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Difficulty: MediumChesapeake and Southern Colonies

In his 1671 report on the state of Virginia, Governor William Berkeley wrote:

'The same course is taken here, for providing for the poor, as in England; they are provided for by each parish... but, I thank God, there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them... God keep us from both!'

The perspective expressed in the excerpt best reflects which of the following characteristics of the Chesapeake and Southern colonies?

  1. A
    The belief that community literacy and public education were essential to fostering religious conformity and democratic self-governance.
  2. The development of a highly stratified social hierarchy dominated by a wealthy planter elite who sought to preserve their political authority.Answer
  3. C
    The standardizing of legal codes that granted indentured servants the same permanent, hereditary status as enslaved laborers to stabilize the workforce.
  4. D
    The desire of colonial leaders to promote industrial manufacturing and local free-market enterprise independent of the English crown.

Answer

The development of a highly stratified social hierarchy dominated by a wealthy planter elite who sought to preserve their political authority.
The correct answer is the option stating that Berkeley's views reflect the development of a highly stratified social hierarchy dominated by a wealthy planter elite. In the Chesapeake and Southern colonies, the political and economic system was dominated by a small group of wealthy planters. These elites sought to maintain social stability and political control over a large laboring class—which included poor white settlers, indentured servants, and increasingly, enslaved Africans—by limiting institutions like public schools and printing presses that could foster dissent, spread information, or encourage organization among the lower classes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze Governor Berkeley's statement in the historical context of seventeenth-century Virginia.
Berkeley's remarks express strong hostility toward free schools and printing, arguing that they lead to social disobedience and religious heresy.
Understanding Berkeley's perspective requires identifying how restricted access to information served the interests of ruling colonial elites.
2
Evaluate the social structure of the Chesapeake and Southern colonies during the seventeenth century.
These colonies developed a highly unequal social hierarchy dominated by wealthy plantation owners who controlled local government and resources, relying on a massive underclass of indentured servants and enslaved laborers.
This contextual information explains why a royal governor would oppose educational institutions that might empower the lower classes.
3
Select the option that connects Berkeley's opposition to printing with the social and political structure of the region.
The correct answer identifies that restricting printing and education was a means of preserving the political authority of the wealthy planter elite over a highly stratified society.
This directly demonstrates mastery of the social dynamics and power structures of the Chesapeake and Southern colonies.

Key Concept

Chesapeake and Southern Colonies Social Structure
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Chesapeake and Southern Colonies

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