Deck 1: First Founders

Question 1

Indian languages provide strong evidence of the __________ of Archaic Indian peoples.

A) cultural diversity
B) social homogeneity
C) genetic diversity
D) racial diversity

Answer 1

cultural diversity

Question 2

What was the primary motive behind the wars launched by the Aztec against their neighbors?

A) to gain tribute and prisoners to sacrifice to their gods
B) to gain territory
C) to spread their religion
D) to establish the largest and most powerful empire the world had ever known

Answer 2

to gain tribute and prisoners to sacrifice to their gods

Question 3

Which of the following was true of the Mesoamerican empires?

A) They had no knowledge of each other.
B) They all expanded through trade and peaceful alliances.
C) They all worshipped the same gods in the same ways.
D) They built upon each other's culture and achievements.

Answer 3

They built upon each other's culture and achievements.

Question 4

Which of the following made the Aztec vulnerable to external attack?

A) their harsh treatment of conquered peoples
B) their lack of military training
C) their peaceful nature
D) their emphasis on trade and agriculture

Question 5

The Hopewell trading network __________.

A) extended over much of North America
B) was confined to modern-day Ohio
C) was never very well developed
D) had little impact on subsequent mound-building societies

Question 6

Why is the cultivation of squash, beans, and maize such an effective combination?

A) The three crops can all be grown year round.
B) The three crops are all resistant to insects.
C) The three foods are all high in protein.
D) The three foods complement each other in dietary terms.

Question 7

Chaco Canyon was an important center of __________ culture.

A) Hopewell
B) Maya
C) Anasazi
D) Aztec

Question 8

At the arrival of Columbus, the Americas were inhabited by about __________ people.

A) 2 to 4 million
B) 5 to 6 million
C) 60 to 70 million
D) 200 to 250 million

Question 9

Clovis-like points prove that people were hunting widely in North America __________ years ago.

A) 14,000
B) 27,000
C) 50,000
D) 3,000

Question 10

The Bering Land Bridge allowed humans to travel from __________.

A) Asia to North America
B) Africa to Asia
C) Europe to North America
D) Europe to Asia

Question 11

The Aztecs rose to power through __________.

A) careful resource management
B) mastery of irrigation
C) domination of long-distance trade
D) strategic alliances and military skill

Question 12

Recent discoveries suggest which of the following?

A) that North America may have been the site of the world's first settled agriculture
B) the possible presence of pre-Clovis inhabitants of North America
C) the likelihood that the first humans arrived in the Americas 50,000 years ago
D) the possible arrival in the Americas of humans from Africa prior to the arrival of humans from Asia

Question 13

According to the most widely accepted theory, why were newcomers to North America eventually unable to return Siberia?

A) The Bering Land Bridge had been submerged.
B) The quality of the game they found living in North America made returning unattractive.
C) They were rejected by the peoples they left.
D) They were unable to find their way back across the wilderness.

Question 14

How do archaeological finds in Cactus Hill, Meadowcroft, and Buttermilk Creek complicate our understanding of the origins of human habitation of the Americas?

A) They suggest that the first humans may have arrived in the Americas 50,000 years ago.
B) They suggest that the first humans to arrive in the Americas may have been European.
C) They suggest that the earliest arrivals in the Americas arrived by boat.
D) They suggest the existence of immediate predecessors to the Clovis people.

Question 15

Archaeologists working near Folsom, New Mexico, found evidence of __________.

A) large cities in North America
B) settled agriculture dating back 12,000 years
C) human activity dating back 10,000 years
D) a major battle between two groups of Native Americans

Question 16

At its height, the population of Cahokia exceeded __________ people.

A) 1,000
B) 15,000
C) 50,000
D) 100,000

Question 17

The __________ emerged in the lowlands along the southwestern edge of the Gulf of Mexico around 3,000 years ago.

A) Aztecs
B) Incas
C) Olmecs
D) Maya

Question 18

Hopewell __________ laid the groundwork for larger mound-building societies.

A) conquests
B) trade networks
C) agriculture
D) religious ideas

Question 19

Archaic Indians in North America domesticated __________.

A) horses
B) cattle
C) goats
D) dogs

Question 20

Which of the following was true of all the various Archaic American groups?

A) They all spoke the same language.
B) They all lacked domesticated animals.
C) They all had the same kind of social organization.
D) They all had the same religious practices.

Question 21

__________ proved that a link existed between the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

A) Dias
B) Balboa
C) Columbus
D) Pizarro

Question 22

Amerigo's Vespucci description of the Americas as the "New World" __________.

A) reaffirmed what Columbus had claimed
B) demonstrated that he did not believe Columbus had landed in Asia
C) was rejected by almost all mapmakers
D) was a mere rhetorical flourish and was not intended to be taken seriously

Question 23

Bartholomé de Las Casas rose to fame for __________.

A) his critique of Spanish brutality in the Americas
B) his success in converting native peoples to Catholicism
C) allowing himself to be martyred for his beliefs
D) helping the Spanish conquer the Aztec Empire

Question 24

Which of the following was true of the Viking settlement in Vinland?

A) It was established as a military outpost.
B) It lasted almost two hundred years.
C) It was very small.
D) Its inhabitants never had any conflict with native peoples.

Question 25

Admiral Zheng He's fleet demonstrated that __________.

