Chapter 1: New World Encounters, Preconquest–1608
Multiple-Choice Questions
1) Beringia can best be described as a ________.
a. land bridge
b. large ship
c. transcontinental sea route
d. short land voyage
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.1 Indigenous Peoples Before European Contact
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
2) __________ played a major part in facilitating the migration of humans into North America.
a. Cultural preferences
b. Epidemics
c. Warfare
d. Environmental conditions
Answer: D
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1 Native American Histories before the Conquest
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Connections
3) Knowledge of maize, squash, and beans spread __________.
a. west from the Atlantic coast
b. south from the Great Plains
c. south from the Pacific Northwest
d. north from central Mexico
Answer: D
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.2 Food, Climate, and Culture: The Challenge
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Copyright © 2025
,4) Which of the following was a consequence of the Agricultural Revolution?
a. Native American peoples stopped hunting mammals.
b. Native American peoples gained greater control over their food supply.
c. Epidemic diseases swept across the Americas.
d. Warfare became far less common in the Americas.
Answer: B
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.2 Food, Climate, and Culture: The Challenge
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Connections
5) The Agricultural Revolution allowed the Native Americans of Mexico and Central America to
__________.
a. build more complex societies
b. invent the wheel
c. build peaceful societies
d. conquer much of North America
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.3 Mexico’s Aztec Empire
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
6) Tenochtitlán was the main ceremonial center of the __________.
a. Mayas
b. Toltecs
c. Incas
d. Aztecs
Answer: D
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.3 Mexico’s Aztec Empire
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
7) __________ groups occupied much of the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Maine.
a. Hopi
b. Algonquian
c. Comanche
d. Seminole
Answer: B
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.4 Eastern Woodland Cultures
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Copyright © 2025
,8) Most Native Americans defined their place in society through __________.
a. kinship
b. religion
c. wealth
d. job descriptions
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.4 Eastern Woodland Cultures
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
9) What did fifteenth-century Portuguese explorers and Christopher Columbus have in common?
a. Both were primarily interested in spreading Catholicism.
b. Both were hoping to make scientific contributions.
c. Both hoped to find a sea route to Asia.
d. Both were determined to find undiscovered lands.
Answer: C
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2 Conditions of Conquest
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Connections
10) Who introduced Islam to West Africa?
a. Political emissaries
b. Missionaries
c. Traders
d. Soldiers
Answer: C
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
11) When European traders first arrived in West Africa, the major states would have included Mali,
Benin, and __________.
a. Nubia
b. Mombasa
c. Great Zimbabwe
d. Kongo
Answer: D
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Copyright © 2025
, 12) What did the Portuguese hope to acquire in Africa?
a. Silk and spices
b. Horses and cattle
c. Gold and slaves
d. Cotton and tobacco
Answer: C
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
13) Why did European slave traders accept African trade regulations?
a. They had no choice.
b. The slave trade was incredibly profitable.
c. Their rulers had signed trade agreements with African princes.
d. They were fair to both sides.
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Connections
14) On what basis did historian Davis Eltis claim that “In terms of immigration alone . . . America was an
extension of Africa rather than Europe until the late nineteenth century”?
a. Africa had a much greater impact than Europe did on nineteenth-century American culture.
b. Between 1650 and 1831, more Africans than Europeans came to the Americas.
c. Africa was physically closer than Europe to America.
d. Africans made a greater contribution than Europeans did to the economies of the Americas.
Answer: B
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
15) The earliest recorded contacts between Native Americans and Europeans suggest that the Native
Americans responded with __________.
a. curiosity
b. hostility
c. fear
d. indifference
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.2 First Contact: Competing Expectations
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Copyright © 2025
Multiple-Choice Questions
1) Beringia can best be described as a ________.
a. land bridge
b. large ship
c. transcontinental sea route
d. short land voyage
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.1 Indigenous Peoples Before European Contact
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
2) __________ played a major part in facilitating the migration of humans into North America.
a. Cultural preferences
b. Epidemics
c. Warfare
d. Environmental conditions
Answer: D
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1 Native American Histories before the Conquest
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Connections
3) Knowledge of maize, squash, and beans spread __________.
a. west from the Atlantic coast
b. south from the Great Plains
c. south from the Pacific Northwest
d. north from central Mexico
Answer: D
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.2 Food, Climate, and Culture: The Challenge
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Copyright © 2025
,4) Which of the following was a consequence of the Agricultural Revolution?
a. Native American peoples stopped hunting mammals.
b. Native American peoples gained greater control over their food supply.
c. Epidemic diseases swept across the Americas.
d. Warfare became far less common in the Americas.
Answer: B
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.2 Food, Climate, and Culture: The Challenge
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Connections
5) The Agricultural Revolution allowed the Native Americans of Mexico and Central America to
__________.
a. build more complex societies
b. invent the wheel
c. build peaceful societies
d. conquer much of North America
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.3 Mexico’s Aztec Empire
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
6) Tenochtitlán was the main ceremonial center of the __________.
a. Mayas
b. Toltecs
c. Incas
d. Aztecs
Answer: D
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.3 Mexico’s Aztec Empire
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
7) __________ groups occupied much of the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Maine.
a. Hopi
b. Algonquian
c. Comanche
d. Seminole
Answer: B
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.4 Eastern Woodland Cultures
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Copyright © 2025
,8) Most Native Americans defined their place in society through __________.
a. kinship
b. religion
c. wealth
d. job descriptions
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.1 What explains cultural differences among Native American groups before the
European conquest?
Topic: 1.1.4 Eastern Woodland Cultures
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
9) What did fifteenth-century Portuguese explorers and Christopher Columbus have in common?
a. Both were primarily interested in spreading Catholicism.
b. Both were hoping to make scientific contributions.
c. Both hoped to find a sea route to Asia.
d. Both were determined to find undiscovered lands.
Answer: C
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2 Conditions of Conquest
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Connections
10) Who introduced Islam to West Africa?
a. Political emissaries
b. Missionaries
c. Traders
d. Soldiers
Answer: C
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
11) When European traders first arrived in West Africa, the major states would have included Mali,
Benin, and __________.
a. Nubia
b. Mombasa
c. Great Zimbabwe
d. Kongo
Answer: D
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Copyright © 2025
, 12) What did the Portuguese hope to acquire in Africa?
a. Silk and spices
b. Horses and cattle
c. Gold and slaves
d. Cotton and tobacco
Answer: C
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
13) Why did European slave traders accept African trade regulations?
a. They had no choice.
b. The slave trade was incredibly profitable.
c. Their rulers had signed trade agreements with African princes.
d. They were fair to both sides.
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Connections
14) On what basis did historian Davis Eltis claim that “In terms of immigration alone . . . America was an
extension of Africa rather than Europe until the late nineteenth century”?
a. Africa had a much greater impact than Europe did on nineteenth-century American culture.
b. Between 1650 and 1831, more Africans than Europeans came to the Americas.
c. Africa was physically closer than Europe to America.
d. Africans made a greater contribution than Europeans did to the economies of the Americas.
Answer: B
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.1 West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
15) The earliest recorded contacts between Native Americans and Europeans suggest that the Native
Americans responded with __________.
a. curiosity
b. hostility
c. fear
d. indifference
Answer: A
Learning Objective: 1.2 How did Europeans interact with West Africans and Native Americans during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries?
Topic: 1.2.2 First Contact: Competing Expectations
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Copyright © 2025
