Deck 1: When Old Worlds Collide: Contact, Conquest, Catastrophe

Question 1

The nation that led the way for European expansion into the Americas was

A) France.
B) England.
C) China.
D) Portugal.
E) Spain

Answer 1

Portugal.

Question 2

The system of labor control that allowed a person to exploit the labor force for a certain period of time was called

A) hacienda.
B) encomienda.
C) bandeirante.
D) requerimiento.
E) casa grande

Answer 2

encomienda.

Question 3

The leader of the Norsemen who settled in Greenland was

A) King Harold.
B) Erik the Red.
C) Prester John.
D) Leif Eriksson.
E) Columbus.

Answer 3

Erik the Red.

Question 4

The European explorer who reached the Grand Canyon was

A) Francisco de Coronado.
B) Amerigo Vespucci.
C) Francisco Pizarro.
D) Hernan Cortés.
E) Prince Henry

Question 5

In the period 1530 to 1630, the population of Mexico and Peru decreased by approximately

A) 10 percent.
B) 30 percent.
C) 60 percent.
D) 90 percent.
E) 100 percent

Question 6

Unlike Spain in the Americas, Portugal in Brazil did not attempt to rule the Indian population directly, but attempted to

A) use it as labor.
B) remove it to Portugal.
C) enslave and eventually replace it.
D) Christianize it
E) exterminate it.

Question 7

Human habitation of the Americas began approximately

A) 500,000 years ago.
B) 100,000 years ago.
C) 14,000 years ago.
D) 5,000 years ago.
E) 500 years ago.

Question 8

Who of the following was the conqueror of the Inca empire?

A) Francisco Pizarro
B) Hernán Cortés
C) Francisco de Coronado
D) Vasco da Gama
E) Bishop de las Casas.

Question 9

The most devastating factor brought to the Americas by the Europeans was

A) the horse
B) gunpowder.
C) cannon.
D) bronze weaponry.
E) disease.

Question 10

Each of the following could be referred to as a conquistador except

A) Hernán Cortés.
B) Francisco Pizarro.
C) Vasco da Gama.
D) Francisco de Coronado.
E) Hernando de Soto

Question 11

The early civilizations of America were basically ____ age cultures.

A) bronze
B) stone
C) wood
D) iron
E) agricultural

Question 12

The Americas were first settled by

A) Asians.
B) western Europeans.
C) eastern Europeans.
D) Africans.
E) Europeans.

Question 13

The most likely reason for European success in conquering the American Indian population is

A) the prolonged isolation of the Americas from the rest of the world.
B) the superiority of European civilizations.
C) the warlike savagery of the Europeans.
D) the passivity of Native Americans.
E) the success of the priests in converting them to Christianity.

Question 14

The major reason that western Europe engaged in explorations in the fifteenth century was

A) the desire to spread Christianity.
B) to control the oceans.
C) to expand trade with the non-Christian world.
D) to establish colonies.
E) to escape the Black Death.

Question 15

The leader of the Aztecs at the time of their defeat in 1519 was

A) Atahualpa.
B) Moctezuma.
C) Tenochtitlan.
D) Texcoco.
E) Geronimo.

Question 16

The early Native American civilization to leave detailed written records of their activities were the

A) Aztec.
B) Texaca.
C) Cherokee
D) Olmec.
E) Maya.

Question 17

The major source of wealth exploited by the Spaniards in the Americas was

A) gold.
B) silver.
C) tobacco.
D) cotton.
E) iron

Question 18

The leading practitioners of human sacrifice in the Americas were the

A) Maya.
B) Incas.
C) Aztec.
D) Olmec.
E) Spaniards.

Question 19

The Chinese developed all of the following except

A) movable type.
B) gunpowder.
C) paper money.
D) the compass.
E) a complex political system.

Question 20

By the mid-sixteenth century, the most powerful nation in Europe was

A) England.
B) France.
C) Spain.
D) Portugal.
E) Germany

Question 21

Amerind was the forerunner of all of the following languages except

A) Algonquian.
B) Navajo.
C) Muskogean.
D) Iroquoian.
E) Siouan.

Question 22

All except which of the following were negative results of the exploration and discovery era?

A) Millions of Africans were enslaved and transported to other parts of the world.
B) Warfare, slavery, and disease killed millions of Indians.
C) Many plants native to the Americas were displaced by European imports.
D) The Asian nations of China, India, and Japan became the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world.
E) European animals overran American rivals.

Question 23

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Indian societies of the Americas

A) were all primitive, nomadic hunters and gatherers.
B) were democratic cultures in which all members, including women, could vote.
C) used bronze and iron for tools and weapons.
D) had all developed a written language.
E) were Stone Age cultures

Question 24

Amaranth was a type of

A) spear point.
B) animal.
C) cereal.
D) disease.
E) liquor.

