Unit 1 Progress Check:MCQ

“On the western side of the ocean, movements of people and ideas . . . preceded the Atlantic connection. Great empires—in the Valley of Mexico, on the Mississippi River . . . —had collapsed or declined in the centuries before 1492. . . .

As Columbus embarked on his first transatlantic voyage, the Mexica, or Aztecs, were consolidating their position [in Mexico]; their city was a center of both trade and military might. Tenochtitlán [the Aztec capital] . . . held 200,000 people, a population greater than in the largest city in contemporary Europe.

“. . . The Mississippian culture spread east and west from its center, the city of Cahokia, on the Mississippi River near the site of modern St. Louis. It was a successor to earlier cultures, evidence of which can be seen in the great ceremonial mounds they built. Cahokia declined and was ultimately abandoned completely in the later thirteenth century. . . . Throughout the Southeast, smaller mound-building centers continued.”

Karen Ordahl Kupperman, historian, The Atlantic in World History, 2012

Which of the following contributed most significantly to the population trend in pre-Columbian Mexico described in the excerpt?

• Migration in pursuit of fertile lands

• Trade and settlement resulting from maize cultivation

• Low birth rates and high death tolls as a result of European diseases

• Internal conflict between groups causing political instability

“On the western side of the ocean, movements of people and ideas . . . preceded the Atlantic connection. Great empires—in the Valley of Mexico, on the Mississippi River . . . —had collapsed or declined in the centuries before 1492. . . .

As Columbus embarked on his first transatlantic voyage, the Mexica, or Aztecs, were consolidating their position [in Mexico]; their city was a center of both trade and military might. Tenochtitlán [the Aztec capital] . . . held 200,000 people, a population greater than in the largest city in contemporary Europe.

“. . . The Mississippian culture spread east and west from its center, the city of Cahokia, on the Mississippi River near the site of modern St. Louis. It was a successor to earlier cultures, evidence of which can be seen in the great ceremonial mounds they built. Cahokia declined and was ultimately abandoned completely in the later thirteenth century. . . . Throughout the Southeast, smaller mound-building centers continued.”

Karen Ordahl Kupperman, historian, The Atlantic in World History, 2012

Which of the following best characterizes the Mississippian societies described in the excerpt?

• They had mixed agricultural and hunter-gatherer economies that favored the development of permanent villages.

• They were nomadic peoples who utilized river systems to move throughout the region.

• They lived in isolated, impermanent communities and left very little trace of their presence once a settlement had been abandoned.

• They used advanced agricultural practices like irrigation to support economic growth.

“On the western side of the ocean, movements of people and ideas . . . preceded the Atlantic connection. Great empires—in the Valley of Mexico, on the Mississippi River . . . —had collapsed or declined in the centuries before 1492. . . .

As Columbus embarked on his first transatlantic voyage, the Mexica, or Aztecs, were consolidating their position [in Mexico]; their city was a center of both trade and military might. Tenochtitlán [the Aztec capital] . . . held 200,000 people, a population greater than in the largest city in contemporary Europe.

“. . . The Mississippian culture spread east and west from its center, the city of Cahokia, on the Mississippi River near the site of modern St. Louis. It was a successor to earlier cultures, evidence of which can be seen in the great ceremonial mounds they built. Cahokia declined and was ultimately abandoned completely in the later thirteenth century. . . . Throughout the Southeast, smaller mound-building centers continued.”

Karen Ordahl Kupperman, historian, The Atlantic in World History, 2012

Which of the following most directly contributed to the advanced development of both pre-Columbian American societies described in the excerpt?

• Creation of military forces stronger than those of most rival societies

• Access to waterways to transport goods and trade with other societies

• Adaptation to and use of the natural environment for their own benefit

• Transfer of power through inheritance, which reinforced spiritual claims to authority

“The second chief and principal end [of colonization] . . . consists in the [sale] of the mass of our clothes and other commodities of England, and in receiving back of the needful commodities that we now receive from all other places of the world. . . . This one thing is to be done, without which it were in vain to go about this; and that is the matter of planting [colonies] and fortification. . . . We are to plant upon the mouths of the great navigable rivers which are there [in America], by strong order of fortification, and there to plant our colonies. . . . And these fortifications shall keep the [native] people of [America] in obedience and good order. . . .

“. . . Without this planting in due time, we shall never be able to have full knowledge of the language, manners, and customs of the people of those regions. . . . And although by other means we might attain to the knowledge thereof, yet being not there fortified and strongly seated, the French that swarm with [a] multitude of people, or other nations, might secretly fortify and settle themselves before us.”

Richard Hakluyt, English government official, A Discourse on Western Planting, 1584

Which of the following developments in the 1500s is best illustrated by the excerpt?

• European settlers faced resistance from Native Americans.

• Europeans transported enslaved Africans to the Americas to produce sugar.

