Deck 1: Ancient America and Africa

Question 1

Which of the following characteristics of a matrilineal tribe in North America is NOT accurate?

A) sharing of powers in the tribal economy
B) newly married men remained in their father's household
C) family membership was determined through the female line
D) elder women chose male leadership

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Little Ice Age impacted native societies in the Americas in all of the following ways EXCEPT:

A) Native peoples abandoned urban centers.
B) Native societies became less populous.
C) Native societies became less centralized.
D) Native women lost power.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The Spanish encountered the Aztec people in Mexico in the year

A) 1492.
B) 1519.
C) 1545.
D) 1619.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Many ancient humans migrated to the Americas over a

A) wooden bridge.
B) land bridge.
C) volcanic crater.
D) cobblestone road.

Question 5

The Aztecs, one of the Meso-American empires, created a(n)

A) empire that controlled a population estimated at between 100 and 200 million people.
B) highly unstratified society.
C) capital city that amazed the Spanish with its poverty.
D) sophisticated agricultural system.

Question 6

How did Europeans view Native American people and their behavior?

A) as cultural barbarians
B) as religious pagans
C) as political savages
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 7

At the time of early contact with Europeans, Africa was a continent marked by

A) primitive social organizations.
B) sparse and undeveloped settlements.
C) diverse and elaborate cultures.
D) backward and ignorant peoples.

Question 8

In the seventeenth century, European explorers in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys were amazed to find

A) the remnants of ancient European visitors.
B) Native Americans living as forest primitives.
C) hundreds of large ceremonial mounds.
D) a highly developed and far-flung Indian society.

Question 9

What activities did women perform in the tribal economy of native societies?

A) clearing of the land
B) entering into battle
C) hunting
D) control of the raising and distribution of crops

Question 10

Mansa Musa, who ruled the West African empire of Mali,

A) led a legendary pilgrimage to Mecca.
B) never succeeded in making Mali as large as Ghana.
C) became so powerful that he led his army across the Sahara.
D) achieved little notice from people outside West Africa.

Question 11

Population growth and cultural development in West Africa

A) depended upon ecological conditions and geography.
B) guarded against foreign invasions and influences.
C) progressed in regular and set patterns.
D) required isolation from other cultures.

Question 12

Native Americans encountered by Europeans practiced a form of religion known as

A) monotheism.
B) polytheism.
C) Christianity.
D) Islam.

Question 13

The potential for conflict between Europeans and the indigenous people in North America stemmed primarily from different values concerning the

A) relationship to the environment, property, and personal identity.
B) role of technology in human existence.
C) adoption of a sedentary versus a nomadic lifestyle.
D) organization of family life.

Question 14

In contrast to the Europeans, most natives of North America believed that land serves as the basis for

A) independence and personal identity.
B) material wealth.
C) political status.
D) common sustenance.

Question 15

Archaeological studies of the Mound Builders suggest that Native American

A) loss of population and land accompanying the western migration of Europeans was inevitable.
B) settlements of the Atlantic seaboard represented the highest levels of pre-Columbian development.
C) culture remained static for thousands of years before Europeans arrived.
D) societies participated in a vast trading network that linked villages across the continent.

Question 16

The Pueblo people of the American Southwest, encountered by the Spanish in the 1540s,

A) built ceremonial mounds on which to worship their gods.
B) failed to develop agricultural techniques suitable for their arid environment.
C) used irrigation canals, dams, and hillside terracing to water their arid maize fields.
D) made their clothing and utensils from buffalo hides and bones.

Question 17

The West African empire of Ghana became noted for its

A) long-distance commerce.
B) elaborate sculpture and metalwork.
C) extensive urban settlement.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 18

The results of creating a more cohesive political confederacy for the Iroquois included

A) losing hunting grounds to neighboring tribes.
B) increasing village stability.
C) weakening the Iroquois as warriors.
D) population decrease as competition over resources increased.

Question 19

In which of the following categories did the Iroquois practice a communal lifestyle?

A) work
B) land use
C) hunting
D) All of these answers are correct

Question 20

As a result of the development of agriculture in the Americas, the members of native tribes

A) abandoned regional trading networks.
B) engaged solely in agricultural tasks.
C) lost faith in religious leaders.
D) grew in numbers and founded separate societies.

Question 21

To Europeans, "China" was known as

A) America.
B) Cathay.
C) the Sandwich Islands.
D) the Renaissance.

Question 22

Broadly trace the major phases of pre-Columbian Native American history as charted by archaeologists and anthropologists.

Question 23

Which of the following nations became the early leader of European exploration?

A) France
B) Spain
C) England
D) Portugal

Question 24

Identify the Aztecs and explain their rise to power.

Question 25

By the 1430s, Prince Henry's captains had reached

A) the Hawaiian and Tahitian islands.
B) the Madeira, Azores, and Canary Islands.
C) China.
D) India.

Question 26

Africans in West Africa could be enslaved for

A) punishment for crimes.
B) being black.
C) fighting against Europeans.
D) refusing to embrace Islam.

Question 27

The small country of Portugal was an early leader in navigation despite having a population of only

A) 10 million.
B) 20 million.
C) 100,000.
D) 1 million.

Question 28

How new was slavery to West Africa? How did West Africans view slavery?

Question 29

Contrast the views of Europeans of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with those of Native Americans they encountered on such topics as the environment, social relations, religious beliefs, and slavery.

Question 30

The social organization of African societies included

A) kings and noblemen at the top.
B) a great mass of people who worked as farmers.
C) urban craftsmen who supported the elites.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 31

Explain the impact trade had on West Africa.

Question 32

All of the following factors contributed to the rise of modern Europe EXCEPT the

A) devastation of the population by the Black Death.
B) rediscovery of ancient knowledge.
C) emergence of powerful feudal lords.
D) revival of long-distance trade.

Question 33

To consolidate power in the second half of the fifteenth century, European monarchs

A) sought political and social stability.
B) created bureaucracies to manage their kingdoms.
C) nourished the impulse to expand.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 34

Numerous cultural groups developed across the North American continent, each with distinctive lifestyles. Describe the most important features of the following cultural groups, paying particular attention to whether or not they engaged in village life, trade, and agriculture: Pueblo, Northwest Coast, and Mound Builders.

Question 35

In contrast to the fate of Africans enslaved in the Americas, the slaves in West African societies

A) did not suffer a permanently servile condition.
B) transferred slave status automatically to their children.
C) remained uneducated and unwed.
D) lost all legal rights and opportunities for economic advancement.

Question 36

Discuss the political and social organization of the Iroquois.

Question 37

Timbuktu in the fourteenth century was a

A) barren and inhospitable location in the Sahara.
B) major port of trade with the eastern world on the Indian Ocean.
C) military outpost in the kingdom of Ghana.
D) city in Mali, with a distinguished faculty of scholars.

Question 38

What factors contributed to the rise of modern Europe and an age of expansionism from 1000 to 1600 C.E.? Contrast the political and economic changes in England with those of its European counterparts during this time.