Question 25

During the reign of Philip II,

A) the Moors were driven off of the Iberian Peninsula.
B) toleration of Jews and Moslems was established throughout the Spanish Empire.
C) the first global economic system was created by the union of Spain and Portugal.
D) the Spanish peacefully mediated between competing European and Asian nations.
E) France merged with Spain.

Question 26

Which of the following was true of Christopher Columbus?

A) He was the first person to believe that the Earth is round.
B) He was an Italian navigator whose four voyages to the West were financed by the Spanish.
C) He accurately calculated the circumference of the Earth to be 26,000 miles.
D) He received land, titles, and wealth from his discoveries and died the richest commoner in Europe.
E) He rejected offers from England and Portugal to finance his voyages.

Question 27

Which of the following is true of the Atlantic slave trade in the late fifteenth century and thereafter?

A) Most slaves were taken by Europeans who raided coastal villages and enslaved the inhabitants.
B) Slavery did not exist in Africa until the Europeans introduced it.
C) Most slaves were first enslaved by other Africans and then were sold to European traders.
D) The Portuguese opposed slavery and tried to prevent its extension to the New World.
E) Most slaves were Native Americans.

Question 28

The sixteenth century Catholic missions in North America

A) were most successful in Virginia and the Carolinas.
B) trained Indians as soldiers to protect the settlements from English and French attacks.
C) were administered by unarmed Franciscan priests.
D) failed to convert any Indians to Christianity.
E) rejected any military protection.

Question 29

In 1400, western European society was

A) self-sufficient and had no interest in trading with Asia.
B) primarily interested in importing gold and silver from Russia.
C) backward and isolated when compared with Chinese and Islamic societies.
D) scientifically and mathematically the most advanced culture in the world.
E) not influenced by religion.

Question 30

All of the following were food crops grown in the Americas during the late Stone Age (Neolithic) except

A) maize.
B) white potatoes.
C) tomatoes.
D) oranges.
E) squash.

Question 31

Most of the native languages of North and South America were

A) derived from the Amerind language.
B) completely eradicated by the introduction of European languages.
C) a combination of Germanic and Asian linguistics.
D) already developed as written languages before the arrival of the Europeans.
E) understandable to the Europeans.

Question 32

Most European Christians viewed the Indians as

A) innocent, childlike people who should be left alone.
B) descendants of the ancient survivors of the lost continent of Atlantis.
C) subhuman, soulless devil worshippers.
D) sophisticated people who were morally and ethically superior to the inhabitants of Asia and Europe.
E) one of the lost tribes of Israel.

Question 33

The crusades influenced European expansion by

A) establishing permanent Christian control of the holy city of Jerusalem.
B) demonstrating that the Arab nations of the East were weak and easily defeated.
C) developing a colonial economic system based on the production of staple crops by slave labor.
D) discouraging trade with Asian and African nations.
E) providing slaves for the plantations in the Caribbean.

Question 34

The Black Death reduced Europe's population by

A) one-quarter.
B) one-third.
C) one-half.
D) two-third.
E) three-quarter.

Question 35

The European nation that was the pioneer in the area of exploration was

A) Spain.
B) Germany.
C) Italy.
D) France.
E) Portugal

Question 36

The mound builders and the Anasazi were similar in that both

A) were complex societies that developed north of Mexico.
B) depended on the horse as the major beast of burden.
C) were primarily hunter-warrior societies.
D) were the ancestors of the Mayans and the Aztecs.
E) had developed a written language.

Question 37

The era of European exploration

A) brought previously isolated societies into contact with other nations and cultures.
B) promoted peaceful and friendly relations between different ethnic groups.
C) promoted religious toleration and ended the persecution of non-Christians around the globe.
D) failed to spread technology.
E) held no benefits to American Indians.

Question 38

As of 1400, ____ mariners were the world's best.

A) English
B) Spanish
C) Portuguese
D) Chinese
E) Arab

Question 39

Which of the following is not true of the Spanish conquistadores?

A) They succeeded in part because smallpox decimated the Indian population.
B) They led huge armies of 50,000 to 100,000 well-trained Europeans.
C) They searched unsuccessfully for fabulous golden cities in North America.
D) They conquered two major empires in the Americas and greatly increased the wealth and power of Spain.
E) They destroyed religious items of the native people.

Question 40

Which of the following was true of serfdom?

A) By 1500, serfdom had virtually disappeared and had been replaced by free labor in western Europe.
B) Serfs were similar to slaves in that both could be bought and sold individually.
C) In North America, serfdom was more widespread and more profitable than was slavery.
D) Russia was the only European country that relied entirely on a free labor system.
E) Serfs were forcibly resettled in the Americas.

