Deck 2: Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500-1800

Question 1

The sea captain who first made a sea voyage directly from Europe to India was

A) Bartholomeu Dias.
B) Ferdinand Magellan.
C) Francis Drake.
D) Vasco da Gama.
E) Amerigo Vespucci.

Answer 1

Vasco da Gama.

Question 2

In the 1440s, among the first profits the Portuguese derived from their maritime exploration and returning ships came from

A) silver.
B) copper.
C) pepper.
D) precious stones.
E) African slaves.

Answer 2

African slaves.

Question 3

The first major Portuguese settlement in India was at Calicut.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The religious crusading motive for exploration was strongest in

A) Spain and Portugal.
B) Florence and Venice.
C) the Byzantine Empire.
D) England and Scotland.
E) France and the Low Countries.

Question 5

The famous medieval traveler reputed to have journeyed to the court of Kublai Khan was Prester John.

Question 6

The man who established the first school for mariners was

A) King Henry II of France.
B) Prince Henry of Portugal.
C) King Henry VIII of England.
D) Prince Henry of Orange in the Netherlands.
E) Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI.

Question 7

It was not until the 1770s that sentiment in Europe began to build against the slave trade, initially with the Society of Friends.

Question 8

All of the following were new navigational techniques and knowledge that spurred European exploration and expansion EXCEPT

A) lateen sails.
B) the compass.
C) the quadrant and the Pole Star.
D) the astrolabe.
E) the axial rudder.

Question 9

​Advocates of mercantilism generally favored reducing tariffs to promote free trade.

Question 10

The thirteen colonies in British North America were directly controlled by the British Board of Trade, the Royal Council, and Parliament, with no colonial legislatures.

Question 11

Printed editions of Ptolemy's Geography did not become available until 1600, too late to make any significant difference in the efforts of early European explorers.

Question 12

The greatness of Ming China was due to the accomplishments of the two monarchs, Kangxi and Qianlong, who ruled from the mid-seventeenth century to the late eighteenth century.

Question 13

Portugal became the early leader in European expansion through its contacts with all of the following EXCEPT

A) India.
B) Newfoundland.
C) Bakongo.
D) Malacca.
E) the Spice Islands.

Question 14

Spanish commercial power in the Americas reached its apex in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, after fighting off the challenges from Britain and the Netherlands.

Question 15

Tokugawa Ieyasu established the longest-lasting of the Japanese shogunates, which retained power from the early sixteenth century until 1868.

Question 16

The word Inca means "chief priest."

Question 17

​Jesuit missionaries had their greatest and most enduring success in the conversion of Japan to Christianity.

Question 18

The Italian merchant whose tales of the court of Kublai Khan popularized China in Europe was

A) Christopher Columbus.
B) Amerigo Vespucci.
C) Marco Polo.
D) Leonardo Bruni.
E) John Mandeville.

Question 19

The primary motive for European exploration during the Renaissance was

A) social, to relieve the population pressure on Europe.
B) religious, to spread the Gospel.
C) psychological, the quest for new experiences to transform a dull existence.
D) military, to provide new bases for an army.
E) economic, the desire for precious metals and new areas for trade.

Question 20

In order to obtain slaves for sale to Europeans, local African rulers frequently raided defenseless villages in search of unsuspecting victims.

Question 21

The development of a Portuguese maritime empire encompassing Malacca and the Malay Peninsula was achieved, in part, through

A) ruthless and murderous attacks on Arab settlers in the region.
B) the negotiation of four commercial treaties with Arab traders.
C) the use of African warriors to defeat the local residents.
D) massive bribery to local Arab overlords.
E) peaceful diplomacy between Portuguese and Arab ambassadors.

Question 22

African slaves were shipped to Brazil and the Caribbean

A) to defeat indigenous empires and pave the way for European domination.
B) to mine vast quantities of gold to be shipped to Portugal.
C) to work on sugar plantations.
D) to cultivate tobacco.
E) to grow rice.

Question 23

The Treaty of Tordesillas divided

A) the Spice Islands between Portugal and the Dutch Republic.
B) South Africa between the English and the Dutch.
C) the New World between Spain and Portugal.
D) the North Atlantic between England and France.
E) the South Pacific between Spain and the Dutch Republic.

Question 24

Portugal's attempt to dominate Southeast Asian trade

A) was a complete success, with Portugal decimating indigenous populations and replacing them with Portuguese colonists.
B) was never totally successful because Portugal lacked the resources to overcome local resistance.
C) ended when the Portuguese crown decided that its empire violated Christian moral principles.
D) resulted in a peaceful partnership with Spain, with both states sharing the profits of the spice trade equally.
E) was a complete failure after the defeat of the Portuguese navy at the Battle of Bombay.

