AP US History: Geography & the Environment 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: How did the fall line on the Atlantic coast shape early colonial settlement?
- It marked the boundary of Spanish territory
- It created waterfalls and rapids that halted upstream navigation, fostering port cities (Correct answer)
- It indicated where tobacco could not grow
- It was the limit of the Appalachian Mountains
Correct answer: It created waterfalls and rapids that halted upstream navigation, fostering port cities
The fall line is where rivers drop from the Piedmont to the coastal plain, blocking navigation and prompting cities like Richmond and Philadelphia to develop there.
Question 2: The Columbian Exchange most dramatically reshaped Native American populations through which environmental factor?
- Introduction of Old World diseases like smallpox (Correct answer)
- Deforestation of the eastern woodlands
- The arrival of corn from Europe
- Soil erosion from plantation farming
Correct answer: Introduction of Old World diseases like smallpox
Eurasian diseases to which Natives had no immunity, especially smallpox, killed an estimated 90% of indigenous populations.
Question 3: Why did the geography of New England push colonists toward fishing, shipbuilding, and trade rather than large plantations?
- Laws banned agriculture in the North
- Rocky, thin glacial soil and a short growing season limited cash-crop farming (Correct answer)
- The region had no access to the ocean
- The climate was too hot for grains
Correct answer: Rocky, thin glacial soil and a short growing season limited cash-crop farming
New England's poor, rocky soils and cold climate discouraged plantation agriculture and encouraged maritime economies.
Question 4: The Appalachian Mountains influenced early American expansion primarily by
- Providing the richest gold deposits in the colonies
- Acting as a natural barrier that confined settlement to the east until passes were found (Correct answer)
- Marking the official border with Canada
- Supplying most colonial drinking water
Correct answer: Acting as a natural barrier that confined settlement to the east until passes were found
The Appalachians slowed westward migration until routes like the Cumberland Gap opened access to the interior.
Question 5: How did the Chesapeake region's environment encourage the tobacco economy and indentured servitude?
- Cold winters required heavy labor for heating
- Fertile soil and navigable rivers favored labor-intensive tobacco grown on dispersed plantations (Correct answer)
- Mountainous terrain forced small subsistence farms
- Lack of rainfall demanded irrigation crews
Correct answer: Fertile soil and navigable rivers favored labor-intensive tobacco grown on dispersed plantations
The Chesapeake's rich soil and tidal rivers made tobacco profitable, creating high demand for labor first met by indentured servants.
Question 6: What geographic feature made the Mississippi River valley strategically vital to the young United States?
- It was the only source of coal
- It served as the main artery for shipping western farm goods to market via New Orleans (Correct answer)
- It marked the Pacific coastline
- It contained the nation's only gold
Correct answer: It served as the main artery for shipping western farm goods to market via New Orleans
Western farmers depended on the Mississippi to float crops to New Orleans for export, making control of the river essential.
Question 7: The Great American Desert label applied to the Great Plains in the early 1800s discouraged settlement because explorers believed
- The land was permanently frozen
- The treeless, semi-arid grassland was unfit for farming (Correct answer)
- The region was a swampland
- Hostile volcanoes covered the area
Correct answer: The treeless, semi-arid grassland was unfit for farming
Explorers like Stephen Long described the treeless, dry Plains as unsuitable for agriculture, slowing settlement for decades.
AP US History: Geography & the Environment 2
How did the fall line on the Atlantic coast shape early colonial settlement?