Chapter 1 APUSH Test Study Guide
Malinche
Female Indian slave who served as interpreter for Cortés
Even before the discovery of the Americas, Portugal became the first nation to enter the slave trade and establish large-scale plantations using slave labor in
the sugar islands off the coast of Africa.
The number of Indians in North America at the time Columbus arrived was approximately
twenty million.
The Indian peoples of the Americas
were divided into many diverse cultures speaking more than two thousand different languages.
The geologically oldest mountains in North America are the
Appalachians
The Great Ice Age
Exposure of a land bridge between Asia and North America
Mali:
Flourishing West African kingdom that had a major Islamic university in the city of Timbuktu
Franciscan friars' desire to convert Pacific coast Indians to Catholicism
Formation of a chain of mission settlements in California
Lake Bonneville
Inland sea left by melting glaciers whose remnant is the Great Salt Lake
Before Columbus arrived, the only Europeans known to have visited North America, temporarily, were the
Norse.
Many Indian cultures like the Iroquois traced descent and passed possessions through the female line.
True
Most American Indians north of Mexico lived in small, seminomadic agricultural and hunting communities.
True
Spain expanded its empire north into Florida and Texas partly to block French ambitions and protect their Caribbean Sea lanes.
True
Tenochtitlán
Wealthy capital of the Aztec empire
The flood of gold and silver from Spain's New World Empire into Europe after 1500 played a large role in the
rise of capitalism and modern merchant banking.
A crucial political development that paved the way for the European colonization of America was the
rise of the centralized national monarchies such as those of Spain, Portugal, and France.
Cortés and his men were able to conquer the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán partly because
the Aztec ruler Montezuma believed that Cortés was a god whose return had been predicted.
One of the important factors that first stimulated European interest in trade and discovery was
the Christian crusaders who brought back a taste for the silks and spices of Asia.
Put the following events in correct order by numbering them from 1 to 5.
1. The first human inhabitants cross into North America from Siberia across a temporary land bridge. 2. Portuguese navigators sail down the west coast of Africa. 3. The wealthy Aztec civilization falls to Cortés. 4. Coronado explores present-day American Southwest. 5. Spanish conquerors move into the Rio Grande valley of New Mexico.
Native Americans' lack of immunity to smallpox, malaria, and yellow fever
A decline of 90 percent in the New World Indian population
Columbus's first encounter with the New World
A global exchange of animals, plants, and diseases
Pope's Rebellion:
A major Pueblo uprising of 1680 caused by Spanish efforts to suppress the Indians' religious practices
The belief that the Spanish only killed, tortured, and stole in the Americas, while contributing nothing good, is called the
Black Legend.
What were the common characteristics of all Indian cultures in the New World, and what were the important differences among them?
Common characteristics of all Indian cultures in the new world included their love and respect for the land and hard work ethics. Everyone was expected to do their part and be brave in the face of danger. Some differences would certainly include languages and power structure as some tribes allowed for women in leadership roles.
Aztec legends of a returning god, Quetzalcoatl
Cortés's relatively easy conquest of Tenochtitlán
Bartolome de Las Casas
Dominican friar who sympathized with Indians and protested cruel Spanish policies in the New World
Explain the developments in Europe and Africa that led to Columbus's voyage to America.
During the 1400's, Marco Polo created a spark of interest in Europe for the spices of the East Indies. The only way they had to reach the spices was going through Europe and Asia to get to the Indies which was a difficult task. The Portuguese and other Europeans tried to figure out a way to get to the Spice Island by going around Africa on a boat. The Portuguese had a set route that went around Africa's southern Cape of Good Hope; additionally, Colombus tried to sail west bypassing the Portuguese's route around Africa. Colombus beleived the Earth's size was one third of its actual size. He set out west on his boat calculating to reach the Spice Islands but instead ended up in the Americas without realizing it. He thought the people there were Indians but he was wrong and his accidental discovery of new land led to the slave trade, the gold digging in the Americas, and the creation of market, capital, and technology in Europe.
The Spanish need to protect Mexico against French and English encroachment
Establishment of Spanish settlements in Florida and New Mexico
New sailing technology and desire for spices
European voyages around Africa and across the Atlantic attempting to reach Asia
African slavery first developed in the aftermath of the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
False
Columbus immediately recognized in 1492 that he had come across vast new continents previously unknown to Europeans.
