History Quiz

Spain’s efforts to take back their country from the African Moors [a conflict that lasted nearly 800 years] was known as the –

• Reformation

• Reunion

• Reconquista

• Rebate

Most of the explorers who impacted Texas history during the Age of Contact came from –

• Germany

• Spain

• France

• England

In 1492, an explorer began sailing across the vast Atlantic Ocean. His goal was to find a shortcut to Asia by heading west across the large body of water. Instead of finding the shortcut, this explorer landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea. He had discovered a land that Europeans didn’t know about – North and South America. Which explorer is described in the passage above?

• Ferdinand Magellan

• Vasco de Gama

• Marco Polo

• Christopher Columbus

One of those European explorers was a conquistador named Hernan Cortes, who defeated a native group called the ________ and built Mexico City on the ruins of their empire’s capital.

• Aztecs

• Incas

• Mayans

• Olmecs

The map showing the Gulf of Mexico was helpful to later explorers, including one man who was shipwrecked in Texas and survived with the help of local native Texans. This stranded explorer lived among the Indian tribes of Texas for six years as a respected shaman [healer] and trader before starting his long journey home. What was his name?

• Alvar Nunez de Cabeza de Vaca

• James Cook

• Francisco Pizarro

• Hernando de Soto

Another explorer named Francisco Coronado spent several years looking for a place rumored to be seven cities of gold and silver. This place was called -

• California

• Cibola

• Casablanca

• Chattanooga

According to this passage, what was the main purpose of the expedition that crossed the Rio Grande at El Paso?

• to conquer the area and destroy the native civilizations that were discovered

• to establish a successful colony and find mineral wealth in the area

• to find a water route across North America that could increase trade

• none of these answers are correct

Several countries were hoping to find a water route [called the Northwest Passage] through North America that would provide a shortcut across the continent. An explorer named Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle traveled down the ________ River, hoping that it would be the shortcut that his country was looking for. It wasn’t, but La Salle had other plans for success in the “new world”. La Salle wanted to establish settlements along the large river, and he claimed the entire area for his country [calling it “Louisiana” after King Louis XIV].

• Mississippi

• Amazon

• Nile

• Yangtze

The timeline above shows events in the order that they happened. If this timeline were given dates, what year would appear above “La Salle lands in Texas”?

• 1492

• 1519

• 1536

• 1685

Which of these explorers NEVER actually set foot in Texas?

• Cabeza de Vaca

• Coronado

• Cortes

• ALL of these men set foot in Texas