HIUS 221 Exam 1 Questions and Answers Fully Solved Latest Version 2025-2026
Atlantic World - Answers Term used to describe both the geographic region encompassing the
Atlantic Ocean and the four continents of Europe, Africa, North America, and South America, as
well as the interactions and relationships among the peoples of this region.
feudal vassals - Answers Land-owning nobility tied to their lords through mutual bonds of
service; a vassal defended his lord, and the lord protected and rewarded his vassals with riches
and land. The lord might in turn be a vassal to another lord, and the vassal might have vassals
of his own.
nation-state - Answers A political entity with well-defined borders recognized as sovereign,
stable, and indivisible. Historically, the European nation-state began to emerge during the Age of
Exploration, providing a stable foundation for the actions of exploration.
Silk Road - Answers Collective term for well-used trading routes connecting western Europe with
India and China, running through the gateway city of Constantinople.
Age of Exploration - Answers Popular term (also Age of Discovery) for the period from c. 1450
to 1600 when European navigators discovered and charted new lands to the West and East.
Maya - Answers Inhabitants of the Yucatan Peninsula whose civilization was at its height from
300 to 900 AD. Their civilization included a unique system of writing, mathematics, architecture,
sculpture, and astronomy.
Aztec - Answers Inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico who founded their capital, Tenochtitlán, in
the early fourteenth century. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the Aztecs built a large empire in
which they dominated many neighboring peoples. Their civilization included engineering,
mathematics, art, and music.
Iroquois Confederacy - Answers Indian group located in central New York State. Five tribes—the
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas—formed the Iroquois Confederacy.
matrilineal - Answers A system in which family membership and heredity pass from mother to
children.
Songhai - Answers Dominant West African state in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Askia
Mohammed (ruled 1493-1528) expanded the empire; reformed government, banking, and
education; and adopted Islamic law.
Prince Henry "the Navigator" (1394-1460) - Answers Of Portugal, who established a school for
navigators and geographers. He sought to increase the power of Portugal by promoting
exploration of trade routes to the East by way of Africa.
caravel - Answers Type of ship developed around 1450 employing technology that would let it
travel farther into uncharted waters and withstand the rough seas of the open Atlantic.
, astrolabe - Answers Navigation instrument for estimating latitude by measuring the distance of
the sun and stars from the horizon.
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451-May 20, 1506) - Answers Italian mariner who sailed for Spain in
1492 in search of a western route to Asia. He located San Salvador in the West Indies, opening
the Americas to European exploration and colonization.
Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1451-May 29, 1500) - Answers Portuguese sailor and navigator and the first
known European to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa, in 1488.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella - Answers Spanish monarchs who united Spain and funded
Columbus's voyages to the New World beginning in 1492.
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) - Answers Agreement between Spain and Portugal—arbitrated by
Pope Alexander VI in 1494, renegotiated later on Portugal's initiative, and sanctioned by Pope
Julius II in 1506—splitting all newly discovered lands of the New World between those two
nations alone.
Amerigo Vespucci (March 9, 1454-February 22, 1512) - Answers Italian navigator and
cartographer who first identified South America as a continent in 1502.
Northwest Passage - Answers Fabled water route sought by explorers as an alternative route to
reach the Far East by going north of North America. Despite explorers' hopes for finding such a
shortcut, the Northwest Passage did not in fact exist where they could find it; it was blocked by
Arctic ice until 2007.
Columbian Exchange - Answers The multi-way exchange of plants and animals, technologies,
human cultures, and disease among Atlantic peoples throughout the sixteenth century and
beyond.
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451-May 20, 1506) - Answers Italian mariner who sailed for Spain in
1492 in search of a western route to Asia. He located San Salvador in the West Indies, opening
the Americas to European exploration and colonization.
Taino - Answers Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, a subset of the Arawak people of South
America, first encountered by Columbus and his crew in 1492.
sugar cane - Answers A tall, fibrous grass rich in sugar that grows well in tropical climates and
proved an extremely valuable cash crop to early colonizers of the New World but required vast
amounts of labor to grow and process.