Question 41

Generally, the Spanish were very generous when dealing with Native American civilizations.

Question 42

In spite of being the most complex culture in the world, China did not expand outward because

A) the Chinese religion forbade overseas ventures.
B) it was conquered by the Europeans.
C) it produced little that the outside world wanted.
D) it was a self-contained system that believed it did not need the rest of the world.
E) it was defeated by Europe in the 1400s.

Question 43

One factor that distinguished the Americas from Eurasia in the pre-Columbian era is that

A) no large animals were domesticated in the Americas except the llama in South America.
B) agriculture had not developed in the Americas.
C) no society in the Americas had developed a written language.
D) no maritime cultures had developed in the Americas.
E) no large cities existed in the Americas.

Question 44

The Norse settlements founded in the 1000s on the coast of Newfoundland

A) exist into the present.
B) endured until after Columbus's voyages.
C) met no resistance from native Americans.
D) brought African slavery to the Americas.
E) died out before Columbus's voyages, and had no lasting impact on history.

Question 45

Before the nineteenth century, more than ____ of the people who sailed across the Atlantic were slaves.

A) one-quarter
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) two-thirds
E) three-quarters

Question 46

The greatest loss of life among the Indian population came from warfare with the European invaders.

Question 47

Most Native American Indian populations were "hunters and gatherers."

Question 48

Most Indian societies engaged in clan or family ownership of landholdings.

Question 49

The center of the Portuguese empire in Asia was

A) Japan.
B) the Moluccas.
C) Korea.
D) China.
E) Indonesia.

Question 50

Prior to Columbus's voyages Spain had conquered

A) the Canary Islands.
B) the Holy Land.
C) Ireland.
D) Portugal.
E) England.

Question 51

After the 1430s information was able to circulate more freely in Europe than anywhere else in the world because of the

A) political unity achieved by the monarchs.
B) invention of the printing press.
C) rapid development of sailing vessels.
D) social mobility that came with the break down of feudalism.
E) invention of the telephone.

Question 52

The rise of slavery in the New World was closely related to the demands of the capitalist market in Europe.

Question 53

Unlike Spain, Portugal refused to enslave Africans.

Question 54

Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India via an eastward water route.

Question 55

One of the major advantages Portugal had in the race for exploration was its leader, Henry the Navigator.

Question 56

Which of the following did Portugal settle first?

A) Sao Tome
B) the Madeira Islands
C) the Cape Verde group
D) the Azores
E) Spain

Question 57

The most sophisticated civilization in the world at the time of European exploration was in China.

Question 58

The Olmec people of Mesoamerica were known for all of the following except

A) building the first pyramids.
B) constructing ballparks.
C) using terrace agriculture.
D) developing a writing system and a calendar.
E) building colossal stone heads.

Question 59

The Indian peoples of the Americas had only domesticated one animal species, the dog, before the arrival of the Europeans.

Question 60

Under slavery as it existed in Africa

A) the slaves were forced to work long hours in commercial agriculture.
B) slaves' descendents were often assimilated into the captor's society.
C) only Christians were enslaved.
D) slaves were isolated as a separate caste.
E) slaves were executed after serving five years.

Question 61

Portuguese mariners borrowed heavily from Arab ship designs and used Arab navigational tools.

Question 62

Women were probably the first in Indian society to actually plant and harvest crops.

Question 63

In the Americas as in Africa, the rise of farming was closely linked to the domestication of animals.

Question 64

Beringia proved a hospitable place for plant and animal life.

Question 65

During the long history of the Atlantic slave trade, nearly every African shipped overseas had first been enslaved by other Africans.

Question 66

Christopher Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic was controversial because of his belief that the world was round.

Question 67

The Portuguese ocean-going ship that combined lateen sails with square rigging was called a caravel.

Question 68

The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was much more populated than any city in western Europe.

Question 69

The Indians of the Pacific northwest divided tasks along gender lines.

Question 70

The first European slaves were black Africans.

Question 71

Among Indian societies, tobacco was grown exclusively by men.

Question 72

Portuguese explorers were never able to penetrate Japan.

Question 73

The Norse exerted a significant impact on American history well into the 1500s.

Question 74

Humans did not actually live on Beringia; it was used only as a means of travel between Siberia and Alaska.

Question 75

The Toltecs controlled the Valley of Mexico for three centuries.

Question 76

Europe's most fiercely Catholic society as the sixteenth century began was Spain.

Question 77

Christians during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries did not believe in executing people for violating religious doctrines.

Question 78

In 1400, Europe did not appear poised for dramatic expansion.

Question 79

Johann Gutenberg invented paper and block printing.

Question 80

The Norsemen's lasting contributions to the development of American society included architectural designs and coined money.