Deck 12: Faith, Fortune, and Fame: European Expansion, 1450-1700

Question 1

Europeans desired many products from Asia. Which of the following was not one of these products?

A) Pepper
B) Silk
C) Tobacco
D) Fine carpets

Answer 1

Tobacco

Question 2

The Venetian who traveled to China and who wrote a book of his experiences was

A) Marco Polo
B) Vasco da Gama
C) Prester John
D) Christopher Columbus

Answer 2

Marco Polo

Question 3

The great ancient Greek geographer, Ptolemy, provided early explorers with their ideas about the world, but he made some major and misleading errors. Which of the following errors was his?

A) He thought the world was flat, shaped like a plate
B) He overestimated the size of the land area of the world and underestimated the overall size of the earth by about one-sixth
C) He believed that longitude and latitude were useless in exploration
D) He believed that the tropical oceans were so hot that no ship could sail in them

Answer 3

He overestimated the size of the land area of the world and underestimated the overall size of the earth by about one-sixth

Question 4

A major reason for European exploration was

A) To determine whether the earth was round or flat by looking for its edge
B) To prove that Ptolemy's idea of the size of the earth was wrong
C) To establish a direct trade route with the sources for silks and spices and bypass Islamic middlemen
D) To test their new ships, sails and navigational equipment

Question 5

The first European country to undertake exploration was

A) Germany
B) Russia
C) Spain
D) Portugal

Question 6

Portuguese exploration accomplished all of the following except

A) Rounding Africa to reach India
B) Discovering Prester John
C) Establishing a string of outposts to control the spice trade
D) Striking a dramatic blow to the Muslim economy by challenging its shipping monopoly in the Indian Ocean

Question 7

European exploration was made easier by

A) The collapse of Islamic empires
B) The great success of The Crusades
C) Improved ships, sails and navigational equipment
D) The cooperativeness of the various European monarchs

Question 8

Christopher Columbus

A) Made only one voyage to the New World
B) Was an excellent administrator of the lands he discovered, doing so well that he died rich
C) Always believed that he had arrived on the outskirts of Asia, not far from the great and wealthy Asian empires
D) Was a native of Portugal

Question 9

Which of the following commenced the voyage around the world that would be completed by Sevastien Elcano, after this man was killed in a local war in the Philippines?

A) Vasco Nu-ez de Balboa
B) Bartholomeu Dias
C) Henry the Navigator
D) Ferdinand Magellan

Question 10

Which of the following statements is not true of Northern European exploration in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

A) The Cabots found huge numbers of cod but their voyage was considered a failure because it neither reached Asia nor returned with spices
B) In their explorations, the French, Dutch and English agreed to abide by the restrictions agreed to by Spain and Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas
C) The Dutch fought the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and took over the latter's monopoly of the spice trade
D) An important part of this exploration was a search for a passage through North America

Question 11

The New World agriculture developed in central Mexico around 5500 B.C.E. Spread slowly because

A) It was difficult for crops to spread north and south because different latitudes yielded different growing seasons
B) Nearby hunting tribes resented agriculture as a threat to their traditional way of life
C) The principal crops, maize and beans, were very hard to grow
D) Insects and plant diseases were endemic

Question 12

The principal Native American empires on the eve of European exploration were

A) The Mayas and the Iroquois
B) The Aztecs and the Incas
C) The Cherokees and the Incas
D) The Sioux and the Mayas

Question 13

The potato became the agricultural basis of Incan civilization because

A) It grew in the high mountains, permitting enough food for a dense population in what otherwise would have been an inhospitable environment
B) Once planted, potatoes needed little care, permitting people to undertake great building projects
C) Potatoes could be dried for long-term storage, reducing the possibility of famine
D) All of these options are correct

Question 14

Cortéz and Pizarro were able to conquer the Aztec and the Inca empires because

A) The religious beliefs of the Aztecs and Incas inclined them to pacifism
B) The Spaniards outnumbered their opponents by at least two to one
C) The Spaniards possessed guns and steel weapons and were partially immune to the diseases that devastated the Indian population
D) The native military leaders were inept

Question 15

The major reason for the brutal Spanish treatment of Indians in the New World was

A) Indian refusal to become Christian
B) The need for labor to raise crops and extract precious metals from the mines
C) To satisfy a sixteenth century Spanish thirst for dominance
D) An extension of the inquisition

