Pre-Columbus 1
Pre-Columbus 2
13 Colonies
Puritans
100
If you were told this is an image of Americans before Columbus, how would you know it's wrong?
There were no horses in the Americas prior to the Spanish bringing them.
100
Name an event that took place in Europe within living memory of Columbus' famous voyage in 1492.
Europe was transitioning from the late middle ages into the Renaissance, meaning that one hundred years before they were fighting crusades, and one hundred years later they would be witnessing the plays of Shakespeare.
Constantinople had just fallen to the Ottoman Turks, meaning that the last remaining bit of the Roman Empire had finally come to an end.
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were changing the art and thought world in Italy, ushering in a new era of magnificent artistry.
Johannes Gutenberg had just invented the printing press.
Martin Luther, a German priest, challenged the Catholic Church and contributed to the start of the Reformation.
100
Which colony was started by a Quaker as a haven for people from a variety of religious backgrounds, to live in a state of religious toleration?
Pennsylvania.
It was started by William Penn, who named the colony "Penn's Woods", sylva being the latin word for forest or woods.
100
What were Puritans?
A sect of English Protestants who believed that even though the Church of England had broken away from the Catholic Church in an official capacity, the Church of England still lacked many of the aspects of Christian life they believed the Bible asked them to have, and at its worst was just as corrupt as the Catholic Church. They lived what they believed to be humble, simple lifestyles, relying on the Bible as instruction for daily living, focusing on the sinfulness of humanity and the holy divinity of God, while trying to live by a strict morality that they took very seriously.
200
How did Native Americans first arrive in North America?
While it is not entirely known, some theories are:
They crossed the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska on foot.
They sailed small animal skin boats along the coast and island hopping from Asia to the Pacific Northwest, following the 'kelp highway'.
Similar spear technologies between the oldest aboriginal tribes living in southern Spain and those living on the East Coast, suggest they may have found a way to sail over the Atlantic, probably following the later Viking route from Iceland to Greenland, to Canada.
200
TRUE or FALSE:
Before Columbus, North America was a desolate wilderness, with only a handful of scattered tribes, while Europe was a thriving urban civilization.
False
Many archaeologists now believe that the populations of Europe and the Americas in 1492 were similar (near 60 million) with most people living in or near a larger urban center of some kind, with the largest, Tenochtitlan, chief city of the Aztecs, being even larger, more populated, and in some ways, even more advanced than the largest cities in Europe at the time.
200
The colony that would eventually become New York was originally called what?
New Amsterdam, after the capital of the Netherlands, since the colony of New York was originally settled by the Dutch as part of their expansive network of Empire, stretching out to Africa and India.
200
The group of English refugees that set sail from the Netherlands on the Mayflower in 1620 for the New World to seek religious freedom were called what?
A branch of Puritans called Separatists, who because of the spiritual journey or pilgrimage they were taking, were called Pilgrims.
300
Why does it matter that Europeans kept domesticated animals in their homes, while Native Americans did not?
Because of their close contact with animals, Europeans gathered a large amount of animal diseases, such as influenza or tuberculosis, which they had developed immunities to, but when they passed these to Native Americans, they had no defenses and quickly died due to the overwhelming amount of animal diseases that Europeans carried.
300
Why do some Native American tribes take issue with the idea that Native Americans originally came from ancient Europe or Asia?
Native Americans feel that they are tied spiritually to the land. Many official tribal myths say that the Native people simply sprang up from the ground, quite literally born of the earth, and did not come over from another land. This is also perhaps because they feel that this would somehow invalidate their claims to the land as the original people.
300
During the French and Indian War, what young British Officer was in charge of the militia at Fort Necessity, when the first shots of the war were fired?
George Washington
300
Describe the relationship between the first English Colonists and the Native Americans.
Upon arrival they had to rely on Native American knowledge to survive. Individuals like Squanto, a native man who had been taken as a slave to Europe, where he learned English, treated the unprepared colonists with compassion and were essential to their survival.
Later, as the colonists encroached on Native American lands, tensions began to rise. They culminated in King Philip's War in which Chief Metacom (also called King Philip) was pushed too far when his brother was captured and then died in an English prison. The war was one of the bloodiest in American history and resulted in great loss of Native American lives, including Metacom himself.
400
List four things that made Tenochtitlan such a great city that even Hernando Cortez, the Spanish conquistador who would go on to destroy it, marveled at it when he first arrived.
A grand temple complex, with some of the largest pyramids in the world.
The city was built on a man-made island in the middle of a large lake.
Massive causeways were built out to the island, large enough to accommodate many people walking side by side.
Impressive floating gardens all along the lake made for some of the most advanced agricultural practices in the world.
The city was organized into several burroughs, each with its own administrative center, schools, ball courts etc.
400
How did the Enlightenment lead toward the 13 Colonies throwing off British rule?
The Enlightenment was a movement in science and thought that centralized rational thought and scientific experimentation over the traditional philosophies and explanations of the past.
One tradition that was beginning to be questioned was the role of Kings, which had long been held as having the sovereign authority given to them by God.
400
During the Salem Witch Trials, the accused were often put to death as witches on the sole basis of what was called 'spectral evidence'. What is spectral evidence?
The testimony of someone who has been afflicted by some kind of claimed spiritual torment, usually visions of ghosts, or being forced to behave in unnatural manners.
The problem with this kind of evidence is that it is easy to fake and is unable to be corroborated by anyone but the person claiming they have been afflicted.
500
According to the Charles C Mann video, what caused the Little Ice Age?
Contrary to popular belief, before Columbus there was a large, thriving civilization existing in the Americas. One of their common practices was to burn the forests to make way for agriculture and open the forests for hunting. When the Native Americans died out in large numbers in a short time span, their lack of activity meant less pollution in the atmosphere, which may have contributed to the dramatic cooling effect, that would have impacted thousands of Europeans for several centuries.
500
For 100 points each, name FIVE of the thirteen colonies.
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia
500
Summarize the message of Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon.
The sermon is best encapsulated in this quote:
"Thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God."