False
Native peoples of northeast Asia continued to migrate across the land bridge from Siberia to Alaska until the time of Columbus.
False
No Europeans had ever set foot on the American continents prior to Columbus's arrival in 1492.
False
The Spanish conquistadores had little to do with the native peoples of Mexico and refused to intermarry with them.
False
The Spanish were able to defeat the Aztecs because the Aztecs had no experience with a sophisticated, urban civilization.
False
The early Indian civilizations of Mexico and Peru were built on the economic foundations of cattle herding and wheat growing.
False
The greatest effect of the European intrusion into the Americas was to increase the Indian and mestizo population through intermarriage with the whites.
False
Ferdinand and Isabella
Financiers and beneficiaries of Columbus's voyages to the New World
Portugal:
First European nation to send explorers around the west coast of Africa
St. Augustine
Founded in 1565, the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in United States territory
Junipero Serra
Franciscan missionary who settled California
Should the European encounter with the Indian peoples of the Americas be understood primarily as a story of conquest and exploitation, or as one of mutual cultural encounter that brought beneficial as well as tragic results for both?
I think that the European encounter should definitely be understood as a story of conquest, exploitation, and brutality. The Europeans came into the Native American's lands and promptly began to take their resources, wipe out their traditions, and force them into slave labor (Zinn 3-5). However, it is also important to see this encounter as an important time in history and a learning experience. Even during the brutality of the Europeans, something more significant was happening. The Columbian exchange began and the New World was introduced to animals, plants, African slave labor, and diseases that would change the lands and effect later generations of both surviving Native Americans and Europeans (Pageant 16). Also the Europeans brought plants, crops, precious metals, a sexually transmitted disease, and new farming techniques back to Europe (Pageant 16). Centuries later, after the United States has been created, the Columbian exchange will still be in use. I think that the story of the discovery of the New World should be remembered as a story of a cultural encounter of conquest, exploitation, and introduction. It should be remembered as a tragic story that lead to the beginning of the world we live in today.
Chaco Canyon:
Important ancient Anasazi Indian center in New Mexico that included a pueblo of six hundred interconnected rooms
The primary reason for the drastic decline in the Indian population after the encounter with the Europeans was the
Indians' lack of resistance to European diseases such as smallpox and malaria.
What was the impact on the Indians, Europeans, and Africans when each of their previously separate worlds collided with one another?
Indians- The first encounter with the Europeans was the beginning of the end for the Indians. Disease wiped out thousands of Indians all over the Americas soon after the Indians came in contact with a European. If the Indians did not die from disease, they would have been brutally mistreated or forced out of their native lands onto reserves. When Europeans came to the Americas, all Indians felt the negative effects of the interaction. Africans- Most Africans did not benefit from interacting with the Europeans. Europeans were discriminative against the Africans because of their dark skin color, leading to the Africans becoming the slaves of the Europeans in the Americas. The few Africans who did benefit from interacting with the Europeans were the slave traders. These people made big profits by capturing slaves and selling them to ships to take across to the Americas. Europeans- Europeans benefited the most out of the three groups. The Europeans were able to kill the Indians or force them to move away from their native lands, allowing them to start colonies, while finding new plants and animals to use for food and work. Europeans used the Africans as slaves, getting labor without having to pay for it. Without interaction with the Africans, the Europeans would not have been able to reap the benefits of the Americas.
Christopher Columbus
Italian-born explorer who thought that he had arrived off the coast of Asia rather than on unknown continents
Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot)
Italian-born navigator sent by English to explore North American coast in 1498
Hiawatha
Legendary founder of the powerful Iroquois Confederacy
Días and da Gama
Portuguese navigators who sailed around the African coast
Moctezuma
Powerful Aztec monarch who fell to Spanish conquerors
The Spanish conquest of large quantities of New World gold and silver
Rapid expansion of global economic commerce and manufacturing
Franciscan:
Roman Catholic religious order of friars that organized a chain of missions in California
Syphilis:
Sexually transmitted disease originating in the Americas that was transmitted and spread among Europeans after 1492
Hernan Cortés and Francisco Pizarro
Spanish conquerors of great Indian civilizations
Describe the Spanish conquest of Mexico and South America, and of the later Spanish colonial expansion into North America.
