Deck 1: New World Encounters

Question 1

Before his attacks on the Aztecs,Hernán Cortés was ________.

A) an accomplished ship captain
B) a civil servant in Cuba
C) a wealthy aristocrat
D) a seasoned diplomat
E) unconcerned about his public image

Answer 1

a civil servant in Cuba

Question 2

From its beginnings,Spain regarded her New World domain as primarily a(n)________.

A) provider of gold and silver
B) place to send exiled Moors and Jews
C) opportunity to further promote the Catholic faith
D) source of cheap Native American labor to be used on Spanish estates
E) place to establish penal colonies

Answer 2

provider of gold and silver

Question 3

The single greatest factor that caused the destruction of Native Americans after contact with Europeans was ________.

A) warfare
B) planned genocide
C) disease
D) loss of farmland
E) enslavement

Answer 3

disease

Question 4

The men largely responsible for Spain's conquest of the New World were known as ________.

A) conquistadores
B) coureurs de bois
C) "Sea Dogs"
D) pirates
E) encomenderos

Question 5

In order to better control the conquistadors in the New World,the Spanish government created ________.

A) the Inquisition
B) the hacienda
C) the encomienda
D) the missions
E) colonial governments

Question 6

Columbus was originally determined to prove that ________.

A) a westward water route to China existed
B) the world was not flat
C) the continents of North and South America existed
D) the lost continent of Atlantis was actually part of South America
E) the world was smaller than scientists believed at the time

Question 7

The people who occupied the valley of Mexico when the Spanish arrived were the ________.

A) Mayas
B) Apaches
C) Aztecs
D) Incas
E) Toltecs

Question 8

The first French explorers were ________.

A) interested in finding the mythical "northwest passage" to China
B) determined to find gold and silver
C) eager to Christianize the Native Americans
D) ruthless and exploitive of the native peoples
E) considered stupid by the Native Americans

Question 9

Which of the following revolutionized early Native American cultures?

A) the discovery of hunting
B) the development of agriculture
C) tribal political alliances
D) the emergence of a written language
E) the domestication of the horse

Question 10

The Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 resulted in ________.

A) war between Spain and Portugal
B) Portuguese control of what would become Brazil
C) English control of what is now Canada
D) French control of Martinique
E) the withdrawal of the Spanish from the New World

Question 11

In the Columbian Exchange,the Old World and the New exchanged ________.

A) animal, plant, and microbial life forms
B) technologies
C) religious beliefs
D) political systems
E) trade goods

Question 12

The financial success of the French empire in North America depended upon the ________.

A) fur trade
B) complete annihilation of the Native American tribes in Canada
C) discovery of huge amounts of gold
D) establishment of plantations
E) withdrawal of the Spanish

Question 13

At the time of Columbus's first voyage in 1492,________.

A) most educated Europeans believed the earth was flat
B) no European nation had any interest in exploration
C) most educated Europeans knew the world was round
D) no one thought he would find anything
E) the Catholic Church condemned this kind of exploration

Question 14

The first European nation to establish contact with sub-Saharan Africa was ________.

A) France
B) Italy
C) the Netherlands
D) Portugal
E) Spain

Question 15

What Indians desired most,upon encountering Europeans,was ________.

A) cultural enlightenment
B) victims for human sacrifice rituals
C) religious instruction
D) allies to help them defeat their enemies
E) commercial relations

Question 16

The most significant factor that led large numbers of nomadic hunters to enter the heart of North America was ________.

A) the domestication of horses
B) global warming
C) population growth
D) rising water levels
E) a mass extinction of large mammals in Europe

Question 17

The Atlantic tribal group with whom the English had the most contact were ________.

A) Algonquian speakers
B) Mayan
C) Apache
D) Sioux
E) Cherokee

Question 18

Most Spanish colonists were ________.

A) members of wealthy families
B) more racially tolerant than their English counterparts
C) unconcerned about economic opportunities
D) unwilling to have contact with native groups
E) unusually racist for their time

Question 19

The Portuguese explored West Africa searching for ________.

A) lands to settle
B) spices and timber
C) converts to Christianity
D) slaves and gold
E) land for a convict colony

Question 20

In their relations with the Native Americans,the French ________.

A) were as interested in Christian conversion as the Spanish
B) cultivated close cooperation in order to sustain their fur trade
C) were ruthless in their treatment of the Native Americans
D) drove Indians from their lands in order to set up plantations
E) were at a distinct disadvantage

Question 21

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Native American men were more receptive to Christianity than were the women.
B) When Indians and whites married, the European partner usually chose to live among the Indians.
C) When trading with Native Americans, Europeans easily took advantage of the Indians.
D) Europeans had little success "civilizing" the Indians.
E) Native American women jealously guarded their traditional cultures.

Question 22

Which of the following was NOT a feature of the French experience in the New World?

A) the fur trade
B) Samuel de Champlain
C) encomiendas
D) coureurs de bois
E) lack of royal support for colonizing efforts

Question 23

Which of these was quickly adopted by Native Americans after contact with Europeans?

