Deck 16: The Americas on the Eve of Invasion

Question 1

During the post classical period, societies in the Americas

A) remained in relative isolation from the other centers of world history.
B) experienced the initial contacts that led eventually to European invasion of the New World.
C) failed to develop imperial forms of government, a failure that mirrored European society.
D) were united under a single government.

Answer 1

remained in relative isolation from the other centers of world history.

Question 2

Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of Aztec civilization during the post classic period?

A) Large cities based on elaborate political and economic organization
B) Elaborate cultural systems
C) Monotheism
D) Highly developed agriculture

Answer 2

Monotheism

Question 3

The northern nomadic peoples who entered central Mexico following the decline of Teotihuacan and established a capital at Tula in 968 were the

A) Aztecs.
B) Incas.
C) Olmecs.
D) Toltecs.

Answer 3

Toltecs.

Question 4

The Aztec capital was established at

A) Teotihuacan.
B) Tula.
C) Tenochtitlan.
D) Twantinsuyu.

Question 5

What was the relationship between the Toltecs and their predecessors in central Mexico?

A) The former residents of central Mexico were wiped out during the Toltec invasions.
B) The entry of the Toltecs into central Mexico marks an abrupt break in the cultural development of the region.
C) The Toltecs adopted the animistic religion of their predecessors, but failed to develop cities or ceremonial centers.
D) The Toltecs adopted many cultural features from their predecessors to which they added a strong military ethic and human sacrifice.

Question 6

How did the Aztecs view the cultural achievements of the Toltecs?

A) As barbarians who lacked culture
B) As slaves, fit only for conquest
C) As the givers of civilization
D) As heretics, who practiced a forbidden religion

Question 7

The Toltec Empire lasted until about what date?

A) 1000
B) 1150
C) 1236
D) 1434

Question 8

After the sack of Tula, the center of population and political power in Mexico shifted to

A) Yucatan.
B) the valley of Mexico and the shores of a chain of lakes in that basin.
C) Teotihuacan.
D) Chimor.

Question 9

The people who succeeded the Toltecs as the rulers of central Mexico were the

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

Question 10

Around what year did the Aztecs migrate to the central valley of Mexico?

A) 1000
B) 1150
C) 1325
D) 1434

Question 11

In the period shortly after the arrival of the Aztecs in the valley of Mexico, what was the nature of the political organization of the region?

A) Imperial
B) Regional kingdoms
C) City-states
D) Hunting and gathering groups

Question 12

Which of the following was NOT one of the cities challenging for dominance at the time of the Aztec arrival in the valley of Mexico?

A) Teotihuacan
B) Azcapotzalco
C) Culhuacan
D) Texcoco

Question 13

What city did the Aztecs establish ca. 1325 on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco?

A) Teotihuacan
B) Culhuacan
C) Texcoco
D) Tenochtitlan

Question 14

In what year did Tenochtitlan emerge as the dominant force in the central plateau that it controlled along with Texcoco and Tlacopan?

A) 1100
B) 1234
C) 1325
D) 1434

Question 15

Which of the following did NOT occur as a result of the Aztec rise to power?

A) The increasing dominance of the nobility
B) The emergence of a ruler with supreme powers
C) The abandonment of human sacrifice
D) The subsequent expansion of power and the boundaries of Aztec control

Question 16

What was the impact of expansion and conquest on the Aztec social system?

A) Aztec society became more hierarchical.
B) Conquest opened up Aztec society to incursions by the indigenous peoples who began to form a trained bureaucracy.
C) Aztec society was transformed in the sense that the Mexica adopted the social patterns of the Maya.
D) Despite the stress of warfare and invasion, the Aztec society remained remarkably unchanged by the process.

Question 17

Tlaloc was the god of

A) corn.
B) love.
C) rain.
D) creation.

Question 18

Which of the following statements concerning Aztec religion is most accurate?

A) Shortly after establishing their empire, the Aztecs abandoned all gods other than their patron, Huitzilopochtli.
B) Aztec deities were normally associated only with male forms.
C) Aztec deities were numerous and had different forms or manifestations somewhat like the avatars of the Hindu deities.
D) There was little or no animism in the religious world of the Aztecs.

Question 19

Which of the following was NOT one of the major themes or cults of Aztec religion?

