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WorksheetsWorlds Collide (1491-1607) Unit TEST
Total questions: 60
Worksheet time: 30mins
An example of “syncretism” is
elements of Pueblo and Spanish cuisine fusing together
elements of Pueblo and Spanish trading practices fusing together
elements of Pueblo religion and Catholicism fusing together
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.
How was the population of the Old World affected by the process Mann describes?
Population increased as new crops were introduced, improving diets and increasing life expectancy
Population decreased as new diseases like smallpox were introduced
Population increased as herbal cures found in the New World helped to address major diseases in the Old World
Population decreased as new crops were introduced, causing people to die from new allergies
Read the passage and answer the question below.
"Around 7,000 years ago, agriculture emerged in Mesoamerica, including the domestication of maize, beans, and squash, causing major changes in the plants that people cultivated. Three sisters agriculture had spread across Mexico by 3,500 years ago, though they originated at different times."
-Source: Amanda J. Landon, anthropologist, "The 'How' of the Three Sisters," 2008
Which of the following pieces of evidence would best support Landon’s argument in the excerpt?
fossilized animal bones and teeth
oral histories of hunting and gathering
archaeological remains of ancient seeds
written inventories of annual harvests
What’s a Clovis point, and what does it tell us about the way the North American continent was settled by human beings?
Clovis points are the name archaeologists gave to small coin-like tokens made of shells; it suggests that ancient North Americans used trade currencies
Clovis Point is a mesa in New Mexico that functions as a giant sundial; it tells us that ancient North American peoples used the sun to navigate
It’s a sharpened stone tool, and it tells us that humans have been on the North American continent for at least 13,500 years
What was the relationship between Isabella and Ferdinand, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, and Italian explorer Christopher Columbus?
They issued a letter of marque to his countryman, Amerigo Vespucci, who was given license to sink Columbus’s ships and steal his maps for Spain
They funded his expeditions to the New World, in the hopes of finding another sea route to the East Indies
They tried to dissuade him from making the dangerous journey; Queen Isabella implored Columbus to join the priesthood
The Black Death killed an estimated 30 to 60% of Europe’s population. What was the Black Death?
A famine caused by a fungus that blackened and killed wheat and rye fields
An extremely deadly strain of the Bubonic Plague
A league of Serbian nationalist terrorists that killed people with primitive explosives
Crops such as sugar and tobacco were New World discoveries for the European colonizers. What was the main reason they were valued?
As cash crops that could be produced for sale
As gifts to entice Native Americans to agree to exploitative treaties
As new items that could be used in rituals and medicine
Read the excerpt and answer the question below.
It is public opinion and knowledge that no end of deception is practiced and a thousand acts of robbery and violence are committed in the course of bartering and carrying off Negroes from their country and bringing them to the Indies and to Spain. . . . Since the Portuguese and Spaniards pay so much for a Negro, they go out to hunt one another without the pretext of a war, as if they were deer; even the very Ethiopians, who are different, being induced to do so by the profit derived. . . . They embark four and five hundred of them in a boat which, sometimes, is not a cargo boat. The very stench is enough to kill most of them, and, indeed, very many die. The wonder is that twenty percent of them are not lost.
-Source: Fray Tomas de Mercado, Spanish Dominican Friar, 1587
Which of the following developments contributed most directly to the conditions described in the excerpt?
military conflict between West African peoples
lax enforcement of the British Navigation Acts
forced religious conversions during the Reconquista
European mines and plantations in the New World
Why is it important that the Three Sisters agricultural system combined beans, corn, and squash?
Those three crops attracted wild turkeys to Mohawk communities, making hunting much more convenient
Beans, corn, and squash were the three cash crops that the Iroquois harvested and sold to England in order to fund the operations of their Confederacy
Those three crops together provided complete nutrition; no single plant can provide all the nutrients a human body needs to survive
A depiction of Sioux teepees, painted by Karl Bodmer in 1833. Image credit: WikiArt
Native Americans lived in teepees as they followed herds of bison across the Great Plains. Which of the following environmental factors led bison to flourish in the Great Plains?
The wet grasslands of the western Great Plains created prairie ideal for grazing.
The arrival of horses in 1519 made it easier for Native Americans to herd and breed bison.
The melting of glaciers provided new water sources for bison herds.
