Europeans desired many products from Asia. Choose the incorrect product Pepper Silk * Tobacco Fine carpets The Venetian who traveled to China and who wrote a book of his experiences was * Marco Polo Vasco da Gama Prester John Christopher Columbus The great ancient Greek geographer, Ptolemy, provided early explorers with their ideas about the world, but he made some major and misleading errors. Choose the correct error He thought the world was flat, shaped like a plate * He overestimated the size of the land area of the world and underestimated the overall size of the earth by about 1/6 He believed that longitude and latitude were useless in exploration He believed that the tropical oceans were so hot that no ship could sail in them A major reason for European exploration was To determine whether the earth was round or flat by looking for its edge To prove the Ptolemy's idea of the size of the earth was wrong * To establish a direct trade route with the sources for silks and spices and bypass Islamic middlemen To test their new ships, sails, and navigational equipment The first European country to undertake exploration was Germany Russia Spain * Portugal Portuguese exploration accomplished all of the following except Rounding Africa to reach India * Discovering Prester John Establishing a string of outposts to control the spice trade Striking a dramatic blow to the Moslem economy by challenging its shipping monopoly in the Indian Ocean European exploration was made easier by The collapse of Islamic empires The great success of the Crusades * Improved ships, sails, and navigational equipment All of the above Christopher Columbus Made only one voyage to the New World Was an excellent administrator of the lands he discovered, doing so well that he died rich * Always believed that he had arrived on the outskirts of Asia, not far from the great and wealthy Asian empires All of the above Sevastien Elcano completed the voyage around the world commenced by the following explorer, who was killed in a local war in the Philippines Vasco Nu–ez de Balboa Bartholomeu Dias Henry the Navigator * Ferdinand Magellan All of the following were true of Northern European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries except The Cabots found huge numbers of cod but their voyage was considered a failure because it neither reached Asia nor returned with spices * 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 The Dutch fought the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and took over the latter's monopoly of the spice trade An important part of this exploration was a search for a passage through North America The New World Agriculture developed in Central Mexico around 5500 B.C. spread slowly because * It was difficult for crops to spread north and south because different latitudes yield different growing seasons Nearby hunting tribes resented agriculture as a threat to their traditional way of life The principal crops, maize and beans, were very hard to grow All of the above The principal Native American empires on the eve of European exploration were The Mayas and the Iroquois * The Aztecs and the Incas The Cherokees and the Incas The Sioux and the Mayas The potato became the agricultural basis of Incan civilization because It grew in the high mountains, permitting enough food for a dense population in what otherwise would have been an inhospitable environment Once planted, potatoes needed little care, permitting people to undertake great building projects Potatoes could be dried for long-term storage, reducing the possibility of famine * All of the above Cortez and Pizarro were able to conquer the Aztec and the Inca empires because The religious beliefs of the Aztecs and Incas inclined them to pacifism The Spaniards outnumbered their opponents by at least two to one * The Spaniards possessed guns and steel weapons and were partially immune to the diseases that devastated the Indian population All of the above The major reason for the brutal Spanish treatment of Indians in the New World was Indian refusal to become Christian * The need for labor to raise crops and extract precious metals from the mines To satisfy a 16th century Spanish thirst for dominance None of the above African slavery in America was based on raising cash crops for export. Several crops were raised by slave labor but the outstanding crop was Tobacco Rice Cotton * Sugar Sugar growers in the New World turned to Africa as a slave source because The great decline in the number of Indians made Columbus's suggestion of enslaving Indians impractical Africans had a greater resistance to European diseases than the Indians and could survive in larger numbers Some African chiefs found that they could profit enormously through this trade * All of the above Christian missionaries to Asia Failed to achieve any conversions to Christianity * Often tended to present Christianity in native forms, with priests dressed as Buddhists in Japan, Brahmins in India, Confucians in China Adapted the same haughty attitude toward local customs as they did in America Enslaved Asians in the same way that they enslaved Native Americans Christian missionaries to the New World Ordained as priests only persons of Indian, African and mixed ancestry Emphasized conversion of Africans rather than of Native Americans By and large failed to convert Native Americans * Were aided by the claim of Juan Diego to have seen the Virgin of Guadalupe As a result of European exploration, Christian