-176590 Murrin, Johnson, McPherson, Fahs, Gerstle, Rosenberg & Rosenberg Copyright © 2008 Wadsworth Group Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, 5e 0704lep5e.bmp

Times 1 14 #000000 1 12 #000000 1 12 #000000 1 12 #000000 1 12 #000000 1 12 #000000 1 8 #000000 Instructions: Identify the following term(s). Human habitation of the Americas began approximately 500,000 years ago. 100,000 years ago. 14,000 years ago. 5,000 years ago. 500 years ago. C Average p. 4 Factual 1 The Americas were first settled by Asians. western Europeans. eastern Europeans. Africans. Europeans. A Least Difficult p. 4 Factual 1 The leader of the Norsemen who settled in Greenland was King Harold. Erik the Red. Prester John. Leif Eriksson. Columbus. B Average p. 6 Factual 1 The nation that led the way for European expansion into the Americas was France. England. China. Portugal. Spain. D Least Difficult p. 9 Factual 1 The early civilizations of America were basically ____ age cultures. bronze stone wood iron agricultural B Average p. 18 Analytical 1 The early Native American civilization to leave detailed written records of their activities were the Aztec. Texaca. Cherokee Olmec. Maya. E Average p. 23 Factual 1 The leading practitioners of human sacrifice in the Americas were the Maya. Incas. Aztec. Olmec. Spaniards. C Average p. 25 Factual 1 The leader of the Aztecs at the time of their defeat in 1519 was Atahualpa. Moctezuma. Tenochtitlan. Texcoco. Geronimo. B Average p. 31 Factual 1 The major source of wealth exploited by the Spaniards in the Americas was gold. silver. tobacco. cotton. iron. B Average p. 32 Factual 1 The European explorer who reached the Grand Canyon was Francisco de Coronado. Amerigo Vespucci. Francisco Pizarro. Hernán Cortés. Prince Henry. A Average p. 34 Factual 1 The system of labor control that allowed a person to exploit the labor force for a certain period of time was called hacienda. encomienda. bandeirante. requerimiento. casa grande. B Average p. 35 Factual 1 The most devastating factor brought to the Americas by the Europeans was the horse gunpowder. cannon. bronze weaponry. disease. E Average p. 36 Factual 1 In the period 1530 to 1630, the population of Mexico and Peru decreased by approximately 10 percent. 30 percent. 60 percent. 90 percent. 100 percent. D Average p. 36 Analytical 1 Unlike Spain in the Americas, Portugal in Brazil did not attempt to rule the Indian population directly, but attempted to use it as labor. remove it to Portugal. enslave and eventually replace it. Christianize it. exterminate it. C Average p. 36 Factual 1 The most likely reason for European success in conquering the American Indian population is the prolonged isolation of the Americas from the rest of the world. the superiority of European civilizations. the warlike savagery of the Europeans. the passivity of Native Americans. the success of the priests in converting them to Christianity. A Average p. 38 Analytical 1 Who of the following was the conqueror of the Inca empire? Francisco Pizarro Hernán Cortés Francisco de Coronado Vasco da Gama Bishop de las Casas A Average p. 32 Factual 1 Each of the following could be referred to as a conquistador except Hernán Cortés. Francisco Pizarro. Vasco da Gama. Francisco de Coronado. Hernando de Soto. C Average p. 13 Factual 1 By the mid-sixteenth century, the most powerful nation in Europe was England. France. Spain. Portugal. Germany. C Average p. 36 Factual 1 The Chinese developed all of the following except movable type. gunpowder. paper money. the compass. a complex political system. A Average p. 7-8 Factual 1 The major reason that western Europe engaged in explorations in the fifteenth century was the desire to spread Christianity. to control the oceans. to expand trade with the non-Christian world. to establish colonies. to escape the Black Death. C Average p. 9 Analytical 1 Most of the native languages of North and South America were derived from the Amerind language. completely eradicated by the introduction of European languages. a combination of Germanic and Asian linguistics. already developed as written languages before the arrival of the Europeans. understandable to the Europeans. A Average p. 4 Factual 1 All of the following were food crops grown in the Americas during the late Stone Age (Neolithic) except maize. white potatoes. tomatoes. oranges. squash. D Average p. 6 Factual 1 In 1400, western European society was self-sufficient and had no interest in trading with Asia. primarily interested in importing gold and silver from Russia. backward and isolated when compared with Chinese and Islamic societies. scientifically and mathematically the most advanced culture in the world. not influenced by religion. C Most Difficult p. 7 Analytical 1 The crusades influenced