Bison were chased onto the Great Plains by prehistoric predators.
Non-Spanish European powers used the Black Legend to highlight the unspeakable cruelty the Spanish inflicted on Native Americans. Why would they want to do that?
To justify their own attempts to colonize the Americas and portray themselves favorably
To dissuade more Spanish colonizers from waging land wars against them
To terrify Native Americans into accepting Spanish rule
Examine the image and answer the question below.
Eighteenth-century Spanish casta painting. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
The image most directly reflects which of the following during the Spanish colonial era?
the decline of the asiento system
the development of a race-based caste system
the enfranchisement of indigenous men and women
the emergence of syncretic religious practices
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
In addition to new maritime technologies, what other innovations helped to spur European exploration in the Americas?
New methods of preserving food for long journeys, like pickling
New forms of communication, like the telegraph
New democratic governments, like the one instituted after the French Revolution
New methods for organizing international trade, like the joint-stock company
“Mestizo” refers to people who are
are a combination of Native American and European in origin
a combination of African and Asian in origin
descendants of native South Americans
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 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
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
Elmina Castle is a fortified trading post built by the Portuguese in the late 15th century along the Gold Coast of Africa. What was exported from its docks?
Tilework from Morocco and grain from Zimbabwe
Gold from Mali and cotton from Egypt
Enslaved people from further inland
Where’s the Bering Strait, and what does it have to do with the history of the North American continent?
It’s the isthmus that connects Central and South America; anthropologists and paleontologists surmise that human beings originated there
It’s a waterway that separates present-day Siberia from present-day Alaska; historians theorize that humans made their way across a now-vanished land bridge from Asia to North America
It’s the shortest distance between the North American continent and Denmark; medieval Vikings made their way to Vinland across the Strait in the 10th century CE
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado found neither gold nor silver on his expeditions into what is today Mexico and the American Southwest. What wonders did he find, however?
The Grand Canyon and the Colorado River; members of his expedition were the first Europeans to see either of them
The Seven Cities of Gold in New Mexico (though he wasn’t allowed to touch them)
The great city of Cahokia, where he was given endless gifts of corn
The Ghana Empire was an inland Islamic empire established at the end of the first century and located in western:
Africa
Asia
Europe
Read the excerpt and answer the question below.
As we wish the said Indians to be converted to our Holy Catholic Faith, and to be taught its doctrines . . . I command you to compel and oblige the said Indians to deal and associate with the Christians of the said island, to work in their buildings in collecting and mining gold and other metals, and to grow food and supplies for the Christian settlers and inhabitants of the said island . . . . and this they are to do as the free persons they are, and not as slaves; and you are to see to it that the said Indians are well treated . . .
-Source: Queen Isabella to Nicolas de Ovando, Governor of Hispaniola, 1503
Which of the following was the most immediate result of the edict excerpted?
the encomienda system
the Reconquista
the transatlantic slave trade
the Spanish caste system
Artist's conception of the city of Cahokia, near modern-day St. Louis. At its peak around 1100 CE, Cahokia had 20,000 residents. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
How were Mississippian people similar to other Native American groups in the pre-contact era?
The environment in which they lived influenced their societies and economies.
They were largely nomadic, depending on horses to follow herds of animals.
They had no religious practices or beliefs.
They had an egalitarian social structure, where individuals were generally equal in status.
Mississippian cultures were vast and complex, but which of these is the most accurate brief description of their societies?
Mississippian peoples lived in cliff dwellings along the Mississippi River, building structures in the shadows of cliffs to escape the punishing Midwestern sun
Mississippian peoples cultivated corn on Mississippi Valley floodplains and created pottery and immense earthworks
Mississippians were hunter-gatherers and nomads who followed the migrations of bison herds up and down the river valley
Which group of foods originated in the New World?
Oranges, olives, tea, and herring
Corn, chocolate, tomatoes, and potatoes
Spinach, cabbage, rice, and sugarcane
Who was Henry the Navigator, and what does he have to do with the Age of Discovery?
He was an accomplished sea captain who extensively explored the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland
Henry was the English name for Acona, a chief of the Wyandotte (Huron) who assisted British colonists in the 16th century
He was a Portuguese prince who sponsored the development of the caravel ship and directed expeditions along the Atlantic coast of Africa
What was an effect of Hernando de Soto’s expeditions into what is today the Southeastern United States?
