American History

Question 1

American History

How did Homo sapiens likely first make it to the Americas?

Answer 1

Via the Beringia land bridge

(during the height of the last ice age)

Question 2

American History

What is the name of the oldest known civilization in the Americas (contemporaneous with Ancient Egypt), and where was it located?

Answer 2

The Caral civilization;

modern-day Peru

Question 3

American History

Describe the regions of the 1000 BCE Americas in regard to hunter-gatherer and farming societies.

Answer 3

Question 4

American History

What three regions of the pre-Colombian Americas were the only regions to have sustained large-scale civilizations (beyond simpler tribal societies)?

Answer 4

The Southeast of what is now the U.S.

Mesoamerica

The Andes

Question 5

American History

Name the first major Mesoamerican civilization (1500 - 400 BCE) (and one of the world’s six cradles of civilization).

Answer 5

The Olmec

Question 6

American History

Describe the Olmec civilization.

Answer 6

The most ancient Mesoamerican civilization

City-state structure

Produced calendars, pyramids, aquaducts, and jade and clay artistry

Question 7

American History

The mounds seen in parts of the U.S. were created circa 1000 CE by civilizations in what regions?

Answer 7

Along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers

Question 8

American History

Describe the chronological order of the ancient Mesoamerican civilizations (Aztec, Inca, Olmec, and Maya) as they came to be.

Answer 8

Olmec (1400 BCE - 400 BCE)

Maya (1000 BCE - 900 CE)

Aztec + Inca (1300 CE - 1500 CE)

Question 9

American History

Describe the location of the Aztec, Incan, and Mayan societies.

Answer 9

Question 10

American History

True/False.

Aztec and Incan cities were as large, complex, and organized as any of the largest in the Old World.

Answer 10

True.

With an estimated population of 200,000 to 350,000 in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire.

Question 11

American History

True/False.

The vast majority of Pre-Colombian North America was ruled by four separate tribes, which only divided into smaller groups after the arrival of the colonizers.

Answer 11

False.

Pre-Colombian North America was a complex hodgepodge of numerous tribes and civilizations.

Question 12

American History

Although estimates vary drastically, what is the current middle-of-the-road estimate for the population of the Americas just prior to the arrival of Colombus?

Answer 12

50 million

Question 13

American History

What led to the drastic decline in native populations after the arrival of European influence?

Answer 13

Infectious disease epidemics may have wiped out as much as 95% of the ~50 million individuals

Question 14

American History

Which were the first European countries to colonize portions of the Americas in the years after 1492?

Answer 14

Spain

Portugal

Britain

Question 15

American History

Describe the eventual European divvying up of American colonies that began in the 1490s and continued through the early 1800s.

Answer 15

Question 16

American History

In 1607, the __________ settlement was founded by John Smith.

Answer 16

In 1607, the Jamestown settlement was founded by John Smith.

Question 17

American History

The Mayflower landed where and in what year?

Answer 17

Plymouth, Massachusetts;

1620

Question 18

American History

Where did the famous 1692 witch trials take place in the Americas?

Answer 18

Salem, Massachusetts

Question 19

American History

Name three of the major trade exports of the Americas/Caribbean produced via slave labor.

Answer 19

Cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane

Question 20

American History

Name the only country of the Americas/Caribbean in which slaves freed themselves and successfully overthrew their colonizers, forming a new nation.

Answer 20

Haiti

Question 21

American History

Who led the revolution / creation of what are now Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama to independence from the Spanish Empire?

Answer 21

Simón Bolivar

(He created Gran Colombia, a unified state covering the region of the countries listed previously.)

Question 22

American History

Name the revolutionary who led the removal of the Portuguese and created modern-day Brazil.

Answer 22

Dom Pedro I

Question 23

American History

Who led the revolution / creation of what is now Argentina (and other parts of southern South America) to independence from the Spanish Empire?

Answer 23

José de San Martin

Question 24

American History

What war between Great Britain and France began in 1752 in North America?

Answer 24

The French and Indian War

(Both allied with different Native American tribes)

Question 25

Fill in the blanks for events leading up to the Declaration of Independence:

1765 - legislation of the ___________ Act.

1770 - the ___________ massacre.

1773 - the ___________ ___________ party.

1774 - first ______________ congress.

Answer 25

Fill in the blanks for events leading up to the Declaration of Independence:

1765 - legislation of the Stamp Act.

1770 - the Boston massacre.

1773 - the Boston Tea party.

1774 - first Continental congress.

Question 26

American History

Name the first two battles of the America Revolutionary War (1775).

Answer 26

The battle of Lexington and Concord

The battle of Bunker Hill

Question 27

American History

The U.S. revolution officially began in 1776 with the _______________ and ended in 1781 with the _______________.

Answer 27

The U.S. revolution began in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and ended in 1781 with the Siege of Yorktown.

Question 28

American History

What treaty officially ended the Revolutionary War?

Answer 28

The Treaty of Paris

Question 29

American History

Who negotiated the 1803 Louisiana Purchase?

Answer 29

Thomas Jefferson

Question 30

American History

In 1804, Explorers ______ and ______ set out on their journey to cross North America and find the Pacific Ocean.

Answer 30

In 1804, Explorers Lewis and Clark set out on their journey to cross North America and find the Pacific Ocean.

Question 31

American History

Was the American Revolution the final U.S. war against the British?

Answer 31

No, remember the War of 1812

Question 32

American History

Name the final battle (1815) of the War of 1812 which actually occurred days after the war-ending treaty of Ghent.

Answer 32

The Battle of New Orleans

(led by Andrew Jackson)

Question 33

American History

What was the Monroe Doctrine of 1823?

Answer 33

A U.S. policy that opposed European colonialism in the Americas

Question 34

American History

In 1838, the ___________ Nation was forced to march from the Southeast to Oklahoma in what is known as the ‘Trail of Tears.’

Answer 34

In 1838, the Cherokee Nation was forced to march from the Southeast to Oklahoma in what is known as the ‘Trail of Tears.’