Question 16

African slavery in America was based on raising cash crops for export. Several crops were raised by slave labor but the outstanding crop was

A) Tobacco
B) Rice
C) Cotton
D) Sugar

Question 17

Sugar growers in the New World turned to Africa as a slave source because

A) The great decline in the number of Indians made Columbus's suggestion of enslaving Indians impractical
B) Africans had a greater resistance to European diseases than the Indians and could survive in larger numbers
C) Some African chiefs found that they could profit enormously through this trade
D) All of these options are correct

Question 18

Christian missionaries to Asia

A) Failed to achieve any conversions to Christianity
B) Often tended to present Christianity in native forms, with priests adopting characteristics of Buddhists in Japan and Confucians in China
C) Adapted the same haughty attitude toward local customs as they did in America
D) Enslaved Asians in the same way that they enslaved Native Americans

Question 19

Christian missionaries to the New World

A) Ordained as priests only persons of Indian, African and mixed ancestry
B) Emphasized conversion of Africans rather than of Native Americans
C) By and large failed to convert Native Americans
D) Were aided by the claim of Juan Diego to have seen the Virgin of Guadalupe

Question 20

As a result of European exploration, Christian missionaries

A) Except for Pedro Claver and a few others, paid more attention to converting Native Americans than to converting Africans
B) Never complained about Spanish mistreatment of Indians
C) Traveled to Japan, but not to China
D) Freed the slaves in the Caribbean

Question 21

In combination with other factors, one major reason for the great inflation of the sixteenth century was probably

A) The consequences of the Bubonic Plague
B) The disruptions caused by the Mongol invasions
C) The great influx of silver from the New World
D) The greed of sixteenth century merchants

Question 22

In the "Commercial Revolution" of the sixteenth century, which of the following did not occur?

A) Reduced government trade barriers and economic regulation
B) Major inflation
C) Commercial capitalism complete with the development of joint-stock companies
D) Enormous expansion of European markets, as a result of exploration

Question 23

The basic principle of Mercantilism was

A) That international commerce could be greatly expanded by major international economic cooperation
B) That all matters of trade should be left to private, individual interests rather than to government dictation
C) That the amount of the world's wealth was fixed, so that one country could increase its trade and manufacturing only at the expense of others
D) That trade depended upon military support

Question 24

All of the following were mercantilistic policies pursued by governments except

A) Forbidding imports of luxury goods because their purchase drained gold and silver away from the mother country
B) Encouraging high wages to increase national purchasing power
C) Founding colonies to create markets for national products
D) Enacting laws to insure favorable balances of trade

Question 25

The influx of gold and silver into Europe during the sixteenth century

A) Permitted major tax relief for Spanish taxpayers
B) Permitted great profits for Italian and German merchants
C) Led Spanish kings to engage in so many expensive wars that Spain suffered repeated bankruptcies
D) To the development of international currency exchanges

Question 26

Work roles in the sixteenth century were redefined because

A) The use of tobacco made the workplace unhealthy
B) Work began to lose its association with the family and became more linked to the public political arena, . leading to fewer work opportunities and less economic influence for women
C) The growth of trade and exploration led to a shortage of men, permitting greater opportunities for women
D) Large numbers of African slaves were imported into Europe, increasing unemployment among Europeans

Question 27

Between 1550 and 1700, European states

A) Relied on the Spanish, Turkish and Chinese navies to suppress piracy in their respective areas of
Influence
B) Often commissioned individuals as "privateers" to raid the shipping of competing nations, often without engaging in a formal war
C) Systematically tried to suppress piracy throughout the world
D) Paid tribute to most pirates

Question 28

The spread of European culture often resulted in

A) The creation of a class of mestizos, persons of mixed European and Indian ancestry
B) Widespread planting of wheat where it had not been planted before
C) The spread of dandelions, a European weed
D) All of these options are correct

Question 29

European exploration led to the import of many new agricultural products. Pick out the incorrect crop from this list.

A) Wheat
B) Potatoes
C) Coffee
D) Tobacco

Question 30

The tale of Maria Sybilla Merian tells us the following about both scientific interest and the New World:

A) How a woman of talent and curiosity could be frustrated by a radical religious sect such as the Labadists
B) Why so many persons of scientific talent had so little interest in the New World
C) How previously unknown plants and animals of the New World could stimulate the discipline of Natural History
D) The impossibility for a sixteenth century woman to have an opportunity to study the plants and animals of the New World in their original settings

Question 31

European exploration led to major developments in map-making, including the famous map projection that permitted sailors to plot straight-line courses, a projection developed by

A) Ptolemy
B) Mercator
C) Merian
D) Vespucci

Question 32

The ancient Greek geographer, Ptolemy, exaggerated the size of the world's oceans.

