Deck 1: Three Old Worlds Create a New, 1492-1600

Question 1

How did Upper Guinea differ from Lower Guinea in the 1400 CE?

A) Lower Guinea was primarily democratic; Upper Guinea had autocratic leadership.
B) Women were rice farmers in Lower Guinea; in Upper Guinea they traded.
C) While Lower Guinea peoples continued to practice traditional African religions, the influence of the Islamic religion was felt more strongly in Upper Guinea.
D) Women were denied political power in Lower Guinea but held powerful political and religious positions in Upper Guinea.

Answer 1

While Lower Guinea peoples continued to practice traditional African religions, the influence of the Islamic religion was felt more strongly in Upper Guinea.

Question 2

Which of the following was a consequence of the spread of agricultural techniques among Indian groups?

A) Cultural differences among groups of Indians disappeared.
B) Most groups began to live a more sedentary existence.
C) The various groups began to engage in almost constant warfare.
D) Political power within the various groups fell into the hands of land-owning elite.

Answer 2

Most groups began to live a more sedentary existence.

Question 3

Which of the following best explains the fact that bands of Indian hunters remained small in the area of the Great Basin (present-day Nevada and Utah)?

A) The disease environment dramatically lowered the life expectancy of the inhabitants of the Great Basin.
B) The tribes of the Great Basin enacted laws that imposed strict limitations on the size of each band within the tribe.
C) The inadequate supply of large game made it difficult to find food in sufficient quantity to support large groups.
D) The practice of human sacrifice significantly reduced the population of the bands and tribes of the Great Basin.

Answer 3

The inadequate supply of large game made it difficult to find food in sufficient quantity to support large groups.

Question 4

The design of pre-Columbian Indian villages indicates which of the following?

A) These societies had an extensive trade network with one another.
B) Native Americans once had a common culture because there are no differences among the villages of hunter-gatherer societies, agricultural societies, and fishing societies.
C) The design of Indian villages around a central place of worship indicates that, although widely separated, all Indians had the same religious beliefs.
D) The defensive design of villages indicates that North American Indians fought with each other long before the arrival of Europeans.

Question 5

How were North American Indian agricultural societies similar to each other?

A) Their families were matrilineal.
B) The clans were patrilineal.
C) Women were exclusively responsible for agricultural work.
D) The chiefs in these societies were often women.

Question 6

At the time of initial contact with the Europeans, Lower Guinea was characterized by

A) powerful and wealthy empires.
B) decentralized political and social authority.
C) religious disagreements between Christian rulers and the Muslim masses.
D) acceptance of and strong devotion to Islam on the part of rulers and people.

Question 7

Most Africans of Lower Guinea were similar to the agricultural Indians of the Americas in which of the following respects?

A) The political systems of both consisted of hereditary rulers governing agricultural empires.
B) Both assigned agricultural tasks to men.
C) Both lived a nomadic existence.
D) The religious practices of both revolved around rituals designed to ensure a good harvest.

Question 8

Fifteenth-century European, African, and Mesoamerican societies differed from most North American Indian societies in that the former were

A) theocratic in nature.
B) hierarchical in nature.
C) egalitarian in nature.
D) patriarchal in nature.

Question 9

Members of the Sandé cult

A) frequently engaged in wars with neighboring tribes to obtain prisoners for human sacrifice to the gods.
B) established diplomatic relations between Benin and Portugal and acted as middlemen in the trade between the two societies.
C) were led by female religious leaders and were not allowed to reveal the secrets of their cult to men.
D) were the only known West Africans to have monotheistic religious beliefs.

Question 10

The social systems of West Africa were all organized on the basis of the dual-sex principle, which meant that

A) female political and religious leaders governed the women and males ruled the men.
B) men and women were expected to have not only a sexual partner of the opposite sex but one of the same sex as well.
C) every man could have two wives and every woman could have two husbands.
D) all individuals were believed to have both a masculine and a feminine side.

Question 11

Women were most likely to hold political positions in

A) hunting tribes.
B) tribes that had no sexual division of labor.
C) nomadic tribes.
D) agricultural tribes.

Question 12

The societies of West Africa were like Native American societies in which of the following respects?