A) guns
B) marriage customs
C) public education
D) Christianity
E) urbanization

Question 24

By the time Europeans arrived,the Aztecs had all of the following EXCEPT ________.

A) large cities ruled by effective bureaucracies
B) tools and weapons made of iron and bronze
C) hieroglyphic writing
D) an accurate solar calendar
E) a religion that involved human sacrifice

Question 25

How did the Historia de las Indias change the colonization of the New World?

A) It helped the Spanish recognize that they needed to be ruthless in order to prevail.
B) It led Spain to improve its treatment of Indians under their rule.
C) It helped the Spanish recognize that they would not be able to prevail over the powerful empires in the New World.
D) It led the Spanish to the conquest of the Aztecs.
E) It helped the Spanish recognize that Spanish culture was vastly inferior to native culture.

Question 26

Which was a key reason Cortés was able to conquer Montezuma,the Aztec emperor?

A) Montezuma's unarmored horseman were unable to fight the armored horses that Cortés brought with him.
B) Cortés convinced the Aztecs to fight against their own corrupt leader, Montezuma.
C) Cortés and his men overwhelmingly outnumbered the Aztecs.
D) Cortés was able to recruit thousands of nearby Native Americans who helped him defeat Montezuma.
E) Montezuma believed that the Spaniards were gods and did not resist them at first.

Question 27

The mission of the Spanish Armada was to ________.

A) suppress a revolt in the Netherlands
B) defend Queen Elizabeth I of England against challenges to her rule
C) defeat Queen Elizabeth I and make England a Catholic country
D) replace Queen Elizabeth I with Mary Queen of Scots
E) get revenge against the English for their seizure of Spanish treasure galleons

Question 28

What was the chief reason France was slow to establish a North American empire?

A) poor relations with the Indians of Canada and the West
B) the French government's indifference to affairs in the New World
C) too many French settlers moving to the New World too quickly
D) an inability to find anything of economic consequence in the New World
E) too much competition with the English settlers over land in the New World

Question 29

The English monarch responsible for quieting religious conflict and strengthening England in the face of Spanish power was ________.

A) Henry VII
B) Henry VIII
C) Elizabeth I
D) Mary Tudor
E) James I

Question 30

Why did the Portuguese reject Columbus's proposed route to Cathay?

A) They wanted Columbus to sail to India, not Cathay.
B) They believed that Columbus had underestimated the Earth's circumference.
C) They believed the Earth was round.
D) They believed that Columbus had no intention of reaching Cathay and was presenting a false route simply to gain monetary support.
E) They thought that Columbus would encounter too many hostile Indians on his proposed route.

Question 31

What sixteenth-century European upheaval had a profound impact upon England's settlement of the New World?

A) the Crusades
B) the War of the Roses
C) the Reformation
D) the Hundred Years' War
E) the Renaissance

Question 32

Which statement best describes how the early French colonists viewed Native Americans?

A) as obstacles to dominating the fur trade
B) as potential slaves
C) as valuable economic partners
D) as obstacles to settling the land in North America
E) as likely converts to Christianity

Question 33

Which was NOT a reason why Scandinavian outposts in the New World were eventually abandoned?

A) a colder climate
B) hostile groups of Native Americans
C) political upheavals in Scandinavia
D) poor communication
E) competition with Portuguese fishing groups

Question 34

Why was Spain's wealth acquired from the New World considered to be a mixed blessing?

A) Spain was forced to send a large proportion of its population to the New World to help ship gold and silver back to Spain.
B) The Spanish got wealthy from silver and gold in the New World, but lost most of their army and navy in battles with Native Americans.
C) Because Spain used the New World only as a source of wealth, it did not consider establishing real settlements there.
D) Because Spain gained its wealth so quickly, it caused great inflation for ordinary Spaniards.
E) Most of the wealth ended up in the hands of Portuguese shippers.

Question 35

Why was "America" named after Amerigo Vespucci?

A) Vespucci published a falsified travel account that convinced mapmakers that he had been the first European to reach the continent.
B) Vespucci had been on Columbus's last voyage, but unlike Columbus realized that they had found a new continent.
C) Vespucci's travels to the Americas brought great wealth to Spain, and he was rewarded with a continent named for him.
D) Vespucci was the first person to make contact with what is now the Bahamas, and the continent he reached was named after him.
E) Vespucci convinced the king and queen of Spain that Columbus had falsified reports of his travels, and proved that it was he who had been the first to reach the Americas.

Question 36

What was the main result of the deadly diseases brought to the New World by Europeans?

A) an extremely high mortality rate among the natives, destroying the culture of many tribes
B) a diminution of these diseases throughout Europe
C) some deaths, but a low number compared to those caused by warfare between Native Americans and Europeans
D) a death rate that was high only where Native Americans lived in low concentrations
E) no significant deaths since Native Americans were already immune to these diseases

Question 37

Which best describes how divisions among Algonquian groups helped facilitate European conquest of their lands?