Question 25

The mainland states of Southeast Asia had better success in resisting European encroachment than did the Spice Islands and Malay states because

A) they lacked any natural resources desired by the Europeans, who had no wish to trade with them.
B) they were more cohesive politically with strong monarchies.
C) the Europeans were not aware of their existence.
D) they were Christians, and the Europeans never attacked fellow Christians.
E) they were allied to China, which gave them military support against the Europeans.

Question 26

India's Mughal dynasty was

A) Hindu in religion.
B) Buddhist in religion.
C) Mongol in origin.
D) successful in expelling the British East India Company.
E) long native to the Indian subcontinent.

Question 27

The African slave trade

A) had little impact on the level of violence and warfare in Africa.
B) reduced warfare and violence in Africa because all the African states united against the European slavers.
C) increased warfare and violence in Africa because of the increasing demand for prisoners who could be sold as slaves.
D) died out with the discovery of the South Asian Spice Islands.
E) was carried out peacefully, as wars or violence would reduce the number of slaves and thus profits.

Question 28

The European nation that took over the spice trade from Portugal was

A) Venice.
B) England.
C) Spain.
D) France.
E) the Dutch Republic.

Question 29

The conquistador who conquered and looted the Inca Empire in 1531 was

A) Hernán Cortéz.
B) Hernando de Soto.
C) Francisco de Coronado.
D) Bartolomé de las Casas.
E) Francisco Pizarro.

Question 30

The term encomienda refers to

A) a Spanish system devised to collect tribute from natives and to use their labor.
B) Spanish officials who supervised local industries.
C) taxes levied on the colonists by the Spanish government.
D) special Jesuit missionaries assigned to posts in the New World.
E) mission schools set up to educate the Indians.

Question 31

Between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries, the number of African slaves shipped to the New World is estimated at

A) one million.
B) two million.
C) five million.
D) ten million.
E) twenty-five million.

Question 32

John Cabot explored the New England coastline under a license from the king of

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

Question 33

The first known circumnavigation of the earth is associated with

A) Amerigo Vespucci.
B) Ferdinand Magellan.
C) John Cabot.
D) Christopher Columbus.
E) Vasco da Gama.

Question 34

The European disease that ravaged the Aztecs and Inca was

A) syphilis.
B) hemorrhagic fever.
C) smallpox.
D) influenza.
E) gout.

Question 35

The major western rival to the British in India in the seventeenth century was

A) Portugal.
B) France.
C) Spain.
D) the Netherlands.
E) Russia.

Question 36

Spanish expansion and exploration of the New World was best exemplified by

A) the first circumnavigation of the globe by Amerigo Vespucci.
B) the conquest of the Aztec Empire by Cortés.
C) the conquest of Mayan civilization by Magellan.
D) Pizarro's rounding of the tip of South America in 1519.
E) Cabot's search for the Northwest Passage.

Question 37

The Mesoamerica civilization which existed at the time of European exploration was the

A) Maya.
B) Inca.
C) Toltec.
D) Aztec.
E) Zapotec.

Question 38

The Aztec empire, which Cortéz conquered in 1519, was located

A) in the Peruvian Andes.
B) on Cuba.
C) in central Mexico.
D) in southern Florida.
E) on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Question 39

The major critic of the Spanish treatment of the American natives was

A) Bartolomé de Las Casas.
B) Hernán Cortéz.
C) Afonso de Albuquerque.
D) Ignatius of Loyola.
E) Pope Paul III.

Question 40

The European nation that established a settlement at Africa's Cape of Good Hope was

A) Spain.
B) Portugal.
C) England.
D) France.
E) the Dutch Republic.

Question 41

By the end of the seventeenth century,

A) international trade was much greater than intra-European trade.
B) wealth was being transferred back to the New World from Europe in the form of raw materials.
C) local, regional, and intra-European trade was considerably greater than international trade.
D) slavery was in decline in both Africa and the New World.
E) European imperialism had come to an end.

Question 42

A Mercator projection

A) was used to estimate profits from the slave trade.
B) is the shape cast on a map by the light of the moon traveling through stained glass.
C) shows the true shape of landmasses in a limited area on a map.
D) shows the true shape of bodies of water in a limited area on a map.
E) refers to the formula used by missionaries to calculate conversion rates of natives.

Question 43

Which empire was described as "an old, crazy, first-rate man of war" but because of incompetent leadership was destined to be "dashed to pieces on the shore"?

A) the British Empire
B) the Spanish Empire
C) the Chinese Empire
D) the Russian Empire
E) the Ottoman Empire

Question 44

In Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu

A) expelled all missionaries.
B) invited Protestant missionaries to visit.
C) executed all missionaries.
D) converted to Catholicism.
E) invited French Catholic missionaries to stay.

Question 45

Which of the following statements best applies to the economy of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe?

