Deck 1: When Old Worlds Collide: Encounters in the Atlantic World to 1600

Question 1

The society that was able to build complex agricultural systems at 12,000 feet above sea level -- an unheard of task -- was

A) Andean
B) Mayan
C) Aztec
D) Incan
E) African

Answer 1

Andean

Question 2

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.

Answer 2

developing a colonial economic system based on the production of staple crops by slave labor.

Question 3

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

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

Answer 3

disease.

Question 4

Human habitation of the Americas began approximately

A) 500,000 years ago.
B) 100,000 years ago.
C) 15,000 years ago.
D) 5,000 years ago.
E) 500 years ago.

Question 5

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 6

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 7

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

Question 8

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

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

Question 9

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 10

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 11

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 12

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 13

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

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

Question 14

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) soulless savages.
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 15

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 16

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

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

Question 17

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 18

The early civilizations of America were basically age cultures.

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

Question 19

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 20

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 21

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 22

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 23

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 24

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 25

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 breakdown of feudalism.
E) invention of the telephone.

Question 26

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 27

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

Question 28

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

Question 29

One of the major advantages Portugal had in the race for exploration was the trailblazing maneuvers of navigator Prince Henry .

Question 30

The Black Death reduced Europe's population by

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

Question 31

The center of the Portuguese empire in Asia was

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

Question 32

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

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

Question 33

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 34

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

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

Question 35

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 36

Despite the fact that it was a nonliterate culture, this empire managed to rule up to 12 million people over a widely expanding area.

A) Africans
B) Chinese
C) Mayans
D) Incans
E) Aztecs

Question 37

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 38

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

Question 39

Unlike Spain, Portugal refused to enslave Africans.

Question 40

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 41

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

Question 42

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

Question 43

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

Question 44

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

Question 45

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

Question 46

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

Question 47

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

Question 48

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

Question 49

The large Spanish estates that developed in the countryside of the Americas in the sixteenth century were known as haciendas.

Question 50

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

Question 51

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

Question 52

Johann Gutenberg invented paper and block printing.

Question 53

The first European slaves were black Africans.

Question 54

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

Question 55

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

Question 56

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

Question 57

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

Question 58

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

Question 59

Beringia was never a hospitable place for plant and animal life.

Question 60

Portuguese explorers were never able to penetrate Japan.

Question 61

As the encomienda system faded, a new system of debt peonage kept Indians tied to the Spanish.

Question 62

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

Question 63

American silver made the king of Spain the most powerful monarch in Christendom.

Question 64

Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered_____________ in South America accidentally.

Question 65

Aside from Marco Polo, the Chinese had no contact whatsoever with the rest of the world.

Question 66

For the Western Hemisphere as a whole, any given region probably lost at least 90 percent of its population within a year of sustained contact with Europeans.

Question 67

In 1573, the Spanish King disavowed the enslavement of Indians or even attacks against them.

Question 68

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

Question 69

The conqueror of the Aztecs was_____________.

Question 70

The papal decree that divided the Americas between Portugal and Spain was called the_____________.

Question 71

Women in semisedentary Indian societies made crucial contributions to farming.

Question 72

The marriage of Queen Isabella of Castile and King_____________ of Aragon formed the foundation for modern Spain.

Question 73

The Toltecs controlled the Valley of Mexico for three centuries.

Question 74

The_____________ was a type of spear point that originated in the New Mexico-Texas area, spread rapidly across the Americas, and contributed to the elimination of large game animals.

Question 75

Spanish conquistadores led armies of around 5,000 men.

Question 76

In the fifteenth century, the Chinese government ruled 100 million people.

Question 77

Franciscan missionaries systematically tortured their Mayan converts when they caught them worshipping their old gods.

Question 78

Many Mesoamerican artifacts have been found in the southeastern United States.

Question 79

The Franciscans were the first Catholic missionaries to the North American Indians.

Question 80

In 1580, the_____________ Empire was the greatest empire the world had ever known.