Louisiana's Early Explorers Quiz

de Soto’s  exploration led to the discovery of a great river that would be important to Louisiana’s development.

What were the explorers looking for?

• They were looking for gold and for new bus routes. 

• They were looking for farm land and for new trade routes. 

• They were looking for Indians and for new trade routes. 

• They were looking for gold and for new trade routes.

What natural resource was most important to the explorers?

• The Great Plains were most important.

• The Mississippi River was most important.

• Florida was most important.

• The marshes and wetlands were most important.

Using Source 1, what was a major accomplishment of Hernando de Soto?

• de Soto told the King of England that the land he explored was valuable

• de Soto showed the Native Americans how to plant and hunt.

• de Soto was the first European to reach the Mississippi River.

• de Soto was kind to the Native Americans.

What is the most likely reason the Spanish did not build communities along the Mississippi River in the 1500s?

• de Soto believed the land had no value.

• de Soto believed he should build a home there.

• de Soto believed that he could work with the Indians and find gold.

• de Soto believed the King of Spain would be happy about the land.

Choose two ways the Spanish explorers changed the Indian’s way of life.

• The Spanish explorers brought horses to the New World.

• The Spanish explorers brought coffee to the New World.

• The Spanish explorers brought canoes to the New World.

• The Spanish explorers brought mounds to the New World.

• The Spanish explorers brought diseases to the New World.

What motivated de Soto to explore the new world? How was de Soto’s exploration significant to Louisiana?

Answer explanation

de Soto was motivated to find gold (money) and more trade routes. de Soto was the first to reach the Mississippi River.

La Salle claimed the entire Mississippi River Valley for France.  He named this area Louisiana.  It stretched west from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains. And from the Great Lakes south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Use your knowledge of social studies and Source 2 to answer questions 7-9

What was a major accomplishment of Robert de la Salle?

• He explored the Northwest Passage

• He explored the Great Plains.

• He explored the Rocky Mountains.

• He explored the Mississippi River.

What did La Salle claim for France?

• Only the Mississippi River

• Part of the Mississippi River

• Part of the Great Plains and all of the land around it.

• The Mississippi River and all of the land around it.

Why is La Salle’s land claim in 1682 important as shown in Source 2?

• La Salle was the first European to explore the New World.

• La Salle’s land claim allowed France to control a large territory in the New World.

• La Salle was able to build trading posts for the Native Americans and England. 

• La Salle’s claim provided a new deerskin coat for the King of France.

People in France wore clothes made out of deerskin and animal fur. French traders exchanged guns, beads, and metal pots for deer hides to make sleek leather clothes for the people in France. 

How did the early explorers change the Indian’s way of life?

• The Indians’ way of life changed by trading with the Europeans.

• The Indians’ way of life changed by farming with the Europeans.

• The Indians’ way of life changed by hunting with the Europeans.

• The Indians’ way of life changed by sailing with the Europeans.