Question

Which of the following best describes the pattern of immigration into Britains North American colonies during the years 1620 to 1770?

• A. Largely English in the seventeenth century, non-English in the eighteenth century.
• B. Chiefly of English origin during the whole period
• C. Largely non-English in the seventeenth century, English in the eighteenth century
• D. Predominantly from southern and eastern Europe, especially after 1700
• E. Predominantly from Asia, Africa, and Spanish America, especially after 1650

Answer 1

The correct option is A Largely English in the seventeenth century, non-English in the eighteenth century.

Between 1620 and 1700, immigrants to Britain's North American colonies came overwhelmingly from England; it has been estimated that the ancestry of the British North American colonial population was 80 percent English and Welsh in 1700. Between 1700 and 1770, however, this changed as the population became far more diverse. In the eighteenth century, non-English peoples such as Africans, Germans, Scots, Scots-Irish, Irish and Dutch came to the British North American colonies in large numbers, as a whole exceeding the number of English immigrants. In other words, immigrants to British North America in the seventeenth century were mostly English, while immigrants in the eighteenth century were mostly non-English. Hence, Option A is correct. Among the rest, the influx of a huge number of Dutch-Irish-Germans reduced the possibility of "chiefly English origin". In the 17th century, 80% of the immigrants were English. Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, and Ireland are the countries of North and North-Western Europe. After 1650, only the Africans emigrated, and not the Asians and Spanish Americans, who migrated much later in the nineteenth century. Hence, the rest of the options are incorrect.