A) The joint-stock company enabled the raising of spectacular sums of capital for world trading ventures.
B) The early seventeenth century saw a general stagnation in the areas of mining and metallurgy.
C) Technological innovations improved the lives of peasants dramatically.
D) The population explosion made for urban growth and more social equality in cities.
E) An economic depression occurred because of a lack of precious metals in circulation.

Question 46

According to mercantilist theory, the prosperity of a nation depended on a plentiful supply of

A) slaves.
B) colonies.
C) agricultural surplus.
D) bullion.
E) aristocrats.

Question 47

The House of Fugger went bankrupt at the end of the sixteenth century when which of the following defaulted on their loans?

A) the pope.
B) the Habsburgs.
C) the Venetians.
D) Bourbons.
E) the Sicilians.

Question 48

Sir Robert Clive is associated with the consolidation of British control in

A) China.
B) India.
C) Japan.
D) New England.
E) Canada.

Question 49

An extensive multiracial society appeared first in

A) British North America.
B) Latin America.
C) Northern Europe.
D) Southern Europe.
E) China.

Question 50

The first European nation to establish formal diplomatic relations with China was

A) England.
B) Russia.
C) the Dutch.
D) Venice.
E) Portugal.

Question 51

The inflation of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries

A) brought an abrupt halt to commercial expansion.
B) was the result of too little money in circulation.
C) caused a decline in the standard of living for wage earners and those on fixed incomes.
D) was caused largely by a shrinking labor force.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 52

When the Potosí mines in Peru opened in 1545

A) the price of silver plummeted for two decades.
B) European migrants flooded into Peru to get jobs in the mines.
C) the English fought and lost a war to capture the mines.
D) the cost of precious metals imported into Europe quadrupled.
E) None of these are correct.

Question 53

The "Black Hole of Calcutta" refers to the imprisonment of British settlers in India by

A) the French
B) the Dutch
C) the local ruler of Bengal
D) the Spanish
E) the Portuguese

Question 54

Before the nineteenth century, which of the following areas was least affected by European power and influence?

A) China and Japan
B) Africa
C) North America
D) South America
E) India

Question 55

One of the major economic problems of the sixteenth century in Europe was

A) a dramatic fall in prices.
B) a dramatic rise in prices.
C) a failure of the grain market.
D) a widespread famine.
E) a population decline which led to massive unemployment.

Question 56

Catholic Christianity failed to take root in China in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries because

A) of opposition from Jesuit missionaries.
B) of opposition from Protestant missionaries.
C) of opposition by the pope to the practice of ancestor worship.
D) of the antipathy of the Chinese to all spiritual doctrines.
E) of the success of Hindu missionaries, who were closer to Chinese Buddhism in tradition.

Question 57

The European nation that had the first direct contact with China since Marco Polo was

A) Portugal.
B) Spain.
C) the Dutch Republic.
D) Russia.
E) England.

Question 58

The financial center of Europe in the seventeenth century was

A) Paris.
B) London.
C) Rome.
D) Vienna.
E) Amsterdam.

Question 59

The first permanent English settlement in North America was

A) Massachusetts Bay.
B) Plymouth.
C) New York.
D) Jamestown.
E) Quebec.

Question 60

The Chinese dynasty which replaced the Ming in the seventeenth century and which came from Manchuria was the

A) Tang.
B) Song.
C) Yuan.
D) Han.
E) Qing.

Question 61

Talk about:
Malacca

Question 62

Talk about:
John Cabot

Question 63

Talk about:
Bartholomeu Dias

Question 64

Talk about:
compass and astrolabe

Question 65

What was NOT part of the Columbian exchange?

A) Potatoes from Europe and olive trees from the New World.
B) Horses and cattle from Europe and corn from the New World.
C) Gunpowder from Europe and tobacco from the New World.
D) Smallpox from Europe and gold and silver from the New World.
E) Wheat from Europe and tomatoes from the New World.

Question 66

Talk about:
the Gold Coast

Question 67

Talk about:
Marco Polo

Question 68

Talk about:
Vasco Nuñez de Balboa

Question 69

Talk about:
Prince Henry the Navigator

Question 70

Talk about:
Prester John

Question 71

Talk about:
Spice Islands

Question 72

Talk about:
The Travels of John Mandeville

Question 73

Talk about:
Vasco da Gama and Calicut

Question 74

Talk about:
Afonso de Albuquerque

Question 75

Talk about:
Christopher Columbus

Question 76

Talk about:
lateen sails and square rigs

Question 77

Talk about:
portolani

Question 78

Talk about:
Ptolemy's Geography

Question 79

Talk about:
"God, glory, and gold"

Question 80

The most famous map projection in history is

A) the portolani .
B) Ptolemy's Geography .
C) that of Gerardus Mercator.
D) Galileo's The Starry Messenger .
E) dead-reckoning.