Afro-Caribbean - Answers A term describing the distinct religious practices, culture, music, and
language of Caribbean nations, derived from a fusion of indigenous, African, and European
sources.
smallpox - Answers Deadly infectious disease carried by Europeans to the New World. With no
Atlantic World - Answers Term used to describe both the geographic region encompassing the
Atlantic Ocean and the four continents of Europe, Africa, North America, and South America, as
well as the interactions and relationships among the peoples of this region.
feudal vassals - Answers Land-owning nobility tied to their lords through mutual bonds of
service; a vassal defended his lord, and the lord protected and rewarded his vassals with riches
and land. The lord might in turn be a vassal to another lord, and the vassal might have vassals
of his own.
nation-state - Answers A political entity with well-defined borders recognized as sovereign,
stable, and indivisible. Historically, the European nation-state began to emerge during the Age of
Exploration, providing a stable foundation for the actions of exploration.
Silk Road - Answers Collective term for well-used trading routes connecting western Europe with
India and China, running through the gateway city of Constantinople.
Age of Exploration - Answers Popular term (also Age of Discovery) for the period from c. 1450
to 1600 when European navigators discovered and charted new lands to the West and East.
Maya - Answers Inhabitants of the Yucatan Peninsula whose civilization was at its height from
300 to 900 AD. Their civilization included a unique system of writing, mathematics, architecture,
sculpture, and astronomy.
Aztec - Answers Inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico who founded their capital, Tenochtitlán, in
the early fourteenth century. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the Aztecs built a large empire in
which they dominated many neighboring peoples. Their civilization included engineering,
mathematics, art, and music.
Iroquois Confederacy - Answers Indian group located in central New York State. Five tribes—the
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas—formed the Iroquois Confederacy.
matrilineal - Answers A system in which family membership and heredity pass from mother to
children.
Songhai - Answers Dominant West African state in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Askia
Mohammed (ruled 1493-1528) expanded the empire; reformed government, banking, and
education; and adopted Islamic law.
Prince Henry "the Navigator" (1394-1460) - Answers Of Portugal, who established a school for
navigators and geographers. He sought to increase the power of Portugal by promoting
exploration of trade routes to the East by way of Africa.
caravel - Answers Type of ship developed around 1450 employing technology that would let it
travel farther into uncharted waters and withstand the rough seas of the open Atlantic.
, astrolabe - Answers Navigation instrument for estimating latitude by measuring the distance of
the sun and stars from the horizon.
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451-May 20, 1506) - Answers Italian mariner who sailed for Spain in
1492 in search of a western route to Asia. He located San Salvador in the West Indies, opening
the Americas to European exploration and colonization.
Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1451-May 29, 1500) - Answers Portuguese sailor and navigator and the first
known European to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa, in 1488.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella - Answers Spanish monarchs who united Spain and funded
Columbus's voyages to the New World beginning in 1492.
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) - Answers Agreement between Spain and Portugal—arbitrated by
Pope Alexander VI in 1494, renegotiated later on Portugal's initiative, and sanctioned by Pope
Julius II in 1506—splitting all newly discovered lands of the New World between those two
nations alone.
Amerigo Vespucci (March 9, 1454-February 22, 1512) - Answers Italian navigator and
cartographer who first identified South America as a continent in 1502.
Northwest Passage - Answers Fabled water route sought by explorers as an alternative route to
reach the Far East by going north of North America. Despite explorers' hopes for finding such a
shortcut, the Northwest Passage did not in fact exist where they could find it; it was blocked by
Arctic ice until 2007.
Columbian Exchange - Answers The multi-way exchange of plants and animals, technologies,
human cultures, and disease among Atlantic peoples throughout the sixteenth century and
beyond.
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451-May 20, 1506) - Answers Italian mariner who sailed for Spain in
1492 in search of a western route to Asia. He located San Salvador in the West Indies, opening
the Americas to European exploration and colonization.
Taino - Answers Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, a subset of the Arawak people of South
America, first encountered by Columbus and his crew in 1492.
sugar cane - Answers A tall, fibrous grass rich in sugar that grows well in tropical climates and
proved an extremely valuable cash crop to early colonizers of the New World but required vast
amounts of labor to grow and process.
Afro-Caribbean - Answers A term describing the distinct religious practices, culture, music, and
language of Caribbean nations, derived from a fusion of indigenous, African, and European
sources.
smallpox - Answers Deadly infectious disease carried by Europeans to the New World. With no
