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WorksheetsThe Impact of Contact on the New World TEST
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 10mins
Let’s say you’re an Englishman of the planter class in 17th-century Virginia. How would you grow tobacco if you were cultivating it as a cash crop?
I’d grow just enough tobacco for my family’s use, and devote the rest of my land to growing food to sell in the marketplace
I’d grow tobacco in conjunction with beans, to refresh the soil and keep from exhausting the land
I’d grow nothing but tobacco and prepare it for export
Served cold and frothy by the Mesoamerican elite, which New World beverage began a craze in Europe that coincided with the growing European desire for sugar?
chocolate
tea
coffee
What was responsible for the deaths of so many Huron and Iroquois people in the 17th century?
The volcanic explosion of Algonquin Peak in the Adirondacks
The smallpox virus
A campaign of terror coordinated between Spanish and British colonists
Which group of foods originated in the New World?
Oranges, olives, tea, and herring
Corn, chocolate, tomatoes, and potatoes
Spinach, cabbage, rice, and sugarcane
What was the one disease that came from the New World to the Old World?
Tuberculosis, a respiratory disease
Syphilis, a sexually-transmitted infection
Malaria, a parasitic disease carried by mosquitoes
What was the economic philosophy of mercantilism?
Colonies extend an empire’s trading posts to distant locations and therefore should try to cultivate as many new trading partners as possible
Merchants and trade are the key to a nation’s wealth and therefore free trade must be preserved at all costs
Colonies exist to enrich the home country and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to trade with anyone except the home country
What was traded between Europe, West Africa, and the Americas in the Columbian Exchange?
Stocks, bonds, real estate, and commodity futures
Tea, ceramics, gunpowder, and maps
Cash crops, finished goods, diseases, and human beings
Crops such as sugar and tobacco were New World discoveries for the European colonizers. What was the main reason they were valued?
As new items that could be used in rituals and medicine
As cash crops that could be produced for sale
As gifts to entice Native Americans to agree to exploitative treaties
What were the plantations of the early colonial period designed to do?
Create large quantities of raw commodity crops at low cost, like indigo, sugar, tobacco, or coffee
Produce cotton for the international textile market
Plant extensive food crops, like corn, wheat, and potatoes, to supply starving populations in Europe
What was responsible for the deaths of so many Huron and Iroquois people in the 17th century?
A campaign of terror coordinated between Spanish and British colonists
The smallpox virus
The volcanic explosion of Algonquin Peak in the Adirondacks
Examine the image and answer the question below.
-Source: Bernardino de Sahagún, Wikimedia Commons, 1576
Which of the following developments is the most direct effect of the situation portrayed in the image?
increased opposition from the Spanish crown to Spanish colonization
the African slave population decreased as goals shifted to end colonization
increased opposition from the Spanish clergy to use Native Americans as labor
the enslaved African population increased to serve as a labor force for the Spanish
Read the passage below and answer the question.
"Colón [Columbus] and his crew did not voyage alone. They were accompanied by a menagerie of insects, plants, mammals, and microorganisms . . . European expeditions brought cattle, sheep, and horses, along with crops like sugarcane (originally from New Guinea), wheat (from the Middle East), bananas (from Africa), and coffee (also from Africa) . . . "
-From Charles C. Mann, historian, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, 2011.
Which of the following economic shifts resulted most directly from the trends described in the excerpt?
The emergence of the Silk Road, a trade route between Europe and Asia
European economies shifted from a feudal economy to a capitalist economy
Native American economies shifted from capitalist economies to feudal economies
A religious caste system in the New World
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
How did New World colonization, enabled by the vessel above, affect the economy of Europe?
It caused rampant deflation, leading to many bankruptcies among borrowers
It allowed banking firms to have more power than European monarchies, which were deeply in debt
It devastated the business of European farmers who grew tomatoes and potatoes, as New World imports of these crops undercut their sales
It brought a great deal of gold and silver into Europe, stimulating the banking industry and promoting Europe’s transition to capitalism
Examine the image and answer the question below.
-Source: Bernardino de Sahagún, Wikimedia Commons, 1576
Which of the following most directly led to the circumstances illustrated by the image?
Spanish exploration of the Americas
conflicts between European explorers
Native American immunity to disease
contaminated food brought from Europe
Read the passage below and answer the question.
"Colón [Columbus] and his crew did not voyage alone. They were accompanied by a menagerie of insects, plants, mammals, and microorganisms . . . European expeditions brought cattle, sheep, and horses, along with crops like sugarcane (originally from New Guinea), wheat (from the Middle East), bananas (from Africa), and coffee (also from Africa) . . . "-From Charles C. Mann, historian, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, 2011.
Mann describes several commodities that were taken from Europe and Africa to the Americas. Which of the following were taken from the Americas to Europe?
Sheep and cattle
Apples and peaches
Gold and silver
Dogs and cats
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
What was important about the development of vessels such as the one depicted above?
They were capable of carrying more than 300 people, making it easy to start colonial settlements
They were the first ships to have cannons on board, leading Portugal to excel in naval warfare
They were specially designed to carry enslaved laborers on their lower decks
They allowed Portuguese and Spanish navigators to sail across oceans rather than only along the coast
Examine the image and answer the question below.
-Source: Bernardino de Sahagún, Wikimedia Commons, 1576
The image most closely reflects which of the following demographic changes in the Spanish colonies?
a decrease in Native Americans as smallpox spread, but an increase in Spaniards as they continued to colonize
an increase in interracial marriages between Spaniards, African people, and Native Americans to pass on immunity
a decrease in Native Americans and Spaniards as smallpox infected both Native Americans and Spaniards
a decrease in enslaved people of African descent as smallpox spread, but an increase in the number of Spaniards as they were immune
Read the passage below and answer the question.
"Colón [Columbus] and his crew did not voyage alone. They were accompanied by a menagerie of insects, plants, mammals, and microorganisms . . . European expeditions brought cattle, sheep, and horses, along with crops like sugarcane (originally from New Guinea), wheat (from the Middle East), bananas (from Africa), and coffee (also from Africa) . . . "-From Charles C. Mann, historian, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, 2011.
Which of the following processes is Mann describing?
The Little Ice Age
The Columbian Exchange
The transatlantic slave trade
The Protestant Reformation
Read the excerpt and answer the question below.
“Where colonies are founded for a public-weal, they may continue in better obedience and become more industrious than where private men are absolute backers of a voyage. Men of better behavior and quality will engage themselves in a public service, which carries more reputation with it, than a private, which is for the most part ignominious in the end, because it is presumed to aim at a profit and is subject to rivalry, fraud, and envy, and when it is at the greatest height of fortune can hardly be tolerated because of the jealousy of the state. . . .”-Richard Hakluyt, Reasons for Raising a Fund to Settle America On the Value of Colonies to England, 1605
Which of the following groups of people would have been most likely to oppose Hakluyt’s views in the excerpt?
privateers preying on Spanish ships
navigators looking for the northwest passage
owners of joint-stock companies
leaders of the Church of England
Examine the image and answer the question below.
-Source: Bernardino de Sahagún, Wikimedia Commons, 1576
Which of the following does this image most likely depict
Native Americans suffering from microbial diseases introduced by Spanish conquistadores
Spanish women who were dying at unprecedented rates from the Bubonic Plague
Spanish conquistadores’ wives, who were infected with smallpox in the New World
Native Americans who gave smallpox to Spanish conquistadores upon their arrival in the New World