Question 33

Religion, as well as the lure of wealth, was an important motive for European explorations.

Question 34

Bartholomeu Dias was the first Portuguese sailor to reach India.

Question 35

Even after four voyages to the New World, Columbus was convinced that he had reached Asia.

Question 36

Because they discovered so many fish near the coasts of North America, the voyages of the Cabots, father and son, were regarded at the time as quite successful.

Question 37

Agriculture in the Americas began in what is now Peru.

Question 38

Disease was a major factor facilitating the Spanish conquests in the New World.

Question 39

The major precious metal mined in colonial Hispanic America was silver.

Question 40

Cotton and tobacco were the principal New World crops that led to the demand for African slaves.

Question 41

Many early Spanish explorers believed that the indigenous peoples had no religion and could thus be easily converted to Christianity.

Question 42

Jesuit missionaries to Asia often presented themselves as members of Asian rather than Western culture.

Question 43

Influx of precious metals from the New World was partially to blame for the European inflation of the sixteenth century.

Question 44

Mercantilist economists assumed that the amount of trade in the world was static, so that a country could increase its trade wealth only by diminishing that of others.

Question 45

Mercantilist rulers were not interested in a favorable balance of trade.

Question 46

The wealth of the New World enabled sixteenth century Spain to avoid the bankruptcies that plagued other countries.

Question 47

European governments, as well as the United States, commissioned privateers whose activities were virtually legalized piracy.

Question 48

None of the New World crops of the Aztecs and the Incas crossed the Atlantic to Europe.

Question 49

There was little European interest in the plants and animals of the New World.

Question 50

Gerhard Mercator's map projection enabled sailors to plot straight-line courses.

Question 51

The first European to sail directly to India was ________.

Question 52

For Europeans at the beginning of the era of exploration, much of their information about the world came from the classical Greek geographer, ________.

Question 53

Sevastian Elcano completed the first circumnavigation of the world, begun by ________.

Question 54

American agriculture seems to have developed around 5500 B.C. in what is now central________.

Question 55

The Spanish conqueror of Mexico was ________.

Question 56

The Spanish conqueror of Peru was ________.

Question 57

The precious metal that formed much of the treasure of the New World was ________.

Question 58

The crop that became the economic basis for African slavery in the New World was ________.

Question 59

A religious cult of post-conquest Mexico that appealed to persons of Indian or mixed ancestry was the Virgin (or Our Lady) of ________.

Question 60

In their quest to convert Asia, Jesuit missionaries often adapted their behavior to the cultures of Asia. Hence, in China, one missionary dressed as a ________.

Question 61

The influx of precious metals from the New World is one of the causes of an economic phenomenon, the ________ of the sixteenth century.

Question 62

The attempted government regulation of economics in the seventeenth century is usually referred to as________.

Question 63

The classic case of a sixteenth century country that repeatedly overspent its wealth and went through repeated bankruptcies was ________.

Question 64

In the sixteenth century, pirates were usually called ________ or corsairs and were often commissioned by governments to raid the commerce of their enemies.

Question 65

Europeans not only brought themselves to the New Word, they also brought crops (including wheat), livestock, weeds and ________.

Question 66

An important early female natural historian, who described and illustrated the plants and animals of Surinam in northeastern South America, was Maria Sybilla ________.

Question 67

A major innovation in map projections that enabled sailors to plot straight-line courses was made by the Flemish cartographer Gerhard ________.

Question 68

What motives drove Europeans to explore the globe? Were some of these motives more important than others?

Question 69

What were the significances of the voyages of Columbus, Da Gama and Magellan?

Question 70

What major changes did the Spanish conquest and occupation bring to the New World?

Question 71

What effect did the voyages of exploration and conquest have upon the economy of Europe?

Question 72

In what ways did European discovery, exploration and conquest alter the places they reached and in what ways did these places alter Europe?

Question 73

Consider both the motives and the results of European exploration. How well did these interact with each other?

Question 74

Discuss the explorations and conquests of Spain, Portugal, France, England and the Dutch Republic in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Within this period, which countries were the most successful, which were the least successful and why?