Edexcel GCSE History · Option P2

British America, 1713–83: empire and revolution

50 exam-style questions with answers for Option P2 British America, 1713–83: empire and revolution in Edexcel GCSE History (spec 1HI0). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Option P2, Key topic 1.1
Describe the pattern of settlement in the colonies, 1713–41. [2 marks]
Answer:
Settlers spread inland from the coast as the population grew rapidly (1); new immigrants such as Germans and Scots-Irish settled on the western frontier (1).
Question 2 · Option P2, Key topic 1.1
State two sources of tension between social groups in the colonies. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: frontier settlers resented coastal elites who controlled the assemblies (1); conflict between settlers and Indigenous peoples over land (1); fear of enslaved people (1); religious differences between groups (1).
Question 3 · Option P2, Key topic 1.1
Explain why tobacco was important to the colonies. [2 marks]
Answer:
It was the main export of Virginia and Maryland, sold to Britain (1); it made planters rich and increased demand for enslaved labour (1).
Question 4 · Option P2, Key topic 1.1
Who was Edward Teach? [1 mark]
Answer:
The pirate 'Blackbeard', who attacked shipping off the Carolinas and Virginia until he was killed in 1718.
Question 5 · Option P2, Key topic 1.1
Who was 'Black Sam' Bellamy? [1 mark]
Answer:
A wealthy pirate who captured many ships in the Caribbean before drowning when his ship, the Whydah, sank off Cape Cod in 1717.
Question 6 · Option P2, Key topic 1.1
Explain why piracy was a problem for the colonies. [2 marks]
Answer:
Pirates attacked merchant ships, disrupting trade with Britain and the West Indies (1); some colonists bought stolen goods, so piracy was hard to stamp out (1).
Question 7 · Option P2, Key topic 1.1
How did King George I's Proclamation (1717) deal with piracy? [1 mark]
Answer:
It offered a pardon to pirates who surrendered within a year.
Question 8 · Option P2, Key topic 1.1
What was the role of Governor Spotswood in suppressing piracy? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Governor of Virginia sent the naval force that killed Blackbeard in 1718.
Question 9 · Option P2, Key topic 1.2
Describe the 'Atlantic trade triangle'. [2 marks]
Answer:
Ships took manufactured goods from Britain to West Africa to exchange for enslaved people (1); enslaved people were taken to the Americas and sugar, tobacco and rice were carried back to Britain (1).
Question 10 · Option P2, Key topic 1.2
Explain why slavery was important to tobacco and rice plantations. [2 marks]
Answer:
Plantations needed large amounts of hard labour (1); enslaved people were cheaper than indentured servants in the long term, so planters relied on them (1).
Question 11 · Option P2, Key topic 1.2
Describe the position of enslaved people in colonial society. [2 marks]
Answer:
They were treated as property and had no legal rights (1); slave codes controlled their movement and punished them harshly (1).
Question 12 · Option P2, Key topic 1.2
How were fugitive slaves treated in the colonies? [2 marks]
Answer:
Patrols hunted runaways and advertised rewards for their capture (1); recaptured fugitives faced whipping, branding or mutilation (1).
Question 13 · Option P2, Key topic 1.3
What was the Stono Rebellion (1739)? [2 marks]
Answer:
The largest slave rebellion in the British colonies, in South Carolina (1); about 60 enslaved people marched south towards Spanish Florida, killing over 20 white colonists, before they were defeated (1).
Question 14 · Option P2, Key topic 1.3
Explain why Spain's protection of runaways in Florida was significant. [2 marks]
Answer:
Spain promised freedom to runaways who reached Florida (1); this encouraged escape and revolts such as Stono, making Carolina planters fearful (1).
Question 15 · Option P2, Key topic 1.3
What was the New York Conspiracy (1741)? [2 marks]
Answer:
After a series of fires, enslaved people and poor white people were accused of plotting a revolt (1); over 30 people were executed (1).
Question 16 · Option P2, Key topic 1.3
Why was smuggling common in the colonies? [2 marks]
Answer:
British laws said colonists must trade only through Britain, which made goods expensive (1); customs officers were few and often bribed (1).
Question 17 · Option P2, Key topic 2.1
What was the Great Awakening? [2 marks]
Answer:
A religious revival in the 1730s and 1740s (1); preachers such as George Whitefield drew huge crowds with emotional sermons (1).
Question 18 · Option P2, Key topic 2.1
Describe two effects of the Enlightenment in the colonies. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: more colleges and schools (1); growth of newspapers (1); public libraries (1); interest in science and reason (1).
Question 19 · Option P2, Key topic 2.1
State two reasons why Benjamin Franklin was significant. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: he published Poor Richard's Almanack and a newspaper (1); he set up the first subscription library (1); his experiments on electricity made him famous (1); he founded a hospital and fire company (1).
Question 20 · Option P2, Key topic 2.2
What was King George's War (1744–48)? [2 marks]
Answer:
A war between Britain and France in North America (1); colonists captured the French fortress of Louisbourg, but it was handed back to France in the peace treaty (1).
Question 21 · Option P2, Key topic 2.2
What was Wolfe's role in the war? [2 marks]
Answer:
General Wolfe led the British attack on Quebec in 1759 (1); he was killed, but the victory at the Plains of Abraham led to Britain taking Canada (1).
Question 22 · Option P2, Key topic 2.2
What did the Treaty of Paris (1763) give Britain? [1 mark]
Answer:
Canada and all French land east of the Mississippi, plus Florida from Spain.
Question 23 · Option P2, Key topic 2.2
What was the Proclamation of 1763? [1 mark]
Answer:
