Question

In your response, be sure to address all parts of the question. Use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable.
“Your petitioners beg to leave humbly to inform your Majesty, that the lands, to the west of the [Appalachian] mountains, are extremely fertile, the climate very fine and healthy, and the waters of the Mississippi [River], and those of the Potomack [River in Virginia], are only separated by one small ridge of mountains. . . ; British goods may be carried at little expense, and afforded reasonably to the Indians in those parts, [if] the lands to the west of the said mountains were settled, and a fort erected in some proper place there. . . ; if your petitioners meet with that success they have the greatest reason to expect, it will . . . extend your Majesty’s empire in America; . . . and, in a short space of time very considerably increase your Majesty’s revenue. . . .”


“Your petitioners, for these great and national ends and purposes . . . have entered into partnership, by the name of the Ohio company, to settle these [lands] to the west of the said mountains. . . . Your petitioners . . . most humbly pray that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to encourage this their said undertaking, by giving instructions to your governor of Virginia to grant to your petitioners a tract . . . of 500,000 acres of land.”


John Hanbury, London merchant, and colonial Virginian investors, petition to King George II of Great Britain, delivered to the king’s ministers in 1748


Using the excerpt, answer (a), (b), and (c).


Briefly identify ONE cause of the development depicted in the petition.


Briefly describe ONE argument made in the petition.


Briefly describe ONE similarity between the British-Native American relations described in the petition and French-Native American relations.

Answer 1

Answer:

John Hanbury, London merchant, and colonial Virginian investors, petition to King George II of Great Britain, delivered to the king’s ministers in 1748

1. Identification of ONE cause of the development depicted in the petition:

The lands to the west of the Appalachian mountains are extremely fertile, the climate very fine and healthy, and the waters of Mississippi River, and those of the Potomac River in Virginia can provide affordable means of transportation of British goods to the Indians.

2. Description of ONE argument made in the petition:

The greatest reason to erect a fort in Virginia is to extend the King's empire in America and increase revenue for the British kingdom.

3. Description of ONE similarity between the British-Native American relations described in the petition and French-Native American relations:

The similarity between the British-Native American relations described in the petition and the French-Native American relations is the intention of erecting the forts to enable trading with the Indians, expansion of empires, and increase of revenues.

Explanation:

This petition, addressed by John Hanbury, a London merchant, and some colonial Virginian investors, was delivered to the King George II of Great Britain in 1748.  The petitioners wanted the King to support their undertaking of extending British empire in the Americas by building a fort in Virginia, given its rich and fertile land and easy access to transportation.