• Europeans sought new sources of wealth in the Americas.

• European missionaries traveled to the Americas seeking religious converts.

“The second chief and principal end [of colonization] . . . consists in the [sale] of the mass of our clothes and other commodities of England, and in receiving back of the needful commodities that we now receive from all other places of the world. . . . This one thing is to be done, without which it were in vain to go about this; and that is the matter of planting [colonies] and fortification. . . . We are to plant upon the mouths of the great navigable rivers which are there [in America], by strong order of fortification, and there to plant our colonies. . . . And these fortifications shall keep the [native] people of [America] in obedience and good order. . . .

“. . . Without this planting in due time, we shall never be able to have full knowledge of the language, manners, and customs of the people of those regions. . . . And although by other means we might attain to the knowledge thereof, yet being not there fortified and strongly seated, the French that swarm with [a] multitude of people, or other nations, might secretly fortify and settle themselves before us.”

Richard Hakluyt, English government official, A Discourse on Western Planting, 1584

Hakluyt’s call for the English to learn about Native American “language, manners, and customs” best represents which of the following developments in the 1500s?

• Native Americans and Europeans partnered for trade.

• Europeans introduced maize cultivation to the Americas.

• Native Americans were sent in large numbers into slavery in Europe.

• Europeans refused defensive military alliances with Native Americans.

“The isolation of the [native peoples] of the Americas . . . from Old World germs prior to the last few hundred years was nearly absolute. Not only did very few people of any origin cross the great oceans, but those who did must have been healthy or they would have died on the way, taking their pathogens with them. . . . [Native Americans] were not without their own infections, of course. [But Native Americans] seem to have been without any experience with such Old World maladies as smallpox [and] measles. . . .

“Indications of the susceptibility of [Native Americans] . . . to Old World infections appear almost immediately after the intrusion of the whites. In 1492, Columbus kidnapped a number of [Arawak Indians] to train as interpreters and to show to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Several of them seem to have died on the stormy voyage to Europe [in 1493]. . . . In 1495, Columbus . . . sent 550 [Arawak] slaves . . . off across the Atlantic. . . to be put to work in Spain. The majority of these soon were also dead. . . .

“. . . What killed the Arawaks in 1493 and 1495? . . . Columbus certainly did not want to kill his interpreters, and slavers and slaveholders have no interest whatever in the outright slaughter of their property. . . . The most likely candidates for the role of exterminator of the first [Native Americans] in Europe were those that killed so many other Arawaks in the decades immediately following: Old World pathogens.”

Alfred W. Crosby, historian, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900, published in 1986

Which of the following developments in the late 1400s and early 1500s is depicted in the excerpt?

• Native Americans adapted to diverse geographical environments and developed complex societies.

• Alliances with Europeans aided some Native American societies in their efforts to conquer rival powers.

• Europeans persecuted for their religious beliefs established new separatist settlements in the Americas.

• Europeans undertook voyages across the Atlantic to the Americas in search of new sources of wealth.

“The isolation of the [native peoples] of the Americas . . . from Old World germs prior to the last few hundred years was nearly absolute. Not only did very few people of any origin cross the great oceans, but those who did must have been healthy or they would have died on the way, taking their pathogens with them. . . . [Native Americans] were not without their own infections, of course. [But Native Americans] seem to have been without any experience with such Old World maladies as smallpox [and] measles. . . .

“Indications of the susceptibility of [Native Americans] . . . to Old World infections appear almost immediately after the intrusion of the whites. In 1492, Columbus kidnapped a number of [Arawak Indians] to train as interpreters and to show to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Several of them seem to have died on the stormy voyage to Europe [in 1493]. . . . In 1495, Columbus . . . sent 550 [Arawak] slaves . . . off across the Atlantic. . . to be put to work in Spain. The majority of these soon were also dead. . . .

“. . . What killed the Arawaks in 1493 and 1495? . . . Columbus certainly did not want to kill his interpreters, and slavers and slaveholders have no interest whatever in the outright slaughter of their property. . . . The most likely candidates for the role of exterminator of the first [Native Americans] in Europe were those that killed so many other Arawaks in the decades immediately following: Old World pathogens.”

Alfred W. Crosby, historian, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900, published in 1986

In the excerpt, Crosby makes which of the following claims about the transmission of Old World diseases to the Americas?

• It had minimal effect on Native Americans.

• It was an unintended consequence of contact between the New World and the Old World.

• It was significant in the centuries prior to Columbus’ arrival in the Americas.

• It was a deliberate act on the part of Columbus.

“The isolation of the [native peoples] of the Americas . . . from Old World germs prior to the last few hundred years was nearly absolute. Not only did very few people of any origin cross the great oceans, but those who did must have been healthy or they would have died on the way, taking their pathogens with them. . . . [Native Americans] were not without their own infections, of course. [But Native Americans] seem to have been without any experience with such Old World maladies as smallpox [and] measles. . . .

