Early Exploration and Settlement

Name:

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

How do scientists think people first arrived in North America?

a.	After the Ice Age, glaciers melted and people came in small boats.
b.	During the Ice Age, the sea froze and people crossed the ice.
c.	After the Ice Age, glaciers melted and people crossed land.
d.	During the Ice Age, the sea level dropped and people crossed land.

Why did Paleo-Indian societies begin to hunt buffalo and deer after the Ice Age?

a.	Giant mammals had been killed off, so skilled hunters turned to buffalo and deer to give them a challenge on the open plain.
b.	Tall grasses became extinct, resulting in the death of the giant mammals these grasses once fed, but buffalo and deer thrived on short grasses.
c.	Buffalo and deer competed with the Paleo-Indians for desirable roots, berries, and seeds, an essential part of the human diet.
d.	Paleo-Indians had begun to domesticate corn, and needed to control the animal population to protect their young crops.

In approximately what year did the Ice Age end?

a.	18,000 BC	c.	8,000 BC
b.	13,000 BC	d.	3,000 BC

How did the vast Incan Empire address the problems caused by its size?

a.	by building thousands of miles of roads
b.	by dividing its people into self-sufficient communities
c.	by creating a communication system based on glyphs
d.	by devising a number system to count the population

Which of the following is the main reason why archaeologists have been able to find remnants of early North American societies?

a.	The societies kept well-preserved records of their trades with each other.
b.	The societies built large burial grounds to honor their dead.
c.	The societies left behind tools near the bones of animals they had hunted.
d.	The societies constructed primitive temples made of durable stone.

Which Mesoamerican society first developed calendars?

a.	the Olmec	c.	the Maya
b.	the Aztec	d.	the Anasazi

Which groups adapted to the harsh conditions of the Arctic culture area?

a.	the Pomo, Hupa, and Yorok	c.	the Aleut and the Inuit
b.	the Hopewell and the Anasazi	d.	the Athabascan and the Algonquian

What was most beneficial to large populations about life on the Pacific Coast?

a.	the abundance of water for irrigation
b.	the mildness of the climate
c.	the ability to survive without farming
d.	the availability of wood for building shelter

What was a major plant food for Native Americans in the California region?

a.	beans	c.	maize
b.	acorns	d.	squash

10.

The Medici family of Florence helped other families get capital in the late 1300s. What is capital?

a.	money or property used to earn more money
b.	money or property collected by the government
c.	money or property used in farming and agriculture
d.	money or property owed to moneylenders

11.

In the 1300s, Florence became famous for dyeing cloth, and was an example of how cities

a.	built their political identities around popular products.
b.	became wealthy by focusing on certain crafts.
c.	thrived despite the bubonic plague and the Black Death.
d.	used their wealth to gain status and power in Europe.

12.

The Commercial Revolution changed Italian life in many ways, except which?

a.	Venetian merchants began dealing in rare goods from far off continents.
b.	Florence’s wealthy Medici family opened banks to loan money with interest.
c.	Venice’s upper class started Carnevale, a celebration, to display its fancy clothing.
d.	As in other parts of Europe, business-people got together to invest in new companies.

13.

What is the most important reason why English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish merchants began searching for sea routes to Asia in 1400?

a.	Overland trade routes had become more dangerous than they had been.
b.	Direct access to goods in the European countries would have increased profits.
c.	They wanted to bypass merchants in Venice who monopolized Asian products.
d.	Many educated Europeans had become interested in Asian cultures.

14.

What experience prepared Christopher Columbus for his journey across the Atlantic?

a.	He explored islands off the western coast of Africa for Portugal.
b.	He became an expert sailor through taking solo trips around the Mediterranean.
c.	He had worked for a Spanish shipbuilder who later supplied his caravels.
d.	He was the son of an Italian ambassador who exposed him to foreign cultures.

15.

How did the astrolabe aid explorers in finding new continents?

a.	It allowed ship navigators to estimate distance from land by measuring the oceans’ depth.
b.	It allowed ship navigators to check location by charting the position of celestial bodies.
c.	It allowed ship navigators to tell direction by aligning a magnetic strip with the North Pole.
d.	It allowed ship navigators to calculate his rate of travel by measuring the speed of headwinds.

