wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

Columbian Exchange and Slavery

Total questions: 40

Worksheet time: 21mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What are three foods that were brought to Europe, Africa, and Asia from the Americas by the Columbian Exchange?

a)

Rice, wheat, and barley

b)

Turkey, peanuts, and cacao

c)

Apples, oranges, and bananas

d)

Beef, pork, and chicken

2.

What animal was brought to the Americas from Europe?

a)

Elephants

b)

Horses

c)

Dogs

d)

Fish

3.

Who did Spanish colonists use at first to work on plantations in the Americas?

a)

African slaves

b)

European settlers

c)

Indigenous people

d)

Asian immigrants

4.

Why did it become difficult for plantation owners in places like the Caribbean to use Indigenous people for cheap labor?

a)

They were too expensive

b)

They refused to work

c)

Disease and war had killed too many of them

d)

They moved to Europe

5.

How did the first Africans arrive in the English North American colonies?

a)

As free settlers

b)

By Dutch pirates trading them for food

c)

As hired workers

d)

As explorers

6.

What were the components of the trading triangle that existed among Europe, Africa, and North America beginning in the mid-1600s CE?

a)

Gold, silver, and spices

b)

Iron products, enslaved Africans, and raw materials

c)

Silk, tea, and porcelain

d)

Oil, coal, and machinery

7.

About what percentage of enslaved Africans did not survive the Middle Passage?

a)

5 percent

b)

10 percent

c)

15 percent

d)

20 percent

8.

What adjectives would you use to describe the experience of the Middle Passage?

a)

Comfortable, safe, pleasant

b)

Crowded, inhumane, dangerous

c)

Luxurious, enjoyable, relaxing

d)

Quiet, peaceful, calm

9.

What happened to enslaved Africans who survived the Middle Passage?

a)

They were freed

b)

They were sent to plantations in Brazil, the Caribbean, and the English colonies in North America

c)

They returned to Africa

d)

They became merchants

10.

True or false: slavery was only found in the Southern colonies.

a)

True

b)

False

11.

Why was slavery more common in the South than in the Northeast?

a)

The Northeast had more factories

b)

The Northeast soil was not suitable for large plantations

c)

The South had more cities

d)

The South had fewer people

12.

What changed that made enslaved labor more profitable and efficient than the use of indentured servants?

a)

Indentured servants began living longer and costing more.

b)

Enslaved labor was less efficient.

c)

Indentured servants were cheaper.

d)

Enslaved labor was less profitable.

13.

What work did enslaved people do on plantations?

a)

They worked in fields, chopped wood, built fences, cleared roads, dug wells, cooked, and cleaned.

b)

They only worked in fields.

c)

They only cooked and cleaned.

d)

They only built fences and cleared roads.

14.

What happened to families of enslaved people?

a)

Families were commonly broken up, and family members were separated from one another.

b)

Families stayed together.

c)

Families were only separated temporarily.

d)

Families were never separated.

15.

Why was it easy for owners to mistreat enslaved people without consequences?

a)

Enslaved people could not testify in court or leave the plantation without permission.

b)

Enslaved people could easily testify in court.

c)

Owners were always punished for mistreatment.

d)

Enslaved people had many rights.

16.

What might have been the reason it was illegal to teach enslaved people to read or write?

a)

If enslaved people could read or write, they could communicate and find ways to become free or organize.

b)

It was not illegal to teach them.

c)

They were already literate.

d)

Reading and writing were not useful skills.

17.

In the Kingdom of Kongo, what were the merchants taking?

a)

The merchants were taking the natives of Kongo, or people from the Kingdom of Kongo.

b)

The merchants were taking goods.

c)

The merchants were taking animals.

d)

The merchants were taking crops.

18.

Why were people of the Kingdom of Kongo itself kidnapping their own people?

a)

The kidnappers had a huge desire to obtain Portuguese goods, or “the wares and things of your Kingdoms.”

b)

They wanted to reduce the population.

c)

They needed more workers.

d)

They were forced by other kingdoms.

19.

