Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumColonial Society, Culture, and Politics

Source: Report of Royal Commissioner Edward Randolph on the state of the New England colonies, 1676

'The Bostoners... have no regard to the laws for regulating trade, but carry on a free trade to all parts of Europe... they look upon themselves as a free State, and cooperate in no way with the authority of the King, declaring that the laws made by the King and Parliament of England are of no force in America unless approved by their own assembly.'

Which of the following historical developments during the late seventeenth century was a direct British imperial response to the attitudes described in the excerpt?

  1. The creation of the Dominion of New England to enforce imperial regulations and consolidate royal authority.Answer
  2. B
    The deregulation of trade to promote free-market competition among colonial merchants.
  3. C
    The replacement of town meetings with the House of Burgesses to centralize local government.
  4. D
    The transition from indentured servitude to chattel slavery to stabilize the colonial agricultural workforce.

Answer

The creation of the Dominion of New England to enforce imperial regulations and consolidate royal authority.
The correct answer describes the establishment of the Dominion of New England. In response to widespread smuggling, violations of the Navigation Acts, and political defiance in Massachusetts, King James II consolidated the New England colonies (along with New York and New Jersey) into a single administrative unit in 1686 to strengthen imperial control and enforce trade laws.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided stimulus to identify the colonial behaviors and attitudes described by the royal commissioner.
The stimulus describes New England colonists (specifically in Boston) violating trade laws (Navigation Acts) and claiming that English laws do not apply to them unless approved by their own local assembly.
Understanding the core conflict in the source is necessary to link it to the correct imperial response.
2
Recall late seventeenth-century British imperial policies enacted in response to colonial resistance to trade regulations and royal authority in New England.
The crown revoked the charter of Massachusetts Bay and established the Dominion of New England (1686-1689), which suspended local representative assemblies and enforced the Navigation Acts under Governor Edmund Andros.
This identifies the historical action taken by the British government to address the specific problems detailed in the report.
3
Evaluate the options to identify the correct response and rule out distractors based on historical accuracy and regional context.
The creation of the Dominion of New England directly matches the imperial reaction to New England's defiance, while the other choices represent different regions, economic concepts, or social transitions.
Ensures the selected answer is historically correct and directly addresses the prompt.

Key Concept

Imperial attempts to integrate the North American colonies into a coherent, hierarchical imperial structure and the resulting colonial resistance.
Rate this question

Topics

Colonial Society, Culture, and Politics

More questions from this topic