16.

I. Spain
II. Hispaniola
III. the Canary Islands
IV. San Salvador

Which represents the correct order of stops in the journeys of Christopher Columbus?

a.	I, II, III, IV	c.	III, IV, II, I
b.	II, IV, III, I	d.	I, IV, II, III

17.

What European named the continents across the ocean “America,” in honor of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci?

a.	an Italian merchant	c.	a Portuguese captain
b.	a German mapmaker	d.	a Spanish sailor

18.

Who discovered the Western route to Asia?

a.	Amerigo Vespucci	c.	Vasco Núñez de Balboa
b.	Ferdinand Magellan	d.	Giovanni da Verrazano

19.

Who was not involved in the search for the Northwest Passage?

a.	Henry Hudson	c.	Samuel de Champlain
b.	Jacques Cartier	d.	Giovanni Caboto

20.

The Columbian Exchange had deadly effects, such as

a.	bringing the bubonic plague and the Black Death to Florence.
b.	spreading measles, smallpox, and typhus throughout Europe.
c.	infecting American Indians with new and deadly diseases.
d.	robbing American Indians of corn, tomatoes, tobacco, and cocoa.

21.

Europeans brought rice to the New World from

a.	West Africa.	c.	North America.
b.	Southeast Asia.	d.	South America.

22.

The Columbian Exchange affected American Indian agriculture by getting American Indians to

a.	use fertilizer.	c.	produce more tobacco.
b.	grow tomatoes.	d.	farm barley.

23.

In 1548, Spanish historian Fernández de Oviedo wrote “there are not now believed to be at the present time…five hundred persons [left].” What was he writing about?

a.	the destruction of the Aztec civilization by Hernan Cortés
b.	the effects of infection on the Taino people of Hispaniola
c.	the dying off of relatives of Ferdinand Magellan’s original crew
d.	the result of germ warfare on American Indians in present-day Panama

24.

Of the following, who or what did not help Hernan Cortés destroy the Aztec Empire?

a.	Moctezuma	c.	Malintzin
b.	conquistadors	d.	smallpox

25.

What major advantage did Hernan Cortés’ men have over the Aztecs?

a.	They had control of the capital city.
b.	They had armor to protect themselves.
c.	They had boots on their feet rather than sandals.
d.	They had guns rather than bows and arrows.

26.

Which Spaniard led the defeat of the Inca?

a.	Hernando de Soto	c.	Juan Ponce de Léon
b.	Francisco Pizarro	d.	Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

27.

How did the Spanish defeat the Inca?

a.	They attacked the people on horseback.
b.	They cut off supplies of food and water.
c.	They killed the ruler.
d.	They burned the capital.

28.

What was the main reason the Spanish Crown established the encomienda system?

a.	to reward settlers for bringing the Crown so much wealth
b.	to entice settlers to convert the local people to Christianity
c.	to give the settlers an incentive to practice slavery
d.	to ensure settlers’ land remained the property of the Crown

29.

What rights did the encomienda system give to Spanish settlers?

a.	They could import African slaves to the Americas without documentation.
b.	They could tax local American Indians or make them work.
c.	They could punish American Indians who did not attend church services.
d.	They could start plantations on local American Indian land.

30.

How did Catholicism affect Spain’s rule in the Americas?

a.	Spain commanded its priests to teach American Indians about Christianity.
b.	Spain’s king turned to the Pope for approval for all of his decisions.
c.	Catholic duties distracted the Spanish from expansion in the borderlands.
d.	Spain’s religious missions answered to the Pope rather than the King.

31.

What did Bartolomé de Las Casas do to try to change Spain’s way of governing in the Americas?

a.	He wrote books and letters defending the American Indians.
b.	He revised laws regarding the use of African slaves.
c.	He complained about the treatment of plantation owners.
d.	He insisted on the use of American Indians for plantation work.

