Age of Exploration

La Isabela, the first American residence of Christopher Columbus, was situated in which modern country?

• On the island of Hispaniola in the Dominican Republic

• On the island of Hispaniola in the Republic of Haiti

• On the island of San Salvador in the Commonwealth of   The Bahamas

• On the island of Trinidad in the Republic of Trinidad and   Tobago

During one of the first “ecological releases” of the Columbian Exchange, scale insects destroyed orange, pomegranate, and cassia plantations and forced colonists out of Santo Domingo on Hispaniola.   These small creatures that the Spanish mistook for ants had unknowingly been imported in 1516 from which location listed below?

• Africa

• South Asia

• Southeastern Asia

• Southwestern Europe

Three of the following statements accurately describe characteristics or results of the “galleon trade” between Spain and China in the 16th and 17th centuries.  Which statement is FALSE?

• China refused entry to almost all foreigners from Europe and   the Americas.

• Both China and Spain emerged as stronger powers.

• Both China and Spain gained from the exchange of silk for   silver.

• Spain restricted imports from China.

Charles Mann identifies which of the following places as the “birthplace of globalization”?

• The Bolivian city of Potosi

• The Chinese province of Fujian

• The Filipino city of Manila

• The Spanish city of Seville

Three of the following statements accurately describe the economic impact of American silver in the 17th Century.  Which statement is FALSE?

• American silver vastly increased the worldwide supply   of precious metals.

• As much as half of the American silver went to China

• The Spanish silver peso became a de facto word   currency.

• Spanish Empire enjoyed an era of peace, power, and   financial stability.

Three of the following statements accurately describe events that contributed to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty during the Little Ice Age.  Which statement is FALSE?

• The failure of new American farm crops led to famine.

• Floods and droughts devastated much of the   countryside.

• Peasant rebellions disrupted several provinces and   unpaid soldiers mutinied.

• The value of silver declined, and the government ran   out of money.

According to Charles Mann, the Columbian Exchange so changed the world that the only great modern urban center outside of Europe and the United States by 1900 was in which country?

• Austrialia

• Brazil

• India

• Japan

Which of the following phrases best describes the area in which the early English settlers established the settlement of Jamestown?

• An agricultural society with large fields of single crops   such as maize or beans

• The middle of a small but rapidly expanding Indian   empire

• The territory of a fierce nomadic society of hunters and   gatherers

• An urban center of earthen pyramids and temples

When English settlers first arrived in Virginia, they encountered a Native American agricultural system which included only one of the elements listed below?

• Cleared fields separated by fences

• Easily accessible natural sources of fresh water

• Large domesticated farm animals

• Wheat Fields

Speculation that a watery channel cut across North America to China led to England’s colonization efforts on the east coast of what is now the United States by which of the following?

• Sir Francis Drake, the wealthy privateer

• Joint-stock companies of wealthy individuals

• Military adventurers led by John Smith

• The wealthy government of Queen Elizabeth I