Spanish conquistadores took over many Native American civilizations in search of gold and wealth. They wanted to secure the northern periphery of new world. They also wanted to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
Explain the changes and conflicts that occurred when the diverse worlds and peoples of Europe, Africa, and the Americas collided after 1492.
The Colombian Exchange took place. Tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes, potatoes revolutionized international economy. 90% of Native Americans died from contact with white men. Sugar changed European diet.
How did the geographic setting of North America—including its relation to Asia, Europe, and Africa—affect its subsequent history?
The Europeans were looking for a shorter, safer route to Asia by sailing west from Europe, instead of the long overland route which took months thru dangerous territory, by traveling east from Europe. The other alternate route the Europeans could of taken to Asia was by sailing south from Europe down the Atlantic Ocean and all the way around Africa and then to Asia, but this was also a very long and dangerous route. However, they ran into North America first, not knowing it was there. European immigrants have been coming here ever since, and they changed the course of North American history.
Describe the geological and geographical conditions that set the stage for North American history.
The Great Ice Age created a land bridge that connected Eurasia with North America allowing nomads to come over. When the great land bridge melted it transformed the upper part of America and formed the Great Lakes.
Which of the following was not among the ancient Indian cultures established in North America prior to 1300 A.D.?
The Incas
Describe the major features of Spain's New World Empire, including relations with the native Indian populations.
The Spanish commonly enslaved the Native Americans and overworked them. They would also intermarry with the Native American women. This would produce a generation of mestizos.
What fundamental factors drew the Europeans to the exploration, conquest, and settlement of the New World?
The explorers thought they were going to Asia for the spices and other trade. They landed in the New World by mistake. Then, they found gold and silver, and it was all over for the native New Worlders. Spain and Portugal were only interested in extraction of metals, harvesting of rubber, sugar and other crops, not in helping anyone they oppressed.
Describe the origin and development of the major Indian cultures of the Americas.
The first Natives were Nomadic Asians that migrated across the land bridge and spread thoughout the Americas. They developed into advanced cultures like the Incas in Peru, the Mayans in Central America and the Aztecs in Mexico
Cultivation of corn (maize)
The formation of large, sophisticated civilizations in Mexico and South America
What were the greatest achievements of Spain's New World Empire, and what were its greatest evils and disasters?
The greatest lasting achievement was the spread of the rich Spanish heritage throughout the New World. About 20 Latin American nations in Central America, the Caribbean and South America can be proud of their Spanish language and culture. They introduced horses, sheep and European foods to the New World. Many Indian tribes of the American plains developed a horse culture that made the hunting of buffalo much easier. From sheep the Indians could get wool which greatly benefitted them. Also the invention of looms for weaving. However the greatest evil was the destruction of many native cultures like the Aztec, Maya, and Inca by the brutal conquistadores. The Spanish invaders deliberately destroyed their societies. The made it a crime for the native populations to use their own languages and practice their own religions. The Spanish were only interested in gold and silver and brought it back to enrich Spain. They enslaved the Indians in their quest for gold and silver. They imported slaves from Africa to work the plantations in the Caribbean. The Europeans also spread diseases among the native populations and brought back to Europe some of the diseases from the Americas like syphilis.
Portugal's creation of sugar plantations on Atlantic coastal islands
The rapid expansion of the African slave trade
Castile & Aragon:
The two smaller kingdoms that were united by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to create the powerful nation of Spain
A primary motive for the European voyages of discovery was the desire to find a less expensive route to Asian luxury goods and markets.
True
The Spanish Empire in the New World was larger, richer, and longer-lasting than that later established by the English.
True
The geography of the North American continent was fundamentally shaped by the advance and retreat of glaciers during the Great Ice Age.
True
The primary cause of the massive population decline among native Americans after the European arrival was not warfare but disease.
True
The primary staples of Indian agriculture before the European arrival were
corn, beans, and squash.
Among the most important American Indian products or discoveries to spread to the Old World were
foodstuffs such as corn, beans, and tomatoes.
Much of the impetus for Spanish exploration and pursuit of glory in the early 1500s came from Spain's recent
national unification and expulsion of the Muslim Moors.