What did the Europeans bring to the Americas that most likely made it easier to conquer the

Indigenous peoples?

a)

honeybees

b)

disease

c)

grains

d)

livestock

20.

Who did the Spanish first enslave to work on their plantations?

a)

Africans

b)

Portuguese

c)

Indigenous peoples

d)

British

21.

Who brought the first Africans to the British colonies in North America?

a)

the Dutch

b)

the British

c)

the Spanish

d)

the Portuguese

22.

What was this series of trade routes called?

a)

the Caribbean Exchange

b)

the triangular trade

c)

the Columbian Exchange

d)

the Encomienda System

23.

What types of goods were transported from the Americas to Europe?

a)

manufactured goods

b)

enslaved people

c)

raw materials and foods

d)

tools and equipment

24.

How long did it take for ships carrying enslaved people from Africa to cross the Atlantic?

a)

two to four days

b)

two to four weeks

c)

two to four months

d)

two to four years

25.

How long did the transatlantic slave trade last?

a)

about fifty years

b)

about one hundred years

c)

about three hundred years

d)

about seven hundred years

26.

Why did British colonists stop using indentured servants and begin using enslaved Africans? Select

the two correct answers.

a)

The indentured servants began living past the end of their contracts.

b)

England passed a law that made using indentured servants illegal.

c)

Indentured servants cost more than enslaved Africans.

d)

The indentured servants threatened revolt.

e)

All the indentured servants died.

27.

What is supply?

a)

The amount of money you have

b)

When stores don't have enough of something

c)

The total amount of goods or services provided

d)

The cost of labor for a service

28.

What is Demand?

a)

Food in a store

b)

The total amount of goods or services provided

c)

How much money a person has

d)

The amount of goods and services provided that a person pays an amount for

29.
Signed a contract agreeing to work for a specific length of time
a)
Slave
b)
Indentured Servant
c)
Both
30.
Were considered someone's property
a)
Slave
b)
Indentured Servant
c)
Both
31.
Captured, sold, and forced to work their whole life
a)
Slave
b)
Indentured Servant
c)
Both
32.

Individuals who are treated as complete property, to be bought and sold are known as ____________.

a)

cattle

b)

chattel

c)

indentured servants

d)

real estate

33.

When did Columbus make his first voyage to the New World?

a)

1492 AD

b)

1492 BC

c)

1606 AD

d)

1606 BC

34.
What's the BEST definition of the Columbian Exchange?
a)
The trading of goods and resources between the New World and the Old World.
b)
Everyone from Columbia has to exchange presents.
c)
It was the worst event in the history of the world - there was no good that came from it.
d)
We want to honor Columbus because he discovered America.
35.

When did the Atlantic Slave Trade begin?

a)

1619

b)

1620

c)

1621

d)

1622

36.

The Clotilda is significant because...

a)

It was the ship that brought Columbus to America.

b)

It was the first ship to engage in triangular trade.

c)

It illegally transported enslaved Africans to Alabama after the international slave trade was banned.

d)

It was the ship on which Equiano traveled.

37.

Which of the following was a negative effect of the Columbian Exchange on the New World?

a)

The Columbian Exchange brought new crops to the Americas. 

b)

The Columbian Exchange made new plants available to the Americas.

c)

The Columbian Exchange brought new diseases to the Americas.

d)

The Columbian Exchange made new livestock available to the Americas.

38.

How did the Columbian Exchange affect agriculture in Europe and the Americas?

a)

Some food and animals from Europe were difficult to raise in the Americas.

b)

People on both continents grew new varieties of foods and raised new types of animals.

c)

Most foods from the Americas could not be grown in Europe because of the harsh climate.

d)

People on both continents found that the new foods would not grow well in their different soils.

39.

Slaves were sent in large numbers to the...

a)

New World

b)

Old World

40.

Based on the image, what are the things that were given to the New World from Europe during the Columbian Exchange? Select 4 correct answers.

a)

A. Coffee Bean

b)

B. Sugar Cane

c)

C. Tomato

d)

D. Livestock and Horses

e)

E. Disease