It banned settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Question 24 · Option P2, Key topic 2.3
Explain how the French and Indian War changed relations between colonists and Britain. [2 marks]
Answer:
Britain had huge war debts and wanted the colonists to pay for their defence (1); colonists no longer needed British protection from France, so they were less willing to obey (1).
Question 25 · Option P2, Key topic 2.3
What was the Sugar Act (1764)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A duty on molasses with stricter enforcement against smuggling.
Question 26 · Option P2, Key topic 2.3
Why did colonists oppose the Sugar Act? [2 marks]
Answer:
It hit trade with the West Indies and the rum industry (1); colonists argued Parliament had no right to tax them as they had no MPs (1).
Question 27 · Option P2, Key topic 2.3
What was Pontiac’s War (1763)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A Native American rising against British forts in the Great Lakes region.
Question 28 · Option P2, Key topic 2.3
Who were the Paxton Boys? [2 marks]
Answer:
Frontier settlers in Pennsylvania who murdered peaceful Conestoga Native Americans in 1763 (1); they then marched on Philadelphia, showing tension between frontier and coastal colonists (1).
Question 29 · Option P2, Key topic 3.1
What was the Stamp Act (1765)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A tax on printed materials, the first direct tax on the colonies.
Question 30 · Option P2, Key topic 3.1
Who were the Sons of Liberty? [1 mark]
Answer:
A group that organised protests, often violent, against British laws.
Question 31 · Option P2, Key topic 3.1
What was the Boston Massacre (1770)? [1 mark]
Answer:
British soldiers killed five colonists.
Question 32 · Option P2, Key topic 3.1
What was the Boston Tea Party (1773)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Colonists dumped East India Company tea in Boston harbour in protest at the Tea Act.
Question 33 · Option P2, Key topic 3.1
What were the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Laws closing Boston port and restricting self-government in Massachusetts.
Question 34 · Option P2, Key topic 3.1
What was the First Continental Congress (1774)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A meeting of colonial delegates that organised a boycott of British goods.
Question 35 · Option P2, Key topic 3.1
What did the Second Continental Congress do (1775)? [2 marks]
Answer:
It set up the Continental Army with George Washington as commander (1); in 1776 it adopted the Declaration of Independence (1).
Question 36 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
What was Common Sense (1776)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Thomas Paine’s pamphlet arguing for independence and a republic.
Question 37 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
When was the Declaration of Independence adopted? [1 mark]
Answer:
4 July 1776.
Question 38 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
Who was Thomas Jefferson? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Virginian who wrote most of the Declaration of Independence.
Question 39 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
What happened at Saratoga (1777)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Burgoyne surrendered, which brought France into the war.
Question 40 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
What happened at Yorktown (1781)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Cornwallis surrendered to Washington and the French.
Question 41 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
Who was George Washington? [1 mark]
Answer:
Commander of the Continental Army and the first President (1789–1797).
Question 42 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
State two British mistakes in the War of Independence. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: poor coordination between generals, as at Saratoga (1); underestimating the colonists (1); long supply lines across the Atlantic (1); failing to win over Loyalists (1).
Question 43 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
What was the role of France in the war? [1 mark]
Answer:
France allied with the Americans from 1778, providing troops, money and its navy.
Question 44 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
What role did Spain play in the War of Independence? [1 mark]
Answer:
Spain joined the war against Britain in 1779 as an ally of France, attacking British territory such as Florida.
Question 45 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
What did the Treaty of Paris (1783) agree? [1 mark]
Answer:
Britain recognised American independence.
Question 46 · Option P2, Key topic 3.2
What was Franklin's role in the Peace of Paris (1783)? [1 mark]
Answer:
He helped negotiate the treaty in which Britain recognised American independence.
Question 47 · Option P2, Key topic 3.3
Explain why American independence was significant for slavery. [2 marks]
Answer:
Northern states began to abolish slavery (1); but slavery continued in the South and was protected (1).
Question 48 · Option P2, Key topic 3.3
State two consequences of the war for Indigenous peoples. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: most had sided with Britain and were left without protection (1); Britain gave their land to the USA in 1783 without consulting them (1); settlers moved west onto their land (1).
Question 49 · Option P2, Key topic 3.3
Who were the Loyalists? [1 mark]
Answer:
Colonists who supported Britain; many left after the war.
Question 50 · Option P2, Key topic 3.3
Where did many Loyalists resettle after 1783? [1 mark]
Answer:
In British Canada, especially Nova Scotia and Niagara.

← Option P1 Spain and the ‘New World’, c1490–c1555 Option P3 The American West, c1835–c1895 →

British America, 1713–83: empire and revolution

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