Deck 3: Colonial Crucible

Question 1

The continuity and growth of a more global economic system during the colonial period was basically supported by two commodities. Which commodities were they?

A) gold and silver
B) silver and sugar
C) gold and sugar
D) gold and other crops

Answer 1

silver and sugar

Question 2

Transculturation was a process based on which of the following?

A) the ideal that the native culture was hegemonic
B) the constant confrontation and negotiation between the Europeans, the natives, and indigenous people
C) a massive conversion of natives to Spanish Catholicism
D) the unquestioned adoption by the natives and people of African descent of all that was European

Answer 2

the constant confrontation and negotiation between the Europeans, the natives, and indigenous people

Question 3

After 300 years of colonization, by the end of the 1800s, and prior to the wars of independence

A) the caste and slavery systems remained strong.
B) the caste system had disappeared.
C) the caste and slavery systems were almost invisible.
D) slavery was abolished.

Answer 3

the caste and slavery systems remained strong.

Question 4

What was the "royal fifth"?

A) a ceremony to worship the king
B) the name of the royal fleet that crossed the Atlantic
C) a 20% tax on mining, and the prime source of colonial revenue
D) the name of the viceroyalty established in the New World by the Spaniards

Question 5

In spite of their limited armies, Spain and Portugal controlled their colonies for 300 years. How could they manage to do so?

A) through the use of religious fear
B) through the use of violent force through private armies
C) through the use of a widespread consent by those at the bottom hegemony)
D) through the use of a strict system of laws and sanctions

Question 6

Which of the following best relates to the mining business?

A) It linked the colonies economically with Europe.
B) It created reasonable jobs for the Europeans.
C) It was an excellent source of revenue for the workers.
D) Children were not allowed to work there.

Question 7

The Bourbon and Pombaline reforms were

A) late colonial transformations of the colonial economy.
B) early colonial modernizations of the governance of the colonies.
C) early colonial transformations to increase profits.
D) early colonial ideas to help the Spaniards populate the New World.

Question 8

How would you describe the relationship that the people of African descent and the indigenous people established with the Catholic Church?

A) People of African descent and the indigenous people truly accepted Catholicism.
B) People of African descent and the indigenous people would publically say that they accepted Catholicism but privately did not.
C) People of African descent and the indigenous people decided, along with the local priests, where the churches should be built.
D) People of African descent and the indigenous people accepted the Catholic faith as long as they could continue practicing their own rituals.

Question 9

The main racial and cultural mechanism used to organize society hierarchically in colonial Spanish and Portuguese America was

A) the "mestizo system."
B) the "caste system."
C) the "mita regime."
D) the "repartimiento system."

Question 10

During the colonization of Brazil, the Portuguese were

A) very protective of their lands.
B) mostly importing sugar back to the Old Continent.
C) settling in multiple cities along the coast to secure their dominance.
D) trying to sell their possessions on the Old Continent to England.

Question 11

Honor

A) was a privilege only men could carry.
B) prescribed different social roles for men and women.
C) was, without exception, a privilege only rich men and rich women could carry.
D) was defined by the ideas of men and women living in indigenous communities.

Question 12

How did cultural hegemony function?

A) It prevented the creation of new Latin American cultures.
B) It forced people to convert to Catholicism.
C) It stripped the less powerful of all bargaining power.
D) It made dominance seem natural and inevitable.

Question 13

By the end of the colonial period, the number of mixed people-meaning not white, not indigenous, and not African, but culturally and racially mixed-had grown. Why did this happen?

A) It was a product of slavery being abolished in the late 1700s.
B) It was a result of the casta paintings.
C) It was a product of centuries of transculturation.
D) It proved that hegemony, as explained by Chasteen, did not work on the ground.

Question 14

Chasteen argues that Sor Juan Inés de la Cruz's life is a perfect example of how hegemony functioned. Why?

A) She defied the ideas of how women should behave in colonial times.
B) Because of her scientific interests and the poetry she wrote.
C) She ended up consenting to her so-called sins and accepted the judgment that she was the "worst of women."
D) She believed in God.

Question 15

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is a historically significant character because

A) she was a leading reformer of colonial convents and monasteries.
B) she was an exceptional nun that fought in the Spanish army.
C) she founded the first Catholic convent in Spanish America.
D) she was a great poet and intellectual.

Question 16

What is the term that historians use when referring to the new Latin American cultures that resulted from the give-and-take of all those living on the same soil?

A) acculturation
B) transculturation
C) mixed-cultures
D) European-like cultures

Question 17

The concept of honor could lead to which of the following situations?

A) duels among men
B) violent punishment of independent-minded women
C) women having to behave differently than men
D) all of the above

Question 18

Which of the following is an example of transculturation?

A) an indigenous person offering sacrifices to his god
B) a Spaniard kneeling in front of a representation of the Virgin of Guadalupe
C) a person of African descent dancing along the rhythms of his/her native land
D) a Spanish woman practicing witchcraft

Question 19

During the colonial period the church was so powerful because it

A) controlled all educational institutions.
B) exercised hegemony among the entire population.
C) was very wealthy.
D) all of the above

Question 20

On the frontiers of the Spanish Empire in America, the main instruments) of colonization was

A) the religious missions to indoctrinate and control the natives.
B) the strong military garrisons and fortifications to keep enemies at bay.
C) the sugar plantations to keep those at the bottom busy with work and away from rebellious ideas.
D) the creation of a community in which all participants had the same rights.

Question 21

Which of the following best defines the caste system?

A) It determined social categories that could not be bought with money.
B) It determined how much tax each member of the colonies needed to pay.
C) It sorted people into categories based solely on the amount of property they owned.
D) It sorted people into fixed categories based on multiple characteristics.

Question 22

Which of the following areas was considered a fringe of the Spanish Empire during the colonization period? Note that country names did not exist during that time period.)

A) Brazil
B) Paraguay
C) Mexico
D) Peru

Question 23

The Bourbon and Pombaline reforms were implemented to

A) increase taxes.
B) give the locals important administration offices.
C) loosen military control over the colonies.
D) increase investments to revamp the mining business.

Question 24

Through climbing the social ladder, it became possible for people of lower status to do which of the following?

A) marry partners of lighter skin
B) purchase "whiteness" paying for a special exemption
C) serve in the army and the militia to increase one's honor
D) all of the above

Question 25

The Bourbon and Pombaline reforms intended to rationalize and modernize the governance of overseas dominions. When did this happen?

A) as soon as the Europeans arrived in the New World
B) in the late 1700s
C) early in the 1800s
D) in the mid-1800s