Review Questions

1. Which country initiated the era of Atlantic exploration?
France
Spain
England
Portugal

2. Which country established the first colonies in the Americas?
England
Portugal
Spain
the Netherlands

3. Where did Christopher Columbus first land?
Hispaniola
the Bahamas
Jamestown
Mexico

4. Why did the authors of probanzas de méritos choose to write in the way that they did? What should we consider when we interpret these documents today?

5. Where did the Protestant Reformation begin?
Northern Europe
Spain
England
the American colonies

6. What was the chief goal of the Puritans?
to achieve a lasting peace with the Catholic nations of Spain and France
to eliminate any traces of Catholicism from the Church of England
to assist Henry VIII in his quest for an annulment to his marriage
to create a hierarchy within the Church of England modeled on that of the Catholic Church

7. What reforms to the Catholic Church did Martin Luther and John Calvin call for?

8. Why didn’t England make stronger attempts to colonize the New World before the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century?
English attention was turned to internal struggles and the encroaching Catholic menace to Scotland and Ireland.
The English monarchy did not want to declare direct war on Spain by attempting to colonize the Americas.
The English military was occupied in battling for control of New Netherlands.
The English crown refused to fund colonial expeditions.

9. What was the main goal of the French in colonizing the Americas?
establishing a colony with French subjects
trading, especially for furs
gaining control of shipping lanes
spreading Catholicism among native peoples

10. What were some of the main differences among the non-Spanish colonies?

11. How could Spaniards obtain encomiendas?
by serving the Spanish crown
by buying them from other Spaniards
by buying them from native chiefs
by inheriting them

12. Which of the following best describes the Columbian Exchange?
the letters Columbus and other conquistadors exchanged with the Spanish crown
an exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between Europe and the Americas
a form of trade between the Spanish and natives
the way in which explorers exchanged information about new lands to conquer

13. Why did diseases like smallpox affect Native Americans so badly?
Native Americans were less robust than Europeans.
Europeans deliberately infected Native Americans.
Native Americans had no immunity to European diseases.
Conditions in the Americas were so harsh that Native Americans and Europeans alike were devastated by disease.