Pre-Columbian America & Age of Discovery

Why was the development of agriculture so significant to the evolution of indigenous peoples in the Americas?

• Crops were so similar across the Americas that they guaranteed that indigenous societies would lack diversity with one another.

• Crops were reliable food sources that allowed indigenous peoples to settle into larger and more complex societies.

• Crops varied so much from year to year that they led most indigenous societies to depend on hunting and gathering as the only food source.

• Crops had less nutritional value than their prior food sources so it led to a great decrease in the size of the indigenous population.

The introduction of horses by Europeans transformed the environment of parts of North America, including the evolution of Plains tribes into nomadic buffalo hunters.

• True

• False

Bartolomé de Las Casas spoke out against...

• the religious beliefs of Catholicism

• allowing the French to establish colonies in North America

• the cruel and violent treatment of Indians by the Spanish

• introducing new foods from the Americas to European diets

Which statement about the Columbian Exchange is best described by the image?

• European diseases had a devastating effect on Native American populations.

• Slaves imported from Africa provided labor for European plantations.

• Foods from the Americas led to significant population growth in Europe.

• Animals imported from Europe transformed Native American economic activities.

Please select three (3) characteristics that best describe the Eastern Woodland Indians.

• Regional groups included the Algonquians, Iroquoians, and Muskogeans

• They lived in wooden longhouses and traveled waterways in canoes dugout from tree trunks

• They included some matrilineal societies in which women held high social status

• Regional groups included the Maya, Aztec, and Inca

• They inhabited the Yucatan Peninsula and Andes Mountains of South America

Which of the following is depicted in these images?

• Pequot War

• King Philip's War

• Conquest of the Aztecs

• Pontiac's Rebellion

Christopher Columbus succeeded in doing what?

• finding a water route to Asia

• proving the world was round

• bringing the benefits of European civilization to the Indians

• inspiring further European voyages of exploration

Which of the following helped Hernan Cortes conquer the Aztec Empire?

• his alliance with the Incan Empire and the Incas’ superior military might in the Mexico region

• a surprise siege immediately upon his arrival to the city of Tenochtitlán and the city’s lack of food

• a naval campaign that remained along the Mexican coast and a military alliance with French explorers

• the continued aid of Montezuma II and a violent conquest that later Spanish conquistadores refused to repeat

• capitalizing on conflict between Native American peoples and Spanish advantages in military technology

The Columbian Exchange refers to the...

• global transfer of plants, animals, and diseases, as a result of Europeans landing in the Americas.

• first transaction involving the exchange of enslaved Africans and New World resources.

• deal struck between Columbus and the Spanish monarchs to fund his expedition.

• division of the Americas between Spain and Portugal as a result of the Treaty of Tordesillas.

• establishment of the nation of Colombia in South America as the first permanent European colony.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the significance of diseases such as smallpox during the Age of Discovery?

• It was predominantly European explorers who contracted the diseases of the Native Americans and, as a result, the Europeans put a halt to expeditions for several years until they built up immunity.

• Native American chieftains and religious leaders often proved immune to these diseases and, thus, maintained a stronger hold over their empires due to their people viewing them as immortal gods.

• The diseases led Europeans to put major restrictions on their missionary work in the Americas because they worried God would use epidemics to punish them for forcing their views on others.

• Indigenous peoples, including their rulers, suffered immense fatalities due to the diseases and, especially with this loss in leadership, proved less able to defend themselves against the Europeans.

• Because Europeans and indigenous peoples suffered equally from the diseases transferred through the Columbian Exchange, Cortés’s conquest of the city of Tenochtitlán was largely a toss-up.