Shaping North America
What was Pangaea?
A) A large ocean that covered the Earth
B) A supercontinent that included all of Earth's landmasses
C) The name of the first mountain range on Earth
D) An ancient civilization in North America
Answer: B) A supercontinent that included all of Earth's landmasses
For approximately how many years did the nomadic Asian hunters migrate to North America via the Bering Isthmus?
A) 10,000 years
B) 15,000 years
C) 25,000 years
D) 35,000 years
Answer: C) 25,000 years
What is "Three-Sister Farming"?
A) A method of rotating crops each season
B) A technique where beans grow on cornstalks and squash covers planting mounds
C) A system where three different crops are planted in separate fields
D) A practice of planting corn, wheat, and rice together
Answer: B) A technique where beans grow on cornstalks and squash covers planting mounds
Which group of people were the first to encounter the continent of North America around 1000 CE?
A) The Portuguese
B) The Vikings
C) The Spanish
D) The French
Answer: B) The Vikings
What impact did Marco Polo's trip to China in 1295 CE have on Europe?
A) It led to the immediate colonization of China
B) It stimulated European desires for a cheaper route to Asia
C) It resulted in a war between Europe and China
D) It discouraged European exploration
Answer: B) It stimulated European desires for a cheaper route to Asia
What invention in 1450 CE helped spread new scientific knowledge that influenced exploration?
A) The telescope
B) The compass
C) The astrolabe
D) The printing press
Answer: D) The printing press
What caused the formation of mountain ranges according to the theory of continental drift?
A) Volcanic eruptions
B) Earthquakes
C) Shifting of continents
D) Tsunamis
Answer: C) Shifting of continents
By the time Columbus arrived in America in 1492, approximately how many people were living in North and South America?
A) 10 million
B) 25 million
C) 54 million
D) 100 million
Answer: C) 54 million
How were most native peoples of North America living prior to European contact?
A) In large, permanent cities
B) In small, scattered, and impermanent settlements
C) In nomadic groups without any agriculture
D) In fortified castles and palaces
Answer: B) In small, scattered, and impermanent settlements
Where did the Scandinavian explorers land when they first encountered North America?
A) Florida
B) Newfoundland
C) Greenland
D) Quebec
Answer: B) Newfoundland
What was the significance of the Portuguese caravel?
A) It was the first ship to be powered by steam
B) It could sail closer to the wind, making travel and navigation easier
C) It was the largest ship ever built at the time
D) It was designed specifically for warfare
Answer: B) It could sail closer to the wind, making travel and navigation easier
Why did Columbus refer to the native people he encountered as "Indians"?
A) He believed he had reached India
B) The natives introduced themselves as Indians
C) He misheard the local name for their tribe
D) He was following the Portuguese tradition of naming new lands
Answer: A) He believed he had reached India
When did Pangaea begin to break apart, leading to the formation of North America?
A) 10 million years ago
B) 225 million years ago
C) 2 million years ago
D) 35,000 years ago
Answer: B) 225 million years ago
How many languages were spoken by the tribes in North and South America before Columbus arrived?
A) Over 500
B) Over 1000
C) Over 1500
D) Over 2000
Answer: D) Over 2000
Which Native American group created a society that was considered the closest North American approximation to the great empires of Mexico and Peru?
A) Cherokee
B) Sioux
C) Iroquois
D) Apache
Answer: C) Iroquois
Why did the Scandinavian settlements in North America eventually fail?
A) They were destroyed by natural disasters
B) They were conquered by native tribes
C) Their governments were not interested in expansion or settlement
D) They were too far from Europe to maintain
Answer: C) Their governments were not interested in expansion or settlement
Which of the following was a major accomplishment of the Portuguese during their exploration of Africa?
A) They were the first to map the entire continent
B) They set up plantations in southern Africa using slave labor
C) They established diplomatic relations with all African kingdoms
D) They found a direct land route to Asia
Answer: B) They set up plantations in southern Africa using slave labor
What was the initial reaction of European explorers after Columbus discovered the Americas?