De Soto’s discovery of the Fountain of Youth led Florida to become a popular place to retire
De Soto’s expedition convinced the Native American tribes living in the area, including Seminoles and Cherokees, to band together against future European incursions
De Soto’s expedition spread Eurasian diseases into the interior of the country, inadvertently killing thousands of Native people
Examine the image and answer the question below.
-Source: Bernardino de Sahagún, Wikimedia Commons, 1576
In addition to the effect depicted in the image, which of the following was another negative environmental impact of Spanish colonization in the Americas?
The introduction of new animals negatively affected Native American crops
The introduction of new plants gave Native Americans new allergies
The introduction of potatoes led to widespread famine
The introduction of sheep and cattle led to a dramatic increase in the wolf population
Bartolomé de las Casas was a Spanish planter and slaveholder on the island of Hispaniola, in what is today the Dominican Republic. How did de las Casas come to feel about the encomienda system?
He opposed it, because it interfered with his business; he had a slave-trading business that primarily trafficked in African people
He was one of its staunchest defenders, writing a book called A Brief History of the Glories of Imperial Spain; he would later be made a hidalgo by Carlos V
He came to oppose and protest the encomienda system as immoral, writing A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies; he would later become a Dominican friar and urge Carlos V to abolish encomiendas
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?
Coffee
Chocolate
Tea
Read the passage below and answer the question.
“There were four chiefs: Mr. Bear, Cougar, Bald Eagle, and Salmon. They met to try to figure out what it was that they were going to do. They knew of a place where there were many salmon. This would be the best thing of the coming people. It would keep them strong and healthy; besides, it would taste so good! But there was a problem. The salmon were being held way up river by a dam and were being guarded by some women, who when crossed would stop at nothing to destroy anything that got in the way of keeping their salmon and doing their work.”
-Native American legend recorded by Martin Louie and Diana Brooks. Published in Wicazo Sa Review, 1990.
Which of the following was a major contrast between the Native Americans described in the passage and those living in the Great Plains region?
Native Americans in the Southeast built mounds to bury their dead, while Native Americans on the Plains cremated their dead in funeral pyres.
Native Americans in the Northeast lived in settled villages, while Native Americans on the Plains lived a highly mobile lifestyle.
Native Americans in the Northwest relied on fishing, while Native Americans on the Plains relied on hunting to obtain food.
Native Americans in the Pueblos relied on irrigation to water their crops, while Native Americans on the Plains relied on rain to water their crops.
Read the passage and answer the question below.
“By virtue of the said ransom, let ships go there and bring away as many male and female Negroes as possible, newly imported and between the ages of fifteen to eighteen or twenty years. . . .The burden of work of the Indians will be eased and unlimited amounts of gold will be mined. This is the best land in the world for Negroes, women and old men, and it is very rarely that one of these people die.”
-Source: Alonso de Zuazo, Spanish colonial judge, 1518
Which of the following contributed most to the increasing use of African slave labor instead of Native American labor in colonial Spain?
Enslaved Africans had knowledge of where to find gold and silver mines in the Americas.
Enslaved Africans were immune to most diseases spread by the Spanish, while indigenous people were not.
Enslaved Africans could cultivate cash crops at a faster rate, satisfying European demands for agricultural products.
Enslaved Africans had already converted to Christianity, satisfying the Spanish crown.
The Protestant Reformation led to:
Mistrust, turmoil, and warfare between Protestants and Catholics in Europe
A 200-year period of peace known as the Pax Lutheriana
The signing of the Magna Carta, a document that enumerated the rights of nobles and limited the rights of the King
In what way did religious intolerance contribute to global unrest during the Age of Discovery?
Christian colonists in the New World had a great desire to convert Native Americans to their faith
Christian missionaries were eager to discover a route to China in order to proselytize to its large population
Catholics and Protestants battled for control of African colonies in the Scramble for Africa
Hernán Cortés was a Spanish explorer and military leader, also known as a:
Conquistador
Cacique
Xocolatl
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
"Three Sisters" farming was an agricultural system of companion planting innovated by the Iroquois-speaking peoples of the Northeast; farmers planted corn, beans, and squash together. The beans used the cornstalks as a trellis to grow on, but how did beans benefit the other two plants in the system?
