their large shipments of food.
B) The majority of the population lived in the large urban areas along the Atlantic coast.
C) Once indentured servants completed their indentures, they moved to the lower South, where the agricultural productivity was highest.
D) Colonial America was the first region in the world to use paper money after 1500.

Question 27

What was not a problem with using commodity money in the US colonies prior to 1700?

A) Very few people were willing to accept commodities as payment.
B) Commodity spoilage rates were high.
C) Controlling the quality of payments made with commodities.
D) High storage costs of commodities.

Question 28

Shuttle routes for colonial trade

A) lowered labor costs.
B) reduced delays and costly extensions of port times.
C) were more common than triangular trade patterns.
D) allowed captains to negotiate with a small number of familiar trading partners.
E) All of the above.

Question 29

In exchange with merchants from England, colonial paper money typically was _________ their face value.

A) greater than
B) less than
C) equal to
D) a fixed percentage of

Question 30

New England shippers faced higher labor costs than English shippers

A) in trade between the Southern colonies and England.
B) in trade between the West Indies and England.
C) in trade between New England and England.
D) in all trade with England.

Question 31

In terms of imports to the colonies, ______ and ______ were the top two trading partners.

A) the United Kingdom; Africa
B) Southern Europe; the West Indies
C) the West Indies; the United Kingdom
D) the United kingdom; Southern Europe.

Question 32

____________ were the most common form of specie used in the colonies.

A) Coins issued by the English mint
B) Coins issued by the Spanish mint
C) Coins issued by New England's mint.
D) Coins issued by privately-owned colonial mints.

Question 33

The only historical precursor to colonial money can be found in

A) ancient Rome.
B) ancient China.
C) the Inca Empire.
D) ancient Egypt.

Question 34

In 1776, ______________ was the most populated colonial city.

A) New York
B) Philadelphia
C) Charleston
D) Boston

Question 35

During the English civil war in the 1640s, the _____ made great inroads into the carrying trade.

A) Italians
B) Dutch
C) Spanish
D) French

Question 36

Why did Pennsylvania court settlements of contracts written in sterling in the middle of the eighteenth century use the current market value rather than the par value?

A) to protect colonists from the avarice of English merchants
B) to help colonial merchants dodge customs
C) to give colonial merchants a clear advantage in their trade with English merchants
D) to protect English merchants from being paidin unanticipated, depreciated paper money.
E) All of the above.

Question 37

According to research by James Shepherd and Samuel Williamson, colonial coastal commerce comprised about _________ of the volume of total overseas trade.

A) one-tenth
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) three-fourths

Question 38

Early forms of colonial money included

A) wampum.
B) tobacco.
C) furs and hides.
D) musket balls.
E) All of the above.

Question 39

Problems with the use of commodity money include:

A) quality control.
B) storage difficulties.
C) inconvenience.
D) spoilage.
E) All of the above.

Question 40

Which of the following statements correctly characterizes the colonial commodity trade deficit?

A) The Middle colonies had the largest commodity trade deficit.
B) The Southern colonies exported more to Great Britain & Ireland than they imported.
C) The colonies experienced commodity trade deficits not only in their trade with England, but also in trade with Southern Europe and Africa.
D) The colonies had a commodity trade deficit with Great Britain, but a commodity trade surplus once all trades were taken into account.

Question 41

The use of commodity money

A) has a high opportunity cost.
B) does not provide an adequate unit of account.
C) creates a mutual coincidence of wants problem.
D) creates inflation.
E) All of the above.

Question 42

The most important source of foreign exchange earnings to offset the colonial deficit with England was

A) insurance charges and merchant commissions.
B) the sale of ships.
C) the sale of colonial shipping services.
D) inflows of sterling from British forces stationed in the colonies.

Question 43

The colonies as a whole had a significant commodity import deficit in their trade with England.  The least important source of foreign exchange earnings to offset this trade deficit was

A) insurance charges and merchant commissions.
B) the sale of ships.
C) the sale of colonial shipping services.
D) military and civic expenditures.

Question 44

Capital formation in the colonies was mostly due to

A) savings and investments from the colonists themselves.
B) capital inflows from English merchants.
C) capital inflows from the English crown.
D) capital inflows from international sources other than England.

Question 45

The annual colonial trade deficit  could be financed with

A) an inflow of specie.
B) paper money.
C) earnings from  shipping and mercantile services.
D) payments made to a few very wealthy colonists.

Question 46

The colonies as a whole had a significant commodity trade deficit with England.  In order to finance this deficit the colonies relied on all of the following sources of income

A) a commodity trade surplus with Southern Europe.
B) the sale of colonial shipping services.
C) mining of gold and silver that were used to make Colonial coins.
D) British government spending in the colonies.

Question 47

____________ solves the mutual coincidence of wants problem.

A) Barter
B) Mercantilism
C) Free trade
D) Money