European expansion by establishing permanent Christian control of the holy city of Jerusalem. demonstrating that the Arab nations of the East were weak and easily defeated. developing a colonial economic system based on the production of staple crops by slave labor. discouraging trade with Asian and African nations. providing slaves for the plantations in the Caribbean. C Most Difficult p. 9 Analytical 1 Which of the following is true of the Atlantic slave trade in the late fifteenth century and thereafter? Most slaves were taken by Europeans who raided coastal villages and enslaved the inhabitants. Slavery did not exist in Africa until the Europeans introduced it. Most slaves were first enslaved by other Africans and then were sold to European traders. The Portuguese opposed slavery and tried to prevent its extension to the New World. Most slaves were Native Americans. C Most Difficult p. 10 Factual 1 Which of the following was true of Christopher Columbus? He was the first person to believe that the Earth is round. He was an Italian navigator whose four voyages to the West were financed by the Spanish. He accurately calculated the circumference of the Earth to be 26,000 miles. He received land, titles, and wealth from his discoveries and died the richest commoner in Europe. He rejected offers from England and Portugal to finance his voyages. B Most Difficult p. 14-15 Factual 1 Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Indian societies of the Americas were all primitive, nomadic hunters and gatherers. were democratic cultures in which all members, including women, could vote. used bronze and iron for tools and weapons. had all developed a written language. were Stone Age cultures. E Average p. 18 Analytical 1 The mound builders and the Anasazi were similar in that both were complex societies that developed north of Mexico. depended on the horse as the major beast of burden. were primarily hunter-warrior societies. were the ancestors of the Mayans and the Aztecs. had developed a written language. A Most Difficult p. 27-28 Analytical 1 Most European Christians viewed the Indians as innocent, childlike people who should be left alone. descendants of the ancient survivors of the lost continent of Atlantis. subhuman, soulless devil worshippers. sophisticated people who were morally and ethically superior to the inhabitants of Asia and Europe. one of the lost tribes of Israel. C Most Difficult p. 28 Analytical 1 Which of the following is not true of the Spanish conquistadores? They succeeded in part because smallpox decimated the Indian population. They led huge armies of 50,000 to 100,000 well-trained Europeans. They searched unsuccessfully for fabulous golden cities in North America. They conquered two major empires in the Americas and greatly increased the wealth and power of Spain. They destroyed religious items of the native people. B Average p. 31-34 Factual 1 The sixteenth century Catholic missions in North America were most successful in Virginia and the Carolinas. trained Indians as soldiers to protect the settlements from English and French attacks. were administered by unarmed Franciscan priests. failed to convert any Indians to Christianity. rejected any military protection. C Average p. 34 Factual 1 Which of the following was true of serfdom? By 1500, serfdom had virtually disappeared and had been replaced by free labor in western Europe. Serfs were similar to slaves in that both could be bought and sold individually. In North America, serfdom was more widespread and more profitable than was slavery. Russia was the only European country that relied entirely on a free labor system. Serfs were forcibly resettled in the Americas. A Most Difficult p. 36 Factual 1 During the reign of Philip II, the Moors were driven off of the Iberian Peninsula. toleration of Jews and Moslems was established throughout the Spanish Empire. the first global economic system was created by the union of Spain and Portugal. the Spanish peacefully mediated between competing European and Asian nations. France merged with Spain. C Average p. 36 Factual 1 The era of European exploration brought previously isolated societies into contact with other nations and cultures. promoted peaceful and friendly relations between different ethnic groups. promoted religious toleration and ended the persecution of non-Christians around the globe. failed to spread technology. held no benefits to American Indians. A Most Difficult p. 38 Analytical 1 All except which of the following were negative results of the exploration and discovery era? Millions of Africans were enslaved and transported to other parts of the world. Warfare, slavery, and disease killed millions of Indians. Many plants native to the Americas were displaced by European imports. The