Bean shoots reached out and strangled weeds, leaving the way clear for the other companion plants
Bacteria on the roots of beans ‘fix’ nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil, fertilizing the earth for the benefit of the corn and squash
Bean leaves provided crucial shade for the squash, which can be damaged by too much direct sunlight; the shade enabled the squash to develop vital nutrients
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
How did New World colonization, enabled by the vessel above, affect the economy of Europe?
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 caused rampant deflation, leading to many bankruptcies among borrowers
It brought a great deal of gold and silver into Europe, stimulating the banking industry and promoting Europe’s transition to capitalism
What was traded between Europe, West Africa, and the Americas in the Columbian Exchange?
Tea, ceramics, gunpowder, and maps
Stocks, bonds, real estate, and commodity futures
Cash crops, finished goods, diseases, and human beings
What did 1494’s Treaty of Tordesillas accomplish for the Portuguese?
It ended the Eighty Years’ War, freeing up Portugal’s navy and allowing the nation’s sailors to explore instead of fight
It created a vertical line through South America, giving Portugal the claim to the east coast of what is today Brazil
It gave Portugal the right to lay claim to nearly all of South America
Despite having a basis in religious and ethnic intolerance, in what way did the Crusades increase cultural interaction between Europe and the Middle East?
European Crusaders converted to Islam and returned to Europe to proselytize
European Crusaders developed a taste for trade goods from India, China, and Central Asia, which spurred trade with the East along the Silk Road
Middle Eastern merchants developed a taste for trade goods from France, England and Germany, which spurred trade with the West along the Maginot Line
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?
contaminated food brought from Europe
conflicts between European explorers
Spanish exploration of the Americas
Native American immunity to disease
The Oneida, Mohawk, Seneca, Tuscarora, Cayuga, and Onondaga peoples of the Northeast formed a political group known as
The Iroquois Confederacy
The Mohawk Trading Union
The Comanche Empire
The Ghana Empire created extensive trade networks across the Sahara Desert, sending out caravans bearing
gold and salt
coffee and sugar
ceramics and tea
Read the passage and answer the question below.
"Around 7,000 years ago, agriculture emerged in Mesoamerica, including the domestication of maize, beans, and squash, causing major changes in the plants that people cultivated. Three sisters agriculture had spread across Mexico by 3,500 years ago, though they originated at different times."
-Source: Amanda J. Landon, anthropologist, "The 'How' of the Three Sisters," 2008
Why was this method of planting important?
These three were “cash crops” for societies like the Iroquois and Susquehannocks, as these were the only commodity they could sell to the English to fund their Confederacy
These three crops were arranged ceremonially so that they could be used for religious purposes as offerings for the gods
These three crops mutually supported each other's growth, a system that spread from present-day Mexico northward into the present-day American Southwest.
These three crops attracted wild turkeys and other wild game, which made hunting easier for more sedentary communities.
Examine the image and answer the question below.
Eighteenth-century Spanish casta painting. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
This painting was intended to:
define individuals’ social status in Spanish North America.
exclude indigenous and African people from society.
illustrate the effects of European diseases in the New World.
promote Spanish fashions to wealthy colonial consumers.
In the 1500s, what did the Portuguese do to capitalize on the lucrative sugar business?
They built plantations in Europe and worked to make sugar a major export of their country
They started trading West African slaves across the Atlantic to work on the sugar plantations
They set up plantations in West Africa and commissioned indentured servants to work the sugarcane fields
A depiction of Sioux teepees, painted by Karl Bodmer in 1833. Image credit: WikiArt
Why did the Sioux live in structures like those depicted in the image?
They facilitated a nomadic lifestyle
They were easily disposable
They reinforced egalitarian social structures
They were more durable than other forms of housing
What were the plantations of the early colonial period designed to do?
Produce cotton for the international textile market
Create large quantities of raw commodity crops at low cost, like indigo, sugar, tobacco, or coffee
Plant extensive food crops, like corn, wheat, and potatoes, to supply starving populations in Europe
What is Francisco Pizarro best known for accomplishing in Incan Peru?
He discovered the thriving arts colony of Machu Picchu
He conquered the Incan empire, ransomed the emperor Atahualpa, and then had him executed
He established a trading post in Cuzco, and introduced the potato to 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?
