In the northeastern region of colonial America called New England, seventeenth-century society consisted largely of farmers who were independent landowners (freeholders). A French visitor remarked that the sense of personal worth and dignity in this rural world of freeholders contrasted sharply with European peasant life.New England farmers were also generally more prosperous than their European counterparts. Yet the threat of deprivation was increasing in New England because the number of residents doubled with each generation, mostly as a result of the high birthrate. The New England colonies had about 100,000 people in 1700,200,000 in 1725, and almost 400,000 by 1750. In long-settled areas, lands that had been ample for the original migrant families had been divided and then subdivided until many parents could no longer provide land for their children. Dispersing the land among many heirs usually meant a decline in living standards.In Concord, Massachusetts, by the 1750sabout 60 percent of farmers owned less land than their fathers had.
1.Based on the remarks of a “French visitor” to New England, which of the following can be inferred about seventeenth-century farmers in Europe?
A.They were becoming more and more threatened by deprivation.
B.They were not particularly proud of their way of life.
C.They were generally more prosperous than colonial New England farmers were.
D.They had a higher birthrate than New England farmers had
2.The author provides the information that in “Concord, Massachusetts by the 1750s, about 60 percent of farmers owned less land than their fathers had” in order to
A.provide evidence that a high birthrate was the main reason for the doubling of New England residents each generation
B.argue that even with land reductions farmers in New England enjoyed a higher standard of living than European peasants
C.suggest that the practice of dividing family land among multiple heirs was more common in certain parts of New England than in others
D.illustrate the effects of the general practice of dividing family land among multiple heirs
Because parents had less to give their children, they had less control over their children’s lives. ▉The system of arranged marriages broke down, and young people often moved to newly settled regions. ▉Farm communities in New England responded to the threat to the ideal of independent land ownership in three basic ways. ▉First many towns petitioned the provincial government for assistance. ▉In1740 Massachusetts farmers unsuccessfully demanded a land bank(a bank that would grant loans based on the value of a farmer’s land)Massachusetts farmers wanted the land bank to provide them with loans and stimulate trade by issuing paper currency. With greater success, they sought new land grants along the frontier. Settlers continually moved inland-into New Hampshire and the future Vermont–hacking new farms out of the virgin forest and creating new communities of freehold farmers.
3.According to paragraph 2, what kind of help did Massachusetts farmers succeed in obtaining from their provincial government?
A.Loans based on the value of their land
B.Assistance in stimulating trade
C.Permission for local banks to issue paper currency
D.Land grants along the frontier
Second, settlers who remained on the original farmsteads planted different crops. Even before 1750 they had replaced the traditional English crops of wheat and barley (for bread and beer) with a grazing economy based on corn, cattle, and hogs. Corn offered a hardy food for humans and its abundant leaves furnished feed for cattle and pigs, which provided milk and meat. The physician William Douglass observed in the 1720s that poor people in New England subsisted on“salt pork and Indian beans, with bread of indian corn meal, and pottage of this meal with milk for breakfast and supper.” After 1750New England farmers raised the output of this mixed-crop grazing economy by planting potatoes, whose high yield offset the disadvantage of smaller farms. Farmers also introduced nutritious English grasses, such as red clover and timothy, to provide food for their livestock and nitrogen for the depleted soil (though they did not know the chemistry). These innovative measures not only averted a food shortage but also generated a surplus for export. New England became the major supplier of salted and pickled meat to the West Indies; in 1770 preserved meat accounted for about five percent of the value of all exports from the mainland colonies.
4.The word “innovative” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.simple
B.new
C.sensible
D.combined
5.According to paragraph 3, what was an important advantage of adding potatoes to the mixed-crop grazing economy?
A.It allowed farmers to stop relying on traditional English crops such as wheat and barley.
B.It provided farmers with a crop that could be used for export.
C.It helped farmers with smaller farms produce enough to survive.
D.It gave poor people a more nutritious alternative to salt pork and Indian beans.
Third, to compensate for the reduced size and limited resources of their properties, farm families not only had fewer children but also increased productivity by helping one another. Men lent each other tools, draft animals (animals that pull heavy loads), and grazing land.Women and children joined other families in spinning yarn, sewing quilts, and preparing corn. Farmers plowed the fields of artisans, who in turn fixed the pots, plows, and furniture brought to them for repair.By sharing labor and goods, New England farmers-and the entire economy–were able to achieve maximum output at the minimum cost.
6.The phrase “compensate for” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.make up for
B.maintain
C.survive
D.prepare for
7.According to paragraph 4, farm families helped each other in all of the following ways EXCEPT
A.working together at spinning yarn and sewing quilts
B.lending each other tools and draft animals
C.teaching each other how to make furniture
D.sharing grazing land
This system of economy and exchange–the “household mode of production,”as one historian has called it–worked well because New England was a homogeneous, close-knit society. Typically, no money changed hands between relatives or neighbors, but instead, farmers.artisans, and shopkeepers recorded debts and credits in personal account books, and every few years the accounts were “balanced’ through the transfer of small amounts of cash.Thus,New England farmers avoided a social crisis and preserved their freehold society well into the nineteenth century.
8.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A.Typically, relatives and neighbors did not exchange money, but debts to farmers, artisans, and shopkeepers were paid immediately in cash.
B.Typically, people kept only small amounts of cash available.because they did most of their business through exchanges with relatives and neighbors.
C.Typically, people balanced their personal account books, in which they recorded debts, credits, and any transfers of cash, only every few years.
D.Typically, people kept track of their debts and credits for a while and then money was used only to make up any difference between the two.
9.Look at the four squares[▊] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.Where would the sentence best fit?
These examples illustrate how the pattern of reduced landownership also affected traditional family relationships in New England communities
10.Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below.Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This questions is worth 2 points.New England society in the seventeenth century consisted largely of relatively prosperous farmers who owned their own land.
A.European visitors were impressed by how quickly the freehold farmers had become as successful as European peasants, but they warned that the threat of deprivation in New England was increasing.
B.New England farmers did not know enough chemistry to realize that what their depleted land needed was additional nitrogen or that this could be supplied by planting nutritious grasses to feed their livestock
C.As a result of switching from a mixed-crop economy to an economy based mainly on cattle and hogs, New England became the major supplier of preserved meat to the West Indies by 1770.
D.By the 1750s, high birthrates and the practice of dividing farmland among a farmer’s heirs had reduced the size of the average farm enough to threaten the existence of New England freehold society
E.New England farmers got limited economic help from the government and many moved inland, cutting forests for farmland and establishing new communities of freehold farmers.
F.By switching to crops better suited to smaller farms, by having fewer children, and by sharing labor and goods, farmers in long-settled areas greatly increased productivity and thus avoided a social crisis.
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