A) The social systems of both were organized on the basis of the dual-sex principle.
B) The political systems of both were organized on the basis of autocratic rule.
C) In both, work assignments were organized on the basis of a sexual division of labor.
D) In both, women were allowed to hold formal political power over men.

Question 13

In contrast to African and Native American societies, women in European societies were

A) not allowed to engage in certain kinds of work.
B) usually denied positions of political and religious authority.
C) primarily responsible for discipline within the family.
D) equal to men in the eyes of the law.

Question 14

Which of the following were the first to cultivate food crops in the Americas?

A) European colonists in South America
B) Indians along the Atlantic seaboard of North America
C) Jesuit missionaries in southern California
D) Indians living in central Mexico

Question 15

Which of the following was one of the major means of subsistence of the people living in the northernmost region of Upper Guinea?

A) Farming
B) Animal husbandry
C) Cultivation of rice
D) The gold trade

Question 16

Which of the following is true of Cahokia, also known as the City of the Sun?

A) It was the center of the Aztec world.
B) An early form of writing was invented there.
C) Its economy was based on culture and trade.
D) It was pillaged by Cortez in 1519 CE

Question 17

Why did the practice of settled agriculture lead to the emergence of more complex civilizations?

A) People practicing settled agriculture needed a more structured political system.
B) People with a steady supply of food were free to devote their energy to accumulating wealth, producing art, building cities, and creating ceremonies and rituals.
C) An increase in the number of children in such societies gave rise to the educational institutions associated with complex civilizations.
D) Property owners in such societies demanded laws and institutions that protected their property rights.

Question 18

Which of the following is true of the Algonquians?

A) They followed the example of the Aztecs, practicing settled agriculture and living a sedentary existence.
B) They accepted women as rulers in some villages.
C) They defined the extended family patrilineally.
D) They were unique among the North American tribes in that they had no known religious beliefs.

Question 19

The diverse inhabitants of North America spoke well over how many distinct languages?

A) 1,000
B) 500
C) 1,500
D) 750

Question 20

Which of the following best explains the differences in the means of subsistence and lifestyles that emerged among Indian groups in the New World?

A) Disagreements over political beliefs caused groups to separate.
B) The various tribes migrated to the Americas separately and came from widely divergent cultures.
C) Different Indian groups adapted their means of subsistence and lifestyles to the environment in which they settled.
D) Geographic barriers in the New World made interaction between different Indian tribes impossible.

Question 21

Which explorer sailed to North American across the Davis Strait in the year 1001?

A) Pedro Alvares Cabral
B) Leif Ericsson
C) Sebastian Cabot
D) Harry Hudson

Question 22

Who first published the idea that Columbus had discovered a new continent?

A) Pedro Alvares Cabral
B) John Cabot
C) Amerigo Vespucci
D) Martin Waldseemüller

Question 23

Where was the world's first colonial plantation economy established?

A) Azores, 1450s
B) Canaries, 1460s
C) Madeiras, 1470s
D) West Indies, 1490s

Question 24

Why was it difficult for Spanish and Portuguese mariners to return home from the Canary Islands?

A) They had to sail against the winds.
B) Unusual magnetic fields in that area rendered navigational instruments useless.
C) Berber pirates preyed on ships sailing northward from the Canaries.
D) They had no knowledge of the tacking maneuver.

Question 25

As a result of the Black Death,

A) the people of Europe turned to the Christian religion for the first time.
B) it is estimated that one-third of the people of Europe died in the late fourteenth century.
C) the Angle and Saxon tribes of England were so weakened that they were easily defeated by William of Normandy.
D) European scientists finally accepted the germ theory of disease long advanced by Arab scholars.

Question 26

Under the encomienda system,

A) the Catholic Church established schools and hospitals in Indian villages.
B) individual conquistadors were granted tributary Indian villages from which they could collect money and goods.
C) Spanish Jesuits undertook the task of converting Indians to the Christian faith.
D) prisoners from Spain were sent to work in New World silver mines for periods ranging from seven years to life.

Question 27

The primary motive for the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century European voyages of exploration and discovery was the desire to

A) spread Christianity around the world.
B) verify the new scholarly theory that there were undiscovered continents.
C) gain direct access to the goods of Africa and Asia.
D) establish naval control of the seas.