missionaries * Except for Pedro Claver and a few others, paid more attention to converting Native Americans than to converting Africans Never complained about Spanish mistreatment of Indians Traveled to Japan, but not to China All of the above The major reason for the great inflation of the 16th century seems to be The consequences of the Bubonic Plague The disruptions caused by the Mongol invasions * The great influx of silver from the New World The greed of 16th century merchants In the "Commercial Revolution" of the Sixteenth Century, all of the following occurred except * Government reduced trade barriers and economic regulation There was a major inflation A commercial capitalism complete with joint-stock companies developed European markets expanded enormously as a result of exploration The basic principle of Mercantilism was That international commerce could be greatly expanded by major international economic cooperation That all matters of trade should be left to private, individual interests rather than to government dictation * 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 None of the above All of the following were mercantilistic policies pursued by governments except Forbidding imports of luxury goods because their purchase drained gold and silver away from the mother country * Encouraging high wages to increase national purchasing power Founding colonies to create markets for national products Enacting laws to insure favorable balances of trade The influx of gold and silver into Europe during the 16th century Permitted major tax relief for Spanish taxpayers Permitted great profits for Italian and German merchants * Led Spanish kings to engage in so many expensive wars that Spain suffered repeated bankruptcies None of the above Work roles in the 16th century were redefined because The use of tobacco made the workplace unhealthy * 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 The growth of trade and exploration led to a shortage of men, permitting greater opportunities for women Large numbers of African slaves were imported into Europe, increasing unemployment among Europeans Between 1550 and 1700 European states Relied on the Spanish, Turkish, and Chinese navies to suppress piracy in their respective areas of influence * Often commissioned individuals as "privateers" to raid the shipping of competing nations, often without engaging in a formal war Systematically tried to suppress piracy throughout the world None of the above The spread of European culture often resulted in The creation of a class of mestizos, persons of mixed European and Indian ancestry Widespread planting of wheat where it had not been planted before The spread of dandelions, a European weed * All of the above European exploration led to the import of many new agricultural products. Pick out the incorrect crop from this list. * Wheat Potatoes Coffee Tobacco The tale of Maria Sybilla Merian tells us the following about both scientific interest and the New World How a woman of talent and curiosity could be frustrated by a radical religious sect such as the Labadists Why so many persons of scientific talent had so little interest in the New World * How previously unknown plants and animals of the New World could stimulate the discipline of Natural History The impossibility for a 16th century woman to have an opportunity to study the plants and animals of the New World in their original settings. 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 Ptolemy * Mercator Merian Vespucci The ancient Greek geographer, Ptolemy, exaggerated the size of the world's oceans. True * False Religion, as well as the lure of wealth, was an important motive for European explorations. * True False Bartholomeu Dias was the first Portuguese sailor to reach India. True * False Even after four voyages to the New World, Columbus was convinced that he had reached Asia. * True False 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. True * False The Portuguese repelled the Dutch threat to their spice trade. True * False Agriculture in the Americas began in what is now Peru. True * False Disease was a major factor facilitating the Spanish conquests in the New World. * True False The major precious metal mined in colonial Hispanic America was silver. * True False Cotton and tobacco were the principal New World crops that led to the demand for African slaves. True * False Many early Spanish explorers believed that the indigenous peoples had no religion and could thus be easily converted to Christianity. * True False Jesuit missionaries to Asia often presented themselves as members of Asian rather than Western culture. * True False Influx of precious metals from the New World was partially to blame for the European inflation of the 16th century. * True False 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. * True False Mercantilist rulers were not interested in a favorable balance of trade. True * False The wealth of the New World enabled 16th century Spain to avoid the bankruptcies that plagued other countries. True * False European governments, as well as the United States, commissioned privateers whose activities were virtually legalized piracy. * True False None of the New World crops of the Aztecs and the Incas crossed the Atlantic to Europe. True * False There was little European interest in the plants and animals of the New World. True * False Gerhard Mercator's map projection enabled sailors to plot straight-line courses. * True False