“Indications of the susceptibility of [Native Americans] . . . to Old World infections appear almost immediately after the intrusion of the whites. In 1492, Columbus kidnapped a number of [Arawak Indians] to train as interpreters and to show to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Several of them seem to have died on the stormy voyage to Europe [in 1493]. . . . In 1495, Columbus . . . sent 550 [Arawak] slaves . . . off across the Atlantic. . . to be put to work in Spain. The majority of these soon were also dead. . . .

“. . . What killed the Arawaks in 1493 and 1495? . . . Columbus certainly did not want to kill his interpreters, and slavers and slaveholders have no interest whatever in the outright slaughter of their property. . . . The most likely candidates for the role of exterminator of the first [Native Americans] in Europe were those that killed so many other Arawaks in the decades immediately following: Old World pathogens.”

Alfred W. Crosby, historian, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900, published in 1986

Which of the following describes Crosby’s overall argument in the excerpt about the reason for the change in Native American populations after 1492 ?

• Slaveholders overworked enslaved Native Americans in silver and gold mines.

• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella commanded Native Americans to immigrate to Spain.

• Native Americans had no immunity to new diseases introduced by Europeans.

• Christopher Columbus pursued a policy of genocide against Native Americans.

“The isolation of the [native peoples] of the Americas . . . from Old World germs prior to the last few hundred years was nearly absolute. Not only did very few people of any origin cross the great oceans, but those who did must have been healthy or they would have died on the way, taking their pathogens with them. . . . [Native Americans] were not without their own infections, of course. [But Native Americans] seem to have been without any experience with such Old World maladies as smallpox [and] measles. . . .

“Indications of the susceptibility of [Native Americans] . . . to Old World infections appear almost immediately after the intrusion of the whites. In 1492, Columbus kidnapped a number of [Arawak Indians] to train as interpreters and to show to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Several of them seem to have died on the stormy voyage to Europe [in 1493]. . . . In 1495, Columbus . . . sent 550 [Arawak] slaves . . . off across the Atlantic. . . to be put to work in Spain. The majority of these soon were also dead. . . .

“. . . What killed the Arawaks in 1493 and 1495? . . . Columbus certainly did not want to kill his interpreters, and slavers and slaveholders have no interest whatever in the outright slaughter of their property. . . . The most likely candidates for the role of exterminator of the first [Native Americans] in Europe were those that killed so many other Arawaks in the decades immediately following: Old World pathogens.”

Alfred W. Crosby, historian, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900, published in 1986

Which of the following best describes evidence used by Crosby to support his argument about the change in Native American populations after 1492 ?

• The Spanish sought to use Native Americans as laborers on encomiendas.

• Columbus trained Native Americans as translators and guides.

• Enslaved Americans who were taken to Europe experienced high mortality rates.

• Some diseases affecting Native Americans originated in the Americas.

“I . . . write an account to Your Majesty as the first [person] to come among these natives. . . .

“These Indian people of New Spain [Mexico] are vassals of Your Majesty. . . . I dare plead with you for a remedy because, for their people to be saved, they are in great need of relief in order to devote themselves at least somewhat to matters of Faith. After all, it is the struggle for their salvation that justifies their discovery. . . .

“I firmly believe that if the decrees Your Majesty sent here for their benefit were implemented, and if the governors and judges did more than pretend to do so, great good would have come to these people. Even more firmly I believe that Your Majesty’s intention is that they be saved and that they know God. For this to happen, they must have some relief, so that with the moderate labor needed to meet their tribute obligation, they can still give themselves wholeheartedly to our teachings. . . . Otherwise, God will have good reason to complain, for Spaniards came to this land and have taken their property for their own benefit, and Your Majesty has extracted great benefit from them, too. . . .

“. . . Your Majesty . . . should know that the Indians who are required to labor for a master in Mexico City in domestic service and bring firewood, fodder, and chickens leave their pueblo for a month at a time. . . . And the poor Indians often have to buy these things because they are not to be found in their pueblos. . . . Take pity on them and consider what is happening to the poor Indian woman who is in her house with no one to support her and her children, for her husband is hard pressed to meet his tribute requirement. . . .

“. . . I advise you that if Your Majesty does not establish that . . . [the Indians] be required to pay tribute only from what they have, within thirty years these parts will be as deserted as the [Caribbean] islands, and so many souls will be lost.”

Fray (Friar) Pedro de Gante, Spanish Catholic friar and missionary, letter to Emperor Charles V, king of Spain, 1552

Which of the following best describes an argument made by de Gante in the letter?

• The Catholic Church should abandon conversion efforts in the Americas.

• The emperor should sponsor voyages to discover new American kingdoms.

• De Gante should be rewarded for his missionary work in the Americas.

• The Spanish should require less tribute after conquest to avoid Native American depopulation.