A) They immediately recognized it as a new continent
B) They sought to conquer the new lands
C) They tried for decades to find a way through or around the Americas to reach the Indies
D) They abandoned exploration efforts altogether
Answer: C) They tried for decades to find a way through or around the Americas to reach the Indies
What was the Bering Isthmus, and when was it crossed by people migrating to North America?
A) A land bridge between Europe and Africa, crossed 10,000 years ago
B) A mountain pass in Asia, crossed 2 million years ago
C) A land bridge connecting Asia and North America, crossed 35,000 years ago
D) An ocean route between Asia and North America, crossed 225 million years ago
Answer: C) A land bridge connecting Asia and North America, crossed 35,000 years ago
What was one of the main crops cultivated by the native tribes in the Americas?
A) Wheat
B) Maize
C) Rice
D) Barley
Answer: B) Maize
How did Native Americans generally view and interact with the natural world?
A) They aggressively manipulated nature for their own needs
B) They ignored the environment and focused solely on survival
C) They revered the physical world and endowed nature with spiritual properties
D) They sought to conquer and control the natural world
Answer: C) They revered the physical world and endowed nature with spiritual properties
What effect did the Christian crusaders have on European interest in exploring new trade routes?
A) They increased the demand for foreign goods like sugar, silk, spices, and draperies
B) They established permanent trade routes to Asia
C) They discouraged European exploration due to religious conflicts
D) They found a direct route to the Americas
Answer: A) They increased the demand for foreign goods like sugar, silk, spices, and draperies
Which Portuguese explorer reached India in 1498 CE, marking a major milestone in European exploration?
A) Bartholomeu Dias
B) Vasco da Gama
C) Amerigo Vespucci
D) Henry the Navigator
Answer: B) Vasco da Gama
How did Columbus’s discovery change the world?
A) It led to the isolation of Europe from the rest of the world
B) It established permanent trade routes to Asia
C) It united the four continents of Europe, Africa, and the two Americas
D) It caused the decline of European empires
Answer: C) It united the four continents of Europe, Africa, and the two Americas
What happened around 10,000 years ago that affected the Bering Isthmus?
A) It was covered by ice during the Great Ice Age
B) The ice started to retreat, and the sea levels rose, covering the Bering Isthmus
C) It was formed by volcanic activity
D) It became a desert due to climate change
Answer: B) The ice started to retreat, and the sea levels rose, covering the Bering Isthmus
What scientific field had the native tribes in the Americas developed knowledge in before European contact?
A) Medicine
B) Engineering
C) Astronomy
D) Navigation
Answer: C) Astronomy
Which of the following ancient cultures sustained large settlements after incorporating corn planting? A) The Inca of the Andes
B) The Mound Builders of the Ohio River Valley
C) The Aztecs of Mexico
D) The Inuit of the Arctic
Answer: B) The Mound Builders of the Ohio River Valley
Why did Europeans begin to look for alternate routes to Asia?
A) They wanted to spread Christianity
B) They sought to avoid dangerous sea routes
C) The expense of transporting goods from Asia to Europe was too high
D) They wanted to find new lands to colonize
Answer: C) The expense of transporting goods from Asia to Europe was too high
What motivated Spain to seek a way to outstrip the Portuguese in exploration?
A) They wanted to spread Christianity to new lands
B) They desired to establish a global empire
C) They aimed to find a western route to Asia since the Portuguese controlled the southern route around Africa
D) They were competing to discover new types of goods and resources
Answer: C) They aimed to find a western route to Asia since the Portuguese controlled the southern route around Africa
Which of the following factors contributed to Spain's support of Columbus's voyage?
A) A desire to escape religious persecution
B) A need to establish trade with Africa
C) The ambition for new power and riches
D) A search for allies against the Ottoman Empire
Answer: C) The ambition for new power and riches