Deck 3: Colonial Economic Activities

Question 1

During the colonial period the cost of building a ship in New England was typically _________ the cost of building the same ship in England.

A)greater than
B)less than
C)about equal to
D)not comparable to

Answer 1

less than

Question 2

The fishing and whaling occupations in the early colonies

A)never amounted to a significant economic force.
B)were a major influence in the early colonial economy.
C)developed into a significant economic force only in the eighteenth century.
D)were mixed in their economic impact,with fishing being the least important.

Answer 2

were a major influence in the early colonial economy.

Question 3

The colonial production of ________ had a high fixed cost because it required an initial heavy investment in capital.

A)tobacco
B)rice
C)indigo
D)cotton

Answer 3

tobacco

Question 4

What was the most fundamental relationship among most Native American tribes,including the Iroquois?

A)Mother-daughter.
B)Husband-wife.
C)Father-son.
D)Chief-warrior.

Question 5

The soil of the Middle Colonies is generally

A)rocky and poor.
B)fertile and difficult to till.
C)fertile and easy to till.
D)alkeline and poorly drained.

Question 6

Which was the least prominent crop grown in the colonial US?

A)Tobacco.
B)Sugar.
C)Wheat.
D)Rice.

Question 7

The original reasons for founding the colony of Georgia do not include

A)alleviating London of some of its poorer people.
B)being a partial remedy to the injustice of debtor prisons.
C)providing a buffer between the English and Spanish colonies.
D)being a scheme to take advantage of desperate families.

Question 8

What was not true about the New England colonial economy?

A)It was the leading fishing industry in the colonies.
B)It was a net importer of food.
C)It was the leading colonial shipping industry in the colonies.
D)It was the most productive area in terms of agriculture.

Question 9

All of the following were important colonial industries except:

A)fishing and fish packing
B)production of ships' stores
C)manufacturing of finished iron goods
D)shipbuilding

Question 10

In colonial Georgia,

A)communal agriculture was successful.
B)cotton plantations were flourishing by the early 1700s.
C)the slave population assisted free colonists in defending the Florida border.
D)slavery was initially prohibited.

Question 11

The only mineral that was available in any significant quantity in colonial America was:

A)Gold.
B)Silver.
C)Iron.
D)Coal.

Question 12

During the colonial period,this region specialized in grain production,primarily using family farms:

A)the Middle colonies
B)the Southern colonies
C)the New England colonies
D)Newfoundland

Question 13

The primary reason for the success of the colonial shipbuilding industry was

A)the plentiful supply of skilled labor.
B)low wages in the American shipbuilding industry.
C)a plentiful supply of iron ore.
D)the close proximity of raw materials,especially lumber.

Question 14

Agricultural staples of the colonial South included

A)rice.
B)tobacco.
C)indigo.
D)All of the above.

Question 15

What was not true about the economy of the Middle Colonies?

A)It was a net importer of food.
B)The farms were generally smaller than those in the South.
C)The crops did not have large economies of scale.
D)Its main agricultural products were grains.

Question 16

The wealthiest occupational groups in North America included

A)merchants in New England.
B)merchants in the Middle colonies.
C)large land-holding planters in the South.
D)All of the above.

Question 17

Which was a common sociopolitical/economic feature of Colonial America?

A)difficulty in the expansion of agriculture
B)commercial production of finished metal parts,such as sewing needles
C)legislation that gave favorable terms to the import of machinery from England
D)significant improvement of infrastructure,especially roads
E)None of the above is correct.

Question 18

Which of the following was not an export of the Southern colonies?

A)deerskins
B)bulk unfinished iron
C)indigo
D)rice
E)All of the above were exports from the Southern colonies.

Question 19

Which colony was the last of the original 13 to be founded,and was designed to assist those who owed debts in the Old World?

A)Georgia.
B)Rhode Island.
C)Florida.
D)Pennsylvania.

Question 20

Residents of the developing American colonies lived _______ lives compared to people living in the advanced countries of that time because ________.

A)better;of favorable protections from England
B)better;of high levels of output per worker.
C)worse;of unfavorable taxation
D)worse;of the inaccessibility of both capital and finished machine goods.

Question 21

If a product exhibits decreasing returns to scale,then the average cost of making the product will ______ as a company produces more of it?

A)Increase.
B)Decrease.
C)Remain the same.
D)There is insufficient information provided to ANSWER the question.

Question 22

If a product exhibits increasing returns to scale,then the average cost of making the product will ______ as a company produces more of it?

A)Increase.
B)Decrease.
C)Remain the same.
D)There is insufficient information provided to answer the question.

Question 23

Suppose the only input in agriculture is time and the following chart depicts the time it took for the Middle Colonies and New England to produce barley and milk.Using the principle of comparative advantage,what would be the most efficient solution?
Time Required to Produce:
$\begin{array}{ccc}\text { Time to produce: } & \begin{array}{c}\text { New } \\\text { England }\end{array} & \begin{array}{c}\text { Middle } \\\text { Colonies }\end{array} \\\hline 1 \text { ton of barley } & 4 \text { hours } & 5 \text { hours } \\1 \text { ton of milk } & 3 \text { hours } & 6 \text { hours } \\\hline\end{array}$

A)New England produces both barley and milk.
B)New England produces barley and the Middle Colonies produce milk.
C)New England produces milk and the Middle Colonies produce barley.
D)There is insufficient information given to determine comparative advantage.