A) Gods of fertility and the agricultural cycle
B) Creator deities
C) Gods of warfare and sacrifice
D) Deities devoted to contemplation and salvation

Question 20

The central figure of the cult of human sacrifice and the most sacred deity of the Aztecs was

A) Quetzalcoatl.
B) Tlaloc.
C) Tonatiuh.
D) Huitzilopochtli.

Question 21

What was the Aztec view of history?

A) They believed in a linear view of history dedicated to the premise of Aztec superiority for eternity.
B) Like other Mesoamerican peoples, the Aztecs believed in a cyclical pattern of repetitive destructions of the world.
C) Unlike other Mesoamerican peoples, the Aztecs rejected the cyclical view of history for a more modern historical view based on the history of their empire.
D) Because they lacked a calendar system, the Aztecs had no formal historical viewpoint.

Question 22

Which of the following statements concerning the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan is NOT accurate?

A) It was built on an island in the middle of a lake
B) By 1520 it probably had a population of about 150,000
C) Despite the existence of thousands of houses and other varieties of domestic architecture, unlike other Mesoamerican cities it lacked temples and palaces
D) The city was as large as contemporary Paris

Question 23

The Aztec innovation in intensive agriculture in the aquatic environments of the lakes of central Mexico was the development of

A) chinampas.
B) pipiltin.
C) quipus.
D) calpulli.

Question 24

What was the nature of the Aztec economy?

A) The Aztecs failed to develop a merchant class, so all distribution of goods was carried out by the state.
B) The Aztecs developed a free market economy in which all trade was in the hands of specialized merchants.
C) The Aztec state redistributed many goods received as tribute, but there was a specialized merchant class that also handled long-distance trade in rare commodities.
D) There was little trade within Aztec society, as almost all communities were self-sufficient.

Question 25

One of the most permanent features of Aztec society was its organization into clans or

A) chinampas.
B) pipiltin.
C) quipus.
D) calpulli.

Question 26

A merchant class which specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items was referred to as the

A) chinampas.
B) pochteca.
C) quipus.
D) calpulli.

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT true of the Aztec view of marriage and the family?

A) Virginity at marriage was highly regarded for young women
B) Polygamy was common throughout society
C) Marriages were often arranged between lineages
D) Young girls were often trained by the older women of the calpulli

Question 28

While the position of Aztec women in many ways paralleled that of women in other civilizations at a similar stage of development, what was the significant difference between the life of women in Mesoamerica and in the Mediterranean world?

A) Women in Mesoamerica participated fully in the military.
B) There was no polygamy practiced in Mesoamerica.
C) Aztec women were unable to inherit or to pass property on to heirs.
D) The limited technology of Mesoamerica confined women to many more hours grinding grain for food.

Question 29

What was the nature of the Aztec administration of subject territories?

A) The Aztecs placed members of the Aztec nobility as rulers over subject peoples.
B) All territories conquered by the Aztecs became part of a singular administration run by a trained bureaucracy located in Tenochtitlan, much like the Byzantine Empire.
C) Conquered territories were often left relatively unchanged under their old rulers as long as they recognized Aztec supremacy and paid tribute.
D) The Aztecs established a military administration with subject territories controlled by regional generals.

Question 30

Where was the Inca Empire based?

A) Mexico
B) Central America
C) The Andean highlands
D) Brazil

Question 31

What was the capital of the coastal kingdom on Chimor?

A) Cusco
B) Tenochtitlan
C) La Paz
D) Chan-Chan

Question 32

What was the primary difference in the political situation between the Mesoamerican and Andean zones following the breakup of the classical states?

A) In Mesoamerica there was no real political decline as new peoples simply took over the institutions of their predecessors.
B) In the Andean zones a number of relatively large states continued to be important, rather than the breakdown of power that was typical of Mesoamerica.
C) The Andean political experience lacked the militaristic overtones that accompanied the breakdown of power in Mesoamerica.
D) The transition of power that took place in the Andean zone was accomplished by invasion from outside the region.

Question 33

The most powerful of the Andean states between 900 and 1465 following the decline of Tihuanaco and Huari was

A) Chimor.
B) Titicaca.
C) Topac Yupanqui.
D) Chichen Itza.

Question 34

The capital of the Inca Empire was

A) Cuzco
B) Chan Chan
C) Tihuanaco
D) Chichen Itza

Question 35

The Inca ruler associated with the first creation of the Inca Empire in 1438 was

A) Topac Yupanqui.
B) Ahuitzotl.
C) Pachacuti.
D) Moctezuma II.