Question 28

After the Hundred Years' War, the monarchs of England and France worked to consolidate their political power. They were aided in this effort by

A) their acceptance of the concept of constitutional monarchy.
B) a new sense of national identity among their subjects.
C) a resurgence of regional loyalties among nobles.
D) promising their subjects that they would uphold the concept of human rights.

Question 29

These winds made it easy for Spanish and Portuguese mariners to sail from the Iberian Peninsula to the Canary Islands.

A) The Northeast Trades
B) The Polar Easterlies
C) The Horse Latitudes
D) The prevailing Westerlies

Question 30

Queen Isabella decided to finance exploratory voyages, in part, because she

A) believed it would divert her subjects' attention away from Spain's domestic problems.
B) hoped profits from such voyages would help finance an expedition to wrest Jerusalem from the Muslims.
C) wanted to prevent England from colonizing Africa.
D) wanted knowledge about other world cultures.

Question 31

Spanish conquerors or adventures in the Americas were called

A) Conquistadors
B) Encomienda
C) Americans
D) Friars

Question 32

The first economy based primarily on the bondage of black Africans was created in

A) the Azores.
B) the Canaries.
C) the Madeiras.
D) São Tomé.

Question 33

Columbus's log of his first encounter with the New World and its inhabitants reveals which of the following?

A) He wanted to profit from the land he had found by exploiting its natural resources, including its people.
B) He wanted to exterminate all Native Americans and completely destroy the cultures they had built.
C) He insisted that Europeans had come merely to observe, not to change, the cultures of the New World's native inhabitants.
D) He believed that his primary goal should be to Christianize the native inhabitants of the land he had found.

Question 34

Which of the following is true of John Cabot?

A) He brought back to Europe the first formal knowledge of North America's northern coastline.
B) He is credited with having found an all-water route through North America to Asia.
C) As a result of his voyages, Cabot was the first European to realize that Columbus had not reached Asia.
D) He established a settlement at Vinland, which was the first European settlement in North America.

Question 35

Black slavery was introduced into Europe by the

A) French.
B) Spanish.
C) English.
D) Portuguese.

Question 36

Marco Polo's Travels was important primarily because it convinced many Europeans

A) of the need for a defensive alliance against hostile non-European powers.
B) that direct trade by sea with China was possible.
C) of the need to Christianize China.
D) that Chinese culture was superior to European culture.

Question 37

Which of the following correctly characterizes the trade relationship between Portugal and the states of West Africa?

A) The Portuguese merchants grew wealthy; the African chiefdoms gained little.
B) The African chiefdoms gained wealth and power; the Portuguese gained little.
C) The Portuguese merchants controlled the terms and conditions of the trade.
D) The rulers of West Africa controlled the terms and conditions of the trade.

Question 38

The Mediterranean Atlantic prepared the way for the European voyages of exploration and discovery because it was there that European mariners

A) first learned the skill of trimming their sails.
B) discovered that the Westerlies would carry them swiftly into the Atlantic and toward the Caribbean.
C) first learned the importance of square sails in making their ships more maneuverable.
D) learned the valuable strategy of sailing around the wind.

Question 39

What did Columbus realize after visiting a Portuguese colony in Africa?

A) New agricultural methods in the cultivation of rice could benefit his native city in Genoa.
B) Slaves could be an integral part of a colonial economy.
C) The world was actually round.
D) Gold was not as valuable to the global marketplace as spices.

Question 40

After conquering the last Canary Island in 1496, the Spanish devoted the land to the cultivation of

A) corn.
B) rice.
C) sugar.
D) tobacco.

Question 41

Compare the various Indian cultures of North America at the beginning of the sixteenth century. How can the differences between these cultures be explained?

Question 42

Discuss the role of warfare in the pre-Columbian Americas.

Question 43

How did prevailing winds help and hinder European trade in the North and South Atlantic? What role did these winds play in the European voyages of exploration and discovery?

Question 44

Discuss the first English attempt to plant a permanent settlement in North America. Why did that attempt fail?.