32.

What network of paths connected the scattered communities of New Spain?

a.	El Calléjon de la Plata	c.	El Camino Real
b.	La Entrada de Oro	d.	La Avenida del Virrey

33.

What were the three areas of life that the three types of Spanish settlements served in the Americas?

a.	economics, religion, and politics	c.	trade, defense, and culture
b.	economics, defense, and religion	d.	defense, culture, and politics

34.

Why did Spaniard Junípero Serra travel to California in 1769?

a.	to spread Christianity in the area	c.	to urge the viceroy to expand north
b.	to search for gold and other resources	d.	to stop settlers from heading south

35.

Why did the Spaniards start bringing enslaved Africans to New Spain in 1501?

a.	They knew they could sell them at a higher price than they paid.
b.	They were forced to do so by a decree from the Spanish Crown.
c.	They had exhausted the local population of American Indian slaves.
d.	They started farming large plantations and needed more workers.

36.

Which is the least likely reason why religious events in Europe would have affected the exploration of the New World?

a.	Protestants wanted greater religious freedom.
b.	Catholics wanted to extend the power of the Pope.
c.	Huguenots wanted to escape religious conflict.
d.	Reformers wanted to study native peoples’ religions.

37.

Whom were Protestants protesting?

a.	Calvinists	c.	Huguenots
b.	Catholics	d.	Puritans

38.

Which of these statements about the impact of the invention of the printing press on the Protestant Reformation is false?

a.	Martin Luther used the press to print pamphlets and spread the reforms outlined in his 95 Theses through Germany and other parts of Europe.
b.	The printing press inspired Martin Luther to criticize church authority, because now any literate layperson could read from the Bible.
c.	Martin Luther took power from the Pope by using the press to publish a Bible that had been translated from Latin into English.
d.	The printing press led Martin Luther to emphasize religious study, leading Protestant countries to have some of the highest literacy rates in the world.

39.

Spain’s actions against England’s Queen Elizabeth I show that its religious allegiance was to the

a.	Pope.	c.	Huguenots.
b.	Anglican Church.	d.	Protestants.

40.

Why was King Philip II shocked by the defeat of the Spanish Armada?

a.	His fleet had almost three times as many ships as the English.
b.	His ships were smaller and faster than those of the English.
c.	His fleet had just conquered France and the Netherlands.
d.	His ships could not be replaced because of economic inflation.

41.

Why did Queen Elizabeth I stand in the way of Spain’s Counter-Reformation?

a.	She had a personal grudge against King Philip II.
b.	Her father, Henry VIII, was a fan of the sea dogs.
c.	She wanted to add to Spain’s economic problems.
d.	Her father, Henry VIII, founded the Anglican Church.

42.

What happened to the Roanoke colony after the summer of 1587?

a.	The colonists were brutally assaulted by local American Indians.
b.	The colonists went back to England because they could not grow food.
c.	The colonists celebrated the first English birth in the present-day U.S.
d.	The colonists abandoned the site and the reason is still a mystery.

43.

What type of document gave settlers permission to start a colony?

a.	a deed	c.	a lease
b.	a title	d.	a charter

44.

What did the French call their North American territory?

a.	Louisiana	c.	Quebec
b.	New France	d.	Saint Laurent

45.

How did France try to increase the population of colonists in North American lands?

a.	It offered them land suitable for farming.
b.	It offered to pay their travel costs.
c.	It offered them access to the fur trade.
d.	It offered to tolerate their religious beliefs.

46.

Who was Peter Minuit?

a.	a German who built the first moveable type printing press and spread Protestantism
b.	a Dutchman who founded New Amsterdam and helped the Swedes found New Sweden
c.	an Englishman who resettled the Roanoke colony after the first group abandoned it
d.	a Frenchman who learned American Indian languages and adopted their ways of life

47.

Why did the Dutch settlers practice religious toleration?

a.	They thought it would help keep the peace in the colonies.
b.	Other settlers practiced religious toleration.
c.	They thought it would attract more colonists.
d.	Religious intolerance was against their religion.