Prehistory and the Spanish

Question 1

Bering Land Bridge

Answer 1

Archeologists believe that around 40,000 and 20,000 years ago tribes of hunter-gatherers crossed this land bridge which once connected Siberia with Alaska.

Question 2

Vinland

Answer 2

A colony in Newfoundland found by Leif Ericson in c. 1000.

Question 3

The Iroquois Confederacy

Answer 3

A loose political alliance of five Indian nations, it was formed around 1451 and was finally destroyed during the American Revolution.

Question 4

The Anasazi

Answer 4

Located in modern day Arizona and New Mexico, they created an advanced society of pueblos, cliff dwellings, roads, and irrigation canals. They collapsed after 1150 due to draught.

Question 5

Woodland tribes

Answer 5

Native American tribes along the upper Atlantic seaboard. They moved seasonally. Men were responsible for hunting and fishing, women for agriculture.

Question 6

Cahokia

Answer 6

The largest urban concentration of Indians north of Mexico, in modern day St. Louis. 40,000 inhabitants until it was abandoned in 1400.

Question 7

Maize

Answer 7

Corn, the primary dietary staple of North American Indians.

Question 8

Pangaea

Answer 8

The supercontinent which existed millions of years ago, evidence of its existence includes identical fish specimen.

Question 9

Canadian Shield

Answer 9

The first part of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level.

Question 10

The Great Ice Age

Answer 10

Occured about 2 million years ago, it carpeted North America with glaciers. When they retreated 10,000 years ago, it had left the Northern United States rocky and had created the Mississippi River, the St. Lawrence, and Lake Bonneville.

Question 11

The Aztecs

Answer 11

Resided in Mexico and practiced human sacrifice.

Question 12

The Incas

Answer 12

Resided in Peru

Question 13

The Mayans

Answer 13

Resided in Mexico

Question 14

Three-sister farming

Answer 14

Maize, squash, and beans.

Question 15

caravel

Answer 15

A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic.

Question 16

Hispaniola

Answer 16

An island “discovered” by the Spanish. Following their discovery, the Taino natives decreased from 1 million to 200 people.

Question 17

conquistadors

Answer 17

Spanish explorers who came to the New World for God, in search of gold and glory.

Question 18

mestizos

Answer 18

Offspring of conquistadors and Indians, they were the cultural and biological bridge between the new and old worlds.

Question 19

Colorless colonial administration

Answer 19

Replaced the conquistadors in Mexico in the 1530s and Peru in the 1550s

Question 20

Hernan Cortes

Answer 20

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico in 1519

Question 21

Malinche

Answer 21

A female Indian slave who assisted Cortes in conquering Mexico by being his translator.

Question 22

Tenochtitlan

Answer 22

The Aztec capital. The Spanish were amazed by its beauty.

Question 23

Moctezuma

Answer 23

The Aztec leader who treated the Spanish as gods, until their greedy nature caused him to declare war on them.

Question 24

Noche Triste

Answer 24

Sad Night, on June 30th, 1520 the Aztecs attacked the Spanish and on August 13th, 1521, the Spanish conquered the Aztecs.

Question 25

St. Augustine

Answer 25

The location of a Floridian fortress built in 1565 by the Spanish to protect the sea lanes to the Caribbean.

Question 26

Popé’s Rebellion

Answer 26

In 1680, Pueblo rebels killed scores of priests and Spanish settlers. It took half a century for the Spanish to gain control back over New Mexico.

Question 27

kiva

Answer 27

A ceremonial religious chamber, one was built on the ruins of the Spanish plaza at Santa Fe following Popé’s Rebellion.

Question 28

The Black Legend

Answer 28

A false concept which held that the Spanish merely tortured and butchered the Indians, stole their gold, infected them with smallpox, and left little but misery behind.

Question 29

Christian crusaders

Answer 29

Participants in The Holy Crusades, their trips to the Middle East sparked explorative interest.

Question 30

Marco Polo

Answer 30

A European explorer whose documented adventures sparked interest in discovering a faster route to Asia.

Question 31

Unity of Spain

Answer 31

It occurred in the late fifteenth century and resulted in westward exploration. Caused by marriaged of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille and the explusion of infidel Muslim Moors.

Question 32

Bartolomeu Dias

Answer 32

A Portuguese explorer who rounded Africa.

Question 33

Christopher Columbus

Answer 33

An Italian seafarer persuaded by the Spanish to discover a route to Asia. He instead discovered an island in the Bahamas.

Question 34

Treaty of Tordesillas

Answer 34

A 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.

Question 35

Vasco da Gama

Answer 35

Portuguese explorer who reached India.

Question 36

John Cabot

Answer 36

An explorer who traversed the Northeast coast of North America for England.

Question 37

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Answer 37

The first conquistador, he claimed all land touched by the Pacific Ocean for Spain.

Question 38

Ponce de Leon

Answer 38

Discovered and claimed Florida for Spain while looking for the Fountain of Youth

Question 39

Ferdinand Magellan

Answer 39

A Portuguese explorer who was the first to circumnavigate the globe.

Question 40

Giovanni da Verrazzano

Answer 40

Explored the Eastern seaboard of North America for France.

Question 41

Francisco Pizarro

Answer 41

Spanish conquistador who crushed the Incas.

Question 42

Jacques Cartier

Answer 42

A French explorer who claimed Canada for France and discovered the St. Lawrence River.

Question 43

Hernando de Soto

Answer 43

Spanish conquistador who explored the Southeast and discovered the Mississippi.

Question 44

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo

Answer 44

Discovered California for Spain.

Question 45

Robert de La Salle

Answer 45

Claimed the entire Mississippi River for France.

Question 46

English Protestant Reformation

Answer 46

An event caused by King Henry VIII in the early 1530s, breaking ties with the Catholic church, intensified the rivalry between Spain and England.

Question 47

Francis Drake

Answer 47

English explorer who circumnavigated the globe and plundered Spanish ships.