Question 45

Compare the various Indian cultures of North America at the beginning of the sixteenth century. How can the differences between these cultures be explained?

Question 46

Discuss the series of Mesoamerican civilizations that eventually gave rise to the Aztec civilization, and describe the major characteristics of Aztec culture. What are the differences between Mesoamerican cultures and North American cultures? What led to those differences?

Question 47

What are the three key lessons of colonization learned by Europeans from their experiences in the islands of the Mediterranean Atlantic and the African coast? Discuss each.

Question 48

In 1587, Raleigh sent colonists to the colony that the Native peoples called Ossomocomuck. What did he rename this colony?

A) North Carolina
B) South Carolina
C) Rhode Island
D) Virginia

Question 49

Which of the following is true concerning trade between Indians and Europeans?

A) Such trade was beneficial only to Europeans.
B) In order to supply Europeans with much-demanded furs, some Indian bands abandoned their traditional economies.
C) The controls imposed by some Indians on trade with Europeans created financial problems for European trading companies.
D) Most Indian bands traded with Europeans only out of fear of reprisals if they refused.

Question 50

Who published translations of stories of exploratory voyages and argued in favor of English colonization of North America?

A) John Cabot
B) Richard Hakluyt
C) John Hawkins
D) Captain John Smith

Question 51

What type of impact did gender have on the organization of fifteenth-century African society? How was it similar or different to that of North American and Mesoamerican peoples of the same period?

Question 52

What was the primary aim of the first European outposts in North America?

A) The establishment of permanent colonies
B) The destruction of the non-European peoples
C) The conversion of the native population to Christianity
D) Profits from the sale of beaver pelts

Question 53

The Lakota, Comanches, and Crows of the Great Plains were profoundly affected by the

A) introduction of the horse into North America.
B) introduction of wheat and rye into North America.
C) cultivation of tobacco.
D) introduction of settled agriculture into North America.

Question 54

Discuss the model of Spanish colonization of the Americas. Did Spain attain its goals? What impact did Spanish colonization have on Spain itself? What impact did it have on different Indian civilizations?

Question 55

Discuss the series of Mesoamerican civilizations that eventually gave rise to the Aztec civilization, and describe the major characteristics of Aztec culture. What are the differences between Mesoamerican cultures and North American cultures? What led to those differences?

Question 56

What type of impact did gender have on the organization of fifteenth-century African society? How was it similar or different to that of North American and Mesoamerican peoples of the same period?

Question 57

The main reason for the dramatic decline of the Indian population of Hispaniola from 1492 to 1542 was the

A) Spanish decision forcibly to move the Indians to South America.
B) inhumanity of the Spanish slave system.
C) introduction of European diseases onto the island.
D) psychological devastation caused by systematic destruction of traditional Indian culture.

Question 58

Which of the following was a long-term consequence of the influx of gold and silver from the New World into Spain?

A) The Spanish government funded domestic social programs that substantially raised the standard of living of the peasant masses.
B) Rapid inflation led to an unfavorable balance of trade and the collapse of many businesses.
C) The ready availability of investment capital at low interest rates led to the expansion and modernization of Spanish industries.
D) The Spanish government became complacent and failed to defend the nation's interests against the aggressive Dutch and English.

Question 59

Examine the type and impact of trade that began with the Columbian period.

Question 60

Discuss the political, social, and economic characteristics of the Pueblos and Mississippians in the early sixteenth century.

Question 61

What are the three key lessons of colonization learned by Europeans from their experiences in the islands of the Mediterranean Atlantic and the African coast? Discuss each.

Question 62

Discuss the political, social, and economic characteristics of the Pueblos and Mississippians in the early sixteenth century.

Question 63

Discuss the model of Spanish colonization of the Americas. Did Spain attain its goals? What impact did Spanish colonization have on Spain itself? What impact did it have on different Indian civilizations?

Question 64

Discuss the first English attempt to plant a permanent settlement in North America. Why did that attempt fail?.

Question 65

How did prevailing winds help and hinder European trade in the North and South Atlantic? What role did these winds play in the European voyages of exploration and discovery?

Question 66

Discuss the role of warfare in the pre-Columbian Americas.

Question 67

Examine the type and impact of trade that began with the Columbian period.