Asian nations of China, India, and Japan became the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world. European animals overran American rivals. D Most Difficult p. 38 Analytical 1 Amerind was the forerunner of all of the following languages except Algonquian. Navajo. Muskogean. Iroquoian. Siouan. B Most Difficult p. 4 Factual 1 Amaranth was a type of spear point. animal. cereal. disease. liquor. C Average p. 6 Factual 1 As of 1400, ____ mariners were the world's best. English Spanish Portuguese Chinese Arab E Average p. 6 Factual 1 The Black Death reduced Europe's population by one-quarter. one-third. one-half. two-third. three-quarter. B Average p. 7 Factual 1 The European nation that was the pioneer in the area of exploration was Spain. Germany. Italy. France. Portugal E Least Difficult p. 9 Factual 1 Which of the following did Portugal settle first? São Tomé the Madeira Islands the Cape Verde group the Azores Spain B Most Difficult p. 10 Factual 1 The center of the Portuguese empire in Asia was Japan. the Moluccas. Korea. China. Indonesia. B Most Difficult p. 13 Factual 1 Before the nineteenth century, more than ____ of the people who sailed across the Atlantic were slaves. one-quarter one-third one-half two-thirds three-quarters D Most Difficult p. 13 Factual 1 The Olmec people of Mesoamerica were known for all of the following except building the first pyramids. constructing ballparks. using terrace agriculture. developing a writing system and a calendar. building colossal stone heads. C Most Difficult p. 22 Analytical 1 One factor that distinguished the Americas from Eurasia in the pre-Columbian era is that no large animals were domesticated in the Americas except the llama in South America. agriculture had not developed in the Americas. no society in the Americas had developed a written language. no maritime cultures had developed in the Americas. no large cities existed in the Americas. A Average p. 6 Analytical 1 The Norse settlements founded in the 1000s on the coast of Newfoundland exist into the present. endured until after Columbus's voyages. met no resistance from native Americans. brought African slavery to the Americas. died out before Columbus's voyages, and had no lasting impact on history. E Average p. 6-7 Analytical 1 In spite of being the most complex culture in the world, China did not expand outward because the Chinese religion forbade overseas ventures. it was conquered by the Europeans. it produced little that the outside world wanted. it was a self-contained system that believed it did not need the rest of the world. it was defeated by Europe in the 1400s. D Most Difficult p. 7 Analytical 1 After the 1430s information was able to circulate more freely in Europe than anywhere else in the world because of the political unity achieved by the monarchs. invention of the printing press. rapid development of sailing vessels. social mobility that came with the break down of feudalism. invention of the telephone. B Average p. 8 Analytical 1 Under slavery as it existed in Africa the slaves were forced to work long hours in commercial agriculture. slaves' descendents were often assimilated into the captor's society. only Christians were enslaved. slaves were isolated as a separate caste. slaves were executed after serving five years. B Most Difficult p. 10 Analytical 1 Prior to Columbus's voyages Spain had conquered the Canary Islands. the Holy Land. Ireland. Portugal. England. A Most Difficult p. 13 Factual 1 Generally, the Spanish were very generous when dealing with Native American civilizations. F Least Difficult p. 38 Analytical 1 One of the major advantages Portugal had in the race for exploration was its leader, Henry the Navigator. T Average p. 9 Factual 1 Unlike Spain, Portugal refused to enslave Africans. F Average p. 10 Factual 1 The greatest loss of life among the Indian population came from warfare with the European invaders. F Least Difficult p. 38 Factual 1 Most Indian societies engaged in clan or family ownership of landholdings. T Most Difficult p. 18 Analytical 1 Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India via an eastward water route. T Average p. 12 Factual 1 The most sophisticated civilization in the world at the time of European exploration was in China. T Most Difficult p. 7 Factual 1 Most Native American Indian populations were "hunters and gatherers." F Average p. 18 Analytical 1 The rise of slavery in the New World was closely related to the demands of the capitalist market in Europe. T Average p. 37 Analytical 1 The Indian peoples of the Americas had only domesticated one animal species, the dog, before the arrival of the Europeans. F Least Difficult p. 6 Factual 1 The Norsemen's lasting contributions to the development of American society included