Geography of North America
What river provides a waterway from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean?
The St. Lawrence River
Who reached islands in the Caribbean in 1492?
Christopher Columbus
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776?
Thomas Jefferson
What crop, first grown 7,000 years ago, supported early farming in Mexico?
Maize (corn)
What event finally led the U.S. to enter World War I?
The sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine
What do the Great Lakes together form?
The largest body of freshwater in the world
What deadly factor killed large numbers of Native Americans after European contact?
Diseases like smallpox
What agreement ended the American Revolution in 1783?
The Treaty of Paris
What ancient civilization built pyramids and developed a calendar in the Yucatán?
The Maya
What attack brought the United States into World War II?
The bombing of Pearl Harbor
What two natural features make the Great Plains ideal for farming?
Rich soil and moderate climate with regular rainfall
What was the first permanent English settlement in North America?
Jamestown, Virginia
What purchase in 1803 doubled the size of the United States?
The Louisiana Purchase
What was the capital city of the Aztec Empire?
Tenochtitlan
What two Japanese cities were destroyed by atomic bombs in 1945?
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
What disaster in the 1930s was caused by years of drought and soil erosion?
The Dust Bowl
What French explorer claimed land along the St. Lawrence River in 1534?
Jacques Cartier
What forced march of Cherokee people to Oklahoma became known as the Trail of Tears?
The Trail of Tears
Which Spanish conquistador defeated Montezuma and destroyed Tenochtitlan?
Hernán Cortés
What genocide during World War II killed about 6 million Jews?
The Holocaust
Explain the rain shadow effect
Rain falls on the western side of the mountain, cools and dries as it goes up the mountain, and the falls on the eastward side as dry air, creating deserts
Why did Southern colonies depend on enslaved Africans?
Large plantations needed labor for crops like tobacco
What was the main cause of the U.S. Civil War?
Conflict over slavery in new territories
What Mexican priest led the first revolt against Spain in 1810?
Father Miguel Hidalgo
Explain why the Cold War is called the "Cold" war
It is called the "Cold" war because it was a long period of political tension without actual fighting