A) Algonquian groups were so busy fighting each other that they did not notice the European arrivals.
B) Algonquian groups competed among each other to become trading partners with European arrivals.
C) Algonquian groups could not communicate with each other and thus could not warn each other of European invaders.
D) Algonquian groups had a strict hierarchy that made it much easier for Europeans to conquer them.
E) Algonquian groups were likely to form alliances with outsiders than each other.

Question 38

In the 1580s,the English attempted to make a settlement at ________.

A) Jamestown
B) Newfoundland
C) Plymouth
D) Hatteras
E) Roanoke

Question 39

Which statement about West Africa during the era of the European slave trade is TRUE?

A) Africans were isolated from the rest of the world.
B) Africans had a simple, self-sufficient economy.
C) A single culture covered most of the African continent.
D) Muslim missionaries had introduced Islam.
E) Africans were united by a single language.

Question 40

What was the most important result of the domestication of maize (corn),beans,and squash by some Native American groups?

A) moving from nomadism to a settled lifestyle
B) no longer hunting mammals
C) the evolution of Indians into a single continental cultural unit
D) the disappearance of the Anasazi culture
E) a general move to the coasts

Question 41

Compare the cultures that could be found in the New World prior to the arrival of Europeans.Why did such a great diversity exist among native groups?

Question 42

Which is the best interpretation of historian Davis Eltis's statement: "In terms of immigration alone...America was an extension of Africa rather than Europe until the late nineteenth century."

A) The colonists set up communities in the New World that were much closer to the communities of Africa than those of Europe.
B) Many European colonists gave up the traditional ways of their homelands, while people brought to America from Africa retained most of their traditions.
C) The new colonies were governed in ways that were unlike any kind of European government and more like African governments.
D) Africans were not the largest group to immigrate to America, but they had the greatest influence on the new colonies.
E) More Africans than Europeans came to North America in the early years of colonization.

Question 43

What was the key difference between the English and Spanish colonial systems?

A) The English Crown totally funded the colonies, while the Spanish Crown offered little aid to its colonizers.
B) The English efforts were private, and the Spanish colonies were supported by the Crown.
C) The English settled the interior lands, while the Spanish settled primarily in coastal regions.
D) Religion played a central role in all the English colonies, but had little or no impact in New Spain.
E) The English were more concerned with finding wealth in the New World, while the Spanish wanted to establish permanent settlements.

Question 44

Compare and contrast the factors that attracted the Spanish,the French,and the English to the New World,and how these "pull" factors affected the development of each nation's New World colonies.

Question 45

Which does NOT identify a reason why the Roanoke colonies were doomed from their inception?

A) poor planning by the organizers of the settlement
B) England's distraction because of its preparations for war
C) England devoting resources to its impending war with Spain
D) religious conflicts among settlers
E) hostilities with Native Americans

Question 46

How did Richard Hakluyt keep the dream of colonizing America alive?

A) He explored the New World and brought exotic products back to England.
B) He interviewed explorers and told their stories in a popular book.
C) He started a successful colony that made reasonably good profits.
D) He wrote a work on the variety and cultural diversity of Native Americans.
E) He wrote a fictional story about a settlement but claimed it was a factual account.

Question 47

Who backed the first colonization efforts undertaken by the English in the New World?

A) Henry VII
B) Italians acting for the English monarch
C) Parliament
D) Catholic merchants
E) Elizabeth I

Question 48

Describe the Spanish conquest of Central and South America.How did this conquest transform Native American cultures?

Question 49

Which of the following is incorrectly matched with its colonies?

A) France: Canada
B) Portugal: Brazil
C) Spain: Puerto Rico
D) England: Cuba
E) Spain: Mexico

Question 50

Which is the best description of the most important message Richard Hakluyt's stories communicated to European readers?

A) Readers were convinced that the New World was a paradise that was theirs for the taking, disregarding the native people already living there.
B) Readers were cautioned not to settle in the New World without first being aware of the potential dangers that they could face.
C) Readers were convinced that the Native Americans were agreeable and eager to help them get settled in exchange for trading new ideas and goods.
D) Readers were warned to be sensitive to the concerns of Native Americans and not to treat the New World as a place that was simply theirs for the taking.
E) Readers were convinced that they would find precious metals in North America, and Hakluyt's stories told them where to find those precious metals.

Question 51

Which of the following identifies the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation in England in the 1500s?

A) Henry VII's severing of all ties with the pope
B) the Act of Supremacy
C) the death of Edward VI
D) land that belonged to the Catholic Church was transferred to private owners
E) Henry VIII's wish to dissolve his marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Question 52

Why was England initially reluctant to establish an empire in the Americas?

A) Colonization threatened the English alliance with Spain.
B) Colonization threatened the English alliance with France.
C) Colonization would force Spain to ally itself with Portugal and France against England.
D) The English did not want to bring about conflict with the Pope.
E) Colonization threatened English trading agreements with the Dutch.

Question 53

Why was English Protestantism able to spread so successfully in the 1500s?

A) popular dissatisfaction with the clergy
B) the fact that Martin Luther and John Calvin were both English
C) the fervent Catholicism of the Tudor Kings
D) the English hostility to the French Huguenots
E) Mary I becoming queen of England