A) the China lacked important resources
B) the Chinese had mastered ocean sailing on a large scale
C) China was interested in overseas expansion
D) China was in decline

Question 26

Which of the following best characterizes the voyages of Admiral Zheng He?

A) They were meant as voyages of conquest.
B) They came close to discovering the Americas.
C) They took Zheng He and his men throughout the Indian Ocean.
D) They led to a century of Chinese maritime exploration.

Question 27

John Cabot __________.

A) obtained a license from Henry VII of England to explore the North Atlantic
B) established Portugal's claim to Brazil
C) established France's claim to Canada
D) discovered the Mississippi River

Question 28

What features made the Portuguese caravel ideal for ocean sailing?

A) their square sails and wide decks
B) their thick hulls and many sails
C) their large size and heavy weapons
D) their narrow hulls and lateen sails

Question 29

In the same year Columbus launched his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella __________.

A) went to war with the Ottoman Turks
B) launched a holy war against France
C) succeeded in driving Islam from their realm
D) married, thereby unifying Spain

Question 30

Columbus __________.

A) argued that he could sail to Japan in roughly nine months
B) believed the world was larger than it actually is
C) believed the world was flat
D) accepted the ideas of Ptolemy

Question 31

The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the earth between __________.

A) Spain and Portugal
B) Portugal and France
C) Spain and England
D) the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church

Question 32

After his initial expedition, Columbus made __________ later voyages in search of China.

A) three
B) four
C) seven
D) nine

Question 33

A Viking expedition led by __________ reached Greenland in the 980s.

A) William the Conqueror
B) Erik the Red
C) Leif Erikson
D) Henry the Navigator

Question 34

Upon arriving in the Caribbean, Columbus was convinced that __________.

A) he had discovered a new continent
B) the world had come to an end
C) he was in the Philippines
D) he was near the Asian mainland

Question 35

Which of the following was a consequence of the near-extinction of the native population of the West Indies?

A) Spanish colonizers began importing slaves from Africa.
B) The Spanish began sending whole families to settle the region.
C) Spanish colonizers turned to North America.
D) The Spanish temporarily abandoned their exploration of the Americas.

Question 36

Marco Polo's Travels provided Europeans with information about __________.

A) North America
B) West Africa
C) North Africa
D) China

Question 37

Europeans turned to alternative routes to Asia when __________.

A) religious fighting in Europe blocked traditional overland routes
B) renewed Islamic power in the Middle East cut off the Silk Road to Cathay
C) an outbreak of plague blocked trade routes through Central Asia
D) Columbus discovered the Americas

Question 38

The Treaty of Tordesillas demonstrated that the papacy __________.

A) saw the whole world as the rightful inheritance of Christianity
B) respected New World native religions
C) had little interest in overseas exploration
D) recognized Spain's claim to Brazil

Question 39

Vasco da Gama __________.

A) sailed all the way around the world
B) was an early proponent of the Atlantic slave trade
C) successfully followed up on the 1487 voyage of Bartolomeu Dias
D) tried to reach China by sailing west from Europe

Question 40

In 1513, __________ pressed across the isthmus of Panama to glimpse the Pacific.

A) Balboa
B) Magellan
C) Cortés
D) Da Gama

Question 41

Discuss the chief characteristics and accomplishments of the Mayan Empire.

Question 42

What was the Columbian Exchange? How did it change the Americas? How did it change the rest of the world?

Question 43

Montezuma initially suspected that Hernán Cortés was __________.

A) a lowly merchant
B) a spy sent by his enemies
C) Jesus Christ
D) Quetzalcoatl

Question 44

Which of the following aided Pizarro the most in his conquest of the Incas?

A) his large army
B) smallpox
C) his use of horses
D) the Incas' lack of experience in warfare

Question 45

__________ gave Walter Raleigh a patent to establish a colony in North America.

A) Queen Elizabeth I
B) Queen Mary
C) King Henry VIII
D) King Edward VI

Question 46

Who was John Calvin and what did he believe?

Question 47

___________ challenge to papal authority sparked the Reformation.

A) Henry VIII's
B) Martin Luther's
C) John Calvin's
D) Erasmus's

Question 48

Why did Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano sail west for the French in 1524?

A) He hoped to find a swift northern passage from Europe to Asia.
B) He hoped to conquer the Spanish colony of New Mexico.
C) He hoped to discover the seven cities of gold.
D) He hoped to establish a colony in North America.

Question 49

In John Calvin's view, which of the following would be saved?

A) everyone who followed the Ten Commandments
B) a select few chosen by God
C) those who were most generous in their gifts to the church
D) anyone who abstained from drinking, dancing, and swearing

Question 50

What were the three main consequences of the near-extinction of the native West Indian population in the wake of contact with Europeans?

Question 51

__________ visited the future sites of Montreal and Quebec.

A) Jacques Cartier
B) Hernando de Soto
C) John Cabot
D) Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Question 52

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado set out from northern Mexico in search of __________.

A) seven golden cities
B) converts to Catholicism
C) a legendary Aztec ruler
D) the Fountain of Youth

Question 53

In 1564 the __________ established Fort Caroline as a first step toward establishing a colony in Florida.

A) Dutch
B) Spanish
C) English
D) French

Question 54

John Calvin turned Geneva into a __________.

A) Catholic enclave
B) constitutional monarchy
C) church-centered state
D) democratic republic