architectural designs and coined money. F Average p. 7 Analytical 1 Johann Gutenberg invented paper and block printing. F Average p. 8 Factual 1 The Portuguese ocean-going ship that combined lateen sails with square rigging was called a caravel. T Least Difficult p. 9 Factual 1 Christians during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries did not believe in executing people for violating religious doctrines. F Average p. 29 Analytical 1 Beringia proved a hospitable place for plant and animal life. F Least Difficult p. 4 Analytical 1 Humans did not actually live on Beringia; it was used only as a means of travel between Siberia and Alaska. F Least Difficult p. 4 Analytical 1 The Indians of the Pacific northwest divided tasks along gender lines. T Least Difficult p. 6 Factual 1 Women were probably the first in Indian society to actually plant and harvest crops. T Average p. 6 Factual 1 In the Americas as in Africa, the rise of farming was closely linked to the domestication of animals. F Most Difficult p. 6 Analytical 1 The Norse exerted a significant impact on American history well into the 1500s. F Average p. 7 Analytical 1 The first European slaves were black Africans. F Least Difficult p. 10 Factual 1 In 1400, Europe did not appear poised for dramatic expansion. T Least Difficult p. 9 Analytical 1 Portuguese mariners borrowed heavily from Arab ship designs and used Arab navigational tools. T Average p. 9-10 Factual 1 During the long history of the Atlantic slave trade, nearly every African shipped overseas had first been enslaved by other Africans. T Average p. 10 Factual 1 Portuguese explorers were never able to penetrate Japan. F Average p. 13 Factual 1 Europe's most fiercely Catholic society as the sixteenth century began was Spain. T Average p. 13-14 Factual 1 Christopher Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic was controversial because of his belief that the world was round. F Average p. 14-15 Analytical 1 The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán was much more populated than any city in western Europe. T Average p. 16 Factual 1 Among Indian societies, tobacco was grown exclusively by men. T Average p. 17 Factual 1 The Toltecs controlled the Valley of Mexico for three centuries. T Average p. 24 Factual 1 Many Mesoamerican artifacts have been found in the southeastern United States. F Average p. 22 Factual 1 Women in semisedentary Indian societies did most of the farming. T Average p. 17-18 Analytical 1 Spanish conquistadores led armies of around 5,000 men. F Most Difficult p. 31 Factual 1 The Franciscans were the first Catholic missionaries to the North American Indians. F Most Difficult p. 34 Factual 1 In 1573, the Spanish King disavowed the enslavement of Indians or even attacks against them. T Average p. 34 Analytical 1 Franciscan missionaries systematically tortured their Mayan converts when they caught them worshipping their old gods. T Average p. 36 Factual 1 American silver made the king of Spain the most powerful monarch in Christendom. T Average p. 36 Factual 1 In the fifteenth century, the Chinese government ruled 100 million people. T Most Difficult p. 7 Factual 1 Aside from Marco Polo, the Chinese had no contact whatsoever with the rest of the world. F Average p. 7 Analytical 1 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. T Least Difficult p. 36 Factual 1 In 1580, the ____________________ Empire was the greatest empire the world had ever known. Spanish Average p. 36 Factual 1 0 The conqueror of the Aztecs was ____________________. Hernán Cortés Most Difficult p. 31-32 Factual 1 0 Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered ____________________ in South America accidentally. Brazil Most Difficult p. 13 Factual 1 0 The marriage of Queen Isabella of Castile and King ____________________ of Aragon formed the foundation for modern Spain. Ferdinand Most Difficult p. 13 Factual 1 0 The papal decree that divided the Americas between Portugal and Spain was called the ____________________. Inter Caeteras Most Difficult p. 15 Factual 1 0 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. Clovis point Average p. 5-6 Factual 1 0 ____________________ was the eleventh-century Norse explorer who established Vinland, the first European colony in North America. Leif Eriksson Least Difficult p. 6 Factual 1 0 In the fourteenth century an outbreak of the ____________________ wiped out one third of Europe's population. Black Death bubonic plague Average p. 7 Factual 1 0 Humans definitely were living in western Alaska about ____________________ years ago. 12,000 Average p. 4 Factual 1 0 The primary crop of the first American farmers in Peru, Mexico, and the southwestern United States was ____________________. maize Indian corn Average p. 6 Factual 1 0 The world's largest and grandest city in the 1200s was in ____________________. China Average p. 7 Factual 1 0 By 1300, more than ____________________ million people were living in Europe. 