Apples and peaches
Sheep and cattle
Gold and silver
Dogs and cats
Read the excerpt and answer the question below.
"Into this land of meek outcasts there came some Spaniards who immediately behaved like ravening wild beasts . . . killing, terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying the native peoples, doing all this with the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty, never seen or heard of before, and to such a degree that this Island of Hispaniola once so populous (having a population that I estimated to be more than three million), has now a population of barely two hundred persons.”
-Source: Bartolomé de Las Casas, Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies, 1542.
Which of the following practices did the ideas expressed in the excerpt most directly challenge?
mixed-race relationships between Spaniards and indigenous people
converting indigenous people to Christianity through missionary work
taking indigenous land for colonization by creating unfair treaties
enslaving indigenous people as laborers in the encomienda system
During the period known as the Reconquista, Spanish forces
Invaded the Egyptian Valley of Kings and torched the Great Library at Alexandria
Expelled North African and Arab Muslims—known as Moors— from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe
Laid siege to the imperial city of Tenochtitlán with the help of La Malinche and the warriors of the Tlaxcala
Iroquois-speaking peoples lived in structures called longhouses. What did they tend to be made out of?
Bent saplings for supports, leaves for thatching, and bark for shingles
Sun-cured bricks made from mud and straw
Wooden struts covered in tanned animal skins
Read the passage and answer the question below.
“By virtue of the said ransom, let ships go there and bring away as many male and female Negroes as possible, newly imported and between the ages of fifteen to eighteen or twenty years. . . .The burden of work of the Indians will be eased and unlimited amounts of gold will be mined. This is the best land in the world for Negroes, women and old men, and it is very rarely that one of these people die.”
-Source: Alonso de Zuazo, Spanish colonial judge, 1518
This excerpt best reflects which of the following historical developments?
responses to the change in the indigenous populations after exposure to European diseases
debates between the Spanish crown and Spanish religious leaders about the treatment of non-Europeans
indigenous rebellions against Spanish colonialism such as the Pueblo Revolt
conflicts over the goals of Spanish colonization and the use of forced labor
Eighteenth-century Spanish casta painting. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
This painting could best be used as evidence of which of the following historical developments?
how Spanish colonization led to the rejection of racial hierarchy in the New World
how Spanish colonization led to the rapid acceptance of interracial families in the New World
how Spanish colonization created a society in the New World which excluded indigenous people
how Spanish colonization led to a racial hierarchy in the New World based on an individual's percentage of Spanish blood
Monk’s Mound in Cahokia is an enormous earthwork very near to the Mississippi River. What do archaeologists believe it was used for?
It was most likely a concert venue for huge Mississippian dance recitals
Archaeologists believe it was used to store surpluses of corn
It’s believed to have been a temple or chief’s residence
What was the purpose of the Pueblo uprising?
The Pueblo people aimed to convert the Spanish to their religion
The Pueblo people aimed to reclaim their land and cultural practices from the Spanish
The Spanish aimed to take cultural practices and foods from the Pueblo people back to Spain
What was Christopher Columbus looking to find on his first transatlantic voyage?
A new sea route to the Spice Islands of what is today Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia
The Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
A new source of African people to enslave
Artist's conception of the city of Cahokia, near modern-day St. Louis. At its peak around 1100 CE, Cahokia had 20,000 residents. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Which of the following conclusion might historians make about the Mississippian people from the evidence of Cahokia?
They preferred fishing for their food over farming.
They lived a nomadic lifestyle, following herds of animals across the Plains.
They lived in settled villages and farmed, allowing for the growth of large populations.
They were not sophisticated enough to build lasting structures.
What was the economic philosophy of mercantilism?
Merchants and trade are the key to a nation’s wealth and therefore free trade must be preserved at all costs
Colonies extend an empire’s trading posts to distant locations and therefore should try to cultivate as many new trading partners as possible
Colonies exist to enrich the home country and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to trade with anyone except the home country
The Black Death killed an estimated 30 to 60% of Europe’s population. What was the Black Death?
An extremely deadly strain of the Bubonic Plague
A league of Serbian nationalist terrorists that killed people with primitive explosives
A famine caused by a fungus that blackened and killed wheat and rye fields