Question 36

What do the authors suggest was the principal reason for Inca conquest and expansion?

A) Their need for human sacrificial victims
B) The practice of split inheritance
C) The absence of irrigation systems within the Inca Empire
D) The existence of long-distance trade merchants within the imperial administration

Question 37

What was the Inca practice of split inheritance?

A) On the death of the previous ruler, the throne passed to two descendants from the ruler?s family.
B) On the death of the previous ruler, the family?s wealth was equally divided among all male heirs.
C) On the death of the previous ruler, the inheritance passed through the family of the senior wife to her oldest brother.
D) All political power and titles went to the ruler?s successor, but his wealth was kept in the hands of the male descendants to support the cult of the dead Inca?s mummy.

Question 38

The religious practice most closely associated with the state and the person of the Inca in Andean civilization was the cult of

A) human sacrifice.
B) the rain god.
C) the sun.
D) Quetzalcoatl.

Question 39

Which of the following was utilized in the Inca Empire, but NOT by the Aztecs?

A) A semi-divine emperor
B) Extensive use of colonization
C) Use of local rulers in exchange for recognition of sovereignty
D) Identification of the nobility with the administrative and military functions of the state

Question 40

Which of the following existed in the Aztec Empire, but NOT in the Inca Empire?

A) A tribute system
B) Redistribution of tribute by the state
C) Extraction of labor for use on temple projects
D) An extensive merchant class

Question 41

What was the Andean principle of inheritance?

A) Matrilineal, inheritance passing in the female line
B) Patrilineal, inheritance passing in the male line
C) Parallel descent, or inheritance passing in both the male and female lines
D) Everything passing to the monarch

Question 42

Tambos were

A) labor turns exacted by the Inca authorities.
B) knotted strings used for record keeping.
C) local rulers.
D) way stations along roads in the Inca Empire.

Question 43

The Inca nobility were

A) drawn from 10 royal ayllus and the city of Cuzco.
B) drawn from the noble ayllus of the conquered population.
C) not distinguished from the commoners by appearance or dress.
D) often commoners who distinguished themselves in battle.

Question 44

Which of the following represents a cultural difference between the Incas and Aztecs?

A) Monumental architecture
B) No practical use of the wheel
C) Lack of a writing system
D) Beautiful pottery and cloth

Question 45

In terms of the integration of a centralized empire, how did the Incas and Aztecs compare?

A) The Aztecs and Incas both made little attempt to integrate conquered territories and permitted self-rule in return for loyalty and tribute.
B) The Aztecs were more advanced than the Incas in consolidating their government into an integrated unit.
C) The Incas attempted to create an over-arching political state and made conscious attempts to integrate their empire as a unit, while the Aztecs did less in this regard.
D) Both the Incas and the Aztecs created fully integrated empires complete with central bureaucracies and military administrative units that controlled all conquered regions.

Question 46

Which of the following represents a significant difference between the Andean and Mesoamerican civilizations?

A) Climate and geography
B) Kin-based social groups
C) Sedentary agricultural systems
D) The existence of a nobility

Question 47

Which of the following statements about the population of the Americas is most true?

A) The population of the Americas is easy to calculate.
B) North America was more densely populated than Mesoamerica or the Andes.
C) The population of the Americas was nearly the same as that of contemporary Europe (not including Russia).
D) The early 20th-century estimate of 8.4 million still seems the most accurate.

Question 48

By 1500, agriculture was

A) largely diffused throughout the Americas, although not always in sedentary agricultural communities.
B) virtually unknown outside of the Andean and Mesoamerican civilization zones.
C) practiced in sedentary communities throughout the Americas.
D) practiced in sedentary communities and by nomadic pastoralists throughout the Americas.

Question 49

Which of the following does NOT represent a characteristic of most Indian societies other than the Andean and Mesoamerican civilizations?

A) Strongly kin-based societies
B) Wealth as the basis of social ranking
C) Communal action and ownership of resources
D) Important social and political roles for women

Question 50

In what ways did the Aztecs continue the culture of the classical Mesoamerican civilization and the Toltecs?

Question 51

Describe Aztec social organization.

Question 52

Compare and contrast the Inca and Aztec empires in terms of political administration.

Question 53

How did the Indian cultures outside the Andean and Mesoamerican civilization zones contrast in political and social organization with the Aztec and Inca empires?

Question 54

How have historians explained the existence and prevalence of human sacrifice among the Aztecs?