100 Average p. 7 Factual 1 0 The Aztec capital, ____________________, was more populated than any western European city. Tenochtitlán Average p. 16 Factual 1 0 Almost ____________________ million people lived in the Western Hemisphere in 1492. 50 Average p. 18 Factual 1 0 ____________________ was the Inca capital. Cuzco Average p. 20-21 Factual 1 0 The ____________________ practiced human sacrifice on a scale that had no parallel anywhere else in the world. Aztecs Least Difficult p. 25 Factual 1 0 The world's largest earthen work was constructed by the Mississippian mound building people at ____________________. Cahokia Average p. 26-27 Factual 1 0 The ____________________ helped the Spanish conquer the Aztecs. Tlaxcalans Most Difficult p. 31 Factual 1 0 By the mid-1600s, there were ____________________ Spanish missions in Florida containing about 26,000 converted Indians. 30 Average p. 34 Factual 1 0 By ____________________, the Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo Indians of New Mexico had accepted baptism. 1630 Average p. 34 Factual 1 0 The first crop produced by African slave labor in the Caribbean was ____________________. Sugar Most Difficult p. 37 Factual 1 0 More than any other technological advantage, ____________________ made European military conquest possible. steel Average p. 38 Analytical 1 0 The ____________________ established their first African fort at Cape Blanco in 1448. Portuguese Most Difficult p. 10 Factual 1 0 The Spanish kingdom of ____________________ sent its first settlers to the Canary Islands just after 1400. Castile Average p. 13 Factual 1 0 ____________________ entered the sixteenth century as Europe's most fiercely Catholic society. Spain Average p. 14 Factual 1 0 In 1492, Spain took control of ____________________, the last outpost of Islam on the Iberian peninsula. Granada Average p. 13 Factual 1 0 The first mariner to sail around the world was ____________________. Ferdinand Magellan Least Difficult p. 16 Factual 1 0 The Inca Empire stretched ____________________ miles north to south. 2,000 Average p. 20 Factual 1 0 The ____________________ Empire was the largest non-literate empire in history. Inca Most Difficult p. 20 Factual 1 0 Some estimates claim that the Aztecs sacrificed ____________________ people at the dedication of the Great Pyramid of the Sun in 1487. 14,000 Most Difficult p. 24 Factual 1 0 The ____________________ were cliff-dwelling people in the American southwest. Anasazi Least Difficult p. 28 Factual 1 0 Maya: complex and advanced pre-Columbian Indian society. Chichen Itza was a leading city. Constructed canals for irrigation, developed an accurate calendar and a writing system, and practiced human sacrifice. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 conquistadores: Spanish warriors who conquered the native people of the Americas. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Christopher Columbus: Italian mariner. "Admiral of the Ocean Sea." First modern European to make contact with the Americas. Made four voyages to the New World searching for sea route to Asia. Never actually realized he had discovered a new land. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 encomienda: system of labor tribute implemented by the Spanish in the Americas that demanded Indians work for the local lord. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Atahualapa: leader of the Incas; captured and killed by Pizarro. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Beringia: a name given by geographers to the 600-mile-wide land bridge that linked Siberia and Alaska for over ten thousand years. Plants, animals and people probably lived there. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Vinland: the first European colony in North America; founded by the Norse explorer Leif Eriksson in the eleventh century A.D. Located near L'Anse aux meadows on the northern coast of Newfoundland. Internal struggles and Indian troubles led to abandonment of the colony. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Marco Polo: thirteenth-century Italian merchant who spent twenty years at the court of Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan. Wrote about the riches of the East in The Travels of Marco Polo. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Inter Caeteras: papal bull issued in 1493 by Pope Alexander VI (a Spaniard). Divided the non-Christian world between Portugal and Spain. Revised a year later by the Treaty of Tordesillas, which gave Spain most of the Western Hemisphere, along with the Philippine Islands, and awarded to Portugal most of the Eastern Hemisphere, including the African coast, and Brazil. Effectively ended Spain's direct access to the African slave trade. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 "slash and burn" agriculture: practiced by semisedentary Indian societies. Involved cutting down or girdling trees, burning away the underbrush, and using the resulting ash as fertilizer. Eventually depleted the soil and forced tribes to move every 10 to 15 years. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Royal Orders for New Discoveries: issued by Spanish King Philip II in 1573. Made it illegal to enslave Indians or even to attack them. Instead, unarmed priests were to bring them to together in missions and convert them into peaceful Catholic subjects of Spain. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Examine the reasons why Portugal rose to the forefront during the early period of European exploration. Portugal's rise to leadership of European expansion seemed improbable in 1400. A small country of fewer than one million people, it had been united as a nation for less than a century. Portugal had a small middle class and credit system, making investment in commercial enterprises unlikely. Its leading city, Lisbon, had less than forty thousand people and its educational system was wholly inadequate. Portugal's advantages, however, lay in an efficient government and internal peace. Its greatest advantage lay in Prince Henry the Navigator. Henry joined together scholars and navigators, studied geography, and designed sleek new ocean-going vessels (caravels). These advantages allowed Portugal to explore the African coast and, later, South America. In addition, with liberal credit from Italian bankers, Portugal was able to finance its voyages and turn a profit. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Explain the victory of Hernán Cortés over the large and powerful Aztec Empire. The conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived at Tenochtitlán, the capital city of the Aztec Empire, in 1519, with some four hundred soldiers. Although the Aztec ruler Moctezuma attempted to dissuade the Spaniards through expensive gifts, this actually increased their greed for the gold and silver they saw bestowed liberally throughout the capital city. Cortés took Moctezuma prisoner and began replacing Aztec idols with Christian ones. The people rose against the Spanish and they were driven out of the city with heavy losses. But they left smallpox behind, with which the Aztecs had never had contact-killing tens of thousands. The next year, Cortés returned with cannon and thousands of Indian allies hostile to the Aztecs. After building warships, Cortés conquered the city, but only after heavy losses to the population and the destruction of much of the city. After Cortés gained control, he looted gold and silver, put into place a new imperial government, and began to build Mexico City. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe European society in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Europe, in the years before 1400, was a relatively backward place. In no way a self-contained economy, the various rising monarchies in Europe were in constant competition with each other. Little manufacturing, very limited access to liquid capital, constant internal warfare and strife all worked together to create a politically unstable and dangerous place. Over a third of the population perished because of the Black Death in the mid-fourteenth century. But Europe was poised for growth and expansion in ways that other places were not. While China, far more advanced technologically, politically, and militarily than Europe, looked inward and shut off contact with the outside world, Europe was attempting to increase contacts with the East. Attracted by Asian spices and luxuries, plus the desire among merchants for large profits, Europeans embarked headlong, led by the Portuguese, into the exploration of the oceans for quick routes to the East. Even such apparent adversities as the Black Death worked to their advantage since it built immunities to diseases that the Europeans would contact around the world. On balance, an unlikely place, small provincial Europe was on the verge of unequaled exploration and colonization because of several of its disadvantages. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Examine Mayan society at its peak from the sixth to the tenth centuries. Mayan society, perhaps the most advanced in the Americas, grew out of Olmec civilization. Located in the southern lowlands of Central America, the Maya were an urbanized but decentralized civilization. Mayan political structure was constructed around a series of competing city-states that shared a similar culture. Mayan society was very sophisticated, resting on an extensive system of canals and waterways to the cities and surrounding agricultural regions. During the fourth century A.D., the Mayans began to record and leave detailed accounts of their civilization. Mayan society began to decline around the ninth century for a variety of reasons. The aristocracy had outgrown the ability of the common population to support them; ecological decay and wars all exerted their influence on the declining population. Mayan civilization underwent a renaissance in the city of Chichen Itza, but this was clearly a post classic era. The Maya now were strongly influenced by the warrior Toltec. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe the successes and failures of Christopher Columbus's voyages at the end of the fifteenth century. Christopher Columbus's voyages bore mixed results. Columbus, a Genoese mariner sailing for Spain, ultimately made four voyages for the crown, of which the first is certainly the most famous and successful. Appointed "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," by Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus set sail in 1492 for the Far East. Convinced that a short western journey would get him there, Columbus hoped to establish a short trade route to Asia, opening up that region to commerce. Of course, Columbus's great feat was in exploring the Americas for Spain, a significant and momentous accomplishment. Within the confines of what he had hoped to do, however, his success was limited. Although he was certain he had reached the East Indies, he was, in fact, in the Bahamas. He made three more journeys, each in search of China, but was unsuccessful. Indeed, after his third voyage, he was shipped back to Spain in chains. He spent much of his life vainly attempting to gain great wealth that he believed was his. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe the origin and expansion of the European slave trade. The economic base of the European slave trade was a legacy of the Crusades. During the period in which Christians controlled the kingdom of Jerusalem, the Europeans profited from sugar plantations, which used both slave and free laborers. This system was extended to the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Malta, Crete, and Rhodes. After losing their foothold in the Middle East, the European Christians continued to enslave captured non-Christian Moslems and Slavs. They also purchased black African slaves from Arab traders. Thus the model for the forced-labor plantation system used extensively in the Americas was created before the discovery of the New World. During the fifteenth century, the Portuguese, under the leadership of Prince Henry, began the systematic exploration of the Atlantic Ocean and the African coastline. Portugal established colonies and transplanted the sugar plantation economy to the islands of Madeira, the Azores, Cape Verde, and São Tomé. They acquired African slaves by raiding coastal villages and kidnapping the inhabitants. The raids, however, interfered with the ivory and gold trade and created hostile relations with African leaders. Eventually the Portuguese built fortified slave "factories" on the coast and on offshore islands and purchased slaves from African traders. Slavery was an ancient and accepted tradition in Africa. Since slaves were usually prisoners captured during wars, the development of the European trade instigated an increase in military activity among African tribes. Participation in the trade became a matter not only of profit but also of survival for the Africans. Those tribes that attempted to stop the slave trade were often enslaved by others. The slave system that developed in the fifteenth century continued to operate for four hundred years. When the New World was discovered and the Indian population of the Americas was decimated by warfare and disease, the Portuguese system was transported across the Atlantic. Its most brutal expression was in the Portuguese colony of Brazil, where thousands of Indians and Africans were worked to death. Eventually the slave labor force in South America and the Caribbean was predominantly African rather than Indian. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe the most significant plant, animal, and bacterial aspects of the exchanges between Europe and the Americas. Whenever peoples from different parts of the world come into contact with each other there is always an exchange of goods, diseases, ideas, and cultural traits. This was especially true when the Old World and New World made first contact. The European explorers and colonists brought with them to the Americas cereal crops, sugar cane, horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and even sparrows. They introduced the practical use of the wheel and metallurgy to the Stone Age "Indians" who had used the wheel only for toys and who did not know how to produce bronze or to work iron. European diseases such as smallpox, mumps, and measles were also new to the Americas, and in the first years of contact these microbes killed millions of Indians. Clearly the European conquerors of the Americas benefited the most from the Columbian exchange. The diets and health of people all over the world were improved by the introduction of New World agricultural products such as cotton, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and rubber. Tobacco was also a New World product that changed European health and social habits, but not necessarily for the better. European economies prospered from the influx of gold, silver, and precious gems from Central and South America and from slave-labor-produced products such as sugar, rice, and coffee. The Americas served as an outlet for disgruntled and dispossessed members of European society and offered opportunities for social and economic advancement unavailable at home. In the exchange of diseases, the Indians gave the Europeans syphilis. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Examine the variety of Native American societies in the period before European conquest. Essay should address several key points: A. Mayan civilization 1. Urbanization a. Complex canal and irrigation system b. Consequences 2. Competing city-states 3. Literate people a. Recorded history b. Implications B. Aztec society 1. Warrior people 2. Urban/Tenochtitlán (200,000 people) 3. Sophistication a. Metallurgy b. Medicine 4. Religious beliefs a. Human sacrifice/ritual cannibalism b. Conquest by Cortés C. Inca civilization 1. Technologically advanced a. Roads and suspension bridges b. Sophisticated agricultural methods 2. Sprawling empire a. Eight to twelve million people b. Internal strife/defeat by Pizarro TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 What explains the European desire for exploration and settlement in the fifteenth century? Essay should address several key points: A. Trade and commerce routes 1. Desire for Asian goods 2. Expensive overland routes 3. Preeminence of Portugal B. Desire for wealth 1. Africa a. Gold and ivory b. Slave trade 2. Asia a. Spices b. Silk 3. Americas a. Precious metals b. Tobacco and spices C. Religion 1. Spread of the faith a. Portugal and Catholicism b. Columbus and millennialism TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 Describe and analyze the consequences of the exchange of goods, technology, and bacteria between the Old and New Worlds. Essay should address several key points: A. "Old" and "New" Worlds meet 1. Fifteenth- and sixteenth-century contacts a. Christopher Columbus and "discovery" b. Hernán Cortés, conquest, and silver 2. African contacts a. Vasco da Gama and trade b. European desires for spices and gold B. Effects on Europe 1. New trade and commercial exchange a. Silver b. Tobacco c. Spices 2. Colonization a. Europe settles the Americas b. European exploitation 3. Rise of European nation-states C. Effects on the Americas and Africa 1. Disease and destruction a. Conquered peoples b. Mass depopulation 2. New institutions a. Catholic Church b. Encomienda and hacienda c. Forced labor 3. Slavery a. African peoples enslaved b. Millions "emigrated" through middle passage c. Millions die/death and transport TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 Discuss the role of religion in the era of exploration and discovery. Essay should address several key points. A. The Crusades 1. Freeing the Holy Land from Moslem control 2. Expansion of sugar plantations to Mediterranean Islands 3. Enslaving non-Christians/Moslems, Slavs, Africans 4. Search for Prester John B. Prince Henry and the Order of Christ 1. Voyages of exploration 2. African trade/gold, ivory and slaves 3. Island colonies/Madiera, Azores, Cape Verde Islands 4. Vasco da Gama sails to India C. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain 1. Expelling the Moors and Jews 2. Exterminating the Guanches of the Canary islands 3. Christopher (Christ-bearer) Columbus 4. Treaty of Tordesillas/Pope Alexander VI D. Dilemmas in the New World 1. Questions of origin of the Indians 2. Theory of St. Thomas the Doubter 3. Human sacrifice versus the Spanish Inquisition 4. Christian versus pagan military objectives E. The conquistadors and missionaries 1. Cortez destroys the Aztec gods 2. Pizarro conquers the Incas 3. Searching for golden cities 4. The Jesuits a. Mission in Virginia b. Don Luis (Openchancanough) 5. The Franciscans a. Goals and policies b. The mission system c. Brutal treatment of Mayan lapsed convert TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1